Artifact Collecting
Finding super shiny sparkles as you run around the zones in Rift is a great way to spend some time in game!
Collect Artifacts to complete artifact sets, which can reward fluff items such as pets, mounts, dimension items, wardrobe, minions etc. Many artifact sets will also give credit towards cheevos, there are A LOT of points linked to artifact collecting.
Types of Artifacts
Normal Artifacts
Normal Artifacts show up as white sparkles on the floor. You don’t need any special buffs to see them. You will find Normal Artifacts in every open world zone, and in some instances. They also drop from Planar Mobs, and most event artifacts are normal.
Twisted Artifacts
Twisted Artifacts show up as red sparkles on the floor. You will need to use a special Ascended Power ability to be able to see Twisted Artifacts.
Quantum Sight for Defiants and Omen Sight for Guardians. It costs 12k planarite to buy the ability, you can buy it from the Ascended Powers merchant in Meridian/Sanctum, or from the Artifact Rewards Vendor.
Twisted Artifacts can be found in all the Mathosian, Storm Legion, and Nightmare Tide Zones, as well as in some instances. You cannot find Twisted Artifacts in PoA zones.
Unstable Artifacts
Unstable Artifacts show up as blue sparkles on the floor. You will only find them during special Unstable Artifact Zone Events. When an Unstable Events starts, you will have 30 minutes to collect as many artifacts as you can. You do not need any special buffs to see the artifacts, however it is recommended to have a supply of nets for squirrel hunting! All this is explained on the Unstable Artifacts guide page.
Unstable Artifacts are found in all the Mathosian and Storm Legion zones.
Bounty Artifacts
Bounty Artifacts only drop from mobs, so you wont ever see them sparkling on the floor.
There are special rare bounty mobs that drop the open world sets. These can be farmed easily, as explained in the Bounty Artifact Guide.
The PVP sets are harder to farm, you will likely get most of these from minion missions.
Poison, Burning, and Nightmare Artifacts
Poison (Green), Burning (Orange), and Nightmare (Purple) Artifacts can be found in the zones of Stonefield, Gloamwood, and Planetouched Wilds. The PBN artifacts can only be seen/collected when you have special ‘sight’ buffs.
Have a look at the PBN Artifact Guide for more information.
Artifact Database
The Artifact Set Database lists every artifact set and tells you where to farm for them.
Artifact Rewards
I just wanna make money!
Artifact hunting can be very profitable! While hunting for your own sets, you will often find duplicates, these duplicates can be broken into ribbons by a dreamweaver or sold on to other players. Most white and green Artifacts are worthless, these can be broken into ribbons without a second thought. Blues can sell for a few plat, depending on which they are. Purples and Oranges can be sold for a lot of money, some even going for thousands of platinum! You should always have a look at the auction house, checking the sale history of an artifact before deciding if it is worth selling.
Here is a list of the Artifacts you can farm for that will make you the most money on the Auction House..
- Vostigar Peaks Purples
- Shiny Shenanigans purples and oranges
- Planetouched Wilds Bounties
- Primalist PVP Bounties
- Blue and Purple Chronicle Artifacts – Especially the Rhen of Fate Twisted Artifacts
- Poison/Burning/Nightmare Purples – The Planetouched Wilds ones are worth more than the Stonefield/Gloamwood ones
- Unstable Purples – Storm Legion zones are worth more than the Mathosian zones