Best Artifacts in Control Resonant: 3 Picks for Every Stage

Best Artifact loadouts

Stage	Slot 1	Slot 2	Slot 3	Why
Learning (early game)	Heart Monitor	Worn Eraser	1996 Commemorative Coin	A spare life, status resistance and stronger heals while you learn dodge timing
Damage (mid to late game)	Brass Dusters	Pickpocket’s Tool	Amulet	Big ability damage, free abilities after Perfect Dodges, more melee crits
Safe damage	Trusted Spanner	Amulet	Stellar Bracelet	More damage with no Falter penalty, plus Health back when your Shield breaks
New Game+ (4 slots)	Brass Dusters	Pickpocket’s Tool	Amulet	Fourth slot: a defensive pick such as Heart Monitor or Worn Eraser

The first two rows are the loadouts AllThings.How recommends; the safe-damage row is our own combination of picks the guides rate without drawbacks. No guide claims one set suits every build, and swaps cost nothing, so change loadouts for the zone you are in — Lighter for Burn-heavy fights, Face Mask against the Mold’s Infected status.

Top Artifacts: effects and crafting costs

Artifact	Effect	Drawback	Crafting cost
Amulet	+5% Critical Chance on melee attacks	None	150 Source, 3 Odd Echo
Heart Monitor	Prevents one death and restores 20% Health	Breaks when it triggers	350 Source, 7 Mourning Echo
Pickpocket’s Tool	Next Combat Ability after a Perfect Dodge costs no Power	Needs Perfect Dodges	350 Source, 7 Violent Echo
Brass Dusters	Combat Abilities deal +50% Raw Damage	Combat Abilities lose all Falter	750 Source, 8 Edible Glob, 5 Violent Echo
Worn Eraser	Resistance to all negative status effects	None	750 Source, 8 Ordered Image, 5 Odd Echo
Stellar Bracelet	Restores Health when damage breaks your Shield	Not when you drop the Shield yourself	750 Source, 8 Corrupted Element, 5 Nostalgic Echo
1996 Commemorative Coin	Health Elements restore more Health	None	1,000 Source, 10 Ordered Image, 7 Panicked Echo
Wallet	Abilities spend Health when you are out of Power	Stops at 5% Health	250 Source, 5 Nostalgic Echo
Badge 11-60	Much less damage from environmental hazards	Situational	250 Source, 5 Quiet Echo
Lighter	Burn resistance	Situational	150 Source, 3 Quiet Echo
Face Mask	Infected resistance	Situational	150 Source, 3 Mourning Echo

Costs are from AllThings.How and match GAMES.GG. Heart Monitor is single-use insurance: it breaks when it saves you, so you have to craft it again — which needs another Untapped copy.

Wallet users: Hotfix 1.4.2 (October 8, 2026) reduced the excessive Burn damage Dylan took while Wallet was spending Health with no Power left. See the 1.4.2 patch notes.

High-risk Artifacts

Several Artifacts trade one stat for another. They are strong in the right build and a trap in the wrong one (effects from Gamer.org):

Whetstone: +20% damage, −20% Falter. Reward from A New Directive.
Golden Earrings: +20% Falter, −30% damage. For stagger builds only.
Framing Hammer: Combat Abilities deal +30% Falter but no damage at all.
Ornate Buckle: Executions restore a lot of Power, but you take 30% more damage.
Bout Guard: +50% Power recovery, +20% damage taken.
Molding Bar: immunity to Infected and bonuses against the Mold, but maximum Health is capped at 50%.
Mother’s Locket / Medical Alert Bands: +25% damage or +25% Falter, only below 25% Health.

One rule limits stacking: Artifacts from the same family cannot be equipped together. The guides we checked do not publish the family list, so if an Artifact will not equip, look for a clash with one already slotted.

Where the Untapped Artifacts come from

Every Artifact starts as an Untapped item, which is its recipe. Gamer.org lists where each one comes from; these are the ones worth planning around:

Artifact	Source
Amulet	Defeat the West Incursion Zone Resonant
1996 Commemorative Coin	Defeat the Unknown Resonant (the Co-Director) — Unknown guide
Golden Earrings	Defeat the Underpass Resonant
Lighter	Defeat the Central Resonant
Face Mask	Defeat The Park Resonant
Worn Eraser	Defeat the final story boss
Heart Monitor	Complete Urban Survival
Trusted Spanner	Complete Every Dog Has Her Day — dog toy locations
Whetstone	Complete A New Directive — walkthrough
Shiny Pebble	Complete Freeze Frame — camera locations
Novelty Magnet	High score on the SHÜM cabinet in Dylan’s Apartment — arcade guide
Pickpocket’s Tool	Pre-order bonus — pre-order guide
Wallet	Digital Deluxe Edition — Deluxe guide
Spray Paint, Stellar Bracelet and others	Zone vendors (West Incursion and Central respectively)

Sources are from a single guide (Gamer.org) and some entries there were still marked TBA, including Brass Dusters. Gamer.org also calls the pre-order Artifact “Lockpick’s Tool”; Remedy’s store pages and other guides call it the Pickpocket’s Tool.

How crafting and slots work

Where: the Artifact Formation station in the Gap. Press L1 on controller (F on PC) at the prompt.
Cost: Source plus zone materials (Echoes, Ordered Image, Edible Glob and so on). The Untapped item is consumed.
Recycling: returns materials, but not the Untapped item — think before scrapping a one-off like Heart Monitor.
Slots: three on a first playthrough, four in New Game+. Update 1.4.0 lets you run NG+ as many times as you like.

Best Artifacts FAQ

What are the best Artifacts in Control Resonant? There is no single best set, but the guides converge on two loadouts. While learning the combat: Heart Monitor, Worn Eraser and 1996 Commemorative Coin. Once enemies get tough: Brass Dusters, Pickpocket’s Tool and Amulet. Amulet (+5% melee crit) is the one pick that stays useful all game.

How many Artifact slots do you get? Three on a first playthrough. New Game+ adds a fourth slot. You cannot equip two Artifacts from the same family at once.

How do you craft Artifacts in Control Resonant? Find the Untapped version of an Artifact in the world or as a quest or boss reward, then craft it at the Artifact Formation station in the Gap using Source and Echo materials. The Untapped item is consumed. Recycling an Artifact returns materials but not the Untapped item.

Is Brass Dusters worth it? For an offense-first build, yes: it adds +50% Raw Damage to Combat Abilities but removes their Falter, so you lose the stagger those abilities would cause. If you rely on breaking posture, Trusted Spanner (+15% Raw, no drawback) is the safer damage pick.

Why did I not get the Trusted Spanner from the dog quest? A bug stopped Every Dog Has Her Day from awarding its Artifact. Hotfix 1.4.2 (October 8, 2026) fixed it and grants it retroactively on saves that have not entered New Game+.