BDO Enhancement is the process of upgrading gear to increase its power. The levels of Enhancement go from +1 to +20. Most gear and accessories in Black Desert Online can be enhanced, as long as you have enhancement materials on hand and a handful of luck.
Enhancement Levels:
- PEN (V) +20
- TET (IV) +19
- TRI (III) +18
- DUO (II) +17
- PRI (I) +16
- +1 to +15
Enhancing is sometimes called by the traditional name of “Enchanting”.
…you’ve got to ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?” –
RNG Me Away!
Enhancement is very RNG heavy. Players frequently flood chat and video channels with how unfair the Enhancement system has been to them. Unsafe Enhancement is a gamble, especially when you approach +13 and above. TET and +15 begin with a mere 2% chance at succeeding. PEN? Forget about it! I won’t depress you with the numbers. 🙂
It makes me wonder how many players have quit BDO over this sometimes infuriating mechanic.
There are a few oddballs who actually enjoy Enhancement… but never mind the craziest. It’s safest to avoid them, and any mention of them actually. They might be reading this right now *gulp*.
What about Safe Enhancement?
Black Desert has implemented some safe ways to to achieve Enhancement like Guaranteed PEN, Force-Enhance, Caphras Stones, Cron Stones, and Magical Black Stones, but these options may seem overly time consuming and expensive when one dreams of a “lucky” one touch TET, etc. Many people forgo “Safe Enhancement” options. To complicate matters, there are fewer safe options for the best gear. This leads to frustration upon frustration for the unlucky and the heights of joy for the lucky few…
With the April 17 2024 patch, BDO introduced a pity system called the Anicent Anvil to help relieve adventurers’ frustrations over repeated enhancement failures.
Enhancement Window
To view the Enhancement interface, talk to the Black Spirit by pressing (,) key. Click the “Enhancement” button. Alternatively, right click a Black Stone or other Enhancement material to open the Enhancement UI directly.
Enhancement Basics
You must have completed the quest called [Awakening] Traces of Edana. This quest is not very far into the first Main quest chain given by the Black Spirit.
Enhancing Normal Gear – Weapons and Armor +1 to +15
Base Enhancement Material: Black Stone
Optional Enhancement Material: Valks’ Cry
- Black stones are used to enhance normal gear from +1 to +15
- +1 to +7 enhancements on weapons and gear are guaranteed to succeed
- Failstacks are used from +8 to +15
- Add up to +10 enhancement chance by using Valks’ Cry
- -5 Max Durability on enhancement failures
- Recover Max Durability at a Blacksmith using an identical piece of gear or Memory Fragments
- Artisan’s Memory can be used in conjunction with Memory Fragments to increase the amount of Max Durability recovered on expensive gear
- Check “Force Enhance” to guarantee the enhancement from +8 to +15
- Force enhance increases Black Stone cost and increases Max Durability loss
Enhancing Normal Gear – Weapons and Armor PRI to PEN
Base Enhancement Material: Concentrated Magical Black Stone
Optional Enhancement Material: Valks’ Cry
Optional Safeguard Material: Cron Stones from DUO to PEN
- Concentrated Magical Black Stones are used to enhance normal gear from PRI to PEN
- Failstacks are used from PRI to PEN
- Add up to +10 enhancement chance by using Valks’ Cry
- -10 Max Durability on enhancement failures
- DUO to PEN enhancements have a chance to downgrade a level on enhancement failure
- Cron Stones can be used to safeguard gear from downgrading on failure
- Recover Max Durability at a Blacksmith using an identical piece of gear or Memory Fragments
- Artisan’s Memory can be used in conjunction with Memory Fragments to increase the amount of Max Durability recovered on expensive gear
Failstack Basics
A Failstack is a player term for Enhancement Chance. It is an indicator of the times you have continuously failed at enhancement. The more times you fail enhancement in a row, the more failstacks you obtain. The more failstacks you have, the greater your chances to succeed at the current upgrade.
Additional Enhancement Chance + Valks Enhancement Chance = Current Enhancement Chance
Current Enhancement Chance includes any permanent enhancement chance you may have accumulated by completing adventure logs. In the picture, the permanent enhancement chance is 3. That is why the Current Enhancement Chance shows 196 instead of 193.
The total Failstack is the “Current Enhancement Chance” number in the Enhancement window.
Failstack Building Tip:
- When enhancing green grade amor or weapons, checking the “Durability” option decreases your enhancement success chance which helps you build higher failstacks.
- If your gear reaches +15, visit a Church <Cleanse Gear> to downgrade it to +14 again.
The Ancient Anvil System – Guaranteed Enhancement
BDO introduced the Ancient Anvil System on April 17, 2024 which guarantees enhancement after a set number of enhancement failures. Each enhancement failure adds 1 Agris Essence to the Ancient Anvil.
The picture below shows the Enhancement UI for a TET Artina Sol. After 5 failed PEN attempts, 5 Agris Essence has been saved by the Ancient Anvil. An additional 30 Agris Essence from 30 failed enhancement attempts is needed to fill the Ancient Anvil for a guaranteed PEN enhancement.
Please Note:
- Agris Essence resets to zero after an enhancement succeeds.
- Agris Essence will still accumulate if Cron Stones or J’s Hammers are used
- The guaranteed enhancement will not consume the current enhancement chance, but it will consume the enhancement material (Example: Concentrated Magical Black Stone)
Another Adventurer’s Choice
You can check the enhancement chances used by other players in the Another Adventurer’s Choice window when you have a gear in the enhancement window.
- Clicking the button next to Current Enhancement Chance when enhancing through the Black Spirit (,).
- Info from Another Adventurer’s Choice will refresh when the window is opened.
- Gear without enough data on enhancement chances will be displayed once there is enough data to be assessed.
Naderr’s Band
Multiple failstacks (enhancement chances) can be saved on Naderr’s Band and accessed by all characters in your family. Naderr’s Band holds a maximum of 16 failstacks. Up to 14 slots can be purchased through the Pearl Shop.
Speak to the Black Spirit after reaching level 58+ to accept the questline to open up the Naderr’s Band.
When selecting a slot on the band, the Current Enhancement Chance will be exchanged for whatever enhancement chance is already saved on the band. This includes any Valks’ and any permanent enhancement chances that were gained through adventure log rewards.
Force-Enhance
“Force-Enhance” gives a 100% Enhancement Chance. This is only available for certain gear and items. It costs a set amount of Max Durability and Black Stones. For some gear, you can only Force-Enhance up to TRI. For this reason, there are some players who disagree with using it because they say you need Failstacks anyway for TET and PEN. But, for other players, who don’t like the gambling aspect of Enhancement, it’s an option.
After gear reaches TRI, you can get 100% Enhancement Chance by using Caphras Stones, which are a rare drop from higher level mobs and given via daily quests. Caphras quantities required for this Safe Enhancement option are high though. Please see our Caphras Guide for details.
Force-Enhance Cost for Green Grade Armor
Note: Force-Enhancement for PRI or greater uses Concentrated Black Stones (Heated Shard + Black Stone)
| Enhancement | Base Chance | % per FS | Force-Enhance Black Stones |
Force-Enhance Max Durability |
Max Durability Fail Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-5 | 100% | ||||
| 6 | 70% | 1.4% | 2 | -10 | -5 |
| 7 | 25.64% | 2.56% | 3 | -10 | -5 |
| 8 | 17.24% | 1.72% | 4 | -10 | -5 |
| 9 | 11.76% | 1.18% | 5 | -20 | -5 |
| 10 | 7.69% | .77% | 7 | -30 | -5 |
| 11 | 6.25% | .63% | 9 | -40 | -5 |
| 12 | 5.00% | 0.5% | 11 | -50 | -5 |
| 13 | 4.00% | 0.4% | 17 | -60 | -5 |
| 14 | 2.86% | 0.29% | 23 | -70 | -5 |
| 15 | 2.00% | 0.2% | 29 | -100 | -5 |
| 16 (PRI) | 11.76 | 1.18% | 7 | -100 | -10 |
| 17 (DUO) | 7.69 | 0.77% | 12 | -100 | -10 |
| 18 (TRI) | 6.25% | 0.63% | 30 | -100 | -10 |
| 19 (TET) | 2.00% | 0.2% | can’t | can’t | -10 |
| 20 (PEN) | 0.30% | 0.03% | can’t | can’t | -10 |
Force-Enhance Cost for Green Grade Weapons
Note: Force-Enhancement for PRI or greater uses Concentrated Black Stones (Heated Shard + Black Stone)
| Enhancement | Base Chance | % per FS | Force-Enhance Black Stones |
Force-Enhance Max Durability |
Max Durability Fail Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-7 | 100% | ||||
| 8 | 70% | 1.4% | 2 | -10 | -5 |
| 9 | 20.41% | 2.04% | 3 | -20 | -5 |
| 10 | 14.29% | 1.43% | 5 | -30 | -5 |
| 11 | 10% | 1% | 7 | -40 | -5 |
| 12 | 6.67% | 0.67% | 11 | -50 | -5 |
| 13 | 4% | 0.4% | 17 | -60 | -5 |
| 14 | 2.50% | 0.25% | 23 | -70 | -5 |
| 15 | 2% | 0.2% | 29 | -100 | -5 |
| 16 (PRI) | 11.76 | 1.18% | 7 | -100 | -10 |
| 17 (DUO) | 7.69 | 0.77% | 12 | -100 | -10 |
| 18 (TRI) | 6.25% | 0.63% | 30 | -100 | -10 |
| 19 (TET) | 2.00% | 0.2% | can’t | can’t | -10 |
| 20 (PEN) | 0.30% | 0.03% | can’t | can’t | -10 |
Trying to Fail: Durability vs Enhance
On green-grade gear you have the option of selecting “Durability” instead of “Enhance” for enhancement levels +8 to +15
Selecting this option increases your chance of failing the enhancement and increasing your failstack. This is referred to as “building failstacks” for later use on another piece of gear.
If you are not trying to build a failstack, be sure to select the “Enhance” option instead.
If your failstack gear “accidentally” reaches +15, you can visit a Church NPC and have them <Cleanse Gear> to downgrade your +15 to +14 again, so you can resume building failstacks. <Cleanse Gear> costs 100k silver.
Max Durability & Enhancement Failure
Failstacks are a good thing, but they do cost you! Every time you fail Enhancement, you lose at least 5 Max Durability on the item you are trying to upgrade, plus your Enhancement mats.
For higher level gear enhancement of DUO+, you can actually downgrade the item. So a DUO could become a PRI on failure. (Unless you use Cron Stones.)
Accessories have different failure costs. Both accessories are destroyed upon failure. (Cron Stones protect from destruction, but the accessory may downgrade instead.)
Max Durability is repaired by visiting the Blacksmith and clicking Repair > Recover Max Dur.
Max Durability can be repaired by destroying another of the same kind.
For expensive repairs, like boss gear, you can use Memory Fragments (and optionally a Pearl item called Artisan’s Memory with it).
In unsafe Enhancement, the Max Durability lost depends upon the enhancement consumable used.
Black Stones: -5 Max Durability.
Concentrated Black Stones: -10 Max Durability
Total Cost of Failstack = Black Stones + identical gear for repair or Memory Fragments.
Safe Enhancement methods have much higher Max Durability repair costs.
Black Stones & Concentrated Magical Black Stones
+1 to +15 Enhancement Material – Black Stones
Black Stone is used to enhance most normal gear (weapons and armor). Beginner Naru gear and Season Tuvala gear use special enhancement stones.
You can upgrade weapons up to +7 without failure and armor up to +5 without failure. After this, there is a chance of failing enhancement, unless “Force-Enhance” is selected.
Black Stones are used in all levels of enhancement.
- used alone to enhance up to +15
- used in a recipe for Concentrated Magical Black Stone for enhancing PRI to PEN
Black Stones can be obtained via rare drop from many different creatures. View Black Stone page and drop rates on bdolytics.com
Hunter’s Seals from boss fights and repeatable quests can be turned in for Black Stones. View our guide on Hunter’s Seals.
PRI – PEN Enhancement Material
Concentrated Magical Black Stone
Concentrated Magical Black Stones are used to enhance normal weapons and armor from PRI to PEN. One stone is needed per attempt.
Concentrated Magical Black Stone Recipe:
Processing (L) → Heating:
1x 
Sharp Black Crystal Shard +
2x 
Black Stone
Sharp Black Crystal Shards
Sharp Black Crystal Shards are used in the recipe to create Concentrated Magical Black Stones to enhance normal weapons and armor.
They are also used in the recipe to create Flawless Magical Black Stones for enhancing Blackstar gear and Flawless Chaotic Black Stones for enhancing Slumbering Origin gear.
Ways Sharp Shards can be Obtained:
- Processing > Heating certain accessories (See detailed table above.)
- Ogre Ring has a 0.05% drop rate from Ogres
- Ancient Guardian’s Seal has a 0.03% drop rate from Helms mobs. (0.07% from Helm Devourer)
- Witch’s Earring has a 0.02% to 0.2% drop rate from Hexe mobs (3% from Hexe Marie)
- Ancient Weapon Core has a 0.0065% to 0.05% drop rate from Ancient Weapon mobs
- Necklace of Good Deeds received from events and Gift of Repayment
- All gathering types: mining, butchering, herbs, etc
- 0.108% drop rate from Ore, Timber, and Underwater gathering
- 0.0387% drop rate from Flowers, Herbs, Fruits, Mushrooms, and other food Gathering
- Loot from Grinding: 0.108% drop rate from Trolls and beasts like Bison, Sheep, Elk, Bear, Waragon, Salamander, Lizard, etc
- Certain Non-repeatable quests and events/rewards
- Hunter’s Seals from boss fights and repeatable quests. View our guide on Hunter’s Seals
View Sharp Black Crystal Shard page and drop rates on bdolytics.com
Heating Accessories for Sharp Black Crystal Shards
Below is a small example of the shards obtained from heating certain accessories. Please keep in mind that melting accessories for Sharp Shards alone is often not cost-effective as the cost of the accessory is usually more than the cost of a sharp shard.
| Heated Item | Heating Produces |
|---|---|
Cron Stones
When you attempt to enhance a DUO or greater level item, there is a chance that it will downgrade its level instead of gaining a level. So your DUO could drop to a PRI. Cron Stones are used to protect an item from downgrading a level after a failed Enhancement attempt.
Accessories are treated differently. Cron Stones protect them from being destroyed, but accessories have a 40% chance to loose 1 level.
Obtaining Cron Stones:
- Extracting a Pearl Costume at a Blacksmith
- 3 million silver each at a Blacksmith
- Other ways detailed in my Cron Stone Guide
Purchasing Cron Stones at the NPC is an expensive option. It’s cheaper to let a DUO item downgrade to PRI and then sell the PRI and purchase another DUO off the Marketplace to continue attempting a TRI. (Prices and availability change all the time. Be sure to check the quantity and price of enhanced gear on Central Market.)
Memory Fragments
Every player will eventually require hundreds of Memory Fragments, which repair the Max Durability of expensive boss gear. Max Durability is lost as gear is enhanced into greater power. Cheap gear can be repaired using identical cheap gear. But, using boss gear to repair boss gear would get extremely expensive. Memory Fragments can be used instead and are far cheaper.
Memory Fragment Durability Recovery Rates:
- White Grade: Recovers 10 Max Durability
- Green Grade: Recovers 5 Max Durability
- Blue Grade: Recovers 2 Max Durability
- Yellow Grade: Recovers 1 Max Durability
- Orange Grade: Recovers 1 Max Durability
NOTE: Amount of Durability increases x5 if used with
Artisan’s Memory, purchased from the Pearl Shop.
Artisan’s Memory (P2W & Loyalty Reward)
Artisan’s Memory turns 1 Memory Fragment into 5. So it will repair 5 Max Durability of your boss gear instead of just one, if it is yellow grade.
Artisan’s Memory Full Price:
- Quantity 1: 50 Pearls
- Quantity 10: 450 Pearls
- Quantity 100: 4000 Pearls
These do go on sale periodically and there are sometimes coupons available.
Players also have the option of logging in every day for 4 days. This will give you 800 Loyalties, which is enough to purchase 1 Artisan’s Memory from the Loyalty shop.
Caphras Stone
Weapons and Gear that are TRI to PEN have up to 20 Caphras levels. They start at 0 level and gain experience towards the next level by feeding them Caphras Stones. Every level adds attack or defense stats to your character’s sheet stats, when equipped.
To start Enhancement with Caphras, visit Black Spirit > Enhancement > “Caphras Enhancement”.
100% Enhancement Chance via Caphras Stones:
When your gear reaches level 20, you can increase its Enhancement level by 1. Make sure your item is at 100% Max Durability and click the ‘Upgrade Enhancement’ button.
NOTE: 100% ‘Upgrade Enhancement’ will reduce Max Durability to 0 and reset the Caphras Level
What happens if I want to stop early?
If you get tired of waiting on your gear’s Caphras level to improve, you can still attempt to Enhance the traditional way via Concentrated Magic Stones and luck.
- Enhancement Failure with Caphras EXP: if your enhancement level drops, only 50% of the item’s EXP will be kept.
- Enhancement Success with Caphras EXP: only 10% of the item’s EXP will be carried forward to the next level
- Enhancement Failure with Crons: If you fail enhancement using Cron Stones, 5% of the Cron Stones will be converted into Caphras exp.
To view Caphras Stone charts and learn how to craft and obtain Caphras, please visit our Caphras Stone Guide.
Ultimate Weapon/Armor Reform Stone
100% enhancement chance to obtain “Ultimate” yellow grade gear + added stats
Ultimate Reform Stone will upgrade green or blue grade gear to yellow grade 100% of the time. It also applies an “Ultimate” prefix to the gear and adds additional stats like DP.
Ultimate Reformed gear cannot be sold on the Central Market. However, you can remove the Reform Stone at a Blacksmith or Armor Vendor.
Obtaining Reform Stones:
- Exchange Hunter’s Seals
- Marketplace
- Craft in Refinery housing with a worker.
Ultimate Weapon/Armor Reform Stone can be crafted in a Refinery level 3.
| Ultimate Weapon Reform Stone Crafting Materials | Ultimate Armor Reform Stone Crafting Materials |
|---|---|
| Steel x50 Sharp Black Crystal Shard x1 Black Crystal x30 Red Tree Lump x20 Clown’s Blood x20 Black Stone Powder x400 |
Steel x 40 Hard Black Crystal Shard x 1 Black Crystal x 30 Old Tree Bark x 20 Clown’s Blood x 20 Black Stone Powder x 400 |
Magical Black Stones
Magical Black Stones are rarely obtained via defeating bosses and events. They give a guaranteed Enhancement Chance for +13 to +15.
Magical Black Stone Grade Requirements:
- Green Grade Gear: Stabilized Magical Black Stone
- Blue Grade Gear: Cleansed Magical Black Stone
- Yellow Grade Gear: Flawless Magical Black Stone
Magical Black Stone Quantity Requirements:
+13: Magic Black Stone x5
+14: Magic Black Stone x8
+15: Magic Black Stone x13
Max Durability Cost: 30
Do titles like PRI DUO… What? give a slight advantage or is this just my superstition?
Hello 🙂 It’s a little confusing isn’t it? In order of strongest to weakest: PEN > TET > TRI > DUO > PRI > +15. I’m not sure where those terms came from. PEN is a well known to be an acronym for “Probability, Electric Strength, Number of Life Cycles” Now it makes perfect sense!! 🙂
Thanks for replying, didn’t think I would get an answer. Anyway, what I was referring to were the world titles like for succeeding enchantments we get; Enhance-ologist, Sparkle Sparkle, Steel-Winged, PRI DUO… What?, ect,. and the titles for failures/failstacks; Black Stone Illusionist, AAAAAAAAAH, Doubting the Black Spirit, Black Stone Donator, ect.
Does it boost my chances if I have a title on my character while I attempt my enhancements or when I’m trying to build failstacks? Thanks again for your reply.
LOL! Oh, I misread that one. 🙂 I’ve heard this from time to time, but I think it’s tinfoil. Could be true, but I don’t know of anyone that’s actually published studies on it. Would be fun if it were true. 🙂
Actually those are Greek prefixes (duo, tri, tetra, penta-2,3,4,5) that are used in many languages to denote the multiplicity of something (in geometry the number of segments). PRI should be MON though (for mono) since primo means something else (first, in Latin not Greek).
LOL! Someone here has a few cells in the attic! Thanks for the tidbits. It’s interesting. 🙂
Completely out of the blue but had to do it. PRI for PRImary
PRI – PRImary
DUO – common word for ‘two’
TRI – common prefix for ‘three’
TET – TETra – common prefix for ‘four’
PEN – PENta – common prefix for ‘five’
I quit BDO because of its miserable enhancement system, spent 2 straight actual years, trying to TET an offhand, with properly sized failstacks, Thousands of hours of grinding, billions in game currency, only to regress backwards to DUO dozens of times.
no matter how good you explain it this RNG Train of misery is still misery
Weird! I went to my first World Boss yesterday and the Kzarka weapon dropped. I had some mats in the storage so quickly tapped it up to +15, then after some minor back and forth pushed to TET on my first try, and PEN on my first try.
100% – that’s why all my brethren just buy fully enhanced items takes “longer” but costs “less of your soul”
Wow… what a stinking pile of bs is this whole enhancement system.
Thanks for compiling this very informative article, now I can sell all those Caphras and Memories as soon as they drop.
One question though, what would be the cap for those people that decide against riding on this train of misery?
You build failstacks to 200+ if you want PEN accessories depending on the price probably 220+ for PEN blackstar more than that but its pretty RNG, my first probably last PEN was 217 stack