Artifact



Artifacts were character upgrades briefly available in Heroes of the Storm during the game's Technical Alpha. They have since been removed.

Design
Each player was able to unlock up to three Artifact Slots. The first, the Gem Artifact Slot, was unlocked at Player Level 15, while the second and third, the Relic Artifact Slot and the Trinket Artifact Slot, required the player to spend 2,000 gold to unlock each of them.

Players could choose from a wide variety of Artifacts, but only one could be fitted into each Slot, of the type matching that Slot. Artifacts had to be purchased for 100 gold before they could be used. Once purchased, Artifacts could be upgraded, up to a maximum of Artifact Level 10, each time costing a larger amount of gold. Players could select which Artifacts to use prior to each match, but could not change them within matches.

Each Artifact brought with it a small bonus to some aspect of the chosen hero's abilities, such as increased speed or maximum mana, scaling with hero level. Artifact effects also increased for each Artifact Level.

Removal
Artifacts were intended to provide additional depth to hero customization, as well as a useful way for players to spend gold. However, the reception by players when they were introduced was considerably negative, with many players comparing them to a similar feature from .

With players voicing "concerns around fairness issues, “correct build” issues, balance, new player tension, and other issues", less than two weeks after announcing the introduction of Artifacts, the developers announced that the system would be removed from the game, stating "We agree—those issues started to outweigh the benefits of the system." and that the system clearly wasn't working as intended.

Gem Slot
Gems were one of the three types of artifacts. Gems fit in the first artifact slot, which is unlocked automatically when you reach player level 15 and generally give a bonus to a single basic stat.

List of Gems
;Bold Amethyst
 * Increases maximum health by 1.5% per rank, up to a maximum of 15% at Rank 10.


 * Brilliant Topaz
 * Increases ability damage by 1% per rank, up to a maximum of 10% at Rank 10.


 * Nexus Sapphire
 * Grants a shield equal to 1% of the Hero’s maximum health per rank, up to a maximum of 10% at Rank 10. (Shields recharge after a player hasn’t taken damage for approximately 8 seconds).


 * Primal Ruby
 * Increases basic attack damage by 1% per rank, up to a maximum of 10% at Rank 10.


 * Royal Diamond
 * Reduces cooldowns for abilities by 1% per Rank, up to a maximum of 10% at Rank 10.


 * Skyfire Emerald
 * Increases speed of basic attacks by 1% per rank, up to a maximum of 10% at Rank 10.

Relic Slot
;Alexstraza's Scale
 * Increases health regeneration by 0.1% of your maximum health per second per rank, up to a maximum of 1% of your maximum health per second at Rank 10.


 * Nathrezim Blood Orb
 * Basic attack damage dealt restores health by 1% per rank, up to a maximum of 10% at Rank 10.


 * The Coin
 * Increases mana regeneration by +.1 mana per second per rank, up to a maximum of +1 mana per second at Rank 10.


 * Worldstone Shard
 * Increases damage vs. minions and structures by 1.5% per rank, up to a maximum of 15% at Rank 10.

Trinket Slot
Trinkets were one of the tree types of artifacts in Heroes of the Storm.

List of Trinkets
;Goblin Jumper Cables
 * Decreases death timer by 2% per rank, up to a maximum of 20% at Rank 10.


 * Khaydarin Amulet
 * Increases maximum mana by 4% per rank, up to a maximum of 40% at Rank 10.


 * Riding Crop
 * Increases Mount Speed by 2% per rank, up to a maximum of +20% at Rank 10.


 * Wirt's Leg
 * Increases base movement speed by 0.5% per rank up to a maximum of 5% at Rank 10.