Genshin Impact Artifacts Guide

Genshin Impact features exquisite combat mechanics where players can deal with numerous elemental damage or simply choose to go with raw physical damage. Unlike other RPG games that feature a limited damage variation, Genshin Impact aces in this game mechanic, and players have multiple options at their disposal. Along with vibrant damage numbers, Genshin Impact infuses this idea of elemental reaction that makes combat in this game exciting and sometimes has a learning curve.

Since day one, I’ve been playing Genshin Impact and having reached adventure rank 59, and I’ll say this game is all about elemental reactions. The earlier you learn about them, the better your battles and game sense will be. I prefer to use elemental reaction teams to benefit from their multipliers and unique effects on the enemies in Genshin. However, some of my friends prefer to play characters like Eula, whose elemental burst can obliterate enemies in the blink of an eye.

Here, I’ll be going over Genshin Impact artifacts, which I would say are the essential items in combat. Artifacts are exquisite items you equip on your character to change their stats and obtain more potent results.

Some of them modify offensive stats like attack, and elemental damage bonus, whereas others are more defense or team-oriented. If you know enough about artifacts and how they work, you won’t face much difficulty even in clearing the end-game content like the spiral abyss.

Let’s go over different artifact sets available to the players and see what they bring to the table.

Artifacts Available

~Updated till Genshin Impact version 2.6

I will try to broadly categorize the sets into three types: offensive, defensive, and support roles. Generally, you will put your characters in any of these three roles or mix them, so it’s better to put the artifacts sets according to them. This experimentation will help you to understand the sets and their uses better.

Before diving in, Let’s go over the types I’ve put the artifacts. I’ll share a summary remark on each heading to get a general idea of what you can expect from the guide.

Defensive artifact sets – Like the name, this section has artifact sets that affect the character’s DEF stats and RES stats. To avoid getting into too many categories, I’ve also placed elemental resistance artifact sets in this category.
Offensive artifact sets focus on increasing characters’ damage potential by boosting their elemental damage bonuses, affecting attack stats, or other offensive stats that can help characters deal significant damage.
Team support artifact sets – When equipped on a character, these artifacts will enhance the overall team’s capabilities and support other team members.

Besides writing about different artifact sets, I will list recommended characters for those artifact sets. To read more about those characters in detail, I recommend you go through their related character guides and comprehensive artifact guides on the site.

I’d be honest; I spend a lot of time reading different guides to know more about characters and experiment with varying compositions of teams to get a hold of their team synergy.

Defensive Artifact Sets

Husk of Opulent Dreams

2-piece set bonus: Increases DEF by 30 %
4-piece set bonus: A character equipping this artifact set will obtain a curiosity effect in the following conditions: When on the battlefield, the character receives one stack after hitting an opponent with a geo element attack, triggering a maximum of once every 0.3s. When a character is off the field, the character gains one stack every 3s. Curiosity can stack up to 4 times, where each stack provides 6 % DEF and a 6 % Geo DMG bonus. After 6 seconds have passed without gaining a curiosity stack, one stack is lost.
Recommended Characters: Albedo, Noelle

Lucky Dog

2-piece: DEF increased by 100
4-piece: Picking up more restores 300 HP
Recommended Characters: Noelle, Albedo, Xinyan

Defender’s Will

2-piece: Increases DEF by 30%
4-piece: For each different element present in your party, the wearer’s elemental RES to that corresponding element is increased by 30%
Recommended Characters: Noelle, Arataki Itto, Albedo

Retracing Bolide

2-piece: Increased shield strength by 35 %
4-piece: While protected by a shield, gain an additional 40 % normal and charged attack damage
Recommended Characters: Noelle, Zhongli, Xinyan

Thundersoother

2-piece: Electro RES increased by 40 %
4-piece: Increases DMG against opponents affected by electro by 35 %
Recommended Characters: Keqing, Yae Miko

Tiny Miracle

2-piece: All elemental RES increased by 20 %
4-piece: Incoming elemental DMG increases corresponding elemental RES by 30 % for the 10 s. It can only occur once every 10 s
Recommended Characters: Anyone

Lavawalker

2-piece: Pyro RES increased by 40 %
4-piece: Increases DMG against opponents affected by Pyro by 35 %
Recommended Characters: Diluc, Klee, Yanfei

Adventurer

2-piece: Max HP increased by 1000
4-piece: Opening a chest regenerates 30 % HP over 5s
Recommended Characters: Anyone

Traveling Doctor

2-piece: Increases incoming healing by 20 %
4-piece: Using elemental burst restores 20 % HP
Recommended Characters: Anyone

Prayers for Illumination

1-piece: Affected by Pyro for 40 % less time
Recommended Characters: Situational use in battles

Prayers for Destiny

1-piece: Affected by Hydro for 40 % less time
Recommended Characters: Situational use in battles

Prayers for Wisdom

1-piece: Affected by Electro for 40 % less time
Recommended Characters: Situational use in battles

Prayers for Springtime

1-piece: Affected by Cryo for 40 % less time
Recommended Characters: Situational use in battles

Team – Support Sets

Ocean-Hued clam

2-piece set bonus: Healing Bonus +15%
4-piece set bonus: When a character equipping this artifact set heals another member in the party, a Sea Dyed Foam will appear for 3 s, accumulating the amount of HP recovered from the healing ( including overflow healing). The Sea-Dyed foam will explode at the end of the duration; this will damage nearby enemies based on 90 % of the total accumulated healing.
- This damage calculation is similar to reactions such as electro-charged and superconduct but is not affected by elemental mastery, character levels, or reaction damage bonuses. This can produce only one Sea-Dyed Foam once every 3.5 s. Each Sea-Dyed Foam can accumulate up to 30k HP (which includes overflow healing). No more than one Sea-Dyed Foam can be active at any given time frame. This effect can still trigger even when the character using this artifact set is not on the field.
Recommended Characters: Qiqi, Kokomi

Scholar

2-piece set bonus: Energy recharge +20 %
4-piece set bonus: Gaining elemental particles or orbs gives three energy to all party members with a bow or a catalyst-equipped. It can only occur once every 3s
Recommended Characters: Bow or Catalyst characters

Instructor

2-piece set bonus: Increases elemental mastery by 80
4-piece set bonus: Upon triggering an elemental reaction, increases all party member’s elemental mastery by 120 for 8s
Recommended Characters: Venti, Kazuha, Sucrose

The Exile

2-piece set bonus: Energy recharge increases by 20%
4-piece set bonus: Using an elemental burst regenerates two energy for all party members( excluding the wearer) every 2s for 6s. The effect cannot stack
Recommended Characters: Characters with high burst cost

Maiden Beloved

2-piece set bonus: Character healing effectiveness +15 %
4-piece set bonus: Using an elemental skill or burst increases healing received by all party members by 20% for 10s
Recommended Characters: Noelle, Barbara

Tenacity of the Millelith

2-piece set bonus: HP increased by 20 %
4-piece set bonus: When an elemental skill hits an opponent, the attack of all nearby party members increases by 20 %, and their shield strength increases by 30% for a short duration of 3 s. This effect triggers once every 0.5s, and it can still be started even when the character using this artifact set is not on the field.
Recommended Characters: Fischl, Zhongli

Offensive Artifact set

Emblem of Severed Fate

2-piece set bonus: Energy recharge +20%
4-piece set bonus: Increases elemental burst damage by 25 % of Energy recharge. The character can obtain a maximum of 75% burst damage bonus.
Recommended Characters: Raiden Shogun, Xiangling

Resolution of Sojourner

2-piece set bonus: Attack increases by 18 %
4-piece set bonus: Increases charged attack CRIT rate by 30 %
Recommended Characters: Main damage dealers in the early game

Brave Heart

2-piece set bonus: Attack increases by 30 %
4-piece set bonus: Increases DMG by 30 % against opponents with more than 50 % HP
Recommended Characters: Main damage dealers in the early game

Martial Artist

2-piece set bonus: Increases Normal attack and charged attack damage by 15 %
4-piece set bonus: After using elemental skill, increases normal and charged attack damage by 25 % for 8 s
Recommended Characters: Main damage dealers in the early game focus on normal attack or charged attack damage. Razor, Diluc

Berserker

2-piece set bonus: Increases CRIT rate by 12 %
4-piece set bonus: When HP is below 70 %, the CRIT rate increases by an additional 24 %
Recommended Characters: Main damage dealers in the early game

Bloodstained Chivalry

2-piece set bonus: Increases Physical DMG by 25 %
4-piece set bonus: After defeating an opponent, increases charged attack damage by 50 % and reduced its stamina cost to 0 for 10 s
Recommended Characters: Rosaria, Eula

Gladiator’s Finale

2-piece set bonus: Increases attack by 18 %
4-piece set bonus: If the wielder of this artifact set uses a sword, claymore, or polearm, then their regular attack damage is increased by 35 %
Recommended Characters: Main damage dealers

Wanderer’s Troupe

2-piece set bonus: Increases elemental masters by 80
4-piece set bonus: Increased charged attack damage by 35 % if the character uses a Catalyst or a bow
Recommended Characters: Main damage dealers that use catalyst or a bow

Pale Flame

2-piece set bonus: The character’s Physical damage is increased by 25 %
4-piece set bonus: When an elemental skill hits an opponent, the attack increases by 9 % for 7 s. This bonus can stack up to 2 times and trigger once every 0.3 s. Once two stacks are reached, the 2-set bonus is increased by 100 %
Recommended Characters: Eula, Rosaria, Razor

Gambler

2-piece set bonus: Increases elemental skill damage by 20 %
4-piece set bonus: Defeating an opponent has a 100 % chance to remove elemental skill CD. It can only occur once every 15 s
Recommended Characters: Situational for characters, Xingqiu, Yae Miko

Thundering Fury

2-piece set bonus: Electro damage bonus increased by 15 %
4-piece set bonus: Increases damage caused by overloaded,electro-charged, and superconduct by 40 %. Triggering such effects decreases elemental skill cooldown by 1 s. This will only occur once every 0.8 s
Recommended Characters: Fischl, Keqing, Yae Miko

Viridescent Veneer

2-piece set bonus: Increases anemo damage bonus + 15 %
4-piece set bonus: Increases swirl damage by 60 %. Decreases opponents’ elemental RES to the element infused in the swirl by 40 % for 10s
Recommended Characters: Sucrose, Kazuha, Venti

Archaic Petra

2-piece set bonus: Increases Geo damage bonus by 15 %
4-piece set bonus: Upon obtaining an elemental shard created through a crystallize reaction, all party members gain a 35 % damage bonus for that particular element for 10 s. The character can acquire only one form of elemental damage bonus in this manner at any one time.
Recommended Characters: Ningguang, Zhongli, Noelle

Crimson Witch of Flames

2-piece set bonus: Increases pyro damage bonus by 15 %
4-piece set bonus: Increases overloaded and burning damage by 40 %. Increases vaporize and melt damage by 15 %. Using elemental skill increases the 2-piece set bonus by 50 % of its starting value for 10s. Max 3 stacks
Recommended Characters: Klee, Diluc, Yanfei

Noblesse Oblige

2-piece set bonus: Elemental burst damage increases by 20 %
4-piece set bonus: Using an elemental burst increases all party members’ attacks by 20 % for 12 s. This effect cannot stack
Recommended Characters: Bennett, Mona

Blizzard Strayer

2-piece set bonus: Increases cryo damage bonus by 15 %
4-piece set bonus: When a character attacks an opponent affected by Cryo, their CRIT rate increases by 20 %. If the opponent is Frozen, the CRIT rate is increased by an additional 20 %
Recommended Characters: Ganyu, Chongyun

Heart of Depth

2-piece set bonus: Increases hydro damage bonus by 15 %
4-piece set bonus: After using elemental skill, increases normal attack and charged attack damage by 30 % for 15 s
Recommended Characters: Childe, Kamisato Ayato

Shimenawa’s Reminiscence

2-piece set bonus: Increases attack by 18 %
4-piece set bonus: When casting an elemental skill, if the character has 15 or more energy, they lose 15 energy, and regular, charged, or plunging attack damage increases by 50 % for 10 s. This effect won’t trigger again during that duration.
Recommended Characters: Hu Tao, Xiao

Vermillion Hereafter

2-piece set bonus: Increases attack by 18 %
4-piece set bonus: After using an elemental burst, this character will gain the nascent light effect, increasing their attack by 8 % for 16 s. When the character’s HP decreases, their attack will increase by 10 %. This bonus can occur a maximum of four times and can be triggered once every 0.8 s. Nascent light dispels when the character leaves the battlefield. If an elemental burst or ultimate is used again during the duration of nascent light, it will dispel the original nascent light.
Recommended Characters: Xiao, Hu Tao

Echoes of an Offering

2-piece set bonus: Increases attack by 18 %
4-piece set bonus: When a normal attack hits enemies, there is a 36 % chance that it will trigger valley rite, which will increase regular attack damage y 70% of the attack. This effect will be dispelled at 0.05s after a regular attack deals damage. If a regular attack fails to trigger valley rite, it offs triggering the next time will increase by 20 %. This effect triggers occur once every 0.2 s.
Recommended Characters: Ayato, Yoimiya

Deepwood Memories

These artifacts are catered for Dendro characters. The 2-piece set increases the Dendro damage bonus, and the complete set will decrease opponents’ Dendro resistance. The best thing about the 4-piece set is that the passive can be triggered even if the character is off-field, making it awesome for off-field Dendro supports.

Recommended characters: Tighnari, Collei, Nahida

Gilded Dreams

This artifact set is a powerhouse of Elemental mastery as both two-piece, and four-piece sets increase Elemental mastery, thus increasing the reaction damage potential. The two-piece set increases Elemental mastery by certain units. And the complete set boosts Elemental mastery and attack of characters depending on the Elemental type of the character in the party.

Recommended characters: Tighnari, Collei, Nahida

Artifacts Summary

There can be other characters that will synergize with the artifacts mentioned above. I’ve listed characters I use with the artifacts and will recommend you experiment on your own for characters.

If you want to take a shortcut, I highly recommend you go over the character-specific guide and get a head start in artifacts farming. However, these are my recommendations; they may depend on your team composition, and some other characters can suit a specific artifact set for a niche team.

FAQs:

Question: When should I start artifact farming?

Answer: Generally, starting farming artifacts is recommended when you reach above adventure rank 45 in the game. The reason is that you are guaranteed to get a 5-star artifact piece from the RNG. So, most players start saving up their fragile resin from the beginning and use it exclusively to farm artifacts when they reach the required Adventure rank.

Sometimes, some artifact domains may be locked behind an adventure rank limit and not accessible in the early game. That’s also a good reason to save up your resin and utilize it later in the game.

Another reason players save their fragile resin is to reap better rewards at a higher world level. When you start progressing through the game and level up the overworld level, you will encounter tougher overworld mobs, and they will drop materials of higher rarity. It may happen that at higher world levels, you can get 4-star items as drop material from the bosses and standard enemies.

Question: How good is the 2-piece 2-piece combination for characters than using 4-piece sets?

Answer: One might argue that using a 4-piece set is the best idea; however, when it comes to niche sets like Noblesse Oblige, whose 2-piece set can boost overall burst damage. Things get a little interesting. I’d take the example of my Ningguang; I use 2-piece archaic petra to get a geo damage bonus, and 2-piece noblesse oblige to get a burst damage bonus.

I like to use her as a burst damage dealer in some team compositions and switch back to other characters to complete the rotation successfully. I won’t say the 2-piece 2-piece artifact set combination is bad. Still, you need to focus on your team composition to equip this combination with your characters.

Most of the time, it’s recommended to use a complete 4-piece set combination to take the most benefit from the overall set bonus and avoid ending up with odd artifact combinations. But, if you think a 2-piece 2-piece artifact set on a character can be good in specific team composition, you should go for it and equip it on the character.

Question: What’s your general advice for beginner players who don’t have much experience and knowledge in the game?

Answer: One word, experimentation! Try to experiment with characters as much as you can and go over specific character guides to know more about your character. Sometimes, there may be intricate details that you may have missed but can be found in the character guide or weapon guide. I once was a beginner player, and it took me quite some time to fully grasp the game mechanics, elemental reactions, and progression system.

It only comes with the experience and number of hours you’ve put into the game. Even to this day, I’m learning new things about the game from different resources like Youtube, in-game descriptions, and social media platforms.

Also, suppose you like to experiment with character. In that case, you can choose to be a content creator and take the most benefit from personal branding in the community. Many YouTubers create funny content, and it helps them share the knowledge they have gained after putting an extensive number of hours into the game.

Closing Remarks

As you progress through the game, you will find a lot of different artifacts and will be using them in different combinations throughout your journey. If you are a casual player, you won’t need to pay much attention to optimal artifacts, but things will get interesting when you set an aim to clear the spiral abyss. Spiral abyss features challenging content that players have to clear in limited time duration and requires optimal characters to beat the enemies.

If your characters are underleveled and underinvested, you may face clearing the floors with flying colors.

Having extensive knowledge about artifacts, character kits, and weapons will help you in the spiral abyss. And if you can successfully decide which artifacts you will be using on your characters in certain team compositions, you are on the road to success to clear the spiral abyss. This is important for free-to-play players because of their limited chances to roll on weapons banners and resources to invest in the characters.

So, if you are a free-to-play player, you have to choose an approach that won’t waste your resources in the long run and prioritize characters that will perform better in the longer run.

As a AR 59 player, I recommend you give proper thought to your team composition and read as many guides from the internet as you can to learn more about characters and game mechanics. That was all from my end, and I wish you the best on your Genshin journey!

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Himanshu Verkiya

Himanshu is a passionate writer who loves to write about open-world games featuring anime style characters. He admits that his love for interesting anime stories and characters were a major reason he started playing Open world role playing games.Having played different Open world games in the past, now he prefers to play casual role playing games which feature beautiful sceneries and vast worlds to roam in.
Besides writing about his favourite games, Himanshu prefers to keep himself up-to-date with the latest happenings in the financial world, watching anime, cooking and listening to music from all around the world.

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