Our fifth Early Access roadmap article delves into artifacts, one of Rend’s most unique features. Inspired by the mythical treasures of the gods from ancient Norse myths, these mighty items can shift the balance of power in a saga. Read on for an introduction to how artifacts change the core Rend experience, examples of artifacts weapons and equipment, and most importantly how to claim them for yourself in-game!
WIELD THE TREASURES OF THE GODS
Survival is the essence of Rend where every fallen tree branch or shard of flint can mean the difference between suffering through a bitterly cold night or the rudimentary shelter of a campfire. In this unforgiving world where weapons and armors are crafted from what a player can find, encountering a magical gift sent from Valhalla is a literal game-changer.
Our goal with artifacts is to introduce new and exciting rewards for players to covet and seek out. With certain artifact abilities rivaling some of the skills and spells of the game’s archetypes, these powerful items are designed to change up the way that the Rend community thinks about playing the game. Many artifacts are also directly inspired by the epic poems of Norse, the very mythology that the fantasy world of Rend was built upon.
Learn about Rend’s new Warehouse and Armory in our Streamlined Storage roadmap article!
HOW TO ACQUIRE ARTIFACTS
There are three ways to get your hands on artifacts in Rend.
- Boon of the Gods: These celestial chests are earned just by playing the game normally through PvE and PvP activities such as combat, gathering, crafting, research, and so on. They appear in the world marked with the target player’s name and can only be opened by that player.
- World Exploration: Artifacts can be found in the world of Rend by exploring its biomes and Spirit Realm. Glowing treasure caches, accessible by everyone, will often contain them. However, be ready to confront other treasure seekers!
- Brute Force: Beyond their enhanced power, artifacts function much like any other piece of equipment in that they are not soulbound and do drop on death. Brandishing an artifact will imbue a player with the strength of the gods but will also make them a tempting target for their foes.
KNOW YOUR ARTIFACTS
Artifacts come in all shapes and sizes, ranging the gamut from armors, weapons, tools, and more. There are even special consumable artifacts that grant Ascension Points. We’ve also added a new item type called relics which can be equipped to passively apply special buffs. We're going to continue adding a variety of new artifacts in future game updates.
Catch up on all of the game changes introduced with Patch 7!
There are two rarity categories that these items fall into: artifacts and mythic artifacts. Artifacts have orange icon borders and provide bonuses that exceed the norm for items of their level (or often of any level!). Meanwhile, the rarer mythic artifacts have red icon borders and are inherently significant to the world of Rend, indicated by their godly powers.
- Sample Artifacts [list]
- Njord’s Vessel: This special waterskin constantly refills itself.
- Dain's Odd Boots: These boots grant higher jump height at the cost of sprint speed.
- Sindri's Burden: This armor grants immense bonus carrying capacity.
- Mjolnir: Once the possession of Thor himself, this hammer has both a powerful melee attack and a devastating ranged attack.
- Tyr's Hand: This petrified hand is all that remains of Tyr, empowering your unarmed attacks to deal massive damage.
- Crystalline Edge: A fragile weapon of the gods that can slay in a single hit but shatters on use.
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Artifacts may move between these two tiers as we iterate on them. We’re also exploring whether to make certain artifacts be unique per server, increasing their desirability and the prestige one gains in wielding them.
CLAIM THE GODS’ TREASURES AS YOUR OWN
Patch 7 now live and the first batch of artifacts can be found in Rend. Read the full (long!) patch notes for this update to learn about the many changes from our Early Access roadmap that have been introduced.
Best of luck in your artifact hunt and be sure to share screenshots of the treasures you find!
https://www.rendgame.com/news/article/rend-roadmap-introducing-artifacts
