Guild Wars 2

With the fight against the Elder Dragons taking priority, chronicling the vast history of Tyria has taken a step back for the Durmand Priory.

As such, the Durmand Priory has asked the adventurers of Tyria to keep an eye out for any artifacts while they roam the world.

What is Archaeology?

Archaeology is digging up old stuff.

Players would use a refined version of the VOED in order to detect artifacts from past ages.

For those who aren’t versed in the history of Tyria, the Durmand Priory recommends adventurers search around Points of Interest already marked on their map. Although these sites have had cursory glances taken at them – thanks to history books – no actual excavations have been carried out.

Mechanics

Detecting Artifacts

Players would equip the VOED which would then change the first 5 skills of the skillbar. Unfortunately, in order to maintain accuracy at different distances, the wavelength of each skill is different, meaning that each skill has a certain range of ranges in which it can detect items:

Skill 1: 2000 – 1500 units
Skill 2: 1499 – 1000 units
Skill 3: 999 – 500 units
Skill 4: 499 – 0 units
Skill 5: Dig

If the VOED detects something, then it will show on the minimap in a certain radius. The closer you are to the artifact, the more accurate the location is marked.

The types of artifacts found would depend on the location’s history.

Progression

Players will unearth a bunch of stuff that can’t accurately be identified (giving them a wider chance of getting rarer relics).

However, as their Archaeology levels up, so does their eye for items increasing their chances of gaining rarer relics, which can be exchanged for the higher tier rewards.

Rewards

Hand-In Rewards

Players give the artifacts to the Priory in exchange for a number of rewards, including:

• Unique Weapon Skins
• Unique Armour Skins
• Crafting Recipes for old GW weapon and armour skins
• Lore snippets unlocking at that particular PoI

These rewards would be dependent on what kind of artifacts they found. So for example, if a player handed in Deldrimor Relics, depending on the rarity of the relics the player has handed in, can obtain anything from a Dwarven Tonic to a Recipie: Deldirmor weapon.

Collections

For completing a collection, the player can obtain Ascended gear of choice with a unique skin.

For example, completing the Dwarven collection (Deldrimor and Stone Summit Relics), the player can unlock:

• Ironhammer’s Platemail (Heavy)
• Deeprunner’s Leathers (Medium)
• Alkar’s Vestements (Light)

an interesting idea, might come out as a mastery, but your rewards are way too good, they would probably just be some blues/greens and as an end goal maybe some exotic gear, no skins unique to it as that would mean Anet cant sell them on the gem store

We already have the cultural mastery tracks, so I don’t think this would be too much of a stretch beyond having to equip am item, but I guess the hang glider is an item

Unforgiven Azrael.6203:

an interesting idea, might come out as a mastery, but your rewards are way too good, they would probably just be some blues/greens and as an end goal maybe some exotic gear, no skins unique to it as that would mean Anet cant sell them on the gem store

I agree that rewards are probably too much, but anet does add free skins (glorious armors, carapace/luminecent armors, and the bug weapons from dry top are the most recent examples). That said, they seem to like either adding them behind an elaborate quest/grind, or in an rng container(like last time they added a batch of weapon skins). A simple mastery track seems like too little work for a skin.

Then again, they could have the relics tie into a collection…So mabey a fancy hat or back piece when you find them all.

Now why an I having wow flashbacks about this?