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The ranking is mostly the same. I don't see a difference between F and D, so I'll group them (there's not really any artifact that is mostly detrimental).
In my mind, I classify most things as either
- Good for Battle Start. Helps not having crucial units die first turn and have your hero take chip damage. A little bit is nice.
- Good for (Burst) Damage. Killing enemies faster, starting turn 1, reduces the amount of incoming damage. Similar to Battle Start, but shortens fights aswell. There are some sweet spots, so too much of it is counter productive (you will lack something else).
- Good for Sustain. Helps stabilize incoming damage in a very long and hard fight. Generally the cheaper and most reliable option.
- Good for Damage Scaling. Generally unnecessary but funny. Sometimes provides burst aswell. Enough of it will render everything else useless.
- Gold. Since you buy items with it, it's actually everything (you can adress Battle Start, Sustain and Damage with it). Obviously most gold artifacts are better taken as first artifact, or first boss.
We start with one relic, then get 3 later for each area end boss. More can be acquired through Andromalius. Typically in my successful runs, my starting relic is usually something good for Battle Start, and the second or third is a sustain relic (the +1 armor one). Other relics do not matter much, so I try to get a good damage one but I don't sweat over it.
Battle Start
^ -S- Titanic Armor. Up to +6 Health first round. Combines well with the S sustain relic, which is why it's all-around good.
-S- Essence Collector. Combines well with Aguatilis, which is already incredibly strong early game without. Can earn a lot of turns against solo big bosses.
-A- The Arbiter's Blade. The Shield allows to ignore one lane and focus fire the two other. Combines well with Royal Insigna, but that's perhaps too much Battle Start artifacts to have.
-A- Hammer of the Old Earth: Better than Titanic Armor on Dwarves, as they can rely on Hope more than Armor because of their racial Immortal belt. Good aswell for Gnomes early game, or even on Zed's mirror images.
^ -B- Token of the Alliance. Similar to Titanic Armor if you have a diverse cast (typically 2 out of 3). Pairs well with Ethereal Essence.
v -B- Royal Insignia: It is easy to forget to control Battle Start attacks and waste them. OK on 2 base damage champions, strong on Golden Xandos. Can be worth up to 16 gold if you visit every campfire and merchant, but realistically it's more like 6 or 7.
v -B- Quickdraw Quiver. It is easy to forget to control battle Start Damage. Archers that do naturally a lot of damage do not naturally go well together, so you'd want to stack damage items on top, which doesn't leave a lot for sustain in the end. Funny relic, but a bit similar to the Haruspex in the sense you will lose wind very fast. Pairs well with Lyra's Quiver, and Multiclass units. Bannerman probably does it better. Still, typically more damage than other Battle Start Damage artifacts.
v -B- Jack's Remembrance. Good for Beast comps, especially if paired with Hope and not Armor. Works ok with Birds too. Starting artifact of alt Mariana, which transform into Animara, so Beast-centric. Bare minimum Health bonus but with the Speed it's ok. Beast aren't low health in hard mode.
v -B- Everburrning Torch. 3 Health bonus. Or a Power buff per round if you can manage to keep it alive.
-B- Book of the Law: Bare minimum Health bonus, but humans might need it early game. Bad artifact for Dwarves, as the Hammer of the Old Earth is strictly better.
v -B- Summoning Bell. 2 Damage at Battle Start, if there's space, with likely a Death effect. Essence Collector is better for Aguatilis/Gryx though, so hard to pick this relic even if it's rated B.
v -C- Taurian Scripture. Bare minimum Health bonus. Beast and Lizard are not low health to begin with in hard mode.
-C- Staff of the Flame. Good damage, but random which is probably what you do not want for a Battle Start relic. OK with Doom units for most (not all) scenarios because you can often guarantee a Doom proc turn 1 you wouldn't otherwise have.
-C- Clypaen Blessing: I haven't tested this one, I don't know if it's one shield per unit, or per battle. I'm assuming per Battle so I value it below the Token of the Alliance.
-C- The Arbiter's Cloak: I don't care much for Speed on Elves and Elementals, but it helps here and there. Elves are naturally fast, but speed on the Channeler is nice. Elemancer can use the speed.
-D- Essence Distiller. Garanteed Doom proc if there's space, but on turn 2.
-D- Blood Hex. Garanteed Doom proc, but on turn 2. Pick over Essence Distiller only if you have Units that benefit from getting the Killing Bow (and even then, moving them to get the Blood Shade might not be feasible).
^ -D- Staff of the Sky: Rarely solves anything worthwhile, but might on turn 1.
non-scaling Damage
-A- Spirit Shackle. It's basically 3 damage in an Undead comp (with a necromancer, or a raven cloak for instance). You can easily lose it in other comps. Pairs well with summoning bells, but you might not want to spend 2 artifacts just for that.
-A- Fey Sorcery: Summon typically do not live long (and you don't want them to anyway, as a full health summon is better than a chipped down one). With one or two summons per turn, that's +2 or +4 Damage per round, if you let your summons attacks instead of moving them around to tank and die. Double if you have Aeron.
-B- The Lost Blade. Speed on the Hero is kinda good as you will have a free +1 Attack bonus later, which will amount to a total of 3 Atk and 3 Speed. With this the Hero can kill enemies before they attack. Pairs well with Eldric Boots.
-B- Essence Blade: Pre Gryx nerf, it was a scaling artifact. Now it's comparable to other damage relics in a Doom comp. Mediocre but OK in another kind of comp.
v -B- Erilari's Stone: Generally worse than Fey Sorcery, as summons do not tend to live long, or even attack to begin with. Can be +1 or +2 Atk best case scenario. Double with Aeron. Basically only take if you have Aeron and a summon comp just before the Old God.
^ -B- Cyril's Staff: Can be similar to Erilari's Stone if you move around your summons to tank. Same comments apply: Aeron, after Fey Sorcery.
-B- Lyra's Quiver: +1 Attack per Archer. It is difficult to make a party out of multiple archer, but you can find success with Multiclass potions (or Eldric). This generally happens in lategame when it's just superfluous. Plays nice with Lyra herself. Bannerman probably does it better.
^ -B- Eric's Journal: +1 Attack and -1 Health for Fighter. Most groups have more fighters than Archer, but losing Health can be a tough sell for lategame fights. pairs well with the S artifact "The Smith Hammer" which can settle Fighters' sustain. Pairs also well with Figthers than can attack multiple times or have natural sustain.
-C- Strange Brew: Lizard Elementals and Gnome do not particularly scale off of Attack. Lizard Elementals and Gnome actually pair well in Poison comps, but you really do not want the bonus to go to The Devourer. Bonus is nice, but likely worse than basic Eldric Boots for instance.
-C- Pure Venin: 1 Damage per turn for each poisoned enemy, if they attack. Generally 1 or more damage per turn, then. Similar to the Strange Brew.
v -C- Venina's Hex: Good in the first turn with Sharpshooter, Venomancer or perhaps the Venin Witch, but Poison comps do not lack Poison procs. Damage is quickly lost. Sometimes you just want to have it in a non-Poison comp just to slowly let the enemy killing itself without you doing anything, but that's painful for everyone.
^ -C- Staff of the Void: Has use against summoners, but it's 1 damage per turn. Its non-conditional nature makes it a nice baseline to compare other artifacts against.
Gold
-A- Bathin's Book Note: Adds up to 27 gold for a full run. But more importantly 18 or 19 before the Old God. (you'll probably have everything you need at this point, or die). Best picked as a starting relic, but it might make the early game unfeasible if you lack a good Battle Start relic. Especially good with Golden Xandos.
^ -A- Counterfeit Coins: You will probably hire 4 to 6 heroes total only, so 8 to 12 gold saved, but it pairs well with the Smuggler, and most importantly it is an excellent "Battle Start" relic for the first Area, if it allows you to have a full party of 3+ HP units immediately. Pairs very well with the 8 Gold Boon, which allows fishing for specific comps early game.
v -C- Merchants Secret: Items cannot cost 0, and you might have a few free items (Hero Sword, Giant Ring, Death Cape, Chests...). Buying an item for every slot is between 15 and 18 gold, but it can easily be less.
v -D- Jack's Fiddle: Typically you'd visit only one campfire per area, so 9 gold. You could visit up to 12, so 36 gold, but skipping half of those opportunities would net you as much gold anyway, or even more.
Sustain
-S- The Smith's Hammer: The best sustain artifact in the game provided you buy enough armor items. +1 sustain per armor ring, up to 2+ per doom helmet, 3 with the Royal Captain or 3+ with the Taurus Guard, and +1 for some other armor units. It is godly for ANY build other than Hope/Counter, and even for those it can be good. It allows mediocre comp to beat the game in Legend Mode. Not good to start with, but a great pick anytime after.
-A- Holy Distiller. Straightforward Hope relic that allows for some interesting plays (can eat poison, can be sacrified). Good alternative to the Ruby Ring if you gun for another ring even in a Hope comp (the Power Ring).
^ -A- Venin Distiller. Best poison relic as it is the only one that adress their lack of sustain. Can be as good or better than Holy distiller with some Poison comp.
^ -A- Soul Vessel: Good sustain for the Juggernaut. It's basically +3 sustain and +3 Damage per turn. Can easily be overkill. Interesting but generally useless for the Fallen Adept, in case he's paired with Maeledox and doesn't want to unload some turns on a 1 HP summon (even then, it's unwieldly to retain the curse). Basically only pick as last relic, if you got the Juggernaut with no big Soul spending (i.e. Juggernaut, Souldrinker, Soul Conduit or Summoner, damage dealer). A Multiclass Juggernaut requires the obsidian Ring, but can be nicely paired with the Fallen Bannerman as it gains Power passively.
-B- Elemental Essence. Is sustain mostly because of the Elementals you can summon. Can be detrimental if you want them to die fast for the Elemancer to scale faster.
-B- Molten Mallet. +1 Sustain per round. 2 with the Smith hammer.
-B- Troll Blood. +2 Sustain on the Hero per round when built around. Item alternative would cost 24-26 Gold (or half if not built around).
-C- Thoric's Hammer. If this works it means you have too much sustain. It can give a lot more armor than Molten Mallet for instance, but likely wasted.
Scaling Damage
-S- Edric's Boots: even without a Battle Thane, Aamon Blade and Potion Belt on the hero is a recipe for destruction. Even better on Thoric or on Golden Xandos.
-S- Staff of the Amguan. Empowers insanely Javelineer and Lyra. Empower greatly Maeledox, Battle Mage and Tinkerer. Empower nicely a lot of units that you exaust often, especially those with only 1 Atk.
-S- The Dawn Crown: Xandos starting artifact. Allows for one more unit with huge potential for synergy. Renders summons less powerful, and less necessary at the same time, when you want to try summon-less builds.
v -A- Ethereal Essence: Awesome for Maeledox and Asmodel. Less so for the Cleric of the Dark. Combines with Token of the Alliance or with the Divine Protector, but the extra damage is in the same ballpark as Eldric Boots in those case (Faster, but not scalable).
v -B- Book of the Stars: Similar to Staff of the Amguan for units like Tinkerer or Maeledox. Or a Multiclass Javelineer / Lyra, if they are the only mage. Mediocre otherwise.
-B- Book of Power: Similar to Staff of the Amguan if Javelineer is the only human, good otherwise if you have a lone human that scale well off Power. Mediocre otherwise.
(I'm not advocating anything as I compare mostly for Legend :p).
I agree with you that Counterfeit Coins can feel bad. It's good for picking a strong early comp that you already know works, but if you want to experiment it's very weak. In fact, its utility is mostly for me not to have to abandon runs again and again at the first campfire. But since I do use it for that, it's hard to lower it to C. For what it does, it's unique and good. But it does make you relatively weaker in return.
It's rare to keep all units recruited in the first area up to the end, and it wouldn't make sense not to recruit lvl 2 or lvl 3 units, so it's really to snipe 2 or maybe 3 specific units at the first campfire (not all 4 of them :p).
It does not really fall into the groups I created, so I missed it. Added.
Note that even if you want to exhaust units, it works as long as the units can't attack from both columns (but you need defense on your mages then :p).
Yes, but I like to keep my mages (with a few exceptions) safely behind my front line.
1°) Nerfing the Smith relic. Perhaps this relic should give one additional +1 Armor proc the first time during a turn. (I thought about giving +1 armor only if no armor, but it doesn't jive well with the Immortal). This would still be a strong relic as it could give potentially +1 sustain for each character, but it would curb Armor stacking. It could even be merged with the Armor relic that leaves 1 Armor at the end of a turn.
2°) Nerfing Power stacking for units that have Attack proc (like Javelineer). I think that Attack proc should trigger the loss of Power at the end of a turn. I believe that was the intent behind the nerf of Gryx, but with this change Gryx could again be exhaustible instead of inexhaustible. The interaction between Power and Attacks proc would still remain strong, but not crazy strong. Part of what makes the Amguan relic strong is that it's the simplest way to abuse Power stacking on those units, as exhausting is already part of the strategy.
(I'll probably be posting a guide soon Hungry, would you like to be an editor on it? It's basically Gohon's guide updated with your tier lists -less spoilery however-, without bothering to describe everything as it's already detailed in the compendium).
Sure. I do not mind reviewing it.