Artefacts are powerful items created by the ancient Natars. Once activated, they provide strong advantages such as reduced crop consumption or increased troop speed. This article explains how artefacts work, when they appear, how they are captured and activated, and which limitations apply.
Artefacts grant special effects to the village that activates them. The exact effect depends on the artefact type, while the strength and scope of the effect depend on its size:
Small artefacts – affect a single village
Large artefacts – affect all villages in an account
Unique artefacts – very strong effects with account-wide impact
A full list of possible effects is available in the Artefact Effects article.
On regular game worlds, artefacts appear during the mid-game phase.
Artefacts spawn in special Natar villages
They are inactive while owned by Natars
Natars do not receive artefact effects
Construction Plans are a special case and are stored in a Treasury level 10, while all other artefacts are stored in Treasury level 20.
Artefacts in Natar villages are usually heavily defended.
Natar defence strength differs from server to server
Defence values are based on the top 100 offensive armies of the game world
Villages holding an artefact will not disappear from the map, even if all buildings are destroyed. This protection only ends once the artefact is moved or captured.
Before attempting to capture an artefact, you must prepare a suitable treasury:
Treasury level 10 is required for small artefacts
Treasury level 20 is required for large or unique artefacts
The treasury must be empty and completed before the attack lands.
There are two possible ways to capture an artefact:
Send an attack (not a raid) on the village holding the artefact
Your hero must be part of the attacking army
The treasury in the target village must be destroyed
You must win the battle
The hero can carry artefacts without limit.
Conquer the village that contains the artefact
The artefact transfers together with the village
Both methods require meeting the treasury requirements in advance.
After an artefact is captured, it does not activate immediately. An activation period applies:
1x server: 24 hours
2x server: 16 hours
3x server: 12 hours
5x server: 8 hours
10x server: 4 hours
Once an artefact has completed its activation period, it will not require reactivation again, even if it is temporarily disabled due to artefact limitations.
On some special servers (such as Annual Specials like Path to Pandora):
Artefacts do not exist
Regions instead provide Ancient Powers with similar effects
These mechanics follow different rules and are explained separately.
Artefacts are subject to limitations that affect:
How many artefacts can be active
Which artefacts can be activated at the same time
How effects interact
