Archaeology

Archaeology is a skill where dig sites located in

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Archaeology
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Skill ID: melvorAoD:Archaeology
Release Date: 7 September 2023 (V1.2)
Game Version: AoD.png Atlas of Discovery Expansion
Type: Gathering
Expansions information
Level 99: AoD.png Atlas of Discovery Expansion
Level 120: AoD.png Atlas of Discovery Expansion
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Cartography

can be excavated to discover an assortment of rare and unique items, which provide assistance for progression of many other skills.

Dig Sites

Dig sites are found all over the map of Melvor in

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Cartography

. Dig site hexes (tiles) must be surveyed up to Level 5 before they unlock in the Archaeology skill. Some dig sites also require certain map items to be obtained before they can be surveyed. Obtaining a map item will mark the respective dig site on the map with a " " icon.

Dig Site Map Items

Found At Dig Site Unlocked Size Rarity Item Description
  Old Village   Ancient Market Large Uncommon   Torn Chart Details the location of the Ancient Market Dig Site in Cartography. An icon has now appeared displaying its location. You can sell this item.
  Old Village   Sacrificial Site Medium Rare   Cult Flyer A flyer detailing the location of the Sacrificial Site (Dig Site) in Cartography. An icon has now appeared displaying its location. You can sell this item.
  Ancient Market   Bazaar Large Very Rare   City Chart A map detailing the location of the Bazaar Dig Site in Cartography. An icon has now appeared displaying its location. You can sell this item.
  Monuments   Melantis Small Very Rare   Melantis Clue 1
  Monuments   Watchtower Large Uncommon   Island Chart A chart detailing the location of the Watchtower Dig Site in Cartography. An icon has now appeared displaying its location. You can sell this item.
  Monuments   Castle Ruins Large Rare   Navigation Chart A chart detailing the location of the Castle Ruins Dig Site in Cartography. An icon has now appeared displaying its location. You can sell this item.
  Secret Mines   Ancient Forge Medium Very Rare   Shipment Chart A chart detailing the location of the Ancient Forge Dig Site in Cartography. An icon has now appeared displaying its location. You can sell this item.
  Ritual Site   Lost Temple Medium Very Rare   Old Temple Chart A chart detailing the location of the Lost Temple Dig Site in Cartography. An icon has now appeared displaying its location. You can sell this item.
  Cathedral   Shipwreck Cove Large Very Rare   Ancient Wall Chart A chart detailing the location of the Shipwreck Cove Dig Site in Cartography. An icon has now appeared displaying its location. You can sell this item.

All Dig Site Items

[G] Generic items which can be exchanged for   Museum Tokens.

Excavating Artefacts

The primary action for Archaeology is Excavating. The default interval per Excavation action is 4 seconds.

In order to begin Excavating a Dig Site, the player must select a Dig Site Map. Dig Site Maps are created using

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Cartography

. Players receive an Excellent quality map when they first discover a Dig Site, although future maps will start at Poor quality. Please see the Cartography page for more information on creating maps.

In addition to selecting a map, players will also have to select which tools they wish to use. The tools selected determine which sizes of Artefacts can be found. Multiple tools can be selected, but doing so will divide the chance to find a given size of artefact by the total number of tools selected. (For example, if you had a 12% chance to find a Tiny artefact with only the Sieve selected, selecting another tool will reduce the chance of finding a Tiny artefact to 6%)

Artefact Values

Each map has four Artefact values, one for each size. The lower the value is, the higher the chance of finding an Artefact of a given size. Created maps will start at Poor quality with an Artefact value of 69 for each of the four sizes. Maps found from Discovering a Dig Site start at Excellent quality with an Artefact value of 33 for each of the four sizes.

When a map is upgraded to the next tier using Map Creation in Cartography, each of the four Artefact values will be reduced by a random number from 13-23. This means a map created at Poor quality and then fully upgraded to Perfect will be reduced by 39-69, resulting in Artefact values ranging from 30-1. Note that the minimum Artefact value that can be reached is 1.

Two of the Refinements that can be added to maps further reduce Artefact values for a chosen size by 5. The player can choose whether to apply both of these to the same size or to split them between two different sizes. The minimum Artefact value of 1 can not be circumvented by Refinements.

Map Level

Each map has a level associated with it. The level is calculated based on the Artefact values of a map as follows:

[math]\displaystyle{ \text{Map Level} = \frac{19300}{\text{Sum of Artefact Values} + 124} }[/math]

Although the Map level is purely a reflection of the Artefact Values and does not convey any additional information it can be used to quickly evaluate how strong a given map is. The level of Perfect maps can range from 79-151 with an average of 105. A Poor map starts out at level 48 and an automatically provided Excellent map starts out at level 75.

Tool Level

Each of the Archaeology tools starts at level 0. This level can be increased in several ways:

  • Each Tool can be upgraded in the
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    Shop
    , receiving +1 Tool level per upgrade purchased, up to a maximum of +11
  • Every 50 donations to the
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    Museum
    will provide +1 Tool level for all tools, up to a maximum of +5 (at 250 donations)
  • The 50% Mastery Pool checkpoint for Archaeology provides +3 Tool level for all tools
  • The   Archaeology Skillcape provides +1 Tool level for all tools
  • The   Superior Archaeology Skillcape provides +3 Tool level for all tools

This makes the maximum Tool level that can be reached 22 (since the Skillcape and Superior Skillcape can't be equipped simultaneously).

Artefact Chance

The base chance to discover an Artefact of a given size is as follows:

[math]\displaystyle{ \text{% Chance} = \frac{5 \times (1 + (\text{Tool Level} + 1) \times 0.25)}{\text{Artefact Value} + 31} }[/math]

This chance is divided by the number of tools selected to determine the actual chance to discover an artefact of a given size.

Excavation Actions

Each map has a limited number of actions before it is depleted. Poor maps have a random number of actions ranging from 2,000-4,000. Every tier upgrade randomly adds an additional 2,000-4,000 actions to the map. Newly created Perfect maps may be used 8,000-12,000 times.

Preservation chance for dig site map excavation actions is separate from the Preservation Chance for other skills; items like the Crown of Rhaelyx and Peasant Shirt do not affect Archaeology.

The Museum

The Museum allows you to donate artefacts for rewards. There are 2 types of donations that can be done:

The first is Donating Generic Artefacts which can be done by clicking the blue 'Donate Generic Artefacts' button to the left side (PC) or top (Mobile) of the Museum tab. This will take all Generic Artefacts and turn them into   Museum Tokens. The rate is 1 artefact to 1 token no matter the rarity of the artefact that was turned in.

The second is donating 1 of every Artefact that can be found in Archaeology. This can be done by clicking the icons after obtaining the item. Artefacts that are donated this way can only be donated once and gives rewards when certain thresholds are met, as shown in the rewards table below. Donating Generic Artefacts does not prioritize donating one Artefact here first.

Museum Rewards

DonationsRewards
101   Bank Slot Token
201   Bank Slot Token
251   Archaeologist Gloves
Unlocks the ability to purchase Archaeologist Gloves from the
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Shop
301   Bank Slot Token
401   Bank Slot Token
501   Archaeologist's Whip
1   Bank Slot Token
+1 level of the Trowel Tool in Archaeology
+1 level of the Shovel Tool in Archaeology
+1 level of the Brush Tool in Archaeology
+1 level of the Sieve Tool in Archaeology
Unlocks the ability to purchase Archaeologist's Whip from the
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Shop
601   Bank Slot Token
701   Bank Slot Token
751   Archaeologist Boots
Unlocks the ability to purchase Archaeologist Boots from the
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Shop
801   Bank Slot Token
901   Bank Slot Token
1008   Bank Slot Token
+1 level of the Brush Tool in Archaeology
+5% chance to preserve dig site map excavation actions
+1 level of the Trowel Tool in Archaeology
+1 level of the Shovel Tool in Archaeology
+1 level of the Sieve Tool in Archaeology
1101   Bank Slot Token
1201   Bank Slot Token
1251   Archaeologist Hat
Unlocks the ability to purchase Archaeologist Hat from the
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Shop
1301   Bank Slot Token
1401   Bank Slot Token
1501   Bank Slot Token
+1 level of the Trowel Tool in Archaeology
+1 level of the Shovel Tool in Archaeology
+1 level of the Brush Tool in Archaeology
+1 level of the Sieve Tool in Archaeology
1601   Bank Slot Token
1701   Bank Slot Token
1751   Archaeologist Leggings
Unlocks the ability to purchase Archaeologist Leggings from the
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Shop
1801   Bank Slot Token
1901   Bank Slot Token
2001   Archaeologist Body
16   Bank Slot Token
+1 level of the Brush Tool in Archaeology
+5% chance to preserve dig site map excavation actions
+1 level of the Trowel Tool in Archaeology
+1 level of the Shovel Tool in Archaeology
+1 level of the Sieve Tool in Archaeology
Unlocks the ability to purchase Archaeologist Body from the
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Shop
2101   Bank Slot Token
2201   Bank Slot Token
2301   Bank Slot Token
2401   Bank Slot Token
2501   Bank Slot Token
+1 level of the Trowel Tool in Archaeology
+1 level of the Shovel Tool in Archaeology
+1 level of the Brush Tool in Archaeology
+1 level of the Sieve Tool in Archaeology
2601   Bank Slot Token
2711   Golden Trowel
30   Bank Slot Token
+10% chance to preserve dig site map excavation actions
Unlocks the ability to purchase Golden Trowel from the
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Shop

Tools

Sieves

Trowels

Brushes

Shovels

Skillcapes

Regular Skillcape

The   Archaeology Skillcape is the skillcape for the Archaeology skill. It can be purchased for 1,000,000  from the Shop once the player reaches

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Level 99

in the Archaeology skill. The Archaeology Skillcape offers the following benefits when worn:

+10% chance to preserve dig site map excavation actions, +1 level of the Sieve Tool in Archaeology, +1 level of the Trowel Tool in Archaeology, +1 level of the Brush Tool in Archaeology, and +1 level of the Shovel Tool in Archaeology

Superior Skillcape

The   Superior Archaeology Skillcape is the superior skillcape for the Archaeology skill. It can be purchased for 10,000,000  from the Shop once the player reaches

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Level 120

in the Archaeology skill. Unlike with Throne of the Herald superior capes, the   Atlas of Discovery superior cape effects are added to the   Maximum Skillcape once obtained. The superior skillcape offers the following benefits when worn:

+1 base primary resource quantity gained in Archaeology, +15% chance to preserve dig site map excavation actions, +3 levels of the Sieve Tool in Archaeology, +3 levels of the Trowel Tool in Archaeology, +3 levels of the Brush Tool in Archaeology, and +3 levels of the Shovel Tool in Archaeology

Pet

PetNameDLCEffect
 Warren  +5% chance to preserve dig site map excavation actions

Skill Boosts

Skill boosts are special enhancements that improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the player's skills. These boosts can come from a variety of sources such as equipment, potions, pets, and masteries. Global boosts are boosts which apply across all skills. A boost can be assumed to be for the listed skill only, unless specifically stated it is a global boost. Boosts help the player to progress faster and achieve higher levels of mastery in each skill. The following are some common types of skill boosts and what they do:

  • Increased Skill XP: Increases the amount of experience points (XP) gained.
  • Decreased Skill Interval: Reduces the time it takes to complete skilling actions, allowing the player to perform more actions in a given period.
  • Preservation Chance: Increases the likelihood that resources or items used during skill actions are not consumed.
  • Increased Chance to Double Items: Gives a higher chance of receiving double the items or resources when performing skill-related actions.
  • Increased Mastery XP: Enhances the rate at which mastery XP is gained for a skill.

For more information on general skill boosts that apply to all skills, refer to the Skill Boosts page.