Refinement System

Overview

Equipment in Ragnarok Online can be 'upgraded' or 'refined' by upgrade NPCs in each major towns to make them more powerful. All equipment has a maximum upgrade level of +20, starting from +0. +0 items do not have any prefixes, but once they are upgraded, the number of upgrade levels will be displayed on the equipment - e.g. +5 Stunner. Upgrades above +10 use a different system, and it is very unusual to see gear upgraded above +10.

Also, you can turn in Rough Oridecon and Rough Elunium to create single refined Oridecon and Elunium, which are needed for upgrading Lv. 3 / Lv. 4 weapons, items and armors, respectively. There are also more potent variants of these minerals:

Enriched ores (e.g. Enriched Oridecon, Enriched Elunium) which increase the chance of successfully upgrading an item.
HD ores (e.g. HD Oridecon, HD Elunium) which have the same rate as Enriched ores, but protect an item from breaking (only degrade by 1 refine level instead) in case of upgrade failure.

Upgrade NPC Locations

Inside Prontera prt_in6360 and prt_in9072
Inside Morroc morocc_in7338
Payon payon144173
Inside Alberta alberta_in2959

Upgrade Requirements

To upgrade equipment, make sure you have the following:

Equipment
Zeny
Reagent
Blacksmith Blessing (optional, will preserve upgrade level in case of failure, usable from +7 up to +12)

To start refining, drag the items to be refined from inventory to the square box in the middle. The required ore will appear in the blue hexagon at the top. Blacksmith Blessing (when applicable) will appear in the red hexagon next to the ores. Select the ore to be used by clicking on the appropriate hexagon. You will have the option to use Blacksmith Blessing starting at +7 up to +12. The center blue hexagon will display the ore selected. The red hexagon will display Blacksmith Blessing if you chose to use it for this refine. Please note success rate for the refine will appear at the top of the display while the Zeny cost will be shown next to the Zeny icon at the Refine button.

Upgrade Level	Required Blacksmith Blessings per attempt
+7 -> +8	1
+8 -> +9	2
+9 -> +10	4
+10 -> +11	7
+11 -> +12	4

Not all item types can be upgraded. The following item types cannot be upgraded:

Middle and Lower Headgears.
Accessories.
Any items that are not equipment.
Any equipment that specifically says it cannot be upgraded.

Reagents and Cost

In order to upgrade, you need to provide a reagent in order to upgrade your equipment. Reagent required differs depending on weapon level of the equipment. As for armors, they all take same reagent regardless of type.

Money taken also differs depending on weapon level of the weapons.

Following list shows reagent + money required.

Equipment

Reagent

Fee

Weapon Lv. 1

Phracon

50z

Weapon Lv. 2

Emveretarcon

200z

Weapon Lv. 3

Oridecon

5,000z

Weapon Lv. 4

Oridecon

20,000z

Any Armor

Elunium

2,000z

Refining Rough Oridecons and Eluniums

When you collect 5 Rough Oridecons and Rough Eluniums, you can convert them into a single Oridecon or Elunium by talking to an NPC in the upgrade shop.

Note that you can make only one pure Oridecon or Elunium each time you talk to the NPC.
This service does not cost any Zeny.
Locas izlude155132 in Izlude will mass-convert rough ore into the pure ore.

Effects Gained

Weapons

An upgraded weapon will get the following bonuses (for conciseness, only ATK is written):

Level 1 - Every +1 upgrade gives 2 ATK, 0~3 ATK for every Over Upgrade pass the +7 Safety Limit, 16 High Upgrade ATK from +15 to +16, and 1 ATK for every High Upgrade pass +16.
Level 2 - Every +1 upgrade gives 3 ATK, 0~5 ATK for every Over Upgrade pass the +6 Safety Limit, 32 High Upgrade ATK from +15 to +16, and 2 ATK for every High Upgrade pass +16.
Level 3 - Every +1 upgrade gives 5 ATK, 0~8 ATK for every Over Upgrade pass the +5 Safety Limit, 32 High Upgrade ATK from +15 to +16, and 2 ATK for every High Upgrade pass +16.
Level 4 - Every +1 upgrade gives 7 ATK, 0~14 ATK for every Over Upgrade pass the +4 Safety Limit, 48 High Upgrade ATK from +15 to +16, and 3 ATK for every High Upgrade pass +16.
A +20 Level 4 weapon has its ATK and MATK increased by 200~424.

Notes:

The Over Upgrade bonus is random for every hit and gives a minimum of 0. This bonus is not shown on the Status Window or affected by the Maximum ATK from Critical Hit Damage and Power Maximize or the Maximum MATK from Recognized Spell.
All upgrade bonuses are cumulative so refining a Level 4 weapon from +15 to +16 increases ATK & MATK bonus from 105~259 to 160~328 (7 for the upgrade, 0~14 for the Over Upgrade and 48 for the High Upgrade).

Level 1 Weapons
Upgrade Lv.	ATK & MATK Bonuses
Upgrade Lv.	Base Bonus	Over Upgrade	High Upgrade	Overall Total
+1	2	-	-	2~2
+2	4	-	-	4~4
+3	6	-	-	6~6
+4	8	-	-	8~8
+5	10	-	-	10~10
+6	12	-	-	12~12
+7	14	-	-	14~14
+8	16	0~2	-	16~18
+9	18	0~4	-	18~22
+10	20	0~6	-	20~26
+11	22	0~8	-	22~30
+12	24	0~10	-	24~34
+13	26	0~12	-	26~38
+14	28	0~14	-	28~42
+15	30	0~16	-	30~46
+16	32	0~18	16	48~66
+17	34	0~20	17	51~71
+18	36	0~22	18	54~76
+19	38	0~24	19	57~81
+20	40	0~26	20	60~86

Level 2 Weapons
Upgrade Lv.	ATK & MATK Bonuses
Upgrade Lv.	Base Bonus	Over Upgrade	High Upgrade	Overall Total
+1	3	-	-	3~3
+2	6	-	-	6~6
+3	9	-	-	9~9
+4	12	-	-	12~12
+5	15	-	-	15~15
+6	18	-	-	18~18
+7	21	0~5	-	21~26
+8	24	0~10	-	24~34
+9	27	0~15	-	27~42
+10	30	0~20	-	30~50
+11	33	0~25	-	33~58
+12	36	0~30	-	36~66
+13	39	0~35	-	39~74
+14	42	0~40	-	42~82
+15	45	0~45	-	45~90
+16	48	0~50	32	80~130
+17	51	0~55	34	85~140
+18	54	0~60	36	90~150
+19	57	0~65	38	95~160
+20	60	0~70	40	100~170

Level 3 Weapons
Upgrade Lv.	ATK & MATK Bonuses
Upgrade Lv.	Base Bonus	Over Upgrade	High Upgrade	Overall Total
+1	5	-	-	5~5
+2	10	-	-	10~10
+3	15	-	-	15~15
+4	20	-	-	20~20
+5	25	-	-	25~25
+6	30	0~8	-	30~38
+7	35	0~16	-	35~51
+8	40	0~24	-	40~64
+9	45	0~32	-	45~77
+10	50	0~40	-	50~90
+11	55	0~48	-	55~103
+12	60	0~56	-	60~116
+13	65	0~64	-	65~129
+14	70	0~72	-	70~142
+15	75	0~80	-	75~155
+16	80	0~88	32	112~200
+17	85	0~96	34	119~215
+18	90	0~104	36	126~230
+19	95	0~112	38	133~245
+20	100	0~120	40	140~260

Level 4 Weapons
Upgrade Lv.	ATK & MATK Bonuses
Upgrade Lv.	Base Bonus	Over Upgrade	High Upgrade	Overall Total
+1	7	-	-	7~7
+2	14	-	-	14~14
+3	21	-	-	21~21
+4	28	-	-	28~28
+5	35	0~14	-	35~49
+6	42	0~28	-	42~70
+7	49	0~42	-	49~91
+8	56	0~56	-	56~112
+9	63	0~70	-	63~133
+10	70	0~84	-	70~154
+11	77	0~98	-	77~175
+12	84	0~112	-	84~196
+13	91	0~126	-	91~217
+14	98	0~140	-	98~238
+15	105	0~154	-	105~259
+16	112	0~168	48	160~328
+17	119	0~182	51	170~352
+18	126	0~196	54	180~376
+19	133	0~210	57	190~400
+20	140	0~224	60	200~424

Armors

Every upgrade increases the Hard DEF by a certain amount (see table below).

Any Armors
Upgrade Lv.	Equip DEF Bonus
+1	10
+2	20
+3	30
+4	40
+5	60
+6	80
+7	100
+8	120
+9	150
+10	180
+11	210
+12	240
+13	280
+14	320
+15	360
+16	400
+17	450
+18	500
+19	550
+20	600

Upgrades are useful, as for weapon upgrade, it increases damage the player can inflict. For armors, it reduces damage the player will take.

Safety Level

The Safety Level is the maximum level of refinement that can be given to equipment with guaranteed success (0% chance of failure). Anything past the safety level has chance to fail, and failure means your equipment will be permanently destroyed, including any cards and other enchantments it may have had. You won't be refunded Zeny and the ore used to upgrade if it fails. Give careful thought before deciding if you want to upgrade a piece of equipment beyond its safety level.

Equipment	Safety Level
Weapon Lv. 1	+7
Weapon Lv. 2	+6
Weapon Lv. 3	+5
Weapon Lv. 4	+4
Any Armor	+4

Breaking Protection

The more you get beyond the safety level, the higher are the chances that your equipment gets permanently destroyed, along with its cards or other enchantments.

Random Refine Boxes

Random Refine Boxes can be obtained for 4m Zeny from Thor's Flame.

Random Refine Boxes will refine any item that is between +4 and +9 INCLUSIVE.

This consumable will only be used when you confirm the refine.

Upon using the Random Refine Box a dialog box will appear prompting you which EQUIPPED gear you'd like to refine.

Using a Random Refine Box will NOT break your item, however it has a chance to lower your refinement.

If your refine value was lowered OR stayed the same, it will show the failed animation.

If your refine value has increased from the original, it will show the success animation.

Refine Value	Chance %
+5	43.9%
+6	35%
+7	15%
+8	5%
+9	1%
+10	0.1%

HD Oridecon & Elunium

During an upgrade attempt using HD Oridecon or HD Elunium, upgrade failure will only degrade the item by 1 refine level instead of breaking. This is only possible when refining gear +7 and above.

HD Oridecon & Elunium can be obtained from Thor's Flame.

Refine Attempt + Cost	Refine (Chance%)	Refine Success	Refine Failure
+7 -> +8 1 HD Elunium or 1 HD Oridecon	40%	+7 -> +8	+7 -> +6

Blacksmith's Blessing (BSB)

During an upgrade attempt using Blacksmith's Blessing, upgrade failure will retain the original refine level instead of breaking. This is only possible when refining gear +7 and above.

Blacksmith's Blessing Recipe can be obtained for 5m Zeny from Thor's Flame. The recipe will be consumed once the BSB is crafted.
Blacksmith's Blessing Shard drop from Fever Monsters and Champion Monsters.

BSB's can be obtained in 2 ways

Blacksmith's Blessing	Cost
1 Blacksmith's Blessing	2 Blacksmith's Blessing Shard or 1 Blacksmith's Blessing Recipe 20 Oridecon 20 Elunium 1 Mythril Ore

Example Scenario

Refine Attempt + Cost	Refine (Chance%)	Refine Success	Refine Failure
+7 -> +8 1 Enriched Elunium + 1 Blacksmith's Blessing	40%	+7 -> +8	+7 -> +7

Upgrades beyond +10

As of the Renewal update, it is possible to upgrade equipment beyond +10, as high as +20. To upgrade beyond +10, the player must start with an item at +10 or higher.

For armor, the player must have 100,000z and 1 Carnium.
For weapons the player must have 100,000z and 1 Bradium.

In the event of a failed upgrade attempt, the item may break, but more frequently, will lose three upgrade levels. The success rates of upgrading above +10 are very, very low, on the order of 20% for Level 1, 2 and 3 weapons and 10% on Level 4 weapons and armors.

It is possible to trade 3 Elunium or 1 Refined Bradium for 1 Carnium, and 3 Oridecon for 1 Bradium. In all cases, there is a 50,000z fee per exchange. The exchanging can be done by talking to Austry prt_in8571 in the north room of the Prontera upgrade shop.

Thor's Flame can help craft HD Carnium and HD Bradium, which can be used on any refine NPC. Failing will result in losing one refine level, instead of three levels or breaking.

Success Chances

Success chance with normal metals

Chances to successfully refine an item on with normal metals are:

Upgrade	Lv. 1	Lv. 2	Lv. 3	Lv. 4	Armor
+4 -> +5	100%	100%	100%	60%	60%
+5 -> +6	100%	100%	60%	40%	40%
+6 -> +7	100%	60%	50%	40%	40%
+7 -> +8	60%	40%	20%	20%	20%
+8 -> +9	40%	20%	20%	20%	20%
+9 -> +10	19%	19%	19%	9%	9%
+11 ~ +14	18%	18%	18%	8%	8%
+15 ~ +18	17%	17%	17%	7%	7%
+19 ~ +20	15%	15%	15%	5%	5%

This chart explains the cumulative chance of upgrading.

Upgrade	Lv. 1	Lv. 2	Lv. 3	Lv. 4
+0 -> +5	100%	100%	100%	60%
+0 -> +6	100%	100%	60%	24%
+0 -> +7	100%	60%	30%	9.6%
+0 -> +8	60%	24%	6%	1.92%
+0 -> +9	24%	4.8%	1.2%	0.384%
+0 -> +10	4.56%	0.912%	0.228%	0.03456%

Success chance with Enriched & HD Ores

Success chances using are:

Upgrade	Lv. 1	Lv. 2	Lv. 3	Lv. 4	Armor
+4 -> +5*	100%	100%	100%	90%	90%
+5 -> +6*	100%	100%	90%	70%	70%
+6 -> +7	100%	90%	80%	70%	70%
+7 -> +8	90%	70%	40%	40%	40%
+8 -> +9	70%	40%	40%	40%	40%
+9 -> +10	30%	30%	30%	20%	20%

Note that red colored numbers mean no improvement over normal Oridecon or Elunium.
Note that HD is only usable at +7 and above, so +4 -> +5, +5 -> +6, and +6 -> +7 only apply to Enriched. Otherwise the rates are the same.