Unlocking the secrets of a fallen world requires far more than laying down smelters and commanding basic transport bots. In this post-apocalyptic automation sim, uncovering Brave New Wonders relics serves as the primary gateway to expanding your production limits and surviving dangerous hostile zones. If you neglect searching for Brave New Wonders relics early in your journey, your logistics lines will quickly grind to a halt under tight inventory limits and basic mobility constraints.
Every relic you recover from forgotten ruins rewards you with permanent character upgrades, vital combat blueprints, or groundbreaking mega-engineering projects. In this comprehensive guide, we examine every confirmed relic site, the automation trials required to retrieve them, and how each breakthrough reshapes your industrial empire.
How Relics Shape Progression and the Tech Tree
Unlike traditional factory builders where technology progression follows a rigid, linear sequence, progress here adapts dynamically to your world exploration. As pioneer protagonist Mira ventures beyond her home base at the central train station, encountering relics alters the trajectory of available research. Relics represent salvaged Old World artifacts that provide instantaneous technological breakthroughs, sparing pioneers the wait times associated with standard laboratory research cycles.
According to official developer patch updates, relic discoveries grant instant technology acquisitions upon delivery. When you bring an Old World relic back to your central base or study it with companions like Brooklyn, you immediately unlock critical manufacturing recipes or fundamental personal enhancements.
Furthermore, these ancient artifacts bridge the gap between factory simulation and deep environmental storytelling. Each recovered device sheds light on humanity's historic downfall, from the climate projects of the Old World to the devastating Levitanium Disaster that fractured the planet into floating landmasses. Finding every relic is essential for players aiming to complete the entire tech tree and claim the Legendary Pioneer achievement.
Confirmed Relic Sites and Ruin Trials
Scattered across the Archipelago starting continent (the Americas) and beyond, ancient installations hold powerful artifacts behind security puzzles and structural blockages. Player reports confirm several distinct relic encounters within the early to mid-game stages.
1. The Abandoned Ruins: Trial of Capacity
Located not far from your starting train station, the Abandoned Ruins contain an enclosed testing chamber housing an Old World relic encased in reinforced material with an integrated display panel. Mira cannot enter the delivery chute on foot; you must rely entirely on automaton coordination.
- Trial Mechanics: The facility entrance is blocked to human pioneers and demands a combined delivery of 10 metal plates and 10 refined crystals, processed strictly one item at a time.
- Signal Rules: The structure emits a red light signal when it requires a single metal plate, switching to a blue light signal when requesting a refined crystal.
- Completion Reward: Solving the trial releases the relic, prompting Brooklyn to adapt your Monowheel gear. This permanently increases your Monowheel backpack capacity from 200 units to 300 units, unlocking the achievement "My mind (and storage capacity) is expanding!"
2. The Abandoned Highway Wreckage: Monowheel Engine Relic
South of the main train station, past jagged cliffs and flooded terrain, lies an ancient, elevated highway littered with centuries-old vehicular remains. Navigating this sector requires pioneers to craft dynamite to blast rocky barriers obstructing the pass.
- Exploration Details: While most vehicles across the ruined overpass have decayed into scrap, one abandoned Old World automobile remains structurally sound.
- The Discovery: Upon inspecting the wreckage, Mira discovers an engine in remarkably preserved condition, featuring intact pistons, durable housing, and a surviving fuel delivery system.
- Completion Reward: Salvaging this relic allows you to adapt high-grade mechanical components onto your personal Monowheel. This grants an immediate, noticeable movement speed boost across all terrain, paving the way toward the "Mono Hot Wheels" milestone.
3. Old World Drone Wreckage: The Weapon Relic
As exploration reaches deeper ruins guarded by inactive or hostile machinery, you will stumble upon a massive pile of destroyed combat automatons. Deep within the scrap heap rests an intact drone sporting an undamaged firearm.
- Trial Mechanics: The heavy debris cannot be moved by hand. Instead, pioneers must operate a nearby counterweight magnetic crane system that balances mechanical weight cycles.
- Crane Signal Logic: When the crane emits a red signal, the holding platform must contain zero plates. When it shifts to a green signal, automatons must quickly load 10 metal plates onto the balance platform.
- Completion Reward: Completing the automated lifting sequence extracts the weapon relic, earning the "Old World Fury Road" achievement. This unlocks the blueprint for defensive Gun Turrets, providing essential protection against aggressive Old World machines roaming outside ruined perimeters.
4. The Sky Pillar: Old World Core
Towering over the continent, the ancient Sky Pillar holds the most consequential relic in early expedition play: the Old World Core. Venturing deep into this structure requires dedicated preparation, including power grid extensions and sufficient dynamite reserves.
- The Challenge: Players must reach the lower sanctum of the Sky Pillar, navigating past perimeter defenses to retrieve the core.
- Completion Reward: Retrieving the Old World Core unlocks the achievement "Deep Dive." More importantly, it unlocks the blueprints for the Sky Pillar Wonder and your airborne flagship—a massive flying airship that functions as a mobile factory base capable of ferrying your industrial operations across the sea to Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Relic Locations and Rewards Breakdown
The following table summarizes the primary early-game relics, their unlock conditions, and the direct upgrades they confer to your settlement.
| Relic Name / Site | Location & Terrain | Trial or Access Requirement | Direct Player Reward | Linked Achievement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Backpack Relic | Abandoned Ruins (Americas) | Deliver 10 plates & 10 crystals via red/blue signal logic | Increases backpack storage from 200 to 300 capacity | My mind (and storage capacity) is expanding! |
| Vehicle Engine Relic | Abandoned Highway (South Americas) | Clear rock barriers using dynamite; search intact chassis | Grants permanent Monowheel travel speed increase | Old World Fury Road |
| Drone Weapon Relic | Drone Wreckage Field | Automate counterweight crane balance using 0/10 plate signals | Unlocks Gun Turrets and personal defensive combat tools | Leave me and my factory alone |
| Old World Core | Sky Pillar Interior | Penetrate deep ruins and extract central power source | Unlocks Airship mobile factory base & Wonder construction | Deep Dive |
Step-by-Step Strategies to Complete Relic Signal Trials
To retrieve Brave New Wonders relics locked behind automated testing gates without wasting resources, follow this disciplined setup sequence:
- Construct an Intermediary Supply Depot: Drop a general warehouse and solar power pylon directly outside the trial structure boundary. Stock it with smelted metal plates and refined crystals from your central lines.
- Assign Dedicated Mover Bots: Build at least one or two mover automatons equipped with fresh automation compute cores dedicated strictly to the trial entrance.
- Draft Signal-Responsive Logic: Access the behavior editor and input natural language rules or configure the state machine graph. For the Trial of Capacity, instruct your bot: When signal is red, pick up metal plate from warehouse and deposit to ruin; else when signal is blue, pick up refined crystal and deposit to ruin.
- Incorporate Wait and Drop Fallbacks: Prevent bots from becoming trapped with the wrong resource by ensuring your command logic forces the mover to return unused items to storage if the ruin's receptor swaps signal states mid-transit.
- Claim the Artifact: Once the delivery counter hits the target quota, interact directly with the opened ruin chamber to claim your relic and trigger the corresponding character upgrade dialogue.
Preparing Logistics and Defenses for Guarded Ruins
Not all Brave New Wonders relics rest inside peaceful puzzle vaults. Many significant ruins across the outer islands are actively protected by Old World combat units programmed with standing directives to eradicate intruders.
Community gameplay testing indicates that pioneering forward without military preparation leads to rapid automaton losses. Before targeting guarded ruins on your map, establish a steady production loop for explosives and ammunition:
- Gunpowder Synthesis: Feed raw coal into dedicated smelters to produce gunpowder canisters.
- Thermal Plate Fabrication: Process crystal ore into crystal compounds inside general factories, then press them into thermal plates.
- Dynamite Assembly: Combine gunpowder and thermal plates inside a specialized weapons facility. Stockpile at least 10 to 20 sticks of dynamite before launching an expedition to blow apart reinforced blast doors and boulders.
- Turret Placement: Position automated Gun Turrets just outside hostile sensor ranges before sending mover bots in to retrieve relics or scrap drone frames.
For additional developer patch notes and upcoming continent updates, consult the official Brave New Wonders Steam store page to keep track of mechanics being added to Early Access.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you complete relic trials manually without building automatons?
No. Ruin trial chambers, such as the Trial of Capacity in the Abandoned Ruins, feature narrow passages designed specifically to block human pioneers. The receiving consoles only accept deposits transported directly by automated mover bots running programmed signal behaviors.
Do Brave New Wonders relics carry over if you started on the demo?
Yes. Official announcements from developer City From Naught confirm that save files created during demo playtests and Steam Next Fest carry over directly into full version playthroughs, ensuring your unlocked relics and backpack upgrades remain intact.
How do I increase my Monowheel backpack capacity beyond 300?
Retrieving the initial Old World relic sets your base capacity to 300 items. Further backpack capacity upgrades are researched through later tiers of the tech tree using advanced research packs and rare materials discovered across distant biomes like Europe and Africa, culminating in the "My back hurts so good" achievement.
Where do I find the dynamite recipe needed to access southern relic sites?
Dynamite crafting is unlocked by researching Combat Tier 1 at your central train station hub. It requires 25 industrial research packs, allowing you to manufacture gunpowder from coal and thermal plates from refined crystal compounds.