Always run out of time excavating gold leads

Dennidan · July 2020

So what am I doing wrong to always run out of time with gold leads? I have managed 2 or 3, but only after hours of doing it over and over again and getting lucky.. Anyone else experience this?

Salvas_Aren · July 2020

Nope. Easy digging, just getting secondary artifacts for half the yellow and for the orange items is hardcore.

joerginger · July 2020

Do you mean skrying or excavating? Is your skrying/excavation skill line fully developed? I stayed away from gold leads until I had all the skills I could get. Even now it's sometimes really close because there are a lot of layers to remove. I haven't run out of time yet, but I've broken my fair share of antiquities!

bluebird · July 2020

Do you have the Passives in Excavation? That allow you to use the Shovels more effectively?

1) use the Antiquarian's Eye to pinpoint the whole Antiquity. Antiquities come in set shapes and sizes, and on higher difficulties they are usually aligned diagonally, so if you can pinpoint some Green squares you have a good idea in which direction the Antiquity will lie.

2) Use the Hand Brush to clear the irregular surface layer of dirt above the Antiquitiy so you get a 3x3 square that's all on one level. The Hand Brush also builds intuition which you will need for the special shovels.

3) Use the large shovel to dig down in a 3x3 square. Be careful that you don't use the Heavy Shovel with full intuition if you're too deep down, otherwise it will clear all layers and you'll damage and possibly destroy the Antiquity.

4) Repeat steps 2-3 as many times as needed, to clear large areas of multiple layers of dirt, and using the hand brush when precision is needed. This is always enough to uncover the main Antiquity.

5) Optional: You can also use the Trowel to dig deep on a single square, this is useful if you uncovered the main large body of an Antiquity with the Heavy Shovel, but need to get the corners with a targeted single-square tool. With the proper Passives, you can also use the Trowel to safely clear fissures if one is in the way of your excavating and would explode if you hit it (otherwise, you don't need to bother with them as it's useful for unearthing bonus items but won't affect your main Antiquities' success).

Dennidan · July 2020

I'm maxed on Antiquities. I guess I should have said that since people go for the lcd first, and rightly so. The old 'did you plug it in?' canard. Based on bluebirds answer, I'm guessing it's my use/misuse of the shovel. Since no one else is having the issue, it's obviously my technique. Arthritis in the hands isn't helping either. But thanks for the replies, I appreciate them.

newtinmpls · July 2020

Well @Dennidan I can tell you what I do...not sure if it will help

1-I hate the "little shovel" [trowel] on top so rarely use it; the "big shovel" [Heavy Shovel] (the 3x3 one) is my friend.

2-Okay, when I start, if it's gold/high level, there are going to be places where I cannot use the Antiquarian's eye. It's not worth my time to try and handbrush before using, so I start by looking for spread out spots to use it where I can. Red - lovely, means I can ignore quite a chunk. Orange, similar, Green - fabulous.

Yellow - frustrating. A big ole chunk or cluster of yellows means that at least part of the antiquity is likely to be "in the middle". That's where I start.

Consider - many of the higher tier antiquities will be diagonally placed. Keep this in the back of your mind.

Cautiously look for spaces where similar levels are next to each other (not diagonally), and if not right away, then use the hand brush to set them up.

Use the Heavy Shovel AS SOON AS POSSIBLE; you can clear out "high points" so that the next time you will get more excavated.

When "charging it up" for the next use, remember:

-Plan ahead, if all of your "next" 3x3 is on the same level, then go next to it, don't wreck it
-if there is a fissure (on the same level), the offset your 3x3 square rather than risk damaging your antiquity
-Remember it does (unless fully charged) one level at a time, so if you can get the surrounding squares lower than the fissure, you no longer have to worry about setting it off.

Hope these help

Everest_Lionheart · July 2020

Learn how deep each of the tools dig. The hand brush will always remove 1 layer of dirt. The trowel with 1 bar of intuition will remove 3 layers of dirt. With 2 bars of intuition the trowel will remove 6 layers of dirt. Once you learn how deep each layer of rocks is you can safely dig accordingly. I uncover most of my antiquities using only the hand brush and trowel.

3 layers of dirt looks like a large rock texture but it’s dark in colour. 6 layers has a similar texture but lighter. Now assuming you’ve found the appropriate area on the dig site you can remove layers to get down to either the light or the dark texture that corresponds to your inspiration bar and use the trowel on that tile. 1 bar for dark large rocks, 2 bars for light large rocks. Once you learn the patterns and order of layers the rest is simple math to get to your appropriate trowel depth.

You don’t even really have to worry about using the large shovel. That comes in handy when looking for extras items but it more important that you get the antiquity anyway and there is more than enough time/inspiration to uncover them even if you make a few mistakes. Keep at it, learn the tools and patterns. Practice on the blue antiquities to learn how deep the single inspiration trowel digs. You can repeat blues and greens all day until you are comfortable. Save a couple purples for practicing the 2 inspiration trowel. Once you get it, antiquities becomes a breeze.

newtinmpls · July 2020

Everest_Lionheart wrote: »

Learn how deep each of the tools dig. .

Good point!

There are potentially 9 layers of dirt; three sets of 3 levels each and each "level" has a particular color (lightest is the top, darkest is the bottom/deepest)

For each of them:
Large rocks - top layer (or that level)
Scattered medium rocks - middle layer (of that level)
Occasional small rocks - bottom layer (of that level)

Tools:
Handbrush 1 square, 1 individual layer - no risk of damage to the antiquity
Trowel - 1 square, 3 layers (later can also do 3 more, so 6 total) risk of damage to antiquity
Heavy shovel - 3x3 area (9 squares in a square arrangement) 1 layer default (no risk of damage to antiquity), 2 layers later - can damage antiquity. NOTE that this tool uses the "center square" as the default level to clear; if the squares directly above/below (think a cross pattern) are at the same "level" they will also be cleared, and if the "corner" squares are also at that level, they two will be cleared.

As noted above, some folks do better with the trowel, I personally do better with the heavy shovel and rarely if ever use the trowel (sometimes after the fact I set off fissures, but that is more fun than anything else).

edited for math

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Epona222 · July 2020

Don't forget that it's turn based - NOT on a real timer, so don't rush, you don't have to complete the thing within x amount of time. It is x amount of actions. I have arthritis in my hands and this is far far less demanding than a boss fight! Take your time with it.

FrancisCrawford · July 2020

Epona222 wrote: »

Don't forget that it's turn based - NOT on a real timer, so don't rush, you don't have to complete the thing within x amount of time. It is x amount of actions. I have arthritis in my hands and this is far far less demanding than a boss fight! Take your time with it.

I think this is a key point.

Anyhow, the real challenge in excavating gold leads is that the first step -- augury? -- commonly leaves you with only an approximate idea of where the artifact is. Reasons include:

You can't check most squares on the grid. So you might not get a green hit at all.
Assuming you do, you may only have a single green grid square.
Gold items are big. You first 9x9 target area will never include the whole artifact ...
... and for reasons mentioned above, you usually can't reliably guess which of the adjacent grid squares are the key one.

So the general strategy is:

Clear one 9x9 area.
While you're doing that, use your handbrushing to work on adjacent squares as well.

"Work on adjacent squares" can include:

Level an additional area for the big shovel
Take care of a fissure with the small shovel.
Drill down in one or more particular grid squares you're unlikely to ever dig with a shovel at all.

Nomadic_Atmoran · July 2020

Dennidan wrote: »

So what am I doing wrong to always run out of time with gold leads? I have managed 2 or 3, but only after hours of doing it over and over again and getting lucky.. Anyone else experience this?

You need to go back and forth with the tools. You can't focus on one tool over the other when trying to excavate a Gold item. They're meant to be the most difficult so you can't approach it the way you would a green/blue/purple.

Use the brush and pan to clear off the uneven portions of the area around the object then use the shovel to clear out a larger area at once. If you do this right you should be able to excavate the item with more than enough time to look for secondary objects.

Nairinhe · July 2020

FrancisCrawford wrote: »

Epona222 wrote: »

Don't forget that it's turn based - NOT on a real timer, so don't rush, you don't have to complete the thing within x amount of time. It is x amount of actions. I have arthritis in my hands and this is far far less demanding than a boss fight! Take your time with it.

I think this is a key point.

Anyhow, the real challenge in excavating gold leads is that the first step -- augury? -- commonly leaves you with only an approximate idea of where the artifact is. Reasons include:
You can't check most squares on the grid. So you might not get a green hit at all.

Assuming you do, you may only have a single green grid square.

Gold items are big. You first 9x9 target area will never include the whole artifact ...

... and for reasons mentioned above, you usually can't reliably guess which of the adjacent grid squares are the key one.

Every yellow to red square also gives you a range around it where antiquity might be. So it's easy to get at least one green spot and digging from there is a bet safe enough

Jaraal · July 2020

Personally, I will start the eye about 5 squares by 5 squares up from the bottom left corner (or the closest useable spot), and see what color I get. That tells me how far away to start the second eye, on a diagonal line towards the opposite corner. If I get two yellows in a row, I triangulate to either side at a 90 degree angle, and if I don't get a green, I triangulate from the other side of the two yellows. Honestly, I can't ever remember NOT getting at least one green square this way, and it's usually three or four.

And I've never even come close to running out of time. I use the hand brush to level a nine square block centered approximately where the green squares are, then I hit it with the heavy shovel. If I don't get a free turn with the heavy, then I use the brush to start cutting a path for my fissure chain explosion, away from the antiquity. Once the bar is fully charged, I use the heavy shovel again. That should get me one layer above the item. If the bar is still charged, don't use the heavy a third time, you will destroy it. Use the full trowel to bore down next to your 3x3, in the spot that seems most likely to have the hidden corner of the item. Then I go back to clearing my explosion path.... but only two swishes of the hand brush. That will half charge the heavy shovel, and should expose the majority of the antiquity upon use. Then you can brush some more on your explosion path, until the trowel is fully charged and you can bore down on the remaining covered corner of your item.

To echo what others have said, it's important to max out the Excavation passives. Also, I wonder if it's extra hard for color blind people, as I could see how some of the subtle shading of the various layers could become lost in that case.

stefan.gustavsonb16_ESO · July 2020

Jaraal wrote: »

...
Also, I wonder if it's extra hard for color blind people, as I could see how some of the subtle shading of the various layers could become lost in that case.

No. It's based on contrast and pattern, not color. "Color blind" or, more appropriately, color deficient people have problems telling certain hues apart, not telling whether a patch is light or dark, or seeing the size of the rocks.

Dennidan · July 2020

Epona222 wrote: »

Don't forget that it's turn based - NOT on a real timer, so don't rush, you don't have to complete the thing within x amount of time. It is x amount of actions. I have arthritis in my hands and this is far far less demanding than a boss fight! Take your time with it.

Bingo! There is exactly my problem. I'm banging away as fast as I can thinking it is timed-based. I'm so glad I posted this message, because I was still having difficulty following the other excellent advice above, although it got me closer.

Thanks much Epona222 and everyone for the help!

redlink1979 · July 2020

Brush, brush, trowel > Using the trowel does not deplete the time bar at the top of the screen

This is my MO once I have an idea about the area where the container is. I never run out of time.

Nomadic_Atmoran · July 2020

A method I use to locate the items is to turn the grid into quadrants and use the eye somewhere near the midpoint in those quadrants. This means I use at max 3 attempts on scratching off the quadrants as I go. I typically have the remaining uses left to zero in on the item once I've located a yellow square. The yellow squares are typically very close to where the green is and so approaching the last quadrant the same way I approached the whole digsite typically locates the item. I almost always get a good idea of where the item is sitting using this method.