Precursor Maker (achievement guide)

Saturn · September 2017

This is a guide for the Precursor Maker collectible achievement in the DLC, Clockwork City. First off, a big thanks to my friend @zeroIndex for helping me locate some of the last few pieces, and spending several hours scouring the Clockwork City for the Integral of Reason with me.

Below are hints for those just needing a little help to complete it on their own, as well as my video guide showing where to find each collectible for those just looking to complete it.

I found the following 2014 thread by @Gillysan to be a great help when searching for potential Dwemer delves out in Tamriel:
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/138596/dwemer-ruins-list-goggle-drive

The Achievement:

Hints / General Information about the Achievement:

To start the intro quest for the Precursor Maker you have to locate either Assistant Zanon's Workshop or activate the quest via the notice board, north of the bank inside the Brass Fortress.
After doing the intro quest to find the Integral of Memory, the Precursor will give you a random clue to locate one of his missing parts. These clues are extremely vague, often just pointing to a specific zone, but can be helpful if you are stuck. The clues for the three Integral collectibles in Clockwork City are a bit more specific, though.
Every single collectible piece found in Tamriel is inside a Dwemer delve, found in the main game (i.e. no other DLCs are required], and there can be several per zone, depending on the number of Dwemer delves available.
Two of the collectibles require quests to access, those being the Dynamo (Buried Secrets) and the Integral of Reason (Lost in the Gloam).
It is possible to collect all the parts before picking up the quest, and does save you a lot of time (if you know where they are) compared to constantly going back and forth to install parts.
Compared to previous collectible achievements this one right behind Ancestral Tombs Hunter in terms of difficulty, but still nowhere near as hard as Litany of Blood.

Locations of each Collectible (ordered after the achievement):

1 - Left arm - Yldzuun (Alik'r)
2 - Right arm - Klathzgar (Bangkorai)
3 - Left leg - Avanchnzel (The Rift)
4 - Right leg - Santaki (Alik'r)
5 - Pelvis - Lower Bthanual (Deshaan)
6 - Chestpiece - Aldunz (Alik'r)
7 - Spine - Mzulft (Eastmarch)
8 - Left hand - Inner Sea Armature (Stonefalls)
9 - Right hand - Mzithumz (Deshaan)
10 - Dynamo core - Bthzark (Stros M'kai) - Requires "Buried Secrets" quest, which is acquireable both outside and inside the delve
11 - Integral of calculus - Mechanical Fundament (Clockwork City)
12 - Integral of introspection - Near the Ventral Terminus (Clockwork City)
13 - Integral of reason - Machine District (Clockwork City) - Requires "Lost in the Gloam" quest, which is the 5th main story quest
14 - Nullification staff - Bthanual (Deshaan)

Video Guide:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxU159geFmY

Reward:

The reward is literally the Precursor as a furnishing target dummy. He has ~300k health and makes a comment whenever you hit him, as well as when he is killed and respawns. As far as I am aware it is possible to obtain the Precursor dummy several times, if you were to do the achievement on multiple characters, so to those players wanting to assemble a robot army, your time is nigh!

OutLaw_Nynx · September 2017

Nice. Going to book mark this for future use.

lientier · November 2017

thank you, since the precursor stopped speaking to me after I gave him his 2nd piece I needed to rely on your guide..

Saturn · November 2017

lientier wrote: »

thank you, since the precursor stopped speaking to me after I gave him his 2nd piece I needed to rely on your guide..

Wow, that sounds pretty lame

I somehow still am surprised that ZOS managed to break this quest further than it already was.. imagine that..

lientier · November 2017

yeah well, when I came with all the pieces except the last (where you needed to go to the machine disctrct) he actually spoke to me again. But well. I think it would have been hours without your guide

With the dark brotherhood me and my husband actualy tried to do it without guides, but then it was extra hard, because everybody was constantly killing the npcs, so they were harder to find.

Saturn · November 2017

lientier wrote: »

yeah well, when I came with all the pieces except the last (where you needed to go to the machine disctrct) he actually spoke to me again. But well. I think it would have been hours without your guide

With the dark brotherhood me and my husband actualy tried to do it without guides, but then it was extra hard, because everybody was constantly killing the npcs, so they were harder to find.

@lientier
At least this one isn't as bad as Litany was. Moving targets with zone-wide respawn timers.. Whoever thought up that collectible guide was an especially devious individual, though it's still my favourite of them all, despite being super difficult.

EyelessCZ · October 2018

Great work thank you a lot. This guide saved me week. I truth, I would never start that quest.

Odovacar · November 2018

Does anyone use the precursor for DPS testing? I used my buddies in our guild house and thought it was a good initial burst damage tester but usually opt for the 6-mill skelly. None the less its still a cool 50-point achievement, thanks OP.

John_Falstaff · November 2018

You can recharge ultimate on it. ^^ Best start a parse with identical initial conditions if you want to compare some builds and need repeatable results. Smack Precursor some and then do a parse on your 3mil or 6mil.

Nestor · November 2018

Odovacar wrote: »

Does anyone use the precursor for DPS testing? I used my buddies in our guild house and thought it was a good initial burst damage tester but usually opt for the 6-mill skelly. None the less its still a cool 50-point achievement, thanks OP.

Sure, because not everything is a Trials Boss.