Shards & Crafting
Gear Shards and Radiant Shards are the custom currencies of Ancient Ember, earned by scrapping gear and through battle bonuses. They fuel every crafting service in the game.
Currency Types
| Currency | How to Earn | Cap |
|---|---|---|
| Gear Shards | Scrap any gear, battle bonuses, gym bounties | 9,999 (display) |
| Radiant Shards | Scrap Rare/Epic gear; every 25th gear after 100 total found | 9,999 (display) |
Scrapping (Scrapper NPC)
Scrap gear at the Scrapper NPC (available in end-game towns). Yields are based on rarity:
| Rarity | Gear Shards | Radiant Shards |
|---|---|---|
| Common | Low | 0 |
| Uncommon | Medium | 0 |
| Rare | High | 1 |
| Epic | High | 2 |
| Legendary | Cannot scrap | — |
You can also mass-scrap all Commons from your Gear Bag by pressing SELECT in the Gear Bag screen.
Altar of Recrafting
Found in every town. Two reroll options:
| Service | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Reroll Affixes | 8 Gear Shards | Rerolls all four affix slots (p1, p2, s1, s2) — keeps slot, rarity, base, quality |
| Reroll Quality | 2 Radiant Shards | Rerolls the quality value (0–15) — keeps everything else |
Legendary gear cannot be rerolled at the Altar.
Gear Forge
Found in select towns. Combines two gear pieces into one improved piece.
- Feed two gear pieces → receive one new piece of equal or higher rarity
- No shard cost — just the two input gear pieces
- Result is a fresh roll at the combined rarity tier
Fragment Transmuter
Talk to the Transmuter NPC. Destroy 3 gear of the same rarity to create 1 gear of the next tier up.
| Input | Output |
|---|---|
| 3× Common | 1× Uncommon |
| 3× Uncommon | 1× Rare |
| 3× Rare | 1× Epic |
| 3× Epic | Cannot transmute (already max) |
The transmuter automatically finds the lowest non-Epic rarity with 3+ pieces in your bag. No shard cost.
Mystic Enchanter
Rerolls a single random affix on the first gear in your bag.
- No shard cost (the NPC interaction itself is the cost)
- Only one affix is changed — the other three are preserved
- Useful for surgical improvements without spending 8 shards on a full reroll
Gear Augmenter
Permanently increases the quality of the first gear in your bag by +1.
- No shard cost
- Quality caps at 15 — the NPC will decline if it’s already maxed
- Each augment adds ~3% to all stat bonuses on that piece
Gear Gambler (Kadala)
Located in Celadon Game Corner. Two tiers:
Standard Gamble
- Cost: 5 Gear Shards
- Rolls a random gear piece using wild rarity weights (Common-heavy)
- Result: Common 55%, Uncommon 30%, Rare 12%, Epic 3%
High Roller
- Cost: 3 Radiant Shards
- Guarantees at least Rare rarity
- Result: Rare or better, fresh affix roll
If your Gear Bag is full when gambling, the shards are refunded.
Earning Shards
Beyond scrapping, Gear Shards accumulate from:
| Source | Amount |
|---|---|
| Gym Leader defeat | +15 shards |
| Elite Four member defeat | +25 shards |
| Champion defeat | +50 shards |
| Battle Streak bonus (every 5 wins) | +1 to +10 shards (scales with streak) |
| Post-Champion rain (20% per win) | +1–3 shards |
| Shard Magnet relic | +1–2 per win |
| Daily Bonus (first Nurse heal per hour) | +5 shards |
| Milestone rewards | +10 to +50 (one-time) |
| Death penalty | −10% of current shards |
See Progression for full milestone details.