Equipment Upgrades and Ascendant Spirits

Four layers, four decisions

The base item supplies its native attributes and equip requirement. Rarity strengthens eligible bonuses. Upgrade level adds progression to the item. A Spirit supplies custom rolls. Upgrading an unsuitable base piece does not change its vocation compatibility or replace a missing healing setup.

In-game example

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Before +16

Minor Crystals reach +15. Major Crystals work from +12 and can continue beyond +15. High upgrades need protection and materials; inspect the current attempt requirements before using a crystal. Gathering rods and wrenches use separate crafting-only rarity stages and cannot use this equipment system.

The +16–20 attempts

To cross +15, the equipment's base requirement must be Awakening 500 or higher and it cannot be mirrored. Major success chances are +16: 5%; +17: 4%; +18: 3%; +19: 2%; +20: 1%. Catalysts are spent on successful attempts too. Failure can lower the upgrade, so budget for rebuilding lost levels.

Worked example

+15 → +165% success

+16 → +174% success

+17 → +183% success

+18 → +192% success

+19 → +201% success

Permanent checkpoints at +12 and +15

Once an item reaches +12, failed Minor or Major Crystal attempts cannot lower it below +12. Reaching +15 raises that floor permanently to +15. A +14 failure becomes +13; a +12 failure stays +12. A +16 failure becomes +15; a +15 failure stays +15. Protected failures still consume the crystal and required catalyst, but do not reduce Item Level. Existing items at these levels are protected too.

Five Ascendant spirits

Inferno supports knight offense, Tempest knight defense, Eclipse paladin builds, Glacier sorcerer builds and Grove druid/support builds. The same spirits cover +16 through +20. Weapon compatibility matters; shared armor and accessories are not hard vocation-locked. Inspect the target before trying to force a weapon-incompatible spirit.

Six rolls from a ten-attribute pool

Each Ascendant spirit has ten possible attribute types, including two filler choices. All six slots roll independently with replacement, so the same attribute can occupy every slot. An EK can build six Max HP rolls on each compatible piece using a spirit whose pool contains Max HP.

Inferno pool — knight offense

Fist Fighting, Shielding, Melee Skills, Max HP, Attack Damage, Life Steal, PVP Protection, Damage Boost, Damage Buff and Max HP Buff. Compatible with melee weapons and shields, plus shared armor and accessories. The first two entries are fillers.

Tempest pool — knight defense

Fist Fighting, Shielding, Max HP, Melee Skills, PVP Protection, PVE Protection, Life Steal, Increased Healing, Damage Boost and Max HP Buff. Compatible with melee weapons and shields, plus shared armor and accessories. The first two entries are fillers.

Glacier pool — sorcerer

Fist Fighting, Shielding, Magic Level, Max MP, Orbs Damage, Mana Steal, PVE Protection, Damage Boost, Damage Buff and Max MP Buff. Compatible with wands and rods, plus shared armor and accessories. The first two entries are fillers.

Grove pool — druid support

Fist Fighting, Shielding, Magic Level, Max MP, Increased Healing, Mana Steal, PVE Protection, Explosion on Kill, Damage Buff and Max MP Buff. Compatible with wands and rods, plus shared armor and accessories. The first two entries are fillers.

Eclipse pool — paladin

Fist Fighting, Shielding, Distance Fighting, Max HP, Attack Damage, Mana Steal, PVP Protection, Damage Boost, Damage Buff and Max HP Buff. Compatible with distance weapons, plus shared armor and accessories. The first two entries are fillers.

Higher +level improves quality

At +16/+17/+18/+19/+20, each slot has a 20%/30%/40%/50%/60% chance to select from the desirable part of its pool; the rest select fillers. This is not the chance of your exact desired attribute or its maximum value. Perfect six-of-a-kind rolls remain difficult.

Reroll the right thing

Void selects another compatible Spirit. On Ascendant spirits, Faith rerolls all six slots and Fortune rerolls the last slot, including attribute type. A downgrade below +16 removes Ascendant spirit bonuses. Do not confuse a better pool with a guaranteed better individual roll.

Worked example

Faith tokenAll six slots can change

Stronger rolls, bounded stacking

Ascendant rolls have higher ceilings than the older spirits and include special attributes. Their combined effective bonuses diminish across your equipment. For example, stacked Ascendant Max HP approaches a 40% contribution across the whole loadout; it is not 40% per piece. Repeated special proc attributes combine rather than becoming six independent procs.

Roll strength and special effects

Ascendant value ceilings scale with Item Level up to 40 and a multiplier of 1.5 at +16, 1.625 at +17, 1.75 at +18, 1.875 at +19 and 2 at +20. Desirable rolls start at 35% of their ceiling, rounded upward. Damage Boost can add 50% damage to a triggered hit. Damage Buff, Max HP Buff and Max MP Buff are temporary on-kill effects; their strengths stack under the same diminishing-return rules.

Mirror and Mind restrictions

Mirrors are blocked on +16 or higher, on new spirits, on equipment above Medieval and on weapons above Grimfrost. Mind transfers require compatible item types and cannot restore endgame properties onto mirrored or lower-requirement gear. Keep the original until you understand the transfer preview.

A sensible spending order

Choose a useful base item, meet its requirement, improve a working roll, then pursue +16 and a compatible Ascendant spirit. Replace filler-heavy results before chasing maximum numbers in every slot. Save enough resources to recover from a downgrade rather than spending everything on one attempt.

Ascendant Spirit Pools

Six slots roll independently with replacement. Shared armor/accessories accept every pool; weapon and shield compatibility follows the spirit's direction. Repeated bonuses have diminishing returns across the whole equipped loadout.

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