Filling in upper-tier artifact holes

[Sirrocco]

So, it's been noted that there are some artifact effects that are, for whatever reason, really very important to at least a few builds, that are only available at lower levels - meaning that if you don't luck into it by lvl 20, you're just out of luck. This seems poor, so I'm throwing together this thread to try to identify which ones they are, and what purposes they serve, and then maybe solicit some ideas for higher-tier artifacts that, while interesting and distinct in their own way, fill those same holes.

The ones I know about

- Spellhunt remnants: sustain-stripping that's available to AM characters (special case, because it grows, but it still stops being available relatively early on).
- Girdle of Calm Waters: I've seen this in the belt slot on a winning character. Can someone provide clarification?

What else is out there? What T1 artifacts are there out there that seem mandatory or nearly so to some of your builds, even into endgame, and why?

Also, if someone brings one up on this discussion, and you happen to know of a higher-tier artifact that does the same job, then please do let us know.

Edit: fixed incorrect belt name

[Parcae2]

Blood of Life. Yes, Ring of the Dead is similar, but they're cumulative, so ...

(The logic of this discussion makes me think that maybe Blood of Life should be an item instead of a consumable).

With Spellhunt Remnants, by the way, my suggestion would be to make them a T4 item. They're pretty useless until T5 anyway.

Withering Orbs.

Wintertide Phial.

Wrap of Stone.

I'll edit this post if I remember more.

[Doctornull]

With Spellhunt Remnants, by the way, my suggestion would be to make them a T4 item. They're pretty useless until T5

Even for Brawlers?

I feel otherwise, but I'm open to arguments.

[Orangeflame]

I do really like the Girdle of the Calm Waters, but it isn't the best artifact belt out there.
Girdle of Preservation (T5) and Neira's Memory (T3, for non-AM) are both generally better than the Girdle of Calm Waters, but they are much rarer finds. I usually never find the Girdle of Preservation, and my odds for Neira's Memory are about 50/50. It makes finding them so much more rewarding, though, so I don't think a change is needed.

[HousePet]

I find Blood of Life to frequently be an ineffective lifesaver due to the way it functions.
I really don't mind if I miss it.

[Sirrocco]

For spellhunt remnants, would it be possible to have it drop as a T1, T2, T3, or T4? (ie, you could get it in its t4 form as a t4 artifact, or its t2 form as a t2 artifact, but if it dropped as one, it wouldn't drop as the other)

[donkatsu]

A couple of my winning characters have ended up with Girdle of Calm Waters in their belt slot, mostly just because they never managed to find anything better. I think this is more of a testament to the rarity of good tier 4-5 artifact belts than to the power of Calm Waters.

[Sirrocco]

Okay, so we have...

- Blood of Life: I'm actually okay with this being unique in its own way. It's nifty and special, but it's not really part of a build per se.
- Withering Orbs, Wrap of Stone, Wintertide Phial: Who needs these into the endgame, and what do they do that those people can't get elsewhere?
- Girdle of Calm Waters: Apparently, it's just that we need a few more good high-tier belts.
- Spellhunt remnants: Either do something to make the remnants themselves available across multiple tiers, or provide another way for AM types to strip arcane sustains (which seems like it should be doable in theme)

For the remnants, what about a cloak? Antimagic type, with an activation that targets everything within 2, manadrains, silences, and disrupts arcane sustains (dependent on mindpower). It'd give solid arcane and blight resist, a decent spell save boost, and possibly a bit of mindpower and/or will. If it needs a bit more, add some manaburn to melee attacks as well. Basically, it's a cloak of woven antimagic. "Cloak of Nature's Hate" or some such.

[bpat]

Wrap of Stone is actually a game-changer. Since Stone Wall egos are getting nerfed hard next patch, Wrap of Stone will be the best source of Stone Wall (one of the best talents in the game) since it won't trigger a charm cooldown. Other important low-tier artifacts include Spellhunt Remains (this really needs to be made more common), Telekinetic Core, Crystal Shard, and Steel Helm of Garkul, but none of these aside from Spellhunt Remains are truly essential.

[PureQuestion]

I think you guys really need to learn to just suck it up

What did you guys do before I made spellhunt remnants?

I don't consider any artifact "mandatory". They should be unique and which ones drop or do not drop should on some level define that particular character.

[duckduckMOO]

The guy in the other thread said he needed the spellhunt remnants for the final boss fight on insane to dispel elandar's huge global speed buff (huge on insane) or other sustains.