Silkroad Alchemy Guide: +N Enchanting, Stones and Costs

Alchemy is where Silkroad gear gets its numbers: the +7 on a sword, the extra STR on a ring, the protective options that let you push further without losing the item. It is also where most gold disappears. This guide explains how enhancement works on SroAsia, what each stone does, exactly what an attempt costs in gold, and where it makes sense to stop.

One thing first: the success chances on SroAsia are the original game's. We did not raise or lower them. What changed is the price of everything around them, so gearing up feels as expensive as it did in classic Silkroad.

The alchemy window

Open alchemy with Y on a desktop or through “Alchemy” in the character section of the touch menu. Put the item you want to improve in the main slot and the material next to it:

• an elixir (plus, optionally, Lucky Powder) to raise the item's +N;
• a magic stone to add or raise a blue option;
• an attribute stone to re-roll one of the item's white stats.

Before you confirm, the window shows the gold fee for the attempt. If you don't have enough gold, nothing happens: the attempt is not rolled, and the elixir or stone stays in your bag.

Enhancing with elixirs

Enhancement is the classic +1, +2, +3 on weapons, shields, armour and accessories. Each attempt uses:

• One elixir of the right type for the item. A weapon elixir only works on weapons.
• Optionally, Lucky Powder of the same degree as the item. A degree 6 item needs degree 6 powder. Powder adds to the elixir's chance.

Both the elixir and the powder are used up whether the attempt succeeds or fails.

The chance depends on the level you are going to. Going from +0 to +1 is the easiest attempt, and every step after that is harder. The exact percentages come from the elixir and powder data in the game files, the same as in the original. We don't print a table of them, because we would rather not publish numbers we have not checked in the game.

What happens on a failure

This is the part every new alchemist should read twice:

1. Any failure resets the item to +0.
2. Once the item is already +5 or higher, a failure also hurts the item itself. It is either destroyed or loses some of its maximum durability, and the two outcomes are equally likely.

Items bought in the Item Mall never disappear this way. Everything else can.

Protective blues

Four special blue options exist to soften those rules. Each one is a counter on the item, up to 6 charges, and each protection you trigger uses one charge:

Astral has a condition: the item must already carry Immortal, with more Immortal charges than Astral charges. Put Immortal on first.

The order that follows from these rules is simple. Climbing to +5 risks only the climb. Before you enhance an item that is already +5, give it Immortal. If you plan to go well past that, add Astral so a failure costs you less than the whole ladder.

Magic and attribute stones

Magic stones: blue options

A magic stone adds a blue option to an item (STR, INT, HP, MP, durability, attack rate and others) or raises it if the item already has it. Two rules:

• The stone's degree must match the item's degree. A degree 6 sword needs degree 6 stones.
• The option must fit the item type. Not every option goes on every piece of gear.

Each item has a limited number of blue option slots. When they are full, a new option won't go on, though you can still raise ones the item already has. If a magic stone fails, you lose the stone and nothing else: the item stays exactly as it was.

Immortal, Astral, Lucky and Steady are put on with their own stones, one charge per stone, up to the six-charge cap.

Attribute stones: white stats

An attribute stone re-rolls one white stat of the item: physical or magical attack, defence, the critical rate and so on, depending on the stone and on whether the item is a weapon, shield, armour or accessory. Like magic stones, it must match the item's degree.

Two things catch people out:

• A success is a re-roll, not an upgrade. The new value is rolled from scratch, and the roll leans toward the lower end. A stat that was already good can come out worse.
• Assimilation. After a successful stone, there is a chance that another white stat, or one of the item's blue options, gets re-rolled too. Each attribute stone carries its own assimilation chance. The protective options (Immortal, Lucky, Steady, Astral) and durability are never touched by it.

A failed attribute stone only uses up the stone.

What an attempt costs

On SroAsia every alchemy attempt has a gold fee on top of the materials. The formulas:

• Enhancement: 1,000 × degree² × (current +N + 1) gold.
• Magic or attribute stone: 500 × degree² gold.

In a table:

To get a feel for it: taking a degree 6 item from +0 to +7 without a single failure costs 1,008,000 gold in fees alone (36,000 × (1 + 2 + … + 7)). Every failure sends you back to the start of that ladder unless Astral catches it.

Materials cost more as well. Elixirs and Lucky Powder bought from NPC shops cost three times the original price, and repairs at the blacksmith also cost three times as much. A durability loss from a failed attempt is therefore a real expense, not a cosmetic one.

Where the gold comes from: monsters drop the same gold as in the original, and the level rewards help a lot. At levels 10, 20, 30 and so on you receive 20,000, 50,000, 100,000, 200,000 and 400,000 gold, then 1 million at 60, 2 million at 70, 4 million at 80, 8 million at 90 and 15 million at 100.

When to stop

There is no magic number, but the rules above give a sensible plan:

• Attempts on an item at +0 to +4 only cost you the climb. The item itself is safe, so reaching +5 is where cheap practice makes sense.
• Once the item is +5, every further attempt puts the item at risk. Don't push gear you can't replace past that point without Immortal charges.
• Astral changes the maths. With it, a failure on an item at +4 or higher drops it to +4, not +0, so each failure costs you only the steps above +4.
• Watch your charges. Each protection uses one. An item with one Immortal charge left is one bad attempt away from being unprotected.
• Count the fee before the elixir. At degree 6, the attempt from +6 to +7 is 252,000 gold before materials. Keep enough for the attempt and the repair.
• Leveling gear may not be worth it. You will replace a degree 4 weapon soon; a +4 that cost little is often the right stopping point.

Ready-made Seal of Sun gear

If you'd rather skip the gamble, the Item Mall sells finished gear: Seal of Sun weapons, shields, accessories and armour sets at +5 to +7 with good white stats and blue options, plus a starter +7 set. It also stocks alchemy supplies: weapon elixirs, degree 6 Lucky Powder, magic stones, Astral and Immortal stones, an alchemist kit, and a Lucky stone that you can buy for in-game gold.

Silk, the Item Mall currency, can be earned by playing: 1 Silk per hour of active play, up to 10 a day, plus events and rewards. You can play the whole game for free; the shop just shortens the road.

Start enhancing

Pick the gear you're going to keep, protect it before +5, and count the fee before each attempt. If you are still choosing a weapon, our Chinese builds guide will help; if you want something worth enhancing, the unique monster guide shows where the server's bosses live. Open the game with the button below or in @SilkRoadOnlineGame.

Tags: Alchemy and gear Guides Item Mall