Upgrading your weapons is a key part for your party in Expedition 33. It is easy once you know where to look and what materials you’ll need. This guide will walk you through all the ways you can get upgraded weapons, what resources you’ll need, and where to go to make those upgrades for your weapons.
How To Upgrade Weapons
While there is only one direct method for upgrading weapons yourself, there are a few other ways to get upgraded gear. One of the most common is simply finding a duplicate of a weapon you already own. These are typically dropped by specific enemies or found in shops. When this happens, you will usually receive an upgraded version of that weapon.
To start upgrading, you need a weapon. Each party member begins with a default weapon, and by the time you’re ready to enhance them, you’ll likely have picked up several new ones through exploration and combat rewards.
But weapons alone aren’t enough. To upgrade them, you’ll also need special materials called Chroma Catalysts. These come in different types and rarities, and each one lets you upgrade a weapon to a higher level. Here’s a quick breakdown of how they work:
- Chroma Catalyst: Upgrades weapons up to Level 3
- Polished Chroma Catalyst: Upgrades up to Level 9
- Resplendent Chroma Catalyst: Upgrades up to Level 19
- Grandiose Chroma Catalyst: Upgrades up to Level 32
- Perfect Chroma Catalyst: Upgrades up to Level 33
You can find these catalysts in a variety of ways as ground loot during exploration, given as rewards for completing side quests or engaging in NPC interactions, dropped by enemies or bosses, or purchased from Gestral Merchants.
Once you have the materials you need, head to your Camp and visit the Curator. You will meet the Curator after progressing through the Flying Waters zone early in the main story. They’re located in a cave just to the right of the main campfire area. When you talk to them, you’ll see an option to “Upgrade Weapons.” From there, you can choose which weapons to enhance by investing the Chroma Catalysts you’ve collected.
