Bulwark's Ambry and the artifacts in Risk of Rain 2: how to get there, step by step

// what it is

What it is.

Bulwark's Ambry and the artifacts

Artifacts change the rules of the run (choose your items, enemies drop items, a single enemy type...). Each one is unlocked with a 9-shape code at the Compound Generator and a trial in Bulwark's Ambry. 31.8% of Steam players have Command; every artifact has its own page with its code.

// what you need

What you need.

Reaching stage 5: Sky Meadow (or Helminth Hatchery).
The artifact's code: all of them are in the artifacts guide. In the game they are carved on stone tablets hidden around the maps, but you do not need to find them.
Surviving the trial with the artifact already active: easy with Command; not so much with Frailty or Death.

// step by step

Step by step.

Reach Sky Meadow (stage 5). Look for a hole in the map's floor: below it is a room with the Compound Generator. On Helminth Hatchery it is at the very top.

Enter the code: nine cells in three rows. Each cell changes shape when pressed, in this order: square, circle, triangle, diamond. It reads top to bottom, as on the artifact's page.

Use the laptop next to it. If the code is right, a purple portal opens.

Go in: Bulwark's Ambry. The artifact is already active during the trial, for better or worse.

Take the Artifact Key in front of the Artifact Reliquary and use it on it. Enemies start spawning and drop more keys; you need 4, each one takes a quarter of its health. Only keys hurt the sphere.

Break the reliquary: the artifact is yours forever, to pick in the menu before each run. A portal to a stage 1 map appears so you can keep playing.

// what you get

What you get.

The artifact, forever, to pick in any run. In co-op, the group can enable any artifact that any player has.
One challenge per artifact (1 to 10 Lunar Coins the first time).
The run goes on: the exit portal leads to a stage 1 map with everything you carry.

// watch out

Watch out.

The Reliquary takes no normal damage: only keys count. Hitting it with everything is a waste of time.
Rebirth has no code: you get it by offering an item to the Shrine of Rebirth at the end of Prime Meridian (Seekers of the Storm).
Leaving the Ambry puts you on stage 1 of a new loop: it counts as looping.

If this helped, follow me where I post this: YouTube · Instagram · TikTok

// faq

FAQ.

Where is the Compound Generator?

On Sky Meadow (stage 5), under the map: you drop through a hole into a room with the generator and a laptop. On Helminth Hatchery it is at the very top.

How do you enter an artifact code?

Press each of the nine cells until it shows the right shape (square, circle, triangle, diamond, in that order) and use the laptop. The code reads top to bottom, row by row.

How do you break the Artifact Reliquary?

Only with keys: the first one is in front of the reliquary and the other three are dropped by the enemies that spawn. Each key takes a quarter of its health.

// more routes

The other routes.

Celestial Portal and A Moment, Fractured

The moon: the way to Mithrix

The Planetarium and the Void Locus

Eclipse, the fourth difficulty

All routes

Sources: the Risk of Rain 2 wiki (riskofrain2.wiki.gg: Bazaar Between Time, Newt Altar, Void Fields, Gilded Coast, A Moment, Fractured, Commencement, Void Locus, The Planetarium, Lunar Coins, Artifacts and Module:Environments/Data, read on 31 October 2026, the same pages used by this site's shrine, boss, Mithrix and glossary guides), the game's English text and public Steam stats as of 31 October 2026. The plain-words text is ours. Icons: Risk of Rain 2 (Hopoo Games / Gearbox).