Lost Ark: What Should You Do When Gear Honing Keeps Failing?

Running into a long streak of honing failures is something most players will hit. Failure itself does not downgrade gear; it only consumes materials and gold. The real problem comes after the streak, when many people keep tapping and use up all the materials they had planned in one go. Dealing with a losing streak comes down to two things: control the losses, raise the success rate for the next attempt. The four steps are laid out below.

Stop first and check whether this hone is worth it

During a losing streak, the first thing to do is stop and check whether this hone was the right target, instead of pouring in more materials.

• If this tier's success rate is already very low, it was not the right one to push right now.
• Look at what a successful hone gets you. If it only adds a little item level and unlocks no new dungeon, it can wait.
• Check how many materials are left. If the leapstones and gold cannot finish one full round, stop first.
• Also check which slot you are honing. The weapon gives the biggest damage gain, but overall item level is the average of all six pieces, so leaving the armor behind will still stall you at the entry threshold.

Most losing streaks can be stopped at this step. The problem is often that the target was wrong.

Work out the pity mechanic

A losing streak is not a pure loss. Every failure adds progress to Artisan Energy, and once it is full, the next attempt is guaranteed.

• A failed hone builds Artisan Energy on that piece, and the lower the success rate, the more energy each failure adds.
• Once Artisan Energy is full, the next hone succeeds no matter what, so a long streak is actually getting closer to the pity.
• After a streak, do not switch to another piece. Artisan Energy stays with the current piece, so switching means throwing away the progress you built up.
• Estimate how many attempts are left to hit pity, and use that number to decide whether to keep going or stop.

Treat pity as a cost you have already paid. The streak then becomes part of the process, not a loop where each tap only loses.

Raise the success rate

The success rate is not fixed. Additional success rate materials and stronghold research can both push it up.

• After a streak, add the additional success rate materials. They directly raise the success rate of the current attempt.
• Stronghold research has success rate boosts for lower-item-level gear. If you have not done it, go back and research it.
• Save the boost materials from events and the shop for the tiers that block your progress most. Do not use them where the success rate is already decent.
• Do your honing in bulk while a honing event is active. The event boost lets the same materials land a few more successes.

With the success rate raised, the same materials buy a few more effective attempts, which is a better deal than tapping raw.

Set a stop-loss line

The real risk of honing is being unable to stop after repeated failures. Before starting, set a daily limit on how many materials you are willing to spend, and stop once you reach that limit, even if the upgrade has not succeeded. Stop when your bound materials are used up, rather than spending your tradable materials as well. Reserve enough gold for daily and weekly activities, and use only the portion specifically allocated for honing. If the success rate falls below your acceptable threshold, pause and save the remaining materials for the next day. The purpose of a loss limit is to keep the cost of repeated failures within an acceptable range, ensuring that you still have materials available to continue the next day.

A honing losing streak costs materials and gold, not the gear itself. Stop and look at the target clearly, work out the pity, use the boost materials, and stop past the stop-loss line, and the streak will not hurt your progress going forward. Spend materials where they are worth spending, and a few failures in a row will not throw off your overall pace.