[Adventurer's Guide] Enhancing Weapons and Armor

Enhancing Weapons and Armor

Last Edited on : Feb 6, 2026, 23:22 (UTC)

Enhancing Weapons and Armor

As you level up and travel around the world, you will start to find enemies which are deadly if you are not geared correctly. Besides getting new weapons and armor, you can also enhance gear to improve the effectiveness of the items in combat or transfuse magic crystals

To enhance, you will first need to talk to the Black Spirit and choose the ‘Enhance’ option. This option will then open up the enhancement window. Choose which item you want to enhance, supply the correct amount of materials, and press enhance.

Equipment Enhancement Stages

While traveling throughout the world of Black Desert, you are bound to listen to certain words over and over again: PRI, DUO, TRI, TET, and PEN. But, what do they mean? They are related to the level of enhancement a piece of equipment (gear) has.

Weapons and armor in Black Desert can be (mostly) enhanced a total of 20 levels.
From base to +15, the piece shows its enhancement level with a number.
From Lv. 16 to Lv. 20 of enhancement, the levels are indicated as PRI (I), DUO (II), TRI (III), TET (IV), and PEN (V).

From Lv. 21 to 25 of enhancement, the levels are indicated as HEX (VI), SEP (VII), OCT (VIII), NOV (IX), and DEC (X).

Rings, necklaces, belts, and earrings, which are accessories, can be enhanced a total of 5 levels. These are marked as PRI (I), DUO (II), TRI (III), TET (IV), and PEN (V), respectively.

Origin of PRI, DUO, TRI, TET, and PEN
They are words derived from Latin and ancient Greek, meaning first (prior), two (duo), three (tri-), four (tetra-), and five (penta-).

Enhancement Inventory

The Enhancement Inventory allows storing enhancement materials between characters in your Family.
- Any eligible items will be automatically stored in the Enhancement Inventory upon obtaining.
- The maximum slot count for this inventory is 192 slots with no weight restrictions. You can check and use Advice of Valks, Valks' Cry, Origin of Dark Hunger, and Devour for applicable gear from the Enhancement Chance window.
Enhancement functions for items storable in the Enhancement Inventory are disabled if in the normal inventory.
- To use items stored in the Enhancement Inventory as processing materials, move them to your Inventory first. Only after moving them to your Inventory can you process, move to the Central Market warehouse, or exchange with an NPC.
Press R2/RT in the Inventory to open the Enhancement Inventory.

The following items can be stored in the Enhancement Inventory:

Valks' Cry	Concentrated Magical Black Gem	Black Gem	Scorching Sun Gemstone
Primordial Black Stone	Essence of Dawn	Dawn Black Stone	Edana's Black Stone
Black Stone	Black Stone (Basteer)	Concentrated Magical Black Stone	Adventurer's Black Stone
Black Spirit's Claw	Cron Stone	J's Hammer of Loyalty	Origin of Dark Hunger
Faint Origin of Dark Hunger	Primordial Hammer	Ancient Hammer	Caphras Stone
Crystallized Despair	Stabilized Magical Black Stone	Cleansed Magical Black Stone	Pure Magical Black Stone
Time-filled Black Stone	Frozen Tides Black Stone	Boiling Tides Black Stone	Dreamy Crystal of Balance
Flawless Magical Black Stone	Flawless Chaotic Black Stone	Tidal Black Stone	Beginner Black Stone
Bloodstorm Black Stone	[Event] Dim Origin of Dark Hunger	Shattered Old Moon Fragment	Essence of Ascent - Weapon
Essence of Ascent - Accessory	Desperate Crystal of Origin	Distorted Crystal of Origin	Silent Crystal of Origin
Essence of Ascent - Defense Gear	Dreamy Cloud Stone	Fierce Fighting Spirit Stone	Asula's Weakened Magic Ring
Asula's Weakened Magic Earring	Asula's Weakened Magic Necklace	Asula's Weakened Magic Belt

Enhancement Materials

Equipment enhancement in Black Desert is carried out via the consumption of enhancement materials by the Black Spirit so it can improve your equipment pieces.

The enhancement material employed depends on the type of equipment to be improved (weapons, defense gear, accessories) and the enhancement level.

Please refer to the table below.

Equipment Type	Enhancement Level: + 1 ~ 15	Enhancement Level: PRI (I) ~ PEN (V)
Weapons	Black Stone	Concentrated Magical Black Stone (Weapon)
Defense Gear
Accessories	Base accessory of the same type

Most equipment enhancements can be carried out following the above rules, but keep in mind that some equipment will require other materials.

Below are some of the exceptional cases in which different enhancement materials are needed.
(Do not worry, you do not have to memorize them. You will naturally find them as you progress through the game.)

Equipment Type	Enhancement Level: + 1 ~ 15	Enhancement Level: PRI (I) ~ PEN (V)
Tuvala Weapons & Defense Gear	Black Stone Concentrated Magical Black Stone
Manos Clothes	Black Gem	Concentrated Magical Black Gem
Manos Accessories	Concentrated Magical Black Gem
Preonne Accessories	Concentrated Magical Black Gem
Blackstar Weapons	Concentrated Magical Black Stone	Flawless Magical Black Stone
Blackstar Defense Gear	Concentrated Magical Black Stone	Flawless Magical Black Stone
Slumbering Origin Gear	Flawless Chaotic Black Stone
Sovereign Weapons	Primordial Black Stone
Kharazad Accessories	Essence of Dawn (+0 to NOV [IX] Enhancement Attempts)	Dawn Black Stone (DEC [X] Enhancement Attempts)

How to Enhance

◈ The Basics

Enhancement is the action to improve the stats (AP or DP) of equipment.
Most equipment pieces can be safely enhanced up to +7 for weapons, and +5 for armor, without failure. It is the so-called "safe enhancement" range, and thereafter, you will be able to increase the enhancement level by small chances.

If you fail enhancement, the maximum durability of the equipment might decrease, the enhancement level may be lowered, or the piece might be destroyed, depending on the type of item.
Especially for accessories, such as necklaces, earrings, belts, and rings, if you fail enhancement, note that both the item you wanted to enhance and the ingredient item used for enhancement can disappear.

Please also note that the higher the level of enhancement you are attempting, the greater the maximum durability decrease will be.

◈ Enhancement Window

The marked areas of the picture above are explained below.

1. Enhancement Materials
If there are suitable enhancement materials in your character's inventory, they will be selected automatically when selecting the equipment to be enhanced.

2. Enhancement Success Probability
The success rate of the current enhancement. It is determined by the type of equipment to be enhanced, the level of enhancement, and the increased rate of equipment enhancement.

3. Equipment to Be Enhanced
This is the equipment piece you have selected for enhancement.

4. Max Durability Decreased on Failure
If equipment enhancement fails, the maximum durability is reduced by the value written here.
If the maximum durability is lowered to a certain level, you can no longer continue to try to enhance the piece. In that case, you have to restore the item's maximum durability.

For certain pieces of equipment, such as accessories, instead of telling you the item may lose maximum durability upon failure, the game will warn you the item will be destroyed upon failure.

5. Equipment Enhancement Rate Increase
It is a number that affects the probability of success of the enhancement. It is also commonly called a "stack" among Adventurers.
If an enhancement fails, it accumulates and increases, and if it succeeds, it is consumed.
In numbers, if you fail an enhancement attempt, the enhancement chance increases by 1. As the count increases, the success chance for the next enhancement gets higher.

By using this, one can repeatedly fail to enhance equipment with low enhancement probability to build up so-called "failstacks".
After building the enhancement chance to a satisfactory level, it is then time to try to enhance the equipment piece you want improved.

Please note that Loggia, Geranoa, and Manos clothes and accessories that can increase life skill-related stats are not affected by the "Equipment Enhancement Probability Increase" value, and instead have a fixed probability according to the enhancement level.

6. Enhance
Finally, when you press one of these buttons, the enhancement attempt is made. The result is irreversible, so please click carefully!

◈ Conditions for inputting "high" Enhancement Chance when enhancing gear

Conditions for displaying the "high" Enhancement Chance confirmation window when enhancing gear are as follows:

- If enhancement level is +0 to DUO (II) and Enhancement Chance is 100+
- If final success rate is 30%+ and Enhancement Chance is 150+

◈ Increase Enhancement Chance

Press the "Enhancement Chance" area to select and apply items that increase Enhancement Chance.
Separated tabs for Enhancement Chance items: one for items usable at +0 Enhancement Chance (e.g., Advice of Valks), and one for items selectable at +100 to +300 Enhancement Chance.
You can confirm and apply Valks' Cry via the "Bonus" tab in the "Increase Chance" window on the right.

◈ Extract

What if you want to keep the increased enhancement chance you have obtained and use it later?
To extract the enhancement chance in item form, you can use a blacksmith's secret book to create Advice of Valks.

Blacksmith's secret books can be purchased from Blacksmith NPCs in major towns.

When you purchase a blacksmith's secret book, please keep in mind that you need to purchase the proper secret book that applies to the enhancement chance you want to extract.

For blacksmith's secret books, the extraction of an enhancement chance that is less than what is written in the secret book is allowed. For example, if the current enhancement chance you want to extract is +21, the Blacksmith's Secret Book - 20 cannot be used for extraction. Blacksmith's secret book - 30 would be the proper item.

Once you have purchased the proper secret book, summon the Black Spirit and access the enhancement menu.

Press the "Extract" area to convert the current Enhancement Chance into an item.

- You'll require the corresponding Blacksmith's Secret Book to extract the Enhancement Chance.

◈ Caphras Enhancement

You can set Caphras enhanceable gear as the target, select Caphras Stones as the material, then perform Caphras Enhancement.

◈ Naderr's Band

Using Naderr's Band is another method to preserve the enhancement chance you have obtained to enhance equipment.

These are slots that can store equipment enhancement chances.
Unlike a Blacksmith's Secret Book, these have the advantage that they can be preserved without being limited to the number a book dictates, and in addition to that, the increased value from Valks' Cry is also saved.

However, there is a limit on the maximum number of slots that can be used.
A 5-second cooldown is given after using Naderr's Band to transfer an enhancement chance of 100 or higher.

This functionality can be unlocked after completing a simple quest. It can only be accepted once per Family when you are level 58 or higher.
If you fulfill the quest requirements, receive the "Black Spirit's Gift (Naderr's Band)" quest from the Black Spirit and complete it.
By using the quest reward Nader's Parchment, you can activate both the functionality and unlock one slot.

One other Naderr's Band slot can also be obtained via the Pearl Shop with Loyalties.

Cron Stones & Enhancement Failure Penalty

If you keep attempting to enhance a piece of equipment after +15, you may be able to obtain items of +16 (PRI) to +20 (PEN) levels. However, if you fail the enhancement attempt at the DUO or above level, the enhancement level of the piece will decrease. For accessories, any enhancement attempt that fails will result in them being destroyed and deleted.

To avoid this happening, you use cron stones. With the use of these stones, you can prevent weapons and defense gear from losing enhancement levels, and for accessories, you may be able to prevent them from being destroyed.
Please note that in the case of accessories, they may not be destroyed, however, their enhancement level might decrease by a certain chance.

You can obtain cron stones by purchasing them from a Blacksmith NPC in towns, by extracting them from pearl outfits, in small but steady amounts via boss encounters, and as event rewards.

Press the "Protection" area to select items that prevent enhancement level drops.
- Split the enhancement button into "Enhance (Protected)" and "Enhance." The "Enhance" button will only activate when no protection material is registered.
- You can select protection items directly when enhancing.

Recover Max Durability

In order to restore the lowered maximum durability of an equipment piece, equipment of the same type as the target (base, at +0) or memory fragments are required.
Therefore, it is important to know when it is better to use one or the other, depending on the cost of repair of the item.