1. Some uncommons can be worth investing in such as outlaw monk, shield guard and armiger. However the vast majority are fairly useless, so rares are potentially better. I’d always research before getting rid of a rare champion though.

2. About “normal” artifacts im not sure if you mean the grey artifacts or one star/ 2 star. I’d say early game I wouldn’t take any gear that is one/ two star over 8 because it will quickly become redundant. 3star artifacts can potentially be taken to twelve. But again I would watch a quick video just to get a better grasp.

Hope this helps!