How refining works
Refining adds bonus stats to a piece of gear, one level at a time, up to +12. Talk to the Elder in any major city and choose to refine equipment. The only thing you must supply is Mirage Celestones; how many depends on the type and grade of the item. Success is never sure, even for +1, and a failed attempt drops the item back to +0 unless you use a refining aid.
| Item | Refine adds |
|---|---|
| Normal weapon | Physical attack |
| Magic weapon | Magic attack |
| Robes and armor | Maximum HP |
| Physical defense ornaments and physical attack rings | Physical defense |
| Magic defense ornaments and magic attack rings | Magic defense |
| Evasion ornaments | Evasion |
| Tome | Spirit |
Tomes use Mirage Charts instead; see Tomes.
How big the bonus gets
Every item has a base refine bonus, the amount it gains at +1 (usually larger on higher-grade gear; the in-game encyclopedia lists it). Higher refines multiply that base, and the jump grows fast near the top.
| Refine | Times the +1 bonus |
|---|---|
| +1 | 1x |
| +2 | 2x |
| +3 | 3.05x |
| +4 | 4.3x |
| +5 | 5.75x |
| +6 | 7.55x |
| +8 | 13x |
| +10 | 22.3x |
| +11 | 29x |
| +12 | 37.5x |
Success chances and refining stones
| Refine | Mirage only | With Tienkang Stone | With Tisha Stone |
|---|---|---|---|
| +1 | 50% | 65% | 53.5% |
| +2 to +7 | 30% | 45% | 33.5% |
| +8 | 28% | 43% | 31.5% |
| +9 | 25% | 40% | 28.5% |
| +10 | 20% | 35% | 23.5% |
| +11 | 12% | 27% | 15.5% |
| +12 | 5% | 20% | 8.5% |
- Tisha Stone: if the refine fails, the item loses at most one level instead of falling to +0.
- Chienkun Stone: if the refine fails, the item keeps its current level.
- Tienkang Stone: raises the chance (see the table) but the wiki lists no protection for it.
Refining with Dragon Orbs
A Dragon Orb used together with Mirage Celestones makes the refine always succeed, as long as the orb's star level is at least the refine you are trying. A 1-star orb is not enough for +2, so taking an item to +6 safely needs a 1-star, 2-star, 3-star, 4-star, 5-star and 6-star orb. Put the orb in the special materials box and the item in the gear box, then refine one step at a time; be careful not to click twice and refine once without an orb.
Higher orbs are made by combining 1-star orbs at any Jewelcraftsman (combine option, orb tab). Orbs from events are bound: they cannot be traded or combined. Bound orbs can also be crafted with Supply Tokens from Nation Wars.
| Orb | 1-star orbs for this orb | 1-star orbs for the whole path up to it |
|---|---|---|
| 3-star | 10 | 15 |
| 4-star | 25 | 40 |
| 5-star | 60 | 100 |
| 6-star | 130 | 230 |
| 8-star | 405 | 850 |
| 10-star | 1,370 | 2,970 |
| 12-star | 4,645 | 10,140 |
When to refine
- Refining gear you will soon replace is a waste of coins. White-named gear is not worth refining unless you are very rich.
- In the first 60 levels, the wiki suggests refining only yellow (legendary) gear, and only to +1 or +2; a first Twilight Temple weapon at 60 can go to +1.
- Most players take gear they will wear for a while to about +4 and save high refines for endgame gear. Refines on some endgame gear can be moved to new gear for a price.
- NPC Duke Blacke spreads rumors that refining at certain places or officers works better. Tests by players found no real difference.
Sources
Game pictures: © Perfect World Entertainment / Arc Games · arcgames.com
