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Artifacts

By ScotPublished Updated Sources checked

Tactical Quick Answer

Artifacts are permanent, unlockable modifiers that change the rules of a run, and you toggle them on or off from the character select screen. Most are hidden in secret areas on almost every stage, and touching one unlocks it forever even if you lose that run. There are fourteen artifacts in total, three of which are not found by exploring at all.

Artifacts are permanent, unlockable modifiers that fundamentally alter the rules of the game. You can toggle them on or off before starting a run from the character select screen, under a folder named artifacts. Activating the right combination of artifacts can turn a grueling roguelike into a chaotic sandbox or an intense puzzle.

Finding Artifacts​

Most artifacts are hidden physically within the game's levels. Ten of the eleven stages hold at least one, with Boar Beach the only exception, and reaching them takes specific mobility skills, clever platforming, or finding hidden pathways disguised in the environment.

The routes vary even between variants of the same stage. The Artifact of Honor sits on Desolate Forest variants 1 through 3, and each one hides it differently: variant 1 puts it through a tunnel under a waterfall on the left, variant 2 behind an opening in a wall toward the left side, and variant 3 down a tree with blue leaves in the top left. The breakable wall people associate with Honor actually belongs to the Artifact of Kin on Dried Lake, and only certain survivor skills can break it. Several artifacts also gate behind puzzles and not platforming, like Glass on Ancient Valley, which asks you to hit five buttons within fifteen seconds.

Three artifacts are not found by exploring. Prestige comes from earning a gold rank on at least fifteen Providence Trials. Origin comes from killing Providence with nine other artifacts active at once, and it unlocks for everyone in the lobby. Dissonance is not a single object at all: you collect four hidden Artifact Shards. Two more, Cognation and Dissonance, live only on stage variants 4 through 6, so you cannot get them while playing Classic stages. Tempus disappears from Temple of the Elders at the sixteen-minute mark, sealed behind bricks for the rest of that run.

Once you touch an artifact, it unlocks permanently for all future runs. You do not need to win the run to keep it, and running artifacts does not block achievements or unlocks.

Notable Artifacts​

There are fourteen artifacts in total: the original ten (Honor, Kin, Distortion, Spite, Glass, Enigma, Sacrifice, Command, Spirit, Origin) plus four new additions exclusive to Returns (Prestige, Dissonance, Tempus, Cognation). Some make the game easier, some make it harder, and some just make it weird.

  • Artifact of Command: Items are no longer random. Any item drop, whether from a chest, a shrine, or a boss, becomes a Command Crate you open to pick from every item of that rarity. Two limits are worth knowing: you can only choose items you have already unlocked, and it does not apply to temporary item vendors, adaptive chests, or multishops unless you take their random option.
  • Artifact of Glass: You deal 500% damage, but your base health drops to 10%. Items can still raise your health, at reduced effectiveness, so it is not a hard lock. Health scaling is cut to 10% as well, which covers level bonuses, Bitter Root, and Infusion, but flat additions like Monster Tooth, Topaz Brooch, and Guardian's Heart come through untouched. That turns the game into a high-stakes scenario where mobility and perfect dodging are mandatory.
  • Artifact of Kin: Only one enemy type spawns per stage. You might get a stage full of harmless lemurians, or a stage entirely populated by teleporting imps.
  • Artifact of Sacrifice: Chests no longer spawn. Instead, enemies have a small chance to drop items directly when killed. This removes the chest economy and not the gold economy, since drones, shrines, multishops and vendors still cost money. Note that it also stops the urn spawning for the Robomando quest.

Artifact Combos​

Combining artifacts creates entirely new game modes. Command paired with Sacrifice is a natural fit, since it removes chest placement from the equation and lets you pick whatever the enemies you kill give you.

Do not treat it as an infinite farm. Difficulty in Returns tracks elapsed time and never pauses, Sacrifice's drop chance is explicitly small, and Scavengers start appearing on any stage once enough time has passed. Standing in one spot grinding enemies means the scaling outruns your build. The combo saves you walking, not time.

Experiment with different combinations to find the exact level of challenge and chaos you prefer.

Frequently Asked Questions​

How do you unlock artifacts in Risk of Rain Returns?

Most are hidden in secret areas of the stages, and touching one unlocks it permanently without needing to win the run. Three are exceptions: Prestige needs gold ranks on fifteen Providence Trials, Origin needs you to kill Providence with nine artifacts active, and Dissonance needs four hidden Artifact Shards.

How many artifacts are in Risk of Rain Returns?

Fourteen. The original ten are Honor, Kin, Distortion, Spite, Glass, Enigma, Sacrifice, Command, Spirit, and Origin, plus four new to Returns: Prestige, Dissonance, Tempus, and Cognation.

What does the Artifact of Command do in Risk of Rain Returns?

It makes items no longer random. Any drop, from a chest, shrine, or boss, becomes a Command Crate you open to pick from every item of that rarity. You can only choose items you have already unlocked, and it skips temporary vendors, adaptive chests, and multishops unless you take their random option.

What does the Artifact of Glass do in Risk of Rain Returns?

You deal 500% damage and your base health drops to 10%. Items can still raise your health at reduced effectiveness, and flat additions like Monster Tooth and Guardian's Heart apply in full, so it is not a hard lock at 10%.

Is Command plus Sacrifice a good combo in Risk of Rain Returns?

It is a natural pairing, since it removes chest placement and lets you pick what enemies drop. It is not an infinite farm though. Difficulty tracks elapsed time and never pauses, the Sacrifice drop chance is small, and Scavengers start appearing once enough time passes.