Gear, Refinement & Extraction

Equipment should solve a combat or exploration problem. A larger displayed number is useful evidence, but it is not the entire decision.

Evaluate gear through four questions:

1. What role does this item perform?
2. Does its handling, resistance or socket potential solve a current problem?
3. How much refinement investment is already inside it?
4. Can those materials be recovered if the item is replaced?

The five-action decision table

Action	Use it when	Avoid it when
Equip	the item improves the current role and can be tested safely	the only attraction is rarity or a higher number with worse handling
Keep	the item has a unique role, useful socket profile, resistance or uncertain future value	it is a common duplicate with no tested purpose
Store	the item is valuable but not needed in the active loadout	storage is being used to postpone every decision
Sell	the item has no current or credible future role and contains no refinement investment worth recovering	its value is not understood, it is rare, locked, unique or heavily refined
Refine	the item is used consistently and the next level solves a current progression problem	the item is untested or likely to be replaced immediately
Extract	a refined item is being replaced and the recovered materials have a better use	the item may still be used or the recovery loss exceeds the benefit

Compare equipment by role

Do not compare every item on one universal scale.

Weapons

Assess:

• weapon family and character compatibility;
• reach, recovery and resource cycle;
• refinement level and base refinement level;
• socket availability;
• skill requirements and Quick Swap behaviour;
• performance against the target types currently causing problems.

Use Weapons, Skills & Testing before spending rare materials on an unfamiliar weapon.

Armour and cloaks

Assess:

• defence contribution;
• elemental or situational resistance;
• socket availability;
• whether the item supports the current encounter rather than a hypothetical future one;
• whether another character or loadout has a stronger use for it.

Patch 1.06.00 adjusted elemental resistances on certain cloaks to better match their characteristics. Resistance should therefore be treated as a designed equipment role, not decorative text.

Tools and secondary equipment

Patch 1.08.00 added dedicated tool slots and changed how certain previously secondary-slot items are equipped.

Before comparing or selling an unusual item:

• confirm whether it belongs in a tool slot;
• confirm whether it changes the previously drawn item used by Quick Swap;
• test whether it enables a gathering, traversal or interaction function;
• avoid judging it only by direct combat damage.

Base refinement versus current refinement

Extraction can return an item only to its base refinement level—the level at which that particular item was first acquired.

Example from the official system description:

• an item acquired at base refinement 4 is later refined to 10;
• extracting it back to 4 recovers materials used for levels above its base;
• the item remains intact at refinement level 4.

Two copies of the same equipment type may therefore contain different recoverable investments if they were acquired at different base levels or refined differently.

A safe refinement policy

Refine equipment that has passed three tests

1. Use test — you have used it in more than one real encounter.
2. Role test — you can state what problem it solves.
3. Replacement test — no immediately available alternative clearly supersedes it.

Use progressive stopping points

After each meaningful refinement step:

• retest the encounter or activity that justified the investment;
• stop when the item solves the problem;
• do not continue solely because the next level is available;
• preserve rare materials for a verified need.

This prevents over-refining a temporary item before its practical value is understood.

Refinement with identical equipment

Patch 1.06.00 changed identical-equipment refinement so it is available only up to the level immediately before an Abyss Artifact becomes required.

Implications:

• duplicate equipment can reduce or replace some earlier refinement inputs;
• duplicates do not remove later Abyss Artifact gates;
• a duplicate should not automatically be consumed if it has a separate character, socket or collection role;
• verify the preview before committing the duplicate.

Instant refinement

Patch 1.08.00 added a function to instantly refine equipment using a selected refinement method without manually choosing materials each time.

Convenience does not change the investment decision. Before confirming:

• inspect the selected method;
• verify material types and quantities;
• confirm the intended target level;
• check that a rare material is not being used unnecessarily;
• save before a large or irreversible inventory decision where appropriate.

Extraction rules

Extraction was introduced in Patch 1.06.00 and is performed through smithies in various regions.

What extraction does

• recovers part or all of materials used in refinement, depending on material type;
• can remove a single refinement level or return the item to its base refinement level;
• lowers the item’s refinement level;
• does not destroy the item.

Documented recovery rates

Material type	Official recovery behaviour
Special materials, including Artifacts and Aeserion’s scale	100% of the amount used
Common materials, including iron ore, copper ore and bloodstones	approximately 70% of the amount used

These percentages describe the documented categories. Check the smithy preview because item requirements and material classification can vary.

Extraction is not a full refund

Common materials incur an expected loss. Extraction is therefore best understood as a reallocation tool, not a reversible free trial.

Use it when:

• the old item is no longer part of a real loadout;
• the recovered special materials unlock a stronger or more useful item;
• the approximately 30% common-material loss is acceptable;
• storing both the old item and its trapped investment is less useful than moving the resources.

Avoid it when:

• the item remains part of a secondary or character-specific loadout;
• the replacement has not been tested;
• common materials are currently scarce;
• the extraction preview differs from expectation;
• the decision is driven by one bad encounter rather than a confirmed equipment problem.

Extraction workflow

1. Make a manual save.
2. Equip and test the proposed replacement.
3. Confirm the old item is no longer required by another character or loadout.
4. Visit a smithy and open Extraction.
5. Compare one-level extraction with full return to base.
6. Record the previewed materials.
7. Check the proportion of special versus common materials.
8. Confirm only when the recovered resources have a planned destination.
9. Recheck the item’s new refinement level afterward.

Sockets and Abyss Gear

Patch 1.06.00 improved certain equipment so it could be enhanced and added sockets for equipping Abyss Gear.

Official notes also state:

• socket count generally matches the default for that equipment type;
• some equipment and Kuku equipment have fewer sockets than other items of the same type;
• Patch 1.00.02 added a Chapter 3 tutorial quest for Abyss Gear.

Evaluate sockets by function

A socket is valuable when the available Abyss Gear solves a current problem, such as:

• damage type or resistance requirement;
• crowd control or defensive stability;
• resource economy;
• a weapon-specific interaction;
• a repeatable activity or encounter.

Do not treat an empty socket as automatic proof that an item is superior. Compare the actual socket count, available Abyss Gear and the cost of activating the intended setup.

Resistances and situational sets

Keep a situational item when its resistance or role can plausibly change the encounter.

Examples include:

• a cloak aligned to a relevant elemental threat;
• equipment that supports a ranged or aerial target;
• armour with socket capacity for a needed defensive effect;
• a lower-damage weapon whose handling allows safer counters or group control.

A situational set should be labelled by purpose in your own inventory plan. “Maybe useful” is not a purpose; “fire-resistance set for repeated fire encounter” is.

Gear locks and safe inventory handling

Lock valuable, rare, refined or currently equipped items before bulk selling or extraction.

Patch 1.15.00 fixed equipped-gear lock status not being saved correctly for Oongka and Damiane. After updating:

• verify the lock icon persists after save and reload;
• do not assume an old save has the desired lock state;
• check each character separately;
• treat any repeatable failure as a defect and report the patch, platform and save state.

Character-specific loadouts

An item can be poor for one character and important for another.

Before selling, consuming a duplicate or extracting:

• check compatibility with Kliff, Oongka and Damiane;
• check character-specific counters, unarmed skills and weapon access;
• check whether the item is locked or equipped in another character’s loadout;
• verify whether a future swap would require rebuilding refinement from zero.

The equipment-lock fix in Patch 1.15.00 makes this safer, but the player still needs a deliberate cross-character inventory policy.

Keep, sell, store, refine or extract

Keep

• unique or rare item with unclear replacement source;
• useful resistance or socket profile;
• item supporting another character or weapon package;
• low-cost backup that covers a missing target type;
• collection or future system value not yet understood.

Sell

• common duplicate with no separate loadout role;
• unrefined item clearly superseded by tested equipment;
• item explicitly marked sellable with no special function;
• low-value clutter after storage and role checks.

Store

• situational resistance set;
• alternate weapon that has passed testing but is not currently active;
• rare blueprint, Abyss Gear or material awaiting a known use;
• refined item whose replacement is still being tested.

Refine

• active equipment used across several encounters;
• item whose next level solves a confirmed damage or survivability problem;
• equipment with an understood socket or character role;
• item unlikely to be immediately replaced.

Extract

• replaced refined item with no remaining loadout role;
• item containing special materials needed elsewhere;
• temporary weapon abandoned after controlled comparison;
• duplicate refined path that can be consolidated.

Failure-based gear changes

Use the smallest equipment change that addresses the diagnosed problem.

Diagnosed problem	Equipment response
Fight mechanically stable but too long	refine active weapon or improve relevant damage function
Repeated elemental damage	test relevant resistance or socket support
Stamina/resource collapse	review skill package and resource-supporting equipment before raw damage
Groups overwhelm spacing	test crowd-control or mobility weapon package
Flying/ranged target inaccessible	equip or retain a ranged answer
Character swap loses function	verify character compatibility and locked loadout
Current item replaced	test replacement, then consider extraction

Use Boss & Encounter Diagnosis before deciding that a death is gear-driven.

Refinement record

Use this template for any future verified cost or result claim:

Patch/platform:
Character:
Item:
Base refinement:
Starting refinement:
Target refinement:
Selected method:
Materials previewed:
Materials consumed:
Extraction target:
Materials recovered:
Socket count:
Abyss Gear used:
Encounter tested:
Observed result:
Screenshots/video:

Exact costs should not be generalised from one item without confirming item type, base refinement and selected method.

Safe stopping rules

Stop refining when:

• the target encounter becomes consistent;
• the next level requires a rare resource without a defined need;
• the item has not been tested after recent refinement;
• a likely replacement is already available;
• the player’s failures are still caused by camera, positioning or resource misuse.

Stop extracting when:

• the preview does not match the expected material categories;
• the item is still used by another character;
• the replacement has not passed practical testing;
• the common-material loss would block another required upgrade.

Sources

• Official Patch 1.00.02 — Abyss Gear tutorial
• Official Patch 1.06.00 — extraction, recovery rates, sockets and identical-equipment refinement
• Official Patch 1.08.00 — instant refinement and tool slots
• Official Patch 1.15.00 — equipped-gear lock persistence