A Trace of Metal

The subject of this article is from the Waypoint update.
The information from this article is up-to-date as of 21 February, 2023.

A Trace of Metal

Mission type	Secondary
Starting point:	Planetary Settlement
Implemented	Waypoint
Description	Create sentinel companion and upgrade the Minotaur

A Trace of Metal is a mission page.

Summary[ | ]

The A Trace of Metal is a mission introduced with Update 3.80 for players who own a Planetary Settlement, and with Update 4.1.0 for Nintendo Switch. It leads players through the steps to create their own Sentinel companion and upgrade the Minotaur with Sentinel Technology.

Mission Steps[ | ]

Except on Nintendo Switch, in order to trigger the mission's start, the player must meet the following requirements:

Own a Planetary Settlement.
'The Settlers' entry in the mission log says the player is 'free to explore', i.e. there are no outstanding settlement mission objectives or resources to collect.
The player is not in the same system as their settlement. If the mission has not triggered, despite the above requirements being met, the player should use their ship's hyperdrive to warp to nearby systems twice and the mission will start.

On Nintendo Switch, the mission triggers in the middle of The First Traveller or after the player has warped 25 times, whichever comes first.

Drone Reconstruction[ | ]

Except on Nintendo Switch, a player receives a message from their Planetary Settlement informing them of an extreme Sentinel assault. They should return to their Settlement and defeat a significant Sentinel force including Sentinel Hardframe Battle Mech. After this, they will have communication with Iteration: Tethys who will ask to find something interesting on the battlefield. Searching the battlefield debris, the player discovers an Undamaged Drone Shell which they have to bring to Tethys for an inspection.

On Nintendo Switch, the player receives a communication from Iteration: Tethys asking them to check out unusual sentinel activity at a particular location. Sentinels immediately appear when the player lands at the location. After defeating the sentinels, inspecting the nearby traveler grave yields the Undamaged Drone Shell.

On the Space Anomaly Tethys asks the player to bring a few more components from other Travellers inhabiting the Anomaly. After a few dialogs the player returns to Tethys with three items: Portal Phylactery, Nanite Filament, and Beads of Glass. With these components, Tethys reconstructs the drone, gives the player a Sentinel Flare for summoning a reconstructed drone and asks the player to do a field test at their Settlement.

Mission started
First dialogue with Tethys
Undamaged Drone Shell discovered
Portal Phylactery received
Nanite Filament received
Beads of Glass received
Sentinel Flare

Hardframe Right Arm[ | ]

After interacting with the Reconstructed Drone and restarting it, coordinates to a nearby Sentinel Pillar are received. After unlocking the Sentinel Pillar Access Node by destroying three Pillar Control Nodes and defeating sentinels guarding the pillar, the player will receive the Hardframe Right Arm blueprint. They need to install it on their Minotaur, and then return to their Settlement to speak to its citizens.

Restarting the drone
Coordinates received
Initiating blueprint download
Hardframe Right Arm blueprint received
Dialogue with the drone
Return to the Settlement requested

Hardframe Legs[ | ]

Settlement citizens express their concern with recent events and offer help by organising an expedition to either an Abandoned Building or Monolith in search of answers. The Sentry gives the player new coordinates leading to a Manufacturing Facility in the nearby star system. After breaking into the facility, the player will interact with the terminal, at which point the Exosuit takes over and extracts the Hardframe Legs blueprint and a Sentry upgrade packet. The player will have to install this blueprint as well.

Dialogue with citizens
Choice of expedition
Coordinates received
Manufacturing Facility
Exosuit takes over
Witnessing Exosuit operation
Downloading new blueprint
Hardframe Legs blueprint
Upgrading the Sentry
Upgrading Minotaur

Hardframe Left Arm[ | ]

The citizen expedition returns and has to be debriefed. Debrief will result in two choices:

Release the explorers - adds feature "Creeping, Spreading Glass" (Raises Productivity)
Quarantine the explorers - adds feature "Quarantined explorers" (Reduces Sentinel Alert Level by 4%)

A blueprint for Hardframe Left Arm is given and has to be installed.

News of the expedition return
Debriefing the expedition
Debriefing choice
Explorers treatment decision
Hardframe Left Arm blueprint

Hardframe Body[ | ]

The Sentry gives itself a name: Laylaps, gives the player a Paralysis Mortar blueprint, and coordinates leading the player to a Plaque on another planet. There the player needs to destroy a Sentinel Walker to recover a Pristine Brain needed to finish Minotaur transformation, and a Hardframe Body blueprint. This brain has to be presented to Tethys who will modify the brain and ask the player to contact Messenger of Atlas to finish the transformation into a Radiant Brain. Laylaps will then direct the player to another Sentinel Pillar where they will disconnect the Sentry from the sentinel network.