What is Gear Level in V Rising
Gear Level in V Rising is determined by the gear that your character has equipped. As you progress in the game you will acquire recipes for stronger gear. You need to progress your gear level in order to defeat higher level enemies. Your gear level compared to the unit level of an enemy affects the damage you deal and receive against that enemy. Gear level has no effect versus other players.
Your overall gear level in V Rising is determined by the combination of your armor, jewelry, and weapon. There are several different tiers of each. Within each tier of weapon and armor you find upgraded versions. You will be able to craft the base versions of each tier at the applicable crafting station.
In order to unlock the upgraded version you will need to utilize the Research Desk, Study, or Athenaeum. This can be done by obtaining the specific recipes from drops or by farming paper, scrolls, or schematics. The upgraded versions help bridge the gap to next V Blood Carriers to make it easier to unlock the next tier.
An example of total gear level would be having the following items equipped
- Dawnthorn Chestguard – 7
- Dawnthorn Leggins – 7
- Dawnthorn Gloves – 7
- Dawnthorn Boots – 7
- Corrupted Artifact – 21
- Dark Silver Spear – 21
Each of the Dawnthorn pieces give 7 gear score, the jewelry 21, and the currently equipped weapon 21. This would give you a total of 70 gear score.
Weapon Tier Structure Progression
In order to craft the various tiers of weapons you will need the proper crafting stations. It’s also recommended that you have the proper rooms set up for the crafting bonuses. For example, a forge room, tailor room, workshop room, and regulus room would reduce the cost of crafting your gear.
The progression for the structures you will need to progress your weapon tiers are as follows:
| Icon | Structure Name | Weapon Tiers | Obtained From |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Woodworking Bench | All Tiers of Crossbows | Rufus the Foreman |
 | Simple Workbench | Bone and Copper | A default recipe you will have when you start |
 | Smithy | Iron | Quincy the Bandit King |
 | Anvil | Dark Silver and Above | Cyril the Cursed Smith |
 | Ancestrial Forge | Ancestral Rare and Legendary | Octavian the Militia Captain |
As a general rule, you will defeat the lead V Blood carrier of a region in order to gain the structure and recipes needed to progress to the next tier.
Weapon Tier Progression in V Rising
When you place down a structure required to craft a weapon you will automatically be granted access to craft that tier of weapon. You will also be able to craft an upgraded version of the current weapon within each tier. For example, Bone weapons can become reinforced bone weapons. In order to obtain this upgrade you will need to search for recipes in the appropriate regions. If you do not get the specific recipe drops then you will need to utilize paper, scrolls, or schematics to unlock random recipes to eventually obtain the weapon upgrades.
The weapon tier progression is listed below. (This is not all the weapon types in V Rising, just the tier progression.)
| Icon | Weapon Tier | Obtained | Gear Level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Bone | Base – Simple Workbench | 3 |
 | Reinforced Bone | Upgrade – Simple Workbench – Researched at research table | 6 |
 | Copper | Base – Simple Workbench | 9 |
 | Merciless Copper | Upgrade – Simple Workbench – Researched at Research Table | 12 |
 | Iron | Base – Smithy | 15 |
 | Merciless Iron | Upgrade – Smithy – Researched at Study | 18 |
 | Rare Ancestral Tier | Upgrade – Ancestral Forge – Requires Rare Shard Can be purchased from the Vampire Merchant in Ruins of Mortium for Lesser Stygian Shards | 20 |
 | Dark Silver | Base – Anvil | 23 |
 | Sanguine | Upgrade – Anvil – Researched at Athenaeum | 26 |
 | Epic Ancestral Tier | Upgrade – Ancestral Forge – Requires Epic Shard Can be purchased from the Vampire Merchant in Ruins of Mortium for Greater Stygian Shards | 30 |
 | Legendary Ancestral | Upgrade – Ancestral Forge – Requires Legendary Shard Can drop from Major Rift Incursions and Level 80+ V Bloods | 30 |
All weapon types within each weapon tier are the same gear score. Different weapon types have different abilities and stats, but the gear score is as listed within each tier.
Merciless & Sanguine Weapons can be upgraded into Rare & Epic weapons respectively at the Ancestral Forge. The stats of the weapon are derived from the ancestral shard used in the crafting process. Shard stats are always randomly generated.
Armor Tier Structure Progression
In order to craft the various tiers of armor you will need the proper crafting stations. It’s also recommended that you have the proper rooms set up for the crafting bonuses. For example, a forge room, tailor room, workshop room, and regulus room would reduce the cost of crafting your gear.
The progression for the structures you will need to progress your armor tiers are as follows:
| Icon | Structure Name | Armor Tiers | Obtained From |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Workbench | Boneguard & Nightstalker | A default recipe you will have when you start |
 | Tailoring Bench | Hollowfang and Dawnthorn | Quincy the Bandit King |
As a general rule, just like your weapon progression, you will defeat the lead V Blood carrier of a region in order to gain the structure and recipes needed to progress to the next tier.
Armor Tier Progression in V Rising
The same rules apply for your armor tier progression as your weapon tier progression. When you place down a structure required to craft armor you will automatically be granted access to craft that tier of armor. You will also be able to craft an upgraded version of the current armor within each tier.
| Icon | Armor Tier | Obtained | Gear Level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Boneguard | Base – Character Crafting | 1 |
 | Plated Boneguard | Upgrade – Simple Workbench | 2 |
 | Nightstalker | Base – Simple Workbench | 3 |
 | Shadewalker / Marauder / Grim Ranger / Warlock | Upgrade from Nightsalker – Simple Workbench – Researched at research table | 4 |
 | Hollowfang | Base – Tailoring Bench | 5 |
 | Duskwatcher / Crimson Templar / Blood Hunter / Dark Magus | Upgrade from Hollowfang – Tailoring Bench – Researched at the Study | 6 |
 | Dawnthorn | Tailoring Bench | 7 |
 | Shadowmoon / Grim Knight / Dread Plate / Maleficer | Upgrade to Dawnthorn – Tailoring Bench – Researched at the Athenaeum | 8 |
| Dracula’s Shadow / Dracula’s Grim / Dracula’s Dread / Dracula’s Maleficer | Upgraded from the previous upgrade | 9 |
All armor pieces within each armor tier are the same gear level in V Rising. The upgraded versions of armor give bonuses for having 2 and 4 pieces equipped. Upgraded variations also give different bonuses depending on the upgrade. For example, there are 4 different options to upgrade into from Nightstalker. The Shadewalker set adds physical crit strike chance, Marauder adds weapon attack speed, Grim Ranger adds physical power, and Warlock adds spell power.
Therefore, the upgraded versions are going to be dependent upon what build you’re running.
Jewelry Tier Structure Progression
In order to craft the various tiers of jewelry you will need the proper crafting stations. It’s also recommended that you have the proper rooms set up for the crafting bonuses. For example, a forge room, tailor room, workshop room, and regulus room would reduce the cost of crafting your gear.
The progression for the structures you will need to progress your jewelry tiers are as follows:
| Icon | Structure Name | Obtained From |
|---|---|---|
| Simple Workbench | A default recipe you will have when you start |
 | Artisan Table | Leandra the Shadow Priestess |
You can craft all rings at the Simple Workbench. Once you progress into pendants you will need to utilize the Artisan Table.
Jewelry Tier Progression in V Rising
The same upgrade rules apply to jewelry as they do to your armor and weapons. Each upgrade option will increase the spell power of the base piece by the same amount. However, the different upgrades will offer different bonuses. You can see all of those bonuses on the below chart. You can unlock the upgrades at the respective research table.
You can craft every piece of jewelry at the Artisan Table once it’s obtained.
| Icon | Name | Obtained | Stats | Gear Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Bone Ring | Base – Character Crafting | +5.3 Spell Power | 3 |
 | Blood Bone Ring | Upgrade – Simple Workbench | +7.0 Spell Power | 6 |
 | Gravedigger Ring | Base – Simple Workbench | +9.3 Spell Power | 9 |
 | Ring of the Dawnrunner | Upgrade from Gravedigger Ring – Simple Workbench | +12.2 Spell Power +4 Movement Speed | 12 |
 | Ring of the Duskwatcher | Upgrade from Gravedigger Ring – Simple Workbench | +12.2 Spell Power +5 Weapon Attack Speed | 12 |
 | Ring of the Warlock | Upgrade from Gravedigger Ring – Simple Workbench | +12.2 Spell Power +6 Spell Critical Strike Chance | 12 |
 | Ring of the Spellweaver | Upgrade from Gravedigger Ring – Simple Workbench | +12.2 Spell Power +5 Spell Cooldown Recovery Rate | 12 |
 | Scourgestone Pendant | Leandra the Shadow Priestess – Artisan Table | +15.6 Spell Power | 15 |
 | Pendant of the Knight | Upgrade from Scourgestone Pendant – Artisan Table | +19.7 Spell Power +4% Weapon Skill Life Leech | 18 |
 | Pendant of the Warlock | Upgrade from Scourgestone Pendant – Artisan Table | +19.7 Spell Power +12% Spell Critical Strike Chance | 18 |
 | Pendant of the Sorcerer | Upgrade from Scourgestone Pendant – Artisan Table | +19.7 Spell Power +4% Spell Life Leech | 18 |
 | Pendant of the Dawnrunner | Upgrade from Scourgestone Pendant – Artisan Table | +19.7 Spell Power +6% Movement Speed | 18 |
 | Pendant of the Spellweaver | Upgrade from Scourgestone Pendant – Artisan Table | +19.7 Spell Power +8% Spell Cooldown Recovery Rate | 18 |
 | Pendant of the Duskwatcher | Upgrade from Scourgestone Pendant – Artisan Table | +19.7 Spell Power +8% Weapon Attack Speed | 18 |
 | Blood Merlot Amulet | Baron du Bouchon the Sommelier – Artisan Table | +26.2 Spell Power; +15 % Reduced Blood Drain Rate | 22 |
 | Amulet of the Crimson Commander | Upgrade from Blood Merlot Amulet | +31.9 Spell Power; +15 % Reduced Blood Drain Rate; +6% Weapon Skill Life Leech | 25 |
 | Amulet of the Arch-Warlock | Upgrade from Blood Merlot Amulet | +31.9 Spell Power; +15 % Reduced Blood Drain Rate; +16% Spell Critical Strike Chance | 25 |
 | Amulet of the Wicked Prophet | Upgrade from Blood Merlot Amulet | +31.9 Spell Power; +15 % Reduced Blood Drain Rate; +6% Spell Life Leech | 25 |
 | Amulet of the Unyielding Charger | Upgrade from Blood Merlot Amulet | +31.9 Spell Power; +15 % Reduced Blood Drain Rate; +8% Movement Speed | 25 |
 | Amulet of the Master Spellweaver | Upgrade from Blood Merlot Amulet | +31.9 Spell Power; +15 % Reduced Blood Drain Rate; +10% Spell Cooldown Recovery Rate | 25 |
 | Amulet of the Blademaster | Upgrade from Blood Merlot Amulet | +31.9 Spell Power; +15 % Reduced Blood Drain Rate; +12% Weapon Attack Speed | 25 |
 | Blood Key | Lord Styx the Night Champion – Needed to enter Dracula’s Castle | +31.9 Spell Power; +25 % Reduced Blood Drain Rate; +75 Sun Resistance Rating | 25 |
That’s how you progress your gear level in V Rising! For more V Rising guides check out our complete V Rising Guide Library!