To Use or Not To Use: Are the Special Items Really Worth It?

To Use or Not To Use: Are the Special Items Really Worth It?

Of all the items you can collect in Sea of Stars, five of them - the Klakar Beacon, Limited Vacuum Collapser, the Chromium Gong, the Timeless Bauble, and the Melodium Conograph - are considered special items due to each of them having a unique effect when you activate them. All of them are highly valuable if sold to Haven Station in an intact state, and have the potential to change the outcome of the game. I'll start off with an item so powerful that its use will literally redraw the map of Sector Prime - the Limited Vacuum Collapser.

Throughout the entire Infinite Space trilogy, the Limited Vacuum Collapser has been one of the most prized items in the series, with a value of 1000 credits - a very useful amount in the event that you do not need to wipe out a large section of Sector Prime.. In addition to this, it can also be used as a weapon of mass destruction capable of instantly annihilating everything - spacecraft, star systems, black holes, and even nebulae - within five light-years. To use it, simply select its icon, click the button marked "Activate" and click "Yes" when prompted to activate the device. Then set the timer (which is measured in days) by typing in the desired number in the text box provided. You will then be told to evacuate any star system within the blast radius. Once the timer expires, the device will detonate, instantly removing everything from the map, as long as it is within five light-years of the epicenter of the blast.

Be warned: if your flotilla is within the blast radius at the time of detonation, the game will end. Ditto if Glory (the Terrans' home system) is destroyed by the blast. Thus, a Limited Vacuum Collapser must be used with caution. However, if detonated at the right place and time, it will guarantee successful completion of a quest as follows:

• In the quests to defeat the Kawangi Dreadnought and Primordius, the Collapser is highly useful, since the blast will simply wipe them off the map. In fact, unless you have a Chromium Gong in your cargo hold, it's your only option if your flotilla does not yet have the firepower to allow you to complete these quests via direct combat. Make sure the Kawangi are not too close to Glory, though, or you will have no choice but to defeat them the hard way, which is easier said than done.
• The Collapser can prevent the Pirate and Ravian Swarm quests from starting at all if the blast engulfs the system in which they can be initiated - unless that system has already been visited for the first time (apparently, attempting to board the abandoned Kestrel and then leaving without capturing the ship counts as a visit). Even if the quest has already begun, a vacuum collapse can still be effective if it destroys inbound pirate fleets or Ravian reinforcements - as long as Glory is not within the blast radius.
• Fianlly, you can stop the Urluquai Crusade from starting if you use the collapser to annihilate the Urluquai Station before it has been boarded. However, if the Sardions' destination (which is always an unoccupied star system) is destroyed by a vacuum collapser, you will no longer be able to get the Sardion Maximizer from them, although removing that system also prevents Overlord Slurqin's Urluquai crusader fleet from appearing. Speaking of which, it too is not immune to a vacuum collapse either. The Urluquai will still deploy a fleet towards Glory as usual if you wipe out their homeworld before delivering the Sardions to their destination, though.

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Here is an example of the Limited Vacuum Collapser in action. I had spotted a Yellow Kawangi Dreadnought inbound to the Tchorak home world, but even before its arrival, I had no hope of destroying it in direct combat, and hence was left with no choice but to activate the device.

By clicking "Yes", I unleashed wanton destruction on a galactic scale.

The next step was to set the timer - I chose 150 days knowing that such a value would give my flotilla a chance to survive the blast.

All that was left was to escape from the system at the epicenter of the vacuum collapse. And I did so - easily.

The result of a successful (and easily justified) vacuum collapse: the Yellow Kawangi Dreadnought has been erased from existence and the Glory system has been saved. For good measure, I triggered the quest again at a later stage of the playthrough, and with the help of Muktian forces, obliterated another Kawangi Dreadnought with a pair of fully upgraded Terran Destroyers (in direct combat to boot) - but that's another story.

In short, the Limited Vacuum Collapser has enormous destructive potential, but can bring your adventure to a premature end if you're not careful, so use it wisely. However, the next item is even more useful - if you know how to use it.

In contrast to the Limited Vacuum Collapser, an infamous tool for destruction, the Timeless Bauble is a device which grants the power of creation. Activating it will release Lord Fomax, who will ask you to request an item for him to give. Just enter the name of the item you want to acquire and press Enter. Most of the time, he will give it to you right away, but if an example of that item already exists on the map, or if you type in anything other than the exact name of any of the items you can find in the game, he will present you with a random lifeform instead. Interestingly, the very first game in the trilogy allowed you to acquire a rare device such as a Hyperdrive, Limited Vacuum Collapser or a Chromium Gong even if any of them already existed on the map. This became impossible from Weird Worlds onward, however, presumably to stop players from increasing their scores through such cheap means.

The description for the Timeless Bauble.

Click "Yes" to release Lord Fomax.

Now enter the name of the item you want - just make sure it doesn't already exist on the map.

To avoid the problem of not getting exactly what I want, I almost always use the Timeless Bauble to create a Nova Cannon, which can only be acquired using this method, but is by far the most powerful weapon in the game bar none. Occasionally, however, I deviate from this pattern by using the bauble to create a Graviton Disintegrator; like the Nova Cannon, it cannot be obtained by any other means. And sometimes, after activating the bauble, I ask Lord Fomax to give me a Limited Vacuum Collapser, but only when I am absolutely sure that it cannot be found lying around in some distant star system.

The result of successfully using the Timeless Bauble - a Nova Cannon is added to my inventory.

Simply for giving you an opportunity to use the Kawangi Dreadnought's main weapon against it, or indeed any hostile flotilla you encounter, the Timeless Bauble is one of the best devices anyone can find in Sector Prime. Before you use it, though, be sure the item you are asking for doesn't exist anywhere on the map - or you'll have nothing to show for your deal with Lord Fomax but a strange lifeform worth much less. The next item, on the other hand, is indispensable as soon as you find it.

The Klakar Beacon is almost a necessity when trading items during your travels through Sector Prime.

Throughout the entire Infinite Space Trilogy, one device has proven to be more useful than any other. That device is the Klakar Beacon. It allows you to swap an item from your inventory for one which is stored in the Klakar Frigate's cargo bay. After discovering the Klakar Orbital Nest at Kreee'ark, the beacon can even be used to transfer items from the Orbital Nest to the Klakar Frigate via your flotilla's cargo hold.

The beacon can even be used in combat to deploy the Klakar Frigate against enemy forces, but you will be forced to give the Klakar an item from your inventory if the Frigate survives the battle. If you refuse to hand over one of your items, they will simply jettison the beacon, rendering everything in the Frigate's cargo hold unobtainable for the rest of the game. Also, if the Klakar Frigate is destroyed, any subsequent attempts to use the Beacon will have no effect.

Personally I find the Beacon to be unnecessary in actual combat. Even if the enemy presence is very heavy, I would rather retreat from the battle, or simply attack the opposing force without any Klakar assistance, depending on how much firepower my flotilla has. I just reserve the Beacon for when I need to transfer items to and from my inventory away from battle. Even so, the mere fact that it can allow the player to trade items without having to visit the Klakar homeworld makes the Klakar Beacon essential for your adventure in Sector Prime. The next item, however, is far more useful in combat - as long as you know about its limitations.

If you are faced with overwhelming odds against enemy forces, the Five Fiery Furies might just be your best friend

Throughout the Infinite Space Trilogy, the Chromium Gong has been one of the most coveted items in the series. In the first two games, it can only be used once during a battle, but will destroy the most powerful enemy starship with just one shot by summoning the Five Fiery Furies. It behaves identically in Sea of Stars, with one major difference: it may shatter and become unusable after the first, second or third time it is used. Moreover, the Gong may occasionally miss its target if you activate a cloaking device just before you use the gong. Finally, using the gong outside of combat will have no effect at all, although it may still break as usual.

Even so, despite being nerfed for Sea of Stars, the Chromium Gong remains as highly prized as it has always been, either for use in desperate combat situations where there is no alternative whatsoever, or as a valuable piece of treasure which can be sold off at Haven Station for a hefty sum if your flotilla has enough firepower to destroy enemy forces all by itself. The last item on this list, however, is even more valuable, but is never worth using - except for obtaining a hidden achievement.

Why bother wasting a whole year by using a Melodium Conograph, considering how little time you have to explore every star system in Sector Prime?

Among the various items scattered across Sector Prime, none of them is as deceptive as the Melodium Conograph. It's worth 650 credits, but activating it does not provide any beneficial effects. Instead, it advances the in-game timer by a full year, which is a huge waste of time considering that you have 25 years of in-game time to complete the randomly generated quest and explore every star system in Sector Prime. However, you will gain the achievement "Dulcet Tones" if you use the Melodium Conograph for the first time. Apart from this, the Conograph is useless except for bolstering your finances when you get a chance to sell it.

And on that note, it's time to end our discussion of the five special items you can find hidden in the Sea of Stars. The next post will discuss how having a Zorg Helmsman in your flotilla can be incredibly helpful - if you can find it. Until then, see you next time.