If you’ve started getting deeper into Deskrawl: Idle ARPG, you’ve probably noticed that gear becomes a lot more complicated once you move past the basic drops. Suddenly you’re looking at rarities, affixes, Ancient items, Black Mist gear, upgrade chances, sockets, runes, and even trading. At first, it can feel like there’s a lot to keep track of.
So in this guide, I’m going to break down the whole gear system in a simple way. We’ll go through what each rarity actually gives you, how Ancient and Black Mist items work, whether upgrading your gear is worth the risk, and what you need to know before putting something up for trade.
The main thing I’d recommend is don’t rush to upgrade or modify every good item you find. Some actions permanently make an item untradable, so knowing how the system works first can save you from accidentally ruining a valuable piece of gear.
Deskrawl Idle ARPG Gear Guide – Upgrades, Trading, Rarity
The rarity of an item determines how many affixes it can have and how strong its overall bonuses can be.
As your item level increases, the values on its affixes can also become stronger. So a higher-level item isn’t simply useful because of its required level — it can also have better stat rolls.
Here’s how the current rarity system works:
| Rarity | Primary Affixes | Secondary Affixes | Rarity Bonus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common | 1 | 0 | +20% |
| Uncommon | 2 | 0 | +40% |
| Rare | 3 | 1 | +50% |
| Legendary | 4 | 1 | +60% |
| Divine | 4 | 1 | — |
You can think of affixes as the extra stats attached to your gear. Better rarities generally give you more opportunities to stack useful bonuses.
For example, a Common item is going to be fairly straightforward, while a Legendary can have several different bonuses that make it much more interesting for a particular build.
How Item Level and Required Level Work
The required level for most equipment is based on the item’s level.
The general rule is:
Required Level = Item Level ÷ 10, rounded down
The requirement is capped between levels 1 and 70.
There are a couple of important exceptions. Divine and Black Mist gear always requires level 70, while back items always have a level 1 requirement.
So don’t be surprised if you find a powerful endgame item that still can’t be equipped until you’re level 70.
Ancient Legendary Items in Deskrawl
Finding a Legendary is already exciting, but there’s a chance that Legendary can be something even better.
A Legendary item has a 10% chance to drop as Ancient.
The big advantage of an Ancient item is its affixes. Instead of getting random values somewhere within the normal range, Ancient gear always rolls its affixes at the top of the possible range.
That makes Ancient items particularly valuable when you’re trying to squeeze as much power as possible out of your build.
So if you see an Ancient Legendary drop, I’d definitely think twice before doing anything permanent to it.
Black Mist Legendary Gear Explained
Black Mist gear is where the system gets much more interesting.
These are powerful customizable Legendary items with some of the highest attribute values available.
You’ll know you’ve found one because its attributes are hidden behind the Black Mist.
A Black Mist item has 7 hidden attributes. You need to clear the mist from each attribute to reveal what is underneath.
Once an attribute is revealed, you’re given two choices, and you can choose the one you want to apply to your equipment.
This gives you a lot more control over how the final item turns out.
Instead of simply accepting whatever stats the game gives you, you can actually shape the item around your build.
Be Careful When Revealing Black Mist
There is one very important catch.
Revealing a Black Mist item makes it permanently untradable.
So if you care about trading or potentially selling the item later, don’t reveal the attributes without thinking about it first.
Personally, this is one of those systems where I’d rather understand exactly what I want from the item before making the commitment.
Deskrawl Blacksmith Upgrade System
Once you’ve found gear you actually want to keep, you can take it to the Blacksmith and start upgrading it.
Equipment can currently be upgraded all the way to +10.
The early upgrades are completely safe, but things get much riskier after +4.
Here are the upgrade chances:
| Upgrade | Success Chance |
|---|---|
| +1 | 100% |
| +2 | 100% |
| +3 | 100% |
| +4 | 100% |
| +5 | 75% |
| +6 | 50% |
| +7 | 40% |
| +8 | 30% |
| +9 | 20% |
| +10 | 10% |
So getting an item to +4 is guaranteed, while pushing it beyond that becomes a gamble.
At +5 you’re already down to a 75% success chance, and by the time you’re attempting +10, you’re looking at only a 10% chance of success per attempt.
What Does Blacksmith Upgrading Cost?
Every upgrade attempt requires materials.
You’ll need ore based on the item’s rarity, along with the boss material associated with that equipment slot.
That means you can’t just throw unlimited attempts at an item without thinking about your material supply.
If you’re saving materials for another important piece of gear, it can be worth deciding beforehand how far you actually want to upgrade something.
Upgrading Gear Makes It Untradable
This is another thing I’d keep in mind before pressing that upgrade button.
Upgrading an item makes it permanently untradable.
So if you’re holding onto a rare item because you might sell or trade it later, upgrading it changes that.
In other words, don’t automatically upgrade every valuable-looking item just because you have enough materials.
Gems and Sockets in Deskrawl
Sockets give you another way to improve your equipment.
Items that require level 30 or higher can have sockets in the following equipment slots:
- Weapon
- Helm
- Chest Armor
- Pants
- Ring
- Necklace
Once you have a suitable socketed item, you can use gems to add additional bonuses.
One thing that’s easy to overlook is that a gem’s bonus depends on where the gem is placed.
So it’s not simply a case of finding the strongest gem and putting it anywhere. The equipment slot matters too.
If you’re optimizing your build, it’s worth paying attention to what each socket position does before committing your best gems.
Deskrawl Runes Explained
Runes work alongside the rest of the gear system and become available later in progression.
Rune slots start opening from level 40, and you can have a maximum of six rune slots.
This means runes are something you’ll generally be worrying about more once you’re getting into the higher-level part of the game rather than something you need to obsess over immediately.
Also remember that equipped runes have an important interaction with trading, which we’ll get to below.
Deskrawl Trading and Auction House Guide
Trading in Deskrawl is a little more restricted than you might expect.
First, only online characters can trade.
The Auction House also doesn’t allow you to throw every random item you’ve collected onto the market.
Only items marked Tradable in their tooltip can be traded.
At the moment, the main tradable items include:
- Black Mist equipment
- Divine equipment
- Set Runes
- Legendary Reins
Some of these items are only available as drops on higher difficulties, so finding something tradable can be a pretty big deal.
How the Deskrawl Auction House Works
The Auction House essentially acts as the middleman for trading your valuable items.
When you list an item, it leaves the game and is placed into your Steam Inventory.
From there, you can trade or sell it.
You can upload up to 8 items at a time. Simply place a tradable item into the appropriate slot and select Upload.
If another player trades an item to you, it will appear under Received Items.
After withdrawing or claiming an item, it will be sent to your mailbox following a short cooldown.
It’s a fairly simple system once you understand where your items actually go.
Which Deskrawl Items Cannot Be Traded?
This is probably the part I’d pay the most attention to before modifying valuable gear.
Some actions permanently remove an item’s tradability.
The following items cannot be traded:
- Upgraded items
- Socketed items
- Runes that have been equipped
So, for example, if you find a valuable tradable piece and immediately upgrade it, you shouldn’t expect to put it on the Auction House afterward.
The same applies if you modify it by adding sockets.
Think Before You Modify Valuable Gear
This creates an interesting choice in Deskrawl.
You might find an extremely valuable item and immediately want to make it stronger. But if there’s a chance you’d rather trade it later, modifying it can remove that option permanently.
I’d personally treat highly valuable tradable gear as something you should inspect and make a decision about first.
If it’s something you’re keeping for your own build, upgrading and socketing can make sense.
If you’re not sure yet, leaving it untouched keeps your options open.
Deskrawl Gear Progression Tips
If you’re still learning the game, you don’t need to worry about every part of this system at once.
I’d approach it in stages.
Early on, focus on getting usable gear and improving your character. Once you start finding higher-rarity equipment, begin paying more attention to affixes and item level.
When you eventually find a Legendary, Ancient, Black Mist, or Divine item, that’s when I’d slow down before making permanent changes.
The important rule is simple:
If an item is valuable and currently tradable, check what you’re about to do before upgrading, socketing, or revealing it.
Those actions can permanently remove its ability to be traded.
As you get deeper into Deskrawl, combining good affixes with upgrades, gems, and runes becomes a much bigger part of building a strong character. Once you understand what each system does, the gear system becomes much less confusing and a lot more enjoyable to experiment with.