Artifact

An Artifact, also known as an Eridian Artifact, is a powerful item found in Pandora which grants its finder certain bonuses to their active ability. Artifacts are created from the different types of crystals that are mined on Pandora.

Although the artifacts you gain from quests are always for yourself, Enemies that can drop artifacts might drop one which cannot be used by your own class. Ex.: You kill an Enemy as Brick and that enemy drops an artifact meant for Lilith.

Usage

 * A player "activates" the Artifact by selecting it in their inventory. Upon activating, the artifact will be permanently removed from the character's inventory and artifact is applied to the character's class ability. The artifact is placed on the character's "Skills" tab in the upper left corner.


 * The currently active Artifact is displayed in the Skill Tree window to the left of the Active Ability.


 * You can change between artifact types by selecting the icon next to your character's action skill and picking the artifact in the drop down list.


 * Equipping a higher level artifact of the same type will replace the lower level artifact, but you will not receive the lower level artifact back. It is simply gone.


 * Artifact bonuses will be in effect until another activated artifact is chosen (ex. Roland's Shock Artifact and Incendiary Artifact cannot both be active; the one most recently activated will provide its effect). You can change the active artifact on the skill page by selecting the icon in the top left, press 'A', and it will open a window to select which Artifact effect you wish to use.


 * All Artifacts are class specific and the level of the effect the artifact grants depends on the level of the artifact itself. Currently the highest effect is level 6 for artifact level 44, and can be used after completion of the second playthrough.


 * If you acquire an Artifact of the same level you already have equipped and you try to use it, you will get a message stating that you can not equip it.

Shapes
Depending on the class you have the artifact will have a certain shape, the shape is how the item appears in game as well as the picture on the item card.


 * Soldier - Triangular Pyramid (Four sided dice)
 * Berserker - Cube (Six Sided dice)
 * Hunter - Octahedron (Eight sided dice)
 * Siren - Dodecahedron (Twelve (?) sided dice)

Types
Artifacts come in 4 types and apply the appropriate elemental effect to damage your character inflicts when using their class ability.


 * Corrosive
 * Explosive
 * Incendiary
 * Shock

Each type has strengths and weakness against the enemies you will face. Be cognitive of what enemies you are fighting and change your Artifact accordingly.

Quest Rewards

 * Level 1 Shock : 1st Playthrough Quest Reward for "Shock Crystal Harvest"


 * Level 1 Fire: 1st Playthrough Quest Reward for "The Legend Of Moe and Marley"


 * Level 1 Corrosive: 1st Playthrough Quest Reward for "Corrosive Crystal Harvest"


 * Level 2 Explosive : 1st Playthrough Quest Reward for "Ghost of the Vault"


 * Level 3 Explosive: 1st Playthrough Quest Reward for "Another Piece Of The Puzzle"
 * Level 4 Fire: 2nd Playthrough Quest Reward for "The Legend Of Moe and Marley"


 * Level 4 Shock : 2nd Playthrough Quest Reward for "Shock Crystal Harvest"


 * Level 4 Explosive : 2nd Playthrough Quest Reward for "Ghosts of the Vault"


 * Level 4 Corrosive: 2nd Playthrough Quest reward for "Corrosive Crystal Harvest" **
 * Level 5 Fire: 2nd Playthrough Quest Reward for "Another Piece Of The Puzzle"

Drops and Chests

 * Level 1 Explosive: 1st Playthrough Dropped by Marley while completing "The Legend Of Moe and Marley".
 * Level 6 All types: 2nd Playthrough Loot-able from SuperBad none human enemies after completion of 2nd Playthrough


 * Level 6 All types: 2nd Playthrough Loot-able from The Destroyer, or Scar in Skag Gully after completion of 2nd Playthrough

Artifacts of a given elemental type have a chance of dropping from enemies of the same elemental type; for example, a poison/acid-type spiderant may drop a corrosive artifact when killed, which will be of a level corresponding to that of the monster. Artifacts of all types have a chance of dropping from the high-level SuperBad/BadMutha/Badass-type Guardians on the Eridian Promontory.

Additional Information
Level Provisioning:

Playthrough experience dictates the highest achievable artifact level from Playthrough 1 is element level 4. Higher level artifacts can only be acquired and equipped in Playthrough 2.

I.E. Shock level 4 is maxed out, you must receive shock level 5 from Playthrough 2.

Random Encounters:

While somewhat random there appears to be a higher probability in acquiring artifacts with high end random encounters. ie, Spiderant King and Queen.