AFK Arena Artifacts Guide

by SilentBobUS

It looks like Lilith is adding new class specific artifacts. So far I’m very bullish on the new Waistband of Resilience. It looks like a more aggressive version of the Chalice of Vitality, with stronger base stats, and the potential for shields and damage. It looks like it should be swapped in for Chalice of Vitality on any Tank hero with their own CC effects, and on any teams with a lot of CC effects. It feels like it is going to be insane on tanks like Gorvo whose whole kit is built around CC.

Looks like there is a new class specific artifact on the block, Carnage. It certainly seems interesting, since it seems like the opposite of a win-more (win-less?) in that it will help you more in situations where you might already be struggling. Based on the stat gains, it seems like it would be best on heroes with strong normal attacks, and on frontline heroes that need the life leech to survive. However, I’m not bullish on it, since it is in direct competition with Chaos, and I don’t see it outperforming Chaos after the first Ult, and certainly not after the second.

Dura’s Artifacts

Class Specific Artifacts

Class Specific Star Priority

Since the Windbinder has the most heroes that consider it their number one artifact, and because raising it from 3 stars to 4 and 5 stars yields the best stat gains out of all of the class specific artifacts, it seems like an obvious candidate for the first class specific artifact to push above 3 stars.

After that Chaos or Waistband would be next, both have a large number of heroes that count it their best artifact, and both give solid stat gains for pushing it above 3 stars. I think which one to pick will probably come down to which hero class you use the most often.

Next is the Shroud which seems extremely good on a few heroes, and raises crit which is a very strong stat. After that I’d say Tidebearer, since it doesn’t go down in utility like the Call and is used by a lot of the heroes that are in the same formation with Calls.

Next is The Barricade, since only a few heroes can really use it well, and it isn’t a lot better than their next best artifact. Last is Carnage, since it is in direct competition, but appears to be worse in most situations compared to Chaos. Since the Carnage ability can only activate 8 seconds every 18, the best case scenario is that it gives an average of 9 haste and 18 life leech. (Carnage is new, so its assessment is still evolving)

General Artifact Equip Priority By Class

Artifact Equip Priority By Hero

Please note that these priorities are based on 5 star Dura artifacts and 4 star class specific artifacts. Prior to 5 starring the Eye, Blade comes out ahead of it for most Warriors.

Eye v Blade Comparison

As someone mentioned in the comments below, Eye v Blade for heroes with low crit rates (which includes all heroes with heavy armor) isn’t so clear cut. Here is a chart that outlines the comparison for Saurus, who is a good representative hero for all heroes with heavy armor:

From this we see that it only takes 24 seconds for the Blade’s DPS to exceed the DPS for Eye on Saurus, and thus it would only require Saurus(Blade) to last for 45 seconds to out-damage Saurus(Eye). However, the real comparison isn’t so clean cut, because there is a chance that before 45 seconds, Saurus(Eye) may have been able to assist in a kill because of the extra damage, or save himself due to the extra damage converted to HP via life leech. In either of these situations Saurus(Eye) would have significantly out-performed Saurus(Blade). I think a general rule would be Eye > Blade except for fights that you know will last past 45 seconds where you know that the number of heroes surviving on either side would not change in the first 45 seconds based on whether you used the Eye or the Blade. Which is likely true for most boss fights.

I used Lyca and Safiya as my comparisons for Medium and Light Armored units, and for both of those it was clean cut. It took 48 and 57 seconds respectively for Blade to outperform Eye. Since both are over 45 seconds, Eye is always better. Please note that in all of these comparisons, we are looking at a 5 star Eye vs a 5 Star Blade. For units that already have a high Crit rating, a lot of the utility in Eye comes from the 30% crit damage boost and the more consistent speed boost.