Upgrading
You can upgrade your equipment to make it stronger by using different types of shards which are dropped by monsters or rewarded from quests. Armor, Weapons, Rings and Capes (Cosmetic only) can all be upgraded. Upgrading increases stats up to a max of 10 times. After upgrading an item to level 5 using Shards you will need to use Soul Fragments to upgrade it from item level 6 to 10. At item level 6, the item will visually change with a lightning effect. Below are the levels at which monsters will drop which type of shard.
Types of Upgrades
Bronze: Levels 1 - 9
Steel: Levels 10 - 19
Sunstone: Levels 20 - 29
Bloodchrome: Levels 30 - 39
Meteor: Levels 40 - 49
Onyx: Levels 50 - 59
Lypriptite: Levels 60 - 69
Azurite: Levels 70 - 79
Emerald: Levels 80 - 89
Emerald: Levels 90 - 99
Emerald: Levels 100 - 109
Emerald: Levels 110 - 119
Emerald: Levels 120