Artifacts

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.