Artifact

"The blooming of The Great Tree of Eyos did not bestow magic upon just the inhabitants of the continents. Many aspects of the very world itself- from stone to wood to the very air itself- was infused with these very same energies. Great metalworkers artificers, magi, thaumaturges, and general craftsmen were able to further enhance these aspects, creating great objects of wonderment, varying from innocuous household objects to magnificent artistic sculpture to, of course, immortal weapons of unspeakable power."

"They say that important people come and go, but a good name is forever. Well, a great artifact may last for just a bit longer."

Artifacts are the primary method of enhancing your general. These items offer a variety of boosts to their general: Many of them boost their owner's attack (Sunstone Bracers), while others may have additional powerful effects (Arclyte Regalia).

Artifact Mechanics

 * When an artifact is played, it is equipped to your current general.
 * You are limited to three artifacts at one time. Playing any more will discard your oldest artifact from play and equip the card you played.
 * Your general may still move and attack on the turn you play an artifact.
 * Each artifact has a maximum of three durability at once. Whenever your general takes any amount of damage from any source, your artifacts lose one durability. They are discarded once they have zero durability.
 * The effects of artifacts persist during your opponent's turn. This means that during your opponent's turn, they can still be destroyed, but you will also keep any attack boosts or effects that they give you until they are.
 * Artifacts, like spells, are faction-exclusive. This means that they can be generated by cards that generate faction cards, such as Sworn Sister L'Kian. However, Grincher can add artifacts from other factions to your hand.
 * Artifacts trigger their effect in the order they are equipped. For example, killing a minion while equipped with Thunderclap and Spinecleaver (in that order) may result in Thunderclap summoning a minion on the space where the Bloodfire Totem should be, preventing it from spawning. If you equip Spinecleaver first the Bloodfire Totem will always be summoned before the minion, preventing the above situation from happening.
 * Similarly if you equip Iceshatter Gauntlet and then Winterblade you will get the same results attacking a non stunned minion as if you had only Winterblade equipped. Whereas if you equip Winterblade and then Iceshatter Gauntlet you will always destroy any minion you attack (although you will get counterattacked unless the minion was stunned prior to your attack).

Strategy

 * Unless you can get the effect of an artifact to proc during your turn by attacking or need the attack bonus to kill a threatening enemy minion, you shouldn't equip an artifact until after attacking with your General. This saves durability in case you take unexpected damage next turn.
 * It is important to pay attention to what activates the effect of your artifact. An artifact that states "when your general attacks a minion..." will not activate on counterattacks, as opposed to "whenever your general deals damage..." effects.