Artefacts

Artefacts are a range of small treasures in Sea of Thieves that are primarily associated with the Gold Hoarders Trading Company. Artefacts can be transported in Collector's Chests.

Mechanics

A Player can only carry one Artefact at a time and cannot use any other items while carrying them. When dropped, Regular Artefacts give off a golden glint, while Devil's Roar Artefacts give off an orange glint from a distance, making them easier to spot. Treasure will float to the top when dropped in water, however, they will start sinking to the bottom after 5 minutes have passed. Any Treasure dropped on land or on the shoreline will stay in-game for a long time. Untouched Treasure will disappear when an island respawns. Treasure that has been dropped in Deep Waters will disappear after sinking to the bottom. Every Artefact can be caught with a Ship's harpoon. Up to three Artefacts can also be placed in any Container Chests. When closed, Container Chests cover the colourful glint of the Treasure. They can also be used to move multiple Artefacts at once.

Like any Treasure, the main use of Artefacts is to sell them for Gold and Reputation.

Where to find

Artefacts are most commonly found inside Collector's Chests, which can themselves either be dug up as rewards for Riddle Map Quests or found randomly all over the Seas. Riddle Map Quests can be acquired either through Bottle Quests, Skeleton's Orders Quests or Gold Hoarders Voyages. Riddle Maps take crews to large islands, where they have to locate landmarks and solve riddles at these spots with instruments, the lantern or the Riddle Map itself to find the exact location of the buried Collector's Treasure Chest. Locating the exact burial spot will require players to make use of their Compass and Shovel. Once dug up, the Chest can be opened, after which Players can retrieve Gold and Artefacts.

Single Artefacts can also be found at random on islands or as also as rewards for completing any encounters on the seas.

Emissary Mechanics

Any Player Crews sailing as Gold Hoarders Emissaries can receive Emissary Grade Reputation for picking up and putting Artefacts on their Ship for the first time. This benefit is also applicable for Reaper's Bones Emissaries who gain Emissary Reputation for any treasure items that they steal. Selling Artefacts to the two companies as Emissaries does not give Emissary Grade Reputation, however, Players do receive Emissary Value, which is counted for the respective Company Emissary Ledger leaderboards. The higher the Crew's Emissary Grade, the more Gold, Reputation and Emissary Value they receive for selling Artefacts.

Rewards

Artefacts can be sold to Gold Hoarders Representatives at any Outpost for Gold and Reputation with the Company. Gold Hoarders Emissaries will also receive Emissary Value, and an increase to the Gold and Reputation gains. Alternatively, crews can choose to sell to the Reaper's Bones Representative at The Reaper's Hideout instead for equal Gold and Emissary Value gains, but less Reputation gains with the Reapers. Artefacts also have various achievable Commendations tied to selling them, offering players additional rewards, such as Titles and extra Reputation gains.

The following is a table of the multiplicative Rewards for selling Artefacts as Graded Emissaries.

Emissary Grade	Rewards, Reputation & Emissary Value
Grade 1	Base Reward
Grade 2	+33% Base Reward
Grade 3	+67% Base Reward
Grade 4	+100% Base Reward
Grade 5	+150% Base Reward

When sold, the whole Crew is rewarded with equal amounts of Gold, Reputation and Emissary Value, while Alliance Members will earn half of the Gold and Reputation Gains, but no Emissary Value.

All Artefacts have a variable value with the minimum and maximum reported Gold rewards documented in the tables below.

List of Artefacts

There are various types of Artefacts with varying Gold, Reputation and Emissary Value gains:

Regular Artefacts

Regular Artefacts are various Artefacts of valuable metals and jewels. These Artefacts all give off a golden glint from a distance. They can be categorised into four tiers based on their Gold and Emissary Value Rewards. These Reward tiers match those of the basic Treasure Chests that can also be sold to the Gold Hoarders.


Tier	Artefact	Base Gold Reward	Base Emissary Value
Bronze
	Ancient Goblet	60 - 130	300
	Bronze Secret-Keeper	60 - 130	300
	Mysterious Vessel	60 - 130	300
Silver
	Silvered Cup	140 - 260	600
	Elaborate Flagon	140 - 260	600
	Decorative Coffer	140 - 260	600
Gold
	Gilded Chalice	280 - 520	1200
	Ornate Carafe	280 - 520	1200
	Golden Reliquary	280 - 520	1200
Jeweled
	Adorned Receptacle	560 - 1,100	2400
	Opulent Curio	560 - 1,100	2400
	Peculiar Relic	560 - 1,100	2400
Kingly
	Vestige of Power	1,655 - 1,675	4995
	Cradle of Virtue	2,215 - 2,235	6675
	Crown of Hope	3,100 - 3,200	9450

Coral Artefacts

Coral Artefacts are coral-encrusted variants of the regular Artefacts which are only found inside Siren Shrines and Siren Treasuries.

Artefact	Base Gold Reward	Base Emissary Value	Notes
Mysterious Coral Vessel	105 - 228	525	Covered with barnacles.
Silvered Coral Cup	245 - 455	1050	Covered with barnacles and sprouts of green coral.
Golden Coral Reliquary	490 - 910	2100	Covered with blue and green coral plates.
Peculiar Coral Relic	980 - 1,925	4200	Covered with chunks of yellow and pink coral.

Devil's Roar Artefacts

Artefacts found within Ashen Gold Hoarders Voyages and The Devil's Roar are glowing red with fire. Tiers 1 - 4 can also be found inside Ashen Chests. These Artefacts all give off an orange glint from a distance. Devil's Roar Artefacts follow the price scaling of Ashen Treasure Chests.

Artefact	Base Gold Reward	Base Emissary Value
Roaring Goblet	140 - 260	600
Brimstone Casket	280 - 520	1200
Devil's Remnant	560 - 1,100	2400
Magma's Grail	1,100 - 2,100	4800
Vessel of Fire	3,300 - 3,350	9975
Crown of Flame	3,800 - 3,900	11550

Ashen Artefact Quest Items

Ashen Artefacts are three Devil's Roar Artefacts with unique Names, Pirate Chat commands and Gold Rewards. These Artefacts can only be found during The Seabound Soul Tall Tale and while they can be sold to Gold Hoarders Representatives, their Gold, Reputation and Emissary Value matches that of the tier 2, silver Artefacts. The Artefacts are as follows:

Artefact	Base Gold Reward	Base Emissary Value
Chalice of the Ashen Curse	n/a	n/a
Keeper of the Ashen Curse	n/a	n/a
Grail of the Ashen Curse	n/a	n/a

Trivia

There are two Athena's Treasure versions of Artefacts that share their models with regular variants. These Artefacts are sold to the Athena's Fortune company for Gold and Reputation instead.

Commendations

Commendations
Image	Commendation	Requirements	Rewards
	Hoarder of Lost Artefacts	Sell 450 Treasure Artefacts to the Gold Hoarders. Grade I: 5 Grade II: 30 Grade III: 90 Grade IV: 225 Grade V: 450	Rewards the Hoarder of Lost Artefacts Title. Unlocks Gold Leaf Set for purchase.
	Golden Tribute	Sell 600 Gold Hoarder Treasures while flying the Gold Hoarders Emissary Flag. High Seas only Grade I: 120 Grade II: 240 Grade III: 360 Grade IV: 480 Grade V: 600	n/a
	Eminent Hoarder	Sell 320 Gold Hoarder Treasures while flying a Grade 5 Gold Hoarders Emissary Flag. High Seas only Grade I: 60 Grade II: 120 Grade III: 200 Grade IV: 260 Grade V: 320	n/a
	Tributes Taken	Sell 480 Gold Hoarder Treasures to the Reaper's Bones. High Seas only Grade I: 60 Grade II: 120 Grade III: 240 Grade IV: 360 Grade V: 480	n/a
	Plundered Prizes	Sell 600 of any Trading Company items while flying the Reaper's Bones Emissary Flag. High Seas only Grade I: 120 Grade II: 240 Grade III: 360 Grade IV: 480 Grade V: 600	Unlocks the Dawn Hunter instruments for purchase at Grade I, the Dawn Hunter equipment for purchase at Grade II, the Dawn Hunter clothing and vanity for purchase at Grade III, the Dawn Hunter weapons for purchase at Grade IV, the Dawn Hunter ship set for purchase at Grade V.
	Fearless Reaper	Sell 320 of any Trading Company items while flying a Grade 5 Reaper's Bones Emissary Flag. High Seas only Grade I: 60 Grade II: 120 Grade III: 200 Grade IV: 240 Grade V: 320	n/a
	Treasured Company	Sell treasures that you or another pirate earned from completing Trading Company Voyages. Grade I: 50 Grade II: 100 Grade III: 250 Grade IV: 500 Grade V: 1000	Unlocks the Cartographer Blunderbuss and Pistol for purchase.
	Treasures Fit For a King	Sell the rare Kingly treasures that can be found on the Sea of Thieves. Grade I: 50 Grade II: 100 Grade III: 250 Grade IV: 500 Grade V: 1000	Unlocks the Cartographer Cutlass and Eye of Reach for purchase.
	Ashen Artefacts	Discover the 3 Ashen Artefacts.	n/a