Player guide

Artifacts in Anime Origins: Portals, Grades and What They Craft

What Anime Origins artifacts actually are, the Intact to Ascendant grade ladder, which Legend Stages drop KTR-1 and SND-1 to SND-4, the Starku and Ghost's Gunbai recipes, and the numbers we could not verify.

Checked 2026-09-16Mid-game systemsAbout 12 minutes

Quick answer

Start with this

Artifacts in Anime Origins are not equipment you wear — they are portal keys. Each artifact has a grade (Intact, Empowered, Perfected, Ascendant) and opening it sends you into a special portal run for its own drop pool. You get them from Legend Stages: Karakura Town Legend 1 drops KTR-1, and Hidden Sand Legend 1, 2 and 3 drop SND-1 through SND-4. Umbral Splinters, earned from the same clears, are spent at Robyn [Artifacts] to refine an artifact into a higher grade, which raises its signature drop chance. The materials you pull out are what craft Starku (Resurrected) and the Ghost's Gunbai.

Step by step

What to do in-game

Follow the steps in order, then use the notes below to avoid wasting limited currency or materials.

Step 1
Farm a Legend Stage for the artifact you need
Open Story, switch to the Legend Stages tab, and pick the stage that drops the artifact set you are chasing. Karakura Town Legend 1 (Hard) is the observed KTR-1 source, with a stage panel that lists up to 1x at 50%. Hidden Sand covers the SND set: Legend 1 for SND-1, Legend 2 for SND-2, and Legend 3 for SND-3 and SND-4.
Tip: Clears also pay Umbral Splinters (around 20 to 77 per clear in an observed run), so a stage you can repeat comfortably keeps funding your refines even when the artifact does not drop.
Step 2
Refine the grade before you open it
Take the artifact to Robyn [Artifacts] in the lobby, select it, and use Refine to spend Umbral Splinters on a higher grade. Higher grades raise the drop rate on that artifact's signature material — on the KTR-1 Azure Spirit Blade panel the chance climbs from 2% Intact to 10% Ascendant.
Tip: Refine the artifact whose material you actually need, not the one with the biggest number. An Ascendant artifact for a recipe you already finished is wasted Splinters.
Step 3
Open the portal and claim from the shared pool
Press Enter on the artifact to open its portal run. Community narration describes artifacts as portals rather than gear, and a later playtest-era recording described portal rewards being shared across the party — each carrying player picks from the pooled drops, so a teammate's roll can be better than yours.
Tip: The same playtest recording said joining someone else's portal requires carrying the same artifact type. Treat that as reported, not a permanent rule, and check the portal prompt in your own client.
Step 4
Spend the materials at Kanna [Crafting]
The drops feed the Crafting NPC. Starku (Resurrected) was observed needing Azure Spirit Blade from KTR-1, Lone Wolf Eyepatch from KTR-2 and Wolf Spirit Pistols (White) from KTR-3, plus a 1,500 Gold fee. The Ghost's Gunbai was observed needing Gunbai Staff from SND-1, Gunbai Base from SND-2 and Gunbai Bandage from SND-3, also at 1,500 Gold.
Tip: Check the crafting panel before you spend Splinters. If the recipe wants a material you already own, refining that artifact is the shortest path.

How it works

The details that change your decision

Artifacts are portal keys, not equipment

The most common misunderstanding is that artifacts are gear you equip. They are not. The in-game artifact NPC exposes an Enter action rather than an equip slot, and the observed update-log text describes them as items used to open special portals: you discover artifacts while playing, use them to open portals, and complete those portals to earn drops.

That distinction matters for planning. A new artifact is a run you can do and a drop pool you can unlock, not a stat you add to a unit. Your upgrade path is therefore about how many artifacts you can open and at what grade, not about which artifact sits on which character.

The grade ladder and what refining actually buys

Each artifact sits in one of four grades: Intact, Empowered, Perfected and Ascendant. Umbral Splinters, earned from Legend Stage clears, are spent at the artifact NPC to refine a grade upward. The observed effect is not cosmetic — it raises the chance that the artifact's signature material drops.

On the KTR-1 panel the Azure Spirit Blade chance read 2% at Intact, 4% at Empowered, 6% at Perfected and 10% at Ascendant. Treat that 2/4/6/10 ladder as the pattern rather than a universal constant: we saw one item's panel, not every artifact in the set.

We did not see the Splinter cost of each refine step. Do not assume a flat price per grade — open the Refine prompt and read the cost before you commit a stack.

Which Legend Stage drops which artifact

Karakura Town Legend 1 (Hard) is the observed KTR-1 source, with a listed up-to-1x, 50% stage drop. Hidden Sand carries the SND set: Legend 1 for SND-1, Legend 2 for SND-2, and Legend 3 for both SND-3 and SND-4.

One gap stayed open: the artifact pack in the store contains KTR-1 through KTR-3 and SND-1 through SND-4, but no stage in the observed listing showed where KTR-4 comes from. If you are hunting KTR-4, read the stage drop panels rather than trusting a list, including ours.

Stage drop chances are patch-sensitive. The Legend panel is the authority for your build; this page records what one publicly reviewed session — recorded 2026-08-16, reviewed 2026-09-13 — showed at the time.

What the artifact materials craft

The observed recipes are the reason to farm these sets. Starku (Resurrected) consumes the KTR materials — Azure Spirit Blade, Lone Wolf Eyepatch and Wolf Spirit Pistols (White) — with a 1,500 Gold fee. The Ghost's Gunbai consumes the SND materials — Gunbai Staff, Gunbai Base and Gunbai Bandage — also at 1,500 Gold.

The creator in the reviewed session speculated that the Ghost's Gunbai feeds a Madara-related unlock and evolution path. That was narration, not a panel. Our unit pages track what is actually verified about the Secret and event units, so check the Starku page and the evolution guide before you assume what the Gunbai is for.

The Artifact Collector Pack, and the Robux question

The store listed an Artifact Collector Pack at 1,299 Robux with a one-time purchase limit, bundling 10,000 Umbral Splinters with 5x of each KTR-1 to KTR-3 and SND-1 to SND-4.

That is a shortcut, not a requirement. Every material in the bundle is farmable from Legend Stages you can already run, and Umbral Splinters drop from the clears themselves. If your only goal is the Starku or Gunbai recipe, compare the pack against the runs you can actually clear before spending.

What we could not verify

Three things stayed open in this pass. First, the Splinter cost of each refine step. Second, the KTR-4 source. Third, the portal run itself — the reviewed session opened artifacts but did not show the portal combat, so we publish no difficulty, reward or pity claim for it.

A post-launch walkthrough recorded 2026-08-20 shows the Madara quest item set in detail: the grade ladder raises the Madara's Tablet drop chance on SND-4, and the Ghost's Gunbai is the item that opens the Madara trial. The per-grade rates and the full quest checklist now live on the Madara unit guide, which also records what is still unverified — read the artifact panel in your own client before trusting any published percentage.

Watch it played

Community video walkthroughs

Community walkthroughs this guide cites, embedded so you can watch the same session without leaving the page.

*ULTIMATE* ARTIFACTS GUIDE AND MACRO FARM! ANIME ORIGINS!!! — The source for the artifact grades, the 2/4/6/10 drop ladder, the Legend Stage drop list and both crafting recipes (published August 2026, reviewed 2026-09-13). We cite its artifact panels only — macro and automation setup in the video is not something this site publishes or recommends.

If you're stuck

Check these before retrying

The artifact does not appear at Robyn [Artifacts]

Artifacts come from Legend Stage clears. Confirm you are looking at the Legend Stages tab inside Story, not the normal stage list, and that the artifact actually dropped — a clear pays Splinters even when no artifact drops.

Refine is greyed out or does nothing

Refine consumes Umbral Splinters. Check your Splinter balance on the same panel and confirm you have not already pushed that artifact to the top grade.

You have the artifact but cannot make the recipe

Recipes need the full material set plus a Gold fee. Compare the crafting panel requirement list against your inventory item by item — the missing piece is usually a second artifact's material, not Gold.

You cannot join another player's artifact portal

A playtest-era recording reported that portal entry needs the same artifact type as the host. Open the portal prompt and read the requirement for your build instead of assuming the rule is unchanged.

Common mistakes

Fix these before trying again

Treating artifacts as equipment and waiting to find the best one before opening any.

They are portal keys. Opening an Intact artifact you already own starts the drop pool now, and refining the same artifact is cheaper than waiting for a perfect one to drop.

Refining everything to Ascendant before reading the recipe.

Refine the artifact whose material your current recipe is missing. Ascendant grade on a finished recipe is Splinters you cannot spend on the next one.

Assuming the 2/4/6/10 ladder is the same on every artifact.

That ladder came from one observed panel. Check the artifact in your inventory — the per-grade chance is printed there, and it can differ by item.

Buying the Robux artifact pack as the only route to Starku.

Every bundled material drops from Legend Stages. Price the pack against the runs you can already clear, and remember the Splinters in it only matter if you are refining.

FAQ

Common questions

Are Anime Origins artifacts equipment?

No. In the observed session artifacts open portals rather than occupying an equip slot, and the update log describes them as items used to open special portals for drops. They function as keys with a grade.

What are the artifact grades in Anime Origins?

Intact, Empowered, Perfected and Ascendant, in that order. Umbral Splinters are spent at Robyn [Artifacts] to refine an artifact into the next grade, which raises its signature drop chance.

Where do I get artifacts in Anime Origins?

Legend Stages inside Story. Karakura Town Legend 1 (Hard) is the observed KTR-1 source; Hidden Sand Legend 1, 2 and 3 carry SND-1 through SND-4. The stage drop panel is the authority for your build.

What is Umbral Splinters used for?

Refining artifacts. They drop from Legend Stage clears, and the store pack also bundles 10,000 of them. The exact Splinter cost per refine step was not shown in the reviewed session.

What does the Ghost's Gunbai do?

The recipe consumes Gunbai Staff (SND-1), Gunbai Base (SND-2) and Gunbai Bandage (SND-3). Its purpose is now confirmed rather than speculative: using the crafted Gunbai from your inventory opens The Warring Ghost trial, and its Key of the Ghost reward reads “Used to unlock Madara. The first clear is guaranteed.” The fee is the one field we cannot settle — a 2026-08-20 walkthrough showed $5,000 at the station it labels Karisa – Crafting, which this page's artifact session recorded as Kanna [Crafting] and a lower Gold fee. Go by the recipe name and read the panel on your build.

Is there an artifact calculator for Anime Origins?

Not from us. A per-artifact calculator would need the refine cost per grade and the portal reward table, and neither was visible in the reviewed source. Until then the drop percentages are printed on each artifact panel in game.

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