Artifacts and equipment are an important part of preparing characters for combat. There are many types of equipment from temporary and consumables to permanent gear that may help you on your journey, but the most important permanent categories to know are:
1. Artifacts
2. Weapons
3. Alternates
4. Gadgets
5. Food and Potions.
1. Artifacts:
As a general rule of thumb, artifacts generally are always able to be applied (much like distinctions), whereas weapons and gadgets are more skill-dependent and have circumstantial usages. Artifacts are simple to understand but challenging to master. Every artifact belongs to one of 5 categories (circlet, flower, feather, sands, or goblet) and to a specific 'artifact set." You can only equip one artifact of a given type at a time, and may only swap them when out of combat (like weapons and skills). Every artifact set has a set bonus at different numbers of artifacts equipped simultaneously, usually at 2 or 4 total similar artifacts. However not every artifact requires a set to have a special effect. Paying attention to the bonuses or buffs that an artifact set can provide will be important, as they can usually be stronger than the flat star bonus.
Artifacts also can provide an additional asset die that steps up as the total number of "stars" summed across all of your artifacts increases. Every artifact has a star rating from 1 to 5 stars, meaning that a full set of artifacts usually ranges from 1 to 25 stars. Once you have at least 5 artifact stars, you gain an additional asset die that you usually always get to roll that starts at a d4. Every time your artifact star total increases by 5 more stars, this die steps up once to a maximum of a D12:
5 stars = d4 Artifact die. 10stars = d6 die. 15 stars = d8. 20 stars = d10. 25 stars = d12 artifact die.
2. Weapons
Weapons come in all shapes in sizes in Teyvat as flavor allows, but they all fall under a set list of the following archetypes:
Swords: Versitle, flashy, quick. When in doubt, it's safe to call it a sword of some kind.
Polearms: Tactical, longer range meelee weapons. Spacing is key with these and attacks are deliberate & thought out.
Claymores: Big damage dealers and defensive weaponry alike use these bad boys. Known for their archetypes of slow hard hitting attacks and use in skills designed to break through shields.
Catalyst: The pure magical skill weapon. If your weapon is a magical "focus" for some other attack then it is a catalyst. Cover everything from elementally empowered martial arts to long-range spells.
Bows: Long-range physical weaponry generally will fit under the bow category. Bows generally are the next most "magical" thing after catalysts as most bow users empower their shots with elemental energy.
Weapons vary in quality from 1star to 5star, but the die and effects they provide usually depend on the skills they are used in or their innate qualities.
3. Alternatives "Alts"
Alternatives are elemental power sources other than your own vision. They are very rare and often involve potentially dangerous consequences when uses. The most encounterable sources of alternatives include Delusions, Gnosises, vision chasis' of deceased allogenes, and Khanrian constructs. Each usually comes with it's own unique set of skills, abilities, etc.
4. Gadgets
Gadgets are used in conjunction with combat utilities of passive utilities in the same vein as weapons are used for elemental skills or bursts.
5. Food and Potions
Food and Potions are the most common forms of temporary asset creation. They don't last long and have the most variance in effects, but they're better than nothing in the off chance you get to use some.