Returnal Artifacts List: Best Artifacts For Surviving Atropos

Returnal is one of the hardest PS5 games to date, but it can be made much more manageable with Artifacts. As you journey across the alien world of Atropos, you'll come across these all-important buffs that stay with you for the duration of your current run, or until used, if it's a single-use Artifact--whichever comes first. But given the game's looping roguelite nature, it can be hard to know everything that awaits you as possible loot. Here's a complete list of all Returnal Artifacts, as well as what we think are the best ones.

Returnal Artifacts list

There are 31 total Artifacts in Returnal and they all prove to be only positive additions to your fight against the creatures on Atropos. Artifacts are buffs without caveats. Here's all of them:

Artifact	Ability	Biome(s)
Astronaut Figurine	Grants one resurrection (exactly where you died)	Overgrown Ruins
Blade Balancer	Buffs melee damage	All
Blown Nightlight	Buffs weapon damage by 10% when at low health	Overgrown Ruins
Broken Calibrator	Weapon proficiency (small)	All
Damaged Robot	Extends invulnerability after getting hit	All
Energy Manipulator	Briefly buffs protection by 20% after using a consumable	All
Enhanced Calibrator	Weapon proficiency (largest)	All
Fractal Nail	Buffs weapon damage while Malfunctions are active	All
Golden Coil	Buffs weapon damage by 5% for every 200 Obolites on -hand (up to 20%)	All
Modular Calibrator	Weapon proficiency (varying)	All
Murmuring Cocoon	Improves all Parasites	All
Music Box	Plays a sound when near secret locations	All
Obolite Stabilizer	Dropped Obolites last three seconds longer	All
Phantom Limb	10% chance to repair Integrity (health) after each kill	All
Pristine Calibrator	Weapon proficiency (large)	All
Progenitor Egg	Attaching or detaching Parasites repairs Integrity	All
Pulsating Mass	Attaching or detaching Parasites improves max Integrity	All
Recharging Overload	Successful overloads reduce alt-fire cooldown by three seconds	All
Recharging Response	Getting hit reduces alt-fire cooldown by five seconds	All
Resin Enhancer	Lowers required Resins to improve Integrity	All
Resinous Shield	Picking up Resin grants shields against next hit	All
Spaceship Model	Improves dash	All
Two-Way Radio	Grants up to 10% protection based on the number of Ether held	All
Unfed Pod	Buffs stagger power by 20% for each attached Parasite	All
Visceral Knot	Gives 35% chance for enemies to explode upon death	All
Worn Calibrator	Weapon proficiency (medium)	All
Wound Seekers	Buffs damage to low-health enemies by 30%	All
Xeno-Tech Sight	Slows time when aiming with alt-fire	All

You can theoretically beat Returnal without picking up any Artifacts other than those you find in the story, but it's going to be much harder without them. This makes them critical to your mission in Returnal, and for that reason, we recommend exploring an area to its fullest unless you're really hurting or worried you're not well-equipped for what lies ahead.

Artifacts won't often be on your critical path, so they take some digging. While you can buy some using Obolites when you come upon the in-game "stores," they remain quite rare. Your best bet will always be to venture into rooms decorated on the mini-map with blue upside-down Vs as opposed to the rectangular rooms. The former represents a side area, while the latter represents something closer to a critical path in the ever-shifting alien world of Atropos.

As for the best Artifacts, my absolute favorite is the first one in the game: the Astronaut figurine. It gives you a one-off respawn use per run, which helped me not only defeat the first boss on my first try, but it eventually made the difference when I was stuck for days on the second boss.

Another great Returnal Artifact is Murmuring Cocoon, which buffs Parasites. I've found Parasites more often than not prove their usefulness even though some of them have upsides and downsides. Murmuring Cocoon enhances those upsides, so it's a great addition.

Visceral Knot is also fantastic. Having roughly every third enemy explode upon death means giving your arsenal a passive crowd control mechanic that comes in clutch in the game's more lively areas. It's possible to even set off a chain reaction and have a little fireworks display using the bodies of the bioluminescent creatures.

There's no limit to how many Artifacts you can carry in a single run, so you'd do well to grab all you can. While some can be purchased, shop inventory is as randomized as the world itself, so your best bet is always going to be to explore every crevasse and corner--and hope that you've amassed enough strength and protection by the time you face off against each of the game's bosses. For more tips on Housemarque's brutal shooter, try our Returnal beginner's guide.