Relics in FTB Skies 2: Aero

Relics is a mod about useful items with unique mechanics. Each relic can be used alone or combined with other relics and mods. Relics have a leveling system and random stats, so two copies of the same relic won't look alike. You can also improve and customize them, and many have active abilities. The mod page advertises 28 relics and says its balance adjusts automatically to the modpack it's in.^[1]

This pack ships Relics 0.12.8, and it has been in the pack since 1.0.3 or earlier.^[2]

Where it sits in the quest book

The relics have no chapter of their own. They sit in the "Gearing Up" chapter, in the "Exploration & Combat" group, which is chapter 14 of 31 in the book. The chapter's intro quest, "Gearing Up For Adventure!" quest, says the chapter is about the different ways to craft, enhance and enchant the gear you need on your adventures.^[3]

Inside that chapter, the relic quests are listed next to other gear topics: Apotheosis enchanting, Iron's Gems & Jewelry, the Productive Metalworks Foundry, Cognition gear and the skill tree resets. Each relic quest asks you to have the relic in your inventory. Here are some of them:^[3]

• Reflective Necklace and Jellyfish Necklace, with quests a quest in "Gearing Up" and "Jellyfish Necklace" quest.^[3]
• The mantles: Ghostly Mantle, Midnight Mantle, Leafy Mantle and Glitchy Mantle.^[3]
• Belts: Hunting Belt and Kinetic Belt.^[3]
• Movement and utility: Springy Boot, Roller Skate, Rider Flute, Chorus Staff and Clot of Time.^[3]
• Others: Piglin Mask, Experience Disperser, Sphere of Self-Sacrifice and Ring of the Seven Deadly Sins.^[3]

The quest text for these relics says you get them from the shop or from quest rewards, so you don't craft them.^[3]

The chapter has 94 quests, and the text of 45 of them isn't covered here. Open the quest book to read them in full.^[3]

The mod author has said a guidebook is not planned and suggests modpack makers add their own, so check the quest book for how the pack presents each relic.^[1]

Relics adds useful items with their own mechanics, and in this pack you don't start by crafting them at a bench. The recipe list for this pack shows only meatball recipes making Relics items. The relics themselves come from elsewhere, so your first steps are about knowing where to look.^[1][3][4]

Step 1: Open the Gearing Up chapter

The quest book covers Relics in the Gearing Up chapter, in the Exploration & Combat group (chapter 14 of 31, with 94 quests). The chapter intro says it teaches you different ways to craft, enhance and enchant the gear you need for adventuring. The Relics quests sit alongside the Apotheosis, Iron's Gems & Jewelry and Cognition quests there. Not every quest in the chapter fits on this page, so check the quest book for the rest.^[3]

Step 2: Get your first relics from the shop or quest rewards

Each relic quest says the item is obtained from the shop or quest rewards. These are the relics with their own quests that I can confirm:^[3]

• Reflective Necklace, Jellyfish Necklace and Sphere of Self-Sacrifice^[3]
• Ghostly Mantle, Glitchy Mantle, Leafy Mantle and Midnight Mantle^[3]
• Hunting Belt, Kinetic Belt, Roller Skate and Springy Boot^[3]
• Chorus Staff, Rider Flute, Piglin Mask, Experience Disperser, Clot of Time and Ring of the Seven Deadly Sins^[3]

The Chef's Hat has one extra source: besides the shop and quest rewards, you can get it from the goat event. See the quest a quest in "Gearing Up" for it.^[3]

Step 3: Learn how a relic grows

Relics have a leveling system and random stats, so two copies of the same relic won't be identical. In the mod's own text, leveling up an ability, rerolling its attributes and resetting it all cost experience points. A reroll can make the ability better or worse, and the game asks you to hold a key to confirm if the ability is already at maximum quality.^[1][5]

Researching uses two key bindings: Research Relic Under Cursor and Active Abilities Menu. The research screen has you move the cursor over the fog to find hidden stars, then connect them into a constellation that matches the ability icon.^[5]

Step 4: Try the Chef's Hat meatballs

The Chef's Hat is the one relic here with in-pack recipes attached. Its satiety ability gives kills a chance to drop a Raw Meatball. The ability text says it is identical in properties to raw beef, and you can eat it or cook it for greater nourishment. The pack gives you three ways to cook it into a Cooked Meatball: a furnace, a smoker or a campfire.^[4][5]

Cooked MeatballMod recipe

Smelting

• Raw Meatball

Recipe id: relics:cooked_meatball_from_smelting_raw_meatball

Furnace (smelting).

Cooked MeatballMod recipe

Smoking

• Raw Meatball

Recipe id: relics:cooked_meatball_from_smoking_raw_meatball

Smoker (smoking).

Cooked MeatballMod recipe

Campfire Cooking

• Raw Meatball

Recipe id: relics:cooked_meatball_from_campfire_cooking_raw_meatball

Campfire (campfire cooking).

At higher ranks the hat cooks the dropped meatballs for you automatically, and cooked meatballs restore twice as much health as raw ones.^[5]

Relics is built around items with abilities, and the depth comes from how each relic's abilities are leveled, rerolled and researched. The mod describes an MMO-like system of random stats and a progressive active ability system, so no two relics have to look the same.^[1][5]

Leveling, rerolling and resetting abilities

Each relic has abilities with their own attributes. Some effects only unlock from a certain rank. Three actions let you shape an ability, and each one costs experience points.^[5]

• Level up: raises the current ability level and improves its attributes. Once the ability is at its maximum level, it can't go any higher. Holding the shown key during the action keeps leveling until your experience or upgrade points run out.^[5]
• Reroll: randomly rerolls the ability's attributes, and the result can be better or worse. Holding the shown key rerolls automatically until the maximum rarity is reached or your experience runs out. If the ability is already at maximum quality, a reroll will definitely worsen it, so the game makes you hold a key to confirm.^[5]
• Reset: drops the ability back to its minimum level and returns the upgrade points you spent. It also costs experience points, and it isn't needed if the ability is already at its minimum.^[5]

There is also an Active Abilities Menu keybind in the controls.^[5]

Researching a relic

Researching is a small puzzle, and there is a Research Relic Under Cursor keybind for it. The rules the game gives you are:^[5]

1. Move the cursor over the fog on the left to explore the ability icon underneath and find the hidden stars.^[5]
2. Match the star pattern to the ability icon and connect the stars into a constellation.^[5]
3. Watch the details: you can see particles at star positions even through the fog, and the number of dots flying around a star tells you how many connections it needs.^[5]

How some abilities behave

Here are a few relics to show how the ability and rank system plays out.^[5]

The Chef's Hat adds food to your kills. After a target dies, there is a chance it drops 1 meatball, which has the same properties as raw beef. You can eat it right away or cook it for more benefit.^[5]

Raw Meatball cooks into Cooked Meatball by smelting, in a smoker or on a campfire.^[4]

Cooked MeatballMod recipe

Smelting

• Raw Meatball

Recipe id: relics:cooked_meatball_from_smelting_raw_meatball

Smelting turns a raw meatball into a cooked one.

Cooked MeatballMod recipe

Smoking

• Raw Meatball

Recipe id: relics:cooked_meatball_from_smoking_raw_meatball

The smoker does the same job.

Cooked MeatballMod recipe

Campfire Cooking

• Raw Meatball

Recipe id: relics:cooked_meatball_from_campfire_cooking_raw_meatball

A campfire works too.

Higher ranks improve the Chef's Hat. Dropped meatballs can be cooked automatically, and cooked meatballs restore twice as much health as raw ones. At a further rank, meatballs are consumed 3 times faster.^[5]

The Chorus Staff teleports you forward when used. Each teleport takes 1 unit from an internal buffer that regenerates automatically. Its rank modifiers add three things: aiming at a block within reach teleports you onto that block, nearby targets briefly lose sight of you, and landing after a teleport deals no fall damage.^[5]

The Clot of Time rewinds you along your recent path while you hold right mouse button. When the rewind ends, the ability goes on cooldown for as long as you used it continuously. Rank modifiers let it restore your health to what it was at that point on the path (it never lowers your current health), make you take no damage during the rewind, and make nearby entities lose sight of you while it's active.^[5]

A pack-specific way to get one

This pack's own script for the Quantum Goat event puts the Chef's Hat in the goat's loot table with a weight of 2. That is a low weight next to entries such as iron ingot and copper ingot at 15 each.^[6]

Relics in this pack don't have a crafting ladder to climb. The quest book hands the items out through the shop or quest rewards, so your progress is about collecting them and then putting them to use.^[3]

The mod's intro quest sits in the Useful Items & Tips chapter (chapter 2 of 31 in the book). It describes Relics as items that can each level up and grant unique abilities. You can read it in "Relics" quest.^[7]

Where the relic quests live

Each relic has its own quest in the Gearing Up chapter, which is chapter 14 of 31 in the Exploration & Combat group. None of the relic quests list a prerequisite quest, so you can pick them up in any order. Every one of them says the item is obtained from the shop or quest rewards.^[3]

• Mantles: Ghostly Mantle (a quest in "Gearing Up"), Midnight Mantle (a quest in "Gearing Up"), Leafy Mantle (a quest in "Gearing Up") and Glitchy Mantle (a quest in "Gearing Up").^[3]
• Necklaces: Reflective Necklace (a quest in "Gearing Up") and Jellyfish Necklace ("Jellyfish Necklace" quest).^[3]
• Belts: Hunting Belt (a quest in "Gearing Up") and Kinetic Belt (a quest in "Gearing Up").^[3]
• Movement and utility: Springy Boot (a quest in "Gearing Up"), Roller Skate (a quest in "Gearing Up"), Rider Flute (a quest in "Gearing Up") and Piglin Mask (a quest in "Gearing Up").^[3]
• The rest: Chorus Staff (a quest in "Gearing Up"), Clot of Time (a quest in "Gearing Up"), Experience Disperser (a quest in "Gearing Up"), Sphere of Self-Sacrifice (a quest in "Gearing Up") and Ring of the Seven Deadly Sins (a quest in "Gearing Up").^[3]

The Chef's Hat has a second source

The Chef's Hat is the only relic whose quest mentions another way to get it: the goat event, as well as the shop and quest rewards. See a quest in "Gearing Up".^[3]

The pack's goat event spawns a Quantum Goat near you. After a short delay the goat drops one item from a weighted loot table and disappears. The Chef's Hat has a weight of 2 in that table, while iron ingots and copper ingots each have 15, so the hat is a rare roll.^[6]

Meatballs

The recipes the pack lists for Relics items are all for cooking. A Raw Meatball becomes a Cooked Meatball in a furnace, a smoker or over a campfire.^[4]

Cooked MeatballMod recipe

Smelting

• Raw Meatball

Recipe id: relics:cooked_meatball_from_smelting_raw_meatball

Cooking in a furnace.

Cooked MeatballMod recipe

Smoking

• Raw Meatball

Recipe id: relics:cooked_meatball_from_smoking_raw_meatball

Cooking in a smoker.

Cooked MeatballMod recipe

Campfire Cooking

• Raw Meatball

Recipe id: relics:cooked_meatball_from_campfire_cooking_raw_meatball

Cooking over a campfire.

Relics shows up in two quest chapters. The first is a short introduction near the start of the book, and the second is a big collection chapter where each relic gets its own quest.^[3][7]

Useful Items & Tips (chapter 2 of 31)

The "Relics" quest quest sits in this early chapter. Its text says the mod adds several new and unique items, each able to level up and grant unique abilities to anyone who wants to use them.^[7]

Gearing Up (chapter 14 of 31)

This chapter is in the Exploration & Combat group. It opens with "Gearing Up For Adventure!" quest, which says the chapter is about the different ways to craft, enhance and enchant the gear you need for your adventures. Most of the Relics quests here are simple: you hand in the relic itself. The quest text says each one is obtained from the shop or quest rewards.^[3]

• a quest in "Gearing Up" asks for the Reflective Necklace.^[3]
• a quest in "Gearing Up" asks for the Chorus Staff.^[3]
• a quest in "Gearing Up" asks for the Ghostly Mantle.^[3]
• a quest in "Gearing Up" asks for the Piglin Mask.^[3]
• a quest in "Gearing Up" asks for the Experience Disperser.^[3]
• a quest in "Gearing Up" asks for the Springy Boot.^[3]
• a quest in "Gearing Up" asks for the Rider Flute.^[3]
• a quest in "Gearing Up" asks for the Clot of Time.^[3]
• a quest in "Gearing Up" asks for the Midnight Mantle.^[3]
• a quest in "Gearing Up" asks for the Hunting Belt.^[3]
• "Jellyfish Necklace" quest asks for the Jellyfish Necklace.^[3]
• a quest in "Gearing Up" asks for the Kinetic Belt.^[3]
• a quest in "Gearing Up" asks for the Leafy Mantle.^[3]
• a quest in "Gearing Up" asks for the Sphere of Self-Sacrifice.^[3]
• a quest in "Gearing Up" asks for the Ring of the Seven Deadly Sins.^[3]
• a quest in "Gearing Up" asks for the Roller Skate.^[3]
• a quest in "Gearing Up" asks for the Glitchy Mantle.^[3]

The a quest in "Gearing Up" quest asks for the Chef's Hat. It has one extra source: besides the shop and quest rewards, its text says you can get the hat from the goat event.^[3]

The book lists none of these relic quests as coming after another quest, so you don't need to unlock them in a set order.^[3]

Same as in the All the Mods 10 0.50 guide

Relics is designed so that its balance is automatically adjusted to the needs of the modpack it is in. The mod's description says this lets it fit both vanilla-like packs and packs where health and damage numbers are in the thousands. So you may not need to touch much by hand, but the description doesn't say how this adjustment works in this pack.^[1]

Unverified Which Relics config options exist in this pack, and whether the pack changed any of them from the mod defaults, could not be confirmed, because no config files for the mod were available. Check the config folder in your own instance before relying on any specific value.

FTB Skies 2: Aero 1.10.0 ships Relics 0.12.8. The mod has been in the pack since Aero 1.0.3 or earlier, so it's a long-standing part of the modpack.^[2]

What's new in Relics 0.12.8

This is the mod's own changelog for the version you're playing. Here's what it lists:^[8]

• A new relic, the Shield of Retaliation.^[8]
• You can now configure the targets a relic can affect.^[8]
• Integration with FTB Teams has been added.^[8]
• There are new statistics for relic experience gained.^[8]
• The relic data cache was optimized, and related memory leaks were fixed.^[8]
• The Ghostly Mantle fog design and the Midnight Mantle sky design were updated.^[8]
• Screen shake was removed from the Springy Boot.^[8]

Unverified Which of these changes first reached the pack in a particular Aero release, and whether the pack changed any Relics values along the way, can't be confirmed, because no pack changelog entries for this mod were available.