How To Upgrade Items In Nightingale

Crude and Simple weapons and tools will only take you so far through the world of Nightingale. In fact, to gain access to more dangerous and rewarding areas of the Fae Realms, you'll need to upgrade your equipment. 

If you're in the early game, you're probably wondering exactly how to upgrade your tools and weapons to make them more effective. Fortunately, we can tell you exactly what you need to do. 

How To Upgrade Tools & Weapons In Nightingale

The key element to upgrading your tools and weapons in Nightingale is an Upgrade Bench. You can purchase the schematics for a Simple Upgrade Bench from an Essence Trader, which you'll need to seek out on your current Realm.

If you find yourself running low on Essence, remember you can break down certain materials and Extract the Essence from them. The type of Essence you Extract depends on the quality/tier of the material. 

How To Craft An Upgrade Bench In Nightingale

With the schematics in hand, it's time to build an Upgrade Bench. The Simple Upgrade Bench, which will see you through for the time being requires the following materials:

• x4 Lumber
• x2 Ingots
• x3 Twine

To craft Lumber, you'll need a Sawing Station. For Ingots, you'll need a Smelter, and for Twine you'll need a Spinning Wheel. Schematics for all three of these crafting stations can be bought from an Essence Trader for 55 Simple Essence each. 

How To Use The Upgrade Bench In Nightingale

Now that you've built the an Upgrade Bench, you can now use it to upgrade your equipment using Essence. The level of upgrade you can make depends on the tier of Essence you have available. To start, you'll be making upgrades using T1 Essence, the lowest tier. 

When you upgrade a piece of equipment, the Attributes that are upgraded depend on the Attributes it currently holds. For example, if a piece of equipment has Attributes that favor stealth, that's what will be upgraded at the Upgrade Bench. 

Select the item you wish to upgrade in the Ingredient Slot, then select the Essence. Your first upgrades will cost roughly 40 T1 Essence. We recommend starting with your tools, since they serve as weaponry. For example, upgrading the Simple Mining Pick can increase the melee damage up to 95.4, and Strength up to 18. 

Looking for more tips and guides for playing Nightingale? Check out our guide to defeating the Fabled Automaton Knight in the Antiquarian Site of Power. 

Nightingale is available to play on PC via Steam and The Epic Games Store. The game launched in early acess on February 20, 2024.