Why are the resonance archives so hard??

[Celuria]

So I can't decide if I'm losing it or just bad at this game or what. Minor spoilers for the resonance archives, but given that I haven't been able to complete the thing, the spoilers are probably not that spoiler-ey.

I decided I wanted to do the story, and find the resonance archives- mostly to get an elk and be able to travel and explore easier. Sidenote- I could not, for the life of me, find a treasure merchant. So, whatever, I went on a grand expedition south to find either soybeans or him, and made a deal with myself that I'd spawn in whichever I couldn't find because I'd read there was a bug related to NPC spawns. I definitely found the soybeans, so now the artisan by my house has a treasure merchant roommate. All that is fine.

However, I'm kinda losing it in the actual archives themselves.

The atmosphere is great! The right mix of eerie and intriguing. Except the place is about a day and a half from the translocator linked to the one closest to my house, and I cannot find one closer. And I keep dying. Having to run through the same areas a dozen times kinda ruins the eerie feeling a bit.

It took me repeated death runs on the damned bell to even get the big gear thing, finally got into the mines, stomped on by sawblade locusts. Repeat, get mauled by a grizzly bear 3 times on the way back. Repeat, now the mine's filled with corrupted drifters. Finally pry my stuff away from them and get 1-shot by the sawblade locust again. Finally decided to spend one of the rare gears to actually set my spawn point AT the resonance archives, and I'm running the top layer of the place like a speedrunner only to hit the mines and just get repeatedly shit on. Sidenote- kinda annoying that there's no "shortcuts" that appear to be unlocked in the dungeon at all, so the death run, at minimum, is:
-Spend 30 seconds climbing down the ladder
-Run around the entire radius of the central chamber to the stairway
-Run 1/4 the radius to the commons
-Sprint into the side door before the locusts that I cannot seem to stop from spawning
-Spend another bit climbing down to the reservoir, (try not to get my torch extinguished if I've run out of the weird glow you get after respawning)
-Run up the stairs and around to the translocator room
-Die

I have iron tools and weapons and chain hat and pants. I had a leather jerkin and was saving up the iron chain to upgrade that to iron as well, though it is understandably now in dire need of repair. I brought plenty of food and horsehair/cattail poultices because I can't afford the linen to make those, but I don't understand why I'm getting demolished here. I haven't even hit the boss yet. Does the jerkin make that much of a difference? Do I just need to be decked out in full steel before even attempting the first dungeon? Am I just bad at the game?

Any advice or feedback appreciated!

[LadyWYT]

Welcome to the forums! Sorry to hear about the bad luck with the treasure hunter, but Vintage Story be like that sometimes.

9 minutes ago, Celuria said:

I have iron tools and weapons and chain hat and pants. I had a leather jerkin and was saving up the iron chain to upgrade that to iron as well, though it is understandably now in dire need of repair. I brought plenty of food and horsehair/cattail poultices because I can't afford the linen to make those, but I don't understand why I'm getting demolished here. I haven't even hit the boss yet. Does the jerkin make that much of a difference? Do I just need to be decked out in full steel before even attempting the first dungeon? Am I just bad at the game?

If I understand correctly, your head and leg slots are equipped with iron armor, and the body slot is equipped with leather? That's probably the crux of the issue right there. Iron armor(tier 3) is sufficient for completing the Archive, as the recommended minimum tier is bronze(tier 2). Leather, however, is only tier 1, so most all attacks in the Archive are going to punch right through it. Additionally, your body is more likely to get hit than your legs or head, so if you put your worst armor in this slot it's going to be a bad time. I'd recommend replacing that slot with iron--you should have a much easier time. If resources are a concern, brigandine will be the cheapest option, as it only requires 7 plates and a leather jerkin to create.

Now granted, good equipment isn't necessarily a guarantee of a safe clear, and you don't necessarily need the recommended equipment in order to clear the place. A lot of it hinges on skill and world settings, but for standard skills and settings I would recommend bronze armor minimum, though full iron is ideal.

As far as other tips, I would just bring the ingredients for poultices, and make them as needed. Poultices only stack to 16, but the raw ingredients can stack much higher, so it's more efficient use of inventory. I'd also invest in a lantern, if you have the resources, or otherwise bring an oil lamp. Neither one can be extinguished by water, which is useful in some areas, and the lantern itself will have a much larger light radius than a torch.

[Celuria]

Thank you for the tips! it had not occurred to me that damage was locational and that the iron hat and legs were not helping pretty much at all in the majority of cases. Or, I'm pretty sure I read that little factoid at some point, it just hadn't stuck. ah well.

The poultices was definitely something I was considering. I do have a lantern, but unfortunately if the lantern is in the mines due to me dying, then it doesn't really help me getting back to it lol. At least it makes my stuff easier to see!

[LadyWYT]

Very true. Worst case scenario, you can replace lost items via the creative menu, if you don't wish to remake them from scratch.

[Thorfinn]

If you are stuck at horsetail poultices, though, pretty sure horsetail only stacks to 16, too.

[Hexalan]

I would also add that setting your spawn point at the top entrance is a big help on death runs. Just costs a temporal gear to do so.  I usually make a base camp up top to heal, restock, and stash the goods!

Edited April 29, 2025 by Hexalan

[V1ncent]

If you are really tired of retrieving your belongings all the time, you can alternatively disable the death punishment temporarily with this command "/worldconfig deathPunishment keep".

The bell can be a nightmare for the first time and you have no idea of how to deal with the swarm of enemies, especially with all the new bowtorn and shiver combined force. Sometimes more healing and mobility really make a difference over heavy armor, which is why I am satisfied with steel chain armor over a full set of plates.

Edited April 30, 2025 by V1ncent