How to farm Exotics for Workshops

In ours Icarus currency guide, I mentioned how completing quests will give you rewards if you check your in-game mail. However, that is only for the gold “R” currency. We still need to talk about another type of reward you can get. This is ours Icarus The guide helps you farm Exotics, the purple currency for Orbital Workshop, during the Deep Vein Extraction quest.

Note: For more information, see Icarus guide and central feature.

Icarus Exotics Guide: How to farm Orbital Workshop’s purple currency in the Deep Vein Mining quest

Some tidbits regarding Extractor’s quest and blueprints

To gain access to the Deep Vein Mining quest in Icarus, you will need to complete a prerequisite: Scanning spotlights. Also, before you actually start Deep Vein Mining, make sure you already have latest patch.

To clarify, I got the Extractor blueprint in the Level 4 panel of the crafting tree. Based on the tooltip, it is supposed to be a device that you can use to mine Exotics. However, I cannot craft it through the Builder. Worse yet, when I reached the target, there was nothing around.

Then, after downloading the hotfix and restarting the mission, I noticed the following:

• Extractor’s tooltip simply says “requires talent,” but it doesn’t tell you what talent is needed. I can’t really find anything related to that.
• The target area now has a cave (which I will discuss later).

Find your first Exotic node in the Deep Vein Mining quest in Icarus

In any case, start the Deep Vein Mining quest when you’re ready. This takes place in the Southern Glacier, so make sure you’re familiar with the area. You can check out our guide on The existence of biomes in the Arctic, Icestorm Expedition, and Scanning spotlights If you need quick replenishment.

From the lander, head southeast until you reach the frozen ravine. You can build a small base here (e.g. armor, weapons and the like). It is important that you have a stone pickaxe, a wooden bow/arrow, and maybe a few wooden walls. That’s it.

Next, head northeast through the ravine and glacier until you reach the target marker (O13/P13). There’s a cave here and naturally, it’s filled with wormhole. Use wooden walls to block their poisonous projectiles and snipe them when you can. You can also use this cave as a temporary shelter in case of a blizzard (however, if you’re agile, you won’t get stuck in the middle of the cave). Likewise, you can chill for a while (pun intended) if it’s nighttime, since it’s harder for you to see in the dark even if you’re outdoors.

After killing the worms in the cave, you can mine your first Exotic button in Icarus. Smash everything with your pickaxe and you’ll see a few new targets:

• Offer Exotics to the dropship repository.
• Optional: Search the region for more Exotic deposits.

Additional Exotic deposit locations in Icarus

There is a large glowing circle indicating the search area. So far, I have only found two Exotic deposits. You can see them (and the map icons) in the images below:

• At the bottom of a rift (southeast part of O13).
• Down a pit where you can find some Oxides (northeast part of O14).

Offer your Exotics to dropship

After I mine these, I go back to dropship. Remember, you need to put Exotics in your dropship’s inventory slots before you leave, or they will disappear. Anyway, you can rerun this quest multiple times to get Exotic currency for Orbital Workshop.

Note: I’m not sure if there are other Strange button locations in the Deep Vein Mining quest in Icarus. If you discover more, let me know.

Exotic/purple currency in Orbital Workshop

Speaking of Orbital Workshops, don’t forget to check it out for your Exotic currency total. Unlike gold coins, you don’t have to check in-game mail to receive it. It will automatically be added depending on how many you brought with you before leaving the planet.

Note: You will get Exotics in Icarus even if you complete the mission in offline mode. Sadly, gold coins are still being eavesdropped on offline players. Since the recipes in Orbital Workshop tend to require gold, you still won’t be able to unlock any of them until the developers can fix this issue.

Icarus available through Steam. For more information, see guide and central feature.