Artifact Chests are specially marked chests found inside Ancient Ruins in Windrose. Unlike ordinary loot chests, Artifact Chests hold unique blueprints, map fragments, and rare material caches that cannot be obtained from other sources.
Where to Find Them
Every Ancient Ruin contains at least one Artifact Chest. Higher-difficulty ruins in the Foothills and Cursed Swamps biomes contain multiple chests, often behind puzzle locks or enemy guardians. The Starting Island Ancient Ruins has three chests total: one in an open room, one behind pickaxe-breakable debris, and one behind a fragile wall.
Typical Contents
Content Type | Example |
|---|---|
Unique blueprints | Armor and weapon plans not available at faction Provisioners |
Map fragments | Pieces of larger maps that resolve into dig markers |
Rare material caches | |
Lore fragments | Notes and diaries that feed into Curios Tab story arcs |
Luxury/contraband relics |
Strategy
Prioritize Artifact Chests over generic loot chests when inventory is tight
Some Artifact Chests are gated by puzzle locks (hidden buttons, weight plates, lever sequences). Hang back and look for lore notes nearby that hint at the solution
Multi-room ruins can take 15 to 30 minutes to clear fully; plan for a full loot run rather than a quick detour
Map the chests on your minimap once opened. The icon dims when the chest is spent, which prevents repeat trips
See Also
Ancient Ruins the dungeon type that houses Artifact Chests
Dungeons broader dungeon system
Tumbaga Ingot common Artifact Chest reward
Ancient Chalices luxury item frequently found here
Senkamati Artifacts ancient relics tied to ruin loot and lore
Reading the Ruin Chest Counter
Every Ancient Ruin has a running chest counter that tells you exactly how many chests the location contains. When you enter a ruin for the first time, the counter reads something like "0 out of 4" on the map and entry prompt; each chest you open increments the left number until both numbers match and the icon dims to mark the ruin as fully looted. Artifact Chests count against that total the same as any other chest, so a ruin with a stated count of four may contain one Artifact Chest and three standard chests, or any other mix.
Use the counter as a checklist before you leave a ruin. If you walked every visible room and the counter still reads "3 of 4," the remaining chest is hidden. Common hiding spots include rubble piles, debris-blocked alcoves, weighted puzzle doors, and platforms reached via jumps or climbing. Do not rely on minimap icons alone; many chest rooms do not reveal until the chest itself is opened.
Rubble, Digging, and Hidden Placements
Many Artifact Chests are buried under rubble or stashed in tucked-away side rooms rather than sitting in an open hall. Creator testing on the live build confirmed that walking past a rubble pile without breaking it is the most common reason players leave Artifact Chest loot behind.
Bring a pickaxe: a Stone Pickaxe or better clears breakable debris that blocks chests. Some debris needs an iron-tier tool; if it will not break, come back after you upgrade.
Bring a shovel: a subset of chests inside ruins sit on Buried Treasure dig sites that only open with a shovel.
Check fragile walls: the Starting Island Ancient Ruins has a confirmed chest behind a fragile wall that needs to be broken before entry.
Check side doors and platforms: some chests are placed above floor level or behind lever-gated doors, not in the main corridor.
Loot Quality Scales by Biome Tier
Artifact Chests do not roll identical loot tables everywhere. The quality of weapons, armor, blueprints, and materials inside scales directly with the biome tier of the ruin. Coastal Jungle ruins drop tier 1 to 5 gear, Foothills ruins drop tier 6 to 10, and Cursed Swamp ruins drop tier 11 to 15. The gear inside these chests is consistently significantly better than anything you can craft from starter or same-tier resources at home, which is why creator guides recommend treating ruins as a mandatory detour rather than optional content.
Jewelry, Tumbaga, and Other High-Value Drops
Beyond the blueprints and map fragments, Artifact Chests drop two especially valuable item categories that are easy to miss in a crowded loot window.
Jewelry accessories: some chests contain necklaces and similar accessories that grant passive bonuses to Endurance (larger stamina pool, faster regeneration) or Vitality (larger health pool). These stack with food buffs and talent picks and are one of the few ways to pad stats without spending attribute points.
Tumbaga Ingots: Artifact Chests are a primary source of Tumbaga Ingot, the rare resource used at the Anvil to ascend a weapon or armor piece to the next rarity tier. See the Rarity System article for the full ascension workflow. Save ingots for gear you actually want to keep into the late game; drops are uncommon enough that burning them on a weapon you will replace in two islands is a loss.
Silver and Gold Ingots: used in jewellery and high-tier accessory crafting back at base; do not vendor these if you intend to craft endgame gear yourself.
Why Artifact Chests Are Worth the Detour
Between the scaling gear rolls, exclusive blueprints, map fragments, jewelry, and Tumbaga drops, Artifact Chests are the single highest-return activity per hour in the early and mid game. Creator guides for the launch build consistently advise detouring into every ruin a character can survive, even off the main quest path. The alternative, grinding resources at home to craft equivalent tier gear, is measured in hours per piece; a single Artifact Chest clear often matches or beats that output in ten minutes.
Buried Chest Locator
Many enemy and traveler camps contain a second chest that does not sit out in the open. The map icon for these camps shows a chest counter such as 1 / 2 or 2 / 2. The first count is the obvious chest near the campfire or inside a nearby open structure. The remaining count refers to a chest that has been buried in the dirt somewhere within the camp footprint. If a camp icon only shows a single count, no buried chest is hidden there and you can safely move on.
The camp's surroundings hold a visual tell for the buried spot. Walk the tree line around the campfire and look for a tree trunk with a red bandage or red scarf tied around it. That cloth marker is the locator. Stand close to the marked tree and pan the camera across the ground at the base of the trunk; the dig spot shows a faint sparkling shimmer over the soil. Equip a Shovel and dig on the sparkle to surface the chest. The buried container uses the same loot rules as other camp containers, so review the Pirate Chest Loot Pool before opening, and bring Chest Keys if the chest has a lock prompt.
Camp icon counter: Open the world map and read the small fraction on the camp marker. A 2/2 means one above-ground chest plus one buried chest. A 1/1 means no buried chest.
Red cloth marker: Scan the trees ringing the camp for a trunk wrapped in a red bandage or scarf. The cloth is the only visual flag the game gives you for a buried container.
Sparkle on the soil: Move close to the marked tree and look at the ground around its base. A subtle sparkling shimmer marks the exact dig tile. The sparkle is small and easy to miss in bright daylight, so try a slight camera tilt.
Shovel dig: Equip the Shovel, switch the radial menu to the Dig option, and use it on the sparkle. The chest pops out of the ground in one cycle and can be opened immediately.
Cross-reference with notes: Some camps also drop a paper note inside the above-ground chest that names a direction (north, southwest, and so on) from the campfire. When a note is present, treat it as a confirmation of the marked tree's bearing rather than a separate puzzle. See Treasure Maps for the standalone map-fragment system that follows similar rules.