Research Costs is a quest in The Cycle: Frontier. The quest is given by Vadim Tanayev – Head of Operations for Korolev on Fortuna III. It consists of 9 different parts. All of them are included below.
The Cycle Frontier “Research Costs” Quest Details
Quest ImageGeneral Quest Dialogue
A lot of questions remain about how to stabilize Letium for safe and easy exploitation; with what’s already been recovered and studied, Letium could be used not just to refine Veltecite, but to trigger all sorts of other reactions in more common materials.
Help Korolev with what they need and their discoveries might even surpass the brains at Osiris!
Final Rewards
- 1x Heavy Duty Backpack
Quest Parts, Objectives & Guides
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 1 Dialogue
Our researchers on the station have been analyzing the data you retrieved, and have requested a few items to speed things up. I suggest checking old Osiris labs, I’m sure they won’t mind.
Objectives
- Deliver 8 Optic Glass
- Deliver 5 Rattler Skins
- Deliver 1 Portable Lab
Rewards
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Guide
- Optic Glass can be found in Cabinets, but also as a spawn around some POIs.
- Rattler Skins can be looted from dead Rattlers.
- The last part is to find and deliver Portable Lab. Portable Lab can be found in Briefcases and in Medical Areas. I also believe it has a chance to spawn in Cabinets, so make sure you loot them. Reasonably, it should have a slightly higher spawn rate on Crescent Falls. But can also be found in the north area on Bright Sands, such as the Crashed Ship. Sometimes you’ll even find it laying on the ground.
Part 2 Dialogue
It seems some creatures have higher concentrations of Letium than others… My people want some very specific samples now: head to the abandoned Dig Site mine in bright sands and hunt down what you can.
Objectives
- Visit Dig Site on Bright Sands
- Hunt 15 Creatures at the Dig Site on Bright Sands
- Deliver 20 Spinal Bases
Rewards
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x12000 Krypto Marks |
Guide
- The quest asks you to visit the Dig Site and eliminate 15 creatures of any type in that same area.
- Spinal Bases can be found from dead Striders, so make sure you loot them upon elimination. You can also try to gather them in one place and kill them when the storm comes, as it increases the chance of a drop.
Part 3 Dialogue
We haven’t heard from our ground team in days… The Cycle is stronger in the wilds, their equipment may have malfunctioned. Take this Radio Equipment down to Bright Sands stashes; with luck we’re right and they’ll make contact!
Objectives
- Stash 2 Radio Equipment at Swamp Camp
- Stash 2 Radio Equipment at Base Camp Office
- Stash 2 Radio Equipment at Comms Tower
Rewards
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Guide
- Radio Equipment can be found in industrial areas, Bins, Cabinets, and static spawns across the map.
- This is a Dead Drop mission, which means you’ll have to bring x6 Radio Equipment in-raid and deposit them at certain designated spots. Make sure you click Deposit after you transfer the items. In the images below, you can find all of the Dead Drop Locations for this quest.
Part 4 Dialogue
We’ve contacted an Osiris scientist willing to switch to help with our Letium research, but they’ll only take payment in Veltecite, off the books. Deliver some to this Dead Drop on Crescent Falls.
Objectives
- Visit Greens Prospect on Crescent Falls
- Stash 10 Clear Veltecite in the Stockpile Dead Drop
- Stash 5 Pure Veltecite in the Stockpile Dead Drop
Rewards
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Guide
- This is a Dead Drop mission, which means you’ll have to bring 10 Clear Veltecite and 5 Pure Veltecite in-raid and deposit them at certain designated spots. Make sure you click Deposit after you transfer the items. In the images below, you can find the Dead Drop Location for this quest. The Dead Drop is within Greens Prospect on Crescent Falls.
Part 5 Dialogue
Our new scientist friend believes Osiris was already researching the presence of Letium in various creatures. Head to their main lab on Bright Sands and bring back whatever samples they were studying.
Objectives
- Visit Waterfall Lab on Bright Sands
- Deliver 5 Letium Bio Samples
Rewards
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Guide
- Get inside the Waterfall Lab on Bright Sands. Once you get in, you need to collect 5 Letium Bio Samples, which are located around the POI as a static spawn (shelves, under decks, racks, drawers, next to beds), basically everywhere. Doing this in one run is completely doable. Letium Bio Samples look like this:
Part 6 Dialogue
Our team made it back home! It will be a while before they can get back to work… why not take some time and let everyone Korolev is still king of the hill?
Objectives
- Eliminate 30 creatures or players using Korolev weapons.
Rewards
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Guide
The quest is simple as it speaks for itself. You need to eliminate a collective total of 30 creatures or players. However, you need to use a weapon from the Korolev arsenal. Weapons eligible for this quest are:
- KM-9 ‘Scrapper’
- PKR Maelstrom
- KBR Longshot
- Hammer
- KOR-47
Part 7 Dialogue
Our people have been able to extract stable Letium from biological samples, but they need more to test with. Hunt down some more creatures, for science.
Objectives
- Deliver 5 Hardened Bone Plates
- Deliver 8 Toxic Glands
Rewards
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Guide
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- Hardened Bone Plates can be obtained from dead Marauders. They are both available on Bright Sands and Crescent Falls. Eliminating them is quite hard, so make sure you bring high stopping power with you.
- Toxic Glands can be found from dead Blast Ticks and Acid Ticks, both Red and Green, usually found in rivers and places around the swamp area. Keep in mind that they can spawn across rivers. To check for their spawns check the image below:
Part 8 Dialogue
We’ve narrowed down the process that allows these creatures to absorb and stabilize Letium. Get us more samples, we’re close to a breakthrough.
Objectives
- Deliver 3 Marauders Flesh
- Deliver 5 Rattler Eyes
- Deliver 10 Strider Flesh
Rewards
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Guide
- Marauder Flesh can be dropped from dead Marauders.
- Rattler Eyes can be dropped from dead Rattlers.
- Strider Flesh can be dropped from dead Striders.
Part 9 Dialogue
Our research is nearly complete! Now we just need to use the Uplink facilities on Crescent Falls; we should be able to use recent surface scans of the area to locate Letium vents.
Objectives
- Visit the Starport Landing Pad Uplink on Crescent Falls
- Visit the Skeleton Observation Uplink on Crescent Falls
- Deliver 3 Unique Data Drives
Rewards
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Guide
- Starport Landing Pad Uplink and Skeleton Observation Uplink locations:
- 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:
The Data Drive upgrade operation can be performed on any station, even on Bright Sands. However, visiting the two places on Crescent Falls is mandatory.
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!
