is there a point to mining the obelisk because i've made it to the 4th layer but i just die so quick when mining it that its starting to feel like a red herring
I believe it gives x1.25 resources, meaning something that gave 4 before now gives 5. It is very important, so I recommend bringing the gen over and setting up the water machine and the power cable so you can reopen the door to it from the inside. After that just mine till you get low and hop back to the main area to recollect what you need and refill and repeat till you finish it. This will allow you to go at it multiple times per run and help alot I hope.
is it actually faster to get to the enviroment suit and come back to the obelisk instead of grinding it out? i thought the 25% buff was required to get to santorini in the first place (without tediously grinding familiarity that is). i did the whole obelisk within 5 loops with some micromanagement its really not too hard
I haven't found the quarry but I have got the obelisk artifact, and it definitely SOUNDS faster.
I don't think it's possible to get all the way to Santorini on the first try due to lack of power, which the artifact doesn't help with. Once you get to the dam, it'll become a combined action, which saves enough power to get there on the second try.