A Trace of Metal

What does the quest A Trace of Metal give? Across its 5 parts it gives the blueprints of the Hardframe Right Arm, Left Arm, Legs, and Body for the Minotaur, of the Minotaur AI Pilot, and of the Paralysis Mortar.

How it starts

The quest begins at your settlement: the first step answers your settlers' call, and the next defends the settlement from a Sentinel assault.

The steps

Each part is one entry of the log, and the next opens when it ends. The table gives every step as the log names it, with the hint the game shows under it, and on a part's last step everything that part gives along the way.

Part	Step	Hint	Gives
1	Respond to your settlers	Emergency Settlement Comms link requested.
1	Defend your settlement	An extreme Sentinel assault is underway at your settlement!
1	Receive the anomalous broadcast	An anomalous broadcast has reached your settlement.
1	Meet with Iteration Tethys	Iteration Tethys is curious about the spike of Sentinel activity at your settlement.	Sentinel Flare (Off), Nanite Filament, Portal Phylactery, Beads of Glass, Undamaged Drone Shell
2	Field test the drone at your settlement	Tethys has reconstructed and rewired the salvaged drone shell.
2	Investigate The Sentry's coordinates	The Sentry is operating with limited functionality.
2	Access the Sentinel Pillar archives	The Pillar's terminal is secured by a series of electronic locks.
2	Probe The Sentry's status	The Sentinel Pillar has interfaced with The Sentry.
2	Install the Sentinel Hardframe Right Arm	Sentinel Hardframe Right Arm schematic obtained from Sentinel Pillar.	Hardframe Right Arm, Exocraft Summoning Station, Minotaur Geobay, Salvaged Data
3	Return to your settlement	The Sentry has warned of disruption amongst your settlers.
3	Address your settlers	The settlers of your settlement are concerned about the increasing Sentinel threat, and have requested an audience at your office.
3	Investigate The Sentry's coordinates	Citizens of your settlement have begun an expedition to search for answers about the Sentinels.
3	Access the facility terminal	The Sentry's coordinates led to a manufacturing facility.
3	Install the Sentinel Hardframe schematic	Anomalous Sentinel blueprints obtained from the world of glass.	Hardframe Legs, Hardframe Left Arm
4	Debrief your settlement's away team	Your settlers have returned from their Sentinel Facility mission.
4	Install the Sentinel Hardframe schematic	Your settlement's away team recovered anomalous Sentinel blueprints.	Paralysis Mortar
5	Retrieve a pristine Walker Brain	Installation of a Sentinel Hardframe Body will allow the Minotaur Exocraft to fight autonomously.
5	Present the Pristine Brain to Tethys	Before the Pristine Brain can be safely installed in the Minotaur Exocraft, it must be disconnected from the Sentinel network.
5	Make contact with an Atlas Beacon	Tethys has prepared the Hacked Brain for disconnection from the Sentinel network.
5	Install the Sentinel Hardframe Body	Iteration Tethys has developed a Sentinel Hardframe Body blueprint.
5	Fulfil The Sentry's wish	The Sentry is tormented by its connection to the Sentinel hivemind, and wishes to be free.	Hacked Brain, Hardframe Body, Minotaur AI Pilot, Pristine Brain

Every step in the order the log shows it, with the hint under it; what a part gives stands on its last step.

What the items do

Everything the quest hands over, with the description the game gives it. The quest takes some of them back: the Nanite Filament, Portal Phylactery, Beads of Glass, and Undamaged Drone Shell go into the drone, and the Pristine Brain is traded for the Hacked Brain.

Item	What it does
Sentinel Flare (Off)	A specialist device, created by Iteration Tethys. Its primary function is to hail your reconstructed Sentinel drone.
Nanite Filament	A thin, shimmering thread, once owned by Iteration: Gemini. This impossible fibre, once a treasured keepsake, sings on the wavelength of the Space Anomaly.
Portal Phylactery	A vial of the portal's blue amber, given to you by Iteration: Mercury. The ether of the Atlas itself, this is primeval liquid from which it weaves the multiverse.
Beads of Glass	A handful of glassy orbs, once owned by Specialist Polo. Their pearlescent surface does not reflect the world around them, offering instead a mirror to different reality.
Undamaged Drone Shell	The shell of a Sentinel drone, all that remains after its destruction in combat. While the exterior is physically intact, its internals have been severely burned.
Hardframe Right Arm	A collection of salvaged components from a Sentinel Hardframe, reconditioned to fit the Minotaur Heavy Exocraft Hybrid.
Exocraft Summoning Station	Construction allows the user to summon any owned Exocraft from anywhere else in that system.
Minotaur Geobay	A secure parking, summoning and customisation facility for the Minotaur Heavy Exosuit Hybrid.
Salvaged Data	The salvageable heart of some ancient technology. Unreadable in its current form.
Hardframe Legs	A collection of salvaged components from a Sentinel Hardframe, reconditioned to fit the Minotaur Heavy Exocraft Hybrid.
Hardframe Left Arm	A collection of salvaged components from a Sentinel Hardframe, reconditioned to fit the Minotaur Heavy Exocraft Hybrid.
Paralysis Mortar	Non-violent projectile weapon. Launched projectiles will incapacitate nearby targets with a burst of electrical energy. Effective against both biological and electronic entities.
Hacked Brain	Shifting nanite clusters sewn together with a pugneum filament, this circuit is painfully hot to the touch. The purple light that leaks from within its wiring has softened, as if it has become less hostile.
Hardframe Body	A collection of salvaged components from a Sentinel Hardframe, reconditioned to fit the Minotaur Heavy Exocraft Hybrid.
Minotaur AI Pilot	A semi-autonomous artificial pilot plugin for the Minotaur Heavy Exocraft Hybrid. Installation allows the Minotaur to traverse planets itself and engage in combat or mining activities to support its primary operator.
Pristine Brain	Shifting nanite clusters sewn together with a pugneum filament, this circuit is painfully hot to the touch. A sinister purple light leaks from deep within its wiring, changing in intensity as it watches its holder.

Every item the quest gives, in the order it comes, with the game's own description.

The first part rebuilds a Sentinel drone, The Sentry, from the parts the game hands over on the way, and The Sentry leads the rest of the quest. The last part asks for a pristine Walker Brain: Iteration Tethys prepares it as the Hacked Brain, an Atlas Beacon cuts it from the Sentinel network, and the Hardframe Body it goes into lets the Minotaur fight on its own.

The other way to the blueprints

The Hardframe parts and the Minotaur AI Pilot also stand in the Minotaur tree of the Space Anomaly, and the Paralysis Mortar in its weapon tree, sold for nanites. What each Hardframe part adds to the Minotaur is in the Minotaur modules guide.