The +N Ladder: Composing and the Endgame Steps

In short: Composing +1 to +9 at the Wuxing Oven with two equal minors, and buying +10, +11 and +12 from the Cloud Saint for CPs.

Where: the Wuxing Oven on the Market composes +1 to +9; the Cloud Saint, a few steps from the Market arrival at (206,213), sells +10, +11 and +12. Cost: composing costs two matching minor items per step; the last three steps cost Conquer Points -- 104,976, then 419,904, then 1,679,616. Risk: none, on either half. Nothing you put in can break, and nothing can be lost.

Every piece of equipment can carry a +N enhancement, from +1 to +12. It adds attack, defence, HP, accuracy or dodge depending on what the piece is -- the same numbers the client shows in the item's own description, because the server reads them from the same table.

The ladder has two halves. The first nine rungs are composed and cost materials. The last three are bought and cost a fortune.

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Part one: composing +1 to +9

Open the compose window at the Wuxing Oven on the Market. You place three things in it:

• the main item -- the piece you want to raise, and
• two minor items that feed it.

The minors must be either two PlusStones or two pieces of the same kind as the main. For weapons the kind is the hand: any one-handed weapon feeds any one-handed weapon (a +1 sword feeds a +1 blade), any two-handed feeds any two-handed (a +1 spear feeds a +1 bow), and a Taoist backsword takes only other backswords. For everything else it is the slot: any armour feeds any armour, any ring any ring -- tier and class do not matter, but a ring cannot feed a blade and a bow cannot feed a sword.

The two rules that decide everything

1. Both minors must carry exactly the rung's +N. A plain item and a +1 item both take two +1 minors; from +2 upward the minors must equal the item: a +2 needs two +2s, a +5 blade two +5s. Anything else -- smaller or bigger -- is refused and nothing is spent. (Two +3 stones on a plain item do not make it +1; the oven simply says no.)
2. One compose = exactly one rung. A +5 item becomes +6, never +7 and never straight to the minors' level.

So the ladder is climbed rung by rung, and each rung is twice as expensive as the one below it, because the minors themselves have to be raised the same way. That is the whole cost curve: getting one piece to +9 is a long project, not an afternoon.

Where PlusStones come from

In the field only the +1 and +2 stones fall, and only while your Lucky Time is running -- roughly one +1 per 9,000 kills on Bird Island. The +3 and +4 have been taken out of the field for now, so above +2 the mall is the dependable source. See drop rates for the table.

Gear can also arrive already at +1. Any dropped piece -- weapons included -- can land enhanced, about one piece in 4,000 kills on Bird Island. It is the head start on the ladder below: a +1 item plus two +1 stones is a +2 without ever composing the first rung yourself.

A stone counts as its own number: two +3 stones raise a +3 item to +4. Notice that each stone costs three times the one below it -- the price of a rung grows as fast as the work does, all the way up the ladder and into the endgame steps below.

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Part two: the endgame steps, +10 to +12

Composing refuses to go past +9. From there the ladder belongs to the Cloud Saint on the Market, and it is paid for in Conquer Points alone.

How it works:

1. Wear the piece. He only works on equipment you have on -- he will not touch your bag.
2. Talk to him. He lists every worn piece already standing at +9 or above, with its current +N.
3. Pick one. He names the price for one step and waits for a second click.
4. Pay, and the piece goes up a rung immediately.

There is no chance roll. He never fails, never burns the piece, and never takes your points for nothing -- the price is the whole cost. If you cannot afford the step he says so and takes nothing. Each step is separate, so +12 means paying all three, one after another.

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How our version differs from classic Conquer

• Classic composing let the main item jump straight to the minors' level -- two +6 stones made a plain item +6 in one go. Ours climbs one rung at a time, and the minors must already sit at the main's own level, so the ladder actually costs what it looks like it costs.
• The last three steps are ours. In classic Conquer, +9 to +12 was a DragonBall gamble at the furnace, with the piece at risk. We replaced the gamble with a price: enormous, certain, and paid in Conquer Points. It is meant to be the last thing a character ever buys.
• +12 is the ceiling here, and nothing goes past it.

Where to find them