Did you miss the livestream on March 31st? You can catch up on everything you missed right here, or alternatively head to the bottom of the post to watch the entire thing!

Archaeology is finally here! We’re now at the end of the long Road to Archaeology following this brand new and massive skill’s launch on Monday, March 30th. For this week’s developer livestream, Mod Poerkie and Mod Iago played through some of the Archaeology skill and took some burning questions from the community.

Q: Could we add chronotes to the currency pouch?

Mod Iago: The currency pouch as it is right now has been designed for untradable currencies. You don't have the option to move them from the pouch. That's the biggest option. Then the difference with the premium currency pouch is that's for your bonds, your oddments, your event currencies and things like that. That said, we are looking at it. We do hear you and we would very much like the same. Even if we don't get to that, we'll definitely be looking at some alternatives.

Q: Can we get multiple parts of the tetracompass after getting one of each?

Mod Iago: Yes, you can. I don't think there's a limit, either. Well, the limit is 2.14bn but I don't think anyone will get that many.

Q: How does the screening table work? Does it scale to your level?

Mod Iago: I won't got into rates or anything. But if, for example, I’m at the Infernal Source screening fiery brimstone and I’m currently at level 46, I’ll get materials from the Zamorack site based on my level. I might get some hellfire metal, I might get some demonhide, but I won't get something I'd get from another site. There are some agnostic materials which you'll also get from all sites. It works off your level. If you haven't already seen, we have the level benefits for them. At level 38 we have some increased XP for screening soil and some more at 71, 93 and 111.

Q: How many ways are there of getting the Dragon Mattock?

Mod Poerkie: There are two ways. One is via the Big Game Hunter, the other we haven't revealed yet and we'll wait for you to discover.

Q: How does Jagex feel about the XP rates in Archaeology?

Mod Iago: It is still early days, we didn't particularly want to rush players through the lower levels where there's loads of unlocks and you're exploring new dig sites. It's something we're keeping an eye on and making sure that the XP rates you're getting match what we expected. I think some people at the higher level right now will start to get some other unlocks which will make a reasonable difference and some people are getting quite close to unlocking their outfits. There are some extra precision upgrades. We're keeping an eye on it. I'm not saying we're going to be changing anything but if we feel we need to we will.

Q: When can we start using bonus XP with Archaeology?

Mod Poerkie: You can start using that when the exemption period has ended, which lasts six months. We have that so that the race to 99 and 120 is as fair as possible for everyone involved. We want that to be a fair race, which is really exciting to watch as well.

Q: Is there a limit on the tomes if you keep them?

Mod Iago: There isn't a limit. There is actually a small issue with them right now where they're not meant to be bankable, but they are. We'll be looking at making some changes there. They're like pylon batteries in that they scale to your level so we want you to use them when you get them, or at least in the same session. The idea is they help you through that current level and you can get some more in the future.

Q: What is precision?

Mod Iago: Mattock precision helps you in your discovery progress. The better precision, the faster you'll get there. The higher level a hotspot you go to, the higher chance of getting a project. If you're level 120 and go to a level five hotspot and have the level 99 Mattock of Time and Space, you'll get a lot of projects. The Mithril Mattock has precision of 22 and there's a precision of 27 on the Adamant Mattock. You can also buy the upgrades from the store in the Guild from Ezreal. She'll sell you +2 upgrade for every qualification you unlock.

Q: What is focus?

Mod Iago: Focus on the mattocks has an influence on what we call your high chance. The higher that is, the better chance you have to finding materials and the more materials you will get.

Q: Is there anything else to do with artefacts that are considered spare after completing a collection?

Mod Poerkie: You can keep them and wait until you've finished your collection. The majority of, if not all, collections can be done again. But if you really want to get rid of them, you can donate them to the museum and you'll get 60% of the chronotes that you'd otherwise receive for it and XP.

Mod Iago: Some of the collectors have one-time rewards and some of them have repeatable rewards. Even if you have one in, you might still want to keep that second or spare one for the next time you want to complete that collection and you can get those repeatable rewards. They differ a bit. Some of them are chronotes, some of them are tetracompass pieces. There are a few other rewards that you can see on the collections board interface. There's also Velucia who is the collector of collectors. She collects all of the artefacts and her primary focus is just giving out chronotes. She gives out twice the amount of chronotes for completing it.

Q: What bonuses do time sprites give you?

Mod Iago: If there's a time sprite at an excavation site, whilst you're excavating you'll get Sprite Focus, giving you a 10% increase to Archaeology XP. When Focus reaches 40%, you get a further 10% increase to Archaeology XP, so you'll be at a total of 20% by this point, and a 10% increase to your mattock's precision. The last bonus comes at 100% Focus and is a guaranteed material as well as three-times the mattock precision for a single action. Then your focus is reduced back down to 60%.

Q: How do you unlock research?

Mod Iago: If you go to your achievements tab, then skills, then Archaeology, you'll have your qualifications. The qualification to unlock research is assistant. The requirements are the intern qualification, which you get for completing the tutorial, reach level 40 in Archaeology, excavate 25 damaged artefacts. Once you've completed that, talk to Acting Guildmaster Reiniger.

Q: How do you get more researchers?

Mod Iago: If you load the researchers' notes, the table and then the team management interface, you can select one of the researchers and you'll get a bit of information at the bottom of the panel on the right. It'll tell you how to unlock them.

Q: Does research give any unique rewards?

Mod Iago: The general research doesn't. It just gives you XP, materials and damaged artefacts. Then you'll have special research tasks which might well give some rewards.

Q: Do longer research projects give comparatively more rewards?

Mod Iago: The ratio is the same. The only benefit to doing shorter research missions is you get the XP sooner and when you level up and send another one off, you'll get the XP based on the level you send it off. Otherwise, there's no difference. The rewards are the same.

Q: Is there a penalty for cancelling a research mission?

Mod Iago: You'll just sacrifice the chronotes. You won't get back what you spent. Otherwise, no.

The RuneScape Team