Eridium artifacts, otherwise known as Relics, have been around throughout the entire series in some form. Originally, inBorderlands, they functioned much the same way Action Skill Augments do now. Then, inBorderlands 2,they were less drastic (but still very beneficial) buffs that players could get from bosses. InBorderlands 3, they’re essentially a combination of the two.
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This time around, artifacts have a variety of modifiers and variables that can be applied to them, and depending on the RNG (random number generator), they can get pretty absurd. However, Legendary artifacts also have an innate benefit marked by the Diamond with the + symbol, and these effects can have entire builds centered around them. So, to clear some things up, this list will explore the best of the best.
Updated June 10, 2025, by Stephen LaGioia: As if thisadrenaline-fueled RPGshooter wasn’t massive enough, Gearbox has continued cranking out various extra content, challenges, and weapons, which has helped keep its momentum going despite being released back in 2019. The latest batch of updates (November 2021)includes thethird Vault Card, featuring a number of new items and skins to play around with.
Off the heels of this comes an action-packedCircle of Slaughtercommunity challenge. So while many have since been enticed by the fantasy spinoff,Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, there remains loads of content to enjoy for the robust BL3. And with the addition of some new items including useful new artifacts, along with some worthy older examples, we felt it appropriate to revisit and reload this list.
17Shlooter: For The Borderlands Scavengers
This artifact from theDirector’s CutUpgrade Packembraces one ofBL3’s greatest joys; the art of looting as many awesome items as one can carry. The item adds to the value of notching kills by hugely bumping up the chance of getting more legendary drops,specifically 1000%.This only lasts for a brief time, but it’s a great choice for those heated battles crawling with several baddies.
As an added bonus, the Shlooter grants bumps toEXP gained from combat, Cryo damage, and (significant) Area-of-Effect damage.
Swap this out for the (epic) Mysterious Artifact, which grants the chance to turn slain Badasses into piles of Eridium, to trulyrake in those Mayhem 10 rewards.
16Toboggan:
A fun find courtesy of theDesigner’s CutUpgrade Pack, the Toboggan brings juiced-up defense and mobility for those who like getting around in style. The itemdoubles the speed of the slide movewhile triggering aten-second shield that reduces damage taken by 50%.This makes it a solid get-out-of-jail-free card, which can also shift to an offensive tool when needed.
Shooting will consume this shield for the exchange of100% added amp damage.Bumps togrenade damage, and certain elemental resistance is also possible.
15Company Man: A Valuable Token
This one tends to shine more for its novelty than sheer effectiveness in battle, being an exclusive release forthe Director’s Cut DLC. Still, it should be appealing to those resourceful, economical players.
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Beyond the damage boosts for guns bearing the prefixgun manufacturer name(variants for all are available), the Company Man also yields boosts in a few useful areas. These include weaponreload speed, magazine size, fire rate, and the ever-useful damage and critical juicing.But perhaps most interesting is its ability to dish out cold hardcash after every 10th killthrough the player’s “investment.”
14Moxxi’s Endowment: Yep, It’s From Moxxi
This is a Moxxi-based item, so of course, it’s loaded with innuendos. There’s not all too much to say about this pick, as it happens; it justgives more combat EXP.Frankly, not a whole ton of it, either. Still,more EXP is always better, especially since it buffs each individual instance of EXP.
The real crazy stuff comes from its variables and modifiers, as it has a high potential for some good ones. Knife Drain in particular is great becauseit adds 75% Life Stealto each melee attack.
13Grave: Concentrated Adrenaline
This Eridian artifact is ideal for those players who thrive on adrenaline and like to play with fire, as it were. The ability to milk the Fight For Your Life duration by a pretty decent chunk helps ease the tension and could mean the difference between life and death. Between this neat perk and the hefty boost in health, the ironically-named Grave can really aid in the player living to fight another day.
But it doesn’t stop there. Boosts also come on the offensive front too, as melee, weapon, and splash damage all get a nice bump when flirting with low health.
12White Elephant: A Massive Wildcard
Those who favor eating away at enemy armor and shields will surely love this beast. This Legendary artifact offers a great chance to dish out quite a bit of elemental damage while granting a chance of shielding its user from elemental return fire.
For good measure, variants may also come withincreased Luck or bumps in movement or shield recharge speed.Then there’s the always-amusing perk of slapping a deadlysticky bombfor about one out of three attempts. Its powers and perks seem to be all over the place, but that’s part of what makes the Elephant so fun.
11Splatter Gun: Elemental Anarchy
Vault Hunters with a soft spot for shotguns and elemental juice should get a kick out of this gem. Between the melee healing and boomstick boosts, players are encouraged to get up-close and personal when equipped with the Splatter Gun. The already fun act of sliding is made all the more enjoyable with the50% bump of shotgun damagewhile doing so.
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Beyond this, there’s an extensive list of potential bonuses, which involve someelemental boosts, melee damage, and faster movement or weapon reload speed.
10Deathless: Moze’s Golden Ticket
Welcome to the reason why Moze is probably the most broken Vault Hunter. The Deathless artifact sounds insane just from its description, but that’s only the beginning. Itreduces the user’s max health to 1 but increases their shield capacity by 100%, their recharge rate by 25%, and their recharge delay by another 25%. Basically, it trades health for a massive bulky shield. When combined with Moze’s skills likeDesperate Measures and the Bloodletter class mod,she’s almost impossible to kill.
This artifact can also be used on any character with skills dependent on max health or on shield capacity. Unfortunately, it basically needs an entire build centered around it and isn’t something that should be thrown on all willy-nilly.
9Otto Idol: A Great Healing Charm For Glass Cannons
This is our personal bread and butter Artifact. It’s the perfect life regain for experimental builds, or while leveling a character to 50. Basically, any Otto Idol Artifact has the innate effect of giving the player a percentage of their max health back on every kill. Needless to say, players kill a lot inBorderlands.
This percentage ranges, but tends to stay between 15 and 20%. It’s some pretty absurd life regain honestly. Using it on the Elemental “Ties That Bind"Amara buildis favorable, as one can ignore the Soul Sap augment and use the Stillness Of Mind modifier to bubble every enemy in sight. There’s no set drop for this, though, so it’s a bit hard to farm for specifically.
8Safeguard: Actually Makes The Slam Useful
This impactful item isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but there are enough artifacts and modifiers in the game thataugment the slam—so players could actually be missing out on a source of crucial damage. In any case, the innate skill of Safeguard is pretty crazy. Whenever a player performs a slam attack, they take at least 50% reduced damage for the next 5 seconds.
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Again, this percentage varies, but the number stays pretty high. This artifact also tends to have a modifier that increases bothmovement speed and damage against frozen enemies,so it’s perfect for those going for that Iceman Zane build.
