Sword x Staff Gear Reforge and Affix Locking Guide

To optimize equipment reforging in Sword x Staff without prematurely exhausting your materials, reforge transitional pieces with zero or at most one locked slot, and save multi-slot locking for permanent endgame gear. Locking desirable affixes prevents them from being rerolled, but each locked slot substantially multiplies the reforge stones consumed per attempt.

Affix Locking Costs and Multipliers

Rerolling equipment with no locked affixes consumes a low baseline cost of reforge stones. Freezing an affix slot to protect a valuable attribute triggers an escalating cost penalty on every subsequent roll.

Locked Affix Slots	Stone Cost Multiplier	Reforge Strategy
0 Slots Locked	Baseline (1x)	Rapid cycling to land the first high-tier or red modifier
1 Slot Locked	Moderate (~2x–3x)	Target window for securing a second build-relevant affix
2 Slots Locked	Steep (~5x+)	High material drain; lock only essential best-in-slot rolls
3+ Slots Locked	Extreme penalty	Reserve strictly for final endgame gear with deep stone reserves

Because the cost curve steepens dramatically at two or more locked slots, never lock an affix simply because it rolled an orange border. Off-spec or low-impact modifiers inflate the stone cost of finding the attributes your class actually requires.

Affix Tiers and Stat Scaling

Reforging pulls from offensive and defensive secondary modifiers across four rarity tiers: blue, purple, orange, and red.

Percentage Boosts vs. Flat Stats: Early progression benefits from flat numerical boosts, but late-game scaling heavily favors percentage modifiers. Attack percentage, damage amplification, damage reduction, and critical hit metrics scale alongside higher base equipment stats, making a mid-tier percentage roll more valuable than an orange or red flat stat.
Role Priorities: Damage dealers should focus on critical rate, critical damage, attack percentage, and penetration or elemental bonuses. Tanks and support builds should prioritize damage reduction, maximum health percentage, and block rate.

Reforge Stone Consumption Estimates

Material testing using large sample pools (such as 100,000-stone batches) outlines the expected investment when targeting high-tier rolls:

First Red Affix (0 Slots Locked): Typically lands within a few hundred to a couple thousand stones.
Second Core Red Affix (1 Slot Locked): Averages 5,000 to 15,000 stones due to the increased cost per roll and smaller target pool.
Third Targeted Red Affix (2 Slots Locked): Frequently consumes 30,000 to 60,000 stones on a single equipment piece.
Four-Slot Perfection (3 Slots Locked): Can easily burn through 100,000 stones without guaranteeing the final desired roll.

Chasing four perfect red affixes on an entire set will quickly stall character progression. Treat full red sets as a late luxury rather than an immediate progression requirement.

Recommended Progression and Reforge Steps

Follow this workflow to balance stat gains against resource consumption:

Roll Baseline Gear Unlocked: Cycle newly acquired gear with zero locks until you hit an essential red or top-tier orange percentage modifier for your role.
Lock One Core Stat: Lock that primary attribute and continue rolling for a functional second affix.
Set a Per-Piece Budget: Cap spending at roughly 3,000 to 5,000 stones per piece during transitional phases. Accept high purple or usable orange rolls on secondary slots to stay within budget.
Distribute Upgrades Evenly: Bring all equipped gear slots to two functional affixes before attempting to lock two slots on any single piece. Six items with two solid affixes provide significantly more combat power than one near-perfect item paired with unrolled gear.
Postpone Deep Locking for Permanent Sets: Save the bulk of your reforge stones for max-tier endgame equipment. Only commit to two-slot locking once your loadout is stabilized and the piece will not be replaced in the near future.