Artifact Trove
| Artifact Trove | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Collection |
| Location | Desert Trader; Bookseller; Panning; Haunted Skull; Artifact Spots on Ginger Island; Mayor's Manor; Dog |
| Sell Price | 0g |
An Artifact Trove is a sealed crate of old relics that only a blacksmith can get open, and almost everything sealed inside is something Gunther wants for the museum. Trading five Omni Geodes to the Desert Trader turns spare mining junk into one, which makes troves the steadiest way to chase the handful of artifacts that artifact spots almost never give up. Clint charges a small fee for each one and the Geode Crusher refuses them outright, so a trip to town is always part of the deal. Four of the things inside are not artifacts at all, and one of those four is the Treasure Appraisal Guide, the book that triples what every artifact sells for. Opening troves before reading that book roughly breaks even, and opening them afterwards turns a decent profit.
Overview
The Desert Trader is the reliable supply. Five Omni Geodes buy one trove, and Omni Geodes pile up on their own from deep mining, panning and ghosts, so the trade costs nothing a farm was going to use. The Bookseller will hand over three troves in exchange for a Treasure Appraisal Guide, but only once the book's power has already been read, so that trade is a way of recycling a duplicate rather than a way of getting the book.
Troves also turn up in the wild. Haunted Skulls start dropping them once every Vault bundle is finished, which gives the Quarry Mine a second reason to exist late in a save. Supply Crates that wash up on the Beach Farm include them after the farmhouse has been upgraded twice. On Ginger Island the artifact spots at the Dig Site cough them up, so a walk with a hoe along the sand often pays better than the artifacts themselves. A dog raised to full friendship also leaves one on the floor as a present now and then.
Every item sealed in a trove has the same chance of appearing, which is what makes them good for museum work rather than for profit. The list is mostly artifacts, including the Ancient Doll, the Dwarvish Helm, the Golden Mask, the Rare Disc and the rusty oddments that artifact spots hide behind terrible odds. Four entries break the pattern: the Golden Pumpkin, the Pearl, the Treasure Chest and the Treasure Appraisal Guide. None of those four go in the museum, and all four are worth far more than the artifacts around them.
The maths is worth knowing before hoarding geodes. Averaged across the whole list, a trove returns a little under five hundred gold once Clint's opening fee is paid. Five Omni Geodes are worth slightly more than that if they are simply sold, so trading for troves loses a few gold per crate. Reading the Treasure Appraisal Guide flips that completely: it raises the sell value of every artifact threefold, which lifts the average trove well past six hundred gold and turns the geode trade into a clear gain. Players chasing gold therefore open a pile of troves, read the first guide that drops, and only then start trading in bulk.
Notes
The guide hides behind the same flat chance as everything else in the crate, so it can take a long run of troves to appear. From the third year onwards the Bookseller sometimes stocks a copy for gold instead, which is the kinder route for anyone unlucky with crates.
Two troves solve problems rather than make money. An Ancient Doll pulled from one can be thrown into the lava on the hundredth floor of the mines to get a Far Away Stone, and an Ancient Seed from a trove counts as the artifact the museum wants, not the seed packet.
Villagers want nothing to do with troves. Everyone in the valley hates being handed one, so they belong in the shipping bin or at the blacksmith's counter. A spare trove also goes in the spool of the Sewing Machine, where it makes the Trinket Shirt.
All Collections
Every entry in this group, with its key details.
