Sometimes, artifact weapons and equipment will show up in the game. Most artifact equipment is randomly generated, and have randomly generated names. There are a few artifacts that are not randomly generated and have some unique effects.
With a few levels of Sense Quality, an artifact can be told apart from ordinary items fairly easily and, if your Sense Quality skill is high enough, they will be identified outright. Otherwise, most items can be identified by a scroll of identify or by paying the wizard at an Adventurers Guild or Your Home. More powerful items require a scroll of greater identify or payment to have them investigated.
After being fully identified, the artifacts true name will be given in <>s if it is a "miracle", or "special" item, and in {}s if it is a "godly" item. Special artifacts also has the property, "It is precious." when examined.
Reading a scroll of oracle would provide some whereabouts info of generated special class artifacts among other things.
Randomly generated artifacts will have a descriptor depending on the type of material it has. See Equipment for information on these descriptors. Miracle quality items can have their material altered by scrolls of change/inferior/superior material but Godly quality items cannot be changed via this method. The only way to reforge the material on a Godly quality item is to use a Material kit. Kits are received as rewards for a handful of quests but otherwise can be purchased at the souvenir vendor in Larna (they are very expensive).
Additionally, using a material kit/scroll on any item of special quality (non-randomly generated artifacts), regardless of whether it is miracle/godly, will not change the material, but instead will re-roll the item completely. This usually has little result, but might change one or two of the modifiers on the item assigned randomly.
Attempting to generate a copy of a (Special) artifact using the little sister's quest reward will cause it to transform into a (Miracle) or {Godly} artifact. Exceptions are the Hero cheese, Magic fruit, and Happy apple, which can be copied multiple times.
Similarly, you cannot buy two Diablos at the workshop, and the same applies to (Special) artifacts created as a result of obtaining multiple copies of the same (Special) artifact, from killing a creature that rarely drops (Special) artifacts. This usually means killing creatures like the hermit crab for multiple <Unknown Shell> items - upon picking up the second <Unknown Shell>, it will instantly change to a randomly generated <miracle> necklace (or, in later versions of Elona+, stardust).
Abilities of Artifacts[]
- Higher damage/armor value than normal.
- Higher hit modifier/damage modifier than normal.
- Increase stats.
- Increase skills.
- Increase resistances.
- Be alive (Starts at level 1 and gains new abilities as it levels with you, once it has enough experience, "Use" it to increase its level. At higher levels, the weapon may develop negative abilities e.g. sucking the wielder's blood.)
- Have an "invoke" ability (breath attacks, spells, etc)
- Protect you from mutation and alien pregnancy.
Possible Drawbacks[]
- Artifacts can negatively impact your stats, resistances, and skills, with no way to remove the effect.
- Many Artifacts are cursed.
- Godly class Artifacts cannot have their material changed without a material kit, and (Special) class can never have it changed.
- Certain Artifacts may have a blood-sucking modifier.
- Certain Artifacts may summon monsters, dependent on your level.
Unique artifacts[]
Unique artifacts always appear as the <name> as you can only ever have one (the exception being the Stradivarius). Picking up a second one turns it into a random artifact of the same type (or into Stardust in Elona+). This applies also if the artifact is in your pet's possession, even those waiting. Unique artifacts can be spawned in the possession of Adventurers; the only way for you to obtain the artifact would then be to either trade for it (extremely expensive, 3 blessed potions of cure corruption could not net the Bow of Vinderre) or kill them for it (unique artifacts always drop from NPCs that carry them when they die). You cannot Pickpocket a unique artifact - any attempt to do so will always fail.
Changes in Elona+[]
Sense Quality is now Analysis.