Last updated: 23 July 2026

Genshin Impact Artifact Farming Guide — Best Sets and Strategies

Artifacts are the primary driver of character power in Genshin Impact endgame — and farming them is simultaneously the most important and most frustrating activity in the game. Good artifacts can double a character's damage output compared to mediocre ones at the same level. This guide explains which domains to farm, how to prioritise main stats and substats, how to evaluate a new artifact in under 10 seconds, and when you've farmed enough.

01How Artifacts Work: Basics

Each character equips five artifacts: Flower of Life (HP main stat), Plume of Death (ATK main stat), Sands of Eon (variable main stat), Goblet of Eonothem (variable main stat), and Circlet of Logos (variable main stat). Flower and Plume always have the same main stats — only Sands, Goblet, and Circlet are flexible.

Artifacts also have up to 4 substats. When an artifact is levelled up, it gains substat lines at +4, +8, +12, and +16, then existing substats are upgraded further at +4 intervals past +16 up to +20. A 5-star artifact starts with 3–4 substats and can gain up to 9 total substat upgrades by level 20.

The critical insight: artifacts are defined by their substats, not their set bonuses alone. A perfectly-rolled artifact from a 'worse' set often outperforms a perfectly-statted 'better' set piece with bad substats. Farm the set your character needs, but prioritise substat quality ruthlessly.

02Main Stat Priority by Slot

Flower and Plume main stats are fixed. For the three variable slots, prioritise these main stats for most characters:

• Sands (most characters): ATK% for most DPS characters. ER% (Energy Recharge) for characters who need their burst frequently (Raiden Shogun, Fischl, most support characters). EM (Elemental Mastery) for reaction-focused builds like Hu Tao vaporise or Xingqiu.
• Goblet (most characters): Elemental DMG Bonus matching the character's element (Pyro DMG, Cryo DMG, etc.) for DPS characters. ATK% is a fallback if no element goblet drops — about 15% less efficient. Geo DMG or Physical DMG for Geo/Physical DPS. HP% for HP-scaling characters like Hu Tao or Zhongli.
• Circlet (most characters): CRIT Rate% or CRIT DMG% depending on your current ratio. The general target is a 1:2 CRIT Rate:CRIT DMG ratio (e.g., 60% Rate, 120% Damage). If you have more Rate than Damage, use a Crit DMG circlet; if Damage is much higher, use Rate. Healing Bonus% for dedicated healers. EM for reaction builds.

Any 5-star Sands/Goblet/Circlet with the right main stat and decent substats is worth using even if the set bonus does not match — two-piece set bonuses add less power than a correct main stat.

03Substat Priority and Evaluation

When a new artifact drops, evaluate it in under 10 seconds with this framework:

• Immediately trash: Any artifact with DEF% or HP% as substats (for DPS characters) occupying 2+ of the 4 substat slots on a new drop. These substats eat upgrade rolls that could go to valuable stats. Exception: HP-scaling characters like Zhongli or Hu Tao value HP%.
• Salvage / level to +4 to check: Artifacts with 1 bad substat (DEF/HP for DPS) but 3 good substats. See if the +4 reveal is useful. If not, convert.
• Keep and level to +20: Artifacts with CRIT Rate, CRIT DMG, ATK%, EM, or ER% filling all 4 starting substat slots. These have strong upgrade potential regardless of what the hidden 4th slot reveals.

The five valuable substats for most DPS characters in priority order: CRIT Rate% > CRIT DMG% > ATK% > Elemental Mastery > Energy Recharge%. Flat ATK, flat DEF, and DEF% are almost always dead stats for DPS — treat them as reducing the piece's value.

A 5-star artifact that starts with 4 lines of CRIT Rate/CRIT DMG/ATK%/EM is a godroll — the maximum possible value. These are very rare. A piece with 2 CRIT stats and 1 ATK% is a strong piece. A piece with 3 CRIT stats and 1 flat DEF is still above average. Work with what you have.

04Best Artifact Sets by Character Role

Domain farming is specialised — each domain drops only two sets. Farm the domain that has the set your current priority character needs:

• Marechaussee Hunter (Valley of Depths domain): Best-in-slot for most normal-attack DPS characters (Freminet, Lyney, and others who rely on HP fluctuation). Drops with Wanderer's Troupe.
• Echoes of an Offering (Spire of Solitary Enlightenment): Strong for Ayato, Yoimiya, and normal attack characters with fast hit rates.
• Emblem of Severed Fate (Momiji-Dyed Court): Best for burst-focused characters: Raiden Shogun, Xiangling, Beidou, Yelan. 4-piece gives huge burst damage based on ER. One of the most-used sets in the game.
• Crimson Witch of Flames (Hidden Palace of Zhou Formula): Best for Pyro reaction DPS — Hu Tao, Yoimiya, Diluc, Klee. Strong 4-piece bonus for vaporise and melt builds.
• Blizzard Strayer (Peak of Vindagnyr): Best for Cryo characters hitting frozen enemies: Ayaka, Ganyu. 4-piece gives up to +40% CRIT Rate on frozen targets.
• Deepwood Memories (Spire of Solitary Enlightenment): Best Dendro resistance shred set — essential for Nahida or any Dendro support in reaction teams.
• Golden Troupe (Tower of Abject Pride): Top choice for off-field Electro supports like Fischl — multiplies skill DMG while off-field.
• Noblesse Oblige (Clear Pool and Mountain Cavern): 4-piece boosts all party ATK by 20% for 12s after the equipping character uses their burst. Strong on any burst-support character who does not need a damage set.

For new players: farm Emblem of Severed Fate first (Momiji-Dyed Court domain). It is useful on so many characters — especially Xiangling who is free and a top-tier off-field Pyro DPS — that nearly any build benefits from it. You will get usable pieces for multiple characters simultaneously.

05Efficient Farming Strategy

Resin is the bottleneck. Spend it efficiently:

• Use Condensed Resin (40 resin = 2x drops): Craft at any Crafting Bench (40 Original Resin + 1 Crystal Core + 100 Mora). Each run with Condensed Resin doubles artifact drops. Always use Condensed Resin for domain farming — it halves your click time without reducing efficiency.
• Farm one domain per resin session: Split-farming two artifact sets simultaneously means reaching neither quickly. Pick your priority character, pick the right domain, and commit for 2–4 weeks of focused farming.
• Never upgrade bad artifacts past +4: The 4-star artifact path (upgrade to +16 for Strongbox fodder) wastes resin and Mora on pieces you will convert. Evaluate at +0, level to +4 to check the hidden substat if unclear, then convert.
• Use the Artifact Strongbox: 3 artifacts from the same set = 1 random piece of that set. Convert your weak drops into more chances at good pieces. The Strongbox is slower than domain farming but useful for surplus pieces.
• Don't farm artifact domains before AR45: 5-star artifacts require AR45 to drop consistently from domains. Below AR45, world bosses and story rewards provide enough stats to carry you through story content.

06When to Stop Farming

Artifact farming has no hard endpoint — perfect artifacts are essentially impossible given RNG. Set a realistic goal:

• Good enough threshold for DPS: 60%+ CRIT Rate, 150%+ CRIT DMG, 1800+ ATK (for ATK-scaling characters). If your character clears the Spiral Abyss Floor 12 comfortably, your artifacts are good enough.
• Switch to another character when stuck: If you have run a domain 60+ times and still have no usable pieces, farm a different character — RNG streaks are real and switching breaks the frustration without wasting the resin on bad luck.
• Version updates shift priorities: New characters may use different sets. Check if your existing artifacts could transfer to a new unit before farming a new set from scratch.
• Accept diminishing returns: Going from 55% CRIT Rate to 60% CRIT Rate adds 9% relative damage. Going from 65% to 70% adds less relative value per run spent. At some point, the next piece of content is more efficient to farm than marginal artifact improvement.