Artefacts

Artefacts (also called Relics or Trinkets) are small Treasure Items that can be found all over Sea of Thieves. These Trinkets, mostly made of valuable metals and adorned with even more valuable jewels are of great value to the Gold Hoarders Representatives on Outposts who are willing to offer Gold, Reputation and Emissary Value for these Items. Artefacts are mainly found within closed Collector's Chests.

Mechanics
A Player can only carry one Artefact at a time and cannot use any other items while carrying them. When dropped, Regular Artefacts give off a Golden glint, while Devil's Roar Artefacts give off an Orange glint from a distance, making them easier to spot. Treasure will float to the top when dropped in water, however, they will start sinking to the bottom after 5 minutes have passed. Any Treasure dropped on land or on the shoreline will stay in-game for a long time. Untouched Treasure will disappear when an Island respawns. Treasure that has been dropped in Deep Waters will disappear after sinking to the bottom. Every Artefact can be caught with a Ship's Harpoon. Up to three Artefacts can also be placed in any Container Chests. When closed, Container Chests cover the colourful glint of the Treasure. They can also be used to move multiple Trinkets at once.

Like any Treasure, the main use of Artefacts is to sell them for Gold and Reputation.

Where to find?
Artefacts are most commonly found inside Collector's Chests, which can themselves either be dug up as rewards for Riddle Map Quests or found randomly all over the Seas. Riddle Map Quests can be acquired either through Bottle Quests, Skeleton's Orders Quests or Gold Hoarders Voyages. Riddle Maps take Crews to Large Islands, where they have to locate landmarks and solve riddles at these spots with Instruments, the Lantern or the Map itself to find the exact location of the buried Collector's Treasure Chest. Locating the exact burial spot will require players to make use of their Compass and Shovel. Once dug up, the Chest can be opened, after which Players can retrieve Gold and Artefacts.

Singular Artefacts can also be found all over The Sea of Thieves Islands or as rewards for completing any Encounters on the Seas.

Emissary Mechanics
Any Player Crews sailing as Gold Hoarders Emissaries can receive Emissary Grade Reputation for picking up and putting Artefacts on their Ship for the first time. This benefit is also applicable for Reaper's Bones Emissaries who gain Emissary Reputation for any Treasure items that they steal. Selling Artefacts to the two companies as Emissaries does not give Emissary Grade Reputation, however, Players do receive Emissary Value, which is counted for the respective Company Emissary Ledger leaderboards. The higher the Crew's Emissary Grade, the more Gold, Reputation and Emissary Value they receive for selling Artefacts.

Rewards
Artefacts can be sold to Gold Hoarders Representatives at any Outpost for Gold and Reputation with the Company. Gold Hoarders Emissaries will also receive Emissary Value, and an increase to the Gold and Reputation gains. Alternatively, crews can choose to sell to the Reaper's Bones Representative at The Reaper's Hideout instead for equal Gold and Emissary Value gains, but less Reputation gains with the Reapers. Artefacts also have various achievable Commendations tied to selling them, offering players additional rewards, such as Titles and extra Reputation gains.

The following is a table of the multiplicative Rewards for selling Treasure Chests as Graded Emissaries.

When sold, the whole Crew is rewarded with equal amounts of Gold, Reputation and Emissary Value, while Alliance Members will earn half of the Gold and Reputation Gains, but no Emissary Value.

All Artefacts have a variable value with the minimum and maximum reported Gold rewards documented in the tables below.

Types of Artefacts
There are various types of Artefacts with varying Gold, Reputation and Emissary Value gains:

Regular Artefacts
Regular Artefacts are various Trinkets of valuable metals and jewels. These Artefacts all give off a Golden glint from a distance. They can be categorised into four tiers based on their Gold and Emissary Value Rewards. These Reward tiers match those of the basic Treasure Chests that can also be sold to the Gold Hoarders.

Devil's Roar Artefacts
Artefacts found within Ashen Gold Hoarders Voyages and The Devil's Roar are glowing red with fire. They can also be found inside Ashen Chests. These Artefacts all give off an Orange glint from a distance. Devil's Roar Artefacts follow the price scaling of Ashen Treasure Chests.

Ashen Artefacts (The Seabound Soul)
Ashen Artefacts are three Devil's Roar Artefacts with unique Names, Pirate Chat commands and Gold Rewards. These Artefacts can only be found during The Seabound Soul Tall Tale and while they can be sold to Gold Hoarders Representatives, their Gold, Reputation and Emissary Value matches that of the tier 2, silver Artefacts. The Artefacts are as follows:
 * Chalice of the Ashen Curse
 * Keeper of the Ashen Curse
 * Grail of the Ashen Curse

Trivia

 * There are two Athena's Treasure versions of Artefacts that share their models with regular variants. These Artefacts are sold to the Athena's Fortune company for Gold and Reputation instead.

Related Commendations
Gold Hoarders Commendations:

Reaper's Bones Commendations:

Gallery
Reliquias Bibelot