Archive Maps
The other way to make a discovery is to get a map from an archive. Enter the archives and talk to the scholar, then select the option to browse through his books. While reading books, you get proficiency in that skill.
You also have the chance to find a map.
Maps are simply documents that tell you to go somewhere in order to make a discovery. The map found above tells me to go to the outskirts of Calais, the northwest corner. I will also need both search and archaeology rank 1.
The way maps work is very similar to quests. You skip the information gathering and go straight to the right location. In this case the outskirts of Calais, South Calais. Once you are in the land area, open your Use Item menu.
Hover with your mouse over the map to see the directions it gives you (northwest of the map in this case) and double click the map to get a direction (go north, south, west or east). Walk around while following the directions, which should lead you towards the right direction.
Like the using observe at the end of a quest, using (double clicking in the Use Item menu) a map will produce a column of light. Once you see the light, go to it and in this case you use search to excavate the relic.
It is important to remember that –
- you use search, ecology or recognition in order to find whatever it is that your map leads you to. The requirements for these skills are indicated on the map, but you can actually open the map with the required rank minus 2. In case a map says you need ecology rank 8, biology rank 8, then you actually only need to have ecology rank 6, but still biology rank 8. The same thing applies to unlock. To unlock something you also only need the indicated rank minus 2. Keep in mind that it might take longer to find and unlock something when your skill rank is lower than indicated. Failing to unlock can cause you to lose some crew in a trap.
- not all maps you receive in the archives lead to a discovery. Treasure maps have the same kind of instructions written as normal maps, but instead of a discovery you get an item or some trade goods
- some treasure maps cannot be obtained from the archives. They can be plundered from sea or land NPCs and in a few rare cases they are the reward for a quest.
- there are many locations at which you can make a discovery. Most are land areas, such as the outskirts of South Calais. Some you can enter these from a town, by talking to the gatekeeper, others you can enter from sea by arriving at a landing point. Your in-game map of the world (press m) shows their locations as 2 green little trees next to each other. Some land areas give access to a second land area. To access the second land area you need to do a specific quest. For example, anyone can land on the south of England, at a landing point called British Isles South Coast, and walk around. However, to enter the second land area, you need to do a quest that leads to the discovery of Stonehenge. It is a regular adventure quest from the London adventure mediator, called Investigation of Stonehenge. Such quests always require recognition, not search. Besides land areas you can also make discoveries in towns, in buildings such as churches or mansions.
- try to accumulate maps from the same general areas, then try to get quests that go to the same areas(ivyro tells you in the general lists for each type of quest where each specific quests ultimate destination is). Multi-tasking like this can be a huge time saver.
Repeating quests and maps
It is possible to do quests and maps again. However, this depends on the quest or map. In the case of quests, there are repeatable quests and non-repeatable quests. The ones that are not repeatable are always part of a quest chain.
There is an exception, if you lose your discovery card, then the quest or map for that card will always be available again. You can lose a discovery card by doing academy debates, using the card to make an ornament at a sculptor. See the list for making ornaments here.
Archive maps can only be done again once you have reported the discovery from that map. In your Discovery menu in the top right you will always see No. Discovered and No. Unreported. Normal discoveries are written in white, while the unreported discovery names are in blue. You can report your discovery to a famous person, found in most big towns.
Each of them has a special preference, e.g. discoveries of Treasure to Cardinal Tabera in the Seville palace. Reporting to the right person gives you a Quest Mediation Permit, and the list of famous people and their preference can be found here. Once you have reported such a discovery, then you can go back to the archive where you found it and browse for the map again. Treasure maps can always be acquired again, unless you already have own the map.
Doing a quest or map for a second or third time gives adventure experience again. There are three types of experience that you get: (1) you always get the experience for making the discovery again, (2) if you do not have the discovery card, then you get that experience again as well, and (3) after having 300 discoveries you will get some bonus experience for doing the discovery again.
This last experience becomes a great percentage the more discoveries you have. In your text box this message will appear “As a result of making many discoveries, you can now examine your discoveries more closely”.
Lastly, some items that are rewarded can be gained again. Treasure maps always reward the same items again and standalone quests also give the reward again for redoing that quest. Discovery maps and quests in a quest chain do not give you the reward again, so for example it is possible to lose the Excalibur discovery card or do the quest again in a fleet.
Then you can do the Excalibur quest again, but you will not get the sword as a reward a second time.
Sir Thomas Gresham 