Artifact

Artifacts are the cornerstone of character progression in Genshin Impact. These equippable items are your primary tool for customizing and maximizing your characters' combat potential, offering significant boosts to their stats. Think of them as the gear that defines your character's role, whether you're building a powerful damage dealer, a sturdy shielder, or an effective healer. Understanding how they work is essential for every Traveler looking to tackle the game's toughest challenges.

The Five Types of Artifacts

Every character can equip five different artifacts, with each slot dedicated to a specific type. You can only equip one of each type per character. The five types are:

• Flower of Life
• Plume of Death
• Sands of Eon
• Goblet of Eonothem
• Circlet of Logos

These aren't just decorative slots; each type has a unique role in your stat distribution. The Flower of Life and Plume of Death are particularly consistent, as they will always have a specific main stat (HP and ATK, respectively). The other three types—Sands, Goblet, and Circlet—can roll with one of several possible main stats, making them more variable and often more challenging to optimize.

Understanding Artifact Stats

The power of an artifact comes from its affixes, which are divided into main stats and sub-stats.

Main Stat (Main Affix)

This is the primary bonus an artifact provides. As noted, the Flower of Life will always have HP as its main stat, and the Plume of Death will always have ATK. For the other three types, the main stat is random and can be one of several options (like ATK%, DEF%, or Energy Recharge for the Sands of Eon). This variability is a key part of the artifact grind.

Sub-Stat (Minor Affix)

In addition to the main stat, each artifact can have up to four sub-stats that provide additional, smaller bonuses. These sub-stats are randomly assigned and can include a wide range of stats like CRIT Rate, CRIT DMG, Elemental Mastery, or HP%. Here's an important detail: if you obtain a 5-star artifact that only has three sub-stats to begin with, the fourth sub-stat slot will appear as "unactivated." You can unlock and level it up by enhancing the artifact.

How to Obtain Artifacts

Artifacts are scattered throughout Teyvat. You can acquire them through various activities, ensuring you're always making some progress toward better gear. Key sources include:

• Exploration: Investigating sparkling spots in the world or opening chests found during your adventures.
• Enemies: Defeating elite enemies and bosses, who have a chance to drop artifacts upon defeat.
• Domains of Blessing: These are the dedicated artifact farming locations. Claiming rewards from the Petrified Tree at the end of these domains is the most reliable method for obtaining higher-rarity artifacts. At the highest domain levels, players can expect an average yield of one 5-star featured artifact and 1.5 4-star featured artifacts, with each featured artifact having a 50% chance to be either of the two sets offered in that domain.
• Spiral Abyss: Completing chamber challenges and claiming the associated bounties can reward artifacts.
• Special Sources: Some unique locations like the Tribal Secret Space or Kuuhenki's Hidden Trove offer artifacts. You can also destroy certain objects, like Tumbleweeds, for a chance to obtain them.
• NPCs: A few NPCs offer artifacts through dialogue, and some vendors sell low-rarity (2-star) artifacts.

Remember that your artifact inventory has a limit. You can hold a maximum of 2,400 artifacts at once. If you try to collect more while your inventory is full, you'll receive an on-screen notification.

Using and Enhancing Your Artifacts

Once you have artifacts, it's time to put them to use.

Equipping Artifacts

You can equip artifacts from two convenient menus:

1. Character Menu: Go to a character's page, select the Artifacts tab, and use the "Switch" option. This menu shows the stats of the new artifact side-by-side with the one currently equipped.
2. Inventory Menu: Navigate to the Artifacts section in your Inventory, view the details of an artifact, and use the "Fast Equip" option. This menu is particularly useful as it directly compares the stats that will be added to or removed from your character if you swap the artifact.

Enhancing Artifacts

Artifacts are not static items. You can enhance them by sacrificing other artifacts or specific enhancement materials. This process increases the level of the artifact, which in turn:

• Boosts its main stat significantly.
• Periodically upgrades one of its existing sub-stats (if the artifact has fewer than four sub-stats at the start, unlocking a new one counts as an upgrade).

This enhancement system is where you invest your resources to transform a decent artifact into a great one, shaping your character's final stats.

Key Takeaways and Summary

• Artifacts are Character Gear: They are the primary way to increase a character's stats and define their combat role.
• Five Slots: Each character uses one of each artifact type: Flower, Plume, Sands, Goblet, and Circlet.
• Stats are Random: The main stat on Flowers and Plumes is fixed, but the main stats on Sands, Goblets, and Circlets are random. Sub-stats are always random.
• Farm Smart: The best artifacts come from high-level Domains of Blessing. Other sources include chests, enemies, and special in-game locations.
• Inventory Management: You can hold up to 2,400 artifacts. Keep an eye on this limit.
• Enhance to Improve: Level up artifacts by sacrificing other artifacts to increase their main stat and randomly upgrade their sub-stats.

Mastering the artifact system is a long-term goal in Genshin Impact. It requires patience and a bit of luck, but the payoff in your characters' performance is immense. Focus on understanding the types and stats, farm efficiently, and enhance wisely to build the strongest team possible.