The Cycle Frontier “Back to Basics?” Quest Guide

Back to Basics? is a quest in The Cycle: Frontier. The quest is given by Marie Gilbert – Ravel – ICA Chief Procurement Officer. It consists of 8 different parts. All of them are included below.

The Cycle Frontier “Back to Basics?” Quest Details

General Quest Dialogue

Marie’s research team has only found a of tarry liquid reminiscent of crude oil, but it doesn’t burn easily. Never mind that actual crude would need more power to get out of orbit and onto the station than it could ever generate…

Someone thought it was worth looking into, though, and the ICA is getting desperate.

Final Rewards

• x1 Oil Pump Beacon

Quest Parts, Objectives & Guides

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8

Part 1 Dialogue

I’ve been sitting on a fairly ‘particular’ commission from an out of system arms company for some time, but I think you’re up to the task. They want ‘real world’ data on the efficacy of pistols used against other armed opponents. Fortuna III’s peculiar legal status and the use of emergency foam kits makes it a perfect testing ground, you see.

Objectives

• Stash 10 Polymetallic Prefabricates
• Stash 6 Resin Guns
• Stash 6 Magnetic Field Stabilizers

Rewards

Guide

This is another DEAD DROP quest, so make sure you bring these items with you and stash them at the Office Dead Drop at Nutrition Farms.

Check the image below for the exact location of The Office Dead Drop at Nutrition Farms.

• Polymetallic Prefabricates can be found as a static spawn Science Campus, North Uplink, South East Uplink, Vaccine Lab, and Waterfall Lab.
• Resin Guns‘ most common spawn is in Coolers and Civilian Lockers, but can also be found as a static spawn.
• Magnetic Field Stabilizers can be found in Dumpsters, but can also spawn as a static spawn in some Industrial sites and Construction areas.

Part 2 Dialogue

While our people look into the ‘crude’ samples, there might be something we can search for in the surface networks about it; you’ll need to check Uplink stations on Crescent Falls, then we can see if there’s anything there about that makes sense out of this.

Objectives

• Visit the Starport Landing Pad Uplink on Crescent Falls
• Deliver 3 Unique Data Drives

Rewards

Guide

• The first part asks you to visit Starport Landing Pad Uplink on Crescent Falls, which is a POI on the hard map. The quest doesn’t force you to upgrade your Data Drives on Crescent Falls at all, you can do it on Bright Sands too.
• Data Drives can be purchased from the ICA in their common variant, but also found at the Comms Base, and then slotted and upgraded at an in-raid uplink terminal. Each upgrade brings it to a higher-quality variant. Once the station finishes with the download, the Data Drive is upgraded one variant higher. This step is repeatable, and the Data Drives can be upgraded to their highest legendary variants. In this case, make sure you stop at the “Unique” (Legendary) variant. These sorts of stations can be found at the Comms Base, South-East Uplink, and North Uplink, as well as in some places on Crescent Falls. The Upgrade stations or Terminals look like this:

Part 3 Dialogue

This stuff is actual crude oil… mixed with billions upon billions of dead nanobots. It must have been used by the Progenitors to help terraform the planet! My predecessors from before the storms set up some pumps to collect the stuff; head to them and retrieve what you can.

Objectives

• Find the Abandoned Oil Field
• Hunt 5 Creatures in the Oil Field
• Deliver 5 Old Oil Pump Parts

Rewards

Guide

• The Abandoned Oil Field is located southwest of Pinnacle Labs. Once you get there you will notice the rusty oil pumps.
• Kill 5 Creatures, there are plenty of them around the area.
• Old Oil Pump Parts spawn right beside them. Check the image below for better clarification.

Part 4 Dialogue

We finally know that ‘NiC’ stands for Nanite-infused Crude. Someone figured out a way to trigger a reaction in the nanobots’ own batteries and get a small burst of energy from them; not much, but with billions of bots in a liter of NiC, it could be the answer to our energy troubles. Now, we just need to build some pumps! Get us these materials so we can fix up a first batch.

Objectives

• Deliver 20 Alloys
• Deliver 15 Hydraulic Pistons
• Deliver 5 Shock Absorbers

Rewards

Guide

• Alloys can be found in Dumpsters and Industrial crates, including as a static spawn in industrial areas.
• Hydraulic Pistons can be found in Industrial Crates, but also as a random static spawn in industrial areas.
• Shock Absorber has an epic rarity and it’s a rare spawn. It can spawn in industrial areas, but it can also spawn in containers. A good starting spot for searching these is the Science Campus on Bright Sands. They can spawn as a static spawn too.

Part 5 Dialogue

While we work on building those pumps, a request from a local artist has come in for hardened Bone Plates; they apparently make for a good crafting material. Kill some Marauders and complete the order for us, please.

Objectives

• Hunt 10 Marauders
• Deliver 7 Hardened Bone Plates

Rewards

Guide

• Hardened Bone Plates are dropped from dead Marauders (Jeffs). Well, this quest instructs you to eliminate them, so that’s where you’re going to get your Hardened Bone Plates.

Part 6 Dialogue

Getting these pumps to work isn’t as simple as we’d hoped. The pumps need to refine the NiC to eliminate as much crude as possible and concentrate the nanites in one convenient package ready for use, and that process some higher tech components than a simple pump. Here’s what we need for now.

Objectives

• Deliver 15 Circuit Boards
• Deliver 10 Shard Slicers
• Deliver 3 Master Unit CPUs

Rewards

Guide

• Circuit Boards can be found in Briefcases, Luggage, and as a static spawn across technologically advanced rooms and areas (racks, decks next to PCs, chairs, etc.).
• Shard Slicers can be found in Civilian Lockers if we go by the book. But, let’s be honest. In this game, the loot delivery is weird. Sometimes you can find items in the weirdest and least common places on the map. So I’d advise you to keep your eyes peeled and take it slow when looting. The racks in Starpoint Warehouse on Crescent Falls is one of the common spots to check for this item. It’s also one of the hardest to get.
• Master Unit CPUs is an item with epic rarity, which means it’s tough to find. It can spawn in Briefcases and Jackets, and as a Static Loot. Some of the common locations to check for this item are the Jungle Camp and Crashed Ship on Bright Sands and Starport Admin and Starport Warehouse on Crescent Falls. It can spawn in Pinnacle Labs too.

Part 7 Dialogue

That Dr. Sullivan is starting to poke around and ask questions, he likes to think Osiris are the only ones that can do any research around here. But if he’s curious, then so is that Korolev snake. Head to the surface and perform some ‘live’ tests with ICA guns, and I’ll spread scuttlebutt that we’re working on new weapon improvements.

Objectives

• Eliminate 8 Prospectors using an ICA weapon

Rewards

Guide

The quest is pretty straightforward. It asks you to eliminate 8 enemy players using an ICA weapon. Eligible weapons for this quest are:

• Bulldog
• ICA Guarantee
• Lacerator
• Shattergun
• Advocate
• Voltaic Brute
• Kinetic Arbiter

Part 8 Dialogue

You’re back just in time; the tech guys have a new list of things they need to finalize NiC refiner and install them in the pumps. After that it will just be a matter of calling them down in the right spot…

Objectives

• Deliver 8 Miniature Reactors
• Deliver 8 Smart Mesh
• Deliver 2 Gyroscopes

Rewards

Guide

• Miniature Reactors can be easily found in Storage Boxes (). The best way to get these is by doing the Puzzles (power conduits), as the rooms have a guaranteed Storage Box. There’s one at the Water Facility on and East Collection Site on Bright Sands. There’s also one at the Skeleton Observation Site on Crescent Falls. Basically said, whenever you need this item and you see a Puzzle in some POI, then just try to figure it out. It guarantees a Miniature Reactor inside the Storage Box in the room. Check the image below to see how the puzzles look like:

• Smart Mesh is a rare spawn and can be located in higher danger zones. Starport Warehouse on Crescent Falls is one of them (on the racks), but Bright Sands also has it, in the Jungle and the Crashed Ship. Can also be found in Industrial Crates and Dumpsters, but also as a static spawn in some industrial areas.
• Gyroscopes can be found in Cabinets. They can spawn inside the Crashed Ship.

Keep in mind that the guides are a work in progress. If you notice anything out of place, please let us know in the comments below!