Artifacts

Olden Era launched in Early Access with 148 artifacts in four rarities (common, rare, epic and legendary), several of them in sets. The Oct 15, 2026 public beta adds 15 more, among them 12 two-stat items, Elven Blade, Ripe Apple and Diplomat's Robe, and the Oct 21 beta adds the Orb of Poison.

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era launched in Early Access with 148 artifacts, more than Heroes of Might and Magic 3's 125 by Unfrozen's own comparison, in four rarities: common, rare, epic and legendary. Heroes wear them in slots such as main weapon, off-hand, helmet, armor, cloak, belt, ring and boots, and some belong to sets whose bonuses grow as you collect more pieces. Unfrozen's plan from the start was to "keep the classic system but add flexible sets to experiment with" (Designing a Heroes Game, Aug 29, 2024). The public beta of Oct 15, 2026 adds 15 artifacts and the beta of Oct 21 one more, the Orb of Poison, on the beta branch only so far.

A starry blue screen. On the left, a hero panel with a gaunt crowned portrait, stats, an equipment silhouette and an empty inventory grid. On the right, three tall cards each show a glowing artifact (a ring, a cloak and a purple orb) with its name, rarity and effect. A progress line along the bottom runs from Hero through Artifacts to Finalize Everything, with a timer at the top. — The Arena's "Choose Artifacts" step for the hero King-of-Kings, offering Chain Link (Epic Ring), Iridescent Cloak (Epic Armor) and Orb of Twilight (Epic Item), with 3 of 7 artifacts picked, in an image from Unfrozen's Steam announcement "Devlog #5: Game Modes pt.2: Arena" (Nov 22, 2024). Unfrozen

Quick facts

At Early Access	148 artifacts (Heroes 3: 125, Heroes 7: 153, per Unfrozen's table)
Rarities	Common, rare, epic, legendary
Sets named	Living Arrows, Ambassador's Word, Hero of Tales, Ethereal Knowledge
Added in the beta	15 on Oct 15, 2026, and the Orb of Poison on Oct 21, 2026
Duplicates	Identical artifacts can no longer be worn together (beta)

How artifacts work

Heroes find artifacts on the adventure map, in sites such as the guarded "Tomb of a Nameless Hero", the "Crow Nest" and the campaign's "Twilight Bloom", and buy and sell them at the "Artefact Merchant" (Patch #3; Patch #11; Patch #13; beta notes). Templates of the Random Map Generator control which artifacts appear, and Unfrozen tunes the number of artifacts and the value of legendary ones template by template (Patch #1, May 1, 2026).

A few rules from the patch notes:

Sets. Set pieces are highlighted in the hero inventory and on the city screen (Patch #11). In the beta, set bonuses need more pieces than before (3 and 5 for Living Arrows instead of 2 and 3).
No duplicates. Since the Oct 15, 2026 beta, a hero cannot wear two identical artifacts at once (beta notes).
Destroying. A hotkey for "destroying" an artifact arrived on Sep 30, 2026, along with trading artifacts between allies in Alliances (Unfrozen).
The AI. In the beta, AI heroes equip artifacts "more effectively, taking into account set items, skills, army composition" (beta notes); see Difficulty and AI.

Unfrozen's Oct 15, 2026 notes also explain why stat artifacts used to feel weak: under the old damage formula, "artifacts that increase combat stats had little impact on gameplay" late in a match, which the beta's new formula is meant to fix (beta notes). The formula is explained on Combat.

21:11 Unwanted artifacts are not wasted: Norovo's beginners guide (May 4, 2026) shows that you can scrap an artifact you do not need, spell scrolls included, from the hero's inventory for Alchemical Dust, the resource that in some cases also upgrades artifacts.

New artifacts in the beta

The Oct 15, 2026 beta adds twelve artifacts that each raise two of the hero's stats, plus three set pieces (beta notes):

Artifact	Rarity and slot	Effect
Soldier's Sword	Common main weapon	+1 Attack and Spell Power
Commoner's Ward	Common ring	+1 Attack and Knowledge
Satchel	Common cloak	+1 Defense and Spell Power
Leather Armor	Common armor	+1 Defense and Knowledge
Alchemist's Signet-Ring	Rare ring	+2 Attack and Spell Power
Battle Mage's Belt	Rare belt	+2 Attack and Spell Power
Ritual Shield	Rare off-hand weapon	+2 Defense and Spell Power
Enchanted Jackboots	Rare boots	+2 Defense and Knowledge
Kergar buckle	Epic belt	+3 Attack and Spell Power
Greater Djinn's Bracers	Epic off-hand weapon	+3 Attack and Spell Power
Boots of Dreams	Epic boots	+3 Defense and Spell Power
Archmage's Hood	Epic helmet	+3 Defense and Knowledge
Elven Blade	Epic off-hand weapon, Living Arrows set	Removes the melee penalty of friendly shooters
Ripe Apple	Epic item, Living Arrows set	Friendly creatures deal +10% ranged damage
Diplomat's Robe	Legendary cloak, Ambassador's Word set	+10% to the hero's Persuasion Power

The Oct 21, 2026 beta adds the Orb of Poison, which stops both heroes from using hero abilities in the first round of combat. That effect used to belong to the Orb of Inhibition, which no longer has it (beta v0.82.03). The full update is on Balance Update Beta; both beta builds are on Steam's public beta branch only, with the release date for the main game to be announced.

Artifact sets

Set	What the notes say
Living Arrows	A ranged set; Elven Blade and Ripe Apple join it in the beta, with bonuses at 3 and 5 pieces instead of 2 and 3
Ambassador's Word	A Diplomacy set; Diplomat's Robe joins it, bonuses at 3 pieces instead of 2, and Ambassador's Sash becomes a belt instead of a cloak (beta)
Hero of Tales	The Orb of Destruction (raised from rare to epic) joins it; bonuses at 3 pieces instead of 2 (beta)
Ethereal Knowledge	2 pieces: +50% hero experience (cut from 100%); 4 pieces: applied effects last 8 rounds longer (Patch #8)

The set changes are from the beta notes unless marked. In the beta, the Diplomacy artifacts "Diplomatic Gifts", "Ambassador's Sash" and "Diplomat's Robe" no longer appear on random maps; Unfrozen says they "will return to the game with the rework of the "Diplomacy" skill".

Other artifacts in the patch notes

Artifact	What it does, per the notes
Orb of Inhibition	Blocked hero abilities in the first round until the Oct 21 beta; raised from epic to legendary in the beta
Ring of Neutrality	Neutralizes Luck only since Patch #8; rare, raised to epic in the beta
Monster Head	Neutralizes the Morale of all stacks in combat since Patch #8; raised to epic in the beta
Sixth Finger	Lowers enemy Morale and Luck by 1 (was 2) since Patch #8
Tactical Guide	Raised to legendary in the Oct 15 beta; affects both sides of a battle since Oct 21
Crimson Resonance Controller	Allies immune to effects that stop them attacking (Patch #11); cuts the enemy hero's Spell Power by 10/15% in the beta (was 20/30%)
Emerald Resonance Controller	Allies immune to effects that instantly kill extra units (Patch #11); protects temporary creatures from banishment since Sep 30, 2026
Automated Antimagic Shield	Allies immune to Berserk (Patch #11)
Protective Belt	Allies immune to Sleep (Patch #11)
Caduceus	Restores mana; 6 cut to 4 in Patch #11
Vortex Robe	Restores temporary mana instead of permanent mana in the beta
Drum of War	+1 damage to creatures, Unfrozen's example in the beta notes

Other names appear in fixes and Arena lists without a stated effect: Chain Link, Iridescent Cloak, Orb of Twilight, Deck of Spells, Runestone Shards, the Daylight, Nightshade, Arcane and Primal Tomes, Robe of Enlightenment, Bottled Spells, Spellbinder's Hat, Buckler, Two-faced Mask, Singing Pan-Pipe, Clenching Ring, Ribcage Armor, Bone Boots and Dark Hatchet (Patch #8; Patch #13; beta notes).

Artifacts in the Arena

2:01 In the Arena draft, each player picks a hero, then skills, artifacts, spells and army. The draft is kept fair: "if you get a rare artefact, your opponent will be offered an equally powerful one", because both players are offered artifacts of the same rarity (Devlog #5, Nov 22, 2024). Patch #3 gave the hero, skill and artifact picks 6 minutes instead of 5 (Patch #3). Patch #8 removed Orb of Inhibition, Ring of Neutrality, Monster's Head, Chain Link, Deck of Spells and Runestone Shards from the mode and made the four Tomes, Robe of Enlightenment, Bottled Spells and Spellbinder's Hat "much less frequent" (Patch #8). Patch #13 added rerolls: 4 points by default, plus 1 more during the artifact and creature phases (Patch #13, Aug 20, 2026).

Frequently asked questions

How many artifacts are in Olden Era? Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era had 148 artifacts at its Early Access launch, by Unfrozen's count; the Oct 15 and Oct 21, 2026 public beta updates add 16 more, on the beta branch only so far.

Are there artifact sets in Olden Era? Yes. Olden Era has artifact sets such as Living Arrows, Ambassador's Word, Hero of Tales and Ethereal Knowledge, whose bonuses switch on as you collect more pieces (3 and 5 pieces for Living Arrows in the beta).

What does the Orb of Poison do in Olden Era? The Orb of Poison, added in the Oct 21, 2026 beta, stops both heroes from using hero abilities in the first round of combat, an effect taken from the Orb of Inhibition.

What are the new artifacts in the Olden Era beta? The Oct 15, 2026 beta of Olden Era adds 12 artifacts that raise two hero stats each, the Elven Blade and Ripe Apple for the Living Arrows set, and Diplomat's Robe for the Ambassador's Word set.

What are the best artifacts in Olden Era? Unfrozen publishes no ranking; its patch notes show which artifacts it judged too strong for the Arena (Orb of Inhibition, Ring of Neutrality, Monster's Head, Chain Link, Deck of Spells and Runestone Shards were removed from that mode in Jun 2026).

Can I wear two copies of the same artifact in Olden Era? Not on the beta branch: since the Oct 15, 2026 beta, identical artifacts can no longer be equipped at the same time.