In Age of Empires Mobile, there is a wide variety of gear that you can acquire, level up, upgrade, and equip on your heroes. With so many tasks involved in managing gear, many players feel overwhelmed. That is why we created this guide to help you understand how gear works in Age of Empires Mobile.
How to Craft Gear
To craft gear in Age of Empires Mobile, you must construct a building known as a Smithy. Reaching Town Center level 15 unlocks the Smithy. Once you build a Smithy, you can start crafting gear. To craft gear, you will need a gear blueprint and Iron Meteorite, which can be obtained in various ways. The first way is the Island Tactics shop, which contains various blueprints you can purchase using Tactic Coins. The second source is the VIP shop, although it’s generally not worth it. Only purchase from the VIP shop if you have extra Empire Coins. There are also various events that reward you with blueprints and Iron Meteorite.
Purchasing Iron Meteorite directly is not recommended. This is because you can gather Iron Meteorite on the map. There is no point in wasting resources on Iron Meteorite, as better items are available to purchase.
Once you get your blueprint and Iron Meteorite, you can start crafting. Each piece of gear has a crafting time depending on its rarity. It is important to know that you can reduce crafting time by upgrading the Smithy. That is why we highly recommend that you avoid crafting legendary gear or using crafting speed-ups until your Smithy is upgraded to at least level 25.
Using Gear
When you go to the Gear list, you will notice that each piece of gear has a unit type, which implies that most gear stats and bonuses target a specific unit type. Now that you know your gear’s unit type, it’s crucial to equip it on heroes specifically designed for that unit type and incorporate it into your team lineup. If you do not do this, it will be as if you do not have gear because the majority of bonuses are focused on unit type.
So if you see a cavalry icon on gear, go to your heroes, see which heroes have a cavalry icon, and equip it on them. The same applies to other unit types.
Leveling and Upgrading Gear
You can level and upgrade each piece of gear. For leveling, you need Targeted Forge, which is available even for free-to-play players. You can obtain Targeted Forge by dismantling gear, through the Store, and by participating in Island Tactics. Each time you level up a piece of gear, primary stats increase, and gem slots unlock at levels 10, 30, and 60.
For upgrading gear, you need a duplicate of the gear and Magma Crystals. Each piece of gear has stars indicating upgrade levels, with each star divided into 5 parts. To unlock a star, use a copy of the same gear; then, you need Magma Crystals to further upgrade that star. When the star is fully upgraded, you repeat the process, but the cost will increase each time.
The amount of gear copies and Magma Crystals required to reach the max upgrade is considerable. It’s extremely difficult, if not nearly impossible, for free-to-play players, especially considering you have four lineups with three heroes each, and each hero can equip four pieces of legendary gear.
How to Get Materials for Leveling and Upgrading
- VIP Store: In the VIP store, you can grab a few blueprints, but they cost Empire Tokens. It’s usually better to spend those Empire Tokens on upgrading your hero, but if you have extra tokens, you may want to purchase blueprints, especially legendary ones. The same applies to Targeted Forging items.
- Events: Many events reward you with blueprints and materials for upgrading and leveling. We recommend completing all events, especially if you are a free-to-play player.
- Island Tactics: This is the best source for obtaining materials for upgrading and leveling. To purchase them, you will need Island Coins, which are generated based on your progression in Island Tactics. Buy every item related to gear—it’s 100% worth it.
- Bundles: Bundles are available for purchase with real money, but upgrading a single piece of gear to the maximum level requires a substantial amount of money. Decide whether it’s worth it for you.
Resetting Gear
In Age of Empires Mobile, you can reset gear, which many players are unaware of. With the reset feature, you get back all materials you invested in gear, allowing you to upgrade any piece of gear without worry.
To reset gear, go to your vault, and in the top left corner of the screen, you’ll see the Refresh icon. Click on it and confirm resetting.
Enchanting Gems
When you level up gear to levels 10, 30, and 60, you unlock the ability to enhance gems on that gear. These gems offer additional buffs that boost your heroes. Which gems you choose will depend on the hero, but generally, select gems that increase damage, enhance hero stats, or boost unit capacity.
Currently, there are limited ways to obtain gems aside from a few events. We hope developers will add more ways to acquire gems for free-to-play players.
Gear Leveling and Upgrading Cost
This is the cost of getting gear for max upgrades and levels from the start.
Legendary:
Blueprints: 20
Forge Tools: 18900
Magma Crystals: 612
Epic:
Blueprints: 10
Forge Tools: 18900
Magma Crystals: 288
Rare:
Legendary Blueprints: 4
Forge Tools: 8190
Magma Crystals: 132
