The Expedition Forge applies one deterministic, mutually exclusive augment path to a published equipment pool. It does not roll random stats and does not manufacture the base equipment.
Equipment pools
| Pool | Eligible equipment | Required player level | Maximum Forge tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foundation | Bronze Cap, Harness, Mittens, Subligar, Leggings, Dagger, Knife, Sword, Axe | 1 | III |
| Veteran | Raptor Helm, Jerkin, Gloves, Trousers, Ledelsens | 40 | II |
| Master | all five Perle, Aurore, and Teal armor pieces | 75 | III |
The Bronze Merchant sells the Foundation pool. Veteran and Master items must come from ordinary Vana'diel acquisition routes. The Forge is therefore an upgrade service, not a replacement source for mid- and high-level equipment.
Forge workflow
- Obtain an eligible item and meet its pool's player-level requirement.
- Speak to the Expedition Forge and select one of four paths.
- Trade exactly one eligible item.
- Pay the displayed Boss Essence, Artisan Seals, Expedition Scrap, and gil.
- Repeat until the pool's maximum tier is reached.
An item already on one Forge path stays on that path. The Forge validates the complete expected augment set, not only the first augment. Equipment augmented by another system, signed gear, trial-bound gear, and charged gear is rejected so extended item data cannot be silently overwritten.
Player-facing augments
| Path | Tier I | Tier II | Tier III |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slayer | Attack +5, Accuracy +5, STR +2 | Attack +10, Accuracy +10, STR +4 | Attack +15, Accuracy +15, STR +6 |
| Guardian | HP +10, DEF +5, Evasion +3 | HP +20, DEF +10, Evasion +6 | HP +30, DEF +15, Evasion +9 |
| Arcanist | Magic Accuracy +5, Magic Attack Bonus +5, INT +2 | Magic Accuracy +10, Magic Attack Bonus +10, INT +4 | Magic Accuracy +15, Magic Attack Bonus +15, INT +6 |
| Support | MND +2, MP +10, CHR +2 | MND +4, MP +20, CHR +4 | MND +6, MP +30, CHR +6 |
Values are the player-facing FFXI augment values. Internal stored augment bytes are one lower for stats that use the client's plus-one encoding.
Upgrade costs
| Target tier | Boss Essence | Artisan Seals | Scrap | Gil |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | 1 | 10 | 0 | 25,000 |
| II | 3 | 25 | 10 | 100,000 |
| III | 8 | 60 | 30 | 300,000 |
Costs are paid at each step. A Tier III item has consumed 12 Essence, 95 Seals, 40 Scrap, and 425,000 gil across its lifetime. Veteran equipment stops after Tier II and therefore consumes 4 Essence, 35 Seals, 10 Scrap, and 125,000 gil.
Salvage returns
Every published Forge-pool item is accepted if its extended data is safe.
| Item state | Scrap returned |
|---|---|
| Unaugmented | 1 |
| Tier I | 3 |
| Tier II | 8 |
| Tier III | 20 |
Salvage never refunds the full original investment. This makes it a recovery tool and permanent resource sink rather than a free path-switching loop.
Cosmetic Masterworks
The Forge also finishes one profession project for each of the eight crafts, separate from equipment reforging. Every route requires the matching Master certification, one published self-signed base, 12 published gathered materials, 5 Boss Essence, 20 Artisan Seals, 10 Scrap, and 100,000 gil. Each distinct reward is a protected zero-resale furnishing with no combat statistics and can be completed only once per character.
These projects connect ordinary synthesis, gathering, custom combat, Salvage, and a gil sink without creating a best-in-slot reward or resale path. See Profession Certifications, Provisions, and Masterworks for the exact bases, materials, rewards, and transaction details.
Balance boundary
The same augment budget is used across the three pools; higher-level base gear is not given a second hidden multiplier. Veteran's Tier II cap creates a meaningful bridge tier, while Master armor can reach Tier III. Prestige is separate and only applies inside Apex Expeditions, preventing every augmented slot from receiving an uncapped permanent multiplier.
Forge success is deterministic: an eligible and fully funded safe item upgrades 100% of the time.