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An '''artefact''' is a unique item that can posses a wide variety of properties, making them different from "normal" magical equipment. Unidentified artefacts always carry unusual names, such as "a ''golden'' sword" or "a ''shimmering'' scale mail".

==Types of Artefacts==
Artefacts come in two distinct (and potentially hard to distinguish) flavours:
*'''[[randart]]s''' - randomly created artefacts.
*'''[[unrandart]]s''' - predefined artefacts.
**Historically, '''[[fixedart]]s''' refered to artefacts with unique properties (e.g. [[Damnation (unrand)|Damnation]]'s ability to fire [[Damnation]]).

==Properties of Artefacts==
Artifacts have ego properties or brands depending on their type. Randart jewelry always has a random base piece of jewelry, which may be a useful or harmful type. Randart weapons always have a brand, and in addition may carry brands not normally generated on that type of weapon (e.g. a [[speed (brand)|speed brand]]ed axe or a [[vampiric|vampiric brand]] whip). Randart armours do not have an ego, although both randart and unrandart dragon armours exist.

Randarts can have, in addition, other beneficial properties:
*Any amount of [[resistance]]s or [[willpower]]
*Bonuses to [[slaying]], [[attributes]], [[stealth]], or [[willpower]]
*Evokable powers such as [[invisibility]] or [[blink]]
*[[See invisible]]
*[[Flight]]

Unfortunately, they can also have some negative properties:
*One level of fire or cold vulnerability
*Penalties to slaying, attributes, stealth, or willpower
*Making noise while wielded
*Preventing teleportation
*Causing [[magic contamination]] when unwielded/unequipped
*Causing [[draining]] when unwielded/unequipped
*Causing you to go berserk when attacking enemies
*Causing you to sometimes gain a certain negative status when taking damage:
**Possible statuses include [[corrosion]], [[slow]], and [[silence]]. (Each status has its own property.)
*Fragility - if unequipped, the item is destroyed

The game will auto-inscribe all of an artefact's properties when identified, allowing you to reference them at a glance.

For most races, artefacts cannot be modified by regular means. Scrolls of enchant weapon/armour won't work on them.
The only exception is [[Mountain Dwarf]], which may use enchantment scrolls on random artefacts. Unrands are still unable to be modified.

==Sources of Artefacts==
Artefacts can come from many sources:

*[[Ashenzari]] will turn regular items into artefacts by [[curse|cursing]] them. They gain whatever stat bonuses the god offers, as well as an effective Fragility.
*Some [[god]]s bestow upon favored followers gifts from time to time, including artefacts.
*[[Shop]]s may carry artefacts (identified or not). "Antique" shops are most likely to carry artefacts.
*A [[scroll of acquirement]] may create an artefact for you.
*Every so often you'll find an artefact lying around the [[Dungeon]], or used by a monster.
*Many pregenerated treasure [[vault]]s, such as in [[Elf]]:3, [[Vaults]]:5, or a [[trove]], are weighted to produce 'high-value' items (including artefacts).

==Strategy==
It is easy to recognize an artefact. Randarts have their names in white, and unrands have their names in cyan. All artefacts come with an [[inscription]], such as {freezing, Int+4}. For reference, regular magical items have names in blue, and do not have inscriptions unless you add one.

Artefacts are somewhat common. You'll find them in various treasure vaults, such as in [[Elven Halls|Elf]]:3, [[Vaults]]:5 and [[Slime Pits|Slime]]:5. They can appear throughout the game, or be gifted by gods like [[Trog]] and [[Okawaru]]. [[Scrolls of acquirement]] generate high-value items, which often include artefacts.

Artefacts are not necessarily more powerful than a regular [[brand]]ed item. For example, the +3 hand axe "Yendor" {flaming, rC+, Int +5, *Corrode} would have the same damage output as a +3 [[flaming]] [[hand axe]], which isn't very much beyond the early game. While rC+ or Int +5 may be useful for some characters, it's worse as an ''axe'' than a +3 flaming [[war axe]].

For more details, see [[Randart#Strategy]] or [[List of unrands|the specific unrand's page]], depending on the type of artefact in question.

==History==
*Prior to [[0.33]], artefacts could come with -Cast instead of *Silence.
*Prior to [[0.28]], artefacts could come with evocable [[berserk]], but *Rage generally inflicted berserk less often.
*Prior to [[0.27]], artefacts could come with *[[Curse]], cursing when they are equipped. They also had evocable temporary flight instead of permanent flight.
*Prior to [[0.19]], randarts could have the *Confuse ego, randomly causing the wielder to become [[confusion|confused]] when taking damage. Each equipped randart with *Confuse would increase the chance of confusion by 1%. [[0.19]] replaced it with the *Slow ego.
*In [[0.18]], the *Fragile intrinsic was added.
*Prior to [[0.15]], artefacts were able to resist the permanent effects of [[corrosion]].
*Prior to [[0.12]], artefacts with the "Contam" property caused glow over time instead of a higher amount on unwielding them. That made artefact weapons much more useful as a situational weapon and much less useful as primary weapon.

[[Category:Items]]
[[Category:Artefacts]]

Artefact - Revision history

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