Presenting:
Better Artifacts!

This mod removes the feeling of disappointment you feel when you acquire a unique artifact that isn't very useful.
I've gone through most of the Daedric artifacts, Dragon Priest Masks and some other unique artifacts and tripled their potency. I've added a reasonable penalty to many of them. I've raised their monetary value, but some of them are unsellable now.

27 artifacts or sets were modified: Masque of Clavicus Vile, Ebony Mail, Necromancer Amulet, Ring of Namira, Savior's Hide, Shield of Ysgramor, Spellbreaker, The White Phial, Auriel's Bow, Auriel's Shield, Staff of Magnus, Volendrung, the Dragon Priest Masks, the Dragonborn Acolyte Priest Masks: Ahzidal, Dukaan and Zahkriisos, Ebony Blade, Skull of Corruption, The Gauldur Amulet, Dwarven Bow of Fate, Rueful Axe, Bloodskal Blade, Aetherial Shield, Nightingale Weapon and Armor Set plus Nightingale Powers, Mace of Molag Bal, Sanguine Rose, Dawnbreaker, Wabbajack, Wuuthrad




1. Masque of Clavicus Vile

The masque is already pretty good, but I raised the Speech boost from 10 to 30, increased the weight (very heavy now) and now it can be tempered with Daedric smithing. Its stats are the same as a Daedric Helmet, but much heavier.




2. Ebony Mail

Boethiah really outdid themself with this powerhouse. Armor stats changed to match Daedric Armor, but much heavier (suffer, mortal!). Can be tempered with Daedric smithing. That Poison Cloak ability does 15 damage/sec instead of 5.





3. Necromancer Amulet

I love this one. Mannimarco's tool for advanced necromancy has fallen into your hands. Like Callixto said, most people won't recognize the value of it. I changed the Amulet by editing its description, and completely changed the enchantment on the amulet.
Old Enchantment: Conjuration spells 25% cheaper to cast, Magicka fortified by 50, Health and Stamina Regen reduced by 75%.
Weakness, thy name is Necromancer Amulet.

New Enchantment: My mod restores the Necromancer Amulet to its former lore-based glory.

Conjuration is fortified by 12.
Alchemy and Enchanting are fortified by 3.
Spell Absorb 5%.
Magicka is fortified by 30.
Stamina Regen is reduced by a lot.
Total Health and Stamina is reduced by 40 (ouch).
Health regeneration is greatly increased.

Not bad, right? A nasty penalty, an underwhelming buff, and an interesting change to PC health and stamina. This amulet punishes you for wearing it.

These effects intensify when the player unlocks the Conjuration Expert Perk!
Hot dog! This is a fun amulet! With Conjuration Expert, the effects of the Necromancer Amulet are:

Fortify Conjuration 60.
Fortify Alchemy and Enchanting 15.
Absorb Spell 25.
Magicka is fortified by 200.
Stamina Regen is reduced by a lot.
Total Health and Stamina is reduced by 120 (try not to die!).
Health regeneration is cranked way up.

WARNING! This amulet can kill you. A Health reduction of 120 could instantly kill some characters. If your character's total health is 120 or lower and you are wearing this amulet, you will drop dead the moment you reach Conjuration skill level 75. I originally included a requirement that the PC's health must be at least 150 for the amulet to activate, but I removed it. Tell me what you think; maybe I'll put it back. I also wanted to include an armor rating boost or an armor spell or something, but I couldn't figure that out.

Extra bonus feature: The Blessing of Arkay will nullify the Necromancer Amulet's power. Arkay won't allow that kind of soul-bending magic. That's why Mannimarco and Arkay don't get along.






4. Ring of Namira

One of the lesser Daedric artifacts, the Ring of Namira is fine as is. I raised the duration of Namira's Blessing from 5 to 30 mins.
I added a requirement to the enchantment and to the spell effects: it only works while you are not effected by Arkay's Blessing.





5. Savior's Hide

Hircine granted a mysterious pelt to someone who escaped his Hunting Grounds, probably as an afterthought. He didn't expect anyone to survive, and had to improvise a crappy daedric artifact on the spot to reward some poor bloke. Aforementioned bloke then fashioned the pelt into some decent leather-class light armor and had the local wizard enchant it with protection magic.

The Savior's Hide is a good candidate for ability tripling.
Resist Magic 45%
150 points of Resist Poison.
I removed the Ebony smithing keyword for tempering. Its daedric smithing now, baby!
The penalty for wearing The Savior's Hide is that you are wearing an ancient pelt. It smells musty, and it's equivalent to leather armor.





6. Shield of Ysgramor

Vanilla version is equal to an Orc shield and a little lighter. I'm satisfied. I'll keep the shield vanilla and triple the enchantment on it.
Resist Magic 60%
Fortify Health 60 points





7. Spellbreaker

My favorite daedric item, it's already the best shield in the world. I put the daedric smithing perk keyword on it and tripled the ward enchantment's potency.





8. The White Phial

Whichever potion type you choose to fill it with will be endlessly replenished. Thank Julianos that a professional Alchemist is offering to fill it up for me.

"I want to strengthen my magical skills"
Five minutes of Fortify Magicka 80 and fortify magicka regen 5%

"I want to deal more damage in battle"
Five minutes of Fortify One & Two handed weapons 50

"I want to be better hidden in the shadows"
Five minutes of Fortify Sneak and Pickpocket 50

"I want to be tougher in battle"
Five minutes of Fortify Stamina 80 and fortify stamina regen 15%

"I want to resist the forces of magic"
Five minutes of Resist Magic 60

"I'd like it to have the power of healing"
Five minutes of fortify health regen 50% and 100 points of healing






9. Auriel's Bow

This bow was made by an Aedra's father, who was also himself, or something. Basically, its the token of Anui-El, the karmic antithesis of Sithis.
See: Sithis Antithesis Theory, the Theorhetorically Antithetical Theory of Sithis.

The bow is in the Nordic class, with exceptionally high crit damage. I changed it to Daedric stats, leaving the high crit damage untouched. Added daedric smithing keyword as well. Its faster now, so you can unleash the wrath of heaven on some poor fools.

It also now has unlimited charges.






10. Auriel's Shield

Just like the bow, I've raised the stats up to Daedric levels and added the daedric smithing keyword.
I don't want to have to choose between fun enchantments and the superior gear I can make at a forge for myself.






11. Staff of Magnus

A really cool idea, it absorbs magicka at 20/sec until the target is down to 1 point, then begins to absorb health at 20/sec. Interesting and somewhat useful, its mid-range attack has more reach than most other concentration spells.
I increased the Absorb Health effect to 100/sec. If you've drained them of all magicka at 20/sec during the heat of battle, you've earned it.
I raised the base value and refigured the charge:effect ratio. It now holds 170 charges, but has an enormous gas tank.
Also updated the description to reflect the new spell.





12. Volendrung

It weighs a lot more now. Its stupid how heavy it is: 43. That's 13 higher than the ebony warhammer, to which this weapon is comparable.
I added the daedric smithing keyword for tempering.
Raised the stagger rate by 0.1.
Volendrung now has unlimited charges.
To the enchantment of Absorb Stamina 50, I added Absorb Health 20 and Paralyze 5 seconds. Welcome back, Volendrung.
FrankFamily suggested I do a "stone" shader effect on paralyze, and I like it a lot. I removed some of the script effects from the Absorb Health and Stamina on Volendrung, as well as the paralyze "green flash" to make it look cooler and less distracting. I didn't want to lose the "red and green flecks floating from the target to the player" effect, but it was necessary. You are still absorbing health and stamina, I assure you.





13. Dragon Priest Masks

I just had fun with these. I think you'll like them. I only edited the enchantments on the masks.

Hevnoraak (Iron)

Resist Disease 100
Resist Poison 100
Stamina Regen +20%
Fortify Heavy Armor 20
Shout Cooldown -20%


Krosis (Bronze)

Fortify Marksman 60
Shout Cooldown -20%


Morokei (Moonstone)

Magicka Regen +100%
Fortify Light Armor 50
Shout Cooldown -20%


Nahkriin (Ebony)

Fortify Magicka 100
Fortify Destruction 20
Fortify Restoration 20
Shout Cooldown -20%


Otar (Marble)

Resist Shock 50
Resist Fire 50
Resist Frost 50
Health Regen +50%
Shout Cooldown -20%


Rahgot (Orichalcum)

Fortify Stamina 200
Fortify Health 100
Shout Cooldown -20%


Vokun (Steel)

Fortify Conjuration 30
Fortify Illusion 30
Fortify Alteration 30
Fortify Restoration 30
Fortify Destruction 30
Shout Cooldown -20%


Volsung (Corundum)

Fortify Block 50
Shout Cooldown -40%






14. Ahzidal, Dukaan and Zahkriisos

Dragonborn adds three new dragon priest masks. I increased the elemental resistence on their enchantments, added Fortify Shout Time 20% and removed their armor rating, armor designation and armor keywords, replacing them with 'clothing hair' and 'clothing circlet' keywords.
Now the Mage Armor perk will function while wearing these mage-oriented masks.

I also changed the tempering recipe 'Workbench keyword' to 'NONE'.






15. Ebony Blade

I raised the weight to uncomfortable levels and slowed the speed way down (its a little faster than a warhammer). Changed reach and stagger to match regular greatswords. It has low damage, no crit damage and can't be tempered; I left those qualities untouched. The Absorb Health enchantment, which grows as you complete the daedric quest, now starts at 2 points and grows to 50 points. Vanilla started and 10 and grew to 30.






16. Skull of Corruption

It really should have an evil clone spell, but it doesn't.

I just tripled the magnitude and area of effect for this artifact. Its likely to hit a lot of people now, and it drains 1 dream for every target struck. You'll drain it of dreams much faster now. It has unlimited enchantment charges, though. Its good at killing big groups of targets, so murdering that nerd for Vaermina is now worthwhile.






17. Gauldur Amulet

This could've been just another weak artifact in Skyrim, but they just had to make such a big deal about how powerful it is. I had to make this amulet stronger because it was so weak it was immersion-breaking.
It was split into 3 pieces and sealed away, guarded by its draugerfied usurpers. People died to hide it, people died to find it, and apparently a lot of people died because it was used long ago. seems to me that it should boost magicka a whole lot in order to justify such a fuss.

I didn't mess with the fragments, but the united amulet is much stronger.

Fortify Health 60
Fortify Magicka 120
Fortify Stamina 30
Fortify Carry Weight 15






18. Dwarven Bow of Fate

I like fun, unique enchantments. I just want them to be strong.
This bow is slightly stronger than Dwarven, which is pretty bad. Its enchantment does 3 separate 50% chances to absorb 25 Health, Magicka or Stamina (that's one chance for each stat, if I'm being confusing. A one-in-eight chance of getting all three in one shot!)

I increased the power to:
50% chance to Absorb 50 Health
50% chance to Absorb 100 Magicka
50% chance to Absorb 200 Stamina






19. Rueful Axe

I want this weapon to be a viable alternative to Vile's Masque, instead of something you hold for a while before getting the good thing. If you choose the axe, its a whole unique quest ending with dialogue and everything. Let's make that axe worthwhile!

First of all, the stats are odd. Its extremely light, and the slowest melee weapon in the game. This doesn't jive with me. Since its slightly weaker than an Ebony Battleaxe, I'll make it slightly heavier than one, too.

Secondly, it doesn't do anything special against werewolves, which I thought was odd. I added the same script that silver swords have. It gives the player a hidden perk while equipped that deals 20 extra damage to undead and werewolves, and I believe vampires have been added to that list by the unoffical patch. I also changed the tempering recipe to be tempered with silver now. Its silver now, ok? Deal with it. Benefits from Daedric Smithing perk.

The enchantment, a lackluster damage stamina 20, has been upgraded to a thrilling Absorb Stamina 20, and the axe now has unlimited charges, like some kind of freak. Its still the slowest weapon in the game, possibly the universe.






20. Bloodskal Blade

Bethesda must've held a focus group to ask five-year-olds what skyrim was missing. They said, "A sword that shoots energy beams!"

Its a pretty cool looking effect, and I'd like to use it as a part of an advanced magical arsenal. I just needed to make it stronger...

This sword has a few different things going on.

The "Red Glow" effect, which does... something... now has added to it a medium strength Frost Damage enchantment because lore, apparently.
The energy waves that are emmitted during a power attack have two forms: horizontal and vertical waves. Horizontal is 90, vertical is 120 damage. Unleash the brave reckless gods within!

This sword is of silver make. It follows that someone like me is going to add the SilverSwordScript to it so that it can do extra damage to those weak to silver. And so i did.






21. Aetherial Shield

I've never picked this shield, but it seems interesting. The bash does high level calm and fear in addition to etherializing the target. Other than that, its just a dumb dwemer shield.

I made it as light as a bonemold shield and as tough as an orcish shield. It benefits from Dwarven smithing perk.






22. Nightingale Weapon and Armor Set

Hey, did you know that if you get the Nightingale gear too early in the game you only get a low-level version of its enchantments? That's dumb. I raised all the lower level versions of the enchantments to be just as strong as the high-level version, plus boosted its Fortify Stamina and Fortify Illusion effects to be much stronger.
That's Fortify Stamina 60 and Fortify Illusion 30. Everything else is vanilla for level 32, no matter what level you are!
Also, the cuirass wasn't on par with the rest of the set, so I improved it to match the quality of the other pieces of the set. I also added the Daedric Smithing perk to the keywords for the whole set.

Bonus feature: I've tripled the strength of each of the three special nightingale powers that Nocturnal can bestow.






23. Mace of Molag Bal

Apparently you can't have an artifact overhaul mod without tweaking this mace. Its already really awesome, but it looks like the damage magicka and damage stamina effects need to be changed to Absorb Magicka and Stamina, and the Soul Trap can be turned down to 1 second duration.

Obviously, I'm going to make it way too heavy, to punish you, and I'll slow the speed down a bit and increase the damage a tad to balance this. Also, the Mace of Molag Bal now has unlimited charges. Why not?

I added the Daedric Smithing perk keyword.






24. Sanguine Rose

A fairly handy staff, this daedric artifact summons a leveled dremora.

I tripled the duration of the spell. It also has unlimited charges.






25. Dawnbreaker

Unlimited charges. Increased base value and added Daedric Smithing keyword.






26. Wabbajack

Unlimited charges.





27. Wuuthrad

Raised "bonus damage to elves" effect from 20% to 40%.