Partway through Episode 6, the main story stops you cold in front of a giant blue Abyss rift and refuses to let you through until your item level hits 1000. Asmodian players hit this wall during Forgotten Commander in Altgard, and Elyos players hit it during Draupnir in Verteron. Both quests need the same number before the portal opens.
Quick answer: Push every one of your 20 gear slots to item level 45 for a base score of 900, then close the final 100 with Daevanion Board nodes, Clash Runes, and enhancement. The Abyss portal unlocks the moment you reach item level 1000 at character level 45.
What item level 1000 unlocks
Open the escape menu to find your item level beneath your character portrait. This score roughly reflects your overall progress and comes mainly from equipped gear and your Daevanion Board. Entry to the Abyss requires character level 45 and item level 1000; before meeting that threshold, you cannot enter the rift.
The math underneath is simple. You have 20 gear slots, and getting each one to item level 45 produces a base score of 900. The remaining 100 comes from systems that sit outside your armor and weapon, which is where most of the real work happens.
Fill your gear slots with level-appropriate pieces
Assuming you are already near the level 45 cap, the fastest route to a full set of strong bases runs through Regional quests and the Draupnir Expedition. Work through these in order.
Clear Regional quests for Liberator gear
Review your Regional quests and focus first on rewards that include Epic (blue) gear. The goal is the Liberator set, built on item level 43 bases. Once you have the full map unlocked and Kibelisk fast travel active, these quests are quick to complete. Their quest lines also provide Theostones and Daevanion Crystals, making the effort worthwhile.
Run the Draupnir Expedition for armor
Once you are past item level 700, you can enter Draupnir. It is a one-to-five player expedition with a 60-minute limit, and the three bosses sit at level 45. Clear Predator Saraswati and Phantasmal Lakshmi to reach Transcendent Bakarma, whose stagger checks at 75 percent and 25 percent health will reset the fight if your party fails them.
Use Odyle Energy at the cube for two chances to obtain the Bakarma Guard, Helm, or Pauldrons. If none appear, you still have a strong chance of receiving several Anguish set pieces, based on item level 40. Odyle Energy has a 560 cap, increased to 840 with membership, so schedule your runs according to your stored amount.
Take the Pity Chest reward
After a few Draupnir runs, you unlock a one-time Pity Chest. Pick the Bakarma Breastplate, a level 54 base and the highest-level piece available at this stage. Even if every drop went against you, this guarantees one strong slot on top of your level 40 to 43 pieces.
Add Clash Runes, Theostones, and Strongholds
Two Clash Runes come from Regional quests at this point, and simply equipping both rune slots is one of the cheapest item level jumps available. Upgrade these to +1 only. Two more Clash Runes unlock from later Regional quests, and you can gamble upgrades on those instead.
Collect Empyrean Feathers to raise your Monolith level, and clear at least 10 Strongholds. Strongholds are the source of the belt and amulet enhance scrolls you need to push both pieces to +10 and then raise their rarity through Substance Morph, which is a large and permanent item level gain.
Keep any Theostones you earn, but hold off on using them now. They are better spent on the Spiritforged weapon and Guard you receive for finishing the Episode 6 quest chain.
Enhance and socket every slot
Enhancement adds item level in a one-to-one ratio, so spreading it across all your gear beats dumping everything into a single shiny piece. Enhance Stones come easily from Daily Dungeons, and running those with your weekly tokens is the most reliable way to stock up.
- Upgrade every gear piece to +3 before working toward +7, based on how many Enhance Stones you have.
- Equip armor and weapons with Manastones, and jewelry with Soulstones; reroll every piece until it has at least one green sub-stat.
- The actual stats do not matter here. You are only chasing the item level increment from a filled slot.
Close the gap with the Daevanion Board
If you have followed everything above, you should sit around item score 800 or higher. The Daevanion Board carries you the rest of the way. Each node type contributes differently, so it helps to know what you are actually spending crystals on.
| Node type | Contribution |
|---|---|
| White node | +1 item level |
| Orange node (corners) | +3 item level |
| Blue (+Skill level) | Gear score, not item level |
| Green (+Passive Skill level) | Gear score, not item level |
Your Regional quests have already given you Daevanion Crystals. For a larger supply, travel through every map region, clear each region’s Sealed Dungeons for 2 Daevanion Crystals apiece, and finish any Regional quests you have left. Put crystals to use as you earn them rather than leaving them unspent. The four PvE boards can provide 300 or more item level by themselves, enough to cover the remaining distance to 1000.
Find the Abyss rift and talk to Koro
Once your item level reads 1000, head back to the Abyss rift. The overworld map does not mark it, so you need to remember the route. On the Asmodian side in Altgard, it sits slightly north of the Draupnir dungeon near Black Claw Village. For Elyos in Verteron, it is slightly west, near the Draupnir entrance at the Garden of the Illusion God. Both sit in an open valley you can spot while flying nearby.
The quest completing and the Abyss becoming accessible confirm it worked. From here, pick up the Abyss command scrolls from the local merchant and grind them for Abyss Points, which you spend in the Abyss shop. That marks the start of your endgame gearing, where the next item level targets climb well past 1000.
