Artefact Site

Alien Activity Site Mission

Artefact sites start to appear some months into the game, usually before alien colonies. Once both have started to appear, they continue to do so for the balance of the game. It is possible to complete all the research and submarine construction necessary to embark upon the T'Leth mission without having to fight any Artefact site missions, but this appears to be unusual.

Artefact sites are short-lived, typically lasting about 5 hours, so unless the site is near one of your bases, you will normally need to man and despatch an assault craft almost immediately in order to get to it in time. This means that, usually, you will not have the luxury of timing your arrival for daybreak, so as to assault them in better light. Failure to act against an Artefact site at all results in a large (2,000-point) penalty.

The "Artefact" is the so-called "Synomium Device", whose purpose is unexplained but which is also a feature of the control centre in alien colonies. Artefact sites may be a precursor to colonies, although Artefact sites left undisturbed do not usually turn into colonies in the same location.

In game messages

Artefact sites can be detected by your patrols but are often simply reported by an in-game message in the Geoscape screen, as happens with ship and port attacks. The alert message describes them as alien "activity", but thereafter they are referred to as "Artefact sites".

On landing at the site, the screen messages you receive are as follows:

Seabed

This mission is a raid on a freshly activated Alien communications site.
There are 2 levels to the site, the seabed with its Alien pyramids and a
hidden Alien complex.

Alien complex

Having negotiated the Alien structures and entered the complex the mission
goals are clear. Penetrate the heart of the Alien facility and destroy the
Synomium Molecular Control Device to complete the mission.

Mission structure

The mission itself is a 2-part assignment. The first part is on the seafloor with green pyramid buildings. The objective here is to get to the site entrance (or kill all the aliens). This is in a long, thin pyramid with only 1 floor. The pyramids are quite large, spanning 4 floors and with many "windows" cut into the walls. Be watchful of snipers from many angles.

As with all 2-part missions, nothing from the first part will be recovered except what you're carrying with you.

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The second part is inside a 4-floor structure. There will be two randomly placed XCOM spawn points on the top floor (L3). However, some team members may be placed at any level including L0. L0 is the main floor and connects to the shaft leading to the Synomium Device. The Synomium Device is located on L3, and you must go up the shaft to get to it. Destruction of the device will complete the mission and you can then get your team back to the spawn points and evacuate successfully.

The room surrounding the shaft leading to the Synomium Device is heavily guarded with Tasoths, Aquatoids, Tentaculats, and a Hallucinoid. There are coves containing aliens at each of the 4 corners on L1 (typically Tentaculats), as well as 2 larger balconies on L2 (typically Tasoths or Aquatoids). Given there higher elevation, these aliens can be quite hard to see. A Hallucinoid may be at the bottom of the shaft on L0. Several Tentaculats are usually found on L2 in a side room off the shaft, or in the shaft itself. The room actually containing the Synomium Device is usually unguarded.

Finding the Device

It can be difficult to find the Synomium Device if you don't know what to look for:

• 

  The path to the device

• 

  The Synomium Device (silvery object, top left)

The device can be destroyed by all weapons other than melee weapons. One hit from any explosive, Gauss or Sonic weapon is sufficient.

Points

750   Successful destruction of the Synomium Device
-750  Landing at the mission, but failing to destroy the Synomium Device
-2000 Ignoring the mission site

Enemies encountered

Typical aliens defending Artefact sites include Tasoths, Tentaculats, Aquatoids, and Hallucinoids.

In particular, there may be a large number of Tentaculats on the lower level (as many as 10 have been reported). A recent mission on Superhuman had 44 aliens present, though some were XCom agents turned to zombies. Up to 20 aliens can be expected per mission part.

Killing or incapacitating all aliens will result in substantial equipment recovered. A sample haul is as follows:

Potential recovered items

Ion-Beam Accelerators    10
Alien Sub Construction    1
Alien Cryogenics         12
Alien Learning Array      1
Alien Implanter           2
Aqua Plastics           484
Alien Re-Animation Zone   3