Torchlight Infinite and Path of Exile share a notable similarity: both feature highly complex gear crafting systems. Some of the most valuable items are often not unique items, but rather pieces of gear with perfectly rolled affixes crafted by players.

And during the transitional phase before the endgame, players sometimes need to craft their own gear to shore up damage and survivability. So let's take a look at how players in Season 12 can craft gear with the affixes their characters need.

Gear Quality

Just like in any ARPG, gear in Torchlight Infinite comes in different qualities. Quality indicates the number of affixes on an item, while item level affects the numerical values of those affixes. You can upgrade a normal piece of gear to a higher quality, much like in Path of Exile, as long as you have enough currency.

• Normal Gear: 0 or 1 affix
• Magic Gear: 1–2 affixes
• Rare Gear: 3–5 affixes
• Legendary Gear: 5 to 6 affixes, and comes with a special effect
• Priceless Gear: up to 6 affixes

Since Legendary Gear can generally only be obtained as drops, Priceless items represent the upper limit of what most players can craft. So let's talk about how you can craft Priceless Gear.

Gear Affixes

In typical ARPGs, gear affixes are divided into tiers based on their numerical ranges. In Torchlight Infinite, the highest numerical tier is T0, which is undoubtedly the best affix you should aim for.

When you replace affixes on a Priceless item, you'll find that all affixes are broadly categorized into three types.

• Basic Affix: replaced using Precious Ember in the crafting interface.
• Advanced Affix: replaced using Matchless Ember in the crafting interface.
• Ultimate Affix: replaced using Ultimate Ember in the crafting interface.

Core Rules

Before entering Craft Menu, we need to be clear about two core rules, especially for Priceless items: first, a piece of gear can have at most 2 Advanced Affixes; second, at most 2 Ultimate Affixes. Basic Affixes have no quantity limit.

Given this limitation, you need a strategy to land the affix you want most. Suppose the advanced affix pool contains 7 possible affixes. If you want a specific one, blindly rolling gives you a 1/7 chance.

You can first plug in a random, irrelevant advanced affix to occupy a slot, reducing the pool to 6 candidates. Then go for the one you actually want - your probability rises to 1/6, saving a significant amount of materials and currency.

Fill with Basic Affixes

When your gear is still blank or has plenty of open prefix/suffix slots, you should handle Basic Affixes first. Since Basic Affixes have no cap, you don't need to blindly face a large pool of 8 or 9 possibilities. The right approach is to first put on two random Basic Affixes to fill slots, boosting the chance to roll your desired Basic Affix from 1/9 to 1/7 or even 1/6, making it easy to obtain the stat you want.

Say you want a T1 Spell Damage as a prefix. First casually apply two Basic Affixes, then aim for Spell Damage. You can turn on Auto Craft function, set it to lock T1 Spell Damage, and it will automatically stop when it appears - very convenient.

The same method applies to suffixes. For example, if you're looking for T2 Elemental Damage, first fill with junk affixes to shrink the pool, then craft.

Advanced Affixes

After sorting out Basic Affixes, it's time for the most critical step: Advanced and Ultimate Affixes. At this point, do not casually use Ultimate Ember and Torchlight Infinite Flame Elementium to craft affixes. You must first press and hold the crafting button to observe the number of affix candidates in prefixes and suffixes, and then decide on which side to place the filler affixes.

If the advanced affix pool for prefixes has 8 candidates, and the advanced pool for suffixes has 7, you should clearly put both filler advanced junk affixes onto prefixes. This blocks the prefix advanced pool down to only 6 effective affixes, while the already smaller suffix advanced pool remains less competitive.

Conversely, if you do the opposite and block the 7-affix suffix pool with fillers, the prefix pool still confronts you with a large 1/8 chance - clearly not worth it.

Ultimate Affixes

The logic for Ultimate Affixes is identical. Suppose the ultimate affix pool for prefixes has only 5 candidates, while the suffix ultimate pool has as many as 9. Then you should put both filler Ultimate Affixes onto suffixes, reducing its pool to 8, while the prefix side retains a clean 1/5 chance to hit the best affix.

In short, you need to place your filler affixes on the side with more candidates, so that Advanced and Ultimate affixes - which demand the most resources - are rolled on the side with less competition. The prefix/suffix pool distribution can differ entirely for each gear slot and base type, so make it a habit to check the pool sizes every time before you craft.

The final crafted piece is often a perfect combination of six affixes: prefix: Basic, Advanced, Ultimate; suffix: Basic, Advanced, Ultimate. Of course, depending on the build, you may see variations like two Advanced and one Basic on prefixes, two Ultimate and one Basic on suffixes, and so on. But the foundation for everything is knowing how to target and lock the affixes you need.

In the previous cycle, ARC Raiders typically released its weekly patches on Tuesdays. However, due to the launch of Riven Tides update on April 28, this Wednesday, Patch 1.26.0 was delayed by one day to coincide with its release.

Consequently, this patch serves a dual purpose: it officially introduces Riven Tides content into the game while simultaneously implementing significant optimizations to address various systemic issues that existed previously.

Below, we provide a detailed overview of Patch 1.26.0 to ensure you are fully prepared for your upcoming raids and avoid any pitfalls caused by unfamiliarity with the latest changes.

New content from Riven Tides

We have previously provided a comprehensive preview of Riven Tides update, which covered the new map of the same name, the new PvE enemy ARC Turbine, Beachcombing map condition, and more.

With the release of Patch 1.26.0, ARC Raiders has also added several items not mentioned in previous announcements: the deployable White Flag, the gadget Dockmaster's Detector, and the new augment, Tactical Mk.3 (Smoke).

White Flag

This item can only be obtained through crafting; it requires a specific ARC Raiders blueprint, 10 units of Fabric, and 3 Plastic Parts. It serves no offensive or defensive purpose; instead, it allows you to wave a flag during combat encounters to signal that you have no desire to initiate a conflict.

Although ARC Raiders is a PvEvP title, there are always players who focus heavily on PvP and adopt a highly aggressive playstyle. If you wish to avoid conflict, attempting to communicate verbally at close range can sometimes prove difficult or cumbersome.

Now, you can carry a White Flag with you at all times. If you unexpectedly stumble into a PvP situation, simply wave the flag to clearly signal your intention to avoid combat, it's incredibly convenient!

Dockmaster's Detector

Currently, this item is available exclusively as a reward for completing Avian Alarm project. It allows you to quickly detect loot hidden beneath the sand during Beachcombing map condition.

Avian Alarm project consists of five specific objectives. To obtain Dockmaster's Detector, you must complete the first objective: placing a bird trap near a seabed buoy on Riven Tides map. This objective's other reward is 250 Raider Tokens.

Tactical Mk.3 (Smoke)

Augments serve to enhance your gear in various ways, for instance, by increasing your backpack storage capacity or boosting your character's maximum carrying weight.

Accordingly, the function of Tactical Mk.3 (Smoke) is that, should your shield be depleted, it immediately generates a small smoke screen, providing cover for you to make an escape or switch weapons. However, it is subject to a cooldown period and cannot be used consecutively.

Notably, through the introduction of this augment, the developers acknowledged that the game currently suffers from a lack of variety within specific augment categories, as well as insufficient potency among combat-oriented augments; these issues are slated for gradual optimization in future updates.

New features and adjustments to the weapon system

Imbalances within the gear, particularly the weapon system, have long been a significant shortcoming of ARC Raiders. With Patch 1.26.0, substantial corrective measures have finally been implemented.

Durability changes

First and foremost, effective immediately, upgrading any weapon will now simultaneously grant it a 25% boost to durability. This change aims to further extend the weapon's operational lifespan and enhance the intrinsic value of the weapon upgrade mechanic.

Furthermore, while reducing the weapon spawn density in the map's peripheral zones, the development team has lowered the average starting durability of weapons found outside of locked rooms from 50 to 30. This ensures that high-tier resource zones consistently retain their strategic advantage.

Additional adjustments include reducing the durability loss incurred when firing high-tier weapons (a change accompanied by a corresponding increase in durability retention for low-tier weapons), as well as reducing the durability penalty applied to your weapon upon being downed from 30% to 15%.

Specific weapon optimizations

This section primarily addresses adjustments made to Bettina. The weapon has been buffed through improvements to its base damage, damage against ARC armor, and ammo stack limit; concurrently, its fire rate has been slightly reduced to ensure overall balance.

Existing ARC optimizations

Patch 1.26.0 focuses on reducing the spawn frequency of Fireflies in Dam Battlegrounds and Comets in Buried City. Additionally, Comets have been completely removed from standard gameplay sessions within Dam Battlegrounds.

This decision was made because these two types of PvE enemies present a high level of difficulty; their previous spawn rates created significant barriers to entry and enjoyment for new or casual players.

Gameplay optimizations

The changes outlined in this section specifically target several pieces of gear that have recently seen widespread popularity. First, adjustments have been implemented to ensure a more uniform distribution of salvageable loot throughout Stella Montis map.

Additionally, the stack limit for Vaporizer Regulator has been increased to 3. However, the minimum time interval required between detonating multiple grenades has been increased to prevent potential exploitation of the mechanic.

Given the exceptional efficiency demonstrated by Photoelectric Cloak during Flashpoint events, both its weight and energy consumption rate have now been increased.

This change compels you to adopt a more strategic and measured approach when planning its usage.

Massive bug fixes

As a major milestone patch, Update 1.26.0 delivers a volume of bug fixes far exceeding those of previous weeks. These fixes span multiple areas, including maps, gameplay, items, and the user interface, ensuring you enjoy the smoothest possible experience during Riven Tides update.

In short, the biggest ARC Raiders update of 2026 has now been released. Jump in now to join the raids, take down new enemies and earn fresh loot!