IdleMMO Gear Progression: Best Armor and Weapons by Level

"What's the best armor in IdleMMO" has two answers depending on where you are. Early and mid game, the answer is whichever forge tier you can make or afford, upgraded as far as it goes. Late game, it is whatever dungeon recipe you can get your hands on, in the highest quality you can afford. This guide walks through both, with the rules from the official wiki and the ladder from our cached Forge data.

Where your stats come from

The wiki calls equipment "the sole method to boost your character's stats", which is a slight overstatement (pets, potions and primary stat levels add too), but it makes the point: gear is the biggest lever you have. Your four combat stats are Attack Power, Protection, Agility and Accuracy. Each level of Strength, Defence, Speed and Dexterity adds 2.4 of the matching stat; gear piles on top. Dungeon entry is judged on the sum of those four stats, so armour that adds Protection or Agility helps you into dungeons as much as a better weapon does.

Slots on our gear tables: swords, daggers and bows for weapons, plus shields, helmets, chestplates, gauntlets, greaves and boots. Each slot page lists every recorded piece with its stats and requirements.

The forge ladder

Each metal tier unlocks at a Forge level and covers the set (sword, dagger, shield, helmet, chestplate, gauntlets, greaves, boots; our cached Lead tier lists seven of the eight). Bows use logs instead of bars. Every piece costs 10 bars or logs plus 5 Coal Ore, per our cached Forge recipes.

Forge level requirements from our cached Forge skill data. Wearing a piece has its own Combat and stat requirements, listed on each gear page.

The ladder is long at the bottom and wide at the top. Tin to Lead covers Forge 1-15 in four quick steps; Steel at 25 and Mercury at 35 are the big mid-game sets; Chromite (50), Uranium (65) and Mystic (70) are where bar costs start to hurt. If you don't train Forge yourself, every tier is on the market, and the Forge calculator shows what each piece costs to make against what it sells for.

Craft or buy?

The forge recipe tells you the material bill: 10 bars and 5 coal per piece. Price those on the market and compare with the finished piece. When the finished item is cheaper than its inputs, which happens often with lower tiers that lots of players level Forge on, buy it. When it is dearer, craft it and pocket the Forge XP as a bonus. The money making guide ranks crafting margins at cached prices, and the Forge leveling guide plans the cheapest route through the levels.

One trap: a full set is eight pieces, so 80 bars and 40 coal per tier. Upgrading a slot or two at a time, starting with the weapon and the chestplate, usually gets you into the next dungeon sooner than waiting to afford a full matching set.

Qualities and upgrade caps

Items come in Standard, Refined, Premium, Epic, Legendary and Mythic quality (plus Unique, for items you can't get through normal play). Higher quality is generally stronger. Quality also sets how far you can upgrade a piece with its matching Upgrade Stone:

Higher tiers take longer to upgrade, and the number of stones depends on quality and item type. Mythic gear also needs one Dragon Soulstone per upgrade level, which you buy with shards from level 70+ dungeons or find as a Thal'guth drop. That is why a Premium piece can outlast a Standard piece of a higher metal tier: double the upgrade ceiling is a lot of headroom.

Late game: recipes from dungeons

Gear doesn't drop from enemies or chests. The strongest recipes come from dungeon runs, and the wiki calls dungeons the main source of recipes for the strongest items. You can also buy a recipe on the market, but you still need the materials. Each dungeon page lists its loot with drop chances; Millstone Mines alone drops recipes for an Improved Fishing Rod, Pickaxe and Felling Axe at 5% each, for example. Raising Magic Find raises those chances, which is one more reason to finish dungeon completions early (see the dungeon guide).

A sensible order

1. Weapon first. Attack Power shortens every fight. The best weapon by level ranking shows the strongest recorded base attack at each Combat level.
2. Chestplate and shield next, for Protection, so you lose less health per run and can chain dungeons.
3. Fill the remaining slots at the same tier, then upgrade the pieces you plan to keep longest.
4. Don't sink stones into Standard pieces you will replace in ten levels. Save them for Premium or better.

Don't forget the non-combat side. Pickaxes, felling axes and fishing rods are gear too, and the improved versions come from dungeon recipes. If you mostly gather, the same quality and upgrade rules apply to your tools.

Frequently asked questions