Artifacts level from 80-159: how effective are they?

Discussion in 'War Room (Powers, Artifacts, & Builds)' started by Catastroflare, Jan 4, 2022.

  1. Catastroflare Well-Known Player

    Hello!

    As some of us know, grinding arts to at least 160 for them to really shine is always the minimum to reach. But a lot of information out there, at least what I've found, usually revolves around arts that are maxed out or are at least reached 160.
    In the meantime, how viable are arts that haven't reached that level yet but have hit at least 80, 120, 140? Are some better than others or worth using over others until the 160 milestone? I know answers will vary as it depends on your power, loadout overall build, and SPs so I'm sure the mileage will vary from one player to another.

    In my case, I'm running this for my Fire might DPS:

    Trans (160)
    Solar Amp (145)
    Strat (140)

    My loadout is:

    Meteor Strike (MS) (burning PI)
    Heat Vision
    Wildfire
    Snuff Out
    Neo-venom Boost
    Robot Sidekick
    Skill Points: 190

    Since Solar Amp isn't 160 yet it's doesn't apply the burning PI so I need to rely on MS for that. But I was thinking, since I have Grim at 140 and the void creature will apply the burning PI based on my power, wouldn't that be better overall than Strat at these levels? If so, I was thinking of swapping out MS with Spontaneous Combustion because it's definitely quicker to cast that MS and the void creature will apply the PI to it? Or am I thinking about how this works is wrong?

    Any thoughts or suggestions would definitely be appreciated!
    • Like x 1
  2. Sentiency Well-Known Player

    Grim only applies the PI to your primary target at that level. It’s much more valuable at 160. Personally, I’d keep what you have.
    • Like x 1
  3. Catastroflare Well-Known Player

    Thanks! I appreciate the reply.
  4. Yaiba Committed Player

    You can swap strat for another arts, it's not a good art, it shines at 160 and 200. If you can only get your arts to 160, then there are some decent options:
    . Tetra: a group buff, at least 10% increased in might
    . Quislet/Grim (need to be at 120): the special attack at rank 120 increases their dps by alot.
    . Amulet: a niche art, and the healing part can be uses to counter some mechanics.
  5. Pale Rage Dedicated Player

    Both previous responses are right. Strat really only shines though at 200, and when used in conjunction with trans, and with one or both of the following:
    Lots of adds, or lots of DoT's.

    Single target, strat loses to grim verum, for example.

    Suggestion: save all of your nth metal until a double event. Once you reach 160, the levels are a HUGE difference in required amount of xp.
    • Like x 2
  6. Catastroflare Well-Known Player

    Thank you all for the replies! Exactly what I was hoping for. :)
    • Like x 2
  7. DeitySupreme Steadfast Player

    This will be blunt but something to consider. You never consider artifacts with the assumption you’ll never get them to 160+. Artifacts are an investment towards your character that you will eventually want to max out or at least hit 160. Yes it’s true that some don’t fully shine until you hit the 160 breakthrough. But regardless you will want to be looking arts you’ll eventually level.

    Now, every rule does have an exception. The exception here would be alts. Most baby toons aren’t planned on having any investments made into them other than maybe getting them 3 lvl 80-120 arts. But these toons tend to run minimal content. Dailies and some solos. But in these toons you wouldn’t really be worrying about min maxing around 120 arts. With that said I’ll list some solid 120 and below arts. If you are worrying about getting them to 140 than you might as well pick arts based on what you will eventually want them to run.

    Transformation is always a solid art. Each breakthrough reduces the damage/healing penalty
    Quislet is an artifact that summons a pet to fight with you and at 120 it will do bigger attacks
    Grimorium like quislet summons an additional pet to fight with you. At 120 it does an attack that puts a PI on a single target
    Source shard will buff pets. At 120 it buffs 2 pets. For baby toons with low sp this can help since let’s scale with cr and not stats.
    Solar amp is normally wanted at 160 and over but it is often forgotten that even at 120 it does an aoe burst.
    Soul cloak helps build sc faster and breakthroughs really only make it do it’s job better
    Gemini will need to be 120 for healing to be beneficial with supercharge regen. However for dps you get the 20% stockpile at 80.


    If you want arts for alts just to make dailies go faster than these will probably be your best bet. However if you are looking for your main toon or toons that you use a lot than don’t try to pick based on 120 benefits and below. You have to be honest with yourself and see what you want out of your artifacts. These are based on what you normally run.
    • Like x 3
  8. Dogico Loyal Player

    Generally speaking 120 is fine for reg content but 160+ is recommended for elite. Also I wouldn't bother leveling arts unless you can get them to the 80/120/160/200 milestones, anything less is just a small increase in stats.
  9. Catastroflare Well-Known Player

    DeitySupreme, thank you so much for taking the time out to write this all up. There is so much helpful information here and I believe a lot of players leveling up their arts would find helpful.

    I will get mine to 160 and eventually 200 but want to do it with the least amount of RL money as possible. I did take advantage of the winter sale and bought a ton of the catalyst packs and some other things like nth detectors so I'm basically hoarding mats until the next double exp week. That said, it's gonna be tough knowing that I'm gimping my DPS and sometimes I want to just say screw it and just pay the money to max them all out. But I don't run elite content yet and am comfortable doing anything content-wise and haven't had an issues with the newest alert or raid so I'm ok that I don't give in to that temptation.
    The one thing though, more often times than not, I won't be top DPS overall on the leaderboard, but in terms of boss damage, my DPS is usually pretty close to the top DPS' who are usually running with maxed arts so I take that as a sign I'm usually doing something right for now.

    Totally makes sense!
  10. Sentiency Well-Known Player

    If you want to spend the least amount of RL money as possible, I think the best route to go would be to keep your grim and solar at 160 once you get them to that level. Not only is 200 not needed for either of those artifacts (one allows pets to be out without having the passive power being reduced and the other one has an empowered channeling effect) but it will give you the opportunity to focus more on your trans and strat card, which you *will* see greater returns on when you max them out.
    • Like x 1
  11. Max Maximus Well-Known Player

    My main character is Fire too, and I use the same artifacts: The Transformation Card (145), The Strategist Card (145) and Solar Amplifier (170). I still feel a lot of difference as I'm increasing the status of artifacts, I can't wait to get to level 200. But as explained above, the artifacts will only shine even after level 160.

    My loadout is a little different, but I think Spontaneous Combustion is a good choice for you. Meteor Strike is interesting but you lose damage if the add moves.
  12. Catastroflare Well-Known Player

    That's very helpful to know. Thanks for that!

    Yeah it's hit or miss with Meteor Strike but the knockout effect is helpful with mobs that are grouped up. Otherwise I usually roll with Spontaneous Combustion, especially when playing with others.

    What's your loadout btw?
  13. Max Maximus Well-Known Player

    I'm using in my loadout: Heat Vision, Absorb Heat, Wildfire, Snuff Out, Robot Sidekick and Neo-Venom Boost. The first three powers for AOE and I change Wildfire for Snuff Out for single target.
    • Like x 1
  14. Catastroflare Well-Known Player

    Ah, nice! When doing solo stuff like dailies and bounties I like to swap either inferno or meteor strike for spontaneous combustion and swap out neo-venom boost with absorb heat. The healing definitely comes in handy in a pinch!
    • Like x 1
  15. Catastroflare Well-Known Player

    Thanks to the bonus for this week, I was able to get my solar amp and strat to 160. ^_^

    I hoarded a lot of nth from the double nth drop week so now I'm looking at getting at least two more arts to 160. One I've been curious about is Lernaea's amulet. Since I use snuff out last in my rotation, do I need to delay it by using it every other rotation to take advantage of the damage bonus or will the health debuff kill me before then?
    • Like x 1
  16. Max Maximus Well-Known Player

    I'm investing in uploading 6 artifacts, 3 for DPS and 3 for Tank. It takes too long.
    • Like x 1
  17. Catastroflare Well-Known Player

    Yeah the grind is definitely real );
    • Like x 1
  18. Shalayah Committed Player

    You can get away with artifacts at 120 I’ll say 120 is the minimum if you’re looking to have really good burn or to be effective at your role.

    Most of my arts are 160-200 but my Solar amp is like 120 something and my single target burn is still high with it on… It would be much better at 160 but again you could get away with it at 120 if you know what you’re doing.