I have found this method to be helpful in retrieving the maximum amount of data and materials from the various sites involved with the new Ram Tah mission. Your mileage may vary.
When approaching a Guardian site, first take a few minutes to perform an aerial survey of the Guardian site. Using your ship’s lights, pencil, paper and the external camera sketch a site diagram taking note of the direction of north. Take time to record the locations of all structures, the Machine if there is one, regular Power Towers, Ancient Artifact spawn locations and Obelisk locations. Ancient Artifact spawn locations look like little circles of rocks. Some have Artifacts, some do not. If the small, stone triangles on the ground which are the locations of the Machine Power Towers are visible, record their locations too. Relic towers and Sentinel spawn sites will have to wait until they are raised from the ground as you pass by them in your SRV. The site should be mapped and all Obelisk locations recorded so they can be quickly and easily found once you are on the ground.
Once in your SRV perform a ground reconnoiter, shooting down any Sentinels that spawn, collecting their tech and noting their spawning locations if possible. Often this will raise some of the Relic towers. Note their locations on your diagram. Take note of which Ancient Artifacts spawn in which spawning locations so needed Artifacts will be easier to collect if needed. Drive around all of the Obelisks and note which Obelisks are scan-able, their locations and which artifacts they need you to have in your SRV inventory in order to scan them since you may need to make several trips back to your ship and switch out artifacts. By the time this is done you will probably have shot down several Sentinels, raised several Ancient Relic towers, will have located the Guardian Machine if there is one is on-site and will know whether or not the site supplies all of the Ancient Artifacts needed to scan the Obelisks.
If the site supplies them or if you have available in your ships inventory all the necessary Ancient Artifacts to scan all of the scan-able Obelisks, start doing that. As you work your way around the site scanning Obelisks shoot the Destructible Panels on the regular Power Towers to release the technology inside and collect all of them. Some of the large structures also have Destructible Panels with Guardian tech that can be collected. Some of these panels are on TOP of the structures making it interesting to get up there in the SRV to “release” them. There are also sometimes large panels built into some of the structures with blue-green light glowing through them which cannot be targeted but when you shoot them will release even more Guardian tech.
Once all of the scan-able Obelisks have been scanned, when all of the available Guardian technology has been collected from all of the structures and regular Power Towers (plus hopefully you have stowed at least 2 of each available Ancient Artifact type in your ships inventory) if there is a Guardian Machine on-site it is time to raise the Guardian Machine Power Towers (MPT) from the ground. Usually at least one of the two MPT nearest the Machine need to be raised first by simply driving the SRV past them at a reasonably close distance. Do NOT charge them yet! There are six MPTs scattered around each site. After the first two MPT nearest the Machine are raised, one-by-one the rest will each raise themselves from their small, triangular bases on the ground (the locations of which you noted during either your aerial or ground reconnoiter) as you drive past each of the bases in your SRV. While you are doing this, find a Relic Tower. Shoot an Ancient Relic out of the tower and collect it, you will need it later.
Once all six (6) of the MPTs have been raised from the ground, go to the MPT farthest from the machine. This is because there is an interval timer which starts when the first MPT is charged and it is convenient to finish at the two MPT right next to the Machine. Before charging the first MPT it might be a good idea to use the SRV's external camera and familiarize yourself with all of the MPT locations before continuing.
Charge the first MPT by shooting at the blue light in its center. It is not very difficult to hit and you will know you are successful when the MPT gives a “charging” message and the interval timer starts. When the MPT is fully charged it will shine a light up into the “sky” and sound a loud CLANG! You will not see it at first but a segment of the Machine will also rise up in front of the Machine as each MPT is charged. Now it is time to move. You have a reasonable amount of time to get to the next MPT and some of the remaining time is added to your next MPT charging interval so do not rush, but be reasonably quick to get to the next MPT and charge it as well. Continue on, charging each MPT until only the two MPT next to the Machine itself are left. Charge those two and all six (6) pieces of the Relic-shaped symbol in the front of the Machine should rise into position, letting you know that you now need an Ancient Relic to fully activate the Machine.
In front of the Machine will be a small spot on the ground where, once the MPTs are all activated will show you where an Ancient Relic needs to be dropped in order to fully activate the Machine. Park your SRV on top of this spot making sure your SRV is pointed in the general direction of your ship. Jettison your Ancient Relic and get into the turret! The Machine will activate, the data portal (big blue sphere) will rise from the Machine, unfold and you will be able to scan it using the SRVs data scanner. Do this quickly because as soon as the Machine activates several Sentinels will try to destroy you. Scan the Ancient Data-Point then get out of the turret and run for the border! This is where all your preparation pays off because you have already collected all of the available data and technology and now it is time to get out of town! Drive to your ship as fast as you can, the Sentinels will usually stop chasing you once you exit the area and retreat inside the perimeter of the Guardian site though they will remain on station in case you want to go back, blow them up and collect more Sentinel tech.
You’re done. Move on. A couple of notes: When you work your first Guardian site there will only be a couple of Sentinels attacking in turns. Once you have scanned a couple more sites they will become both more numerous and more crafty. They will attack in groups; often they will hide, making you come after them.
Some sites do not have a Machine. These sites will usually have many more Obelisks to scan and some Obelisks are bugged. Even if you have the correct Artifact(s) in your SRV inventory when you try to scan a bugged Obelisk you will receive a message telling you the combination of Artifacts is wrong. There is no fix for this yet that I know of.
Here’s wishing you Happy Hunting CMDR. o7
PS: Below is a link to a diagram I made of the site at HD 63154, B3a. You may find it useful:
When approaching a Guardian site, first take a few minutes to perform an aerial survey of the Guardian site. Using your ship’s lights, pencil, paper and the external camera sketch a site diagram taking note of the direction of north. Take time to record the locations of all structures, the Machine if there is one, regular Power Towers, Ancient Artifact spawn locations and Obelisk locations. Ancient Artifact spawn locations look like little circles of rocks. Some have Artifacts, some do not. If the small, stone triangles on the ground which are the locations of the Machine Power Towers are visible, record their locations too. Relic towers and Sentinel spawn sites will have to wait until they are raised from the ground as you pass by them in your SRV. The site should be mapped and all Obelisk locations recorded so they can be quickly and easily found once you are on the ground.
Once in your SRV perform a ground reconnoiter, shooting down any Sentinels that spawn, collecting their tech and noting their spawning locations if possible. Often this will raise some of the Relic towers. Note their locations on your diagram. Take note of which Ancient Artifacts spawn in which spawning locations so needed Artifacts will be easier to collect if needed. Drive around all of the Obelisks and note which Obelisks are scan-able, their locations and which artifacts they need you to have in your SRV inventory in order to scan them since you may need to make several trips back to your ship and switch out artifacts. By the time this is done you will probably have shot down several Sentinels, raised several Ancient Relic towers, will have located the Guardian Machine if there is one is on-site and will know whether or not the site supplies all of the Ancient Artifacts needed to scan the Obelisks.
If the site supplies them or if you have available in your ships inventory all the necessary Ancient Artifacts to scan all of the scan-able Obelisks, start doing that. As you work your way around the site scanning Obelisks shoot the Destructible Panels on the regular Power Towers to release the technology inside and collect all of them. Some of the large structures also have Destructible Panels with Guardian tech that can be collected. Some of these panels are on TOP of the structures making it interesting to get up there in the SRV to “release” them. There are also sometimes large panels built into some of the structures with blue-green light glowing through them which cannot be targeted but when you shoot them will release even more Guardian tech.
Once all of the scan-able Obelisks have been scanned, when all of the available Guardian technology has been collected from all of the structures and regular Power Towers (plus hopefully you have stowed at least 2 of each available Ancient Artifact type in your ships inventory) if there is a Guardian Machine on-site it is time to raise the Guardian Machine Power Towers (MPT) from the ground. Usually at least one of the two MPT nearest the Machine need to be raised first by simply driving the SRV past them at a reasonably close distance. Do NOT charge them yet! There are six MPTs scattered around each site. After the first two MPT nearest the Machine are raised, one-by-one the rest will each raise themselves from their small, triangular bases on the ground (the locations of which you noted during either your aerial or ground reconnoiter) as you drive past each of the bases in your SRV. While you are doing this, find a Relic Tower. Shoot an Ancient Relic out of the tower and collect it, you will need it later.
Once all six (6) of the MPTs have been raised from the ground, go to the MPT farthest from the machine. This is because there is an interval timer which starts when the first MPT is charged and it is convenient to finish at the two MPT right next to the Machine. Before charging the first MPT it might be a good idea to use the SRV's external camera and familiarize yourself with all of the MPT locations before continuing.
Charge the first MPT by shooting at the blue light in its center. It is not very difficult to hit and you will know you are successful when the MPT gives a “charging” message and the interval timer starts. When the MPT is fully charged it will shine a light up into the “sky” and sound a loud CLANG! You will not see it at first but a segment of the Machine will also rise up in front of the Machine as each MPT is charged. Now it is time to move. You have a reasonable amount of time to get to the next MPT and some of the remaining time is added to your next MPT charging interval so do not rush, but be reasonably quick to get to the next MPT and charge it as well. Continue on, charging each MPT until only the two MPT next to the Machine itself are left. Charge those two and all six (6) pieces of the Relic-shaped symbol in the front of the Machine should rise into position, letting you know that you now need an Ancient Relic to fully activate the Machine.
In front of the Machine will be a small spot on the ground where, once the MPTs are all activated will show you where an Ancient Relic needs to be dropped in order to fully activate the Machine. Park your SRV on top of this spot making sure your SRV is pointed in the general direction of your ship. Jettison your Ancient Relic and get into the turret! The Machine will activate, the data portal (big blue sphere) will rise from the Machine, unfold and you will be able to scan it using the SRVs data scanner. Do this quickly because as soon as the Machine activates several Sentinels will try to destroy you. Scan the Ancient Data-Point then get out of the turret and run for the border! This is where all your preparation pays off because you have already collected all of the available data and technology and now it is time to get out of town! Drive to your ship as fast as you can, the Sentinels will usually stop chasing you once you exit the area and retreat inside the perimeter of the Guardian site though they will remain on station in case you want to go back, blow them up and collect more Sentinel tech.
You’re done. Move on. A couple of notes: When you work your first Guardian site there will only be a couple of Sentinels attacking in turns. Once you have scanned a couple more sites they will become both more numerous and more crafty. They will attack in groups; often they will hide, making you come after them.
Some sites do not have a Machine. These sites will usually have many more Obelisks to scan and some Obelisks are bugged. Even if you have the correct Artifact(s) in your SRV inventory when you try to scan a bugged Obelisk you will receive a message telling you the combination of Artifacts is wrong. There is no fix for this yet that I know of.
Here’s wishing you Happy Hunting CMDR. o7
PS: Below is a link to a diagram I made of the site at HD 63154, B3a. You may find it useful:
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