Weapon vs Armor Honing Priority: DPS vs Support Optimization Guide

Weapon Honing Success Rates by Item Level

Complete Success Rate Table: Weapons vs Armor

Key Success Rate Insights

• ▸3× Cost Multiplier at +17→+18: Weapons require 33.3 expected attempts versus armor's 10 attempts—weapons cost 3.33× more materials.
• ▸Exponential Scaling Beyond +18: Success rate gaps widen further at +18→+19 (2% vs 7%) and +19→+20 (1.5% vs 5%), creating 3.5× cost differences.
• ▸Material Type Asymmetry: Weapons consume Destruction Stone Crystals (rarer, more expensive) while armor uses Guardian Stone Crystals (common, cheaper).
• ▸Artisan Energy Pity System: Both weapons and armor benefit from artisan energy bad luck protection, but weapons' lower success rates mean higher pity trigger probability (52% at 3% rate vs 38% at 10% rate).

Honing Materials Cost Comparison

Beyond success rate differences, weapon and armor honing consume different material types with significant gold cost disparities:

Attack Power Scaling: Why Weapon Item Level Matters

Weapon Attack Power Formula

Cumulative Attack Power Gains by Weapon Level

Attack Power increases compound multiplicatively across multiple item level upgrades. From +15 weapon (typical entry to endgame) to +20 weapon (current standard), cumulative gains:

Practical DPS Impact in Raids

The 25.8% cumulative Attack Power increase from +15→+20 weapon translates to real raid performance improvements:

• •Boss Kill Time: A boss requiring 5 minutes at +15 weapon dies in 3 minutes 57 seconds at +20 weapon (21% faster, accounting for non-linear damage scaling with mechanics).
• •DPS Check Success: Valtan Ghost Phase DPS check requires 800k damage in 30 seconds. +15 weapon DPS = 26.7k/sec (fail), +20 weapon DPS = 33.5k/sec (pass).
• •Gold Farming Efficiency: Chaos Dungeons gold-per-hour increases 18-22% with +20 weapon due to faster clear speeds enabling additional runs.
• •MVP Rate: +20 weapon significantly increases MVP selection probability (bonus rewards) in Guardian Raids and Abyssal Dungeons due to higher damage contribution.

Mathematical Proof: Why DPS Must Prioritize Weapons

When Armor Becomes Necessary for DPS Classes

Despite infinite weapon priority mathematically, DPS classes face practical constraints requiring armor upgrades:

• 1.Raid Item Level Requirements: Brelshaza Hard Mode requires 1560 average item level (across all 7 gear pieces). Having +25 weapon but +15 armor = 1565 average—meets requirement but barely. Most groups expect +18-19 armor minimum.
• 2.One-Shot Mechanic Survival: Current endgame raids include mechanics dealing 250,000+ damage (e.g., Brelshaza Showtime mechanic). +15 armor = ~200k HP (death), +17 armor = ~240k HP (survival with support shields).
• 3.Party Finder Acceptance: Most endgame party finder groups inspect gear and decline +20 weapon / +15 armor applications (viewed as "glass cannon" builds indicating inexperience or poor judgment).
• 4.Stronghold Research Requirements: Some stronghold honing discount research requires minimum item levels across ALL gear pieces, not just average. Having low armor prevents unlocking future weapon discounts.

Optimal DPS Honing Progression Path

Balanced progression strategy maintaining weapon advantage while meeting practical constraints:

This progression path maintains 3-5 item level weapon advantage throughout endgame, ensuring maximum DPS output while meeting raid requirements and survivability thresholds. The key principle: never upgrade armor when weapon is below current content threshold (+20 currently), but also don't neglect armor so far that you can't access content your weapon qualifies you for.

Solar Blessing Optimization for DPS Weapons

Why Solar Blessing Has Higher ROI on Weapons

Solar Blessing ROI Comparison: Weapon vs Armor

Worked example at +17→+18 upgrade tier with Solar Blessing costing 1,200g:

Why Supports Should Prioritize Armor Over Weapons

Support Survivability Breakpoints

Armor priority for Supports continues until reaching specific survivability thresholds where one-shot mechanics become survivable:

When Supports Should Upgrade Weapons

After reaching +18 armor across all pieces (current safe threshold), Supports can shift to weapon priority for secondary optimization:

• ▸Bus Carry Efficiency: Higher weapon damage enables Supports to participate in "bus carries" (paid carry services) where Support DPS contribution matters for clear speed.
• ▸Solo Chaos Dungeon Clear Speed: Weapon upgrades reduce daily Chaos Dungeon clear time by 15-25%, improving daily gold-per-hour efficiency.
• ▸Alt Character Build Efficiency: If using Support as alt for gold farming (less common), weapon damage improves farming efficiency once survivability is secured.
• ▸Future Content Preparation: New raids (Thaemine, future content) may have higher item level requirements where balanced gear matters.

Stronghold Research Honing Discounts

Maximizing Stronghold Research Benefits

Available Stronghold Research Bonuses

Critical Strategy: Always unlock maximum available stronghold research before honing any gear. The cumulative gold savings (100,000-200,000g from +6→+17 with full research active) far exceed research unlock costs (typically 5,000-20,000g + time-gated research durations). For main character progression, research benefits justify waiting days for research completion before honing.

Alt Character Honing Priority

Minimum Cost Strategy for Gold Farming Alts

Alt characters optimize for gold-per-hour efficiency rather than performance maximization. The alt honing strategy:

• 1.Even Gear Distribution: Upgrade all 7 gear pieces evenly (weapon + 6 armor) to minimum item level threshold for next content tier. Example: all pieces to +12 for 1370, all pieces to +15 for 1415.
• 2.Avoid Pushing Single Pieces: Don't follow weapon-first priority on alts—balanced upgrades minimize total gold investment while meeting item level gates faster.
• 3.Leverage Stronghold Research: Only upgrade alts when full stronghold research is active for their current item level bracket (-20% cost makes even armor/weapon balanced viable).
• 4.Stop at Content Gates: Once alt hits 1415 (Valtan Hard access), STOP honing and focus gold farming. Don't push to 1445 or 1475 unless main character is already at that tier—alts exist to fund main.
• 5.Horizontal Progression First: Use bound materials (from Chaos Dungeons, Una's Tasks) for alt honing, spend tradeable materials only after bound stockpiles depleted.

Alt Honing Cost Comparison: Balanced vs Weapon-First

Gold cost comparison for reaching 1415 item level (Valtan Hard Mode access):

For alts, balanced progression saves ~75,000 gold (53% cost reduction) compared to weapon-first strategy while reaching same 1415 item level threshold. The performance advantage from higher weapon is irrelevant if your alt is only farming Valtan/Vykas for gold—clear speed difference negligible compared to 75k gold savings that can fund main character progression.