Patch first look

May 21 Artifact First Look

Alliance Badge, Horn Flute, and Cursed Doll are the new Legendary artifacts from the 05.21 patch. This first look rates them by the content they actually point at: Chapter Boss, party content, and Arena evasion matchups.

Based on Nexon's 05.21 Patch Notes artifact screenshots only. Ratings below are practical first-look judgments, not confirmed drop-rate, uptime, stacking, or Arena matchup tests.

How to read this

Use these ratings by content, not as one global tier list.

The official stat text is enough to spot each artifact's job. It is not enough to prove every slot priority against a fully tested artifact database yet.

Official patch notes Send testing notes
On this page Official stats Artifact notes Star ratings Current comparison Testing checklist Page changelog

Official stats

The three new artifacts point at three different content roles.

Horn Flute is the standout Chapter Boss item. Alliance Badge is the party-scaling item. Cursed Doll is an Arena anti-evasion tech item for matchups where opponents lean hard into Evasion.

Horn Flute: Chapter Boss Alliance Badge: party scaling Cursed Doll: Arena anti-evasion All rankings are provisional

Artifact notes

What each new Legendary artifact appears to offer.

Alliance Badge stat screenshot

Alliance Badge

Party scaling first, solo value second.

  • Inventory Effect: Max Damage Multiplier +15%.
  • Special On-Equip: allied players' Attack +10%.
  • The party Attack effect stacks with other players who equip Alliance Badge.

First-look rating: 3/5 for 4-player content and 4/5 for Guild Raid-style large groups if the stacking works the way the patch text implies. Solo value looks low outside the inventory Max Damage Multiplier line.

Horn Flute stat screenshot

Horn Flute

The Chapter Boss standout.

  • Inventory Effect: Boss Monster Damage +15%.
  • Special On-Equip: your and your Companion's Final Damage +10% while the Companion is summoned.
  • In Chapter Boss battles, the effect applied to you is multiplied by 2.

First-look rating: 5/5 for Chapter Boss. The special line doubles the effect applied to you in Chapter Boss, so this is where Horn Flute truly shines. Treat other boss modes as separate comparisons because World Boss and raid artifacts already have content-specific effects.

Arwen's Glass Shoes companion duration screenshot
Pairing to test: Arwen's Glass Shoes The screenshot shows Companion summon duration +40%. That matters because Horn Flute only gives its Final Damage effect while your Companion is summoned.
Cursed Doll stat screenshot

Cursed Doll

Arena anti-evasion tech.

  • Inventory Effect: Accuracy +10.
  • Special On-Equip: Accuracy +15 and Final Damage +7%.
  • If the target evades, the Final Damage effect disappears for 5 sec and Accuracy is multiplied by 3.

First-look rating: 4/5 in Arena against evasion-heavy opponents. It lets you pressure Evasion players while running a more mixed damage-plus-Accuracy setup instead of going all-in on Accuracy gear.

First-look ranking

Initial star ratings by where each artifact should be tested.

Horn Flute Chapter Boss
5/5

The Chapter Boss double effect turns the personal Final Damage line from 10% into 20% while Companion is summoned.

Alliance Badge Party Quest or Boss Raid
3/5

In 4-player content, four Badge users could mean 4 x 10% Attack support, or up to 40%, if the stacking works.

Alliance Badge Guild Raid
4/5

In 10-player content, the same stacking assumption becomes 10 x 10%, or up to 100% team Attack support.

Cursed Doll Arena vs evasion
4/5

Strong into evasion-heavy opponents; much less interesting when the opponent is not trying to dodge.

Rating assumption

Alliance Badge's party math assumes each equipped Badge adds a separate 10% Attack layer to allies. That needs live party testing before it becomes a hard recommendation.

Current comparison

Compare the new artifacts against the role they are trying to replace.

The useful question is not "is this new artifact good?" It is "which existing slot does it push out for the content I am playing?"

Horn Flute For Chapter Boss, compare against boss-window and burst artifacts such as Star Rock, Candle, Book of Ancient, Bottle of Emotion, and Icy Soul Rock. Arwen's Glass Shoes is the pairing to test for longer Companion uptime.
Alliance Badge For organized groups, compare against party and raid support slots. It is more interesting in Guild Raid because the possible number of Badge layers is much higher than in 4-player content.
Cursed Doll For Arena, compare against matchup tools like Soul Pouch, Flaming Lava, Peach Tree Herb Pouch, Lunar Dew, and other pieces that punish or survive specific opponent builds.
Practical read

Horn Flute changes the Chapter Boss shortlist. Alliance Badge changes organized party math. Cursed Doll changes Arena anti-evasion loadouts by making half damage, half Accuracy setups more attractive into evasion players.

Testing checklist

The official text leaves a few important mechanics open.

  • Alliance Badge needs stack-size testing with multiple party members equipped.
  • Horn Flute needs Chapter Boss damage checks with Companion summoned and not summoned.
  • Cursed Doll needs Arena testing against evasion-heavy players and normal damage players.

Page changelog

How this page has changed.

Created from the official 05.21 Patch Notes artifact screenshots for Alliance Badge, Horn Flute, and Cursed Doll.
Refocused Horn Flute on Chapter Boss, Alliance Badge on party-size scaling, and Cursed Doll on Arena anti-evasion matchups.
Stat Prioritisation by Source Stats Information Guide Accuracy and Defense Pen Back to guide hub
Sources referenced