Artifacts

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Guide created using an unknown version of Cataclysm DDA.
The information present here might not apply to the current version of CDDA.
WARNING: This page may contain spoilers and ruin the joy of adventure.

Artifacts are procedurally generated items that are spawned as rewards for completing certain dungeon finales. They can be either a wieldable tool or a wearable piece of clothing. Artifacts can give a wide array of bonuses or penalties when worn or carried, and tools can be usually be activated for a further effect.

Generation

Artifacts can be generated with both good and bad abilities. The distribution is balanced in such a way that an artifact that creates a powerful good effect will also have significant drawbacks, whereas a less potent artifact will also have proportionately fewer negatives.

"Natural artifacts" that can be found in anomalies are less random and come with only two fixed effects, which are always one good one and one bad one. Both effects can be active or passive, or only good active with bad passive. Also natural artifacts are always tools and can be recharged.

Where can I find them?

Currently artifacts are found only in temples, mines and anomalies. Anomalies that have artifacts in them can have various fields with strange effects, often related to the artifacts special effects. If you see lightning or fire emit from somewhere without a clear source, there probably is an anomaly artifact nearby. Anomalies don't show up on the map (but they might be marked automatically if automatic note taking is turned on, keyword is might), temples and mines are marked as normal locations.

Item templates

Natural

Natural artifacts are always made from stone and vary only by weight and volume.

Name Description Vmin Vmax Wmin Wmax
; sphere smooth sphere 2 4 0 10
; rod tapered rod 1 7 1 7
; teardrop teardrop-shaped stone 2 6 0 8
; lamp hollow, transparent cube 4 9 0 3
; snake winding, flexible rod 0 8 0 8
; disc smooth disc 4 6 2 4
; beads string of beads 3 7 0 6
; napkin very thin sheet 0 3 0 3
; urchin spiked sphere 3 5 2 6
; jelly malleable blob 2 8 2 4
; spiral spiraling rod 5 6 2 3
; pin pointed rod 1 5 1 9
; tube hollow tube 2 5 3 6
; pyramid regular tetrahedron 3 7 2 4
; crystal translucent crystal 1 6 2 7
; knot twisted, knotted cord 2 6 1 7
; crescent crescent-shaped stone 2 6 2 6
Sets of effects

Type of anomaly will be related to effects set.

Adjective Description Passive good Passive bad Active good Active bad
wriggling is constantly wriggling speed +20, snakes, fun dexterity -3, force teleport, sick teleport, adrenaline, morale boost mutate, attention, vomit
glowing glows faintly intellect +4, glow, clairvoyance radioactive, mutagenic, attention light, light, light attention, teleglow, flash, shadows
humming hums very quietly all stats +2, psyshield, fun schizo, perception -3, intellect -3 pulse, entrance, morale boost noise, noise, scream, stamina loss
moving shifts from side to side slowly strength +4, dexterity +4, speed +20 hunger, perception -3, force teleport teleport, teleport, map paralyze, vomit, vomit
whispering makes very faint whispering sounds clairvoyance, extinguish, stealth evil, schizo, attention fatigue, entrance, entrance attention, scream, scream, shadows
breathing shrinks and grows very slightly with a regular pulse, as if breathing sap life, all stats +2, speed +20, carry more hunger, thirst, sick, bad weather adrenaline, heal, entrance, growth mutate, attention, shadows, stamina loss
dead is icy cold to the touch invisible, clairvoyance, extinguish, sap life hunger, evil, all stats -2, sick blood, hurtall pain, shadows, dim, vomit
itchy makes your skin itch slightly when it is close dexterity +4, speed +20, psyshield, fun radioactive, mutagenic, sick adrenaline, blood, heal, bugs radiation, pain, pain, vomit
glittering glitters faintly under direct light intellect +4, extinguish, glow smoke, attention map, light, confused, entrance radiation, mutate, attention, flash
electric very weakly shocks you when touched resist electricity, dexterity +4, speed +20, psyshield thirst, smoke, strength -3, bad weather storm, adrenaline, light, morale boost pain, paralyze, flash, flash
slimy feels slimy snakes, stealth, extinguish, sap life thirst, dexterity -3, speed -20, sick blood, acidball, growth, acidball mutate, mutate, vomit, vomit
engraved is covered with odd etchings clairvoyance, invisible, psyshield, sap life evil, attention fatigue, teleport, heal, fatigue attention, attention, teleglow, dim
crackling occasionally makes a soft crackling sound extinguish, resist electricity smoke, radioactive, movement noise storm, fireball, pulse pain, paralyze, noise, noise
warm is warm to the touch strength +4, extinguish, glow, fun smoke, radioactive fireball, fireball, fireball, light firestorm, firestorm, teleglow
rattling makes a rattling sound when moved dexterity +4, speed +20, snakes, carry more attention, intellect -3, movement noise, movement noise blood, pulse, bugs pain, attention, noise
scaled has a surface reminiscent of reptile scales snakes, snakes, snakes, stealth thirst, mutagenic, speed -20 adrenaline, bugs, growth mutate, scream, dim, stamina loss
fractal has a self-similar pattern which repeats until it is too small for you to see all stats +2, all stats +2, clairvoyance, psyshield schizo, attention, force teleport, bad weather storm, fatigue, teleport, morale boost radiation, mutate, teleglow, teleglow

Tools

Name
Material
Vmin
Vmax
Wmin
Wmax
Base weapon
Extra weapons
; Harp wood 20 30 10 18 bulk spear, sword, knife
/ Staff wood 6 12 4 10 club bulk, spear, knife
/ Sword steel 8 14 8 28 sword bulk
; Dagger steel 1 4 1 6 knife
* Cube steel 1 3 1 20 bulk spear
Base weapon types and modifications
  • Volume and weight are only applicable if this is an *extra* weapon
Type
Adjective
Vo
We
Bmin
Bmax
Cmin
Cmax
Hmin
Hmax
Flags
bulk Heavy 0 12 10 20 0 0 -2 0
club Knobbed 1 2 14 30 0 0 -1 1
spear Spiked 1 1 0 0 20 40 -1 1 IF_SPEAR
sword Edged 2 4 0 0 20 50 -1 2
knife Bladed 1 2 0 0 12 30 -1 1 IF_STAB

Clothing

Name
Material
Vo
We
BD
CD
Hit
Enc
BP
CP
EP
Wa
St
Covers Available modifications
[ Robe wool 6 6 -8 0 -3 1 3 1 0 2 0 body light, bulky, pocketed, furred, padded
[ Coat leather 14 14 -6 0 -3 2 4 12 1 4 4 torso light, furred, padded, plated
[ Mask wood 4 1 2 0 -2 2 2 16 1 2 0 eyes & mouth furred
[ Helm silver 6 6 8 0 -2 2 4 18 0 1 0 head bulky, furred, padded, plated
[ Gloves leather 2 1 -4 0 -2 1 6 6 1 2 0 hands bulky, furred, padded, plated
[ Boots leather 6 2 4 0 -1 1 6 6 1 3 0 feet light, bulky, padded, plated
[ Ring silver 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 slotless none
Clothing modifications

Clothing modifications alter the normal values of clothing. If the basic armor type has not its second material (MNULL), and the mod has a material attached, the second material will be changed to it.

Description
Material
Vo
We
Enc
BP
CP
EP
Wa
St
[ very thin and light. none -4 -8 -2 -1 -1 -1 -1 0
[ extremely bulky. none 8 10 2 1 1 0 1 0
[ covered in pockets. none 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 16
[ disgustingly furry. wool 4 2 1 4 0 1 3 0
[ leather-padded. leather 4 4 1 10 4 0 1 -3
[ plated in iron. iron 4 12 3 8 14 0 1 -4

Effects

Passive

Artifacts can have the following good passive effects:

Code Effect Message Notes
1 STR+4
2 DEX+4
3 PER+4
4 INT+4
5 all stats +2
6 speed +20
7 reduce radiation It is far more effective than Potassium iodide tablets.
8 snakes "Your skin feels slithery." Will randomly spawn friendly shadow snakes when wearer is hit for 6 or more damage.
9 invisibility "You fade into invisibility!"
10 clairvoyance "You can see through walls!" Allows you to see through walls a few tiles.
11 super clairvoyance "You can see through everything!" Allows you to see through walls to a great distance.
12 stealth "Your steps stop making noise."
13 extinguish fire Slowly (-1 to density every turn) extinguish fires on a nearby squares.
14 glow "A glow of light forms around you." Item is a 4-tile light source.
15 psychic shield "Your mental state feels protected." Blocks "psychic" effects, e.g. the Flaming eye's gaze or the Amigara horror's paralysis.
16 resist electricity "You feel insulated.." Protection from electricity.
17 carry more "Your back feels strengthened." Increases weight carrying capacity by 22.5 kg.
18 sap life When damage higher than 5 is dealt to enemies, it may heal character by some part of damage.
19 fun "You feel a pleasant tingle." Adds a slight morale boost.

Artifacts can have the following bad passive effects:

Code Effect Message Notes
21 hunger "You feel hungry." 1% chance to increment hunger every turn.
22 thirst "You feel thirsty." 0.8% chance to increment thirst every turn.
23 smoke 10% chance to create smoke on a nearby square every turn.
24 evil "You feel an evil presence..." and "You have an urge to wield the %artifact%." Carrying and wielding (if it is tool) or wearing (if clothing) the item causes the Evil disease, which has effects similar to addiction. All stats will be decreased when item is not wielded. In the beginning artifact gives slight bonuses to dexterity, intelligence and perception when it is wielded/worn, but will eventually change them to penalties, although bonus to strength will stay and grow stronger. The longer you wield the item, the stronger the effect gets, and the longer it takes to wear off.
25 schizophrenia "You feel a tickle of insanity." As per the Schizophrenic trait.
26 radioactive "Your skin prickles with radiation." 25% chance to irradiate the player every turn.
27 mutagenic "You feel your genetic makeup degrading." Randomly adds mutations to the player.
28 netherworld attention "You feel an otherworldly attention upon you..." Gives a disease that randomly spawn extra-dimensional critters around. The spawn rate increases the longer you have artifact wielded. After you unwield artifact some time is required to allow disease to wear off, during this period critters will still spawn.
29 STR-3
30 DEX-3
31 PER-3
32 INT-3
33 all stats -2
34 speed -20
35 force teleport "You feel a force pulling you inwards." Teleports with 0.1% chance per turn.
36 movement noise "You hear a rattling noise coming from inside yourself." With 5% chance makes noise of 40 volume upon moving
37 bad weather "You feel storms coming." More likely to experience bad weather
38 sick "You feel unwell." Decreases health

Active

Artifacts can have the following good active effects:

Code Effect Message Notes
1 storm "Ka-BOOM!" Creates electric blast, and random bolts of lightning shoot from the player in all directions. Will not harm the player on activation. However, lightning has a nasty tendency to spread out before it dissipates so self-electrocution will generally occur.
2 fireball Instant 3x3 molotov-like explosion in targeted square.
3 adrenaline "You're filled with a roaring energy!" As per the High Adrenaline trait effect, but slightly longer.
4 map "You have a vision of the surrounding area..." Maps the immediate non-seen vicinity for 100 move points cost.
5 blood "Blood soaks out of the ground and walls." Blood will seep out of surrounding walls and floors. Seems to be a purely cosmetic effect.
6 dimensional fatigue "The fabric of space seems to decay." Randomly creates dimensional fatigue in 3-square radius around the player, and worsens existing fatigue. Fatigue shows up on the map as "odd ripple", "swirling air", and "tear in reality". Swirling airs and tears in reality will randomly teleport you a short distance if you step into them. Tears in reality will also spawn dimension critters roughly once per hour.
7 acid ball Targeted 3x3 acid splash.
8 pulse "The earth shakes!" Destroys adjacent terrain in the same manner as the Sonic Resonator, but in two square radius.
9 heal "You feel healed." Heals each body part of player for 2 points.
10 confuse Stuns all hostile monsters in 8-square radius for a short duration.
11 entrance Randomly makes monsters friendly within 8-square radius. Monsters with big health have a lower chance of being turned.
12 bugs "Flies buzz around you." or "Giant flies appear!" or "Giant bees appear!" or "Giant wasps appear!" Chance to summon friendly insects: 2-4 giant flies, 1-3 giant bees, or 1-2 giant wasps (in order of rareness).
13 teleport Teleports you
14 light "The artifact glows brightly!" Temporary light source for 30 turns, which is effective as bionic flashlight.
15 growth Grow plants, a la triffid queen
16 hurtall Hurts every monster for 0-5 damage.
17 morale boost "You're filled with euphoria!" Adds a morale bonus that stays for a few minutes.

Artifacts can have the following bad actives:

Code Effect Message Notes
19 radiation "Horrible gasses are emitted!" Spews radioactive gas on a nearby square.
20 pain "You're wracked with pain!" Increases pain for 5-15 points.
21 mutate 2/3 chance to mutate.
22 paralyze "You're paralyzed!" Paralyzes the player for 50-200 move points.
23 firestorm "Fire rains down around you!" Starts many small fires in 3-square radius around and on the character.
24 attention "You feel like your action has attracted attention." Gives netherworld attention‎ disease, which bumps dimension critter spawn rate.
25 teleglow "You feel unhinged." Gives the teleportation sickness.
26 noise "Your artifact emits a deafening boom!" Creates loud noise (100 volume), may cause deafness.
27 scream "Your artifact screams disturbingly." Creates noise with 40 volume and adds slight morale penalty
28 dim "The sky starts to dim." Dims the sky slowly, then relights it (full cycle ends in 5 minutes)
29 flash "The artifact flashes brightly!" Flashbang
30 vomit "A wave of nausea passes through you!" User vomits
31 shadows "Shadows form around you." or "A shadow forms nearby." Summon up to 8 shadows (Cannot summon them in direct sunlight)
32 stamina loss "Your body feels like jelly." Users stamina drops down to 12-33% of its current state.

Recharge

Artifact tools can restore their charges:

  1. Once per hour.
  2. Every 10 minutes while in sunlight with sufficiently sunny weather.
  3. Every minute, but increase character's pain by 3, 6 or 9 points ("You suddenly feel sharp pain for no reason.")
  4. Every minute, but hurt all character's body parts by one HP ("You feel your body decaying.")
  5. Every minute, but increase character's exhaustion ("You feel fatigue seeping into your body.")
  6. Never. Artifacts with a high number of effects are especially prone to this.