You finally get the Artifact main stat you were looking for in Genshin Impact.
There is just one problem.
The substats are bad.
Maybe your Elemental DMG Bonus Goblet has no CRIT stats. Maybe your Energy Recharge Sands rolled flat HP and flat DEF. Or perhaps the Artifact has the perfect main stat for your character but almost nothing else you wanted.
Should you level it anyway, or wait for a better Artifact?
The short answer is:
Yes, an Artifact with bad substats can still be worth leveling if it gives your character an important main stat, completes a useful set, or fills a slot where you do not currently have a better option.
However, you usually should not invest heavily in a mediocre Artifact when you already own strong alternatives.
The decision depends on how much the Artifact improves your build right now, how difficult it will be to replace, and how much enhancement potential it still has.
Main Stats Can Matter More Than Perfect Substats
One of the easiest Artifact mistakes is focusing so heavily on substats that you ignore the main stat.
For Sands, Goblets, and Circlets, the correct main stat can be extremely important.
Depending on the character, that might mean:
- ATK%
- HP%
- DEF%
- Energy Recharge
- Elemental Mastery
- Elemental DMG Bonus
- Physical DMG Bonus
- CRIT Rate
- CRIT DMG
- Healing Bonus
Suppose a character needs an Energy Recharge Sands to use their Elemental Burst consistently.
A Sands with the correct Energy Recharge main stat but mediocre substats may still improve the character more than an Artifact with excellent substats but the wrong main stat.
The same principle can apply to Elemental Mastery pieces, Elemental DMG Bonus Goblets, CRIT Circlets, and other build-specific main stats.
A bad-looking Artifact can still solve an important problem in your build.
Should You Level an Artifact With the Right Main Stat but Bad Substats?
Often, yes—especially if you do not have a better replacement.
Imagine you need a Hydro DMG Bonus Goblet.
You finally obtain one, but its substats are:
- Flat HP
- Flat DEF
- ATK%
That is not an exciting starting piece for many damage-focused characters.
But if your current Goblet does not have the main stat your character needs, the new piece may still be useful.
You do not have to treat it as a permanent Artifact.
You can level it, use it as a temporary piece, and replace it later when a better Goblet appears.
An imperfect Artifact that improves your character today can be more useful than a perfect Artifact you have not obtained yet.
Rare Main Stats Deserve More Patience
How difficult an Artifact is to replace should affect how strict you are about its substats.
Flowers and Plumes have fixed main stats, so you can usually afford to be more selective with them.
Sands, Goblets, and Circlets are different.
These slots have multiple possible main stats, which means obtaining the exact combination you need can take considerably longer.
This is especially important for pieces such as:
- The Elemental DMG Bonus Goblet you need
- An Elemental Mastery Goblet or Circlet for an EM-focused build
- A specific CRIT Circlet
- An Energy Recharge Sands
- Other main stats required by a particular character
If you have been waiting for a specific main stat and finally obtain it, weak starting substats do not necessarily mean you should immediately discard the piece.
Is It Worth Leveling an Artifact With No CRIT Substats?
Yes, sometimes.
CRIT Rate and CRIT DMG are valuable for many damage-focused characters, but not every useful Artifact needs to start with CRIT.
First, some characters and builds prioritize other stats.
Depending on the character, useful substats can include:
- Energy Recharge
- Elemental Mastery
- ATK%
- HP%
- DEF%
Second, an Artifact that begins with only three substats can gain a fourth substat when enhanced to +4.
That means a three-substat Artifact without CRIT may still reveal CRIT at +4.
And even if it does not, the piece can remain useful if its main stat and other stats serve the character well.
Do not use “no CRIT = bad Artifact” as a universal rule.
Should You Take a Bad Artifact to +4?
If the Artifact has a useful main stat or some remaining potential, +4 can be a reasonable testing point.
This is particularly useful for 5-star Artifacts that begin with three substats.
At +4, the fourth substat is revealed.
Suppose an Artifact starts with:
- Energy Recharge
- ATK%
- Flat HP
It may not look exceptional.
But if the main stat is exactly what you need, testing it to +4 can give you more information before you make a final decision.
If CRIT Rate or another useful stat appears, the piece becomes more promising.
If another undesirable stat appears, you can reconsider whether further investment makes sense.
The important point is:
Leveling an Artifact to +4 does not mean you have committed to taking it all the way to +20.
What If the Artifact Starts With Four Bad Substats?
This is a weaker situation because there is no new fourth substat waiting to appear at +4.
If the main stat is common, the set is easy for you to farm, and all four substats have little value for the intended character, you may have little reason to invest in the piece.
But there are still exceptions.
If the main stat is difficult to replace and you currently have no suitable alternative, the Artifact may still function as a temporary piece.
In that case, you are not leveling it because you expect amazing substats.
You are leveling it because you need the main stat.
Should You Level a Bad Elemental DMG Bonus Goblet?
This is one of the clearest situations where being flexible can make sense.
Elemental DMG Bonus Goblets have to roll the particular element you need.
If you finally obtain the correct one but the substats are mediocre, it may still be worth using.
This is especially true when:
- You have no better Goblet for that character
- The main stat significantly improves the build
- The piece allows you to maintain your desired Artifact set combination
- You need a temporary Goblet while farming for an upgrade
You can always replace it later.
Do not leave a character with a significantly worse option merely because the correct Goblet did not arrive with perfect substats.
Should You Level a Bad CRIT Circlet?
Possibly.
A CRIT Rate or CRIT DMG Circlet may solve an important stat-balance problem even when its substats are mediocre.
For example, if your character has plenty of CRIT DMG but very little CRIT Rate, a CRIT Rate Circlet may substantially improve the consistency of the build.
The ideal Circlet would also have strong substats.
But until you obtain one, a weaker Circlet with the correct main stat can still do its job.
Evaluate what the Artifact does for the complete build, not how impressive it looks by itself.
Should You Level a Bad Energy Recharge Sands?
If the character needs the Energy Recharge, it can absolutely be worthwhile.
A character that cannot use their Elemental Burst when needed may perform worse even if their Artifact screen shows stronger offensive stats elsewhere.
If an ER Sands helps the character reach the Energy Recharge they need, that can be more important than having perfect offensive substats.
Once again, this does not mean the Artifact is an ideal permanent piece.
It means it solves a current build problem.
Should You Level a Bad Elemental Mastery Artifact?
Yes, when Elemental Mastery is important to the build.
Reaction-focused characters can place very high value on EM.
For these builds, obtaining the appropriate EM main stat can matter more than getting the traditional CRIT-heavy substats associated with other damage builds.
An EM Sands, Goblet, or Circlet with mediocre substats may therefore remain useful if the character needs the main stat.
Judge the Artifact according to the build it is actually intended for.
What If the Artifact Completes a 4-Piece Set?
Set bonuses can change the decision.
Suppose you need one more Artifact to activate an important 4-piece set bonus.
The final piece has the correct main stat but poor substats.
Using it may still improve the overall build because the value of the set bonus can outweigh the weaker substats on that individual piece.
This is why evaluating Artifacts one at a time can sometimes be misleading.
Ask what happens to the entire build when you equip the piece.
If it activates an important set bonus while maintaining the stats your character needs, leveling it can make sense.
Should You Use a Better Off-Set Artifact Instead?
Sometimes.
A character does not necessarily need all five equipped Artifacts to belong to the same set when using a 4-piece set bonus.
That leaves one slot available as an off-set piece.
If your on-set Artifact has terrible substats while you own a much stronger off-set alternative, using the stronger piece may produce a better overall build.
Goblets are commonly considered for this role because obtaining the exact desired Goblet main stat from the correct set can be difficult.
Do not force every Artifact to match the set if the build does not require it.
Newer Players Should Be More Forgiving
If your Artifact collection is still developing, waiting for excellent main stats and excellent substats on every slot can slow your progress unnecessarily.
A developing character may benefit significantly from simply having:
- The correct main stats
- A useful set bonus
- Enough Energy Recharge
- Reasonably leveled Artifacts
Perfect optimization can come later.
An Artifact that an established player would immediately reject may be a major upgrade for a newer account.
Your standards should reflect what you actually own.
Established Accounts Can Be More Selective
The situation changes once your characters already have strong Artifacts.
Suppose your current Goblet already has the correct main stat and several useful substats.
A new Goblet with the same main stat but poor substats probably does not deserve much investment unless it has another compelling use.
As your Artifact collection improves, a new piece has to compete against stronger existing pieces.
That naturally raises the minimum quality required before leveling it.
This is why there is no universal rule such as:
“Every correct-main-stat Artifact should be leveled.”
For one account, it may be a major upgrade.
For another, it may be unnecessary.
Do Not Take Every Temporary Artifact to +20
Deciding that an Artifact is worth using does not automatically mean it deserves maximum investment.
If you expect to replace a mediocre Artifact relatively soon, consider whether you actually need to take it all the way to +20.
You can evaluate it at enhancement checkpoints such as:
- +4
- +8
- +12
- +16
and decide whether further investment is still useful.
A temporary Artifact may provide enough value before reaching its maximum level.
On the other hand, if the full main-stat value is important to your build and you have no idea when a replacement will appear, taking an imperfect piece further can still be reasonable.
What If the Artifact Rolls Badly After You Start Leveling It?
Then reassess it.
The fact that you decided to level an Artifact at +0 does not mean you need to finish it.
Suppose you tested a promising piece and its first several upgrades went into stats your character does not need.
Ask:
Does this Artifact still improve my build?
and:
Can the remaining upgrades realistically make it worth continuing?
If the answer becomes no, stop.
Artifact enhancement should be a series of decisions, not a single commitment made at +0.
Is Leveling a Bad Artifact a Waste of EXP?
Not necessarily.
If the Artifact allows your character to perform better while you search for a replacement, the EXP provided real value.
And if you eventually replace a leveled Artifact, it can potentially be used as enhancement material for another piece, allowing part of its invested EXP to contribute toward the next Artifact.
That does not mean enhancement is free or that all invested EXP is perfectly recovered.
It simply means that leveling a temporary Artifact is not automatically wasted investment.
The real question is whether the Artifact helps your account enough to justify the resources at the time you level it.
When Should You NOT Level an Artifact With Bad Substats?
You can usually be much more selective when:
- You already own a clearly better Artifact
- The main stat is easy for you to replace
- None of the substats help the intended character
- The Artifact does not contribute meaningfully to a set bonus
- You cannot identify a realistic character who would use it
- The piece would need several extremely lucky upgrades just to compete with your existing options
This is particularly relevant for Flowers and Plumes.
Because their main stats are fixed, you usually have less reason to invest in one with extremely poor substats once your Artifact collection is established.
A Simple Rule for Bad-Substat Artifacts
Before leveling an Artifact with weak substats, ask these five questions:
1. Does it have the main stat I actually need?
If yes, that gives the Artifact a reason to be considered.
2. How difficult will this main stat and slot be to replace?
The harder it is to replace, the more forgiving you can be.
3. Does equipping it improve my character right now?
Current improvement matters more than theoretical perfection.
4. Does it complete an important Artifact set bonus?
If yes, weak substats may be easier to accept.
5. Do I already own something better?
If yes, there may be little reason to spend EXP testing the weaker piece.
The more favorable answers you have, the more reasonable it is to level the Artifact despite its imperfect substats.
Quick Answer: Should You Level an Artifact With Bad Substats?
Yes, sometimes. An Artifact with bad substats can still be worth leveling when it has an important main stat, completes a useful set, fills a missing slot, or is difficult for your account to replace.
This is especially true for developing accounts and harder-to-replace Sands, Goblets, and Circlets.
You do not need perfect substats before an Artifact becomes useful.
At the same time, do not automatically take every correct-main-stat Artifact to +20. Test uncertain pieces at early enhancement levels and reassess them as they develop.
If you already have a clearly better alternative, you can afford to be much more selective.
The simplest rule is:
Level the Artifact when it solves a real problem in your current build—not because you are hoping bad starting stats will somehow become perfect later.
