Guides » Gear Guide

Gear Guide – Last Fortress: Underground​

Last updated: 02.24.2024 ☣ Game version: 1.358.001

Gear is a vital aspect of Last Fortress: Underground. At first glance, it might be pretty straightforward, but there are still enough nuances to gear, which I will go through in this guide.

This guide will lead you through hero gear types, obtaining hero gear, and using hero gear in the game. I have a separate guide to APC (car) Gear.

To learn more about heroes in Last Fortress, I suggest you check out my Hero Guide. And for more information about lineups, make sure to take a look at my Lineup Guide.

Let’s get started, then.

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Gear Classification

Rarity

There are five quality levels when it comes to gear:

four gear pieces of different rarity and colors

Rarity affects the following:

  • How many stats a piece of gear has
    • Uncommon – 2
    • Rare – 3
    • Elite – 5
    • Epic – 6
    • Master – 7
  • The starting power level of the first two stats
    • The higher the quality, the better the power.
  • If there’s a set bonus
    • Sets are available starting from rare gear.
    • But, if crafted, uncommon gear can have sets.
  • Chances of getting the piece in chests or when crafting
    • The higher the quality, the lower the chance.
    • Master gear can only be obtained by Refining it with a Gear Modifier.
  • The maximum level of a gear piece
    • Uncommon – cannot upgrade
    • Rare – 5
    • Elite – 15
    • Epic – 20
    • Master – 30
  • The number of Tin Blocks you get for one piece when disassembling
    • Uncommon – 2-3
    • Rare – 4-6
    • Elite – 20-30
    • Epic – 30 + a Supercharger
    • Master – no idea 😀

By the end of season 0 (S0), you should be able to get at least all the elite gear for your combat heroes. And from that point, uncommon gear will become an obsolete Tin Block source, and rare gear will only be good to put on your Solari heroes temporarily until you have enough Elite gear for them. This will be discussed in more detail further.

Sets

Generally speaking, there are sets for damage dealers, tanks, and healers, but they are not cut in stone. More about this further under Usage.

When you equip items from the same set, you can get two bonuses – the first when you equip any two pieces of the set and the second when you equip all four.

Updated: As of the current game version (1.351.002), there are 13 standard and 7 unique gear sets, but not all are available from the start.

Set Name1st Set Bonus2nd Set BonusSeason Availability
ReaperWPN DMG Bonus +5%35% of enemy DEF ignoredS0
HurricaneTAC DMG Bonus +5%Focus DMG +15%S0
CastleDMG Mitigation +5%30% chance to block 50% of incoming damageS0
ApocalypseCrit Rate +10%Crit Damage +20%S1
DeathATK +6%DMG dealt in battle after killing the enemy +20%S1
Tough WallDEF +15%Defense +12%, Stack up to 5 times When taking DMGS2
HealHP +6%Healing and Shield effect +30%S2
Resolute+0.2% ATK for every 1% HP lostImmune to the first fatal damage, restores HP to 20% of the max HP and deals +25% DMG in the Hero’s subsequent attack.S3
Alpha BlessCrit Immunity Rate +5% for all Heroes in Lineup (cannot be stacked)Lineup gains a 5% max HP shield at round 1. At round 6, all Heroes gain +5% Crit Rate for 5 rounds (cannot be stacked)S3
Mental ControlHP+3%, DMG Mitigation +3%Every normal attack launched by the enemy has a 50% chance of inflicting it on the enemy party themselvesS4
Self-HealingHP +6%At the beginning of each round, restores some HP equal to 20% of the Hero’s ATK; the effect will be doubled when the Hero’s HP is lower than 50%S4
Super Core+7% DMG MitigationAt the beginning of each round. restore 500 Focus for one of the Heroes on your side; the effect will loop from the Hero at position #1 to other ones in later rounds; it only takes effect once each round. A Skill costs 1000 Focus to cast.S5
RipperNormal Attack DMG +20%Normal attacks cause bleeding, dealing 35% damage to the target for 2 rounds.S6
Tycoon (only Casino)DMG Mitigation +7%Gains 300 points of focus at the beginning of a battle. When Casino casts “Try the Luck” and wins, he restores 100 points of focus.Bundles ($$$)
Agent (only Dylan)ATK +6%When Dylan casts “Deadly Stab”, an additional attack will be launched, causing 50% WPN DMG. If this attack hits any enemy whose HP is lower than 20%, the target will be killed directly.Bundles ($$$)
Dazzle (only Starlight)+10% Initiative+20% more DMG with “Starlight’s Blast” and attack a second random target.The Boys Collaboration (Starlight’s Invite)
SpikeHP +6%When being attacked, redirects 15% of the DMG Taken to the attacker.The Boys Collaboration ($$$)
Smart Butler (Solari, N.A.T.E.)Moving speed in the Fortress +30%Distribution Load +150Bundles ($$$)
Scientist (Solari, Luke)Construction Speed +5%Research Speed +10%Bundles ($$$)
Elite (any Solari)Research Speed +5%Construction Speed +15%Bundles ($$$)

Getting Gear

I’d say gear was the second most crucial aspect after heroes. That is epic gear. So, use every chance there is to get gear in the game.

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Events and Activities

You can obtain gear through the following in-game events and activities:

  • First capture of neutral cities: Every alliance member gets one chest after the city is captured for the first time, and every participating member will get one chest. Hence, for each city, you can get two gear chests.
    • There is a low (1-3%) chance of getting epic gear from these chests, so getting them is vital.
  • Expedition: You can get gear chests of various rarities by completing the expedition train station levels. Once you reach the last station and upgrade your train to the maximum, you will be able to get 15 elite expedition kit chests, seven rare expedition gear chests, and seven uncommon expedition kit chests just by dashing to the maximum length and breaking, which will take you like 20 seconds to do. You could also go through the last stations to get a few more chests, but I think the time you will spend on it is not worth it.
  • Season quest: A season quest will last around 37 days and allows you to get various rewards for completing missions, including chests with the current season’s gear. By upgrading the quest for $20, you will have more rewards for each level, including more gear chests. If you are willing to spend money on the game, this is one thing that is more or less worth spending.
  • Enemy elimination during the personal armaments race: On Saturdays and Sundays, there are two periods when you can get a gear chest for the last milestone (50,000). In total, you can get four chests over the weekend.
    • Besides the chests, you will also get bronze vouchers that will help you save a bit of $. So, I highly recommend getting these rewards regularly.
  • Alliance shop: Once your alliance reaches level 7, you can buy a Rare Expedition Kit for 25,000 alliance points. When your alliance reaches level 16, you can buy an Elite Expedition Kit for 20,000 points. And after your alliance reaches level 20, you can get an Advance Expedition Kit. The first two are not worth it, as you can get more valuable things for that number of points (hero cards, m-coin hours, speed-ups). As for the last one, I am not sure because I have no idea how much it costs 😀
  • Exchange shop: You can get one epic selectable gear chest for 120 golden vouchers (ouch). You can get three advanced elite hero shards for that number of vouchers, which is not bad. You also should consider that to get these vouchers, you will need to recycle your hero shards. I recommend getting this chest here only if your advance elite heroes are maxed and you need to get a specific epic gear piece you lack.
  • Prestige shop (Dimensions): in Season Special, a [Season of War] Gear Set Chest (Selectable) costs 5,000 Prestige Coins. It’s not worth it, in my opinion. You can get two new heroes for 4,000.
  • Wheel of Gear event: In this 3-day event, you can try your luck to get gear-related awards, including elite and epic gear chests. Each try will consume 1 Deep Sea Meteorite, which can be obtained by rallying and killing a Mutant Zombie (5 times a day max.) or by purchasing in packs.
  • Strongest Alliance event: An elite gear kit is part of the base reward of the Gold League, and an epic chest is in the base reward of the Diamond League.
  • Night Before the War event: Gear chests are among the Intel points’ rewards, but going further than 288k points is not worth it.

Crafting (Gear Factory)

Besides getting gear as a reward, you can also craft gear in the Gear Factory. Here’s what you can do without a Monthly Gear Pass:

  • Gear Factory becomes available once your Control Center is level 15 and exploration is 2-10.
  • You will need at least four materials (Forge menu) to craft an item.
  • There are nine materials for S0 items and seven for each season onwards.
  • You can create materials in the Produce menu.
  • You can queue up to 15 materials.
  • Each material has a proficiency level (from 0 to 10).
  • The more of one material you create, the higher its proficiency.
  • The higher the proficiency, the higher the chance to get a higher-quality material.
  • The higher the quality of materials you use, the higher the chance of getting a higher-quality item.
    • For example, if you use two rare and two elite materials, the chance to get a rare gear item is 44,5, the chance to get an elite gear item is 52.5%, and the chance to get an epic gear item is 3%. Using four elite materials will give you a 5% chance to get an epic gear item.
  • When using materials of rare and higher quality, you will get Forging Points per material used – 1 point for a rare material, 5 for an elite, and 20 for an epic one.
  • Forging points are specific for each gear piece and guarantee an elite-quality item upon reaching 100 and (according to the in-game help) an epic item for 500 points.
  • Also, forging a gear piece costs z-coins. The price is calculated like this: Forging Points x 10.
    • For example, using four elite materials will add 20 Forging Points to the item and cost 200 z-coins to craft.
  • Most materials take two hours to produce at proficiency 0 and one hour at proficiency 10. The exceptions are the materials used for accessory (jewelry) gear pieces. These materials are Reflective Material, Laser Gem, Nanocrystal, and Polishing Agent.
  • Starting from Season 4, you can participate in Eden Ruins exploration. You can win bags with epic crafting materials there if you place 30th or higher.
  • Also, there are two elite Policy Cards that affect crafting:
    • Composite Material – Increases materials production speed.
    • Lathe – Increases the chance to gain extra Lucky Points after forging an item.

Materials production time without Gear Pass:

A table with times and quantities of materials in a gear factory

Forging chances for materials

gear factory materials and their chances for the items
Data source: https://last-fortress-underground.fandom.com/wiki/Gear_Factory

To get a single material to proficiency 10, you will need to produce it 329 times, which will take you about 397 hours (~ 16 days) for 2-hour materials and about 1190 hours (~ 50 days) for 6-hour ones if done without breaks. Hence, you can have four 2-hour materials maxed out in around two months.

Level 10 proficiency gives you a 1% chance of getting an epic material. Roughly, you will need to produce 100 units of such a material to obtain one epic material, which will take you 100 hours. To produce four of these and have a guaranteed epic gear piece, you would need roughly 400 hours of production, which is about 16 days.

If you cooperate with your alliance members, each of you can focus on one material and then trade them among yourselves. In such a case, you can (in theory) shorten the mentioned 16 days to just four days, which is a considerable improvement.

But remember that 1 in 100 epic material is not a guarantee but a theoretical calculation of probability. You can get more or less lucky in practice.

Monthly Gear Pass

You can get a monthly gear pass for $5 if you go to Premium Center → Premium Pass → Monthly Gear Card

monthly gear pass

Is it worth getting it? I’d say yes. It is the second-best thing worth buying in this game after N.A.T.E. It will help you get many more epic gear pieces in a month, which is essential in this game.

gear pass details

Epic Gear Calculations

Let’s see how much gear you can possibly produce, given the following conditions:

  1. You have the monthly gear pass active.
  2. You have one level-10, 2-hour material.
  3. You keep the production of this material 24/7.
  4. You have the Composite Material policy card at level 0 but fully activated.
  5. You constantly trade materials in your alliance to have enough of everything.

With all those conditions met it takes me 8 hours and 44 minutes to produce 35 level-10, 2-hour materials. This is what I can theoretically get in one month:

Note: This is an average estimate, which means it can sometimes be higher or lower.
  1. Monthly Material Production
    • Production Time per Batch: 8 hours and 44 minutes.
    • Number of Batches per Month: 720 hours/8.73 hours per batch≈2885.508.73 hours per batch, so 720 hours​≈ 82.47 batches.
    • Total Materials Produced per Month: 82.47×35≈2885.50 materials.
  2. Distribution of Material Qualities
    • Epic: 1% of 2885.50 ≈ 28.85 epic materials.
    • Elite: 10% of 2885.50 ≈ 288.55 elite materials.
    • Rare: 50% of 2885.50 ≈ 1442.75 rare materials.
  3. Forging Points Accumulation
    • Total Forging Points:
      • Elite: 288.55 × 5 ≈ 1442.75 points.
      • Rare: 1442.75 × 1 ≈ 1442.75 points.
      • Epic: 28.85 × 20 ≈ 577 points.
      • Grand Total: 1442.75 + 1442.75 + 577 ≈ 3462.60 points.
  4. Guaranteed Epic Gear from Forging Points
    • Total Guaranteed Epic Gear Pieces: 3462.60/500≈6.93 pieces.
  5. Trading Dynamics
    • For every 3 elite materials produced, you trade them for 3 materials of other types needed for forging.
    • Similarly, for every 3 rare materials, you trade them for 3 materials of other types.
  6. Forging
    • Epic + 3 Elite Materials (28.75% Chance): 28.85×28.75%≈8.29 pieces.
    • 4 Elite Materials (5% Chance):
      • Remaining elite materials after trading: 288.55−(28.85×3)≈202.002 elite materials.
      • Total attempts with 4 elite materials: 202.00/4≈50.50 attempts.
      • Expected epic gear pieces: 50.50×5%≈2.53 pieces.
    • 4 Rare Materials (1% Chance):
      • Total attempts with 4 rare materials: 1442.75/4≈360.69 attempts.
      • Expected epic gear pieces: 360.69×1%≈3.61 pieces.
  7. Total Epic Gear Pieces per Month
    • Total Expected Epic Gear Pieces:
      • Forging: ≈ 8.29 + 2.53 + 3.61 ≈ 14.43.
      • From forging points: ≈ 6.93 pieces.
      • Grand Total: 14.43 + 6.93 ≈ 21.36 epic gear pieces per month.

Sometimes, you can get unlucky and get fewer pieces. Sometimes, you will get lucky and get more. It is just how it works. For example, one time I got five epic gear pieces from five forging batches with only one epic material in it. The probability if that happening is around 0.2%.

5 epic gear pieces in a row with only one epic material in each forging batch

Buying

Like many other things in Last Fortress, you can also purchase gear for real money.

You can:

  • Directly purchase packs containing gear kits (Pack Shop, Weekly Special, or special offers that pop up occasionally).
    • Those with epic gear are usually expensive ($50-$100).
  • Get the Season Quest upgrade for additional rewards, including gear chests.
  • Buy stuff during the Cumulative Top-up to get to the milestones with the gear chest reward.
    • These are usually among the last ones, so you will need to spend quite a lot of $.

Upgrading (Enhancing) Gear

You can upgrade gear with Tin Blocks to unlock additional gear stats at certain levels. Epic gear also requires Electric Superchargers to be upgraded past level 15.

  • Uncommon gear cannot be upgraded.
  • Rare gear can be upgraded to level 5.
    • 69 Tin Blocks (nice).
  • Elite gear can be upgraded to level 15.
    • 986 Tin Blocks.
  • Epic gear can be upgraded to level 20.
    • 2001 Tin Blocks and 24 Electric Superchargers.

Where you can get Tin Blocks:

  • Disassembling gear: Each gear piece can be disassembled, returning a certain number of Tin Blocks. Here is what you should know about disassembling:
  • To access the disassembling menu, do this: Hero → Tap\Click any hero → Tap\Click any gear slot → Tap\Click “Disassemble” in the lower left corner.
  • You can select all gear pieces of a certain quality by pressing “lowest quality,” choosing the desired lowest quality, and pressing “quick selection.” Then, you can disassemble all selected items.
  • Each gear piece gives a certain number of Tin Blocks based on its rarity:
    • Uncommon — 2-3
    • Rare — 4-6
    • Elite — 20-30
    • Epic — 30 + 1 Supercharger
  • You will get all Tin Blocks you spend upgrading a gear piece up to level 15.
  • Updated: Now, you can also turn on the auto-disassembling if you go to your Inventory → Gear → Disassemble tab → Tick the “Auto-Disassemble” option → Press the wrench icon to choose rarity.
  • Enemy elimination during the personal armaments race: During the last two days of the week, there are four Personal Armaments Race events where you can get gear-related awards, including Tin Blocks.
  • Expedition: By going through stations, you will get Tin Blocks as a reward. Plus, you will get a lot of low-rarity gear that you will be able to disassemble.
  • Wheel of Gear event: You can try your luck to get gear-related awards, including Tin Blocks.
  • Buying in packs: You can buy packs dedicated solely to Tin Blocks or containing Tin Blocks and some other gear-related items in Pack Shop.

Where you can get Electric Superchargers:

  • Disassembling gear: When disassembling any epic gear piece, you will get one Supercharger.
  • Wheel of Gear event: You can try your luck to get gear-related awards, including five Superchargers.
  • Night Before the War event: There are Superchargers among the last two Intel Score rewards, but it is not worth going for them unless you are a high spender in the game.
  • Gifts for Daily Purchase: For regular ones, you will get one Supercharger for the fifth day of buying. But they might change it in the future or for themed events.
  • Strongest Alliance: You get superchargers as part of the reward. The number is different for different placements.
  • Prestige Shop:
    • Season Special – you can buy 15 superchargers for $50.
    • Season Shop – you can buy 2 superchargers once a week for 100 Prestige Coins each. (This is highly recommended.)
  • Zombie Annihilation:
    • You can get one supercharger for 40 Zombie King’s Shins. (This is highly recommended.)
    • You can also get them from the hunt itself, but the chance % is unknown.
    • Any event like this, where you can get superchargers for some points – get them.
  • Buying in packs: There are dedicated and mixed packs that include Superchargers in the Pack Shop and Supply Station.

To access the upgrade menu, you can go to:

Item → Gear → Tap\Click the gear piece you want to upgrade → Tap\Click the yellow Gear button in the bottom left corner → Tap\Click the Enhance button to start upgrading.

four steps to get to the gear upgrade menu

or

Hero → Tap\Click any hero → Tap\Click their gear slot → Tap\Click either their gear or any of the gear on the left side → Tap\Click the Enhance button → Tap\Click the Enhance button to start upgrading.

The higher the gear quality, the more stats the gear has:

  • Uncommon gear offers only two grey stats.
  • Rare gear has two grey and one blue stat.
  • Elite gear has two grey, two blue, and one orange stat.
  • Epic gear has two grey, two blue, and two orange stats.
  • Master gear has two grey, two blue, and three orange stats

The stats get unlocked at certain gear levels:

  • Blue 1 – level 5
  • Blue 2 – level 10
  • Orange 1 – level 15
  • Orange 2 – level 20
  • Orange 3 – level 30

Also, the higher the gear quality, the higher the starting values of each stat the gear has at level 0.

For example, the first stat of every head and armor piece is adding a certain number of AGI to the hero’s AGI. Based on the gear quality, the starting values are as follows:

  • Uncommon +7
  • Rare +9
  • Elite +12
  • Epic +14

Besides that, the first two stats increase with each gear level.

The first four stats (grey and blue) are the same for all gear pieces within their slot:

Gear SlotStat 1Stat 2Stat 3Stat 4
Weapon+N primary hero stat (INT or STR)+N Crit Rate+N% of WPN (for STR) or TAC (for INT) DMG+N% of INT or STR
Helmet+N VIT+N AGI+N% HP+N% AGI
Armor+N AGI+N VIT+N% DEF+N% VIT
Jewelry+N primary hero stat (INT or STR)+N Skill effect enhancement+N% DMG Mitigation+N% DMG Bonus

The last two stats (orange) are random, but the pool of these stats is the same for all gear pieces within their slot:

four tables with orange stat for last fortress gear

Source – https://last-fortress-underground.fandom.com/wiki/Gear/Stat_Table

Two things are randomized in a piece of gear with orange stats: the stat itself and its power (for some of the stats).

However, you can use Clean Energy to reroll the orange stat(s) of a gear piece containing it.

Imbuing Gear

You can access the menu where you can reroll the stats like this:

Hero → Tap\Click any hero → Tap\Click on any gear slot of the hero → Tap\Click Imbue on the left bottom side → Tap\Click the gear piece you want to reroll → Tap\Click Imbue → Tap\Click Imbue again to start.

gear imbue

Once you press the last imbue button, you will spend one Clean Energy. Then, you will be presented with a choice to save the result or cancel the roll. In any of these cases, you will lose one Clean Energy.

Usually, rerolling is the last stage of fine-tuning your gear. For example, you want a crit-focused hero. In such a case, you might want to reroll your weapon and jewelry pieces for the Crit Rate, Crit DMG, and Crit Pierces DEF stats.

Clean Energy is pretty hard to come by, and you can get it here:

  • Wheel of Gear event: You can try your luck to get gear-related awards, including one Clean Energy.
  • Exchange Shop: You can exchange ten gold vouchers for one Clean Energy. This option is not always present in the shop.
  • Privilege Shop: Clean Energy becomes available once you reach SVIP 5 and 10.
  • Buy in packs: One in the Pack Shop for $20, Three in Weekly Special of Supply Station for $50, in special offers related to gear.

Another thing that I should mention is that once you get your main heroes in sets, and each piece is at least level 15, you can look for minor improvements in the last orange stats. This is mainly applied to Elite gear, as Epic gear is scarce.

Once you have some elite gear piling up from the expedition kits, you can try looking for epic gear with a better last stat than the one your heroes are currently wearing.

Here’s what you have to look for when choosing the first orange stat:

  • Weapons
    • Avoid AGI stat for tanks, as you usually want their AGI lower than your back-row heroes’ AGI.
    • Crit Rate and Crit DMG for crit-oriented builds (especially for the Apocalypse set).
    • The primary stat % is better than a flat number. You can get 20 maximum as a flat number, but you can get more with % because your primary stat will exceed 1000 at some point.
    • As for the +% TAC\WPN ATK, I need to do some testing, as there is no information on how, for instance, INT would affect the hero’s TAC ATK. Hence, I am unsure if +3% of INT is better than +4% TAC ATK.
  • Helmet and Body
    • Same with AGI here. Avoid AGI stat for tanks, as you usually want their AGI lower than your back-row heroes’ AGI.
    • I don’t know how exactly crit immunity works, but I assume that once the attacking hero hits you with a crit, there is a chance that it will count as a normal attack, mitigating the crit damage.
    • From the information out there, the difference between WPN DEF and WPN DMG mitigation is that the first one applies to your troops too, but that is also not 100% true, as there is not enough information on stats from the game devs.
    • Hence, I aim for either VIT or DEF as they are more straightforward and are not focused only on one attack type.
    • VIT might be better if you plan to wear the Alpha Bless set on someone.
    • Here, VIT % is worse than a flat number as it doesn’t go very high.
  • Jewelry
    • LUK is the worst option here but might be viable if you need to correct the attack order, and this is your only option to do it.
    • Crit Rate is decent for crit-oriented builds (especially for the Apocalypse set).
    • I don’t know for sure, but from the information I found, ATK is better than DMG Bonus as it increases troop damage too.
    • As for the defensive stats, DEF is better than DMG Mitigation because it also affects troops.
    • HP might be better if you plan to wear the Alpha Bless set on someone.

Refining Gear to Master (Red quality)

Update 1.309.001 brought us Gear Modifiers.

By using a Gear Modifier on a level 20 Epic gear piece, you can promote it to the Master (red) quality, increasing the maximum level cap to 30 and adding another orange stat to the piece.

master gear

The increased level cap means the first four stats will also be increased compared to level 20 epic gear.

epic gear level 20 stats
master gear - level 30 stats

The third stat added by the Gear Modifier appears to be either DMG Mitigation or DMG Bonus within the + 3-5% range. (This needs confirmation)

As of now, you can either buy the Gear Modifier for $50 (sheesh) or, if you’re lucky, get it in the Wheel of Gear event.

The chance of getting it is only 0.9%, and there are three more “best” prizes with the same probability, of which only the Gear Modifier and eight superchargers are good. However, if you spin the wheel fifty times, you will be guaranteed to get one of the “best” prizes. So, if you are lucky enough, you can save up some of the meteorite ore and get at least one Modifier (so far, I have got zero, having spent 100 meteorite pieces).

wheel of gear

You can also get a Gear Modifier from the other two events – Zombie Annihilation and Ruins Adventure.

gear modifier hunters shop

In the Zombie Annihilation event, you need bullets to hunt zombies. Each hunt costs ten bullets, but you can (and should) only use the 90-bullet option for ten hunts. Although, when the Treasure Hunter bonus is active, the cost of a single hunt becomes nine bullets, so you can use all your remaining bullets without losing an additional hunt.

On average, ten hunts yield around 75 shins, so you will need to perform around 140 hunts to get 1,000 shins for the modifier, which is around 1,260 bullets.

gear modifier adventure rewards

In the Ruins Adventure event, you will need around 200 pickaxes to get three suits and three notebooks for one modifier. Remember that only pickaxes are stored in your inventory, so any other items you collect here will not transfer to the next event.

After you obtain the Gear Mofidier, you can go to Heroes => Choose the hero with the gear you want to upgrade => Choose the gear piece => Tap “Refine” => Tap “Refine” again

master gear refining step 1

master gear refining step 2

Oh, and during the Fountain of Life dimension (S7?), you can get pieces of the Gear Modifier for the first, second, and third places. Five pieces can then be made into one Modifier. But, sadly, only big spenders will get to these places, so getting your Modifier here is almost impossible.

fountain of life rewards - gear

Using Gear

Now that you know more about obtaining and upgrading gear, let’s talk about how to use it (yay).

The game has a rough hero division by the role the hero has. It’s roughly the same when it comes to gear.

There are sets for front-row heroes that must be tanky:

  • Castle (S0)
  • Tough Wall (S2)
  • Mental Control (S4)
  • Self-Healing (S4)
  • Super Core (S5)

Next, there are sets for damage dealers:

  • Reaper (S0)
  • Hurricane (S0)
  • Apocalypse (S1)
  • Death (S1)
  • Resolute (S3)

And finally, for supports:

  • Heal (S2)
  • Alpha Bless (S3)
  • Self-Healing (S4)
  • Super Core (S5)

You can learn more about hero roles and positions in a lineup here.

nordpass banner

Using Gear for Combat Heroes

Gear sets can be either INT or STR-focused. The easiest way to understand what hero stat is the primary one is to do the following:

  1. Go to the hero menu
  2. Tap\Click the hero
  3. Tap\Click the first skill
    1. If it says “WPN ATK” or “WPN DMG,” the primary stat of that hero is STR, so it benefits more from STR gear.
    2. If it says “TAC ATK” or “TAC DMG,” the primary stat is INT.
determining primary stat via skill description

There is another way:

  1. Go to the hero menu
  2. Tap\Click the hero
  3. Tap\Click a small bullet icon near “CP” at the bottom
  4. The highest stat number indicates the primary stat of the hero
determining primary stat via stat list

If we generalize, you would determine which set is beneficial for the hero based on the set effects:

  • Anything with DMG, Crit, and ATK bonuses would fit a damage dealer.
  • Anything with DEF, HP, and Mitigation bonus would fit a tank.
  • Anything with Heal or Lineup buffs would benefit supports.

However, you can use non-tank heroes in the front row to get a faction bonus, buff your lineup, or debuff the enemy. In such a case, you can use tank gear on such heroes for them to be able to soak some damage and actually use their skills. For example, you can use Suzuki Ren to debuff the enemy, Park Ji-Mi to shield your lineup, etc.

Hope the list below will help you understand which gear is best for which hero.

During S0, the choice is little. You have three sets, and things are pretty straightforward:

  • Reaper gear goes to STR damage dealers (Kelly, Kin Ogawa, Blanche, etc.) and, optionally, STR supports in back-row positions (Betty and Park Ji-Mi).
  • Hurricane goes to INT damage dealers (Laurel, Rebecca, Marlen, etc.) and INT supports in back-row positions (Suzuki Ren, Alisa, Jessie).
  • Castle goes to front-row tanks. INT Castle to heroes like Harman and Roland, STR Castle to Lunn, Enrique, Irma, etc.

During S0, your first priority is to have your main lineup equipped with the best gear. But don’t rush to upgrade any epic gear past level 15 — save up some of those Chargers.

When S1 comes, you get two new sets:

  • Apocalypse — A crit-focused set, good for single back-row attackers like Kelly, Rebecca, and Blanche. Also, it is decent on AOE attackers like Elaine or Benson.
  • Death — This one is also recommended for back-row attackers (especially Galande), but if the hero wearing the set does not kill the enemy hero, the second set effect is pretty much wasted.
    • When wearing on Galande (or any other back-row-focused hero), tune his LUK stat so that his turn is after another heavy hitter like Kelly or Rebecca to secure the kill.

S2 brings yet two more sets:

  • Tough Wall — I swapped all my Castle gear on tanks to this, as it is more consistent, as Castle’s second stat is luck based. But if you get lucky, Castle gear can be better 🙂
  • Heal — Perfect for healers and shielders like Alisa, Jessie, and Park Ji-Mi.
    • It might be viable for Roland, as he has both shielding and healing skills. A bit worse on Harman, but still worth trying.

As for S3 and S4 gear:

  • Resolute — This one has been reworked a couple of times. The full-set effect is useful if you can either heal the hero wearing the set or perform a skill attack thanks to the saving effect. This effect is worthless if you can’t do any of those things. Good versus Galande, as his second attack won’t be triggered. Wear on your AOE heroes – Heytex, Elaine, Benson, etc.
    • Also, having resolute gear results in much fewer troop KIA during base and zombie attacks.
    • In late-game, this is the best gear for damage dealers as of now.
  • Alpha Bless — This one is good to have on a support hero. Note that the effects of this set do not stack, which means only one hero in the lineup should wear it.
    • Looks like a decent set to have versus AOE lineups.
    • I see people stacking this gear for Victoria and Casino-centered builds. But the effect says that it does not stack, so I assume multiple sets in one lineup are not effective.
  • Mental Control — Should be worn by tanks. Still, it can be inconsistent, as it is possible that the second effect won’t trigger at all if you’re unlucky. Can be a counter to lineups with Kelly and Galande (at least for non-skill attacks). Put the tank wearing it on the back to distribute the damage more evenly among your heroes.
    • Casino-centered builds can get by without this set, as Casino’s second ability is (sort of) similar in effect.
  • Self-Healing — Decent on back-row damage soakers and front-row tanks. Try on Mira or Titan.
    • Note that shield-hp is not real HP, so even if your hero gets shielded past half of max HP when your real HP is less than 50%, the healing effect will still be doubled.

Season 5 brings only one new set:

  • Super Core — An interesting one. Have a support wearing it or an off-tank. Ideally, it should be used on someone with high LUK to ensure the effect gets triggered. This is an essential gear set, allowing your heavy hitter (like Heytex or Elaine) fire their skill very early. For that, place them in position one and provide them with Resolute gear.

There is also only one new set in Season 6:

  • Ripper — Should be decent in a lineup with damage-over-time (DOT) heroes (damage over time). Benson and Fuji are such heroes, for example. Also, if Buccaneer’s counter-attack is considered a “normal attack,” it might be decent on him. It also works for the flamethrower APC weapon. Kobayakawa is a must if you decide to build a DOT lineup.
    • Used often on Chu, as her normal attack deals damage to multiple enemy heroes.

You should also note that a fully upgraded season 0 epic set can be better than an elite set from later seasons.

Although you can mix sets, I think you get the most benefits from the second set effect. I have not tested things enough to see if there are any decent combinations to consider. And if there are any, they should be hero-specific.

Late game build

Starting from season five, you will see the following gear used in most high-level lineups:

  • Mental Control – At least one tank has it. Helps you distribute damage more evenly, putting the tank in the back (position three or five – depending on the tank’s skill usefulness). Also helps to soak Kelly’s, Galande’s, and Rebecca’s regular attacks.
  • Super Core – This is a must-have. Put it on your second tank or support. Your Heytex or Elaine will be then in position one, using their skill very early in the battle. And the effect is then applied to positions two, three, and so on.
  • Resolute – Resolute on everyone else. It is this good, yes. However, if you have a level 20 epic reaper set and a level 15 elite resolute set, the reaper set will be a better option.
    • This is the best general set for damage dealers so far.
  • Alpha Bless – sometimes, I see this one used on someone. Who exactly to use it on depends on the set’s stats.
    • Used for Victoria-centered builds.

Using Gear for Solari Heroes

You can also wear combat gear on Solari (worker) heroes.

But why would you do that? 

First of all, you do that only when you have all your lineups equipped with gear of at least elite rarity, and each gear piece is level 15.

As for “why,” the gear you equip will add stats that will slightly increase the output of the facilities the Solari heroes are assigned to.

When you tap\click on a facility and press “Work,” there will be a text “+N Something for every N point(s) of STAT.” Hence, you can see how the stat affects the effectiveness of the facility.

where to see how stats affect facilities

Note: even if it says, for example, +1 Stone Output for every 40 points(s) of LUK, every point of LUK will add slightly to the stone output, not only batches of 40.

Here’s the list of all facilities and how the Solari stats affect them.

how Solari stats affect facilities

Source – https://last-fortress-underground.fandom.com/wiki/Optimizing_Production_Buildings

If you purchase N.A.T.E., the Distribution Load in work stations becomes irrelevant, so you don’t have to put gear or level up the work station heroes. The same goes for the Storage Cap in the Bar.

In all other cases, it is worth increasing the stats of Solari heroes with gear and leveling up.

Besides facilities, a few Solari hero skills are affected by the hero’s stats. They are:

  • Pearson’s fourth skill — Increase Construction Speed by 1% for every X points of STR
  • Christine’s (Bar) fifth skill — +X Memento Coins for every 40 points of LUK
  • Luke’s fourth skill — +1% for every X points of INT
  • Wolowitz’s fourth skill — For every X points on INT, the Construction Speed is increased by an additional X% (this one is good)

What should you prioritize?

I would say this was the priority in terms of Solari stat increase:

  1. Construction Speed
    • This one is the most important because the higher you go regarding facility level, the more ridiculous the building time becomes, especially if you don’t have Pearson.
  2. Training Speed
    • As you get to higher troop tiers, the time to train them grows exponentially. So, after fighting another alliance, you can get troops back faster.
    • It will take you fewer troop speed-ups to train your troops, which will be beneficial during the Alliance Duel training day.
  3. Power
    • You need power at all times: for research and using “Rapid” in your Mints.
  4. Z-coin
    • Always needed for research.
  5. Research
    • Not as crucial as research speed-ups are plenty in this game, but it is nice to have.
  6. Food
    • Useful to exchange for recruitment points in the trade center occasionally.
    • Used for alliance donations.
  7. Everything else

Here’s what pieces of gear you should use for different stats:

  • STR — STR Weapon and STR Jewelry
  • INT — INT Weapon and INT Jewelry
  • AGI — Helmet and Armor (Ideally with orange slots for AGI) + The orange slots of Weapon
  • VIT — Helmet and Armor (Ideally with orange slots for VIT).
  • LUK — Orange slots of Jewelry

I didn’t bother putting gear and leveling up my Solari heroes until I reached level 20 of my center and facilities.

The special Solari gear that you can buy for $ will always be better than general combat gear, so I did not cover it here.

This is pretty much all you have to know about hero gear in Last Fortress: Underground. If you have questions and\or suggestions, you can find the ways to contact me on the About page on this site. Thanks for reading!