Ranking artifacts

Again, criteria used:

-Game impact: how easy would the game be if you have those artifacts. Most important factor to consider. Includes availabilty and content in the game it is useful. 5 points

- Usefulness with or wihout upgrades: how good is the upgrade even without upgrades. Most of them require upgrades, so it's just a bonus for those who don't need them. Bonus point.
-Cost: the dreaded cost. The importace of something is not necessarily it's price, but rather what it costs us. 2 points
-stats: Stats can make up for a lackluster active, or make it better.2 points 
-Active: how good the active is. 3 points

Total of 12 points. 

Disclaimer: again, this does not mean the lowest ranking artifact is bad. It just means the others aren't as good as Gungir . All artifacts are great, just that some are greater. Some just have a really high cost, not best stat spread, alright passive, etc. Some comments are also not suited for younger readers .

Here's the ranking for those who only want to see it without the explanations:

1.Gungir(5+0+2+2+3=12)

2.Bottle of life(5+0+1+2+3=11)

3. Mystletainn(4.5+0+1+2+3=10.5)

4.Aegis(3+1+1.5+2+3=10.5)

5.Thunder(2+1+1.5+2+2=8.5)
6.Golden Mask(3+0+0+2+3=8)

7. Energy ring(2+0+0+2+3=7)

6.Kusanagi no Tsurugi(2+0+1+1+2=6)



Alright, the explanation:

1. Gungir:

The undisputed best Artifact. If Gungir was a human being, it would be that 6 foot 5 inch tall Norwegian model that's smart, charismatic, kind and has that darker side in bed. Basically perfect. For the guys, i dunno, just think of the woman equivalent of that. The first artifact you can get(if you don't buy the I.A.P ones). Pretty cheap to upgrade, great offensive stats,and most importantly,that active. 400% damage to target and 3 additional targets. If you haven't seen what a Thanos snap in EW5 is,it's Washington with Gungir ready, with 4 active archer comms closeby. Infantry comms can probably get a higher number as they can field in 5 comms. If you want to distract an enemy mythological enemy, just shout "Gungir!". They'll be having flashbacks like how Confederates would have flashbacks if you shout the word "Sherman!". Basically, the perfect offensive artifact. First artifact you should get to max even with Bottle of life.

2. Bottle of life

If Gungir is the perfect partner,then Gungir is the perfect parent. Always supportive, makes sure those scary enemy soldiers won't kill you or your friends, and makes sure you can hit them in kind. Definitely the most important early to mid game artifact. In late game, Gungir surpasses it as it becomes more of a damage check rather than survival , but still, it pretty much invalidates a lot of the early game difficulty. It doesn't invalidate Caesar's heals however,in fact, it helps him as you can split your team effectively and not care about enemy fire too much. Best I.A.P purchase by far. Only reason it's lower than Gungir aside from late game is it being an I.A.P item.

3. Mystletainn

If you play conquest like me, then this is definitely a good artifact. Being a runner up is better than being the last. That said, what makes it good is that it hits all enemies around the target, so that's great. Stats are also good, and it gives a higher attack than Gungir. 100 health regen is great early to midgame, and workable in late game. Second artifact you get if you don't buy I.A.P generals or the medal artifacts. Definitely max this second or third depending on I.A.P purchase. Sounds disappointing compared to the first 2, but i'll say that this artifact does deliver results. Taking down loki is a pain tho, but it's worth it.


4. Aegis

-The surprise runner-up. It's like that surprise unwanted pregnancy you get even after you and your partner used contraceptives and it was only a one night stand. Or syphilis. For the younger readers, just think of a surprise quiz. That said, i was quite surprised with Aegis myself. Getting it is the hard part. You need a decent 8 man industrial age team to beat the mission needed to get it. Stats are good. Needs some evasion to make it top tier. What makes it great is that active: 70% damage reduction for 3 turns. That's a lot of damage reduction. It's also impactful later on in harder game content, as enemies start to hit harder, and gungir can't be everywhere at once. One thing to consider as well is that you can give it to comm generals, specifically cavalry comm generals(Attila or Edward specifically,Asoka and Suri also good), as the 3 turn duration means in ai battles, they can proc aegis, kill a bunch of units, then activate their comms. Infatry generals like Alexander and Julius also makes great use of it. You get it at the perfect time when you really need it. Don't need to max it, you can leave it at 1 and it will be useful, but level 6 and 10 is where it's at.

5. Thunder

I can make a thunderstruck reference here, but i won't. Similar to Aegis in that it doesn't need any levels to be useful. It costs a bit more to upgrade compared to Gungir or Mystletainn. The stats are great for offensive generals. The passive is also great: a guaranteed petrification for 1 turn is really useful in any stage of the game(except against mythical bosses). You can use this either exclusively for the active, or for the stats. If the active,just give it to an artillery gen. If for stats, then any offensive general. Shout out to Alexander, as he probably is the best user of this item in general: he appreciates the offensive stats, and he can effectively use the passive thanks to his rage regen+initial rage. Give him a 2 piece paladin set, and just watch him shut down annoying generals for a while.

6. Golden Mask

Don't judge a book by it's cover. Just because it's in the middle(or lower half) means it's bad. The best comparison for Golden Mask i can think of is General Grant: middle of the pack in terms of grades in college, but in the field, oh boy is he a monster. The only reason Golden mask is this low is because of that 6000 medal cost. Unless you're buying medals, you won't be seeing this item until the very end game. You might even finish the game 100% without buying this item. But if you do, and if you max it out, your general gets a really massive performance boost. 50% chance to lower enemy moale when getting damaged is really good, unless of course you face inspiration generals and generals immune to bugle, which is few and far between. The stats it gives is also impreesive: 120 armor,300 hp and 130 hp regen. Couple with the active, your general will be living for a while. Buying this item and energy ring is a pyrrhic victory tho: yeah you got a massive performance boost, but at what cost?

That said, 9 days of saving up medals isn't too bad, and it's a good purchase after you maxed out all the important skills of your key generals. But if you want to beat the game with the least amount of resources usee, then this item is practically useless.

7. Energy ring

Honestly, this item is great. Only problem i have is that you need to get hit and damaged for it to activate. And it gives you evasion. Which is weird. 900 hit is also weird. Not bad, great actually. Just weird. The stat spread of this item is just weird in general. The 120 armor is Great for what the active wants to do. And the active is great. Honestly, in some situations, Energy ring is better than Golden Mask, and in some situations, it can be the third best artifact. But consistently,along with the weird stat spread , condition of getting morale up, and high cost makes it my second to the last artifact. If it negated the effects of leadership, and/or gave a higher defense and health regen rather than evasion, then it would definitey be much higher despite the cost. 900 hit makes up for it tho, as your enemies will definitely find it hard to avoid your hits. Great artifact for archer general. Comm generals also love this artifact. Just give it to Nelson if you can't decide, or Attila, or any general really. 

8. Kusanagi no Tsurugi

Ah grasscutter. Last place in my list. Doesn't mean it's bad. As the saying goes: " What do you call a student who graduates last place in med school? A doctor." Same applies to this artifact. It's not as impactful as Bottle of life and it costs more. Stats given isn't the best, and although the active is good, the cost doesn't really justify it. 25% heal based on damage is good, but later on, enemy general give attack debuffs like it's Christmas(edit: this is false. It heals based on max health i'm pretty sure. Still, the criticism still holds.) It doesn't have the same highs as energy ring, or consistency of Aegis. Still good, as there's no bad artifacts. Just give it to your artillery general if you can't find a general to give it to. 


So there's my list. Also, if you find my increasing use of inappropriate comparisons bothersome, then you can say so, so i can remove them. I have my darker comparisons waiting in line.  If that too is inappropriate, i can go back to switching from light hearted, serious, and sarcastic remarks.