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Borderlands 3 Legendary Artifacts: How to unlock the Artifact slot

Dave Irwin avatar
Guide by Dave Irwin Former Guides Writer
Published on
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While playing Borderlands 3, there may have come a point where you asked yourself, "When am I going to unlock Artifacts?". Our Borderlands 3 Legendary Artifacts guide has all the answers and more, including how to get more artifacts to augment your character, and what each of the Legendary Artifacts does.

Borderlands 3 Legendary Artifacts guide

Our Borderlands 3 Legendary Artifacts guide tells you how to unlock the Artifact slot, and a bit of information about Artifacts, specifically the Legendary ones.

Borderlands 3 Legendary Artifacts guide contents

borderlands 3 cold as the grave

Unlock the Artifact slot in Borderlands 3

The reason that the Borderlands 3 Artifacts can be so confusing is because you'll unlock the class mod and final weapon slot in your inventory a long time before you unlock the Artifact slot. It's sitting there, taunting you with the contents within, like a lockbox emitting the smell of tasty treats. You want to access the goodies within, but you can't until the game says you can.

But when is that exactly? Well you'll need to play a lot of the game first. Once you finish the Chapter 16 main story mission "Cold as the Grave", you'll be able to equip Artifacts that you may have collected beforehand. Yes, the game will be giving you items you can't equip beforehand, thus making the torture more arduous. Finish the mission and you'll finally unlock the Artifact slot.

After gaining access to the Sanctuary ship, venture towards the Crew's Quarters. This is towards the rear of the ship, the opposite end of the ship to the bridge, and make sure you're on the ground floor, where you'll also find some other useful facilities such as the Quick Change booth.

Borderlands 3 characters & skill trees explained

How to get Artifacts in Borderlands 3

Now you know how to equip the Borderlands 3 Artifacts, you'll want more of them. They're obtained either in random drops from enemies, via locked chests known as Typhon Dead Drops that are  hidden throughout Borderlands 3, or by defeating the big bad bosses.

To ensure that you're on the right settings, make sure you do the following:

  • Go to the main menu.
  • Click the cogs on the top-right corner. These are the settings.
  • Under "Group Mode", select Cooperation. "Coopetition" is the classic Borderlands multiplayer where everyone can see your loot and take it if you don't grab it fast enough.
  • After selecting this, load up the game.

Once you've discovered the Lost Loot machine, you'll be able to save any items that are Blue, Purple, and Orange rarity colours. White and Green gear will not be saved, but then you probably won't want that anyway.

borderlands 3 legendary artifact

Borderlands 3 Legendary Artifacts

Now for the part you've probably been waiting for - what each of the Borderlands 3 Legendary Artifacts does. Below are all of the Legendary Artifacts that we have found so far in Borderlands 3.

  • Deathless - Reserves all but 1 health, increases shield capacity by 100%, increases shield recharge rate by 25%, and reduces shield recharge delay by 20%.
  • Otto Idol - Restores 18% of your max health after killing an enemy.
  • Victory Rush - Killing a Badass enemy triggers the Victory Rush. While active, gain 18% movement speed and 18% damage for 60 seconds.
  • Rocket Boots - Sliding launches homing rockets that deal damage.
  • Moxxi's Endowment - Increases combat XP by 8%.
  • Loaded Dice - Reduces health by 75%, but substantially increases your luck.

Borderlands 3 guide links

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