What is this guide about?

This guide is a quick look at each heirloom in the game, as well as my opinions on each. Admittedly, it's still a work in progress, but the goal is;
- An explanation of each heirloom's effects, as well as notes on any quirks (such as Crimson Regalia's power buff being applied to Aurora before the triggering Ult's damage is applied, thus boosting the damage of the Ult beyond what's written on the card and shown in damage previews).
- Abilities and Artefacts relevant to the Heirloom in question (such as abilities that increase or decrease Misty's Chi, which is relevant for her Ancestral Sash).
- My own opinion and rating, I guess, of the heirloom, and whether or not I'd use it. This is an entirely personal judgement and is not to be taken as gospel, rules, the Final Word, or anything of the sort.


Why should we listen to you?

I am by no means an expert on the game, but I have gotten each character to level 30, and have won a few Apex 14 runs, so I feel experienced enough to present my opinions as fair and justified.
That said, these are just my opinions, not hard and fast rules. I hope I can explain my reasoning well enough for you to understand where these opinions come from.


What are heirlooms (and why should I care)?

Heirlooms are a piece of equipment that confer a number of benefits to your heroes for the duration of a run. Each hero can equip 1 of 3 heirlooms, Training Armour and 2 heirlooms unique to each hero (which will be explored in greater detail soon), before the start of a run. Equipped heirlooms cannot be changed or removed during a run, so the decision of which heirloom to bring should be considered depending on your party composition and which role you want each hero to take.

By default every hero has Training Armour unlocked and equipped, but it can be unequipped (even though I wouldn't recommend that). Additional heirlooms are unlocked at hero levels 8 and 14, allowing you to get a feel for how each hero plays before having to make a choice of which heirloom to equip.

That said, it's important to note that heirlooms should not dictate the abilities you take during a run. They confer benefits, yes, but there is a chance that you simply don't see relevant cards presented to you throughout your run. For example, do not exclude Aurora's fury-building cards because you took Phoenix Pendant. It's important that you stay flexible in your build, despite being locked into a specific heirloom during a run.


As an introduction to heirlooms, let's look at...

























Training Armour has a simple effect; it increases the equipped hero's maximum HP by 8. This amount is added before reductions in health are applied from Apex levels, so at Apex 14 you only gain 4 Max HP.

Training Armour doesn't really interact with any abilities or artefacts. It's just a solid, standalone buff.

In my opinion, simple is not a bad thing. 8 more HP is better than 0 more HP in almost every circumstance. The real reason you wouldn't take Training Armour is because you have something you'd rather take instead. And for the first 7 levels of playing a hero, you don't have better options, so Training Armour will be your best friend at the start of your Arcanium journey, giving your heroes just a little more survivability as you learn the game.

I score Training Armour 3/5 Stars. All benefit, no downsides. No weird quirks, just reliable survivability.


Now then, let's get into the fun stuff.

Verdant Staff's applies 1 regeneration and 1 backlash to the most injured hero at the start of each turn. Without extensive testing to make sure, I think that it means the Hero with the biggest difference between their current and Max health. Effectively, this heirloom keeps regen and backlash from decaying on the hero who's getting hit the most, which sounds fine when you say it like that. But remember, regen decays before it is triggered, meaning you don't get any free healing from this heirloom.

Rejuvenate and Soothing Rain are available to Angorn at the start of each run, so you can immediately feel the impact of this heirloom keeping (ideally) your tank's regen topped off. Additionally, thorny shield provides very little backlash, but Verdant Staff allows you to stack backlash in increments of 1 when normally it would just decay.

In my opinion, these numbers are too low to be impactful. A little (1-4) backlash isn't enough damage to make much difference, so unless you've already got backlash set up (probably with Brambleskin, since it's the only backlash card worth anything),I can't see this mattering. And 1 regen per turn isn't enough to save a character who's in danger of being KO'd. I feel like damage in this game tends to come in about 10's of damage at a time. It's nice that Verdant Staff keeps regen from decaying, but regen's only meaningful if you can stack 5 or so at a time, and if you can do that, you probably don't need 1 extra regen per turn.

I score Verdant Staff 2/5 stars. It just doesn't have a meaningful impact on the battle.


Wild Raiment draws a card for a hero when Angorn plays a card on that hero and that hero already has at least 1 regen. That hero can be Angorn himself, allowing him to play Rejuvenate on himself over and over. However, if Angorn already has 5 cards in hand when he plays a card on himself, he will not draw a card as his hand is considered full, leaving him with 4 cards in hand. Which can be fine, as it leaves room for his Ult to be drawn if it's ready.

Rejuvinate, one of Angorn's starting cards, and Soothing Rain, Angorn's Ultimate, can apply regen to his allies, and Rejuvenate and Thorny Shield, both starting cards, can be played on those allies, allowing you to draw extra cards on the first turn of a fight (with the right hand of cards, of course) Outside of starting cards, most of Angorn's abilities are played on either himself or allies, so once regen is set up, pretty much any Angorn setup can take advantage of this heirloom.

In my opinion, Wild Raiment is busted good once you remember to take advantage of it. It requires set up, but you can accomplish that with Rejuvenate, a starting card, and Angorn's Ult. Once you're three turns in, this heirloom should be an extra 2 to 4 cards per turn. That is, as I said, busted good.

I score Wild Raiment 4/5 stars. It's great, until I forget to make the most of it, but that's on me.

Crimson Regalia applies 4 power to Aurora every time she casts her Ult, Pyro Burst. The power buff actually goes off before your Pyro Burst's damage does, meaning that the Pyto Burst does more damage than the game's prediction system presents. That is, of course, in addition to the lingering effect of power buffing all your other damaging abilities.

Cards that generate additional fury, like Solar Fissure and Propagate, allow Pyro Burst to be played more often, which means more applications of power, and less time for that power to decay between applications. And cards with high base damage, like Fireball, Greater Fireball, and Meteor Strike, gain more benefit from the percentage boost that power gives. Even Pyro Burst itself enjoys the boost from this heirloom.

In my opinion, Crimson Regalia is always useful, even if you're building around dealing damage with burn, because Pyro Burst's stun is immensely powerful. You always want to be casting it as much as possible. I have, more than once, had Aurora builds that cast her ultimate multiple times in a single turn. Crimson Regalia's buff goes off every time this happens.

I score Crimson Regalia 4/5 stars. Aurora's Ult is so powerful, anything that encourages you to build around it is a good thing, in my eyes.


Phoenix Pendant does 2 things. First, it increases the burn you apply by 1 every time you apply burn. This includes burn applied to yourself, such as with Solar Winds, and burn applied by your artefacts, such as Explorer's Torch. Second, if Aurora starts her turn with 10 or more burn, she starts her turn with 1 more AP, still only to a maximum of 5 AP.

This heirloom affects burn applied from any source, including burn applied to enemies by Explorer's Torch, and burn applied to yourself by Fiery Wand. Notably, it increases both stacks of burn applied by Blazing Tail, increasing the burn applied to you from 3 to 4, which also in turn also increases the burn applied to enemies, from 1 to 3 if Aurora starts at 0 burn. Otherwise, just look at any Aurora ability that says "burn" on it to find synergies. Maybe not Lava Bolt, though.

In my opinion, Phoenix Pendant is just excessive. You do not need the additional burn, and if you really want it there are other ways to get it, such as the Wizard Hood and Fiery Wand artefacts. The additional AP is conditional, so you don't start fights with it and can't count on having it all the time. I really didn't notice the extra AP when I got it, either, since it only kicked in once I was set up to apply a ton of burn with what I started the fight with. It's dangerous to end Aurora's turn with a ton of burn anyway. You really need Pyromania, Fire Embrace+, or Radiant familiar to tank the burn, or Convection or Immolation to eat it all and turn it into fury or AP instead. I'd look at Fire Embrace to help judge just how much burn is too much to end your turn with.

I score Phoenix Pendant 2/5 stars. I haven't been able to make use of the extra AP until I don't need it, and your ability to make huge stacks of burn is more heavily affected by the cards you find.

Crusader's Blade adds 25% to all damage Leon deals. This, like all percent damage modifiers, stacks additively, so 25% from Crusader's Blade plus 25% from Shimmering Amulet equals a 50% modifier, so pummel would deal 4*150% damage (6 damage).

Most, if not all, of Leon's damaging abilities deal at least 4 damage, which is enough to get at least 1 extra damage from this heirloom. Plus, the "per enemy targeting you" trigger pairs well with Leon's "resolve" abilities. Crusader Strike, one of Leon's starting cards, for example, benefits from a reduced cost AND increased damage when the condition is met. His Obliterate and Retribution skills get special mention here because they're both good-damage "resolve" abilities that I happen to like.

In my opinion, Crusader's Blade is great if you want to focus on damage, but Leon's a tank first, dps second. Priority 1 when taunting is to stack immune for the turn, and deal damage after that, but he can pull off both with all his "resolve" abilities. Special mention to Light of Dawn for being a resolve ability that both deals damage and gains immune.

I score Crusader's blade 3/5 stars. This heirloom does its best to convince you that making Leon focus on damage is a good idea. And I think it almost succeeds.


Sacred Bastion heals Leon for 2 health for every immune he gains. Simple, straightforward. No weird quirks here.

Most of Leon's "immune" cards apply immune to himself rather than his allies, so even when protecting others with Intercept or Radiant Armour, you'll still be getting the heal. It also Pairs well with the Luminous Aegis ability, as that heals for 2 when Leon loses immune, effectively doubling the healing received per immune gained, if you like this effect that much.

In my opinion, Sacred Bastion is confused. It wants you to build around gaining immune, but then it also wants you to take damage for it to heal off. I think it's trying to be Leon's answer to DOT effects like bleed and poison. I feel like at the start of a run, you don't have immune to heal off of, but toward the middle and end of a run, you stop taking much damage once you have the ability to make immune anyway.

I score Sacred Bastion 2/5 Stars. Not because it's bad, but because it's in this weird in-between space where it only heals once you don't need it anymore.

Royal Breastplate applies 5 damage to the first enemy that "hits" milady. This "hit" doesn't have to be damage. Applying DOTs or shuffling status cards into Milady's deck is enough to trigger the heirloom's damage. Remember that enemies attack from the left enemy to the right, so if two enemies are targeting Milady, the leftmost one will take the 5 damage.

If you want Milady dealing damage by being hit, keep an eye out for ways for her to make shield. Starting with Thrust and Blade Flurry will get you through most of the earliest encounters safely, and keep an eye out for artefacts like Arcane Orb, Ornate Hammer, and Holy Locket, which help immensely, and abilities like Dodge, Lunge (if you're in strike stance (which you shouldn't be)), Engage (when you're in guard stance), and En Garde, which are probably her most straightforward ways of blocking.

In my opinion, this heirloom is, at best, 5 damage per turn. This also involves Milady getting hit, which I don't think you want? She can make shield, but she's not a tank, it's not her job. Her job is "apply vulnerable, multi-hit for artefact effects, and kill stuff". 5 damage per turn is not a good way to accomplish that.

I score Royal Breastplate 1/5 stars. It actively encourages a style of play that I don't think Milady is suited for. She is not a tank, she is an assassin. This heirloom would be better if it was for Leon or Shinzo.


Duellist's Rapier grants 1 stack of power when Milady gains strike or guard stance. This buff is applied after Milady gains a stance, not during, so no boost to Fleche Strike's damage like with Aurora's Crimson Regalia and Pyro Burst. Duellist's Rapier does not trigger when leaving strike or guard, only when gaining a stance. Duellist's Rapier does not trigger if you gain strike when already in strike stance. Same with gaining guard while already in guard stance.

There aren't many ways for Milady to enter a new stance. Her starting deck with three copies of Fleche Strike and Thrust are what you'll be relying on most for changing between stances. Other abilities, however, include Vault, Parry, Feint, and En Garde. Once you have power, cards with high damage will benefit most from the percentage damage increase that power gives, so abilities like Touche, Coup de Grace, Lunge, Vault Strike, Counter Attack, and Milady's Ult, Pounce.

In my opinion, it's actually much easier (and more effective, in my opinion) to build around a single stance than trying to fit in both. Or better yet, build around inflicting and exploiting vulnerable instead. In addition, 2 or 3 stacks of power isn't enough to get more than 1 or 2 damage out of most of Milady's attacks. I guess the idea is to pick big attacks like touche or coup-de-grace and focus on building her Ult. But the Ult inflicts vulnerable anyway! Just build vulnerable!

I score Duellist's Rapier 2/5 stars. It's difficult to build up enough power to matter, and difficult to find ways to exploit that power. Milady just doesn't have the tools. Blade Flurry requires 5 power for a single point of extra damage! Just focus on vulnerable!

Mistguard Bracers raise Misty's capacity for storing chi from 5 to 6 chi. Notably, however, doubling 6 chi with Meditate still caps chi at 10, not 12. So 10 is still the most chi you can have. Additionally, Mistguard Bracers grant 1 chi every time Misty uses her ulimate ability, which makes it easier to stock chi over the course of a fight.

Abilities that benefit from high amounts of chi, meaning they scale with the raised cap of 6 chi, include Shockwave, and Tiger Fury. Abilities that scale, but DRAIN ALL of your chi when you use them, meaning that Misty's Ult gaining chi is more important than the increased capacity, include cards like Conditioning, Fists of Fury, and Chi Blast.

In my opinion, Mistguard Bracers aren't super impactful. If you're building to 5 chi regularly enough to want a 6th, you're doing just fine already. The biggest thing here is the gaining 1 chi on Ult, but even then, that's 1 chi every 2 turns? On average? Half a chi per turn. That's not really enough to make use of.

I score Mistguard Bracers 2/5 stars. They just don't make much of an impact. The chi gain from her Ult is too slow to matter, and the increase to chi capacity isn't a meaningful difference,


Ancestral Sash creates 2 shield per point of chi gained or lost. That means if you play a card that gains 2 chi, Misty gains 4 shield. It didn't always work that way, but thankfully it does for now.

Both Quick Strike and Power Surge, 2 of Misty's starting cards, interact with chi and are available right out of the gate. Other notable Chi manipulating cards include Sweeping Storm, Serenity, Deep Calm (which draws a card as well), Blinding Paw, and Fists of Fury, which have the capacity to either gain or spend more than 1 chi per card. It's also worth noting that only 2 of Misty's other cards make shield; Grounding Shield, which requires a hand full of nature cards, and Pressure Points, which both relies on high amounts of chi for damage (but doesn't drain it, so no heirloom synergy here), and shieldsteals, so it won't help against an immune, resillient, or shielded opponent.

In my opinion, Ancestral Sash actually does something that Misty can't normally do! Making shield, even a little bit, can be super helpful early in the run. Admittedly, the value of chi doesn't change by much more than 2 to 4 per turn (unless you're draining all 5), but 4 shield per turn can make a big difference!

I score Ancestral Sash 4/5 stars. It's so nice having a reliable source of shield in any capacity, especially when Misty normally struggles so hard with damage mitigation.

Crescent Blade gives 1 bonus attack and 1 bonus health to any minion summoned in by of Ragnarok. This includes familiars played in front of Ragnarok from your items, and Soldiers of Illumia (did I get that right?) from the Blessing of Unity light shrine option that start the fight in front of Ragnarok (You'll see 2 4/4 soldiers and 1 5/5 soldier in front of Ragnarok).

Any card that summons minions, including Ragnarok's starting Reptarian Spawn and Reptarian Army ultimate ability, benefit greatly from this heirloom. In addition, cards that care about the minion's damage, like Attack Command (another starting card (and maybe Ragnarok's strongest card)), Punt, Innerve, and Retire (I recommend none of those 3) also see benefits.

In my opinion, Crescent Blade is perfect. Don't even look at anything else, just take it. Minions, specifically Reptarian Spawn, are Ragnarok's best way of dealing damage, and it's a path that's available in his starting deck. +1 damage per minion attack for each minion played adds up super quickly. That's roughly from 6 to 12 damage once through his starting deck. And that number only gets bigger the longer the fight goes on.

I score Crescent Blade 5/5 stars. This relic is the perfect fit for making Ragnarok's strongest style of play even stronger!


Renegade Armour destroys any enemy minion that attacks Ragnarok directly, healing Ragnarok for 4 HP in the process. This healing does happen after the minion's damage, so getting hit for 4 or less damage will result in the damage being fully healed off, as long as that damage doesn't reduce Ragnarok to 0 health.

This... Unconventional... Heirloom allows Ragnarok to experiment with treating his minions as disposable, taking advantage of cards like Devour and Retire while focusing instead mitigation options like Tail Lash and Battle Hardened, while dealing damage with... Not minions, I guess. Debilitate to inflict vulnerable probably, then, like, Chomp, or Rip and Tear.

In my opinion, this heirloom is actively detrimental, as it wants you to get hit by enemy minions after taking damage. That means 1) the enemy summons a minion, 2) Ragnarok doesn't summon a minion, 3) Ragnarok has a way to focus on blocking without outright killing the enemy minion, 4) focusing on blocking would be easier or more efficient than outright killing the enemy minion, 5) despite being able to focus on block so heavily, Ragnarok has somehow taken enough damage to want to heal. Yeah, no.

I score Renegade Armour 1/5 stars, and I would deduct an additional star when comparing it to Crescent Blade.

Ironbark Bulwark applies 1 power to Shinzo whenever he plays a card for 0 AP. Notably, this buff is gained before the effect of the card occurs, so playing Pulverise for 0 AP will deal 7 damage instead of 6.

The only Shinzo ability that costs 0 AP by default is his Ult, which does count and will give you power. Every other option is a "bolster" card, some of which become more potent when played for 0 AP (Crushing Blow, Enveloping Winds, Hunker Down, and Spirit Wall), or X cost cards (Ox Charge, Second Wind, and Essence Crash) which can be cast for 0 AP if you're out of AP for the turn.

In my opinion, Ironbark Bulwark relies heavily on utilising "bolster" cards, which means getting hit a lot. Then you need something for all that power to pay off for, because most "bolster" cards are defensive in nature, or at least don't do much more than 10 damage. It just seems like a lot of set up for not a lot of payoff. Shinzo doesn't need damage anyway, he 's strongest when he focuses on defence.

I score Ironbark Bulwark 2/5 stars. "Bolster" is not good. This heirloom makes "bolster" better, but it is not enough to make "bolster" good.


Templar Spauldron applies 4 shield to Shinzo at the end of the turn for each enemy targeting him. This does not count minions, however. So if all three enemies have been taunted and are targeting Shinzo, he gains 12 shield. The enemies are not required to intend to attack. They can be applying burn or poison and Shinzo will still get the shield.

Provoke (a starting card), Juggernaut Strike (possibly Shinzo's best ability), Rumbling Shout and Imposing strength are all abilities that can taunt the enemy into targeting Shinzo. In addition, Trample and Toughen Up will drain Shonzo's shield in exchange for powerful effects, but Shnzo can still be protected after using them by equipping his Templar Spauldron.

In my opinion, Templar Spauldron is exactly what a tank needs! It's simple, yet effective. If I could give this heirloom to Leon as well, I would. It matters that the extra shield is applied at the end of your turn, because some of Shinzo's most powerful effects reduce his shield. So having any at all extra at the end of turn is lovely, and really adds up over the course of the run.

I score Templar Spauldron 5/5 stars. It encourages the tank to be a tank and rewards that style of play. It's perfect!

Cloak of Dusk applies a 25% damage bonus to every card she plays as long as she hasn't moved lanes that turn. This includes an ally spending AP to swap lanes with her. Once upon a time this buff was lost if you moved her during set-up, but that has since been rectified. Strangely, this buff also affects healing abilities, like nature shrines' Mending.

This buff applies to all damage Tara deals. All of it. Except for Viper Shot's damage. But it does affect Cobra Strike's healing, weirdly. Notable damage increases include abilities like Heartseeker Arrow (4 extra damage), Bullseye (4 extra damage), Multishot (2 extra damage per arrow for Multishot+), and Explosive Arrow (2 extra damage per target (so 6 extra damage)) to name some of my favourites.

In my Opinion, Cloak of Dusk is actually a huge boost to Tara's damage. 2/3 of her starting cards, plus her Ult, do direct damage, so this heirloom gives a HUGE boost to her early game damage, and it scales with upgrades and stronger cards. I have cleared an assault battle with 1 Volley of Arrows+ and a hand full of arrows thanks to the increase in power that this heirloom and other artefacts can provide.

I score Cloak of Dusk 5/5 stars. I love this heirloom. It's just free damage! That's Tara's whole job!


Windsplitter places the first "arrow" card played on top of Tara's draw pile instead of her discard pile. If you have a way of drawing cards, that means that you could play the same card twice in 1 turn. And if you don't draw it on the same turn, you're guaranteed to draw it next turn instead.

This heirloom pairs incredibly well with Extra Arrows, which creates cards that cost 0, as well as card drawing artefacts like Ammo Crate, Bountyhunter's Sachel, and Grenade Launcher (but do be careful with that last one). Examples of cards worth playing twice include... Basically every arrow, to be honest. Special mention to Toxic Arrow, Explosive Arrow, and Leechwood Arrow, which all cost only 1 AP.

In my opinion, Windsplitter is not worth it. The arrow card on top of your draw pile eats up a slot in hand, that could've gone to something else and buries the rest of your cards beneath it, meaning it gets longer to get to the cards you want, like multishot or quick draw, cards that are actually the reason you want arrow cards.

I score Windsplitter 1/5 stars. This heirloom makes it harder to draw through your deck. Presumably you put cards in your deck because you want to play them, not bury them under mediocre arrows.

So I definitely have my favourite, and my least favourite, heirlooms. It was fun coming up with tests to explore things like, "what is the order of effects from this heirloom, does the Crusader's Blade buff apply to a Pummel that draws a taunt? (No, no it does not), or is one stack of power from Duellist's Rapier enough to boost Milady's damage? (No, it also is not), or "does the healing from Renegade Armour happen before or after the minion's damage (After, actually, which is right in my opinion).

I tried out each heirloom 3 times if I hadn't tried them before to try and give them a fair shake. I had never used Phoenix Pendant, Renegade Armour, or Windsplitter before making this guide, and it was fun to see just how strongly they affected my gameplay. It was very hard not to summon minions as Ragnarok while wearing the Renegade Armour. In the end, this was a lot of fun, and I'm glad I tried it.

I may or may not be coming back to this guide to update it as the game moves through early access, but now that I have all the available heroes done, it shouldn't be hard to add 1 or 2 more heirlooms as they come out. The biggest deciding factor there is whether or not anyone cares, I think. If no-one is looking here, then why bother? But, like I said, I'm glad I did this.


Finally, here's the list for everyone too lazy to read all the thoughts and reasoning that I put days of effort into, you heathens. Enjoy! And thank you for taking the time to check this guide out.