Weirdwire Conduit... Eureka!/Guide

This information is reliable as of patch 2.0.209.43. If this is no longer the current patch, you can help by updating it.

This information is reliable as of patch 2.0.209.43.

Weirdwire Conduit... Eureka! is one of the very first quests that the player can receive, and is recommended to finish its objectives ahead of time even before the player gets the quest if they did not spawn with two artifacts already to give to Argyve. This guide assumes that the player has NOT fully completed the Early Game Checklist, but hopefully have at the very least some witchwood bark from their village's apothecary (green NPC). You can actually complete this quest while filling out the checklist at the same time for Maximum Efficiency.

If you already completed Fetch Argyve a Knickknack and Fetch Argyve Another Knickknack: great! You can get goodies inside Argyve's chests without repercussion. Even if you haven't, the Rust Wells are still a relatively safe place to visit. This way you can gather wire as well as look for possible artifacts to turn in.

Even in a non-Joppa start, I still recommend going anyway because the abundance of qudzu/jilted lover is very easy and quick early game exp. The things at the bottom of the well are nice bonuses, too.

Actually getting there

Actually getting to the Rust Wells can be difficult, especially for beginners traversing the world map. If they happen to be unfortunate enough to get lost in the hills, they can easily meet their end to a salthopper. One way of mitigating this is going down (Shift + >) on every parasangAn area made of 3x3 screens, which is represented as one tile on the overworld map., and then moving back up to the world map. When the player gets lost, it drops them down in the middle screen of the parasang. If you've already seen the center of the parasang, you'll immediately recognize it and get not lost.

Along the way, it is recommended to fight enough snapjaws to get loot to reach at least 3 AV by the time you reach the rust wells.

Creatures to watch out for

• salthoppers - they know how to sprint, and they can easily catch you if they spot you. If you're traveling during the day, you'll be able to spot them long before they spot you. Use this to your advantage. However, they only have powerful melee attacks. If you have a way of dealing powerful ranged damage or immobilizing them, they're easy exp. If you happen to have Butchery you have a chance of getting a decent long blade from their corpse as well.
• irritable tortoises - They have super high AV so melee users won't have a good chance of dealing damage. They're super slow though, so you can just walk away.
• slugsnouts - Just leave.
• snapjaw brutes - Tankier snapjaws that hurt a bit more. They're killable, but only if you face one at a time.
• snapjaw scavengers - These are your loot dispensers. Kill one at a time and grab enough equipment so you have 6 AV to complete the early game checklist! If they drop any daggers, be sure to pick them up even if you don't use them. They're good for selling and one other thing for later.
• snapjaw hunters - loot dispenser #2. Try to use line of sight to your advantage because if they're unable to spot you, they will move in closer to melee you. A much better alternative to you running at them ready to get a faceful of arrows.

I'm still lost anyway...

If you don't want to go through all the trouble and test your luck, it's still survivable if you get lost. Just retrace your steps and do NOT attempt to explore new territory. You're more likely to recognize old locations than praying for that small chance to become not lost happens.

The Rust Wells

Congrats, you've reached the rust wells! You might see yellow witchwood trees around. If they have red bark, you can use Harvestry (learned from the villagers of Joppa) to grab a cheap and effective healing item for your checklist.

The wildlife is similar to Red Rock, but it will always be covered in vines like jilted lovers or qudzu. They are weak and cannot move. They're a great way to boost exp (and much better than hitting glowpads and glowfish) if you haven't done Argyve's previous quests yet. However, qudzu can rust your metal equipment. This is less of an issue early on when most of your armor still isn't metal yet. If you picked up a lot of daggers like I told you, the chances that they'll rust an important weapon is much less likely because it will rust the daggers instead. Anyway, onto doing the actual quest.

Gathering Wire

The reason why this quest is surprisingly easy to complete is because there are three rust wells on the map. Each center zone of the rust wells will spawn one of each type of wire strands: 1', 3', 10', 20', and 50'. You don't actually need to care about any of them other than the 50' wire. Luckily, this is easy because it's the only one that's bright red in color.

This means you can pop in and grab the 50' on the surface for all 3 rust wells, and then go down one floor for the last 50'. You can also grab a 20' from each one to stay on the surface, but it's harder to differentiate them visually. By keeping underground visits to a minimum, there is almost no danger excluding dynamic encounters from legendary baboons or snapjaws. Once you grab 4 50' wires (it doesn't matter if they're rusted), walk all the way back to Argyve and claim your prize.

Going Underground

However, if you go all the way to the bottom, there are rewards to be had. There can be trinkets for Argyve, or even steel/carbide (although rusted) weapons and armor to upgrade from your leather gear. You won't be running into qudzu very often after this, so feel free to wear metal armor and metal weapons freely once you complete this dungeon. Going this way will subject you to the underground spawns. Here are some creatures you should look out for:

glowmoth - Somewhat rare, but they have the highest PV out of all of the early game creatures. Shoot them down with arrows. If the level generation allows it, break line of sight so they are forced to come closer to you.

slugsnout - Like glowmoths, but have feet. They can be dealt with in the same way as glowmoths. Both glowmoths and slugsnouts act as an AV check. Because of them, I highly recommend having at least 3 AV (or 4 for a more safety) before delving underground.

slumberling - Creatures will foolishly wake it up, but it always wants to take you out first. Wait until the creatures attacking it inevitably die. Then, it should be safe to pass. If it's currently targeting you, sprint and run away until it falls asleep again. Note that deep water will stop sprints.

Use faction relationships to your advantage

As this is one of the first dungeons you can go to, it's important to realize that factions hate and like other factions other than you. If there are too many enemies, give them some space. If they are of different factions, they will fight each other instead. This is especially helpful if you find a neutral party they dislike, such as albino apes, or feral dogs.