Artifacts & Reliquaries

Artifacts are the rarest, most prized rewards in SpaceDwarves: ancient dwarven heirlooms recovered from the deep dark. Unlike a stack of ore, an artifact never gets spent. Once you own it, it sits in your Reliquary forever, and when you slot it into an equip slot it grants a permanent passive bonus to your operation for as long as it stays equipped.

There are 14 artifacts in the base game (v0.10.0), spread across three rarity tiers. They are the headline payoff of the Ancestor Lore research branch and a long-term collection goal that runs the entire length of the game — from a worn pickaxe you find in week one to the Founder’s Seal of Rockbeard himself, granted only when your empire is at its peak.

This page covers what artifacts are, how you discover them, how the Reliquary stores and equips them, every equip rule and slot count, every artifact’s effect, and how forging lets you push a relic beyond its base power.

What Artifacts Are #

An artifact is a static, named item with:

• A rarity — common, rare, or legendary.
• One or more equip scopes — where it can be slotted: global, sector, or squad.
• A permanent effect that applies only while the artifact is equipped in a valid slot.
• A drop context describing where and how it can be found.
• Lore flavour text shown in the Reliquary panel.

Artifacts are never consumed by being equipped — equipping and unequipping is free and reversible at any time. The only thing that consumes an artifact is forging (see Forging Artifacts), which destroys a duplicate copy to strengthen the one you keep.

Key principles:

• Permanent, not perishable. An equipped artifact’s bonus is always on. There is no buff timer, unlike ales and potions.
• Slot-limited. You will almost always own more artifacts than you can equip at once. Choosing which relics to slot for your current strategy is the core decision.
• Stackable with everything. Artifact bonuses stack additively on top of research, stations, accommodations, traits, and ale buffs.

Rarity Tiers #

Artifacts come in three rarity tiers. Rarity drives both how often an artifact drops and, broadly, how strong or game-changing its effect is.

Base drop chances are the per-artifact roll used when an expedition matches that artifact’s drop context. They are modified upward by sector traits and research — see How Drops Are Rolled.

A note on the “Ancestral” tier #

You may see references in-game and in older design notes to a fourth, purple Ancestral tier sitting above legendary, unlocked by the Hall of Ancestors research (al_08). Mechanically, the data still classifies the relevant artifact (the Founder’s Seal) as legendary; its “Ancestral” status is expressed through special flags and a dedicated Ancestral artifact slot rather than a separate rarity value. Treat “Ancestral” as a special legendary classification, not a distinct rarity tier, until a future update promotes it.

Discovering Artifacts #

Almost every artifact is found through expeditions. When a squad returns successfully from an expedition, the game checks every artifact whose drop context matches the run and rolls for it. A handful of artifacts can also surface from non-expedition sources.

Drop sources #

What makes an expedition eligible #

For an expedition to be able to drop a given artifact, the run must satisfy that artifact’s drop context:

• Sector tier — safe (Alpha), dangerous (Beta), or ancient (Gamma). Most powerful artifacts are gated to the Ancient (Gamma) tier. See sectors.
• Minimum stage — the squad must reach at least the artifact’s minStage (1–5). Legendaries are typically Stage 5 only, so push-your-luck expeditions deep into the run are essential.
• Task type — only certain expedition tasks can drop a given artifact (e.g. Excavate Ruins, Deep Core Extraction, Contact Anomalous Signal).
• Research gate — a few artifacts require a research node to be complete before they can drop at all (e.g. the Star Sovereign’s Crown needs Supply Chain Optimization, vn_06).

Sector traits boost drops #

If the sector you are exploring carries a sector trait matching the artifact’s event tags — most importantly Ancient Ruins, but also Anomalous Signals, Derelict Fleet, Radiation Storms, Ion Tempests, Trade Winds, Precursor Cache, and Void Echoes — that artifact’s drop chance is boosted. Hunting artifacts in trait-rich sectors dramatically improves your odds. The Ancient Ruins trait in particular is the backbone of artifact farming, and the Relic Hunter signature ability doubles artifact-loot weighting on top of that.

How drops are rolled #

On a successful expedition return, each eligible artifact rolls independently:

chance = min(0.95, baseRarityChance × tagBoost × (1 + artifactDropChance))

  baseRarityChance = 0.20 common / 0.08 rare / 0.02 legendary
  tagBoost         = 1.5  if a sector trait matches the artifact's event tags, else 1.0
  artifactDropChance = total bonus from research (Ancestor Lore, etc.)

The overall chance is capped at 95%. The Dwarven Heritage research node (al_01) adds +10% to artifactDropChance; the Founder’s Seal adds a further +20% while equipped. A unique-per-save artifact you already own is skipped, and a full Reliquary refuses new drops (the artifact is lost with a warning), so keep capacity ahead of your collection.

The Reliquary #

The Reliquary is where your artifacts live. It is a dedicated UI panel (see UI panels) that shows your full collection, each artifact’s lore and effect, its forge level, and which slot (if any) it is equipped in.

Unlocking the Reliquary #

The Reliquary is not available at the start of the game. It unlocks via the Reliquary Protocol research node (al_04) in the Ancestor Lore branch. Until then, artifacts cannot be equipped. Reliquary Protocol requires Rune Reading (al_02) as a prerequisite and costs research points plus copper.

“A worthy heirloom deserves a proper display case.” — Reliquary Protocol flavour

Reliquary capacity #

The Reliquary holds a limited number of artifacts. Capacity is a base value plus a research bonus:

reliquaryCapacity = 8 (base) + researchBonus

The Reliquary Protocol node (al_04) itself grants a large capacity bonus (+12), taking your effective capacity to 20 artifacts once the system is unlocked. If your Reliquary is full, incoming artifact drops are lost — so research more capacity (or forge duplicates away) before the shelf fills up.

Equipping Artifacts: Scopes & Slots #

An artifact only does anything while equipped into a slot whose scope it supports. There are three scopes, each with a different reach.

Slot rules #

• An artifact can only be slotted into a scope listed in its equipScope. A squad-only relic cannot go in a global slot, and so on.
• Each artifact lists one or more valid scopes. Multi-scope artifacts (e.g. global or sector) let you choose where the bonus lands.
• Global slots are a shared empire-wide pool. With the base 1 slot, you pick a single empire-wide relic; expanding via research lets you run several at once.
• Sector slots are one per sector — you can equip a different sector-scoped artifact in each sector you control, targeted to that sector’s id.
• Squad slots apply to every expedition squad simultaneously, not a single named squad. A squad-scoped relic effectively buffs all your expeditions at once.
• A research gate on an artifact (its unlockRequirement) must be satisfied before it can be equipped, even if you already own it.

Global slot math #

globalSlots = round((1 + artifactSlots) × artifactSlotsMultiplier)

  artifactSlots          += 1 from Ancient Cartography (al_03)
  artifactSlotsMultiplier  = 2 from Hall of Ancestors (al_08)

So a fresh empire has 1 global slot; after Ancient Cartography you have 2; after the Hall of Ancestors those double to 4. This is why the Ancestor Lore branch is the gateway to running a full stable of empire-wide relics.

Squad slot math #

squadSlots = max(1, 1 + floor(artifactSlots / 2))

Squad slots grow more slowly, scaling off accumulated artifactSlots research in pairs.

Effect Magnitude, Research & Forging Multipliers #

The raw number printed in an artifact’s definition (e.g. +15% mining) is its base effect. The amount actually applied while equipped is scaled by research and forge level:

appliedEffect = baseEffect × researchMultiplier × forgeMultiplier

  researchMultiplier = 1
    + equippedArtifactEffectMultiplier   (Rune Reading, al_02: +0.10)
    + artifactEffectMultiplier           (Ancestor's Blessing, al_05: +0.20)
    + globalArtifactEffectBonus          (Hall of Ancestors, al_08: +0.30)

  forgeMultiplier = 1 + forgeLevel × 0.25 × (1 + forgedArtifactMagnitudeBonus)

In addition, once Void Memory Resonance (al_07) is researched, legendary artifacts gain a small “memory echo” — a chance to echo a second effect, modelled as a bonus to their applied magnitude.

The practical takeaway: investing in the Ancestor Lore branch makes every equipped artifact stronger, not just unlocking new ones.

Forging Artifacts #

Relic Forging lets you sacrifice a duplicate copy of an artifact to raise the surviving copy’s forge level. Each forge level adds +25% to that artifact’s effect magnitude (further amplified by the forgedArtifactMagnitudeBonus research bonus).

How it works:

• Unlock the Relic Forge research node (al_06) in the Ancestor Lore branch. It also grants a permanent +50% to forged-artifact magnitude.
• You must own two or more copies of the same artifact. Forging consumes one (preferring an unequipped duplicate) and bumps the kept copy’s forge level by 1.
• Forge level stacks: each level is another +25% step on the base effect.
• The Royal Forge Hammer artifact also serves as the catalyst flagged for the Relic Forge node — it is both a useful refining relic and a key part of the forging chain.

forge +0 → ×1.00 effect
forge +1 → ×1.25 effect
forge +2 → ×1.50 effect
... (+50% per level after the Relic Forge research bonus)

“Two rusted drill cores, one legendary tool.” — Relic Forge flavour

Because legendary artifacts like the Grand Ledger and Founder’s Seal are unique-per-save, you can never own a duplicate of them, and therefore cannot forge them. Forging is primarily a way to supercharge your best common and rare relics.

The Complete Artifact Catalog #

All 14 artifacts, grouped by rarity. Effects shown are the base values as defined in game data (/opt/spacedwarves/data/progression/artifacts.json); the actual applied bonus is scaled by the research and forge multipliers above. All values are first-pass / balance-TBD per the game’s design conventions.

Common Artifacts #

Rare Artifacts #

Legendary Artifacts #

Drop data example #

The static definition of each artifact follows this shape (Ancient Drill Core shown). Drop rates are not stored here — they live in the expedition outcome system and are rolled as described in How Drops Are Rolled:

{
  "id": "art_ancient_drill_core",
  "displayName": "Ancient Drill Core",
  "rarity": "rare",
  "equipScope": ["global", "sector"],
  "effect": {
    "modifiers": { "miningBonus": 0.15 },
    "description": "+15% mining yield empire-wide when equipped in a global slot."
  },
  "dropContext": {
    "source": ["expedition"],
    "sectorTiers": ["ancient"],
    "minStage": 3,
    "expeditionTaskIds": ["excavateRuins", "deepCoreExtraction"],
    "eventTags": ["ancientRuins"]
  }
}

How Artifacts Boost Your Operation #

Artifacts touch nearly every system in the game. A well-chosen loadout can reshape your strategy:

• Production & mining. Runestone of Plenty (+20% everything), Ancient Drill Core (+15% mining), Royal Forge Hammer (+20% refining), and Deep Core Matrix (+40% to Void Bore / Ancient Vein deposits) form a powerful economic spine. Stack them on top of stations and accommodation training.
• Expeditions. Lost Navigation Matrix (−25% stage timers), Astral Almanac (sector-wide −10% timers), Star Sovereign’s Crown (+35% rewards, +1 slot), and Graviton Lens / Void-Touched Shard (Health protection) make deep, risky expeditions faster, safer, and more profitable. Pair them with ales like Courage Ale and Deep Delver’s Ale.
• Research. Chronicler’s Signet (+20% RP) accelerates the entire research tree, including the very Ancestor Lore branch that makes your artifacts stronger.
• Discovery & expansion. Void Compass (+15% Discovery-trait chance) helps surface trait-rich asteroids — which in turn improve artifact drop rates, a virtuous loop.
• Offline & idle play. Grand Ledger (+30% offline income, +12h offline cap) rewards the idle side of this idle game.
• Endgame scaling. The Founder’s Seal is the capstone: a +50% global multiplier, extra expedition and trait slots, and a 20% amplifier on every other equipped artifact — the single strongest relic in the game, occupying its own Ancestral slot.

A typical progression #

1. Early game — find the Ancestor’s Pickaxe in Alpha/Beta and slot it on your mining squads.
2. Unlock the Reliquary via Reliquary Protocol (al_04); start equipping a global relic such as the Runestone of Plenty or Ancient Drill Core.
3. Expand slots with Ancient Cartography (al_03) for a 2nd global slot, and chase rare relics in Gamma.
4. Forge duplicates after Relic Forge (al_06) to push your best commons/rares to higher forge levels.
5. Amplify everything with Ancestor’s Blessing (al_05) and Void Memory Resonance (al_07).
6. Endgame — complete the Hall of Ancestors (al_08) to double global slots, claim the Founder’s Seal, and run a maxed legendary loadout.

Cross-References #

• Expeditions — the primary way artifacts are discovered.
• Sectors — sector tiers and traits that gate and boost drops.
• Research Tree — the Ancestor Lore branch that unlocks, expands, and amplifies the artifact system.
• Mega Projects — the Dwarf Citadel’s Hall of Ancestors addon grants the Founder’s Seal.
• Dwarves: Overview — classes, traits, and signature abilities (Relic Hunter, Void-Touched, Lucky Stars) that interact with artifacts.
• Ale & Potions — temporary buffs that stack with permanent artifact bonuses.
• Stations and Market & Trading — station and market events that can yield artifacts.
• UI Panels — the Reliquary panel.
• Glossary — term definitions.