What the game says, what really changes when you play, and the code to unlock it. Steam says 36.3% of players have it.

Artifact of Honor
Game text: «Enemies can only spawn as elites.»
Every monster spawns as an elite, but with less health and damage than a normal elite and without the extra gold. Rare elites (Celestine, Malachite, Perfected) still need their difficulty.
For items that trigger on elite kills (Brainstalks, Wake of Vultures) and the elite-kill challenge. Long runs get very hard: ice and Malachite elites stack up.
It is in the base game. 36.3% of all Risk of Rain 2 players on Steam have it, from Steam's public stats on 31 October 2026.
Read top to bottom, as shown here: three rows of three shapes. Each slot on the generator changes shape when pressed, in this order: square ■, circle ●, triangle ▲, diamond ♦.
In co-op, the group can enable any artifact that any player has unlocked. Artifacts are chosen in the menu before the run starts.
Enter its code (■■■ / ■▲■ / ■■■) in the Compound Generator on Sky Meadow or Helminth Hatchery, use the laptop and beat the Bulwark's Ambry trial: take the key and break the reliquary.
Every monster spawns as an elite, but with less health and damage than a normal elite and without the extra gold. Rare elites (Celestine, Malachite, Perfected) still need their difficulty. For items that trigger on elite kills (Brainstalks, Wake of Vultures) and the elite-kill challenge. Long runs get very hard: ice and Malachite elites stack up.
36.3% of all Risk of Rain 2 players on Steam have it, from Steam's public stats on 31 October 2026.
Sources: the game's English text (artifact name and description), the Risk of Rain 2 wiki (riskofrain2.wiki.gg: the Artifacts page and this artifact's page, read on 31 October 2026; code, Compound Generator and Bulwark's Ambry) and public Steam stats. The plain-words text is ours. Icons: Risk of Rain 2 (Hopoo Games / Gearbox).