Upgrade equipment in Enshrouded

Gear in Enshrouded is upgraded with Runes, and each combat class has its own crafting survivor who does the work. This guide covers who upgrades what, where Runes come from, how an item's quality limits its upgrades and what the Legendary Runes are for.

Checked against Enshrouded 1.0.0.3 (hotfix of 21 October 2026), October 2026.

Who upgrades what

Keen Games' Update 8 notes say upgrading is handled by the crafting survivor for each combat class: the Blacksmith upgrades warrior equipment, the Huntress upgrades ranger items and the Alchemist upgrades mage equipment. The 1.0 notes add that these survivors now also upgrade eternal spells and eternal arrows.

The official wiki and MetaForge say Oswald Anders, the Blacksmith, crafts armour, weapons and shields. You rescue him in the quest Find The Sleeping Survivor. Keen's Update 8 notes say armour, shields, wards, rings, pickaxes and wood chopping axes can be upgraded with Runes, just like weapons.

Where Runes come from

The official wiki says Runes drop from Fell enemies and come from chests and from dismantled weapons. MetaForge also lists Fell enemies as a source and says salvaging weapons, shields, armour and rings returns Runes. Keen's notes add that armour, wards, shields and rings can be recycled into Runes, including gear from older versions of the game.

The wiki's quest Salvage And Enhance shows the loop: salvage a higher-rarity weapon for Runes, then spend them to enhance a weapon at the Blacksmith.

Quality sets the ceiling

Keen's notes say an item's quality does not change its base stats. It only decides how many upgrade levels the item offers. Self-crafted equipment is always Rare, and Keen says loot can reach Legendary.

That is why finding better-quality gear matters even though you can craft your own. The Enshrouded legendary weapons guide covers where it comes from.

Legendary Runes

Keen's notes say Legendary Runes are what unlock the higher-tier perks of legendary weapons, and that elite and boss enemies drop them. MetaForge lists several bosses that do, such as Vorgoth and the Fell Dragon Youngling. The official wiki and MetaForge also say the Blacksmith crafts them from Runes, 25 Runes for each one.

Keen's 1.0 notes change the timing: legendary items now ask for Legendary Runes one upgrade step later than before.

Level caps

The highest player level is 50 in 1.0, and the Steam achievement Above the clouds is for reaching it. Keen's notes give 55 as the highest level a fully upgraded piece of equipment can reach.

Getting new armour

Keen's 1.0 notes say that each time you upgrade the Flame, the craftable armour sets for the next crafting tier unlock on their own, and that armour recipes now need fewer resources. You no longer have to find a specific resource or finish a quest to unlock a set.

On your server

With the Custom difficulty preset, the Progression card of the Server Settings tab has two settings for upgrades:

The Players card also has Item durability, which stops weapons and tools wearing out when it is off. Enshrouded server settings walks through the tab. If you do not have a server yet, see Enshrouded server hosting.