Hello there travelers!

Last few days I've seen a lot of people asking "How do I build X character?" then I found a question that sparked my attention "how do I identify a good artifact from a bad one?" which actually was a wonderful question. Sometimes there is so much information online that we fear asking basic questions so we don't get called names or be berated for not doing prior research.

So I wanted to redo the explanation with proper formatting and a few extra pointers.

What is an Artifact and how do I read its stats?

Let's first learn how to read the information on the screen:

1 - In red: we call each Piece by its on-screen Icon or Artifact type/slot, shortening the naming process by quite a bit. Thankfully we don't need to learn the entire name, reading a guide would be a tongue twister, "Arm thyself with a Viridescent Venerer's Vessel in thy Goblet of Eonothem Slot" - Synchro What?

From <--- left to right ---> the pieces are called : Flower - Plume - Sand (Sometimes Timepiece) - Goblet - Circlet

2 - In Green: Just below the piece name, we have the Artifact MAIN stat. Each artifact can only have 1 main stat, but each type has different kinds of main stats it can come with. Artifact rarity (1 to 5 stars) determines the starting value and how many levels can said artifact have, so for example every single 5 stars Flower will have a value of 717 HP at level 0 and 4780 at level 20, but a 4 stars Flower will only have 645 at level 0 (the difference is not that big early on) 3571 at 16 but they can't be leveled past that.

Flowers can only have HP (Fixed value per level)

Plumes can only have ATK (Fixed value per level too)

Sands have 5 different main stats, HP%/ ATK%/ DEF% (% means based on your character BASE stats), Elemental Mastery (Fixed value per level), and Energy Recharge (%)

Goblets (the black sheep of the group) can have 11 different main stats!!, HP%/ATK%/DEF%, any ELEMENT as Elemental DMG Bonus (%, we used to have 6 elements until Dendro joined the party ), + another one (Non-Elemental) Physical DMG Bonus (%), and Elemental Mastery.

Circlets have 7 different main stats, HP%/ATK%/DEF%, Elemental Mastery, Critical Rate (%), Critical DMG (%), and finally Healing Bonus (%)

3 - In Yellow: we have our beloved Sub Stats, these numbers can make someone really happy or crush their hopes and dreams until they pass out crying in bed (no,

I don't need help). 5 Star artifacts always have at least 3 (randomly selected...) Sub Stats at level 0, when an artifacts levels up to level 4 they get their 4th (and final) sub stat. After that every time they level up to a multiple of 4 (8-12-16-20), one stat is randomly selected again and powered up. Sometimes if we are lucky artifacts can come with 4 sub-stats at level 0 so those have 1 extra power-up.

Sadly the amount of random occurrences when leveling artifacts doesn't end here, when a sub stat is upgraded how high it is increased is also random

4 - In Purple: This one is pretty easy to understand, here we have the set name, and the number shown in brackets is how many pieces from said set we currently have equipped in that character. Then we have 2 effects lit in green. The first one is for having 2 or more pieces of the Emblem of the Severed Fate set equipped, and the second is for having 4 or more.

How do I read a Build? What do they by with stat priorities?

Ok, we got this far, let's continue with an example.

My Xingqiu is built as a sub-DPS hydro applicator. Depending on weapon choice and how many constellations he has he can swap a few different pieces.

Standard Build: 4 pieces of Emblem of The severed Fate

Since Flowers and Plumes only have HP or ATK getting those two to drop with decent sub stats is not hard so i have to focus on getting 2 extra pieces from the same set

- I should be using ATK% sands IF Xingqiu is C6 and his energy recharge is higher than 170% or if he is ALSO using a Sacrificial sword R3 or higher, or there is a second hydro character in the party that produces many energy particles.

- Else Energy Recharge% sands if Xingqiu is pre-C6, energy recharge is lower than 220%~240% and his weapon is not a Sacrificial sword at least R3.

- Xingqiu needs a Hydro DMG% Goblet.

- And finally a Circlet with Crit Rate% or Crit DMG% enough to balance the character Crit ratio (Mathematically speaking For every 2 points in crit damage, the character should also have 1 point of crit rate, Example If Xingqiu has 100% crit damage, he should also have 50% crit rate)

My Xingqiu is C6 so I use ATK% sands, also and I have to try to have good sub stats with Crit Rate AND Crit DMG and IF possible I don't want to go too far in energy recharge because I'm also using a Sacrificial sword R4

Goblets with "decent" sub-stats are really rare, plus getting one from the same set sometimes is an achievement in itself. So here I use a Goblet with Hydro DMG% from a different set:

Now I only have to pick a Circlet, here I had HORRIBLE luck, I only have 3 crit circlets from the Severed Fate set, and 2 are being used by Raiden Shogun and Sara. So I had to give the third one to Xingqiu...

Even though I said I shouldn't get energy recharge too high the RNG gods didn't help me at all. If my Sacrificial Sword doesn't proc on hit I still have more than enough to get my Burst back before its cooldown is back.

Final Stats:

Often, builds show sub-stats priorities like 140%ER > Crit Rate% = Crit DMG% > ATK% which is translated into:

Your character should have at least 140% energy recharge, if that number is reached the most valuable sub-stats are Crit Rate AND Crit DMG and if that fails ATK% is still valuable.

Xingqiu's example uses a 4 piece set, sometimes characters can be built using 2 pieces from a set, and 2 pieces from another one activating only their 1st effect:

Questions And Answers

Q: "X" character build has 2/3 or more different sets with rankings, should I always pick the most used one?

A: Sometimes characters have multiple sets for different team compositions, in such cases, YOU should consider how YOU want to play and who is going to be YOUR character teammates, other times they simply have variant sets with a 2piece from their BiS (best in slot) + a 2piece from a different set and those can be used as a "stepping stone" if building a full 4 piece set is becoming frustrating.

Q: Should I use my old artifacts to level my newer ones if they have better sub-stats?

A: NO! at least not right away, save those for another character, you may be able to build one and a half in the process. Should you happen to have 10 artifacts from the same set with the exact same main stat, yeah... feel free to declutter your inventory. A +20 - 5 Star artifact can be used to level another 5 Star from +0 to +18.

Q: I couldn't get a 5-star piece from the "X" Set with the correct stat but I did get a 4-star one, should I use that in the meantime?

A: Absolutely yes! 4-star artifacts can be used to complete a 4-piece set effect. A +16 - 4 Star artifact can be used to level a 5 star from +0 to +13!

Q: Should I farm artifact domains before I reach adventure rank 45?

A: This is the most heated question, short answer, yes you can, as long as you DO NOT waste your fragile resin, fragile resin is a scarce resource, limited to adventure rank level-ups, battle pass rewards (both free and paid versions), 1 per week paid option in Paimon's shop, 5 while upgrading the Sacred Sakura tree in Inazuma, 1 given for upgrading your Lumenstone Adjuvant (also know as "the chasm light thingy"), and the most recent upgrading the Tree of Dreams in Sumeru.

Fragile resin is best spent in Artifact domains at Adventure Rank 45 or higher, or spent in Weapon Ascension Materials/ Talent Level-Up Materials (don't neglect those two!)

Should you have any more questions, find a typo, or just come to say hi since you were having a wonderful day let me know in the comments below!