All your questions about Artifact's mechanics answered in one place.
Our Artifact Glossary contains a guide to all of the keywords, mechanics and terms that exist in the game.
If you’ve some experience of card games then you will certainly find it easier to transition to Artifact than total newcomers will.
With that said, the game introduces some new terms which can be difficult to decipher unless you’re intimately familiar with the game.
In this article, we’re outlining all of the core terms, keywords and mechanics that exist in the game, so you can start making sense of the cards and the many interactions that exist in Artifact
This is very much a work in progress, and we expect to expand on this guide over time. If there’s anything you think we’ve missed, let us know in the comments so we can research the information and add it in with the next update.
VIDEO GUIDE – If you’re completely new to the game then we highly recommend you watch this brief video from The Artificers Guild YouTube channel.
- Cleave – Damage is done to the targets to the left and right of the current unit
- Condemn – The affected target will be destroyed with immediate effect
- Creeps – Minor units that spawn on the board in between rounds
- Damage Immunity – No damage can be applied
- Death Shield – Prevents death from occurring
- Disarm – The affected unit cannot attack
- Gold – The game’s currency, earned through defeating units and spent in the shop
- Heal – Provides an immediate injection of health
- Heroes – Powerful cards that shape the direction of a deck
- Improvements – Upgrades a lane in such a way that one side or another benefits
- Items – Purchased from the shop in between rounds and which can be used to influence combat.
- Lock – This stops cards from being played
- Mana – The currency that determines how many cards you can cast during any given turn
- Modify – Grants a permanent effect to the targeted unit
- Neighbours – The units currently located either side of a target
- Normal Damage – Unmodified damage
- Piercing Damage – The target’s Amor rating is ignored during the attack
- Purge – Removes any effects currently active on a unit
- Rapid Deployment – Increases the speed at which a hero returns to the board
- Regeneration – Both heals and prevents damage from taking place
- Retaliate – Damage is applied to an attacking unit
- Siege – Damage to the tower is still applied, even if it’s being blocked
- Silence – Stops spells from being cast and abilities being activated
- Stun – The target cannot attack, use abilities or cast spells
- Swap – Two units exchange places with one another
- Taunt – Enemy neighbour attacks are forced towards the unit with taunt.
- Towers / Ancients – Effectively the health of your game. When Towers are destroyed, Ancients spawn which have twice as much health. Destroy one Ancient or two Towers to win the game.
