Guide: your first honing — from +1 to +10

A guide for first-timers: from the first scroll to the +10 milestone — and what comes next. All the rules — Honing +1…+20.

Step 1. Scrolls

Honing is for a level 60 hero and items that require level 60 (heirloom and turquoise items cannot be honed). It works with scrolls — one scroll per attempt. An enchanter makes them (Enchanting, skill 300):

• weapons +1…+9 — “Weapon Honing Scroll”: Tempering Shard ×1, Arcane Dust ×2, Thorium Bar ×1; the recipe from the enchanting trainer — 500g;
• armor and jewelry +1…+9 — “Armor Reinforcement Scroll”: Tempering Shard ×1, Arcane Dust ×2, Runecloth ×1 or Tempering Shard ×1, Arcane Dust ×2, Reinforced Leather ×1; recipe — 500g;
• +4…+9 also need Tempering Essence (an enchanter too, recipe — 300g), +7…+9 — Nexus Crystal.

No enchanter of your own — buy scrolls on the auction or order them at the Order Board.

Step 2. How much it takes to reach +9

The built-in guarantee keeps it finite: on every step success comes by a certain attempt. So the road to +9 is known in advance — from “everything on the first try” to “no luck at all”.

A failure at +4…+9 breaks the item — keep some gold for repairs at a vendor. The pluses stay when it breaks.

Step 3. Hone

1. Open the item menu → “Hone”.
2. The window shows “was → becomes” (Power, Health, Hardiness), the chance, the guarantee, what will be used and what failure does.
3. Missing something — the window says exactly what and shows “Where to get”.
4. Press “Hone”. The scroll is used up whatever the result.

Step 4. The +10 milestone

+10 is the first milestone: weapons get “Keen Edge” (+1% Power for each weapon at +10 or higher (up to +3%)), and 7 armor and jewelry items at +10 give “Fortitude”. This is where risk begins.

• The scroll — “Blade Threshold Scroll” (weapon) or “Armor Threshold Scroll” (armor), recipe — 1,000g.
• With risk: weapon — Blade Threshold Scroll ×1, Unstable Rune ×2; armor — Armor Threshold Scroll ×1, Unstable Rune ×1. Chance — 25% for weapons and 35% for armor.
• Without risk: Blade Threshold Scroll ×1, Seal of Steadfastness ×1 — 100%.
• Failure — overheating for 1 h. Use a Scroll of Restoration right away (window: “Cool down”), or cooling never starts. Stock up in advance.
• Before a risky attempt the game asks twice — that is normal.

Step 5. Beyond

• +11…+19 — their own scrolls (table in Scrolls and steps), overheating 5 h, from +16 — cracks.
• +15 — “Flame Strike” for weapons and “Bastion” for 14 armor and jewelry items.
• +20 — the Ascension ritual, 1 attempt per week.
• Changed your item — honing can be moved at the cost of 2 steps.
• Reagents for high steps — runes, Tears, the Heart, the Scale: where they drop — Honing: reagents and recipes.

Tips

• At the same step weapons gain twice as much as armor (at +10: Blade of the Molten Dawn +9 / +19 / +4 vs Starforged Anvil Breastplate +4 / +10 / +2), but armor has a higher chance and “Fortitude” counts as a set.
• Not every milestone stacks: “Keen Edge” grows with each weapon, but “Flame Strike” and “Tyrant Breaker” need just one weapon — three will not triple them. Details — How milestones stack.
• A broken or overheated item gives nothing — don’t go into battle before repairing and cooling it.
• Honing does not work in PvP — its power is for the lands, dungeons, raids and keys.