The Hidden Ones Artifact Guide: Best Artifacts per Role

What artifacts are, and what they are not

Artifacts are equipment. They sit in a separate slot from the Doppelganger Loadout, which is the four-point in-match support layer. A doppelganger is a button you press; an artifact is a passive rule that changes the value of the buttons you already have. Because both appear in the same build guides, new players often treat them as one system and spend on the wrong one.

The distinction matters for planning. Doppelganger points are spent per match and reset every fight. Artifacts are permanent build decisions that follow the character into every mode. Final-test loadouts list three artifacts, so the practical model is one offensive engine, one enabler, and one flex answer. That is why the same character can have a PvE line, a PvP line, and a survival line without changing doppelgangers at all.

Artifacts are not inscriptions: inscriptions are the stat layer, artifacts the rule layer. The gear and progression guide covers that split.

Every named artifact

The table below covers every artifact named in the final-test data. "Best user" means the kit that triggers the effect most reliably, not an exclusive lock. An artifact can work on anyone; it is simply worth more on the character whose rotation feeds it.

Two caveats: the Chentu Bailian picks assume the tower's pacing, and the bead set is Yuan Tao's own kit. Neither is a sensible first purchase.

The core package: Mountain Ghost Coin + Ever-Pure

Mountain Ghost Coin is the engine. When one of your skills hits, your basic attacks gain a large damage boost for 8 seconds. Ever-Pure then raises the basic multiplier further, which is why the two are always named together. The point is not that either item is strong in isolation; it is that they turn a skill hit into a permission slip for a much harder normal-attack sequence.

The order is the whole trick. Open with a skill, then spend the window on basics. If you open with basics and press the skill afterward, you have paid the setup cost after the damage. On Zhang Chulan, a short skill such as Palm Thunder starts the window cleanly, then the basic string and its cancels do the work. On Feng Baobao, the multi-hit strings keep the window busy, which is also why the Coin suits her so well. This is a timing rule, not a flat damage trinket.

Foe-Warding Helm is the default third slot because it gives a damage bonus while you have not been hit. In a clean PvE run it costs no input and stacks with the basic package, so it is the highest-value third piece for a player who is already avoiding damage. It is not mandatory. If you keep getting clipped, its uptime collapses; that is the moment to swap it for Pager or Level Path. Calling it "the third slot" means it is the best default, not the only answer.

Sustain: Pager, Sorrow-Forgotten Pot and the Gourd

The sustain trio solves three different problems, and they are often confused because all three appear in "safe" loadouts.

• Pager heals through basic attacks after an ultimate hits. It converts the post-ultimate window into recovery without stopping your damage. It is the right pick for Zhang Chulan PvE when you expect to trade, and for Feng Baobao in PvP.
• Sorrow-Forgotten Pot restores a large amount of qi when an ultimate hits. That is a resource fix, not a health fix: it funds the next skill cycle. Zhang Chulan's PvP line runs Mountain Ghost Coin, Sorrow-Forgotten Pot and Eight-Treasure Gourd for exactly this reason.
• Eight-Treasure Gourd restores stamina every 20 accumulated hits. Feng Baobao triggers it faster than anyone because her strings are long; it is the default survival artifact for long fights and for Chentu Bailian.

Pager plus Pot plus Gourd is the Chentu Bailian survival package; use it to reach a higher floor, not to set a clear time. And because the Coin needs basic hits, a full sustain loadout gives up the basic package; that is the trade.

Cooldown loops and spacing

Level Path is the artifact for players who already cancel. Each cancel reduces a normal-skill cooldown, so a tight cancel loop keeps skills available and keeps Mountain Ghost Coin's 8-second window reopening. Wang Ye is the clearest example: his fourth basic attack launches and breaks the loop, so the correct pattern is three basics and a cancel before the fourth. Level Path turns that habit into cooldown pressure. On Zhang Chulan PvE it is the "more comfortable" alternative to Foe-Warding Helm. If you never cancel, it does nothing.

Tortoise Shell Disc is Wang Ye's graduation artifact. It expands his skill range and adds group control damage, which is the difference between a formation that covers a lane and one that covers the fight. Cloud-Pattern Pendant is the natural partner: it raises movement speed after a skill, so the long recovery on his formations becomes a repositioning step instead of a dead pause. The Pendant is a spacing tool rather than a damage slot, which is why it shows up on other short-range kits that need to re-enter after casting.

Do not read that pair as a universal recommendation. Wang Ye's artifacts are shaped by his formations; a basic-attack character gets more from the Coin package than from either control piece. The Wang Ye guide covers the formation order and the 3A cancel in detail.

Autumn Water Shear and the ultimate plan

Autumn Water Shear increases what your ultimate returns. In Chentu Bailian it anchors ultimate builds, and Zhuge Qing is the clearest user: his sequence feeds a large ultimate, and the Shear raises the payoff of that single moment. The Zhuge Qing guide covers the Wind Rope and fire setup that makes the ultimate worth building around.

The choice is a plan choice, not an upgrade choice. If your route is "survive to the ultimate", the Shear is core. If your route is basic attacks and cancels, it is a wasted slot. Do not buy it because it sounds like a damage item; buy it because your clear depends on one button.

The Chentu Bailian set

Chentu Bailian has its own artifact priorities because the tower rewards speed, loop density and floor survival rather than sustained boss damage. The four named picks are:

• Skateboard provides mobility. With Zhuge Qing it is part of the "wheelchair" core, the tower line that keeps him moving while his skills cycle.
• Oil Pot supports combo loops. Skateboard plus Oil Pot is the named Zhuge Qing pairing; neither piece is meant to be judged alone.
• Flowing Shadow Ember spends stamina to stack 32% normal-skill damage. It is a speedrun pick for the main DPS who is already spending stamina, not for a support who never presses.
• Light-Keeping Bracelet Core is the stage 11 buff. Wang Ye is the preferred clear pick for that station because he handles the ranged enemies before the melee ones.

These are mode picks: a raid group that carries them into Train No.7 will usually find the trigger missing. Treat them as a separate loadout.

Yuan Tao's bead set

Nine Dragon Sons is Yuan Tao's bead set, built from Pulao, Chaofeng, Baxia and Yazi. His refiner randomly draws or strengthens a bead, so there is no fixed combo sheet. The useful rules are:

• Pulao into a cancel into Chaofeng is the common no-buff line. It is the sequence to learn first.
• Prioritize beads with speed or risk effects. When nothing good is available, use whatever the refiner gave you and keep the pressure up.
• Baxia and Yazi are poor combo starters. They are better used to bait guard and convert the response into a throw.
• Bead release has a long startup, so after a knockdown press the bead immediately to connect the ground hit.

If you do not play Yuan Tao, this set is not a general-purpose package. The resources are better spent on the Coin and Ever-Pure pair that works on both day-one carries.

The first artifact to chase

Chase Mountain Ghost Coin first. It is the engine of the basic-attack package, it works on Zhang Chulan and Feng Baobao, and it keeps working in PvE and PvP. Ever-Pure is the second purchase because it multiplies the same window. Only after those two should you chase a third slot: Foe-Warding Helm for clean PvE, Pager if you trade, Sorrow-Forgotten Pot for PvP qi cycling, or Level Path if you already cancel.

Do not start with the Chentu Bailian or Yuan Tao sets. They are mode- or character-specific and will sit unused. A cheap purple pair with the right substats beats an orphaned orange piece. The Zhang Chulan and Feng Baobao builds show the package in a full rotation.

Loadout recipes by role

Decide the package before you spend. A flex slot that never triggers is worse than a modest slot that does. The doppelganger guide explains the other half of the loadout, and the Train No.7 guide shows which effects survive a real boss fight.