Granting Armor and Weapons Bonuses in Last Chaos

One of my favorite features that Last Chaos brings to the table is the ability to upgrade your armor and weapons. You can make an item +1 or greater, which essentially makes it a stronger piece of equipment. You can also infuse bloodseal gems onto armor and weaponry to grant them magical abilities, such as increasing your dexterity or long-range defense.

Weapon and Armor Upgrades

It really isn't difficult to give your weapons +levels, although it is hard to figure out for the first time. Essentially, you will need a smelting stone of a level at least equal to the item you want to upgrade. The stone can be higher than the item, but the item can't be higher than the stone. Got it?

Acquiring a smelting stone is a simple matter of taking a piece of armor to the Transmuter in town. Talk to the transmuter, place the item you want to be refined into smelting stones into the box, and click! The resulting stone will be the level of the item you destroyed. Note that armor generally gives one smelting stone, while weapons give 2. I prefer to purchase weapons and destroy them except in the case that I have a piece of armor that is a few levels lower than the available weapon, then I'd find a matching level piece of armor to destroy.

Once you have your smelting stone, drag it on top of an equipped piece of armor or weapon. You will be prompted that the upgrade may fail, and be told the consequences. Generally, there are no consequences in getting an item to +3, except for the potential wasting of a stone. Once an item is at +3, however, it is crazy to try to use a normal smelting stone to upgrade it. Failure at that point equals the destruction of the item.

To counteract this, use heaven stones, which are the method of choice for these upgrades. There is still a slim chance for the item to be destroyed, but it has a 50% success rate. Heaven stones generally cost between 150k-200k gold. They can be found in drops (somewhat rarely) and even bought on the item mall if you want to spend some of your real money on them. Obviously, for the average player, heaven stones will not be used until later levels when they become more affordable. More power can be gained for a low level character by selling a heaven stone and funding their rise to power, rather than making a weapon of +4 quality.

Bloodseal gems

Bloodseal gems are used on items that have earned the bloodseal ability, which appears with time in battle. It will be shown in red, if present, on a weapon or armor piece. The gems can be purchased from Merchant Geres in town (note that you will have to scroll down the list of his available items to see them). They cost 1000 gold each, which is a very fair price.

Using the bloodseal gem is as simple as using smelting stones. Drag it on top of the item you wish to imbue with power. I have never had a bloodseal affect fail. You may be very pleased with the enchantment you get from sealing the weapon, or disappointed. Thankfully, up to 3 blood seals can be placed on armor and 5 on weapons. It will take a while to accumulate so many seals, because you must return to fighting to give the item you seek to upgrade the ability once again.

If an item is a total flunk, say, you're a titan with a helmet of magic attack, you can use purification gems to destroy the seals on the item. Purification gems are bought from merchant geres, just like bloodseal gems. A minimum of 3 blood seals must be present on an item to clear its bonuses. This is not really practical for a low level player because of the short time they will be using weapons and armor. I recommed you stick with what you get unless it's going to be a while before your next upgrade.

So what to do with an item that has outlived its usefulness? Vendor it? Not very smart. Also, items that have been given +bonuses can't be transmuted! So therefore, the best option is to sell that old gear or give it to a friend. If you had a sword of +3 that increased strength by 4 and all types of physical attack damage, you can be very sure someone will want to buy it. Just be sure to make it affordable, and don't try to be a price-gouger. Set up a merchant stall while you're going to be afk a while or overnight and you may be suprised at how much money you make.