The “Pyramid” artifacts give a bonus to one or more of the base stats of the celestial body which it is active on. The bonuses vary, dependent on the biome that the artifact originated from, but will always give a bonus to **the Defense stat. This bonus scales from 5% for a Common artifact, up to 15% for a Mythic artifact (or even more, depending on the biome!).
There is nothing unintuitive about the “Pyramid”, or any of the other stat-boosting artifacts - they can be activated and deactivated as many times as you wish, can be used on any level of celestial body, and will provide their bonus instantly (once the blockchain transaction is confirmed).
This planet has a “Pyramid” on it. If you’re trying to conquer this planet, be prepared to send extra energy resources due to the increase Defense here!
In the Early game, “Pyramids” are lackluster. Defense isn’t the most important stat to focus on, as it doesn’t help you to expand. However, if you find yourself in the throes of and early game conflict, repeated activation/deactivation when enemy attacks land might just edge out a win for your small empire - or at least force an opponent to expend more resources, hindering their progression.
In the Mid-Late game, “Pyramids” are even less desirable. Whilst the same activation/deactivation strategy can be applied, it is unlikely it will win you any wars. It is far better to use “Planetary Shields” for defense, though since pyramids are more commonly found, they can serve well on smaller planets which border other empires, since you will want to be saving your more powerful artifacts for your best celestial bodies, where they will be most effective.
The stats provided by a rare Tundra Pyramid - a decent boost to Range, and a good boost to Defense. But still, suboptimal.
As you can see, this artifact gives a bonus 10% to Range, which is great for expansion & conflict, and a 20% boost to Defense. Since Defense relies on other players to make moves, it can be difficult to utilize, especially if the celestial body isn’t even being attacked - though there is something to say for deterrence.