For the first 10 hours of my Enshrouded playthrough, I struggled to take down even basic shroud wolves with my crummy starting wooden club. I’d dump points into strength and stock up on healing potions, but nothing made combat feel easier until I figured out how to enhance weapons in Enshrouded properly. This guide is based on 80+ hours of playtime, testing every upgrade path for melee, ranged, and magic weapons, so you won’t waste rare materials on useless upgrades like I did early on.
Core Prerequisites Before You Start to Enhance Weapons in Enshrouded
You can’t just walk up to a random workbench and boost your weapon’s stats right after you spawn on the map. There are a few non-negotiable requirements you need to check off first, or you’ll waste time running around looking for features that aren’t unlocked yet. First, you’ll need the Unlocked Blacksmith NPC – you can rescue him from a small dungeon in the northern starting area, roughly 30 minutes into a new playthrough. He’s the only NPC that can handle high-tier weapon enhancements, so don’t waste time trying to upgrade weapons at the basic crafting bench.
Second, you’ll need a Minimum Flame Altar Level 2. This unlocks access to higher-tier resource zones and lets you process the iron and shroud-related materials you’ll need for upgrades beyond the first level. Third, make sure you have sufficient raw crafting materials stored in your base chests. You don’t want to start an upgrade only to realize you’re 3 resin short and have to run through a shroud zone at dusk to grab more. That’s a surefire way to get jumped by a random shroud warden and lose all the materials you did have.
Step-by-Step Weapon Enhancement Workflow for All Weapon Types
Once you have all the prerequisites sorted, the actual enhancement process is pretty straightforward, even for total beginners. It works the same for every weapon type, from wooden clubs to legendary fire staves, so you only have to learn the workflow once. That’s really all there is to the core system for how to enhance weapons in Enshrouded without running into unnecessary hiccups, but there are a few best practices you should follow to get the most out of every upgrade. The full process is broken down below:
- Head to your base’s Blacksmith station and interact with the workbench to open the crafting menu
- Navigate to the “Upgrade Weapons” tab and select the weapon you want to enhance from your inventory
- Review the required materials, stat boosts, and success rate listed on the right-hand panel (all basic upgrades have a 100% success rate, but high-tier legendary upgrades can have lower rates if you don’t use booster items)
- Confirm the upgrade if you have all required resources, then wait 2-3 in-game seconds for the enhancement process to complete
- Test your upgraded weapon on nearby low-level enemies to verify the stat changes work as expected, especially if you’re using rune additions alongside the base upgrade
So the process takes less than a minute per upgrade, but that doesn’t mean you should rush through it. For example, I once accidentally selected my common wood harvesting axe instead of my rare iron sword for an upgrade, and wasted 12 refined iron bars on a tool I only use for chopping trees. Double check your selected weapon before you hit confirm, it’ll save you a lot of frustration later. Melee weapons get the biggest boost to raw physical damage, ranged weapons get extra crit chance and draw speed, and magic weapons get increased spell damage and mana efficiency, so you’ll get bonuses tailored to your weapon type no matter what build you’re running.
Best Materials to Prioritize for High-Tier Weapon Enhancements
Not all materials are created equal when it comes to upgrading weapons, and wasting rare resources on low-tier gear will set you back hours of grind time. It’s important to know what to save and what you can burn on early, disposable weapons. First, Ancient Plates are the most valuable upgrade material in the game for endgame weapons. You can only get them from high-level shroud dungeons and boss fights, and you’ll need 15-20 of them to fully upgrade a legendary weapon. I learned this the hard way when I used 8 Ancient Plates to upgrade a blue-quality greatsword I found at level 15, only to get a legendary fire axe 2 levels later that I couldn’t upgrade because I had no plates left. Save every Ancient Plate you find until you have a purple or legendary weapon you plan to use for 10+ levels.
Next, Shroud Core fragments are another rare material you should hoard for high-tier upgrades. They add extra shroud damage to your weapons, which makes clearing red shroud zones way easier. You don’t need to waste them on weapons you use outside the shroud, but any weapon you bring into high-level fog areas should get upgrades that use these fragments. Common materials like wood scraps, resin, and even iron ore are fine to use on early-game weapons. You’ll find hundreds of these just running around the starting zone, so it’s worth upgrading your first few weapons to make the early grind less painful. Just stop upgrading common and uncommon gear once you hit level 12, because you’ll start finding rare quality weapons that are way stronger even without upgrades.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Enhancing Enshrouded Weapons
Even players who know the basic upgrade process make avoidable mistakes that cost them hours of grind time. I’ve made almost all of these at some point, so I can tell you exactly what to watch out for. First, don’t upgrade weapons you’re planning to replace in the next 2 levels. If you’re level 14 and using a green-quality sword, don’t waste rare materials upgrading it, because you’ll almost certainly find a better rare or epic weapon when you hit level 15. It’s only worth upgrading gear that’s 2 levels above your current level, or that has a rarity of rare or higher.
Second, don’t ignore the weapon rune slots that unlock when you upgrade a weapon to level 3 or higher. A lot of players think the base stat boost is the only benefit of enhancement, but a tier 3 damage rune can add 20% extra damage on top of the upgrade boost, which makes a huge difference in boss fights. I always keep a stock of common runes in my base chests so I can slot them in right after I upgrade a weapon. Third, don’t upgrade weapons that don’t fit your current build. If you’re playing a full magic build, there’s no point upgrading a melee sword you picked up just because you have extra materials. You’re better off saving those materials for your staff or saving them to trade with friends who play melee builds. I used to upgrade every cool weapon I found, no matter what type it was, and I ended up with a chest full of upgraded weapons I never used and no materials left for my main staff. Finally, don’t forget to repair your weapon before you upgrade it. Upgrading a broken weapon doesn’t give you any extra stat penalties, but you’ll have to spend extra materials to repair it right after you upgrade, which is a waste of resources you could have saved for another upgrade.
Getting the hang of how to enhance weapons in Enshrouded completely changes how you experience the game. You’ll go from running away from basic shroud enemies to clearing entire dungeons solo, and boss fights that used to take 20 minutes and 10 healing potions will take 5 minutes tops. Take your time to plan your upgrades, save rare materials for your best gear, and avoid the common mistakes I outlined, and you’ll have a weapon strong enough to take on even the hardest shroud zones in no time. If you have any favorite upgrade tricks that I didn’t mention here, drop them in the comments below to help other players out.