There are 4 main types of gear in Tower of Fantasy: Weapons, Matrices, Armor, and Relics.
They all increase your stats and gear score (GS).
Weapons
Obtained through the various gacha banners in the game and world bosses.
They can be upgraded through levels and advancements.
Each weapon has 3 base stats, which differ between ATK/HP/CRIT and ATK/HP/RESISTANCE for each weapon. They also have a Type (resonance) and Element.
Leveling Weapons
To level up a weapon, you will need Weapon EXP batteries which are obtained through gacha, shops, password boxes, and more. Each level boosts the base stats of that weapon.
Every 10 levels, you will need Augmentation Materials to raise the level cap another 10 levels. They are obtained through dungeons, shops, battle pass, events, and more.
By augmenting a weapon to level 60, weapon abilities will be raised to Lv. 6 and the flat number in their descriptions (after the damage %) will be increased.
The maximum weapon level is 2x your character level (raises every 5 character levels).
Advancements
To advance a weapon, you will need a duplicate copy of that weapon. This will add a star to the weapon, boosting its base stats and unlocking a powerful effect.
The maximum stars is 6, so including the base copy you will need to obtain a weapon 7 times to max it out. Subsequent copies will be converted into Black Market Coins.
Matrices
Matrices act as attachments to your weapons. You can equip one matrix on each of the 4 slots per weapon. Matrix slots are not interchangable, meaning a matrix for the top right slot cannot be used in the bottom left slot.
Each set of Matrices has a unique 3-piece set effect, or 2-piece and 4-piece set effects.
Obtained through gacha banners, Joint Operation, world bosses, home island shop, and Void Rifts.
Like weapons, they can be upgraded through levels and advancements.
Leveling Matrices
To level up a matrix, you will need Matrix EXP chips, obtained through shops, password boxes, events, and more. Each level boosts the base stats of that matrix.
The maximum level for a matrix is 1:1 to your character level (raises every 5 character levels).
Advancements
To advance a matrix, you will need a duplicate copy of that matrix, in the correct slot. This will add a star to the matrix, boosting its base stats.
Matrix set effects can be upgraded by advancing every piece in the set to a higher star. For example, if you have a 2-piece set of Shiro Matrices and advance both pieces to 1★, the damage bonus will be increased from 15% to 19%. Basically, the next value will be used.
The maximum stars for a Matrix is 3, so including the base copy you will need to obtain a matrix in the same slot 4 times to max it out.
Armor
Armor provides passive stat increases, and can be obtained through shops, dungeons.
Each piece of armor has a set of fixed stats, and a section for random bonus stats.
They can be upgraded through Advancements and Enhancements.
Advancements
Advancements are where you feed an EXP crystal or armor piece into another armor piece (must be the same type). When the EXP meter is filled, that piece will receive one star, randomly boosting one of the bonus stats by a random amount (within a range).
The maximum number of stars depends on the tier of the armor: blue can have 3 stars; purple can have 4; gold can have 5.
While any armor piece can have attack lines on it, only shoes and gloves can roll crit lines. There is currently no method to change the bonus stat lines on a piece.
Feeding a starred piece of armor into a new one will result in reduced EXP (retaining about 80%). You can also dismantle a piece into crystals, which is useful if you have spare helmets but need to level up your shoulder piece.
Enhancements
Enhancing armor requires gold and Enhancement Modules, which are obtained through shops and Bygone Phantasm. It will add a +1 to your armor, boosting the fixed stats of that piece.
Every 5th level you will need an increased amount of gold, and Superior Modules as well. When all of your armor reaches an increment of 5 (+5, +10, +15..) then you will receive an additional stat boost.
Enhancement level will carry over when replacing armor. If you have +10 on your current gloves, you can equip new gloves and they will be +10. Think of it as enhancing the armor slot rather than the piece.
Be careful! If you unequip the enhanced item (without replacing), it is possible to dismantle it.
New Armor
Newer armor pieces include the Arc Core and Visor pieces, obtained from raids, shops, and world bosses.
These pieces can be enhanced and fused, but require different materials to do so.
They are unique in that these pieces can have % stat lines. Elemental ATK %, Elemental DAMAGE %, Crit % and more. Through fusion, these % lines are boosted by a fixed amount instead of a random amount in a range.
Additionally, these items are separated by element, so there is one for each element. A Flame Arc Core’s fixed stats will only consist of Flame ATK.
Relics
Relics are active tools that you can use in combat or for exploration. They can be upgraded through advancements, similar to weapons.
Advancements
Advancements improve the effects of Relics such as increasing their damage, lowering their cooldown, or even adding new abilities.
Each relic can be advanced up to 5 times by using Relic Fragments. Fragments can be obtained through various shops, events, battle pass, and more. At 4★ they will provide a passive stat such as elemental attack or reduced elemental damage taken.
