Hi all! I'm a bit of a newbie here, but I haven't seen this question, so I felt it should be asked.

Are Quasi-Spatial Expanders available through random artifact drops?

The reason I ask this is because I've been doing some extremely intense searches for QSEs, Radiant Weapons Lockers, and Terraformers, and I have gotten a very large number of Terraformers (I believe around 20-30), but I have not gotten ANY QSEs (even under the new version of artifact gathering with Terraformers being reduced) or Radiant Weapons Lockers (I have over 1.2K art/hour, so I can do a lot of searching, and have done so for days). Are these available via random artifacts? Or are they not a part of the system? I've had several people comment that they have never even SEEN a QSE (one of whom is PSICore, the leading player in the game in terms of rank, with enough planets to produce probably two QSEs per artifact production, if that were possible).

Is it physically possible to get through the random? Or only through killing specific enemies? Or maybe there is an issue with it appearing?

(Also, I've heard rumors about something called the "T.O. Troop Carrier" dropping off QSEs and Terraformers. Can someone tell me more about this vessel? Is it part of a mission? Or is it a random encounter? Thanks!)

Though i have never seen one myself come from AP, I have heard from reliable sources that they can come from AP.

I got one the other day. Whatever the wiki says (6k I believe) was correct.

I have gotten a grand total of TWO expanders from high artifact production in my life. It is *ULTRA RARE* !!!!

Ok, then. Can anybody tell me about the ships as well?

The T.O. Troop Carrier does sometimes drop a Terraformer I found 1 Troop Carrier and it dropped a Terraformer so ask somebody who's encountered multiple Troop Carriers

What level range are these TO Carriers, and what scan do I need to have them pop up on my NPC list?

I don't know the level range but I had a scan of 7 when it came up (never have scanners on my ship).

I don't think scan has an effect on what NPCs show up, or at least I have not noticed one. I unfortunately have not encountered one of these but according to the wiki, it is a rare NPC with a matched level. To me this means that it can spawn for anyone, but it is rare so there is only a small chance of it spawning at any given time.

I believe scan only counts in discovering NPCs that have cloak on them. I may be incorrect, but it's logical.

At rank 128 with a pretty decent Artifact production (almost 1100 per hour) that I clean out regularly, I have NEVER seen a Terraformer or Spacial Expander.

I have also killed several of the T.O. Troop Carriers and got nothing but traps that I scrapped because I already have too many.

Yeah. I liked old terraformer system that it only comes from artifact production that usually gives terraformers more than new system with increased rarity from production and NPC drop that leads to overall reduced terraformer production.

Actually that "cleaning out regularly" part may be what's biting you. Artifacts are "weighted" in that which artifact you get depends on how many APs you have when you receive the shipment. I'm not sure how many APs you need to have to stand a decent chance of getting a 6k arti but I'm guessing it's at least 20k pluss. I'd imagine with an AP/hour like that you can probably stack up to 30-40k in AP's. What I would do is get it close to max then spend 8-10k worth then let it regen from there. It doesn't do you a lot of good to spend all your AP"s from 30k down to 0 when your looking for a 6k arti.

That is incorrect. There is no weighting, but it does still require 6k arti to have a chance at a 6k point artifact. In fact, I would say that your chances are lower if you have too much arti, because it has to factor in the chances of all the other high-cost artifacts.

REALY!! That's interesting because from what I read (or thought I read) in previous posts was that artifacts were "weighted" towards the lower end and the weighting shifted towards the higher end the more artifacts points you had when you turned them in. I'll have to go back and look those up because if that's wrong I think I'm going to have to readjust my artifact tactics.

Terraformers, quasi expanders and fluxes are all weighted to be more rare, everything else should have about an equal chance as far as I know. There are just fewer artifacts higher up.

This is how I see it:
If you have 1k points, there are 37 artifacts that you have a chance to get. Assuming even chance and rounding, that's 2.7% each.
If you have 2k points, there are 51 artifacts that you have a chance. That means a 2% chance, and that's less each.
3k = 53 artifacts, 1.9%
4k = 56 artifacts, 1.7%
6k = 61 artifacts, 1.6%
...and so on.

Well, not all artifacts give equal chance for drawing. Some are weighted toward rarity.

For example, two different artifact in the pool of 1k (just for simplicity sake)...
Scenario 1
1 artifact is common.. Other one is ultra rare.. Both cost 1k.

Ultra rare would be weighted by factor of 10 (just a wild guess)..
so.. Chance to win the common artifact would 90% vs ultra rare at 10%.

Scenario 2
Of course, if there are just two common artifacts at 1k then chance on either one is at 50%.

If there are no new artifacts between 1k to 2k then the chance stays the same on both scenarios.. More artifact points you have won't affect the weighting unless new artifacts are added into the roll pool then it'll reduce your chance % on every artifact..

That is why I focus only at 8k (well, 6k works equally fine and I sometimes drop under 8k to continue claiming and I just wanted to keep 8k due to unforeseeable price changes in artifacts by Dan) to claim shipment everytime so I can have higher % chance per artifacts that I like to get. I don't want mass cargo or melter or whatever higher than 8k. That's how I can get greater chance on nice crewmen, ship-bot and rescued prisoners. There are many nice PVP artifacts that I like to get cuz I PVP alot so 8k is good threshold for me.

That is exactly what I mean, I was just following the correlation.

I didn't mean that I turn it in as soon as there are any points. I mean that I never let it sit full and wasting potential points. I usually only collect artifacts when I have at least 20K points so I have a chance to get the +60 Cargo item. I have picked up four of those so far so I might go with Nocifer Deathblade's method and start collecting around 8K for a while to have a better chance at ship bots and the terraformer. Even so, the fact that I have never received either of the terraforming items means that they were already far too rare for me, at least, and now I have even less of a chance to see one regardless of how long I continue playing the game.