Upgrading Artifacts to 16: What to Max and What to Sell

Taking an artifact to level 16 is not a checklist item — it is an investment that has to pay off. Every piece you max out eats a serious chunk of silver, and if it turns out to be junk you lose both the resource and the tempo. Here is the practical logic: what to push to 16, what to stop at 8–12, and what to sell on sight.

How upgrading works: levels 4, 8, 12 and 16

An artifact has a main stat that grows with every level, plus substats. The key breakpoints are 4, 8, 12 and 16: each one triggers a roll. If the piece has fewer than four substats, a new one is added; if it already has four, one random existing substat is upgraded.

• To 4 — cheap, fine for testing any promising piece.
• To 8–12 — the working level for temporary gear in early and mid game.
• To 16 — only for pieces that will stay on a champion long-term.

Cost scales non-linearly: the last few levels eat most of the silver. A single 5–6★ piece taken from zero to 16 typically costs a million silver or more, while selling it back gives next to nothing. That is why the upgrade-or-sell decision has to be made before you spend, not after.

What to take to 16

Judge three things: the slot, the main stat and the quality of the substats. The set bonus comes last — one piece with four useful substats often beats a perfect set full of dead stats.

1. Speed boots. Speed is the most valuable stat in the game: it drives damage, survivability and turn order. 5–6★ boots with a Speed main stat almost always deserve 16.
2. Crit Rate or Crit Damage gauntlets for your damage dealers. If a champion is short on Crit Rate, Crit Rate gauntlets come first — Crit Damage does nothing without crits.
3. HP% or DEF% chestplates for tanks and support; Accuracy chestplates for debuffers and control champions.
4. Accuracy banners — a core slot for anyone who lands debuffs. For most PvE content aim for roughly 200–250 Accuracy; higher floors and Hard modes want noticeably more.
5. 5–6★ epic and legendary pieces with 3–4 useful substats. Even an off-set piece is worth it when the substats are strong.

Simple rule: if you plan to wear it for months, take it to 16. If it is a one-week stopgap, level 12 is enough.

What to sell without spending silver

• Flat main stats in slots where percentages exist: gauntlets, chestplates and boots with flat HP, ATK or DEF. The exception is rings, amulets and banners, where a flat main stat is normal.
• 1–3★ pieces. Even with pretty substats they lose on base numbers.
• One useful substat out of four, especially when the rest are flat stats or Resistance.
• Sets you have no champion for. If nobody in the roster fits the set and there are no plans for one, sell it.
• Duplicates without Speed or Accuracy for PvE champions — usually dead weight.

Watch for traps: Crit Damage gauntlets with flat DEF and Resistance substats look presentable but carry no real value. A shiny main stat does not save a piece whose substats do not serve the champion's role.

The mid-level check rule

The cheapest way to avoid burning silver is to check a piece at levels 8 and 12. If both rolls went into flat stats or Resistance while you need Speed and Accuracy, sell it without going to 16. If the rolls landed on Speed and the percentages you want, the piece has earned the maximum.

On a fresh account this rule matters most: silver is tight, good gear is scarce and every mistake hurts progress. In mid game, with a steadier budget, you can afford to push a piece to 12 for the future and finish it later.

Silver: how not to burn the budget

• Upgrade gear during Artifact Enhancement events — the same spend earns you points and rewards.
• Do not level pieces just in case: the vault is finite and silver does not come back.
• Keep the flow going: silver comes from campaign, dungeons and selling junk, not from hoarding.
• Cover the key slots on your core team first — Speed, Accuracy, Crit Rate — and chase rare sets afterwards.
• Clean the inventory now and then: hundreds of useless pieces take up space and hide the good ones.

Common mistakes

1. Taking everything that dropped as 5★ or legendary to 16.
2. Ignoring Speed and Accuracy while chasing Crit Damage.
3. Hoarding dozens of almost-good pieces instead of one good one on a champion.
4. Pouring silver into a champion you will replace in a week.
5. Selling before the level 8–12 check and losing pieces that could have been strong.

Summary

Push to 16 only what will stay in your roster for a long time: Speed boots, Crit Rate or Crit Damage gauntlets, percentage stats and Accuracy on chestplates and banners, plus 5–6★ pieces with three or four working substats. Everything else is either an 8–12 stopgap or an instant sell. Silver is a limited resource, and every extra two levels on a junk piece is one good artifact missing from your future.