Enchanting Gear: Runes, Souls, Relics and When It Pays | Outpost

Enchanting

How enchanting works at the Artifact Foundry.

Crafting & Refining
4 min read
Updated 6 Nov 2026

Enchanting raises an item's enchantment level at the Artifact Foundry, and each level adds about as much Item Power as one tier: a T6.1 sword sits level with a T7.0. What you have to decide is cost: do the runes, souls or relics cost less than buying the enchanted item outright? On a busy market they often do not.

Which material for which step

Step	Material	Example at T6
.0 to .1	Runes	Master's Rune
.1 to .2	Souls	Master's Soul
.2 to .3	Relics	Master's Relic
.3 to .4	Not possible at the foundry

Each step needs the one before it, so taking a .0 item to .3 eats runes, then souls, then relics. The material must match the item's tier: T6 runes for a T6 item, from Adept's Rune at T4 up to Elder's at T8.

.4 items can only be crafted, from .4 refined materials. If you want a .4 weapon, buy it or craft it.

The guides this one points to, or that point back to it.

All guides

How many each slot needs

The count is the same at every step and every tier. It depends only on the slot:

Slot	Per step	.0 to .3 total
Helmet, boots, cape, off-hand	96	288
Chest armor, bag	192	576
One-handed weapon	288	864
Two-handed weapon	384	1,152

A two-handed weapon going from .0 to .3 takes 384 runes, 384 souls and 384 relics of its tier. That is why two-handed weapons are the slot where buying enchanted is most often cheaper, and helmets and boots the slot where enchanting most often pays.

Food and potions do not use runes. Enchanted meals take Fish Sauce and enchanted potions take Arcane Extract, in amounts that depend on the item.

When enchanting pays

Enchanting pays when:

price of the .0 item + material cost < price of the enchanted item

A worked example for one T6 two-handed weapon. The prices are illustrative round numbers, not market data:

Line	Cost
T6.0 weapon	120,000
384 T6 runes at 350 each	134,400
Total for a T6.1	254,400
Cheapest T6.1 sell order	240,000

Here buying the .1 is 14,400 cheaper, before you count the order fees on the runes. On a helmet the same rune price adds only 33,600, and the answer often flips. Run your own numbers item by item, in the city where you will buy or sell.

Patterns that usually hold:

Low-count slots (helmet, boots, cape, off-hand) are often cheaper to enchant.
Thin markets for an enchanted item mean a cheaper .0 plus materials beats waiting for a seller.
Your own gear: enchanting a .0 you already own skips the price of the base item, so the comparison is only material cost against the price difference.
Materials you looted have a sale value. Count them at what they would sell for.

Enchanting

Which material for which step

How many each slot needs

Where and how

When enchanting pays

Compare equivalent tiers first

Check it in Outpost

Where runes, souls and relics come from

Common mistakes

Which material for which step

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How many each slot needs

Where and how

When enchanting pays

Compare equivalent tiers first

Check it in Outpost

Where runes, souls and relics come from

Common mistakes