About Excavation

Shardaxx

So I was late to Greymoor since I waited for the price to drop, which thankfully didn't take long. Started doing some scrying and excavation, but it seems like slow going. So far I've dug up the same pendant about 10 times, and a couple of horns which were worth a bit more. However the skill lines seems to be going up pretty slowly, and the scrying and digging is pretty boring after the first few so my question is... is it worth it? How much scrying and digging do I need to do to max these skill lines, so I have a chance at getting something worthwhile?

I remember finding some leads for some pretty cool looking items before I had Greymoor - there was a ring of speed and something else, these have all expired now but presumably I can find them again. But how long do I have to do this rather tedious digging to get the skill up to be able to get them? If anyone can give a rough estimate of the number required that would be great.

Thanks.

Enemy-of-Coldharbour

This should help:

- Antiquities Basics Guide: https://alcasthq.com/eso-antiquities-system-guide-greymoor-chapter/
- Antiquities Grind Guide: https://alcasthq.com/eso-antiquities-grind-guide-scrying-excavation-leveling/
- Antiquities Location List: https://alcasthq.com/eso-full-antiquities-list-with-locations-of-leads/

Jeremy

Shardaxx wrote: »

So I was late to Greymoor since I waited for the price to drop, which thankfully didn't take long. Started doing some scrying and excavation, but it seems like slow going. So far I've dug up the same pendant about 10 times, and a couple of horns which were worth a bit more. However the skill lines seems to be going up pretty slowly, and the scrying and digging is pretty boring after the first few so my question is... is it worth it? How much scrying and digging do I need to do to max these skill lines, so I have a chance at getting something worthwhile?

I remember finding some leads for some pretty cool looking items before I had Greymoor - there was a ring of speed and something else, these have all expired now but presumably I can find them again. But how long do I have to do this rather tedious digging to get the skill up to be able to get them? If anyone can give a rough estimate of the number required that would be great.

Thanks.

Best way to level it I found was to just go through all the zones digging up the green/blue/purple treasures that automatically come with each area. After that, hopefully you'll have or be able to get enough good leads to finish it off.

Shardaxx

Thanks guys. wow it sounds pretty boring to max it out and get a top item!

UntilValhalla13

Artaeum is a really good place to level it. It's the smallest zone, which means less riding/traveling around. Level to rank 5 in artaeum, then go around to every other zone for the first 3 digs respectively. Hopefully by then, you should be able to dig the gold leads. I went to coldharbor and grinded the gold lead there that drops really commonly from alchemy nodes. They give the most "xp". It is mind numbingly boring. Put on some music and just zone out.

ShawnLaRock

I did all of my existing leads in order of colour - which gave me a chance to perfect scrying / excavating at each level - and seemed to level up quite quickly. I generally only did multiples of the same lead if it unlocked a codex entry.

For me - scrying is still easy without needing all of the skill upgrades (I can usually get a 6 foci in 1 or 2 tries), but I found all excavating passives to be helpful (with the exception of the two Keen Eye - I don’t find those necessary).

There are also tons of guides on how / where to farm specific leads / items.

S.

Shardaxx

OK so both skills are up to 5 now, without leaving Arteum. My next question is - is there any point going to other zones, until I'm after an actual item to use? But for skill leveling, why go to the larger zones to find green and blue ones, when it seems quicker in Arteum?

People are saying they went around all the zones to get green, blue and purple ones for each, but why? Is it just because it makes it slightly more interesting (but slower) or is there another reason?

SilverBride

Shardaxx wrote: »

OK so both skills are up to 5 now, without leaving Arteum. My next question is - is there any point going to other zones, until I'm after an actual item to use?

People are saying they went around all the zones to get green, blue and purple ones for each, but why? Is it just because it makes it slightly more interesting (but slower) or is there another reason?

You gain more skill with blue than green, and you gain more skill with purple than blue. So, yes, I recommend going to every zone.

Also, it can get very tedious getting the last couple of levels, but you only have to do it on one character. No matter which of your characters finds a lead, any of them can then scry and excavate it. So no need to level more than one.

Grizzbeorn

Shardaxx wrote: »

OK so both skills are up to 5 now, without leaving Arteum. My next question is - is there any point going to other zones, until I'm after an actual item to use? But for skill leveling, why go to the larger zones to find green and blue ones, when it seems quicker in Arteum?

People are saying they went around all the zones to get green, blue and purple ones for each, but why? Is it just because it makes it slightly more interesting (but slower) or is there another reason?

Purple leads grant more XP than blue or green, obviously.
The problem with the purple leads that are granted as part of leveling is that you only get one of them in each zone; you don't get repeats like you do with the greens and blues.
So once you gain the ability to scry for purples at level 5, you should go through each zone and do the green>blue>purple run in each zone, until you can scry for golds (which I think is at level 7).
And then go to Coldharbour and farm the gold lead for the Void Crystal Anomaly item. The lead drops from Alchemy nodes, and it drops fairly regularly.
(At least it used to a couple of months ago. There's nothing special about the item itself, with regard to leveling the skill-lines, other than being a gold item. It's the drop-rate of the lead that is the key. If they've changed the drop-rate [made it worse, like it seems they have with all the others], then this particular methodology won't be nearly as effective as it once was.)

Once I hit level 7, I almost exclusively farmed the VCA in Coldharbour until I hit level 10 (I also did a couple of greens and blues and I think one purple lead that I had found randomly along the way).
I had 25 Void Crystal Anomalies when I hit level 10, just to give you a rough idea of how much it will take to get from level 7 to 10.

AcadianPaladin

Some good info above. Regarding only doing it on once character, one consideration is that level 7 earns a perk to make all chests easier to see. If you want perk on more than one char, they will also need to level to 7.

AlnilamE

AcadianPaladin wrote: »

Some good info above. Regarding only doing it on once character, one consideration is that level 7 earns a perk to make all chests easier to see. If you want perk on more than one char, they will also need to level to 7.

This is what I'm doing now, but no rush. My alt can do purples and when I get those leads, particularly the motif ones, I use her to dig them up.