A brief history of what has happened so far (essential reading for background and context):
1) Guardians content came as part of release 2.2
2) The first site was found via triangulation from a trailer video – there are two key point from this:
a) It was a great piece of work.
b) Consequently FD’s plan for how we would find the ruins was completely skipped and we never found out how we were supposed to find them in game.
3) Lots of work and investigation was done into the first site. Most of these areas of investigation are still open.
4) A CG ran with players scanning the obelisks to collect ancient data types (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon)
5) With release 2.2.03, the first site was changed to a revised model and the Ram Tah mission was released.
6) It was found that the Ram Tah mission couldn’t be completed at the first site and the focus went to finding more sites.
7) Several Galnet articles provided locations for other sites.
8) A further site was discovered via triangulation from a trailer and enabled the mission to be completed in Open – this was as a result of a bug in open mode which gave extra scan data then should have been accessible at the sites.
9) With the first completion of the Ram Tah mission the sites become visible on scanners when within 1,000ly, and more sites were discovered.
10) With release 2.3 changes were made to the active obelisks and available data at the sites and the cannon have been working to map these out as they are in 2.3.
Open areas of investigation
There is a huge amount of Guardians content in game, much of which is still unsolved. There are things which are definitely there, which have been worked on and are unsolved, and there are other things which have been hinted at and/or are open questions.
Things that are there and unsolved include:
• Words & phrases which could be found hidden in audio from around the original site
• 'Barcodes' in the spectrograms of the audio from the obelisks
• The glyphs (The triangular displays/patterns on the obelisks, the ancient relic, and the base of the relic towers).
• An object that is inside the ancient relics
• Binary or Trinary coding in the alignment of obelisks in rows
The more open questions or areas of investigation include:
• Finding the other Guardian bubble
• What forced the Exodus from the original Guardian bubble?
• Finding the Guardian homeworld
• Mapping the extent of the known Guardian bubble
• Would the Guardian bubble have extended into Col 70?
• What were the purposes of the different types of site?
• What happened to the Exiles?
• Who/what were the foes/adversaries? and what became of them? (Thargoids..?)
Synuefe NU-F B44-5 B 1 (59.50, -23.35) (reported by aguettinger
The Guardian Key
Store description of the Guardian Key (with thanks to Commdor for the text):
A crystal found by scanning the data core of a Guardian beacon. It appears to contain a similar ethereal type of energy as the ancient relics found at the ruin sites of the Guardian civilisation. Like the relic this item is used in guardian technologies, unlocking new data and functions. Hence it has been given the designation of "Key".
This log describes the Guardian's weapon technology. It seems they developed electromagnetic projectiles weapons early in their modern period, utilising the same technology they used to launch their first spacecraft. These weapons ionized the path their target (took) before firing focused bolts of energy along the ionized track. They were crude and unpredictable at first, sometimes resulting in the death of the wielder, but once the Guardians learned to regulate the ionisation process they became more stable
This data relates to Guardian shield technology. Of course, I already knew they had developed extremely effective shields, capable of protecting entire cities and even of withstanding orbital bombardment. And I was aware that their shields were effective against both laser weapons and kinetic projectiles. But it is remarkable to consider that this technology was developed millions of years ago, relatively early in the Guardians' timeline
This data provides further insights into the Guardians' ship technology. We already know how ecologically conscientious the guardians were, and of their assiduous avoidance of rockets and fossil fuels, so it isn't surprising their first spacecraft were fired into space with electromagnetic launchers. Of course, this was an imperfect system that did not allow pilots to adjust their course after launch.
Over time the Guardians' starships became more sophisticated, but their approach to space travel remained rooted in a respect for the natural world, and their interplanetary expansion was fuelled by clean nuclear fission and fusion. Their ships could travel at speeds approximating those of our own present-day craft. Unfortunately, the data includes no schematic information, so it seems likely that the details have been lost. It's a shame - I'm sure the Pilots Federation would have liked to know more about the Guardians' spacecraft.
This data concerns the automated defence systems found at the Guardian sites. You may have already encountered them. The data indicates that these Sentinels date from some time prior to the second Guardian civil war. They are designed to respond aggressively to any unauthorised activity around the ruins. If you are forced to defend yourself, kinetic weaponry would be your best form of attack, since the Sentinels have no shields. Destroying them is of course regrettable, but Sentinel weapon parts are of considerable value, so the loss is not significant.
This log details the Guardians' power plant and distributor technology. The efficiency of this technology far exceeded anything the human race has yet developed, and the yield was huge in relation to the input required. Unfortunately, the specifics of how this was achieved are not described in the log. But who knows? Perhaps the secrets of the Guardians' energy technology will someday be discovered.
The new type of sites show as 'Guardian Site' rather than 'Ancient Ruin'.
Systems with Guardian sites can now be found in the Galmap
Only systems where a site has been discovered and the exploration data then handed in to Universal Cartographics will appear.* - Systems where sites have not yet been found by a cmdr will not show up in the Galmap.
*Note - it is not yet completely confirmed whether the trigger is handing in data to UC or just discovering a site.
There's a puzzle to be solved at the new sites.
(Details of how to solve the puzzle are not being added to this post for the moment to allow players to complete it for themselves.)
Other new sites are being found. Not all involve the puzzle.
The new sites generally seem to have one type of artefact missing which would be needed for at least one of the obelisks at the site. (This is under review following reports that the missing artefact for HD 63154 is there but has fallen off the plateau that the site is on.)
New materials and data can be found at the sites - these can be used to create new Guardian weapons and modules via the Guardian Tech broker. See the following for more detailed info:
(None found to date on the other side of the Col 70 wall.)
The minimum hyperdrive jump range needed to reach most of the main Guardian bubble and the Regor Sector appears to have been available for more than 1,000 years.
The curse of the Guardians continues to claim victims!
Reference posts (under compilation):
Language
Relic Tower bases have patterns on their panels. Some of these are worn or have been overwritten by triangular patterns (glyphs). However the unclear patterns can be matched to the patterns on other panels. This is covered here:
You need Horizons (you're going to need to land on planets).
Go to Meene system, land at Felice Dock.
Check your Mission view - you should have received a mission from Ram Tah (He's an engineer, you don't need to unlock him).
I handed in the mission - can I get it again?
Yes, just take off and re-land, you should get the mission again (it just appears in the missions tab, you don't have get find it on the mission board). You can collect the reward multiple times. The timer resets when you restart, so you can have more time, and you can claim rewards multiple times. You must claim the reward at the station where you picked it up - which can be anywhere in Meene - if you don't have the option to claim the reward you probably picked it up elsewhere. What ship specifications?
You ideally want 12t of cargo space free for items
A discovery scanner (to find the planet)
A landing suite and an SRV (more if you have room).
Materials for SRV fuel (definitely)
Materials SRV repair (optional as your ship can repair the SRV, but useful)
Where do I go?
There are multiple layouts of ruin, and also variations on those ruins. The layouts are called alpha, beta, gamma. You will need to visit many to complete the mission. At the ruin sites there are
obelisks that light up, and you need to select and scan them to retrieve data messages. The goal is to retrieve 101 messages and get the 111 Million CR reward.
You have two choices, scanning the known ruins (to finish the mission and for CR) or trying to find new ruins (there are many) for kudos
Where do I scan ruins
There is a route optimiser to help work out which sites you need to visit - pick one to visit : http://edshipyard.com/gsopt.html (choose how far you want to travel and hit optimize, then 'detailed' if you want an exact route to follow or 'export' just for a list of sites)
Or here is one I prepared earlier:
The format is <obelisk-group><obelisk-number>(<item+<item>:<codex>)
So C1(To+Ur:C4) means Group C Obelisk 1, scan with Totem and Casket, returns Culture 4
To get to the ruin fly to the stated system, then to the planet. Once you get within 1000ls you will see Ancient Ruins appear in the system panel, and you can use these to get to the sites. You probably won't see the sites until you are with 5km. Note that many planets have several ruins, so check you are at the right one (matching lat/long on HUD).
You will need some items on board. There are five different ancient artefacts spread around the site, and an ancient relic. Ideally you want two of each (there are multiple of each lying around). You can use the same items at all sites. Items spawn at different locations on different sites - there is no definitive list. It's usually easiest to find objects at a 'Beta' type site (as it is the smallest and flattest. Don't forget to check just outside the perimeter as several usually are found there.
Collect artefacts and relics in solo (people will have probably moved/taken them in open).
Use the cargo scoop to pick up artefacts (you can shoot the rocks around them to make this easier, or try boosting over the rocks). Relics are initially underground, when you get close they will raise up on pillars and you can shoot them down (scan one first if you like!). Take artefacts back to the ship as you find them as you only can hold two in the SRV
You should now have:
2 Urn
2 Totem
2 Casket
2 Orb
2 Tablet
2 Relics
Now what?
The goal is to collect decoded messages from Ram Tah - they are numbered and in five sets themed around Biology, Language, Culture, History and Technology. You need to collect them all.
There are up to 15 obelisks on the site that are active (they glow blue as you approach). Targeting and scanning the obelisk (with SRV secondary fire) with the correct item(s) in your SRV hold will give you a message from Ram Tah. Note that these messages can be delayed and are unreliable - look at the mission reward if you want to know that you got a valid combination, it will go up by 1 million per combination found (you can also re-scan after 30 seconds, which usually gets you the delayed message).
In open/private group the active obelisks will change, especially if you exit and rejoin ('relog'), so if you don't see an obelisk you need then relog and it might be active. You can get more results this way, though Frontier only believe that 13 should be available. Now we know where all the combinations are this is no longer the best solution!
Keep a record of which scans you have found, as it is frustrating if you only need one scan and don't know which one. You can go back through the messages you received and narrow down which could be missing - the route optimiser allows you to select a subset of items to look for - click the items on the top row.
There is a 'classic' method to get scans, not sure it it still works:
Really, don't bother now we can solve in solo
Simply hover over the site with the artefacts in your hold - you will get other people's messages (this works in open and in a private group (e.g. Mobius PVE). This could be seen as cheating Watch out for griefers in open. Note that you need a group with as many people as possible, as someone needs to be scanning. Also be aware that people see different active obelisks at the same time - this is ... normal. You can get results this way that you cannot normally get from a site. It is unlikely you will complete the mission using this technique, so eventually you will need to scan on the ground.
But what about the other messages we haven't found?
We've now found all the data messages and can complete in solo.
How do I activate other obelisks in solo?
Go to a different site.
Sometimes relogging changes the active obelisks. Some sites have been found to have a different state until the first relog (though if that does not work then further relogs are unlikely to work either - but one is worth a try). But basically find a site which has the obelisk active by default is easier.
Can I hand in the mission now?
Yes - you can hand in the mission (whichever base you got it from in Meene - needs to be the same one!) whenever you like and get the CR. You can even get the mission again from the same location - just go and re-land.
If you get the mission again the delete the messages you got from scanning the obelisks, or you won't get them again (this makes it harder to keep track of what you have done).
Where do we search for more ruins/clues?
Locations of interest are on the first page. It appears there is a 'bubble' in Synuefe / Vela Dark Region where we found the initial site, another cluster on the way to Colonia (near Skaudai), and a cluster in four systems near the Eta Carina nebula.
Here's a way of looking for ruins in systems. It's worth practising on known systems as if you don't see the ruins when they are there you are unlikely to spot new ones. The routine is:
Navigate galaxy area using 'Not Visited' filter and 'Economic' routing to visit the most systems
On entering system check Navigation panel as it shows ruins within 1000ls
'Honk' the system to see if there are more remote objects
Look at System Map
Ruins are on landable planets with a radius between 1000 and 2500km
Often in systems with multiple stars (only 4 ruin planets in single-star systems)
Often tidally locked (46 out of 53 planets), which you can see on System Map
Planets are beige , so no ice planets (there are 35 High Metal Content, 18 Rocky)
If there are remote suns that look promising then point ship at them (without targeting, as this can obscure the ruins). Ruins will show this way from across a system (way more than 1000ls). Same with planets that look likely but are > 1000ls away
There are other things that are common for ruin locations (temp between 180 & 305, gravity 0.12-0.4), but you need to scan the planet to find that, and by then you've had to visit them, so they've shown in the Nav panel anyway.
Some things that come up, if you could avoid raising them in the thread (unless you have new ideas) that would be cool:
There may be clues / locations off-planet (none known) Doesn't seem to be
No beacons found in these systems (report any persistent ones - ones that appear after a relog). The Cetes (a Megaship) was found in one system
No persistent POI found in these systems on or off world. If you find a POI please relog before reporting
Relog means exit to the main game and then go back in (ideally to solo) - you will (probably) get a new game instance so will see if something is persistent across all instances
Background noise on planets is varied and can sound important. If you hear the sound found near the original ruins then you are probably close. If you hear Enya you are probably not!
People have considered the various ways to determine which planets to search: similar temperature / reversed rotation / similar moons See above
Dropping artifacts in space does not seem to make them point anywhere (unlike UP)
We are aware there is a pattern inside the relic - no-one has worked out what it is, though it seems the same layout as the pattern on the obelisks.
Fumeroles and lifeforms have been found. Feel free to report (along with planet / coordinates please). You should also add them to the 'official' thread. 'Braintrees' are especially frequent near ruins. This post (and a couple above) by CMDR Baton are handy in finding likely locations.
Sometimes obelisks may appear floating above (or below) ground. This is one of many reported bugs.
Melville went looking for ruins and apparently found unique ruins (still to be found by us). We found his ship.
I've come across a bug in the ruins - is it known?
This area has seen lots of bugs in the game (game crashes, levitation, missing messages etc) - see this post for a good summary.
And finally my thanks to all the CMDRs finding this stuff out, too many to mention Ephemera
Ruins now show in the system navigation view when you get within 1000ls (or across the system if you just point your ship towards them without targeting)
As found by the Formadine Rifters it takes longer to enter Glide above the ruins - this also applied to the ruins. (This was more useful before the POI appeared, any may have been fixed in a later patch.)
I just had a thought regarding the new Guardian "inspired" weaponry and utilities we have been creating or are in the process of making...
Isn't it suspicious that we have developed weapons that can hurt Thargoids and scan them by discovering this ancient technology?
What got me thinking is this: Salome and other characters went on about a shadowy organization pulling the strings etc. Also, the Engineers (some or all?) are also working for them or with them.
Now, this is the thing... Ram Tah is an Engineer that asked us to go and scan the Obelisks at the ruins. We had no idea what we were scanning and we still don't know if we can decipher any of it. Ram Tah, on the other hand, knows of some technological "wizardry" that can decode the Guardians language.
We get huge pay for scanning the Obelisks... we are really rewarded handsomly for it. However, could there be something darker behind all of this?
Out of all 101 entries, Ram Tah is the one (the middle man) that suposedly decodes it and then tells us the "information" on what we just scanned - we don't actually see this process ourselves, though...
Which makes me wonder... since we are now creating anti-thargoid weaponry, somewhat quickly (too quickly?), then what if everything Ram Tah has told us out of all of those 101 entries was just pure fantasy and a complete lie?
In many of the entries, he makes out as if he struggles in some places with the information and, well, basically makes up short excuses in some.
Could the real reason scanning the Obelisks at the Ancient Ruins for weaponry technology be the real reason, with everything else being secondary?
Could he really have sold us a complete lie about the Guardians - they weren't humanoid at all; never developed religion; never had red skin; never had extra joints, etc...
See where I coming from here? What if all the entries were just an elaborate way to entice us to scan and collect more information for him in order to develop weaponry and utility technology (and perhaps FTL technology, too - remember the stuff to do with that Meta Drive tech?).
With how quickly weaponry and utilities are being developed, then maybe we were all duped and it was purely for arms-race purposes?
Interesting to wonder about this, and it is indeed lots of tinfoil (to think that all 101 entries were just lies would be a complete shocker!).
It's cynical, but I like it. It's absolutely in line with the way people responded to the Barnacles etc.
Along those lines, the name 'Guardians' always struck me as a little odd - naming a long-dead race by a single characteristic/action. Very different from how we came up with 'Thargoid'. And now the Guardian technology is at the heart of our defense against the Thargoids? It seems like quite the coincidence.
Has there been any thought at all regarding the site out at SKAUDAI ?
It just seems odd having one lonely little site way out there.
Has there been any survey work in that direction? (In other words, I'm thinking of cruising out that way. But do not want to reinvent the wheel...[smile])
A bit out of RP thinking, but FDev updates each storyline in rotating phases. We've got the alien structures, now we have now the barnacles evolved, and I believe those will remain unchanged for a while. So it is reasonable to think FDev will drop something to the Guardian storyline as well, it has been quite a while seince we got something new. Once we've got that, something will happen with the structures...
Has there been any thought at all regarding the site out at SKAUDAI ?
It just seems odd having one lonely little site way out there.
Has there been any survey work in that direction? (In other words, I'm thinking of cruising out that way. But do not want to reinvent the wheel...[smile])
I'm also interested in that. I'm on my way back to the Bubble from Colonia, so I swung past the SKAUDAI site. I didn't come across any other sites, but admittedly at 45 LY per jump that's a LOT of area left uncovered.
I would be interested in participating in more organized searches out that direction. But for now the Thargoids are the talk of the town, so I want to go check them out.
There is a huge amount of Guardians content in game, much of which is still unsolved. There are things which are definitely there, which have been worked on and are unsolved, and there are other things which have been hinted at and/or are open questions.
Things that are there and unsolved include:
• Words & phrases which could be found hidden in audio from around the original site • 'Barcodes' in the spectrograms of the audio from the obelisks
• The glyphs (The triangular displays/patterns on the obelisks, the ancient relic, and the base of the relic towers).
• An object that is inside the ancient relics
• Binary or Trinary coding in the alignment of obelisks in rows
The more open questions or areas of investigation include:
• Finding the other Guardian bubble
• What forced the Exodus from the original Guardian bubble?
• Finding the Guardian homeworld
• Mapping the extent of the known Guardian bubble
• Would the Guardian bubble have extended into Col 70?
• What were the purposes of the different types of site?
• What happened to the Exiles?
• Who/what were the foes/adversaries? and what became of them? (Thargoids..?)
Well, i'm personally more on the road that thargoids are the descendants of the guardian AIs, so to speak.
Look at it in this perspective:
We know the guardians could alter DNA, create living beeings for special purposes.
They were realy advanced in biology and it was no shame to use it.
In their future, they created AIs, used them with no concerns. The technology group linked itself with them, used global networks etc. (It's said that Thargoids have some sort of colective mind > maybe a development step from the network. It was their way to communicate, the best way. Why not use it in another form, more advanced and independant.)
But after some time the guardians split in two groups, fighting each other. The AIs were teached from this war that the hosts, the guardians, are to vulnerbale and they created their own bodies to exist without a need of a vulnerable host/implant.
So my personal thought about the thargoids:
They ARE the AIs, or what they are now.
They destroyed the guardians entirely, maybe. Because ALL of them could be a potential threat to them. Or the old story: Live is imperfect, makes mistakes, emotional (religious), to slow in developement and a threat because fear and so on.
It would explain why they act so passively, when you don't harm them. They doing their job. We are not of interest, for now and in this moment. Effectiveness all in all. Like an AI would act, like an AI "learned" to act.
They search something, they need to destroy a ship for that? They do it. They see guardian technology? They want to destroy it.
Perhaps the message or code is incomplete - I have noticed their are different background sounds at each of the Ancient Ruin sites that are labelled by Canonn as Gamma, Beta, and Alpha - have all 3 background noise/music from the sites been recorded seperatly?
Also, there's further info on the FP of the old thread. (It's a little way down in the third post on the thread, and is under the heading "There could be a message hidden in the Obelisks spectrogram":
Perhaps the message or code is incomplete - I have noticed their are different background sounds at each of the Ancient Ruin sites that are labelled by Canonn as Gamma, Beta, and Alpha - have all 3 background noise/music from the sites been recorded seperatly?
Not much has been done on that front though and what was done was way back in the days of the original site. (I'm only going off the forum btw, so wouldn't know if anything's been done that hasn't been reported on one of the threadnaughts.)
Anyway, I found two instances, one which might be a phrase and one which might be a word. Original post is here:
I should just add a few points:
- These might not be words, it might just be that they sound vaguely like words
- They're not easy to find
- They might not be specific to the ruins and might be there in normal background audio