Lost Ark’s progression economy shifted sharply in 2025 and 2026. Honing no longer covers the full climb from level 50 to the top of Tier 4; instead, the game hands out gear sets through early continents and reserves honing for a narrower band of high-tier Ancient and Tier 4 gear. Understanding where honing starts, what each material is for, and where gold enters and leaves the system is now the difference between a coherent weekly plan and a confusing inventory pile.
What changed
Two official updates redefined the economy. The April 2025 community update reduced costs for Advanced Honing and Tempering: Advanced Honing levels 1-20 saw required shards, silver, and gold drop by 20%, while the honing materials consumed by those attempts were cut by 50%. Tempering stages 1 and 2 also required 20% fewer shards and silver, and the gold cost of restoration and purification for Transcendence dropped.
The larger change arrived with the February 2026 Guardians’ Rage update. Smilegate and Amazon Games removed honing entirely for gear at or below Tier 3 lower-tier Ancient (Brelshaza) gear. New and returning players now receive continent-completion gear sets that meet the item level needed for the next zone, from North Vern through Voldis. Honing begins at Tier 3 upper-tier Ancient (Akkan) gear at stage 0, which corresponds to item level 1525. Tier 2 and lower-tier Tier 3 honing materials were retired; remaining stocks convert into higher-tier materials through exchange NPCs or dismantling.
Tier 4 itself arrived earlier, in the October 2024 Arkesia Ignited update, and added another material layer. At launch, players transferred Tier 3 gear into Tier 4 Relic gear earned from Kenuart Fortress and then continued honing and Advanced Honing using Tier 4 materials; Kenuart Fortress was removed in the February 2026 update, and the Tier 4 Relic gear set now comes from completing the North Kurzan main quest (the chest can be opened once you reach item level 1620). The February 2026 update also cut Tier 4 gear honing costs for stages 1-18 by 20% in gold, added Stronghold research support for Tier 4 honing, and reduced Karma rank and level-up costs.
The April 2025 changes were only the first round: the December 2025 Winter’s Wrath update deepened the same cuts again, and the April 2026 Shadows Rise update then added another Tier 4 rung above Aegir gear — Destined Tremor gear, crafted with Agony Thorn from the Serca Shadow Raid — along with Tier 4 Upper honing materials farmed from new item level 1730 content such as Chaos Rift and Haal’s Hourglass.
How it works
The current honing path has three major breakpoints. First, Akkan gear at item level 1525 is where ordinary honing begins. Second, Advanced Honing unlocks at item level 1620 after clearing Gate 1 of the Echidna raid. Third, the second half of Advanced Honing (levels 21-40) unlocks at item level 1680 after clearing Gate 1 of the Mordum raid.
Tier 4 gear uses a separate material set. The core honing materials are Destiny Leapstone, Destiny Destruction Stone, Destiny Guardian Stone, Destiny Shards, and Abidos Fusion Material. Advanced Honing and Tempering use additional raid-derived materials: Agris’s Scale and Alcaone’s Eye from Echidna, Thundercrack Horn and Thunder Globe from Mordum. Rate-boosting support items include Lava’s Breath for weapons and Glacier’s Breath for armor. Players can convert older Tier 3 honing materials into Tier 4 equivalents at material exchange NPCs, with the exception of Destiny Shards.
Each honing attempt displays a base success chance before optional materials are added. Support items push that chance higher, and every failed attempt adds Artisan’s Energy toward a guaranteed success. The exact numbers vary by gear piece and stage, so the safest budget is the one you calculate from the in-game panel rather than from a static table. The April 2025 changes made Advanced Honing 1-20 noticeably cheaper — and later updates cut those costs again — but the 21-40 stretch introduced with Mordum remains one of the most expensive sequences in the game.
Materials also carry a trade status. Some stones, leapstones, and shards are character-bound and come from daily content such as Chaos Dungeons, Guardian Raids, and Kurzan Front. Others are tradeable and enter the economy through high-level raids, Fate Embers, and event shops. When a patch injects extra materials through an event, tradeable prices usually fall; when a new tier or gate opens, demand rises. The official team has repeatedly stated that it monitors bot activity, material production, and gold inflation, and adjusts event rewards or ban waves to keep the market functional.
Gold functions as both a bottleneck and a sink. The game injects gold through endgame raids, weekly Abyssal Dungeons, Chaos Gates, and event rewards. It removes gold through honing fees, accessory refining, gear-quality upgrades, auction-house purchases, and Stronghold crafting. Because many of the highest gold payouts come from weekly raid chests with a limited number of gold-earning character slots, the practical income ceiling is not infinite; it is tied to how many gates a player clears across eligible characters each week.
Build path
For a new or returning player, the current route is: finish the continent storylines. The game now grants gear sets after completing world or main quests from North Vern to Voldis, as well as through Knowledge Transfer, so the pre-1525 climb is mostly about quest completion rather than repeated honing attempts. Once you reach Akkan gear at item level 1525, honing becomes relevant and you begin spending Honor Leapstones, Honor Shards, and gold.
At item level 1600 you can start the North Kurzan storyline. Completing it awards a Tier 4 Relic gear set chest, which can be opened once you reach item level 1620. Transfer your Tier 3 gear into Tier 4, then start using Destiny materials. At 1640 you unlock the Kurzan Front daily, the Argeos Guardian Raid, Tier 4 Ebony Cube, Hyper Awakenings, and Tier 4 gems. At 1660 the second Kurzan Front operation and the Aegir Kazeros Raid Act 1 become available.
For alternate characters, permanent honing support now extends through Akkan gear: base success rates are doubled and material, silver, and gold costs are sharply reduced up to honing level 19. Event Powerpasses, Ignite Servers, and Challenge Express events remain the primary catch-up mechanisms, handing out gear and honing support that would otherwise take weeks to farm. Roster-wide resources such as guild bloodstones and event coins are best spent on the character that will push the next item level gate first.
Silver deserves its own line in the budget. While gold gets the attention, silver is consumed in enormous volumes for honing attempts, transcendence, and Stronghold research. The same daily activities that feed honing materials also feed silver, so skipping a day of Chaos Dungeons or Kurzan Front hurts both currencies at once. Players short on silver should prioritize Lopang Island Una’s Tasks and the silver chests available from event shops before spending gold on material conversion.
Daily and weekly sources should be layered by reward type. Kurzan Front and Chaos Dungeons provide shards, silver, and stones. Guardian Raids drop accessories, ability stones, gems, and Guardian’s Will materials. Abyssal Dungeons and raids provide leapstones, gold, and crafting materials. Events and the Milestone Mission system add extra honing books, Pheons, and card XP on top.
When the Auction House is involved, patience usually beats panic. Prices spike immediately after a new patch and drop during material events. If you are not rushing the first week of a new raid tier, waiting for an event shop or weekly reset often saves both gold and real time.
What it means
Lost Ark’s economy is now intentionally front-loaded with automatic gear and back-loaded with honing pressure. The old image of grinding every honing stage from Tier 1 onward is gone; the pain points now sit at 1525, 1620, 1640, and 1660, where new systems and new materials unlock in rapid succession.
Gold is still the scarcest common resource. Even with the 2025 cost reductions, Advanced Honing, accessory refining, and quality upgrades can drain millions of silver and thousands of gold per attempt. The most efficient path is to push one main character through each gate before spreading resources across alts, and to treat events and express passes as mandatory catch-up rather than optional bonuses. If you are entering Tier 4 now, your first goal is simple: reach 1640, turn on Ark Passive, unlock Hyper Awakening, and only then worry about optimizing gems, accessories, and card sets.