Artefact Site

Alien Activity Site Mission

UFOpaedia entry

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."

Source:

UFOpaedia entry

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."

Source:

Artefact Sites are a 2-part mission. The seabed stage of the mission is fought in a series of underwater pyramids while the second level is fought in an mazy alien complex.

Artefact Sites start to appear some months into the game, sometimes before Alien Colonies. Though the game text from interrogations suggests that there are 8 Artefact Sites, there are more than 8 and they will continue to appear for the remainder of the game.

Artefact Sites are often treated with the same urgency as Terror sites. Though lacking a civilian component, they are longer and more dangerous and have greater repercussions. Failure to attend to an Artefact Site can result in a very large -2,000 points while failure to destroy the artefact site is worth an instant -350 points.

Though the penalties are great, so are the rewards. The act of destroying the Synonium Device alone is worth 350 victory points.

Though costly to ignore, 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.

Artefact sites are short-lived, typically lasting about 5 hours. Because of their their short durations and depths, you will not always have the luxury of arriving in ideal lighting conditions. Note however that Artefact Sites will remain if targeted by at least one X-COM submarine after their operational duration has expired.

Synonium Device

The "Synomium Device" is the so called "Artefact". As explained in the mission text the Artefact Site is a revived communications site where the artefact acts as hub for the aliens' standard means communication: Molecular Control. Similar devices are present in alien colonies.

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

An Artefact Site and Alien Colony is officially declared as destroyed on the destruction of the Synonium Device, no matter what fate befalls the X-COM aquanauts after that.

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 Synonium Device is housed in a very distinct matte black hall with a central elevator shaft as depicted in the first image above. The second picture shows the chamber where the Synonium Device is stored on the upper-most level. The device itself is a pedestal with two rotating rings.

Be warned that the black chamber is fiercely guarded by many Tentaculats and armed Aquatoids hiding in upper level cubbyholes.

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.

I had thrown a tasoth squad leader into my sub in part 1, which appeared to have returned to base with me after the completion of part 2. It is logical to assume all items thrown into the sub in part 1 will be saved. -packor

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.

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