Artifact Exchange outcomes: guaranteed minimum, or just gambling?

[gwelty]

So, after finding the three nearby Artifact Keys, I dug up and unlocked a Large Artifact Crate in an Ancient Ruins. It was an Unearthed Treasure worth around 500k units. Cool.

So I flew to a Colossal Archive and fed the Treasure to an Artifact Exchange Vault. I got back a Biological Sample worth 2.4 million units. Even cooler! It quadrupled in value!

Then, guided by the sixth bullet point on this post, I assumed that I would keep getting better exchanges each time (or at least equivalent value). You'll always get something "equivalent in units or higher in value".

So I went downstairs and fed it to a second AEV. This time what popped out was worth only 1.1 million units. The value was halved. What?

Then I went to a third (and the last) AEV and exchanged it, and the value was, again, about 1.1 million units.

I'm not upset, since overall it doubled in value. But did something go wrong here? Quite apart from the post linked above, the AEV in game says: "Submit a new artifact to the vault to exchange it for an archived artifact of equivalent or greater rarity."

But if so, why did the value get halved when I exchanged it the second time?

Am I confusing "greater rarity" with "greater number of units of value"?

[EvilPolygons]

It's random. I never exchange anything worth more than 500k.

It's great exchanging a 150k doodad for a whotsit worth a million units. But it's not so great trading in a 750k thingamajig and getting a 112k unit piece of junk.

[gwelty]

Originally posted by EvilPolygons:

It's random. I never exchange anything worth more than 500k.

That's good to know. Thanks! But if "it's random," then why does it say you'll get something "of equivalent or greater rarity"? The only way I can reconcile this is that it's guaranteeing equivalent rarity but not equivalent value-in-units. Is that it?

[1P27]

IT'S LAS VEGAS ALL NIGHT LONG

[gwelty]

Originally posted by 1P27:

IT'S LAS VEGAS ALL NIGHT LONG

LOL. OK.

But, if the answer is "gambling" rather than "guaranteed minimum," then why does the AEV say otherwise? That's what I'm wondering.

I'm in game and checking the log. The four transactions went like this:

Chest of Abandoned Riches | 581,293 units
Parcel of Artificial Bark | 2,173,396 units
Hewn Punching Contraption | 1,349,810 units
Blighted Lawsuits | 1,148,424 units

So the value went down for each of the last two transactions. So why does the AEV say you'll at least get something equivalent?

[GenSec39]

Artifacts with golden background are already considered as the most expensive. It's somewhere over 1 million. Can be 2+. Can be 3+. When your exchange gives you one of these - usually it is better to stop there.

If you'll try to exchange one of these, you will still get another expensive equivalent (with golden background). But here is a catch: since the game considers all artifacts above 1 mil as 'expensive/rare' already, it can easily exchange your 2 mil worth artifact into 3 mil a-a-and then 3 mil worth artifact into 1 mil. Or 1,5 into another 1,5. Equivalent? - equivalent! The game is sure that it didn't lie to you, lol.

Thus, you can easily gamble with everything that worth less than 1 million. Until your artifact gets golden background to be more precise.

[gwelty]

Originally posted by GenSec39:

Artifacts with golden background are already considered as the most expensive. It's somewhere over 1 million. Can be 2+. Can be 3+. When your exchange gives you one of these - usually it is better to stop there.

If you'll try to exchange one of these, you will still get another expensive equivalent (with golden background). But here is a catch: since the game considers all artifacts above 1 mil as 'expensive/rare' already, it can easily exchange your 2 mil worth artifact into 3 mil a-a-and then 3 mil worth artifact into 1 mil. Or 1,5 into another 1,5. Equivalent? - equivalent! The game is sure that it didn't lie to you, lol.

Thus, you can easily gamble with everything that worth less than 1 million. Until your artifact gets golden background to be more precise.

Thanks! That answered all my questions perfectly.

[1P27]

Originally posted by gwelty:

Originally posted by 1P27:

IT'S LAS VEGAS ALL NIGHT LONG

LOL. OK.

But, if the answer is "gambling" rather than "guaranteed minimum," then why does the AEV say otherwise? That's what I'm wondering.

I'm in game and checking the log. The four transactions went like this:

Chest of Abandoned Riches | 581,293 units
Parcel of Artificial Bark | 2,173,396 units
Hewn Punching Contraption | 1,349,810 units
Blighted Lawsuits | 1,148,424 units

So the value went down for each of the last two transactions. So why does the AEV say you'll at least get something equivalent?

not a stinking clue I farm activated indium and statis devices instead of starting a gambling addiction which I already have for upgrade modules