Ancient Artifacts 2
Ancient Artifacts 2 is a Minecraft datapack that introduces a complete artifact system centered on collecting, upgrading, and managing special items with varying power levels.
The Artifact System
This mod adds 50+ unique artifacts, each designed to grant specific combat, utility, or exploration benefits. Every artifact can be equipped up to two at a time and comes with a rarity tier: common, uncommon, rare, unique, or divine. Artifacts level from 1 to 5, with each level unlocking new effects. For example, the Allies Amulet buffs your tamed mobs with progressively stronger effects, while the Combo Boots add shield parrying and aerial combat moves.
Each artifact also includes an associated challenge or advancement to complete, giving you goals beyond just collecting them.
Finding Artifacts
Discovery starts by exploring overgrown structures scattered across all dimensions. There are over 40 of these dungeons to seek out, each filled with mobs and artifact chests. You'll need an amethyst shard to open the chests, which means planning ahead and gathering resources before diving in.
Two boss encounters with custom music and boss bars provide major difficulty spikes for experienced players. Look, these fights serve as skill tests designed around their unique mechanics rather than raw stats.
Upgrading and Crafting
Artifacts begin at level 1 and scale upward through upgrades. You apply artifact upgrades by placing them in your offhand and using them like a regular item. A heavy variant skips multiple levels at once.
You can also craft artifacts from scratch using the artifact cauldron, a modified cauldron block. This recipe system is randomized per world, but exploration gives you hints through parchments that explain what ingredients create which artifacts. You'll need artifact templates, compounds, and relics to succeed.
The Economy
An artifact smith villager handles trading. You can sell duplicate artifacts for emeralds or purchase upgrades, templates, and other useful items. The smith's trades rotate daily, giving you chances to unload surplus artifacts.
For players deep into late-game content, the artifact dungeon is a challenging rogue-like that lets you destroy unwanted artifacts using an artifact hammer. This recycling system breaks down duplicates into components you can reuse for new creations.
Compatibility
Ancient Artifacts 2 works as a pure datapack or through Fabric, Forge, Neoforge, and Quilt mod loaders. Server installation is mandatory, but clients can run it optionally. It supports Minecraft versions 1.21.6, 1.21.7, 1.21.8, 1.21.9, 1.21.10, 1.21.11, 26.1, 26.1.1, 26.1.2, and 26.2.
