Tiers & Upgrades

Vanguard OT uses several separate equipment progression systems. Equipment Slot Upgrades, Tier Forge equipment, character upgrades, and VIP/Ascended Gear do not share levels or materials unless an in-game interface explicitly says so.

Equipment Slot Upgrades

Equipment upgrades belong to your character's equipment slots, not to one individual item. Replacing a weapon, helmet, armor, legs, boots, or off-hand item does not erase the slot's upgrade level.

Upgradeable Slots

Slot	Bonus while compatible equipment is worn
Weapon	Attack
Off-Hand	Defense and extra defense
Helmet	Armor
Armor	Armor
Legs	Armor
Boots	Armor

An upgraded slot keeps its level while empty, but an empty slot does not provide its equipment bonus. The bonus begins applying again when a compatible item is equipped in that slot.

How to Upgrade a Slot

Use the Upgrade interface and select one of the six equipment slots.
Review the current level, required crystal, base chance, pity bonus, final chance, and possible failure result.
Choose whether to use an Upgrade Stabilizer when the target level permits it.
Confirm the attempt. Required crystals and any selected Stabilizer are consumed.
Review the resulting slot level before attempting another upgrade.

Crystal Brackets

Current slot level	Required crystal	Base success rate by target level
+0 to +4	1 Upgrade Crystal I	+1: 100%, +2: 100%, +3: 100%, +4: 90%, +5: 80%
+5 to +9	2 Upgrade Crystals II	+6: 85%, +7: 80%, +8: 75%, +9: 70%, +10: 65%
+10 to +14	4 Upgrade Crystals III	+11: 65%, +12: 60%, +13: 55%, +14: 50%, +15: 45%
+15 to +19	6 Upgrade Crystals IV	+16: 50%, +17: 45%, +18: 40%, +19: 35%, +20: 30%
+20 to +24	8 Upgrade Crystals V	+21: 40%, +22: 35%, +23: 30%, +24: 27%, +25: 25%

Slot upgrades have a maximum level of +25. Pity chance is added to the listed base rate when applicable.

Success and Failure

Base success chance changes with the target level and is shown before every attempt. Early levels are highly reliable; later levels become progressively more difficult.

On a failed attempt:

The slot may remain at its current level.
The slot may lose one level.
A slot never falls below its latest protected five-level checkpoint.
The failed attempt adds pity chance for the next attempt on that slot.

Pity adds one percentage point per consecutive failure, up to a maximum bonus of 20 percentage points. A successful attempt resets that slot's failure count and pity bonus.

Checkpoints and Progression Gates

Protected checkpoints occur at +5, +10, +15, and +20. All six slots must reach the current checkpoint before any one slot can enter the next five-level bracket.

Example: before upgrading any slot to +11, every upgradeable slot must first reach at least +10.

Upgrade Stabilizers

Upgrade Stabilizers can be selected when attempting target level +11 or higher. A Stabilizer is consumed with the attempt. If the attempt fails, the current slot level is protected from downgrade and pity still increases.

Warning: Crystals are consumed on every confirmed attempt, whether the upgrade succeeds or fails.

Tier Equipment

Tier equipment has three independent progression lines, each with 20 tiers:

20 weapon tiers
20 armor tiers
20 amulet tiers

Each line advances separately. Reaching a tier in one equipment type does not advance either of the other two.

Tier Forge

The Tier Forge is a separate equipment path managed through the Tier Blacksmith.

Obtain an eligible Tier recipe or unlock.
Speak with the Tier Blacksmith and open the forge interface.
Review the required equipment and materials.
Confirm the recipe to create or advance the Tier item.

Tier rewards may be bound to the character. The Token Reclaimer replaces eligible lost Tier tokens; it does not refund ordinary crafting materials.

Character Upgrades

Character Upgrades are persistent purchases made through a dedicated panel. Categories cover sword, axe, club, distance, shield, magic, and speed progression.

The panel shows your current points, available offers, price, and the result before purchase. Character Upgrades are not the same as Equipment Slot Upgrades and do not consume upgrade crystals.

VIP/Ascended Gear

VIP Gear consists of vocation-and-slot-specific shells acquired through the online shop. Active VIP status is not required to wear or benefit from an acquired shell.