Item breakdown turns spare gear into crafting materials, and those materials attach equipment perks to the gear you actually wear. It is the main sink for duplicate drops on Apex, and the main source of power that does not come from a better item.

Breaking an item destroys it permanently. There is no way to recover a broken item, so check before you confirm.

Breaking items down

Around 870 items can be broken down, each assigned a tier from 1 to 9. The tier decides how much material you get back, and the amounts grow sharply rather than evenly, so a single high tier item is worth many low tier ones.

Every break returns a mix of six materials:

Material	Role
Dull mineral	The bulk material, used by nearly every perk
Shiny mineral	Mid tier material for stronger perks
Glistening mineral	Top tier material for the strongest perks
Old enhancer	Common enhancer
Modern enhancer	Mid tier enhancer
Innovative enhancer	Rarest enhancer, needed for the highest perks

The breakdown interface shows the exact range you will receive for the item you have selected, already adjusted for your account, so check there before committing anything valuable.

What increases your yield

Two things multiply the materials you get back from every break:

Supporter rank	Yield
No rank	Normal
Bronze Supporter	+2%
Iron Supporter	+5%
Gold Supporter	+8%
Mithril Supporter	+10%
Adamant Supporter	+12%
Rune Supporter	+15%
Dragon Supporter	+18%
Supreme Donator	+20%

Combat achievement tier	Yield
Elite	+3%
Master	+5%
Grandmaster	+10%

Both stack. If you are close to a combat achievement tier, finish it before breaking down a large stockpile.

Equipment perks

Perks attach to a specific equipment slot and only work while that item is worn. Each perk has a tier from 1 to 5, a material cost, and a set of slots it is allowed on.

Attaching is a roll rather than a purchase. The four numbers below are your chance of landing each perk level, so a perk with a 3% chance at level 5 will usually land lower and need repeated attempts.

Weapon perks

Perk	Tier	Effect	Cost
Precision Strike	2	Chance to ignore target defence and deal a minimum hit based on your max	105 dull, 25 shiny, 2 modern
Elemental Fury	1	Extra damage with elemental spells	75 dull, 15 shiny, 3 modern
Elemental Convergence	2	Chance to cast an additional elemental spell	100 dull, 50 shiny, 4 old
Burning Wrath	3	Chance to apply a damage over time burn	100 dull, 60 shiny, 5 modern
Soul Reaver	4	Chance to hit based on the target's current health	100 shiny, 3 modern
Berserker Rage	4	Below 50% health, enter a rage for up to 80 ticks	50 shiny, 30 glistening, 5 modern
Berserker	5	Guaranteed max hit against a full health target	50 shiny, 60 glistening, 3 innovative

Armour perks

Perk	Tier	Slots	Effect	Cost
Immortal Fortitude	3	Helm, body, legs	Absorb incoming damage below 25% health	40 shiny, 2 modern
Jellified	5	Helm, body, legs	Chance to heal instead of taking damage	80 shiny, 45 glistening, 5 modern
Enhanced Soak	5	Helm, body, legs	1% damage soak per perk level	70 glistening, 2 innovative
Eternal Resilience	3	Shield	Chance to absorb 50% of incoming damage	150 dull, 45 shiny, 2 modern

Jewellery and accessory perks

Perk	Tier	Slots	Effect	Cost
Clue Hunter	2	Ring	Increased clue scroll chance from monsters	95 dull, 25 shiny, 3 old
Eternal Regeneration	2	Ring	Hitpoint regeneration rate divided by perk level	80 dull, 50 shiny, 2 modern
Treasure Hunter	5	Ring	+1% drop rate per perk level	150 shiny, 50 glistening, 2 innovative
Raid Unique Charm	5	Ring	+5% raid unique chance per perk level	95 glistening, 5 innovative
Time Manipulator	5	Amulet, ring	Chance to slow your target	150 shiny, 25 glistening, 3 modern
Spectral Guardian	5	Amulet	Chance to summon a guardian that heals nearby players	80 shiny, 60 glistening, 2 innovative

Other slots

Perk	Tier	Slot	Effect	Cost
Quick Step	1	Feet	Chance at Agility experience whenever you gain experience in any skill	65 dull, 3 old
Fully Loaded	1	Ammo	Chance to save a charge on items that use charges	75 dull, 1 old

Which perks to target first

Treasure Hunter is the single best long term perk in the game. At level 5 it is a flat +5% drop rate on everything you kill.
Quick Step is cheap, tier 1, and quietly trains Agility while you do anything else. Good early value.
Precision Strike is the most reliable damage perk to land, since its level 5 chance is higher than most of the tier 4 and 5 weapon perks.
Raid Unique Charm only pays off if you raid regularly, but +25% unique chance at level 5 is the largest single modifier available anywhere.

The strongest perks have the lowest chance of landing at level 5, often 2% or 3%. Budget for repeated attempts rather than expecting one attach to finish the job.

Where the materials come from

Gear you break is the only source, so the loop is: kill bosses, break the duplicates, attach perks, kill bosses faster. Duplicate raid and God Wars uniques sit at the higher tiers and are worth far more broken down than a low tier item, so resist breaking down early gear you might still want.