The Netherlight Crucible is a system from patch 7.3 that gives each of your artifact's three relics its own small tree of traits.
Where it is and how to unlock it
- It stands on the lower deck of the Vindicaar — the base ship on Argus.
- It unlocks through the Argus campaign: you need to reach chapter five and complete the quest An Offering of Shadow.
- The unlock is one-time and account-wide. On alts the Crucible is available right away.
The three rows of traits
Every relic you socket gets its own set of three rows. The sets are random — two identical relics can offer different options.
| Row | What it gives | When it unlocks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 — Netherlight Fortification | +5 item levels on the artifact for each relic, with no choice to make | Right away |
| 2 — Light or Shadow | A choice between two traits: the left branch is Shadow, the right branch is Light | Artifact level 60 / 63 / 66 for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd relic |
| 3 — Empowerment | One of three random traits (the relic's own trait never shows up among them) | Artifact level 69 / 72 / 75 |
All three relics together give +15 artifact item levels from the first row alone — that on its own makes the Crucible worth unlocking on your very first trip to Argus.
Light and Shadow
- Shadow means damage traits: periodic bursts, extra damage on the target, stronger burst.
- Light means survivability and support traits: healing, shields, health restored when you deal damage.
- Tanks and heavy progression usually lean toward Light, a pure DPS race toward Shadow. The specific powers differ from class to class, so read the trait tooltip in the Crucible itself.
- The legendary ring Insignia of the Grand Army strengthens the Crucible's Light and Shadow effects by 50%.
The main rule of the Crucible: the choice is tied to the relic itself, not to the slot. The path you pick once cannot be changed — you can only throw the relic out and socket a different one.
Is it worth re-picking relics
- Count item level and the rank of the relic's own trait first — that is still the relic's main contribution.
- Trading a good relic for one 5–10 ilvl lower for the sake of a nice Crucible trait is usually not worth it.
- At equal ilvl, though, take the one with the better third row.
- Remember: a new relic starts from scratch, and it will open rows 2 and 3 immediately if your artifact level is already above 75.
- The Crucible also works with old relics that had been sitting in your bags since before 7.3 — there is no need to farm them again on purpose.
- Your second specialization's artifact has its own relics and its own Crucible choices: those have to be set up separately.