Artifacts

Generally speaking, an artifact is an item with a name other than the kind of item it is. For example, there is an artifact katana called the Blade of Insanity, an artifact radiant scimitar called the Soul Seeker, and an artifact spellbook called the Tome of Lost Knowledge.

Artifacts can come from many places in the game. The first artifacts spawned in the backpacks of randomly selected players who had achieved looting rights on various boss monsters in the Dungeon Doom.

Artifacts vary greatly in power. Some, called "minor" artifacts and detailed below, generally are just really good normal items with a name. ("Really good" in this context generally means an item with several properties that are nearly maximum, and perhaps 1 or 2 properties that are a little over maximum.)

By contrast, "major" artifacts (again, see below) often have properties that far exceed those normally available on items of that type. For example, the Ornament of the Magician has FC 2 FCR 3 (the normal limit is 1/3), along with a superb amount of Lower Mana Cost and Lower Reagent Cost.

Some artifacts no longer spawn, some are available through use of the Stealing skill in certian dungeons, some are available from certain monsters and "spawn" in a character's backpack, some spawn as normal loot, some are craftable, some are available as rewards for contributing to the Vesper Museum, the Moonglow Royal Zoo or the Britain Library Collections.

Some artifacts spawned as the result of specific events, such as the Ophidian invasions and the demon invasion of the City of Magincia.

Though most, and the most famous and sought after, artifacts are of a practical nature (weapons, armor, etc.), some are strictly for decoration. Examples include the Ruined Painting and Thorvald's Medallion.

Some artifacts spawn with a property called Artifact Rarity, a number that varies from 1 to 12. In theory, the higher the number, the less common the item. However, the relationship between the number and the item's presence in the game is at most casual. The Blade of the Righteous for example, Rarity rating of 10 and stealable, is less common than some of the Doom artifacts obtainable from the Doom Gauntlet, which are mostly rarity 11. Also, the decorative Ruined Painting is a rarity 12, and so is the Berserker's Scythe (an artifact from the demon invasions of Magincia), yet the Scythes are far more common. (The ruined painting spawns only a few times per calendar year.)

There are several kinds of artifacts.

Standard Artifacts

Artifacts that adhere to the policy of possessing the Rarity item property can be classified into several categories.

• Doom Artifacts - Artifacts that can be found in Doom. These fall into two categories:
  • Items that can be stolen in Doom.
  • Items that drop in the Gauntlet.
• Tokuno Island Stealables - Artifacts that can be stolen in the Tokuno Islands.
• Virtue Artifacts were obtainable as part of UO's 10th Anniversary.
• Other Artifacts - There are also several other artifacts, such as The Redeemer, which can be acquired through quests and by other means.

Other Artifacts

It is also common parlance to call several other types of items Artifacts, even though they do not possess the Item Property Artifact Rarity.

• Ilshenar Minor Artifacts - Items that drop as part of the Paragon system in Ilshenar.
• Treasure Map Minor Artifacts - Items that drop from Treasure Maps. These items include those that drop as part of the Paragon system, as well as some which are exclusive to Treasure Maps.
• Leviathan Minor Artifacts - Items that drop from the Leviathan, a sea monster that is spawned through use of a certain fishing net. These items include those that drop as part of the Paragon system, as well as some which are exlusive to the Leviathan.
• Treasures of Tokuno Artifacts - Items that dropped and could be claimed as part of the the Treasures of Tokuno events. These items no longer spawn, though there are many of them available for sale on most shards. They fall into two categories:
  • Major Artifacts - These artifacts are claimed through a turn in system.
  • Minor Artifacts - These artifacts dropped in a way similar to those that drop in the Paragon system, and could be turned in for the major artifacts.
• Mondain's Legacy Minor Artifacts - Items that drop in the same style as those associated with the Paragon system, but only in Mondain's Legacy Dungeons.
• Craftable Artifacts - Craftable items that, due to their high end properties and their having a specific name rather than just named for the type of item they are, are considered artifacts. Ingredients available from the Peerless monsters are needed to craft them.
• Peerless Artifacts - Items that drop from Peerless bosses. Each peerless boss drops specific artifacts. They also drop the Mondain's legacy "minor" artifacts. Artifacts from Peerlesses spawn on the creature's corpse.
• Virtue Artifacts - These items spawn in the old dungeons, the ones named after the 8 Sins or Anti-Virtue. They appeared for UO's 10th Anniversary, but are likely to continue to spawn en perpetuity according to statements made by the dev team.