Forge gear with a three-gate check

The three gates

Before forging, ask whether the item will stay equipped, whether the effect fixes your current bottleneck, and whether the material cost blocks a more important Monolith action.

The 60-second gear check:

1. Will this item stay equipped for multiple chapters?

2. Does the effect or upgrade fix your current survival or damage wall?

3. Will spending these materials block a Prison, Temple, or Monolith priority?

If any answer is no, bank the item and re-evaluate later.

Workshop system overview

The Workshop handles forging (improving core gear values), embedding (socketing runes), and refining (moving Legendary equipment toward Mythic quality).

Key Workshop mechanics:

• Unlock Embedding through Workshop renovation before socketing any runes

• Sockets visible on items remain inactive without the Embedding upgrade

• Renovation trees unlock or improve socket and affix handling functions

• Upgrade Workshop when equipment quality is your progression bottleneck

Runewords: Deep crafting system

Runewords grant special skills when crafted into gear. They require a 3-socket base item (Common or Fine quality) with socket shapes matching the three runes in the recipe.

Creating runewords:

1. Unlock Workshop Embedding first

2. Find a 3-socket item usable by your intended class

3. Verify socket shapes match your target runeword (shapes roll randomly)

4. Read the granted skill tooltip—check weapon type, damage family, and scaling

5. Test the un-forged setup before investing scarce materials

Known runewords include Defiance, Radiance, Touch, Night Veil, and Killing Aura. Only your in-game Codex knows every recipe for certain.

Gear evaluation and triage

Compare base attributes, ordinary affixes, rare or legendary effects, sockets, and set bonuses—not rarity alone.

Keep for review: Mythic items, unfamiliar Legendary effects, set pieces near breakpoints, high-socket items, anything granting skills your roster cannot produce.

Test now: Items matching active character weapon, damage family, useful attributes, and immediate needs.

Sell/filter: Confirmed duplicates and low-level items adding nothing to active or planned lines.

Improve the weakest link

A modest upgrade to the slot causing wipes is more valuable than a flashy upgrade to a character already clearing comfortably. Track the result over several activities.

Equipment priority order:

• Orange gear: Best raw stats and forging potential—wear these

• Green sets: Bank in Storage—only pay off when complete

• Blue/purple gear: Transitional—upgrade quickly to orange

Never wear incomplete green sets; the missing set bonus makes them weaker than individual orange pieces.

• Community-informed and written as a practical starting point. Always verify current costs, restrictions, and tooltips in your client.