Artifacts are items that have a unique appearance and item ID. Like unique items, it is impossible to find a second copy of these exceptional (often powerful) items. Unlike unique items, however, artifacts do not share appearances with other generic magic items; they have a distinct one-of-a-kind look. Most of these artifacts also make an appearance in other games.
There are a number of artifacts that can be found throughout the city of Mournhold. For artifacts in Vvardenfell and Solstheim, check the artifact pages for Morrowind and Bloodmoon, respectively.
In addition to the artifacts listed on this page, there are a few other items encountered in-game which are considered artifacts in lore, but do no meet the criteria of having a unique appearance. These items include:
- Barilzar's Mazed Band — See its lore page for more details.
- Dagger of Symmachus — See its lore page for more details.
Notes
- Charge/Cost= Uses indicates how many uses you can get, on average, before the item needs recharging. Note that the actual cost depends on your Enchant skill, so your results may vary.
- Damage Ratio gives the damage per time for the weapon with higher values indicating a more powerful item. Ratios are given for the base weapon and any magic based damage the weapon may have.
- Speed specifies how fast the weapon swings with higher values indicating a faster weapon.
Blunt, One-Hand
[edit]
Mace of Slurring
 (lore page) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Blunt One Hand | |||
 Damage |
||||
| Chop | 8−28 | Slash | 8−28 | |
| Thrust | 1−6 | Ratio | 42 | |
| Statistics | ||||
 Health |
3500 | |||
| Speed | 1.5 | Reach | 1.0 | |
 Weight |
23.0 |  Value |
20,000 | |
| Enchantment | ||||
|
||||
| Charge/Cost = Uses | 110/11=10 | |||
"It was crafted near the end of the second age by Kyanka, a slightly deranged Altmer weaponsmith and enchanter. He had a rather warped sense of humor, and apparently delighted at the thought of reducing opponents to a gibbering mess before crushing them to death. The mace has, admittedly, seen little use." -Torasa Aram, Museum of Artifacts
Mace of Slurring is carried by Golena Sadri in the Old Mournhold, Forgotten Sewers area during The Thief quest. Not a very useful weapon, given that while decreasing the NPC's Speechcraft skill will increase your success rate in your use of Speechcraft with that NPC, attacking them with this weapon will decrease your Disposition with them anyway making this enchantment mostly useless. This artifact is probably one of the best choices to donate to the Museum.
Notes
- This artifact can be sold to Torasa Aram in the Museum of Artifacts for 10,000 gold.
Blunt, Two-Hand
[edit]
Stendarr's Hammer
 (lore page) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Blunt Two Hand | |||
| Damage |
||||
| Chop | 20−100 | Slash | 10−80 | |
| Thrust | 8−10 | Ratio | 100 | |
| Statistics | ||||
| Health |
100 | |||
| Speed | 1.0 | Reach | 1.0 | |
| Weight |
1000.0 | Value |
130,000 | |
| Enchantment | ||||
|
||||
| Charge/Cost = Uses | 20/2=10 | |||
Stendarr's Hammer is the hammer of the eponymous god. It is mounted in the Museum of Artifacts in the Godsreach District of Mournhold.
Notes
- Stendarr's Hammer has the highest maximum base damage value in the entire game (including all official expansions and plugins).
- The tremendous weight of this hammer coupled with its weak condition makes it impractical for actual use, as it will more than likely break on the first swing, as well as expend all or most of your fatigue per hit.
Long Blades, One-Hand
[edit]
Hopesfire
 (lore page) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Long Blade One Hand | |||
| Damage |
||||
| Chop | 30-70 | Slash | 50-55 | |
| Thrust | 10-30 | Ratio | 94.5 (135) | |
| Statistics | ||||
| Health |
2000 | |||
| Speed | 1.35 | Reach | 1.0 | |
| Weight |
15.0 | Value |
150,000 | |
| Enchantment | ||||
|
||||
| Charge/Cost = Uses | 100/5=20 | |||
Hopesfire is obtained only by killing the Tribunal god Almalexia. See The Mad God quest for more information. It is one of the best one-handed swords in the game (Morrowind, Tribunal, and Bloodmoon), and according to Almalexia is twinned with Trueflame.
Notes
- Despite its name, it is a shock not fire item.
- Unlike its twin, Trueflame, Hopesfire does not act as a torch when drawn, despite similar visual animations.
[edit]
Odd Dwemer Weapon
 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Long Blade One Hand | ||
| Damage |
|||
| Chop | 12-12 | Slash | 15-15 |
| Thrust | 15-15 | Ratio | 18.75 |
| Statistics | |||
| Health |
100 | ||
| Speed | 1.25 | Reach | 1.0 |
| Weight |
35.0 | Value |
600 |
The seemingly-unimpressive Odd Dwemer Weapon is actually a piece of the artifact Trueflame. It is carried by Karrod, a guard in the service of King Hlaalu Helseth. You will receive it during The Blade of Nerevar quest, in which you will have it forged into its final form. It is ill-advised to enchant this weapon, as it will prevent you from completing the Tribunal main quest.
Notes
- This sword is considered a normal weapon and will not affect Daedra or Undead.
- When you acquire the weapon from Karrod, the journal reports that it's a deadly shortblade, while it's actually classified as long blade.
[edit]
Trueflame
 (lore page) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Long Blade One Hand | |||
| Damage |
||||
| Chop | 15-60 / 20-75 | Slash | 40-50 / 45-60 | |
| Thrust | 3-30 / 4-40 | Ratio | 81 / 75 (105) | |
| Statistics | ||||
| Health |
2000 | |||
| Speed | 1.35 / 1.0 | Reach | 1.0 | |
| Weight |
20.0 | Value |
15,000 / 150,000 | |
| Enchantment | ||||
|
||||
| Charge/Cost = Uses | 100/5=20 | |||
Trueflame is obtained through completing The Blade of Nerevar quest during the Tribunal main quest. It is one of the best one handed swords in the entire game (including all official expansions and plugins), and according to Almalexia is twinned with Hopesfire.
This weapon is first identified as Odd Dwemer Weapon, which is missing a few parts. Once you get the parts and have them forged together, you will get the first version of this weapon, which has no enchantment, though it is significantly faster. It is ill-advised to enchant it yourself, as this will make it impossible to complete the main quest of Tribunal. Once you have completed the quest, you will have the full version of this sword, complete with enchantment.
Notes
- The sword also functions as a torch when drawn. If you have hotkeyed another weapon and switch to that without sheathing Trueflame, the light it generates will remain.
- Despite the unenchanted version of the weapon having a speed of 1.35, the enchanted version has a speed of 1.00, which is significantly slower than all other long blades. It is unknown whether this is intended, or if it is a bug.
- Enchanting the base version of the sword actually nets a higher amount of fire damage if enchanted, on top of a higher swing speed. However, doing so will break the quest.
Long Blades, Two-Hand
[edit]
BiPolar Blade
 (lore page) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Long Blade Two Hand | |||
| Damage |
||||
| Chop | 5−61 | Slash | 1−50 | |
| Thrust | 1−35 | Ratio | 75 | |
| Statistics | ||||
| Health |
4300 | |||
| Speed | 1.25 | Reach | 1.0 | |
| Weight |
42 | Value |
40,000 | |
| Enchantment | ||||
|
||||
| Charge/Cost = Uses | 450/45=10 | |||
Legend has it that a nobleman sank his fortune into creating a blade of supreme power. Two smiths on opposite ends of Tamriel created each half of the blade, unaware of the other, with the hope that no one man, save the owner of the blade, would know its true power. Unfortunately, the smiths were not given enough instruction, and created halves with enchantments that completely negated each other. -- Torasa Aram, Museum of Artifacts
The BiPolar Blade is an interesting blade obtained only through a miscellaneous quest. See The MatchMaker quest for more information. Although the in-game description says otherwise the two enchantments don't exactly cancel each other out. A person struck with this weapon will not attack you (because of the calming spell) meaning that subsequent attacks will be considered assault if you are in town even if your enemy attacked you first. It is best to never use this weapon except against creatures. It also makes a fine artifact to give to Torasa Aram during The Blade of Nerevar quest.
Notes
- This artifact can be sold to Torasa Aram in the Museum of Artifacts for 20,000 gold.
- There is a rumor that the blade was stolen, but the guards caught and killed the thief.
Robes
[edit]
Robe of the Lich
 (lore page) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Robe | |||
| Statistics | ||||
| Weight |
8 | Value |
22,000 | |
| Enchantment | ||||
|
||||
| Charge/Cost = Uses | 725/145=5 | |||
The Robe of the Lich is the robe worn by the powerful lich Gedna Relvel. It allows the user to gain a temporary boost in magical power at the expense of their life force. Though it has very powerful Fortify Magicka enchantments, this is complicated by the fact that it drains 600 health when used, and both effects last for only one second, too short to actually cast anything. Use of this robe is inadvisable and is better off used as one of two required donated artifacts to complete the Tribunal main quest.
(Note: with Resist Magicka, it is possible to use the Robe without dying. The main use of the Robe is to give yourself the ability to cast magic without any Magicka. After using the Robe, your health will return, offering up to 6 uses before needing to recharge.)
Notes
- This artifact can be sold to Torasa Aram in the Museum of Artifacts for 11,000 gold.