How to Progress Your Gear at Level 36 in Blade & Soul NEO
Step 1: Acquiring Your First Soul Shield Set
Your first goal after reaching level 36 is to obtain a solid soul shield set. To do this, head east of Yara’s Mirage into the Desert Scorpion field, where you’ll find a field boss named Pinchy.
Defeating Pinchy rewards you with essences, which can be used to spin the nearby reward wheel. The wheel gives you a chance at soul shield boxes that form your initial set. If you are missing only one or two pieces, you can also purchase them directly from the merchant, though it costs more essences (about 5–6 each). Spinning the wheel first is always the more efficient choice.
Having this first soul shield set is crucial since it boosts your survivability and prepares you for the upcoming dungeons.
Step 2: Securing Your Weapon
Your weapon progression is the next priority. There are two main methods to acquire your weapon:
Faction Dailies
Join a faction early on to unlock faction dailies. Completing them rewards you with special faction tokens. With around eight tokens, you can purchase an early weapon from the faction merchant in Cinderlands. Make sure you choose the correct version—the one with the orange icon rather than the green one.
Transmutation with White Powders
An alternative path involves farming white powders, which are obtained by salvaging low-level dungeon accessories. At Jade Stone Village, there’s a small dungeon north of the area where the boss drops green accessories. Farm and salvage these until you accumulate 30 powders.
Once you have 30 powders, visit the merchant in Yara’s Mirage and purchase the crafting material box. This allows you to transmute your weapon. Keep in mind you’ll need 1 gold for this process. Importantly, do not waste resources crafting a blueprint—get the blueprint from your faction merchant through daily missions instead.
Weapon stats are randomized, so you may get different combinations of crit, HP, or sockets. If you’re lucky, you might even roll a soul socket early, which is an excellent boost.
Step 3: Collecting Accessories
Accessories play a big role in improving your damage and survivability. At level 36, you’ll mainly be farming two dungeons:
Daggerbreak Rookery (blue dungeon) – drops blue-tier accessories, which may have one to two skill slots.
Tomb of Exiles (purple dungeon) – drops purple-tier accessories with one to three skill slots.
Accessories are RNG-based, so you may need to run these dungeons multiple times to get useful pieces. Any duplicates or unwanted drops can be salvaged for materials or sold on the marketplace to earn NCoins. Keep an eye on the marketplace regularly—other players sometimes list rare accessories at low prices.
Additionally, you’ll obtain skill books from these bosses. Upgrading your skills is vital to maximizing DPS and preparing for tougher content like Tomb of Exiles.
Step 4: Farming the Infernal Lord Soul Stone
Once you’re geared enough to run Tomb of Exiles comfortably, aim to acquire the Infernal Lord Soul Stone. This item is extremely strong in the early game because it applies a powerful burn debuff that deals significant damage over time.
In PvP, the Infernal Lord Soul Stone is practically essential, as it provides the burst you need to compete while everyone’s base damage is still low. If your weapon has a socket, prioritize slotting this stone immediately.
Step 5: Soul Shields and Stats
Unlike the original Blade & Soul, the NEO version allows you to roll crit and crit damage on every soul shield piece. This means all eight slots can potentially carry offensive stats, making soul shield farming even more valuable. Keep salvaging extras and rerolling until you’re satisfied with your stats.
If you’re still lacking key class skills before diving deep into Tomb of Exiles, you can purchase them using Valor Stones at the Yara’s Mirage merchant. Avoid spending gold on Valor Stone boxes, though, since their drop rate is unreliable.
Step 6: Early Card Sets
Cards provide significant stat bonuses, and level 36 is the perfect time to start collecting them. Your first major set should include:
Hakan Card – easy to obtain and provides good base stats.
Golden Diva (purple) – the most difficult piece to get due to its low drop rate from the wheel. Most players prefer to farm NCoins and purchase essences to spin the wheel rather than farm the boss endlessly.
Desert Scorpion (blue) and Bulbar (blue) – easier drops compared to Golden Diva, and essential to completing your set.
Until you complete this full set, you can use smaller three-card sets as temporary upgrades.
Step 7: Managing Gold
Gold will become tight during this stage, especially with transmutation and card farming costs. This can be easily solved with a large amount of BnS Classic Divine Gems. Fortunately, many card sets and achievements reward hefty amounts of gold upon completion. Be sure to prioritize these activities whenever you find yourself running low.
Conclusion
At level 36, progression in Blade & Soul NEO is about building a strong foundation. Start with your soul shield from Pinchy, secure your weapon through faction dailies or transmutation, and then move on to farming accessories from Daggerbreak Rookery and Tomb of Exiles. Once your gear is in place, target the Infernal Lord Soul Stone and begin assembling your first full card set, with Golden Diva being your toughest grind.
This path ensures you’re fully prepared for the tougher content coming in the level 45 patch, which will expand your gear progression options even further.
———— Sep-12-2025 PST ————