The Daedric Artifacts, creations beyond mortal comprehension, that have both aided and hindered heroes and vanillas alike across the ages. Across the Elder Scrolls series, these artifacts were always sought after as some of the best equipment you can find in the game world, with powerful effects to help you in your journey. Sadly, in our beloved Skyrim, many of these artifacts come up short, often being outclassed by random loot you can find just by being at a high level. There's plenty of artifact mods out there that try and rectify this, however, they typically end up being horrifically overpowered, or change the artifact into something completely different then what Skyrim presents it as.

Unsatisfied with the other mods out on the market that make changes to these beloved items, I decided I'd go ahead and make my own.













Azura's Star and the Black Star

• Increased value
  

Nothing was really needed for these two artifacts. They actually did their job well from the get go. So, I just made them worth significantly more, like the gem that can hold the soul of Vivec should.



Dawnbreaker

• Based damage up to 14, now daedric quality.
• Fire enchantment up to 30, the highest you can find in leveled loot
  

• Meridia's Retribution now deals slightly more damage, and effects undead up to 60
  

Ah Dawnbreaker, a well loved sword for its beauty, this blade can be obtained rather early, but the lackluster enchantment and base damage means most weapons outpace it in the endgame. Now, it has the power to match its shine, so you can lead the charge against the undead with no better weapon at your side.


Masque of Clavicus Vile

• Fortify Barter increased to 30
• Increased Magicka Regeneration effect increased to 25%
  

Did you know the Masque had Increased Magicka Regeneration? Yeah, I didn't either. It was 5% in vanilla. So, we kicked that up a notch so it actually has a reason to exist, and increased the barter effect to 30, so it reins king as the best item to use for buying and selling in the game.


The Ebony Mail

• Increased armor rating to 49, now on part with a daedric cuirass
• Poison cloak damage increased to 10 points per second
  

The Ebony Mail has is now on par with daedric armor, most other relics have been buffed to. Also, the unique poison cloak effect does more damage, meaning it'll have more of an impact in battle. The armor is already completely muffled, so you can sneak in it like you're wearing nothing at all! Nothing at all! Nothing at all!


The Rueful Axe

• Increased swing speed to be on par with other two handed axes
• Damage increased to 27, daedric quality
• Stamina damage now 30
  

Wow. This weapon was a sin against Todd in the vanilla game. Why you would keep it over the Masque is beyond me. Now, the slowest weapon in the game can actually preform, with higher damage, a swing speed that won't take four years to connect, and the highest stamina damage you can normally find.


Savior's Hide

• Resist Magic effect now 25%
• Resist Poison effect now 100%
• Armor rating up to 38, on par with glass armor
  

Another artifact that seems nice in theory, but simply lacks to the kind of things you can easily create yourself, or even find in random loot. Some minor buffs is all it takes to make it shine as a worthy relic to those who have slain a werewolf.


Volendrung

• Base Damage up to 31, daedric quality
• Added Paralysis for 3 seconds
  

The Hammer of Might! In previous Elder Scrolls games, this artifact had the ability to paralysis targets once hit, and now this ability has been restored! With higher base damage, you're ready to go and smite the enemies of the walking turd Daedric Prince!


The Ebony Blade

• Base damage now 23, daedric quality
• Speed is the same as a one handed mace
  

The Ebony Blade was largely fixed thanks to the unofficial patch, with proper tempering recipes and the like. However, the blade could still be improved, so I made the base damage in line with the rest of my artifacts. The health drain at full strength is already higher then anything you can find in leveled loot, so it was left alone. Looking at the bugged nature of this weapon, where in vanilla it had the swing speed of a one handed sword, I decided to strike a middle ground between that, and the changes made to it in the unofficial patch. It swings faster then any two handed weapon, but not as fast as the first bugged incarnation.


Mace of Molag Bal

• Stamina damage is now 30
• Magicka damage is now 30
  

Not much to be said here. The enchantments were increased to be the highest you could find in random loot. Not much else was needed for this baby, so go forth and dominate for Molag Bal!


Ring of Namira

• Stamina enchantment now 70
  

The ring's unique effect was left untouched, to prevent any negative interactions that might happen with mods that use it, like Wintersun.


Spellbreaker

• Ward effect has been increased to 100 points, double what it had originally.
  

The ward on the original shield was hardly better then a lesser ward used by a novice mage, so it has an increased buff to block all but the strongest spells. The defense of the shield is actually higher then a daedric shield, but I'm not about to go nerfing things in my buffing mod, so I left it as is.


Sanguine's Rose

• Summon duration increased to 5 minutes
  

The Rose has always just summoned dremora in the past, so I left it alone for the most part. Dremora summoned will last much longer now, which makes up for the low level of charges in the staff.


Skull of Corruption

• Without dreams, damage to the target is now 40 points. With dreams, the target now takes 100 points.
• Targets hit directly with a dream fed staff run in fear
  

Possibly the largest buff of any artifact in this overhaul, the skull of Corruption now does double the damage what it did originally, along with causing fear in targets when it has been fed with dreams. This staff requires you to kill one of the best followers in the vanilla game, and manage a secondary ammo type. for this reason, the staff should have a powerful effect.


And all the rest

Any artifact NOT mentioned above has been left untouched, due to believing they were perfectly fine and unique in vanilla already. Although, for those that have perk overhauls, I do recommend Zim's Oghma, as it does allow you to use Dragon Souls to gain perk points.


And that's it! Hopefully you find these changes make more of these highly sought after artifacts desirable to use instead of sitting on a shelf. Please enjoy, and tell your friends!