Gear Progression

How gear works on Rookery Isles: the crafted tier ladder topping out at Ayanad, the twelve item grades, when regrading becomes risky, and where lunagem sockets open.

Table of Contents

• How Gearing Works on Rookery
• The Item Grade Ladder
• The Crafted Tier Ladder
• Obsidian Gear
• Set Bonuses
• Regrading Gear
• Regrade Scrolls and Charms
• Lunagems and Sockets
• Stat Priorities by Role
• A Practical Gearing Order
• Resources You Spend
• On Rookery Isles

How Gearing Works on Rookery

Rookery Isles runs the ArcheAge 3.0 (Revelation) ruleset on the AAEmu 3.0.3.0 NL0bP fork. That era cutoff decides what gear exists. There is no Hiram gear and no Erenor gear on this build. The only "Erenor" item that exists is a cosmetic Erenor Hero Cloak (item 38038 to 38041), a fixed Epic, non-regradeable cloak with no stat ladder behind it. If a guide tells you to grind toward Erenor armor or weapons, that is later-patch (3.5+) content that is not in this client. Ignore it.

Gear power on Rookery comes from three stacked systems, and you progress all three in parallel:

• Tier. Which named gear you wear (the crafted ladder ends at Ayanad). Tier sets the base stats.
• Grade. The quality color of a piece, from Crude up to Mythic. Grade multiplies the base stats. You raise grade by regrading.
• Sockets. Lunagem slots that open as grade climbs, each holding a stat gem.

There is no single "gear score" number on this server. Gear score is not a stored field in the game database, so any specific gear-score target you have seen in older guides is not real here. Judge a piece by its tier, its grade color, and its sockets.

For the crafting that feeds this whole pipeline, see the crafting guide, the metalwork and smithing guide for plate, and the tailoring and leatherwork guide for cloth and leather. Materials come up through mining and the other gathering vocations.

The Item Grade Ladder

Every gradable piece sits on a single twelve step quality ladder, used both for the color a piece drops at and for how far you can regrade it. This is the verified ladder from the game's item_grades table. The "stat scale" column is the percentage the item's base stats are multiplied to, where Basic is the 100% baseline.

Two facts to internalize from this table. First, Mythic doubles the base stats of a Basic piece (200% versus 100%), so grade matters at least as much as tier. A Mythic Delphinad piece can rival a low-grade Ayanad piece on raw numbers. Second, nearly all real gear on this build starts at Basic and can be regraded all the way to Mythic. Spot-checks of Illustrious, Magnificent, Delphinad, Ayanad, and Obsidian weapons and armor all confirm they can climb the full ladder.

The Crafted Tier Ladder

This is the backbone of armor and weapon progression. The named crafted tiers that actually exist as equippable item sets in this build, in ascending order, are:

Ayanad is the ceiling for crafted gear here. There is nothing crafted above it. The "item level" figures above are the per-item level values from the database (for example, the Illustrious Mountain Dagger is level 41, the Magnificent version level 44, and the Ayanad Mountain Dagger level 62). Use them as a relative sense of where each tier lands, not as a precise stat budget.

Within each tier the gear splits into element or region variants of the same tier (for example Ocean, Lake, Meadow, and Stone for cloth, or Typhoon, Lightning, Squall, and Desert for leather). Variants of the same tier differ in their stat spread and their set bonus, so pick the variant whose stats match your role, not just the tier name.

Accessories (rings, necklaces, earrings) follow their own parallel tier chain that includes Epherium, Delphinad, and Ayanad accessory pieces. For example the Delphinad Earth Ring is a verified level 55 accessory. Slot those alongside your armor.

For who crafts what and at which station, read the crafting guide. For the proficiency rank thresholds that gate high-tier recipes, see the labor and proficiency guide.

Obsidian Gear

Obsidian is a separate crafted line that exists alongside the main ladder. Obsidian is not weapons only. This build has a full Obsidian weapon line (Dagger, Sword, Greatsword, Katana, Nodachi, Axe, Greataxe, Club, Greatclub, Bow, Longspear, Shortspear, Staff, Scepter, Shield, Lute, Flute) and a full Obsidian armor line (Cap, Cuirass, Greaves, and the rest). The Obsidian Sword and Obsidian Cuirass both sit at item level 46 and can be regraded to Mythic like any other gear.

One caution about Obsidian "tiers." Older guides describe a seven step "Obsidian T1 through T7" upgrade ladder. That named tier ladder is not present in the item data on this build. Each Obsidian piece carries a single generic name (one "Obsidian Sword", one "Obsidian Cuirass"), with no T1 to T7 suffixes in the item table. Treat any specific seven-tier Obsidian path as unverified on this server. What is confirmed is that Obsidian pieces exist, cover both weapons and armor, and are fully regradeable. How any tier-up or synthesis mechanic behaves beyond that is not server-confirmed, so do not plan a build around exact Obsidian tier numbers.

Set Bonuses

Wearing multiple pieces of the same tier-and-variant set grants extra stats. Set bonuses trigger at the 4-piece and 7-piece thresholds (verified from equip_item_set_bonuses).

Set bonuses are not a high-tier-only feature. They exist throughout the crafted ladder. Even the earliest base crafted sets (the Apprentice's sets) already grant 4-piece and 7-piece bonuses, and so do Delphinad and Ayanad. A verified example is the Ayanad Ocean Cloth set, which grants a Maximum Mana bonus at 4 pieces and a Spell bonus at 7 pieces.

The practical takeaway: stay within one set variant across as many slots as you can so you hit the 4-piece break, and ideally the 7-piece break, rather than mixing variants and losing the bonus.

Regrading Gear

Regrading raises a piece's grade color, multiplying its stats per the grade table above. You consume a regrade scroll each attempt. The single most important thing to know is where it stops being safe.

This is the verified behavior from the default regrade table (item_enchant_ratios):

What a player can act on directly:

• Regrading up to Unique (grade 6) is completely safe. No break, no downgrade. Push every fresh piece to Unique before you spend on anything fancier. There is no reason to stop short.
• Risk begins at Celestial (grade 7). This is the first grade where a failed attempt can both break the item and drop its grade. This is the real cliff, not Heroic.
• Divine, Epic, and Legendary can break on failure, but they no longer carry the downgrade flag, so the danger there is destruction rather than slipping backward.
• Cost climbs steeply with grade. Pushing toward Mythic burns far more scrolls per attempt than the early grades did.

A note on percentages. This build stores regrade outcomes as success and risk flags, not as literal probability numbers, so any specific "X percent success at Celestial" figure you see elsewhere is not server-confirmed. Plan around the safe-versus-risky bands above, and assume higher grades cost more attempts.

For the deeper mechanics of charms, protection, and gem extraction, see the dedicated regrade and gemming guide.

Regrade Scrolls and Charms

You feed a regrade with a scroll matched to the item type. Verified scroll item IDs:

To improve your odds at the risky grades, add a charm. Charms come in two families, both verified in item_grade_enchanting_supports:

• Success charms raise the chance the attempt works. Examples: Red Regrade Charm (item 31976) adds success up through grade 6, Superior Red Regrade Charm (item 31977) works at all grades, and Silver Regrade Charm (item 39102) adds success at the high grades 7 through 11.
• Protection charms reduce the break or downgrade risk. Examples: Superior Downgrade Prevent Charm (item 31981) removes downgrade risk, and the Bound Destruction Preventive Charm (item 8000270) removes break risk at grades 7 through 11.

Practical rule: you do not need charms below Celestial because those grades cannot fail destructively. Save charms for the Celestial-and-above pushes, and pair a success charm with a protection charm when you commit an expensive piece.

Lunagems and Sockets

Sockets hold lunagems, which add raw stats. The number of sockets a piece has is gated by grade, not unlocked all at once.

Verified socket progression from item_socket_num_limits:

Key facts:

• The first socket opens at Grand (grade 2). There are no sockets at Crude or Basic. You can legitimately start gemming as soon as a piece reaches Grand, not only at Celestial. (Celestial is a good practical point to start spending on premium gems because the piece is worth the investment by then, but it is not a system requirement.)
• A weapon caps at 7 sockets, reached at Divine. Armor and accessory slots cap at about 4. So a fully built weapon holds 7 lunagems, while armor holds far fewer.

The gem families that exist on this build, by item name, are:

• Lunagem (299 items): the main socket stat gems, named Quality Element Lunagem: Effect (for example "Clear Fire Lunagem: Strong Blow"). Qualities seen are Clear, Vivid, and Radiant.
• Lunafrost (188 items): per-slot enhancements named by size, Cracked / Whole / Flawless Type Lunafrost. The three sizes are upgrade tiers.
• Lunascale (16 items): a small, niche family, Vivid Element Lunascale: Effect.

Terminology warning: "Lunadrop" and "Lunastone" are not real item categories on this server. They do not appear in the item data and look like invented umbrella terms from older guides. The real families are Lunagem, Lunafrost, and Lunascale only.

Socketing risk: a failed socket attempt can break the gem on most cost profiles, so socketing is not free of risk. There is a safer, more expensive option, but plan to lose some gems to failures when socketing aggressively.

Stat Priorities by Role

The database does not expose per-class stat coefficients, so the numbers here are role guidance rather than server-confirmed values. Use them to choose lunagems and pick set variants. For the underlying stat model see the combat stats guide, and for full builds see power builds and the classes overview. The defensive stats below (Toughness, Resilience) are PvP-specific; for the offense-versus-defense math see the PvP gear and stats guide.

Class names above follow the verified server class map. Note the correct spellings used on this build: Hexblade (one word) is Battlerage plus Witchcraft plus Defense, and Hex Warden (two words) is the separate Battlerage plus Auramancy plus Witchcraft class. See the class meta tier list for how these perform, keeping in mind any tier ranking is community opinion, not server data.

A Practical Gearing Order

Follow the order, not a calendar. Time-to-gear depends entirely on your play hours and your crafting access, so this list deliberately avoids day counts and gear-score milestones (which are not real on this server).

• Step 1. Level to 55 in quest and dropped gear, much of the dropped gear coming from dungeons and raids. Do not spend on regrading or gems during leveling. Max combat level on Rookery is 55.
• Step 2. Get into Illustrious, then Magnificent, as your first crafted pieces. Treat them as disposable bridges and still avoid heavy investment.
• Step 3. Move into Epherium. This is the first tier worth keeping. Regrade pieces to Unique while it is still completely safe, and start socketing once a piece hits Grand.
• Step 4. Build a full Delphinad set in one variant so you hit the 4-piece and 7-piece set bonuses. Push your core pieces past Unique into the Celestial band only with charms in hand.
• Step 5. Slot an Obsidian weapon (and Obsidian armor if you want it). Regrade the weapon high, since a weapon holds the most sockets (7 at Divine).
• Step 6. Transition to Ayanad, the top crafted tier, on your priority slots first. Keep one set variant for the bonuses. Beyond this point, progression is grinding grades upward (Celestial to Divine to Epic and beyond) and perfecting lunagems, not chasing a higher tier, because there is no higher crafted tier.

There is no Erenor step. Ayanad plus high grade plus full sockets is the crafted ceiling on this build.

Resources You Spend

Four resources fund all of the above:

• Labor. Every craft, regrade, and socket attempt costs labor. The default configuration caps labor at 5,000 for Patron accounts and 2,000 for free accounts, though Rookery's local config can override these, so treat the caps as approximate. Manage labor through the labor and proficiency guide.
• Gold. Earned through trade packs and commerce, gathering, crafting for sale, and the auction house. Funds scrolls, charms, and gems. For how Gold sits alongside Honor and the other coins, see the currencies and vendors guide.
• Proficiency. Crafting vocation rank gates higher recipes. The rank ladder runs Amateur, Novice, Veteran, Expert, Master (50,000), Authority (70,000), and up to Legend at 1,000,000. See labor and proficiency.
• Materials. Ores, ingots, lumber, fabric, leather, and archeum from the gathering and processing vocations: mining, logging, farming, metalwork and smithing, and carpentry and masonry. Archeum is refined through alchemy.

On Rookery Isles

Rookery Isles is a roleplay-focused ArcheAge private server pinned to the ArcheAge 3.0 (Revelation) era, so its gear ceiling differs from what newer wikis describe:

• No Erenor gear and no Hiram gear. Those are 3.5 and 4.5+ content. The top crafted tier is Ayanad. The only Erenor item present is the cosmetic Erenor Hero Cloak (a fixed Epic, non-regradeable cloak).
• Obsidian covers armor too, not just weapons, and the "T1 to T7" Obsidian tier names are not in the item data, so do not plan around them.
• No gear-score number is stored on this server. Evaluate gear by tier, grade color, and sockets.
• Regrade risk starts at Celestial (grade 7), not earlier. Everything up to Unique is safe.
• Gathering and crafting work from Level 1 on Rookery (the upstream fork's level-52 gate was patched out), so you can begin building the material pipeline immediately.

See also

• Gearing Supply Chain, the full path from gathered material to best gear
• Regrade and Gemming
• PvP Gear & Stats Fundamentals
• Combat & Stats
• Crafting & Gathering Overview
• Metalwork, Armorsmithing & Weaponry
• Power Builds
• Currencies & Vendors
• Dungeons & Raids