Items can reach up to +20 ranks before they need to be replaced Lost Ark Gold, although tier thresholds occur when you reach +15. For this reason, we do not recommend that you increase an item beyond +15 unless you're already at T3.

Your main sources of honing materials are Guardian Raids and Chaos Dungeons. Clearing either activity will grant honing materials in decent quantities, so be sure you're completing two of each activity every day. Should you complete your daily runs of both activities, you can farm Chaos Dungeons for a vendor currency you can use to purchase additional honing materials, up to a weekly cap.

However, for players just starting out, we highly recommend you complete island quests for honing materials. You'll get hundreds of Stone Fragments and dozens of Harmony Leapstones from these quests, so they're absolutely worth your time. The Lost Ark community has created an excellent resource that showcases each island reward that you can view here. Starting out, we recommend you clear Glacier Island and as much of Shadow Island as possible. Keep clearing islands as needed. When you've completed these island quests, you'll need to rely on daily Chaos Dungeon and Guardian Raid clears.

Beyond that, you can obtain Star's Breaths and their higher tier equivalents by completing Ghost Ships, the Cube activity Lost Ark Gold buy, and certain Una's Tasks. Metallurgy special materials are a rare drop from Abyss Dungeons.