Enshrouded 1.0: How to Upgrade Weapons (Item Upgrades, Runes and Legendary Runes)

In Enshrouded 1.0, you upgrade weapons with Runes, and so do shields, armor and rings. The upgrade menu sits with Oswald Anders, the Blacksmith, in the ITEM UPGRADES tab of his crafting menu. You unlock levels one at a time, and early weapons like the Rusty Short Sword and Rusty Sword cost 46 Runes per level.

Quick answer: Talk to Oswald Anders, pick “Craft – Upgrade”, open the ITEM UPGRADES tab, select your weapon, and press “Unlock” with 46 Runes in hand for an early weapon’s next level.

How to upgrade a weapon

Bring the weapon you want to upgrade, either in your backpack or on your action bar, along with enough Runes to cover the next level. Then go to Oswald.

Open your backpack and hover over the weapon to check whether it can be upgraded. An upgradable item’s tooltip shows its level, such as “LEVEL 1/3”, lists the damage and enhancements tied to each locked level, and ends with “Upgrade at: Blacksmith”.

Backpack tooltip of the Rusty Short Sword in Enshrouded 1.0 showing Level 1/3, the enhancements for Levels 2 and 3 and Upgrade at Blacksmith — The Rusty Short Sword’s backpack tooltip: Level 1/3, the enhancements for each locked level and “Upgrade at: Blacksmith”.

Walk up to Oswald Anders and press E (“Talk & Craft”). His dialogue panel opens with “Craft – Upgrade” at the top of the list, above his quest lines.

Oswald Anders the Blacksmith dialogue panel in Enshrouded with Craft - Upgrade at the top of the list — Oswald Anders’ dialogue panel with “Craft – Upgrade” at the top.

Choose “Craft – Upgrade”. This opens Oswald’s crafting menu, which has four tabs: BLACKSMITH, ITEM UPGRADES, MANUAL CRAFTING and BACKPACK.

Oswald's crafting menu open on the Blacksmith tab, with the Item Upgrades tab next to it — Oswald’s crafting menu opens on the Blacksmith tab, one tab away from Item Upgrades.

Switch to the ITEM UPGRADES tab using Q and E. The first time you open it, a message explains that “All upgradable items from your backpack and action bar are listed here.” The list is split into Equipped, Backpack and Action Bar groups.

Item Upgrades tab showing its first-open tutorial message about backpack and action bar items — The Item Upgrades tab shows a one-time tutorial explaining where upgradable items are listed.

Pick the weapon you plan to improve. Its level and rarity appear alongside the enhancements at each level. A “NEXT: LEVEL 2” panel lists the changed damage, the additional enhancement and the Rune cost. The Rusty Short Sword’s damage rises from 11 to 14.3.

Rusty Short Sword selected in Item Upgrades, with its locked Level 2 upgrade costing 46 Runes — The Rusty Short Sword’s Level 2 upgrade, with its damage gain and 46-Rune cost.

Press the “Unlock” button at the bottom of the panel to buy that level with your Runes.

Which craftsperson upgrades which gear

The Item Upgrades tab only lists items that the craftsperson you’re talking to can upgrade. Oswald Anders handles Warrior equipment, One-Handed Axes, Clubs and Swords, Two-Handed Axes, Clubs, Hammers and Greatswords, plus Tools and Construction Tools. The Hunter upgrades Ranger equipment, bows, daggers and ammunition, while the Alchemist upgrades Mage equipment, staffs, wands and ammunition. If you’re unsure where an item goes, check its card, which names its craftsperson on the “Upgrade at:” line.

Upgradeable Categories screen in the Enshrouded Blacksmith Item Upgrades tab listing Warrior equipment, melee weapon types, Tools and Construction Tools — The Blacksmith’s Upgradeable Categories: Warrior equipment, seven melee weapon types, Tools and Construction Tools.

Once you have rescued the Hunter, Athalan Skree and placed the Hunter at your base, walk up and press E (“Talk & Craft”), pick “Craft · Upgrade” and open the ITEM UPGRADES tab. Its “Upgradeable Categories” list shows Equipment (Ranger), Weapons (Bow, Daggers) and Ammunition.

Enshrouded Hunter Item Upgrades tab listing Ranger equipment, bows, daggers and ammunition as upgradeable categories — The Hunter’s “ITEM UPGRADES” tab lists Ranger equipment, bows, daggers and ammunition.

Weapon upgrade costs in Runes

How many levels a weapon has depends on the item. The Common Rusty Sword tops out at 1/2, while the Uncommon Rusty Short Sword goes to 1/3. Each level is a separate purchase.

Weapon	Upgrade	Cost	What you get
Rusty Short Sword (Uncommon)	Level 2	46 Runes	+2 damage, +1.3 Magic Shroud Damage
Rusty Short Sword (Uncommon)	Level 3	46 Runes	+1 damage, +12% Backstab Damage
Rusty Sword (Common)	Level 2	46 Runes	+2 damage, +1.3 Blunt Damage

Item Upgrades screen in Enshrouded 1.0 for the Rusty Short Sword Level 3 costing 46 Runes with Requires Previous Level — Level 3 of the Rusty Short Sword: 46 Runes, +12% Backstab Damage, and “Requires Previous Level” until Level 2 is unlocked.

Fully upgraded, the Rusty Short Sword reaches 15.4 damage. The Rusty Sword’s single upgrade takes it from 11 to 14.3. The Magic Shroud Damage bonus on the Rusty Short Sword is listed as “10% of base damage”.

Rusty Sword selected in Item Upgrades, showing its locked Level 2 upgrade for 46 Runes — The Rusty Sword’s only upgrade, Level 2, also costs 46 Runes.

Upgrade costs on higher-level and Legendary weapons

The Rune cost per level rises with the weapon’s level: the early Rusty swords cost 46 Runes a level, Fenrig’s Axe at Level 6/9 costs 89 Runes for each of Levels 7 and 8, and the Legendary Dragon Sword at Level 16/21 costs 200 Runes for Level 17. The last levels of a Legendary weapon add Legendary Runes on top, so Levels 20 and 21 on the Dragon Sword each cost 200 Runes and 25 Legendary Runes. Those two levels take the sword’s Damage from 34 to 52 with +1 Renewal, then to 53.3 with +5% Critical Strike Chance.

Weapon	Upgrade	Cost	What you get
Fenrig’s Axe (Rare, Level 6/9)	Level 7	89 Runes	+1 damage, +2 Cutting Damage
Fenrig’s Axe (Rare, Level 6/9)	Level 8	89 Runes	+2 damage, +4% Critical Strike Chance
Dragon Sword (Legendary, Level 16/21)	Level 17	200 Runes	+1 damage, +3.5 Cutting Damage
Dragon Sword (Legendary, Level 16/21)	Level 20	200 Runes + 25 Legendary Runes	+2 damage, +1 Renewal
Dragon Sword (Legendary, Level 16/21)	Level 21	200 Runes + 25 Legendary Runes	+1 damage, +5% Critical Strike Chance

Item Upgrades screen in Enshrouded for the Rare Fenrig's Axe Level 8 costing 89 Runes for plus 4 percent Critical Strike Chance — Fenrig’s Axe (Rare, Level 6/9): Level 8 costs 89 Runes and adds +4% Critical Strike Chance.

If you’re short on them, see our guide on how to get Legendary Runes.

Runes and Legendary Runes

Runes can enhance weapons, shields, armor and rings. If you’re short, the game’s rune text points to salvaging gear:

“Salvage weapons, shields, armors and rings to recover runes, allowing you to reuse them and customize your arsenal.”

To salvage items for Runes, open the BACKPACK tab (B), right-click a weapon and choose “Salvage (N)”; the number is how many Runes you get back. Our Rusty Sword showed “Salvage (9)”, taking us from 2 to 11 Runes.

Legendary gear requires Legendary Runes. At the Blacksmith (all Blacksmith recipes), 25 Runes can be exchanged for 1 Legendary Runes; this option is available only after your first pickup of Legendary Runes.

Legendary Runes do not come back. The item text is explicit: “Once used, legendary runes become an integral part of the imbued equipment and cannot be recovered.”

Runes raise a weapon one level at a time; crafting a unique again gives a higher item level as your Flame level rises, and the item level and base damage for each step are in the best weapons by Flame level.