Your artifact is the weapon of your specialization for the whole of Legion. There is one per spec, it levels up along with you and it replaces ordinary weapons until the end of the expansion.
How to get it
- At level 98 the call to your class order hall arrives — a short chain with a scenario, and the weapon is handed to you at the end.
- The artifacts for your other specializations are picked up in the same place starting at level 102, with a separate quest for each one.
- Appearances and tints unlock for the whole character: meet the requirement once and every spec gets the credit.
Artifact Power
Artifact Power (AP) goes into whichever weapon you have equipped at that moment. Every new level costs more than the last, so your second artifact levels noticeably slower than the first.
| Source | What it gives |
|---|---|
| World Quests | The main stream of AP, especially on Argus and in Suramar |
| Emissaries | One big power item in the cache |
| Dungeons and Mythic+ | From bosses and from the weekly chest |
| Raids | Big items from every boss, on all difficulties |
| Invasion points on Argus | A cache for the greater invasion point once a week |
| Order hall missions | Champion missions, ticking along in the background |
| Rare mobs and chests | Small items, but there are plenty of them |
Artifact Knowledge
- Your knowledge rank multiplies all the Artifact Power you receive. The cap is rank 55.
- Since patch 7.3 you no longer order knowledge from the researcher in your order hall: the rank goes up automatically, once a week, on every character on the account.
- At high ranks the multiplier is measured in millions of percent. That is exactly why on 7.3.5 the artifact levels in batches rather than over months, and catching up on an alt is no trouble at all.
Traits and respeccing
- Points go into the traits on the tree: the basic ones first, then the "gold" traits and the boosts.
- Once every trait is maxed out, the endless Concordance of the Legionfall opens up — its ranks can be levelled forever, each one costing more than the last.
- You can reset the tree at the artifact forge in your class order hall.
On 7.3.5 respeccing is almost never needed: there is so much power around that every trait gets filled in anyway. Do not waste time on the "optimal order" — take the boosts for your main ability first and keep levelling.
Relics
- The artifact has three slots for relics of strictly defined types (Fire, Iron, Blood, Shadow, Holy, Life and others — every weapon has its own set).
- A relic raises the item level of the entire artifact and gives +1 rank to a specific trait.
- They drop from dungeons, raids, World Quests and reputation rewards.
- Do not pick blindly by item level: +1 to a strong trait is often worth more than a couple of points of item level.