Refinement & Upgrades
Refinement Points, enchantments, wards, motes, artifacts, companions, mounts, insignias and collars all improve your character in different ways. This guide explains what each upgrade system does, what materials it uses and where your resources are best spent.
Current Live Systems • Reviewed September 2026Upgrade the Right Item — Not Just Any Item
Refinement materials can represent a large amount of time, Astral Diamonds or event currency. Before spending them, make sure the item, enchantment, companion, mount or insignia actually belongs in the build you intend to use.
Higher quality does not automatically mean a better build. The power, bonus, stats and purpose of the item still matter.
Refinement Points: The Basics
Refinement Points — usually shortened to RP — are an upgrade resource used by refinement-based items such as enchantments and artifacts. Refining stones and many gems can be converted into RP and stored for later use.
Refinement Points
Fill the refinement requirement on an item before its next quality upgrade can be attempted.
Reagents
Upgrade steps may also require materials such as Glyphs of Potency, Enchanting Stones or other item-specific reagents.
Gold
Some upgrades also have a Gold cost. Check the complete refinement window before committing your materials.
Common Upgrade Materials
Enchantments
Enchantments are a major long-term character progression system. Upgrade the enchantments that support your actual build rather than choosing one only because it adds Item Level.
Old Neverwinter guides may refer to Bonding Runestones, companion Runestones or the former enchantment system. Those guides describe legacy systems and should not be used for current character progression.
Current Enchantment Quality Progression
Current Standard Upgrade Costs
| Upgrade | Refinement Points | Glyphs of Potency | Gold |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uncommon → Rare | 20,000 RP | 1 | 2 Gold |
| Rare → Epic | 60,000 RP | 2 | 4 Gold |
| Epic → Legendary | 150,000 RP | 3 | 8 Gold |
| Legendary → Mythic | 300,000 RP | 4 | 15 Gold |
| Mythic → Celestial | 400,000 RP | 6 | 20 Gold |
Mythic → Celestial Enchantments
Celestial is the current top enchantment quality. There is an additional restriction on this upgrade: the Mythic enchantment being taken to Celestial must come from the Rewards Claim Agent's account-reclaim system.
If an enchantment is still tradeable and you may want to sell it, think before converting it into an account unlock. Account progression and Auction House flexibility are different goals.
Strike & Guard Combat Enchantments
With the live Monoliths of Madness update, Neverwinter changed the Enhancement layout so characters can equip two Combat Enchantments:
Strike
The offensive side of the current Combat Enchantment system.
Guard
The defensive side of the current Combat Enchantment system.
Preservation Wards & Motes
Preservation Ward
Protects selected reagents if the upgrade fails. The ward is consumed when it protects a reagent from a failed attempt.
Other Motes
Primitive, Standard, Improved and Enhanced Motes increase the success chance by different amounts.
Coalescent Mote
Gives the upgrade attempt a 100% success chance.
Preservation or Coalescent?
There is no single answer for every upgrade. The better choice depends on the base success chance and the current value of the materials that would be lost on failure.
Preservation Wards Make Sense When...
The success chance is reasonable and protecting the expensive reagents is cheaper than guaranteeing the upgrade outright.
Coalescent Motes Make Sense When...
The success chance is very low, failure protection would become expensive, or you simply want a guaranteed result for a major upgrade.
Auction House prices change. Sometimes buying the finished upgraded item is cheaper than purchasing all of the materials needed to upgrade it yourself.
Where to Get Upgrade Materials
Invocation
Invocation supplies Celestial currency that can be used for coffers containing useful refinement materials and chances at wards or motes.
Sybella Legacy Quests
Legacy Campaign quests remain a useful recurring source for progression materials, including Glyph-related purchases.
See Weekly Rotations ›Queued Content
Dungeon and Trial end chests can supply progression materials, including motes and collar-related resources.
Events
Appointment events, seasonal events, battle passes and other live events frequently offer upgrade tokens, insignias or refinement materials.
Trade Bar Store
Tarmalune Trade Bars can be useful for Mount and Companion Upgrade Tokens and other progression resources.
Auction House
Always compare the price of raw upgrade materials with the price of the finished item before committing to a long upgrade path.
Artifact Refinement
Artifacts use Refinement Points and upgrade reagents to increase their quality. Current artifacts progress through their ranks until reaching Mythic.
Increasing an artifact's quality improves its statistics and generally strengthens the artifact's active effect.
First decide whether you need the artifact as your active artifact, as part of a set, for its statistics or for coordinated group utility. Refining unused artifacts can consume a large amount of RP and upgrade materials.
Active Artifact
Your active artifact's power matters. For group content, coordinated debuffs and buffs may be more valuable than choosing purely by Item Level.
Secondary Artifacts
Secondary artifacts are often selected for stats or set bonuses. Make sure the final item belongs in your build before investing heavily in it.
Companion & Mount Quality Upgrades
Companions and mounts use their own quality progression systems instead of normal RP refinement. These systems also contribute to long-term character progression and bolster.
Companions
Companion Upgrade Tokens are used to improve companion quality. Quality affects companion powers and contributes to Companion Bolster.
Current companions can progress through Celestial quality.
Upgrade the companions whose summoned abilities or Player Bonuses you actually use before spending tokens on random companions solely for Item Level.
Mounts
Mount Upgrade Tokens increase mount quality. Higher quality improves the mount's contribution to progression and the strength of its associated mount powers.
As of the live 2026 Tempus Arena update, Mounts can be upgraded to Celestial quality.
Prioritize mounts with Combat or Equip Powers that are useful for your build and group.
Bolster matters, but the best upgrade is one that improves bolster while also giving you a useful Companion Bonus, summoned companion, Mount Combat Power, Mount Equip Power or stable option.
Insignias & Insignia Powder
Insignias installed in your stable provide statistics and help form mount Insignia Bonuses. Unwanted insignias can be converted into Insignia Powder, which is used to improve other insignias.
2026 Progression Update
Celestial Insignias are now live. Tempus Arena added Celestial as the quality above Mythic and reduced Insignia Powder costs across the progression system.
| Current Feature | How It Works |
|---|---|
| Mythic → Celestial | Requires 2,500 Insignia Powder as part of the current Celestial upgrade. |
| Celestial Dust Value | A Celestial insignia converted to powder provides 1,500 Insignia Powder. |
| Account Reclaim | Eligible Celestial insignias can be converted into account-reclaimable versions through the Rewards Claim Agent. |
| Celestial Essence | Converting a Celestial insignia into its account-reclaimable version requires 3 Celestial Essence. |
Monoliths of Madness added a Coffer of Celestial Insignias to the Vault of Piety. It can provide a steady source of Insignia Powder and an insignia through Celestial Coin progression.
Mount Collar Upgrades
Mount Collars use a separate upgrade path involving materials such as Insignia Powder, Glyphs of Potency and Shards of Greater Empowerment.
Celestial mounts and Celestial insignias are live, but Mount Collars have not been upgraded to a Celestial tier. Mythic remains the current top collar quality.
Practical
Utility/economy-oriented collar category.
Sturdy
At-Will, Encounter or Daily power damage options.
Supportive
Includes Control Bonus, Stamina Gain and Outgoing Healing options.
Unified
Includes Control Resistance, Movement Speed and Incoming Healing options.
Wayfaring
Includes Critical Severity, Recharge Speed and AP Gain options.
High-rank collars can consume a large amount of Insignia Powder and other expensive materials. Make sure the collar category and effect belong in your finished build before investing heavily.
Restoration & Special Upgrade Systems
Not every upgrade in Neverwinter uses the normal enchantment or artifact refinement system. Older campaigns in particular may require specific currencies, trophies or restoration materials.
River District Weapons
Mirage, Lifeforged, Fey and Aboleth weapons have their own restoration requirements.
Forger's Box
Uses a progression of Metal Rods and Vallenhas resources rather than normal enchantment refinement.
Chain of Scales
Upgrades through specific Chult/Omu bosses, hunts, trophies and encounters.
What Should I Upgrade First?
There is no perfect universal order because Tanks, Healers and Damage Dealers need different statistics and powers. This order is intended to prevent the most common resource mistakes.
Decide What Your Build Needs
Check your role, statistics, powers and current build before upgrading anything expensive.
Choose the Correct Enchantments
Establish the enchantment types you intend to keep, then raise their quality. Do not take the wrong enchantment to Celestial just because you already own it.
Upgrade Useful Companions
Start with companions you summon or whose Player Bonuses are part of your build. This improves useful powers while also progressing Companion Bolster.
Upgrade Useful Mounts
Prioritize mounts carrying Combat Powers or Equip Powers that you expect to keep while working toward better Mount Bolster.
Improve Your Stable & Insignias
Build the insignia bonuses you need first, then invest powder into insignias that support those permanent stable setups.
Finish Artifacts You Actually Use
Refine active artifacts, set pieces and stat artifacts that belong in the finished build rather than upgrading an entire collection.
Treat High-Rank Collars as a Later Investment
Collars are useful, but their upper ranks can consume resources that may create a larger improvement elsewhere first.
Common Upgrade Mistakes
Chasing Item Level
Increasing Item Level while damaging your useful stat percentages or replacing an important power can make the character perform worse.
Upgrading Before Comparing Prices
Calculate the cost of RP, Glyphs, wards or motes before assuming crafting the next quality is cheaper than buying it.
Upgrading Temporary Gear
Do not pour scarce materials into an item you already expect to replace in the near future.
Dusting Needed Insignias
Check your stable bonuses and other characters before converting valuable insignias into powder.
Account Unlocking Too Soon
Account-wide convenience is excellent for multiple characters, but converting an item can eliminate the option of selling it later.
Following Old Guides
Neverwinter has replaced multiple progression systems. References to Bonding Runestones, old enchantment ranks or a single Combat Enchantment slot may be obsolete.
Before You Spend Upgrade Materials
Ask yourself: Is this the correct item? Is it part of my build? Is upgrading cheaper than buying it? Do I need a Preservation Ward or Coalescent Mote? Am I willing to bind/account-unlock it?
If you cannot answer those questions yet, keep the materials. They do not expire simply because they are sitting in your inventory.