Barotrauma – How to Complete Salvaging an Artifact Missions

This guide is meant for inexperienced people looking to learn how to complete Salvaging an Artifact missions in a fast and effective way.

Completing the Salvaging an Artifact Missions

Note: Credit goes to Will

Introduction

This guide will hopefully teach you in how to effectively complete “Salvaging and Artifact” missions. In this guide, we will go through the basic gist of what to do, what items to bring, and tips, so you will be able to complete this type of mission easily.

The guide will be short, as “Salvaging an Artifact” missions are not usually challenging as long as you know what you’re supposed to do and bring the necessary items with you.

So with that over the way, let’s start with the basics.

Preparation

“Salvaging an Artifact” missions are really simple; you’re supposed to break into the alien ruins and retrieve the artifact that’s located somewhere inside. To do this, you will need to prepare to go outside of the submarine. Here’s a list of what items you should bring with you on “Salvaging an Artifact” missions:

Oxygen Tanks

These are very self explanatory, and are a must for any prolonged amount of time outside of the submarine. I would advice carrying a reasonable amount with you, atleast 3 or 4. Retrieving the artifact doesn’t usually take much time, but you can never be sure how long it will actually take you.

Plasma Cutter

Absolutely essential to “Salvaging an Artifact” missions. With this item you will be able to cut your way through the alien ruins, saving time. Be careful to not overuse this item, as it uses oxygen tanks as fuel. If you happen to be running low on oxygen tanks from too much Plasma Cutter use, prioritize using them on your diving suit instead, so you can go back into the submarine and get more.

Hand Held Sonar

This item is often forgotten or over-ruled in favor of other items, but it is incredibly useful. It makes you able to not only pinpoint where an artifact exactly is, but it also lets you know where the submarine is located at in case you got lost or the submarine moved. I advice always bringing this item with you, just remember to keep it on the “Passive Sonar” mode so it doesn’t run out of power. You can also use the battery that comes with this item to power your scooter, in case of an emergency.

Underwater Scooter

Underwater scooters make you significantly faster while traversing through the water.

They are very useful while traversing into the ruins, but not so much while traversing out, as the person who is carrying the artifact with them will not be able to use any items, and as such, will not be able to equip their scooter.

They are a must in case of an emergency; if you are running low on oxygen, are bleeding out or you simply need a certain item to progress with the mission, you will be able to quickly go back inside the submarine. You can also outpace most if not all the sea monsters in the game, so if you happen to have run out of ammunition or you don’t have a means to kill the monster, you can simply retreat back inside the submarine.

Stun Baton

In the best case scenario, you won’t actually need to use weapons on “Salvaging an Artifact” missions. But the Stun Baton, if you manage to get one / happen to be a security officer, makes for a very useful tool in cases where you’re head to head with a sea creature.

The Stun Baton can stun any enemy in the game for a reasonable amount of time.

You’ll commonly encounter sea creatures on your way out of the ruins, so I advice using hit-and-run tactics; don’t linger around killing the alien ruins enemies, simply stun them and get out as quickly as you can.

Harpoon Gun

Anything said for the Stun Baton applies to the Harpoon Gun as well. It just happens to be slightly less useful and it doesn’t disable enemies in one hit.

If you have a sizeable crew of people going into the alien ruins, I would advice actually bringing one, because inventory limitations are less tight, and people will linger a bit more inside the ruins, increasing the chance of encountering monster-filled rooms.

Crowbar

Way less useful than the Plasma Cutter. It can open the locked entry doors if you want to enter the ruins without cutting through a wall. I don’t advice bringing it with you unless there’s no Plasma Cutters.

Sonar Beacon

Incredibly useless. The only time you would get to use this in a “Salvage an Artifact” mission would be if the ruins where in a location were the submarine itself wouldn’t be able to get much close to them. Absolutely don’t bring with you unless the ruins are a long distance away from the submarine.

The Fastest Method

Alien ruins happen to be very maze-like. With hallways and big rooms around everywhere, sometimes filled with traps and monsters, they can be huge time wasters. You can easily get lost, die to monsters or simply happen to run out of oxygen while traversing the ruins.

This is why a lot of more experienced players will use a certain method to get to the artifact room quickly.

The strategy involves skipping the whole thing, and utilizing a Hand-Held sonar, pin pointing where the artifact is exactly located, and cutting through from the outside.

What you really want to do the moment you’re outside the submarine, is use your scooter to swim around the outside of the ruins. Never actually go inside, just keep swimming around it. Using a Hand-Held Sonar, get to the signal. This signal will actually direct you where the artifact is located exactly.

When you think you’re in the right place (thermal artifacts will sometimes emit fire particles, making it really easy to know where they are as you can see them from the outside), start looking around for a place to cut through with your Plasma Cutter.

The best place to cut is through the hallways connecting the artifact room to other rooms, as the walls for these hallways are thin, and it won’t take you long to cut through them. it’s very easy to spot these walls, as they are very significantly thinner than any other wall type. Just remember that these hallways have a door puzzle on the inside, so if you cut through the middle the doors will block your way.

Cut on the very sides of the hallway, preferably the side where you think the artifact is actually at, so you won’t have to do the door puzzle. You will most likely come across the artifact. Grab it, and, on the off chance that you’re doing this alone, try to remember the path that you took to get there, because you won’t be able to use your Hand-Held Sonar. Exit through the same hole and you have a very high chance of making it to the submarine without any harm or difficulty.

Tips

Now that you know how to grab the artifact fast and easy, i’ll share some tips based on my personal experience, just because i think it makes this endeavor even easier.

Don’t bring a shuttle with you

Sometimes a submarine will happen to have a type of smaller submarine called a shuttle with it. I’ve seen people try to use these shuttles on “Salvaging an Artifact” missions, but I think they’re pretty useless. Most of the time they won’t be able to get any closer than the normal submarine to the artifact, but they can also run out of power and drift off if you take too long. They will also just get in the way of the entryways usually, so bringing them is more of a liability than anything.

Try to get atleast somebody else to come with you

While it is entirely possible to retrieve an artifact alone, having somebody else to bring oxygen tanks and to help cut through walls is very useful. Not only that, but having someone to guide the person holding the artifact is way more convenient; one person is carrying the artifact, the other can look at their Hand-Held Sonar to guide them around.

Don’t linger inside the ruins too much

Unless you’re playing the campaign mode, there’s not much use in exploring the ruins. It only gives you more of a chance to die or get lost, so try to get in and get out of the ruins as soon as possible.

Conclusion

Alright! So that was all the knowledge that i can bring to you guys about how to complete “Salvaging an Artifact” missions. Now, by putting the things i said in practice, you’ll be able to do these missions very quickly and without putting yourself at risk of dying. Hopefully you will have an easier time completing them now!