Artifacts are the passive layer of Dylan’s build in Control Resonant. Each one applies a permanent modifier while equipped, and you only get three slots on a first playthrough, so the choice matters more than the raw number on the tooltip. The good news is that they can be swapped at any time, which means there is no penalty for running a defensive set early and a damage set once enemy health pools balloon.
Quick answer: Run survivability Artifacts such as the Heart Monitor, 1996 Commemorative Coin, and Worn Eraser while learning the game, then swap to Brass Dusters and Pickpocket’s Tool once enemies get tankier.
The two rules that decide your loadout
Two constraints shape every Artifact decision. The first is the slot limit. Three passives during the first run, with a fourth unlocking in New Game Plus, where your existing Artifacts carry over alongside talents, abilities, and Aberrant upgrades.
The second is the family restriction. Artifacts belonging to the same family cannot sit in your loadout together, so overlapping effects are off the table by design. You pick one and live with it until you rebuild.
Anything you stop using can be recycled to recover materials, so there is no reason to hoard Artifacts you have already ruled out.
Best Artifacts for the early game
Early on, Dylan dies faster than enemies do. That makes healing and damage mitigation worth more than a percentage bump to output, especially while you are still learning dodge timings in a game that has no parry or deflect to fall back on.
| Artifact | Effect | Source cost |
|---|---|---|
| Heart Monitor | Prevents death, restores 20% Health, then breaks | 350 |
| 1996 Commemorative Coin | Health Elements restore more Health | 1,000 |
| Worn Eraser | Resistance to all negative status effects | 750 |
| Badge 11-60 | Far less damage from Environmental Hazards | 250 |
Heart Monitor is the single strongest safety net in the game. It cancels a death outright and hands you a fifth of your health bar back, which is often enough to finish a fight you had already lost. The catch is that the Artifact breaks the moment it triggers, so treat it as a one-use insurance policy rather than a permanent slot filler.
1996 Commemorative Coin makes your Health Elements meaningfully better rather than adding flat survivability. If you are already rationing heals between encounters, it stretches the same pickups further. At 1,000 Source plus 10 Ordered Image and 7 Panicked Echo, it is one of the pricier early crafts, so it is worth waiting until you have a stable Source income from zone content.
Worn Eraser handles every status effect at once by slowing how fast they build up. That makes the narrow single-status options redundant in most loadouts.
Cheap status resistance Artifacts
Three Artifacts cost only 150 Source each and three Echoes, which makes them easy to craft the moment you find the Untapped version. They are narrow, but cheap enough to slot in for a specific problem zone.
- Face Mask — resistance to Infected, needs 3 Mourning Echo.
- Lighter — resistance to Burn, needs 3 Quiet Echo.
- Amulet — +5% Critical Chance on all melee attacks, needs 3 Odd Echo.
Of the three, the Amulet is the one that stays useful all game. Since Dylan’s damage is melee-led through Aberrant, a flat critical chance boost applies to nearly everything you do rather than one enemy type. Face Mask and Lighter are situational swaps for areas where a single status is wrecking you, and both become largely unnecessary once the Worn Eraser is crafted.
Best Artifacts for late-game damage
Later zones scale enemy health hard, and defensive passives stop paying for themselves. This is the point to rebuild around output and ability uptime.
| Artifact | Effect | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Brass Dusters | +50% Raw Damage on Combat Abilities | No Filter at all |
| Golden Earrings | +20% Filter | -30% Raw Damage |
| Pickpocket’s Tool | Free Combat Ability after a Perfect Dodge | None |
| Wallet | Abilities spend Health when out of Power | Health floor of 5% |
Brass Dusters is the biggest raw uplift available, adding half again to your Combat Ability damage. Stripping Filter entirely is a real cost, so it works best in a build that leans on one or two heavy ability hits rather than sustained pressure. It needs 8 Edible Glob, 750 Source, and 5 Violent Echo.
Golden Earrings sit on the opposite end of the same trade. Twenty percent more Filter for thirty percent less Raw Damage only makes sense if your loadout is already built to exploit Filter, otherwise you are paying more than you gain.
Pickpocket’s Tool is the quietest strong pick. Land a Perfect Dodge and your next Combat Ability costs no Power, which turns good defensive play directly into free damage. Given that Perfect Dodges are already the core of the combat loop, the condition triggers constantly in normal play. It costs 350 Source and 7 Violent Echo, with no crafting materials beyond that.
Wallet lets you keep casting when Power runs dry by burning Health instead, and it will never drop you below 5% Health on its own. It pairs naturally with the Commemorative Coin or a generous supply of Health Elements, and it is a poor fit alongside Brass Dusters if you are already fragile.
Full Artifact recipe list
Every Artifact consumes its matching Untapped Artifact, which you find out in Manhattan. The Untapped version is destroyed on craft.
| Artifact | Materials | Source | Echoes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brass Dusters | 8 Edible Glob | 750 | 5 Violent |
| 1996 Commemorative Coin | 10 Ordered Image | 1,000 | 7 Panicked |
| Worn Eraser | 8 Ordered Image | 750 | 5 Odd |
| Golden Earrings | 10 Patterned Thought | 1,000 | 7 Odd |
| Pickpocket’s Tool | — | 350 | 7 Violent |
| Heart Monitor | — | 350 | 7 Mourning |
| Wallet | — | 250 | 5 Nostalgic |
| Badge 11-60 | — | 250 | 5 Quiet |
| Amulet | — | 150 | 3 Odd |
| Face Mask | — | 150 | 3 Mourning |
| Lighter | — | 150 | 3 Quiet |
Echo types are the real gate here rather than Source. Violent, Panicked, Odd, Mourning, Quiet, and Nostalgic Echoes each feed different recipes, so a shortage of one type can stall a specific Artifact even when you are flush with everything else.
How to craft Artifacts at the Artifact Formation station
All crafting happens at the Artifact Formation station inside The Gap, which you can enter at will to test builds and buy upgrades.
F on PC or L1 on controller when the interaction prompt appears to open the Artifact Formation menu.Two loadouts worth copying
Because swapping is free, the practical approach is to keep two sets in mind and rotate between them rather than hunting for one perfect trio.
- Learning set: Heart Monitor, Worn Eraser, 1996 Commemorative Coin. Maximum forgiveness while you get comfortable with dodge windows.
- Damage set: Brass Dusters, Pickpocket’s Tool, Amulet. Free abilities off Perfect Dodges, bigger ability hits, and a permanent melee crit boost.
Crafting Artifacts also feeds two progression trophies, one for your first craft and another for reaching 30 Artifacts crafted, so spending materials as you go is better than saving them. The same applies to equipping three at once, which unlocks its own bronze.
Once you roll into New Game Plus, that fourth slot opens up and the whole calculation changes again. With four passives you can finally pair Brass Dusters with a survivability option instead of choosing between them, which is where the more aggressive builds start to hold together properly.
