Genshin Impact features an incredible open world with awesome characters and unique gameplay, but its constantly fettered by its mobile game tendencies. Nowhere is this more clear than with the Original Resin system, one of the most universally hated things about the game. Players have to spend Resin to do almost everything in the game, and it doesn't come back quick.
For this reason, players are always looking for activities to do that don't involve resin or new ways to make their character stronger. Farming artifacts is a staple in increasing the power of the player's equipped artifacths, and players can actually do this without using Resin in Gensin Impact.
The key is to find certain objects that allow the player to investigate. More likely than not, players have come across various barrels and fruit stands that just produce ingredients, but occasionally there will be some that offer up 1-star or 2-star artifacts.
These investigate items can be found all throughout the world, but they are particularly abundant in Liyue. One Redditor showed the location of several barrels all stacked near each other that can drop artifacts for the player, and to make things even better, they respawn daily. This particular location is just to the west of Wangshu Inn, inside an overgrown hovel. Players will need to break through some boxes to get to it, but inside they will find some low level artifacts to use as enhancement fuel for others. Returning here once a day is a quick way to maintain a healthy stock of artifacts.
Aside from this, players can also farm certain world bosses such as Abyss Mages, Ruin Hunters, Mitachurls, and Hatchlings without spending Resin, but this is a more involved process for those just looking for fodder artifacts to upgrade their existing ones. This isn't a particularly reliable or efficient way of getting artifacts, so it's best to use this as a last resort, but it helps for players that are out of resin and just want something to do so they can keep playing. It's also important to keep in mind that some world bosses like Fatui Pyro Agents drop ascension material instead of artifacts.
It's also worth noting that artifacts can be dismantled for Mora, so players running short on that could use these methods to grind Mora without Resin as well. These 1-star and 2-star artifacts are put to good use either way, so it really just depends on what the player is hurting for at the moment. Making it a habit to check this and other spots will be helpful to player later on down the line.
Genshin Impact is available now on Mobile, PC, and PS4, and later on Switch.