Armor Enhancement

There are many different ways to upgrade (enhance) your armor and increase its level. Some ways are more time efficient or some are more gold efficient.

The information in this post was not written by me, but by a person called Radlonghammer  on the Funzio forums for K & D .

Misconception
The idea that farming Snakeskins is the only way to quickly level armor is one of the most commonly held beliefs of K&D players, and is not entirely accurate. Up to a certain point, Snakeskin as enhancement material is absolutely the most GOLD EFFICIENT means, but is absolutely NOT the most time efficient, nor is it the fastest.

Enhancement Basics
In order to understand, in detail, the effectiveness of an armor when enhancing another armor, it's critical to understand the concept of Enhancement Points. The more EP you throw at an armor, the more it will level.

All armors have two EP values; one when it is used to enhance an armor with at least one matching elements, and another that is approximately 20% lower when used to enhance an armor with NO matching elements. Here are some basics:

*Basic Armors (Basic Fire, Spirit, Earth, Air, Water) Give 6 points if matching, 5 points if not.

*Uncommon Monos (Seafoam, Dragonflame, Mystic, Wing Warrior, Stonescale, and Nemesis armors) give 10 points if matching, 8 if not.

*Rare, Single Star Duals (Snakeskin, Atlantean, Crius, Chimera, Hydra, Livingflame, Flamestorm) give 24 points if matching at least one element, 20 points if matching none.

**Super Rare, Two Star Duals (Embersteel, Monks, Exorcists, Flowstone, Forgemasters, etc.) give 50 points if matching at least one element, 40 points if not.

Furthermore, if an armor has been enhanced itself, it gives additional Enhancement Points equal to every level beyond level one. For example, your maxed nemesis that might no longer once the boss is gone gives 10 matching element points, plus 29 (Level 30-1) for a total of 39 enhancement points.

Enhancement Strategies
Now that you know what an armor gives, let's take a look at what it costs. As with everything in K&D, cost must be looked at as both a function of gold and a function of time.

All Basic armors feature the same cost to craft (300 gold) and the same time to craft (5 minutes). Knowing that, we can calculate an Ehancement Point (EP) payoff per gold spent, and per minute spent.

With matching elements: 50 gold/EP, and .833 minutes/EP <span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">Without matching elements: 60 gold/EP and 1 minute/EP

<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">The Uncommon Monos cost 500 gold and 30 minutes to craft, so:

<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">With matching elements: 50 gold/EP, and 3 minutes/EP <span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">Without matching elements: 62.5 gold/EP and 3.75 minutes/EP

<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">The Rare, Single Star Duals have varying crafting costs, and Snakeskin is by far the cheapest at 3000 gold. Like all armors of this class, crafting time is 2 hours, or 120 minutes. Snakeskin costs:

<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">With matching elements: 125 gold/EP, and 5 minutes/EP <span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">Without matching elements: 150 gold/EP, and 6 minutes/EP

<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;font-size:16px;line-height:normal;">SNAKESKIN ALTERNATIVE #1
<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">Suppose you're using Snakeskin to level an armor with neither the Earth nor the Water element, such as Livingflame (Fire/Spirit) or Rocfeather (wind/spirit). An alternative to the Snake might be to craft Wing Warriors or Mystics, and level them up to L11, where they will pay the same 20 (10 = L11-1) EP as the non-matching Snakeskin. To do so, you will need 500 gold for the Mono, and 300 gold each for 8 basics. You will also pay enhancement costs of 150 each slot x 4 slots to level your mono from L1-L6, and 400 each slot x 4 slots to level it from L6-L11. (Note the increase in enhancement cost as the level of the armor to be enhanced rises. This is a very important cost component to be considered later.)

<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">Anyhow, our L11 mono cost us 500 for the mono, 2400 for the 8 basics used to enhance it, and 2200 in total enhancement costs, for a total gold cost of 5100. This is obviously more expensive than the 3000 for the Snakeskin.

<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">Timewise, we've spent 30 minutes to craft our mono, and 5 minutes each for the 8 basics (40 minutes) for a total of 70 minutes, far less than the 120 minutes the snake took. Let's look at our payoff vs. the Snakeskin:

<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">Unmatched Snake: 150 gold/EP, and 6 minutes/EP <span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">Matched L11 Mono: 255 gold/EP, and 3.5 minutes/EP

<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">It should be clear that while the Snakeskin gives us our 20 EP cheaper, does NOT give it faster!

<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">VERY IMPORTANT POINT
<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">Crafting time ceases to match up with real life time once you have multiple armories. Let's suppose you have four armories, and look at the same example again, but using real life time to craft either 4 Snakeskins or 4 L11 Matching Monos, to exploit all 4 enhancement slots.

<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">With 4 armories, you will craft your 4 Snakeskins in 2 hours of real life time, and your 4 L11 monos in 70 minutes of real life time. Same amount of real life time as the example above, but with FOUR TIMES THE PAYOUT, 80 EP vs. only 20. Hence:

<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">Unmatched Snake x4: 150 gold/EP, and 1.5 minutes/EP <span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">Matched L11 Mono x4: 255 gold/EP, and .875 minutes (52 1/2 seconds)/EP!!!

<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">Not only should this demonstrate that Snakeskin is NOT the fastest way to level armor, but it should also underscore the importance of having multiple armories at work when leveling armors is a high priority!

<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">If you can afford the additional gold cost, and want to level an armor more quickly, you might well consider this alternative to Snakeskin.

<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">SNAKESKIN ALTERNATIVE #2
<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">Let's look at the Snakeskin vs. the Super Rare (2 Star) Dual Elements. Let's say you're leveling a Spirit/Wind Armor such as Roc Feather or Sky Guardian. In this case, Exorcist's Vestments would be a good choice of enhancement armor. Like all of the 2 Star Duals, however, it can not be crafted and is only available through chests, possible event rewards, and fusion.

<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">Fortunately, it is an extremely reliable result of fusing Wing Warrior (Slot 1) with Mystic (Slot 2). Although we can't assign a time/gold cost to the required fusion stones, we can consider the cost of the Base Armors and the Cost of the Fusion.

<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">Wing Warrior (500) + Mystic (500) + Fusion (25,000) =26,000 gold. Time is 30 minutes each for Wing and Mystic, and instantaneous for the fusion, so 60 minutes is the crafting time. The Payoff is 50 EP. Therefore:

<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">Unmatched Snake: 150 gold/EP, and 6 minutes/EP ( 20 total EP for 3000 total gold, and 120 min. total crafting time) <span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">Matching Exorcist: 520 gold/EP, and 1.2 minutes/EP (50 total EP for 26,000 total gold, and 60 min total. crafting time)

<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">Same example with 4 armories, considering REAL TIME:

<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">Unmatched Snake x4: 150 gold/EP, and 1.5 minutes/EP (80 total EP for 12,000 total gold, and 120 min. total REAL time) <span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">Matching Exorcist x4: 520 gold/EP, and 0.3 minutes/EP (200 total EP for 104,000 total gold, 60 min. total REAL time)

<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">Snake loses the speed battle again, and by a TON!

<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">ANOTHER IMPORTANT POINT
<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">The cost of enhancing armor rises dramatically with the level of the armor to be enhanced. Here's a glimpse at the rising cost scale, by the amount of gold it takes to fill all 4 enhancement slots at various levels of the target armor (I'm giving this in increments of 5 levels. The comprehensive chart may be seen in the spreadsheet):

<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">L1: 600 <span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">L6: 1600 <span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">L11: 2800 <span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">L16: 5200 <span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">L21: 7200 <span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">L26: 11,000 <span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">L31: 16,000 <span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">L36: 24,000 <span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">L41: 34,000 <span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">L46: 44,000 <span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">L51: 54,000 <span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">L56: 64,000 <span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">L61: 74,000 <span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">L66: 84,000 <span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">L69: 90,000

<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">Obviously, the higher the level of the armor you're enhancing, the bigger component of the cost the enhancement itself becomes. That's a third component that we've not yet considered. Let's look at 4x Unmatched Snake vs. 4x Matching Exorcists when enhancing a Level 51 Roc Feather or Sky Guardian.

<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">4x Unmatched Snake =12,000 in Crafting Cost + 54,000 in Enhancement Cost = 66,000 for 80 EP, or 825 gold/EP <span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">4x Matching Exorcists =4000 Crafting + 100,000 Fusion + 54,000 Enhancement = 158,000 for 200 EP, or 790 gold/EP

<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">While up to this point, we've accepted that Snakeskin is the Slower, but Cheaper alternative, we see that at some point, Snakeskin fails even to be the cheapest alternative!

<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">YET ANOTHER IMPORTANT POINT If you look at the cost progression above as a road on which you have to make a certain number of stops, and pay at a certain number of toll booths, it should become obvious that the fewer stops you have to make, the less total gold you will spend along the way. Simply put, the MORE EP you can add to your target armor per enhancement, the fewer times you'll have to pay the enhancement cost. This isn't a terribly big deal when you're enhancing a Nemesis armor to it's maximum level of 30. When you're enhancing an armor that maxes at L70, however, it becomes a significant cost component, further devaluing Snakeskin vs. the alternative.

<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">In conclusion: Snakeskin is a very valuable component of a proper armor enhancement strategy, but it should never be seen as the only component. When it's time to start leveling those L70 armors to the max, it's time to lessen your reliance on Snake. When Snake is non-matching, and you have more gold than time, consider those L11 Monos!

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