Once you have maxed out your favorite characters and weapons in Genshin Impact, you’ll probably be disappointed at how they might still underperform. Then you find out that there’s another tall mountain to climb (and to grind) in the form of Artifacts. These are often underrated and sometimes ignored stat boosts in the game since they don’t exactly have the same flash or loudness as weapons or characters.
Nevertheless, they remain an integral part of character building, as weapons and high levels can only carry a party so much. It also just so happens that upgrading Artifacts can be expensive too. Knowing which ones are worth your time and which ones are enhancement fodder should make for optimal gameplay. Here are the best and most powerful Artifact Set effects that you need to gain for maximum efficiency.
Updated May 14th, 2022, by Sid Natividad: With miHoYo adding even more artifacts and characters to Genshin Impact, it’s inevitable that this article needs a refresh. Some sets are designed for specific charactersm and tied into their release, but often you can find a use for them on older characters. As such, we’ve added even more powerful, versatile, and game-changing artifacts, for better variability in building your team and conquering content such as the Spiral Abyss.
24 Emblem Of Severed Fate
Ideal for:
It turns out that Raiden Shogun’s official artifact set is also highly viable for most Genshin Impact characters. You can get away with equipping it on Xiangling, Chongyun, or many other characters that require a constantly repeated usage of their Elemental Bursts.
This set even performs admirably well even in the Spiral Abyss. While it does force you to change up their character builds to favor Energy Recharge over other stats, it’s still for the best — the Emblem of Severed Fate set makes it so that any extra Energy Recharge is converted to damage. Moreover, characters get an abundance of energy that way.
23 Heart Of Depth
Heart of Depth is a set that was largely ignored in the past, since only Childe could use it. However, with more Hydro characters since added to the roster, they can and will benefit from this set — assuming they use Normal or Charged attacks for damage.
Ayato fares well with the Heart of Depth set, as it’s somewhat tied to his best-in-slot artifact set. Overall, most Hydro characters can’t go wrong with this if they want the DPS role, with the exception of Xingqiu. The best part is that it shares the same Domain with the Blizzard Strayer set, so no farming effort is wasted.
22 Husk Of Opulent Dreams
Surprisingly enough, certain Geo characters all yield the plentiful bounty of the Husk of Opulent Dreams artifact set: tons of defense! While it’s a defense-focused artifact set on the surface, it converts excess defense to damage, synergising well with characters who do the same.
It’s not just DPS Geo characters who can utilize this set well, but also bonafide rock star supports such as Yun Jin or Gorou. C6 Noelle becomes more monstrous with this artifact set, meaning it’s also free-to-play-friendly. All in all, this artifact set will always have a use.
21 Wanderer’s Troupe
Wanderer’s Troupe is one of the most difficult artifact sets to obtain in the game, but it’s well worth it — even if there’s a bigger need for characters that utilize Charged Attacks. Wanderer’s Troupe gives a massive boost to Charged Attacks, and also a bit of Elemental Mastery.
For lone-wolf DPS characters like Ganyu, it outshines any other options. Pair her with Elemental Reaction supports, and Wanderer’s Troupe’s damage bonus just becomes obscene. The same mechanic applies to other Charged Attack users — even those who need only the two-piece bonus will love it.
20 Shimenawa’s Reminiscence
Ideal for:
Shimenawa’s Reminiscence is an artifact set that works incredibly well for characters who don’t rely too much on their Elemental Bursts. So that means some of the top-tier DPS carries can’t really benefit much from this new set.
The two-piece bonus is a little unimaginative and isn’t much different from Gladiator’s Finale. The four-piece bonus, on the other hand, turns any character’s normal and charged attacks into multiple oncoming 18-wheeler trucks. The downside, of course, is sacrificing some Elemental Burst usage.
19 Pale Flame
The Pale Flame set came along with Genshin Impact’s most powerful physical DPS, Eula. As such, it’s the perfect artifact set for her. It not only lets Eula deal tons of physical damage but also play around with her Elemental Skill.
The two-piece bonus is identical to Bloodstained Chivalry’s. It’s a straight unconditional increase to physical damage. The four-piece bonus adds up to Eula’s physical damage even more if you intersperse Eula’s Elemental Skill with her attacks. There are also other characters that function well with this set.
18 Tenacity of the Millelith
Zhongli is still considered as one of the best support characters, right up there to Venti. He can turn any character into a tank thanks to his Jade Shield whose longevity scales off the Geo Archon’s HP. Thus, a new breed of Zhongli build has been introduced.
The Zhongli HP build became even more widespread and popular due to the arrival of the Tenacity of the Millelith. The bonuses of that artifact set are simple enough. Any wearer gets more HP than they need and the four-piece bonus also strengthens their shield.
17 Blizzard Strayer
Ganyu and Ayaka have placed themselves at the top spot of both the Cryo DPS category and the overall DPS category. It’s all thanks to their disposition for affordable amounts of Crit Rate due to the Cryo Element. More than that, the Blizzard Strayer set further augments their strength.
The Blizzard Strayer set was made for Cryo characters as is evident enough with its two-piece bonus. The four4-piece bonus is just unbelievable as it grants up to 40 percent more Crit Rate if the enemies are affected by Cryo or are Frozen. This pretty much makes both Ganyu and Ayaka unstoppable against any non-Cryo enemy.
16 Maiden Beloved
There are times when you can’t help but include a healer character in Genshin Impact. What can hurt even more than not having a healer is a healer that doesn’t do their job well. The Maiden Beloved ensures that that predicament doesn’t happen too much.
It grants a hefty healing bonus, making it perfect for anyone who doesn’t want to tinker with a healer character’s specific scaling. It just so happens that plenty of characters can benefit from this one even if it’s just for the two-piece bonus.
15 Crimson Witch Of Flames
Diluc is now a pretty common “rare” character thanks to his permanent availability in three banners. That’s why farming the Crimson Witch of Flames artifact set shouldn’t be much of a waste. This one was apparently created for him.
The two-piece bonus increases the pyro damage but the four-piece bonus turns any pyro user with a fast enough Elemental Skill into a walking firestorm. Since Diluc’s Elemental Skill is notoriously fast, he gets the full benefits of this one.
14
13 Retracing Bolide
For that one artifact set that will always be good no matter which character, look no further than Retracing Bolide. It’s a five-star artifact set that rewards clever use of the shield mechanics for the game. Since there are many characters that grant shields, then it’s easy to get the four-piece bonus for Retracing Bolide.
Retracing Bolide not only increases shield strength but also normal and charged attack damage for shielded characters. It’s great if you have Diona, Noelle, Xinyan, or any geo character in your party.
12 Viridescent Venerer
As for the most damaging debuff in the game, not much can match the power of the Viridescent Venerer. It’s made for anemo support characters since the four-piece bonus makes it so that the Swirl reaction strips enemies of 40 percent elemental resistance to the corresponding element included in the Swirl effect.
This is pretty huge and is essentially a 40 percent damage increase for any character reliant on Elemental Reactions such as Diluc, Mona, Childe, Hu Tao, or just about anyone else who uses cryo, pyro, or hydro elements. For it to be useful though, you need an anemo support which is always available in the form of the Traveler.
11 Bloodstained Chivalry
Physical DMG is one of the most underrated damage types in the game right now but come characters like Eula who seem to focus on physical outputs, artifact sets like Bloodstained Chivalry might see a popularity spike.
That’s because Bloodstained Chivalry gives significant boosts to Physical DMG. In most instances, the two-piece bonus is usually enough, especially when paired with a two-piece Gladiator’s Finale. The four-piece bonus might require more specialization for your character.
10 Scholar
Genshin Impact’s characters work best when they’re able to utilize their flavorful Elemental abilities, especially the powerful Elemental Bursts. For that, Energy is an important resource to manage, and no other Artifacts other than those containing the Scholar Set bonus are viable.
The Scholar Set Artifacts grant a bonus of +20 percent Energy Recharge if two pieces are equipped. That’s usually what makes it desirable since the four-piece bonus gives a mere party-wide Energy regeneration but only for Catalyst or Bow users, making it a pure support Artifact.
9 Martial Artist
The Martial Artist Artifact Set is all about dealing damage consistently, particularly physical attack damage. It’s applicable to all classes and the two-piece bonus is quite valuable since it’s a flat and permanent 15 percent increase to normal attack damage and charge attack damage.
Meanwhile, the four-piece bonus gives emphasis to the Elemental Skill as each use of that grants another 25 percent normal and charge attack damage boost though this only lasts for eight seconds and doesn’t stack. Even so, it’s a good alternative to the best DPS Artifact Set in the game.
8 Gambler
Gambler shifts the focus of character usage from normal attacks to Elemental Skill. It’s perfect for anyone wanting to spam their character’s skill over and over again as the two-piece bonus gives out a 20 percent increase to Elemental Skill damage.
What makes the Elemental Skill “spammable” however, is the four-piece bonus which is a flat 100 percent chance to remove the Elemental Skill cooldown whenever an enemy is killed. That allows the characters to chain those lovely skills up to twice because there is a 15-second cooldown for the four-piece bonus.
7 Instructor
Unbeknownst to a lot of players in Genshin Impact, dealing consecutive elemental reactions is the best way to erase an enemy from existence. That’s why increasing elemental reaction damage using Elemental Mastery can be valuable. For that, the Instructor Set reigns supreme.
It adds 80 to the Elemental Mastery of the character who wears two pieces of these Artifacts. Add two more to that character and it becomes a party-wide 120 Elemental Mastery boost. Imagine having all party members wear the same set.
6 Resolution Of Sojourner
For another alternative to the current best DPS Artifact Set in the game, Resolution of Sojourner might be a good one to consider. It comes from four-star Artifacts and gives an 18 percent attack damage boost for any attack if two pieces are equipped.
That automatically makes it more valuable than Martial Artist. Although, the four-piece bonus for Resolution of Sojourner isn’t really that exciting since it only gives out a 30 percent increase to charge attack Crit rates. Not many people prefer using those since they can leave the characters vulnerable.
5 Brave Heart
Brave Heart is another good substitute for pure DPS builds as its two-piece bonus is the same as Resolution of Sojourner, giving an 18% attack boost regardless of the damage type. Some might prefer going full four-piece on this one though.
That’s because Brave Heart’s full set bonus is a lovely conditional 30 percent damage increase against any enemy whose HP is above 50 percent. It’s perfect for characters who have tremendous burst damage capabilities and can one-shot packs of enemies.
