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Vanduul-Tech Smugglers
This is the investigation that opens InterSec's wider Vanduul operation chain. It is not a quick bounty: expect a multi-stage site investigation, hostile resistance and a substantial time commitment.
Tap to open full size ↗Mission rewards
Payouts can change between patches. Check the amount shown on your in-game contract before accepting.
Before you launch
Bring a combat-capable ship, personal weapons and enough supplies for a long ground sequence. Station respawn is unavailable at this location, so arrange your own recovery point before starting.
How to unlock it
- Build InterSec standing to Jr. Contractor. The rank threshold is 800 total reputation.
- Complete the introductory InterSec contract. Finish New Defense Contract: [Target] Elimination to establish access to the investigation chain.
- Find Vanduul-Tech Smugglers in the Contracts app. Look under InterSec Defense Solutions in Nyx. It is repeatable once per hour. The first completion is also important for opening the follow-on Vanduul contract chain.
Before you go
You cannot rely on the station as a respawn point. Plan your own recovery option before starting the mission.
The QV hangar accommodates medium ships and smaller. Common options include:
Medium: Asgard, C1 Spirit, Cutlass Black/Red, Freelancer variants, RAFT, Reliant variants, Vanguard variants, Zeus Mk II and Prowler.
Small and smaller: Clipper, Cutter, Aurora, Avenger, 300-series, C8 Pisces, Arrow, Gladius, Buccaneer and other snub/small craft.
Mike's recommendation: Take an Asgard for cargo space with a Nursa onboard, or a Clipper for its built-in medical bed. The Hull B is a strong option for hauling the recovered cargo after the run.
Grade A components, Vanduul cryopods and a chance of pristine artefacts can be found in the warehouse. The most common pristine artefact reported is the Pristine Alien Artefact. Use the warehouse freight elevator to send cryopods down as cargo; they are not simply picked up and sold from your inventory.
Tips & tricks
A few practical pointers to make the investigation, warehouse fights and extraction more manageable.
Set up a local recovery point
Station respawn is not working at this location, so plan ahead. You can park a Clipper in the small hangar, or bring a medium-sized ship carrying a Nursa. Land in the hangar, deploy the Nursa and use it as your respawn point.
Build for 100–150 metres
For Warehouse A and B, favour weapons that stay stable and accurate at around 100–150 metres. Enemies can spawn behind cover while turrets are firing, so you may need to engage targets at range without exposing yourself for long.
DMRs and low-recoil rifles are good choices. Prioritise controllability and reliable follow-up shots over close-range damage.
Clear carefully
Move through rooms methodically, use hard cover and avoid standing in doorways or exposed corridors. Watch elevated positions and turret fire, and keep track of ammunition before pushing into the next area.
Warehouse access and the black-terminal bug
A fully decrypted access card does not always grant access. The warehouse terminal can bug out, even when the card has been decrypted correctly.
- Take a blank or not-fully-decrypted card and insert it into the terminal slot.
- Leave the station and quantum travel approximately 5–6 GM away.
- Quantum travel back to the station.
- Return to the warehouse terminal. It should have reset and be displaying normally again.
- Now insert your fully decrypted card into the rack to obtain warehouse access.
Don't waste your fully decrypted card while the terminal is black. Use a blank or incomplete card for the reset first. This workaround is not guaranteed, as terminal behaviour can vary between patches.
Don't rush the investigation
- Follow the active objectives. Check the mission tracker regularly and make sure each stage has advanced before leaving an area.
- Complete the required data interactions. Opening a body or container inventory alone may not complete an investigation step; interact with the objective itself.
- Check for required keys and evidence. Don't leave an area until you've confirmed the relevant objective has updated.
- Keep mission items separate from optional loot. Don't confuse blank or partially decrypted cards used for troubleshooting with the completed access card.
Recovering and selling Vanduul cryopods
Do not treat cryopods as personal inventory loot. Move them onto the warehouse freight elevator and send them down. Once stored, load them into a cargo ship and keep them for the InterSec collection contract.
The follow-up InterSec mission Recover Vanduul Corpses asks for a set of five Vanduul cryopods to be delivered to the marked gateway destination. Current 4.10.2 mission data lists a reward of approximately 142,000 aUEC for the contract, plus a blueprint reward. Check the live contract for its exact destination and payout before setting off.
Make the warehouse loot count
- Bring a tractor beam and leave room in your ship storage.
- Prioritise valuable Grade A components, Vanduul cryopods and pristine artefacts. Pristine Alien Artefacts are the most commonly reported pristine drop.
- Send the cryopods down the warehouse freight elevator so they are stored as cargo. You can load them into a ship later for transport.
- Check that the freight elevator is working before spending time gathering a large amount of loot.
- Assume the area may be contested by other players.
Mission flow
The contract sends you to an old QV Planet Services Logistics station. Follow the mission markers and InterSec comms through the site.
- Travel to the marked QV logistics station. Set the mission marker and approach ready for hostile contact.
- First run only — eliminate the initial Vanduul. On your first completion, you usually need to kill the initial Vanduul target before the mission will progress. This initial kill is not required on subsequent hourly runs.
- Secure the site. Expect Vanduul ships and ground resistance. On repeat runs, follow the active objectives without waiting for the first-run Vanduul kill step.
- Search for the smuggling operation's evidence. Follow the mission markers and interact with the required data or evidence points.
- Complete the investigation and extract. Confirm the contract completes and the +100 InterSec reputation is credited.
What does it unlock?
Completing the investigation adds the InterSec Vanduul chain, including the following follow-up contracts and activities.
The chain also lists Recover Vanduul Corpses and Recover Vanduul Tech collection contracts. Current data does not specify a reputation amount for those two.
Mission data: Vanduul-Tech Smugglers mission record · Mission database. Values checked against 4.10.2 LIVE data where available.
Copy a GPT prompt to build a checklist around your ship, squad size and available session time.