Picture this: You’ve just capsized and crashlanded on a remote island with a fort looming overhead. You’re defenseless, and a strange blue being is sifting through your ship’s remnants. You need a weapon, and in the moment, anything will suffice, like the dagger or wand on the ground before you. That’s all good, but a bit of wood and steel won’t suffice for long. You need to upgrade your weapons and armor in Avowed if you wish to go toe-to-toe with some of Eora’s fearsome beasts. Here’s how I survived untold encounters with a better weapon and a bit of fire magic.
If you wish to upgrade your weapons and armor in Avowed, as you should, you’ll need to find a site to plop down your Party Camp. This can be done at the glowing Adra stones scattered about the game world, usually within a circle of dirt. Once you place your Camp, there’s a Workbench off to one side that looks more like a small storage tent, complete with a few crates and a small table, where you can spend resources to upgrade the level and stats of most weapons and armor pieces in the game. These levels are:
- Common (Green)
- Fine (Blue)
- Exceptional (Purple)
- Superb (Red)
- Legendary (Yellow)
You click on the weapon in the list, and if it’s lit up white, it means it can be upgraded. In the middle of the screen, you’ll see its stats right now and the stats it’ll reach if you upgrade. Select it, agree to upgrade, and ta-da, it’s now more powerful!
There’s a catch, however. You can’t upgrade any old weapon you pick up off the ground and expect to walk away with a legendary or unique piece. It doesn’t quite work that way. For all common weapons and armor pieces, the max level is Superb Quality +3, which increases most of the item’s stats by a significant amount. In some cases, you’ll receive an item with over +100 additional damage, so it’s still good! However, if you find a unique weapon, you can upgrade it to Legendary. You’ll require Adra, which you can acquire via gold chests, Strangled Adra, and Merchants.
How to get upgrade materials
You have a few options regarding acquiring the necessary upgrade materials in Avowed to keep you fighting toe-to-toe with any of the game’s enemies. You can buy what you need from Merchants in the city but don’t expect them to give you a discount. This method is the most expensive and the least worthwhile.
Alternatively, you can find upgrade materials throughout the world, by searching abandoned backpacks, loot chests, delving into ruins and caves, or defeating enemies.
Adra
- Adra
- Awakened Adra
- Adra Ban
- Corrupted Adra
Metals
- Iron Chunk
- Steel Chunk
- Living Iron Chunk
- Living Steel Chunk
- White Steel Bunk
Pelts
- Balarok Skin
- Dragon Hide
- Pelt
- Stelgaer Leather
- Tanned Hide
Plants
- Ademth’s Wyrt
- Bloodwrithe Toadstool
- Cave Coral
- Hylea’s Talon
- Paradisan Ladder
Wood
- Blackwood Branch
- Glasswood Branch
- Hardwood Branch
- Petrified Wood Branch
- Softwood Branch
Furthermore, the quality of materials varies depending on your region:
- Common: Dawnshore
- Fine and Exceptional: Emerald Stair
- Exceptional and Superb: Scatterscrap
- Superb: Galawain’s Tusks
Once you have a powerful enough weapon, combine it with other abilities and spells for a one-two combo that takes down most foes in the game. Of course, Avowed constantly throws curveballs at you through its extensive runtime!
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