Honing +1…+20

Honing makes weapons, armor and jewelry stronger: the item gets a “+N” — from +1 to +20. Every step adds Power, Health and Hardiness to the item, and at +10, +15 and +20 special milestone bonuses unlock. Below is everything: which scrolls for which steps, chances, what failure does, overheating, cracks, transfer, the guarantee, where reagents come from and how a honed item looks. Reagents in detail — Honing: reagents and recipes; step by step — the guide Your first honing.

In short

• What can be honed: weapons (everything in hand and ranged; a shield counts as a weapon) and armor with jewelry (neck, rings, trinkets, cloak). Shirts, tabards and bags cannot be honed.
• Level 60 only. Only an item that requires level 60 to wear can be honed (item level does not matter). Heirloom and account-bound (turquoise) items cannot be honed at all — neither by an attempt nor by transfer. Honing, transferring, cooling, making and learning honing scrolls — only for a level 60 hero; honing items say “Requires level 60” in their tooltip.
• How: item menu → “Hone”. You need the scroll for that step, reagents and a gold fee. The old “honing” with whetstones and kits is now called “Overlay” and lives separately.
• Power: every step adds Power, Health and Hardiness to the item itself — the stronger the item, the more. Armor and jewelry gain half as much as weapons at the same step, but their chance is higher. Numbers — in Power by step.
• +1…+9 — guaranteed: success by attempt 4 at the latest. Failure — the item breaks (repair at a vendor, the pluses stay).
• +10…+19 — two paths: with risk (runes) or without risk with a Seal of Steadfastness — 100%. Failure — overheating, from +16 also a crack.
• +20 — only the Ascension ritual: 10% / 15% (weapon / armor), 1 attempt per week per hero.
• The item never disappears and never loses pluses from a failure (except cracks: 3 cracks — minus 1 step, never below +15).
• Honing power and milestones work only against creatures (lands, dungeons, raids, keys). In PvP (arena, battleground, duels, tournaments) it is appearance only.
• A honed item becomes soulbound.

Scrolls and steps

Every step has its own scroll: one scroll — one attempt, used up whatever the result. Weapons and armor have different scrolls. An enchanter (Enchanting, skill 300) makes them from trainer recipes.

The price in the “Recipe” column is the price of the recipe at the trainer (learned once), not of the scroll. Scrolls themselves are not sold for gold: an enchanter makes them from materials.

What else the attempt takes

Besides the scroll, an attempt takes reagents (the risky path) and a gold fee. At +10…+19 you can put in a Seal of Steadfastness instead of runes.

What a scroll gives on success

The item goes up one step and its bonus to Power, Health and Hardiness grows (see the “Power by step” tables below). The bonus is counted from the item itself without enchantments and overlays. Enchantments, overlays and gems add up with honing, they do not multiply.

What failure does

The scroll and the attempt’s reagents are used up on failure too. Pluses never drop off from a failure (except the step lost to cracks).

Power by step

How much honing adds to this item in total at this step — in points: “+Power / +Health / +Hardiness”. The numbers are for real 245 crafted items. The stronger the item itself, the bigger the bonus; for your own item the honing window shows the exact “was → becomes”.

In numbers: 245 weapons

• One-handed — Blade of the Molten Dawn: 59 Power · 124 Health · 22 Hardiness
• Two-handed — Greatsword of the Depths’ Wrath: 118 Power · 249 Health · 44 Hardiness

In numbers: 245 armor and jewelry

• Chest — Starforged Anvil Breastplate: 47 Power · 98 Health · 22 Hardiness
• Ring — Ring of Arcane Might: 26 Power · 43 Health · 22 Hardiness
• Trinket — Enchanter’s Resonator: 29 Power · 62 Health · 22 Hardiness

Milestones +10, +15, +20 are bonuses on top of the item’s own bonus. They work in battles against creatures; in PvP — appearance only.

• Weapons get Power from +1, armor and jewelry from +3; Hardiness from +5.
• Never zero: every step gives at least +1 Health over the previous one. Nothing ever goes down.
• A two-handed weapon carries the stats of two hands — so its honing bonus is twice as big in numbers.
• A broken or overheated item gives nothing — no own stats, no honing, no milestones.

Chances and risk

The success chance of one attempt — separately for weapons and for armor with jewelry. “Guarantee” is the latest attempt in a row by which success is certain; “Seal” — the risk-free way with a Seal of Steadfastness (100%). What failure does — the What failure does table.

Guarantee +1…+9

At +1…+9 the game counts failures in a row on the current step. By the attempt in the “Guarantee” column at the latest, success is certain. So going from +0 to +9 takes no more than 21 scrolls. The count is stored on the item and resets after a success.

Breaking (+1…+9)

A failure at +4…+9 breaks the item: durability drops to zero (+1…+3 cannot fail). Repair it at a vendor for gold — the pluses stay, keep honing.

Overheating and cooling (+10…+20)

• A failure at +10 — overheating for 1 h, at +11…+19 — 5 h, at +20 — 24 h.
• An overheated item gives nothing (in PvP too); it cannot be honed, sold, disenchanted or traded.
• Cooling never starts by itself. Press “Cool down” — one Scroll of Restoration is used and the timer starts. When the time is up, overheating is removed by itself (even if you logged out).

Cracks (+16…+19)

• Every failure at +16…+19 also adds a crack (shown in the item tooltip: ●●○).
• On the 3th crack the item loses 1 step, but never drops below +15; the cracks reset.
• A success does not remove cracks — they pile up until a step is lost.

The Ascension ritual (+20)

• Only a Scroll of Ascension: 10% for weapons, 15% for armor and jewelry. No guarantee, the Seal does not work.
• 1 attempt per week per hero. It can be done anywhere — from the honing window.
• Failure: the scroll burns completely, the item overheats for 24 h.
• Success: the item says forever “Ascended to +20 by …”, and the whole world hears about it in the World chat.

Weekly attempt limits

Counted by the step you hone to; an attempt with a Seal counts toward its step. Reset — Monday 03:00 Moscow time, together with lockouts. Overheat comes on top. How many attempts are left this week and when they refresh — in the honing window, under the fee.

Double warning

Before a risky attempt (+10 and higher without a Seal) the game asks twice: first it shows what failure will do, then it asks you to type “HONE” or hold the button for 2 seconds. The “don’t ask again” box works only until the end of the session and only on steps up to +15.

Milestone bonuses

At +10, +15 and +20 honing gives a special bonus. Weapons count each (1–3 in hand, a shield is a weapon too), armor and jewelry count as a set (how many items have reached the milestone).

• “Keen Edge”, “Fortitude” and “Bastion” show right on the character sheet as Power and Health percentages. “Flame Strike”, “Tyrant Breaker” and “Undying” trigger in battle.
• “Fortitude”: 7 and 14 armor and jewelry items at +10 or higher. “Bastion”: 14 items at +15 or higher — on top of “Fortitude”.
• Milestones work only against creatures. Broken and overheated items do not count.
• There are no role bonuses (tank, healer, damage) — milestones are the same for everyone.

How milestones stack

In short: only “Keen Edge” (for each weapon) and “Bastion” (on top of “Fortitude”) grow with the number of items. For the other milestones one weapon or one set is enough — a second or third item does not double them.

• Steps add up. One weapon at +20 gives 3 milestones at once: “Keen Edge”, “Flame Strike”, “Tyrant Breaker”; a weapon at +15 — 2: “Keen Edge”, “Flame Strike”.
• An armor item at +15 or +20 counts for both “Fortitude” and “Bastion”; an item at +20 also for “Undying”.
• On the 4th attack against a boss “Flame Strike” and “Tyrant Breaker” trigger together. Both are part of your strike boosts: your own boosts on one strike are capped at ×5, together with the target’s weaknesses at ×8. If the strike is already at the cap, the milestone adds nothing on top — see The ×8 boost cap.
• An overheated or broken item counts for no milestone at all — until you cool it down or repair it.
• All of this works only in battles against creatures. In PvP milestones are appearance only.

Reagents: where from and what they are worth

An enchanter makes scrolls from crafting materials, and the high steps need rare reagents from heroics, mythics and keys. Every hero alive rolls their own chance — reagents are not rolled for. They do not drop on normal difficulty.

Value and use

Who makes the components, every recipe and what each attempt takes — Honing: reagents and recipes.

Transfer

Honing can be moved onto a new item — for example, from a 245 item to a stronger one.

• Only onto an item of the same slot: a ring onto a ring, a trinket onto a trinket, a helm onto a helm.
• Both items must be level 60 items; honing never moves from or onto heirloom and account-bound (turquoise) items. A level 60 hero does the transfer.
• The new item gets 2 steps less: +20 becomes +18.
• 1 per week per hero.
• Cost: a Scroll of Transference (an enchanter recipe) + 2,000g; from +16 and higher — also Star Serpent Scale ×1.
• Neither item may be overheated, the new one may not be broken; the new item’s step must be lower than the one it will get.
• The old item loses its honing completely. Cracks, the failure count and “Ascended to +20” do not move over. The new item becomes soulbound.

Guarantee

There are two kinds of guarantee.

Built-in guarantee (+1…+9)

Nothing extra is needed: at +1…+9 success comes by the attempt in the “Chances and risk” table.

Seal of Steadfastness (+10…+19)

• Goes into the attempt instead of runes — success 100%: no overheating, no cracks.
• At +16…+19 the Seal also needs: Mythic Spark ×1.
• At +20 the Seal does not work — only the Ascension ritual.
• One Seal — one attempt. The Seal is soulbound: it cannot be traded or sold.
• Made by an enchanter: Constellation Tear ×1, Star Serpent Scale ×1, Unstable Rune ×10, Mythic Spark ×3. Recipe — not sold by the trainer: loot only — 2% from mythic raid finales and mythic world bosses, the recipe scroll is personal, a duplicate breaks into 2 First Forge Shards. Crafting also costs 3,000g.

Marks and look

The honing mark shows on the item icon (paper doll, bag, bank, tooltip, Armory) and in its name. Marks are free — the step itself gives them.

Every kind of item has its own spark pattern:

With “reduce motion” on in your system the sparks stand still, the frame stays.

Frequently asked questions

Three weapons at +20 — does “Flame Strike” give 20% or 60%?

20%. “Flame Strike” does not stack: one weapon at +15 or higher is enough, and with three weapons at +20 every 4th attack hits 20% harder, not 60%. “Tyrant Breaker” does not stack either — +6% damage to bosses. Only “Keen Edge” stacks: three weapons — +3% hero Power. Details — How milestones stack.

A full armor set at +15 — how much Health?

+14% hero Health: “Fortitude” +7% and “Bastion” another +7% (14 items at +15). That is on top of each item’s own bonus — the Power by step tables.

Two armor items at +20 — does “Undying” trigger twice?

No — once per battle, however many items at +20 you wear. One armor or jewelry item at +20 is enough.

What bonuses do the pluses give?

Every step adds Power, Health and Hardiness to the item itself — how much, in points, is in the Power by step tables. At +10, +15 and +20 — milestones: weapons — “Keen Edge”, “Flame Strike”, “Tyrant Breaker”; armor and jewelry — “Fortitude”, “Bastion”, “Undying” (Milestone bonuses).

Can an item disappear or burn?

No. The item never disappears. At +4…+9 it can break (repair at a vendor), at +10 and higher it can overheat, from +16 it can crack. At +20 only the scroll burns.

How do I hone without risk?

At +1…+9 the risk is small — the built-in guarantee. At +10…+19 — a Seal of Steadfastness: 100%. At +20 there is no risk-free way.

Does honing work in PvP?

No: in the arena, battlegrounds, duels and tournaments honing is appearance only. An overheated item does not work there either.

Can I trade or sell a honed item?

An item at +1 or higher becomes soulbound: it cannot be traded, put on the auction or the Order Board. Ready step scrolls, the Constellation Tear, the Tempering Shard and other reagents can be traded (auction, Order Board, mail, trade); soulbound — the Seal of Steadfastness, Scrolls of Ascension, the Scroll of Transference, the Heart of a Fallen Star and the Star Serpent Scale. You can sell a honed item to a vendor or disenchant it, but the honing is lost (at a vendor — unless you buy the item back). Cool an overheated item down first.

My item overheated — what now?

Use a Scroll of Restoration (“Cool down” in the honing window) and wait for the timer: 1 h after +10, 5 h after +11…+19, 24 h after +20. Without the scroll cooling never starts.

From what level can I hone? And an heirloom item?

Honing is only for a level 60 hero and only for items that require level 60 to wear. Heirloom and account-bound (turquoise) items cannot be honed, and honing cannot be moved onto or off them.

Can I buy scrolls, runes or a Seal for real money?

No. Everything for honing is earned and made in the game.

I don’t have Enchanting. What do I do?

Honing scrolls (except the soulbound ones — Seals, Scrolls of Ascension and Transference) can be bought from other players on the auction or ordered from an enchanter at the Order Board.

How much do all the recipes cost?

All honing recipes from the trainer together — 24,600g, each once per hero. The list — Honing: reagents and recipes.