There are only three types of artifacts: those that can release powerful skills, those that possess certain special properties, or those that combine both.
The artifacts in Azshara's vault are all of the first type. They either release powerful constant spells or amplify the magic cast by the wielder.
The second type is relatively special, for example, Medivh's Book. It is called an artifact not because of its amplification effect, but because it can be used to open the Dark Portal.
The third type is the pillars of creation, represented by the tide stone. The pillars of creation not only possess special properties but also have super-strong amplification effects and powerful constant spells.
Currently, Gale cannot forge the third type of artifact. And the first type of artifact is not what Azshara wants, so Gale can only work towards the second type.
To make the broken queen's crown possess certain special properties, Gale immediately recalled several attributes of equipment in the game.
Spell Power, Health, Mana, Skill Haste, as well as the passive skills Holy Guard and Holy Baptism.
The Kaldorei Empire currently does not have access to Holy Light, so they can only use Arcane to replace it, turning the two passive skills into Arcane Guard and Arcane Baptism.
Arcane Guard requires finding a rune combination with powerful defensive capabilities, while Arcane Baptism requires finding a rune combination that can enhance Arcane Wisdom.
Once there was a direction, it became much simpler. Vaschi brought many books on runes. Gale only needed to filter out similar runes from the books, combine them, and then test them.
This work required no creativity, only tedious repetition. To reduce the workload, Gale first tested and categorized all runes, linking runes of similar types together before testing them.
In the end, it was calculated that millions of combinations needed to be tested.
There was no other way, Gale could only assign this task to Savis, asking him to bring more Mages for testing. Savis was very curious about the purpose of these boring combinations, so he specifically called over a hundred Royal Mages to help with the testing.
These Royal Mages were all Archmages with their own Mage Towers, and they were very displeased with taking orders from Gale, someone who had just become a formal Mage.
However, for the Queen's crown, they suppressed their dissatisfaction.
But if Gale failed to forge the crown, their wrath would be unleashed upon him.
Gale ignored the Mages' hostility. Once the plan was in place, the subsequent work was just like building with blocks. Now, the only thing he needed to do was find the right blocks.
With someone testing the rune sets, what remained were the materials and enchantments.
Artifact materials must meet several characteristics: indestructible solidity, super-strong magic conductivity, powerful magic storage capacity, and ease of enchantment.
When forging the Sanction Blade, Gale had already tested the properties of currently known metals. Adamantite met the solidity characteristic, Mithril met the magic conductivity characteristic and the ease of enchantment characteristic. There was also a metal that was a combination of Adamantite and Mithril, and that was eternal gold.
eternal gold is very rare; it is an associated ore of Adamantite. In an Adamantite vein, even one percent eternal gold is considered a lot.
If it were for crafting epic weapons, using Adamantite and Mithril would be perfectly fine. But for crafting artifacts, only eternal gold would suffice.
This is a world of magic, and the more precise an item is, the easier it is to be destroyed. Even Deathwing could be defeated by a moving object used by a Mage apprentice for practice; highly precise things are clearly not suitable for this world.
There is a reason why the world of warcraft takes on a steampunk style.
eternal gold has a certain magic storage capacity, but its effect certainly does not meet the requirements of an artifact. Therefore, other metals are needed to complete this task, and Gale chose orichalcum.
orichalcum is a synthetic metal, obtained by using arcane crystals to change the particle form of thorium ingots.
The Kaldorei Empire had plenty of arcane crystals, and thorium was not too rare a metal. However, the Mages had not yet mastered the method of making orichalcum Ingots. Gale worked backward from the result, only needing some experiments.
Gale requested a laboratory and went to complete the experiment of transmuting orichalcum Ingots alone.
Once this technique was mastered, as many artifacts as desired could be created. The only concern was the extremely scarce production of eternal gold.
The orichalcum Ingot experiment progressed slowly. Gale needed to continuously strike thorium ingots with Arcane particles. The speed and position of the impact both needed to be correct, which was also an experiment that required time.
Fortunately, the Kaldorei had no need to worry about experiments.
A month passed, Savis came to urge him, but Gale was still not in a hurry.
Two months passed, Vaschi also came to urge him, and Gale already had some clues.
Three months passed, Gale finished reading the books and had Vaschi replace them with a new batch.
Half a year passed, Gale finally managed to transform a little orichalcum. However, due to the wrong method, the orichalcum quickly reverted to thorium. But this also let Gale know that he was on the right track.
Another half a year passed, and Gale simultaneously used Arcane particles from ten arcane crystals to strike thorium ingots, finally succeeding in creating an orichalcum Ingot.
He first tested the orichalcum Ingot's properties, meticulously recording them in his notebook.
Then he found Savis and, together with over a dozen Mages, used the energy of the Well of Eternity to combine eternal gold and orichalcum, finally shaping it into the crown according to the blueprints.
Two months prior, the Mages had selected the two suitable rune combinations.
Gale requested the Mages' experiment records, partly to confirm the correctness of the experiments, and partly to record valuable rune combinations for future use.
Savis asked curiously, "These two rune sets have at least a dozen runes. How can they be enchanted onto such a small crown?"
Gale was confident, "It's very easy, but I need a needle that can carve on eternal gold."
"I'm afraid that will be difficult!" Savis shook his head, unsure what kind of needle could carve runes on eternal gold.
"It seems I have to do experiments again!" Gale clutched his forehead. Having spent almost a year in the laboratory, he really didn't want to do any more experiments.
Savis became even more curious, "Is there anything I can help with?"
Gale's eyes lit up, "Of course!"
Hardness testing didn't require any profound techniques, so it would be great if Savis could help.
Under Gale's direction, Savis forged all the metals into needles. Then he tested them on eternal gold, but all of them failed to meet the hardness requirements.
In desperation, Gale could only turn his attention to the gems in Azshara's vault.
He first chose diamonds, but their effect was not good. He then selected some seemingly sturdy crystals, eventually finding a crystal called Azsunite Topaz, whose sharp edges could be used to carve on eternal gold.
All was ready, only the final push was needed!
Let's get to work!