Specter Refinement

**Specter Refinement** (a.k.a. *Specter Refining*) (Chinese: **幽淬之法**, Yōucuì Zhīfǎ) is a Golden Core-tier Miracle from Sunflower Refining Law that is important for lategame advancement and building the best possible Xiandao Cultivators. When cast on an item, Specter Refinement consumes 1 Anguish Soul Gem and has a chance to raise the target item's Tier, to a maximum of Tier 12. Tao Refinement is a nearly identical Miracle, differing only in name and consuming 1 Tribulation Ashe instead. Specter Refinement requires that the item to be refined is below Tier 12.

*See also: Spiritual Refinement*

## Cost

* 1 Anguish Soul Gem (**Specter Refinement**)
* 1 Tribulation Ashe (Tao Refinement)
* 30,000 Qi

## Effects

Many items effects improve alongside the Tier through refining. A few of particular note:

* Consumables
	+ Max Qi, e.g. Earth Flux and Ganoderma
	+ Attributes e.g., Eternity Pill and Bane Pill
	+ Inspiration, e.g. Eureka Pill
	+ Lifespan e.g., Regen Pill and Morrow Pill
* Talisman Paper, e.g. Sacred Talisman, which will improve the Talisman effect once drawn.
	+ **Note:** Specter Refinement must be used on the paper *before* drawing. Refining a finished Talisman has no effect
* Weapon: better base for Artifact crafting, increased Damage
* Vessel: increased Speed and Durability

### Limitations

Some items are **not** improved by Specter Refinement:

* Spirit Contracts, drawn Talismans, or Artifacts post creation
* Tools and Gear
	+ Except Weapons
* Tier and Quality of Buildings made with Materials and Building Materials

## Chance of Success

As of game version 1.24, the in-game display for chance of success is bugged as it does not represent the actual chance of success because the wrong multiplier is used (0.8 instead of 0.9). The bonus from a Very Ominous room is also ignored in the display but correctly affects the chance of success when crafting.

The success rate depends on the following:

### Factors

**Specter** and Tao Refinement have a higher chance to work on low-Tier items. However, more successful refinements result in reduced success rate. Therefore, items with high base Tier can be maxed out more easily.

* Each successful refinement decreases success rate multiplicatively
* Each additional tier of an item decreases success rate multiplicatively
* Refinements have higher chance to succeed in a Very Ominous room (not shown in tooltip)
* Soul Gem illuminated through Darksoul Genesis (Miracle) and made human by Body of Genesis (Miracle)--Incarnated Sentient Spirit#Soul Gem--has double success rate at refining. Any of the following 5 Soul Gems count:
	+ Anguish Soul Gem
	+ Serenity Soul Gem
	+ Spirit Soul Gem
	+ Primordial Soul Gem
	+ Cat Soul Gem

### Room Feng Shui

The base multiplier is 0.9. The bonus for room type is 0 if the room is not ominous. Otherwise, the bonus is:

* 0.01 for slightly ominous, so 0.91 in a slightly ominous room
* 0.02 for ominous, so 0.92 in an ominous room
* 0.03 for very ominous, so 0.93 in a very ominous room

### Sentient Soul Gem

If the cultivator casting **Specter Refinement** is a Sentient Soul Gem, the success rate is doubled.

### Item Tier

The higher the Tier of the item, the lower the chance of success. Each additional tier results in the success rate being multiplied by the room type multiplier.

### Refine Count

The higher the number of times the item has been refined, the lower the chance of success. Each additional refinement results in the success rate being multiplied by the room type multiplier.

Despite the two types of refinement (Specter and Tao Refinement) being listed separately, they are considered as the same for success rate calculations, and the number of refinements is the sum of Specter and Tao refinements.

### Formula

```
Success Chance = RoomType ^ (item Tier + successful refinement count) * 2 if Sentient Soul Gem Cultivator

```

It is always preferable to refine in a Very Ominous Room with a Soul Gem Incarnated Sentient Spirit.

### Calculation Examples

In a Very Ominous Room, the chance of Specter Refining a T11 Sacred Talisman to a T12 with a regular Cultivator:

```
0.93 ^ (11 + 5) = 0.93 ^ 16 = 0.31313180 = 31%
```

In a Very Auspicious Room instead:

```
0.90 ^ 16 = 0.185302 = 18.5%

```

Big success chance hit for something so easy to fix.

The same refinement with a Sentient Gem Cultivator in a Very Ominous Room:

```
0.93 ^ 16 * 2 = 0.31313180 * 2 = 0.6262636 = 62%

```

## Average attempts to T12

The following are for Very Ominous Rooms, for reasons listed above.

## Mass Refining

### Obtaining Tribulation Ashe

Unlike Anguish Soul Gems, Tribulation Ashe cannot be farmed directly. Instead, killing any Character with high Condemnation results in a large amount of drops. This can be set up by provoking (Adventuring with low Sect Favor) an Evil Sect which results in Invaders attacking the Player Sect.

### Max Qi

The dialog screen allows queueing up to 30 instances of Specter Refinement (*see #Multiple Operation*) for 30,000 Qi each, requiring a maximum of 900,000 Max Qi. *Read more: Max Qi*

While at first this looks like a large number, it's very achievable with even the worst Tier 1 Golden Cores.

* Sunflower Refining Law has Earthbound Qi upgrades, which grant 225,000 Max Qi flat (210k is law-exclusive)
* There are several +1500%-4000% Max Qi increasing Manuals available for all Laws
	+ Certain Laws have additional exclusives
* Spirit Contracts increase Max Qi. Ideally a Frog, as it breaks through Qi Sense cap when Cultivator is of Primordial Spirit rank
* If it's not enough, it is possible to eat Tier 12 Sun Pills

## Mods

### Multiple Operation

* Multiple Operation (Mod) allows queueing Specter Refinements on multiple items in a single action.

### GreatPainter

* GreatPainter (Mod) has optional 100% Success Rate for Spiritual and Specter Refinement

## References

1. ↑ `XiaWorld.UILogicMode_IndividualCommand.CheckThing`
2. ↑ `XiaWorld.UILogicMode_IndividualCommand.CheckThing`
3. ↑ Settings\ThingDef\Item\Item\_Consumable\_SoulCrystal.xml
4. ↑ `XiaWorld.ToilAbsorbLing.get_ToilAnimation (lines 287-291)`
5. ↑ `XiaWorld.ToilAbsorbLing.get_ToilAnimation (line 292)`
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 `ItemThing.DoSoulCrystalYouPowerUp`
7. ↑ Sacred Talisman starts at T6, meaning it has had 5 successful refinements at T11