Relic

Relics are procedurally generated items that have special significance within the generated history of Caves of Qud. Relics are most often found in historic sites or sultan reliquaries, but can also be found in procedurally generated ruins or even held by random creatures. Relics can generate with unique relic powers that are not typically available on normal items or through tinkering. A typical relic may spawn with 1-4 unique relic powers. Relics cannot have additional mods added tinkering and cannot generate with normal item mods.

Relics are perhaps most iconic for their place in sultan lore. For example, a relic might be a mighty weapon that helped a sultan win a decisive battle, or a relic might be a memorable gift that was given to a sultan on their wedding day. If a sultan retains a relic until their death, it will be found within the sultan's reliquary in the Tomb of the Eaters. In other cases, the sultan might lose the relic before their death. Such relics can sometimes be found in historic sites, if the location where it was lost still exists in contemporary Qud.

Relics and Relic Powers

Relic Weapons, Armor, and Shields

Major Powers

The following powers, sometimes referred to as major relic powers, can be generated on weapons, armor, and shields. Gold-colored values are randomly determined. Chrome-colored values are decided based on the Tier of the armor or weapon, which can range from 1-8 (tier 1 items will have the lowest value shown below, while tier 8 items will have the highest value shown).

Powers marked with an ^E require an energy cell to function.

Power	Effect	Applicable Items
Transmute into Gem	0.4%-3.2% chance to transmute any attacked target into a gemstone when it is hit.	Weapons
Glazed	10-26% chance to dismember on hit.	Weapons
Relic Freezing E	5 to 16-22 cold damage on hit ([Tier * 1.6 + 3] - [Tier * 2.4 + 3]). If overloaded, 8-10 to 19-27 cold damage on hit ([(Tier+2) * 1.6 + 3] - [(Tier+2) * 2.4 + 3]).	Weapons
Beetle Host E	When powered, discharges a clockwork beetle friend on hit. Drains cell power quickly.	Weapons
Fatecaller	50% of the time, the Fates have their way.	Weapons
Improved Teleportation	Grants you Teleportation at level 1-8. If you already have Teleportation, its level is increased by 1-8.	Weapons
Powered Strength Boost E	+1-2 Strength	Weapons and Shields
Powered Willpower Boost E	+1-2 Willpower	Weapons and Shields
Powered Ego Boost E	+1-2 Ego	Weapons and Shields
Improved Light Manipulation	Grants you Light Manipulation at level 1-8. If you already have Light Manipulation, its level is increased by 1-8.	Weapons, Armor, and Shields
Improved Temporal Fugue	Grants you Temporal Fugue at level 1-8. If you already have Temporal Fugue, its level is increased by 1-8.	Weapons, Armor, and Shields
Improved Electrical Generation	Grants you Electrical Generation at level 1-8. If you already have Electrical Generation, its level is increased by 1-8.	Weapons, Armor, and Shields
Loved by a Faction	+400 Reputation with <faction>.	Weapons, Armor, and Shields
Liked by a Faction	+200 Reputation with <faction>.	Weapons, Armor, and Shields
Faction Slayer	1%-8% chance to behead <faction members> on hit. (behead chance only applies when using the item itself as a weapon) -200 Reputation with <faction>.	Weapons, Armor, and Shields
Traveller's Boon - Movespeed E	+(1-4+8-32) Movement speed +(20-40+0-70) lbs. carry capacity. (Movement speed bonus requires energy cell, carry capacity does not.)	Armor and Shields
Traveller's Boon - Teleportation	Grants you Teleportation at level 1-8. If you already have Teleportation, its level is increased by 1-8. +(20-40+0-70) lbs. carry capacity.	Armor and Shields
Improved Clairvoyance	Grants you Clairvoyance at level 1-8. If you already have Clairvoyance, its level is increased by 1-8.	Armor and Shields
Blink E	Whenever you're about to take damage, there's a 6%-13% chance you blink away instead.	Armor and Shields
Improved Attribute	+1-2 to Strength, Intelligence, Willpower, or Ego	Armor
Improved Cold Resistance	+1-2 Cold resistance	Armor
Reflect	Reflects 1%-8% damage back at your attackers, rounded up.	Shields
Powered Intelligence Boost E	+1-2 Intelligence	Shields
Powered Cold Resistance Boost E	+20-30 Cold Resistance	Shields

Minor Enhancements

In addition, Relic weapons, armor, and shields are guaranteed to have one of the following intrinsic qualities.

Item Type	Enhancement
Melee Weapons	+1 PV
	+2 to damage die size
	+1 damage
	+3 to PV bonus cap
	+2 to hit
Missile Weapons	Spray fire (shots do not go wild because of adjacent enemies)
	+1 rate of fire (on magazine-fed weapons, also increases ammo capacity by 1 if ammo capacity would become less than rate of fire)
	+1 PV
	+2 to damage die size
	+1 damage
	Penetrate creatures like an eigenrifle
	Vibro projectiles
	Improved accuracy A 5-105-10 (Avg: 7.5) bonus to the weapon's Accuracy, if it is not already 0 Otherwise, a 2-62-6 (Avg: 4) hidden bonus to the weapon's aim variance
Shields	Improved Block
	1-2 point reduction in DV penalty
	5-10 point reduction in Quickness penalty, if any
	+1 AV
Armor	+1 DV
	+1 AV
	+2 MA
	+10 to Cold, Heat, Acid, or Electrical Resistance
	+1 to Strength, Agility, Toughness, Intelligence, Willpower, or Ego
	+2 To-Hit
	+1-5 Quickness, or a 5-10 point reduction in Quickness penalty, if any

Relic Curio

The subject of this section has no official name presented in-game. As a result, a name for it was chosen at the discretion of wiki editors.

Some relics appear as a single use-items. These are called curios, and there are two variants:

• Obliterate Faction
• Fabricate Creature

Fabricate Creature curios will fabricate a random legendary creature roughly the same tier as the relic.

Example Relic Curios

Blockecus

Tiny glyphs are inscribed on each exterior face of the handheld box. It's embossed with beautiful blocks of ice.

Fabricates one mechanical learned root cherub, cognitively altered to like you.

Weight: 1 lbs.

Perfect

Batteroca

Tiny glyphs are inscribed on each exterior face of the handheld box. It's adorned with tiny images of light bulbs.

On activation, this item obliterates all nearby members of a faction chosen from among those that existed during the time of the sultanate.

Weight: 1 lbs.

Perfect

Relic Books

Some relics appear as high-value books with randomly-generated markov chain text.

Relic books grant one of the following effects when read. The chosen skill or stat is completely random and has no relation to the sultan's themes or the place where it was found.

70% chance	Teaches a random skill when read.
30% chance	Increases a random attribute by 1 when read.

Relic books have a commerce value of 100 * Tier + 200, a much higher value than normal randomly generated books. Because trading books to Sheba Hagadias, Librarian of the Stilt provides experience proportional to the square of the book's value, these books can be traded in for an extremely large number of experience points.

Example Relic Books

Charmica

An unadorned codex of goatskin vellum. It's embossed with tiny images of tokens.

Increases the Toughness of anyone who reads it.

Weight: 1 lbs.

Perfect

Lightyca

An unadorned codex of goatskin vellum. It's stamped with fanciful depictions of jewels. It's carved with tiny images of telescopes.

Teaches Shank to anyone who reads it.

Weight: 1 lbs.

Perfect

Relic Tonic

Relic tonics are all based on Eaters' nectar injectors. They cannot be preserved into drops of nectar, but they provide double the bonus: +2 to a random attribute or two mutation points. (Also just like Eaters' nectar injectors, unlike most tonics, they cannot cause overdose.)

Example Relic Tonic

Rootoca <A6>

A slender metal tube, used to deliver various tonics directly into the bloodstream. It's carved with tiny images of salt.

You gain either a permanent +2 bonus to a random attribute or two mutation points.
This item is a tonic. Applying one tonic while under the effects of another may produce undesired results.

Weight: 0 lbs.

Perfect

Connection to Sultan Lore

The generation of sultan relics, including the tier of relic and the type of base item, are closely related to the sultan and to significant events in the sultan's life as evidenced in sultan lore.

Relic Tier

The eight historic sites in the game contain relic items that progress from Tier 1 to Tier 8, starting with the Historic site nearest to Joppa, which will always have Tier 1 relic(s).

The tier of relics found in the sultan reliquaries in the Tomb of the Eaters will be instead determined from the period of the sultanate during which the relic originated, with relics from older sultans being more powerful.

Sultan Period	Relic Tier If Relic Is Found In...
	Historic Site #1	Historic Site #2	Historic Site #3	Historic Site #4	Historic Site #5	Historic Site #6	Historic Site #7	Historic Site #8	Tomb Reliquary
1st Period Sultanate	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	8	7
2nd Period Sultanate	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	7	N/A	6
3rd Period Sultanate	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	5	6	N/A	N/A	5
4th Period Sultanate	N/A	N/A	3	4	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	3 or 4 (random)
5th Period Sultanate	1	2	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	1 or 2 (random)

Relic Item Type

The type of underlying base item for each relic can be determined from the lore associated with the sultan, if such lore exists. Notably, relics generated in historic sites do not always have a fragment of sultan lore associated with them, depending on randomization factors during world generation. These types of relics are often recognizable because they are typically named after the historic site or the floor of the historic site where they are found, rather than being named as based on a fragment of sultan lore.

Historic sites can often contain relics that are not directly associated with sultan lore. Generally this is the case whenever a sultan did not lose one of their relics at a location in the historic site. These type of relics are generated with a randomized underlying item base type, since there is no driving lore to dictate their item type.

Melee Relics

Melee weapons have a 80% chance to be one-handed and a 20% chance to be two-handed, and are always generated from the base weapon with material equal to the relic's tier:

Tier 1	Iron
Tier 2	Steel
Tier 3	Carbide
Tier 4	Folded Carbide
Tier 5	Fullerite
Tier 6	Crysteel
Tier 7	Flawless Crysteel
Tier 8	Zetachrome

Non-Melee Relics

Other relics generate in more complex ways based on tier.

Relic Item Type	How It's Described in Sultan Lore	Possible Items
Artifact	artifact	50% Fabricate Creature curio with a random creature roughly the same tier as the relic 50% Obliterate Faction curio
	star-tool
Body Armor	breastplate	Tier 1 50% 2 0 perch fish leather armor that weighs 15 pounds 50% 1 2 frock that weighs 5 pounds Tier 2 50% 3 -2 ring mail that weighs 15 pounds 50% 3 -1 chain mail that weighs 35 pounds Tier 3 50% 4 -4 steel plate mail that weighs 60 pounds 50% 1 3 elastyne skin suit that weighs 5 pounds Tier 4 50% 5 -5 carbide plate armor that weighs 45 pounds 50% 2 3 flexivest that weighs 5 pounds Tier 5 50% 6 -6 fullerite plate mail that weighs 160 pounds 50% 4 -3 fullerite flake armor without resistances that weighs 90 pounds. Tier 6 50% 6 -3, +9 Heat/+9 Cold/+9 Elec/+9 Acid resistance crysteel shardmail that weighs 40 pounds 50% 4 2 nanoweave vest Tier 7 flawless crysteel shardmail Tier 8 zetachrome lune
	vest
Book	account	70% A high-value markov book which teaches a random skill when read. The book's commerce value will be equal to 100 * Tier + 200 30% A high-value markov book which increases a random attribute by 1 when read. The book's commerce value will be equal to 100 * Tier + 200
	allegory
	chronology
	horoscope reading
	hypothesis
	philosophy
	treatise
	wintry truth
Boots	boots	Tiers 1 - 2 1 0 perch fish leather boots that weigh 3 pounds Tier 3 50% 2 -3 chain boots that weigh 10 pounds 50% 0 2 elastyne slippers that weigh 1 pound Tier 4 50% 3 -5 carbide boots that weigh 15 pounds 50% 1 1, +5 Heat/+5 Cold/+5 Elec/+5 Acid resistance plastifer sneakers that weigh 3 pounds Tier 5 3 -4 fullerite boots that weigh 35 pounds Tier 6 3 -2, +5 Heat/+5 Cold/+5 Elec/+5 Acid resistance crysteel boots Tier 7 4 -2, +5 Heat/+5 Cold/+5 Elec/+5 Acid resistance flawless crysteel boots Tier 8 4 0, +6 Heat/+6 Cold/+6 Elec/+6 Acid resistance zetachrome pumps
	pair of boots
Bracelet	bracelet	Tiers 1 - 2 0 0 beaded bracelet that weighs 1 pound Tiers 3 - 4 0 2 beaded bracelet that weighs 1 pound Tiers 5 - 6 1 2 beaded bracelet that weighs 1 pound Tiers 7 - 8 1 3 beaded bracelet that weighs 1 pound
Cloak	cloak	Tier 1 0 0 cloak that weighs 3 pounds Tiers 2 - 3 0 1 cloak that weighs 3 pounds Tiers 4 - 5 0 2 cloak that weighs 3 pounds Tiers 6 - 7 0 3 cloak that weighs 3 pounds Tier 8 0 4 cloak that weighs 3 pounds
Curio	skull	50% Fabricate Creature curio with a random creature roughly the same tier as the relic 50% Obliterate Faction curio
	coin
	one-sided die
	two-sided die
	three-sided die
	four-sided die
	five-sided die
	six-sided die
	seven-sided die
	eight-sided die
	nine-sided die
	ten-sided die
	twelve-sided die
	twenty-sided die
Face Armor	mask	Tier 1 0 0 veil that weighs 2 pounds Tier 2 - 3 0 1 veil that weighs 2 pounds Tier 4 - 5 0 2 veil that weighs 2 pounds Tiers 6 - 7 0 3 veil that weighs 2 pounds Tier 8 0 4 veil that weighs 2 pounds
Floating Item	floating orb	Tiers 1 - 2 A floating object that weighs 1 pound Tiers 3 - 7 A floating glowsphere that weighs 1 pound
Food	feast	Eaters' nectar injector
	meal
Hand Armor	gloves	Tiers 1 - 2 1 0 perch fish leather gloves that weigh 3 pounds Tier 3 50% 2 -3 chain gauntlets that weigh 10 pounds 50% 0 2, +1 Agility elastyne gloves that weigh 1 pound Tier 4 50% 3 -5 carbide gauntlets that weigh 18 pounds 50% 1 1, +5 Heat/+5 Cold/+5 Elec/+5 Acid resistance plastifer gloves that weigh 3 pounds Tier 5 3 -3 fullerite gauntlets that weigh 25 pounds Tier 6 3 -2, +5 Heat/+5 Cold/+5 Elec/+5 Acid resistance crysteel gauntlets Tier 7 4 -2, +5 Heat/+5 Cold/+5 Elec/+5 Acid resistance flawless crysteel gauntlets Tier 8 4 0, +6 Heat/+6 Cold/+6 Elec/+6 Acid resistance zetachrome gloves
	gauntlet
	iron gauntlet
Head Armor	helm	Tiers 1 - 2 50% 1 0 helmet that weighs 3 pounds 50% 0 1 hat that weighs 3 pounds Tier 3 50% 2 -3 steel helmet that weighs 12 pounds 50% 1 1, +5 Cold resistance elastyne hat that weighs 1 pound Tier 4 50% 2 -3 steel helmet that weighs 12 pounds 50% 1 1, +5 Heat/+5 Cold/+5 Elec/+5 Acid resistance plastifer hat that weighs 4 pounds Tier 5 3 -4 fullerite helmet that weighs 25 pounds Tier 6 3 -1, +5 Heat/+5 Cold/+5 Elec/+5 Acid resistance crysteel coronet Tier 7 4 -1, +5 Heat/+5 Cold/+5 Elec/+5 Acid resistance flawless crysteel coronet Tier 8 4 0, +6 Heat/+6 Cold/+6 Elec/+6 Acid resistance zetachrome apex
	helmet
Pistol	pistol	Tier 1 chrome revolver Tier 2 semi-automatic pistol Tier 3 chain pistol Tier 4 laser pistol Tier 5 80% eigenpistol 20% arc winder Tier 6 75% hand rail 25% di-thermo beam Tier 7+8 50% spaser pistol 20% space inverter 20% high-voltage arc winder 10% psychal fleshgun
Rifle	rifle	Tier 1 musket Tier 2 Issachar rifle Tier 3 75% carbine 25% sniper rifle Tier 4 80% laser rifle 20% flamethrower Tier 5 50% eigenrifle 32.5% chain laser 17.5% freeze ray Tier 6 80% light rail 20% hypertractor Tier 7 80% spaser rifle 20% linear cannon Tier 8 phase cannon
Shield	shield	Tiers 1 - 2 2 -3 shield that weighs 9 pounds Tier 3 3 -2 steel shield that weighs 12 pounds Tier 4 4 -3 carbide shield that weighs 14 pounds Tier 5 5 -4 fullerite shield that weighs 20 pounds Tier 6 6 -3 crysteel shield that weighs 20 pounds Tier 7 - 8 7 -2 flawless crysteel shield that weighs 20 pounds

Trivia

• Prior to patch 2.0.200.86 (August 14, 2020), it was possible to mod relic items, allowing a player to combine relic powers with other powerful tinkering mods. For example, relic freezing + normal freezing could be combined on an item for a very powerful overall freezing effect, like this one. However, it is no longer possible to add normal mods to relic items.

References

This information is reliable as of patch 2.0.203.35.