In Diablo 4, crafting and item customization have been expanded to give players more control over their gear, allowing for deeper character optimization. Two key systems that play a Diablo IV Items major role in enhancing your equipment are Tempering and Masterworking. Understanding how these mechanics work is essential to squeezing every ounce of power from your weapons and armor.

This guide will walk you through the essentials of Tempering and Masterworking—what they are, how to perform them, and tips for maximizing their benefits.

What is Tempering?
Tempering is the process of upgrading your weapons and armor to increase their quality. In Diablo 4, quality directly affects the effectiveness of a piece of equipment, boosting its inherent stats and the power of affixes tied to that item.

For example, tempering a sword might increase its base damage or enhance the strength of a specific elemental damage modifier. The more you temper an item, the better it performs.

How to Temper Items
To temper an item, you need two things:

The item you want to temper (weapon or armor).

Tempering materials, which are crafting components gathered throughout your adventures.

You can temper items through the crafting menu, typically accessed at the Blacksmith or via the inventory crafting interface. Tempering consumes materials but raises the quality percentage, which can go up to a maximum limit depending on the item and your crafting skill level.

Benefits of Tempering
Increased Base Stats: Tempering improves the baseline attributes such as damage for weapons or armor rating for protective gear.

Amplified Affixes: Quality boosts the effectiveness of affixes tied to the item type, such as elemental damage, resistances, or life bonuses.

Foundation for Further Crafting: Higher quality gear is better suited for advanced crafting techniques, such as Masterworking.

What is Masterworking?
Masterworking is a special crafting process that lets you add unique, powerful affixes to your equipment. Unlike tempering, which enhances quality, masterworking focuses on imprinting an item with specific, often rare and impactful modifiers.

Masterworking allows you to tailor your gear toward your build’s strengths, giving you access to bonuses that can dramatically change gameplay.

How to Masterwork Items
Masterworking requires:

A piece of gear with sufficient quality (usually at least 10-20% tempered).

Masterworking materials—rare crafting components earned through endgame content, events, or from vendors.

Access to a crafting station or NPC that supports masterworking.

The process lets you pick from a pool of masterwork affixes or apply randomly generated ones depending on the item and crafting conditions.

Masterworking Affixes Examples
Increased chance to apply status effects like freeze or burn.

Boosts to specific skill damage or cooldown reduction.

Enhanced resource regeneration (mana, fury, etc.).

Damage mitigation against certain enemy types.

These affixes make masterworked gear highly sought after, especially for endgame builds.

Tips for Effective Tempering and Masterworking
Prioritize Tempering Early: Before you begin masterworking, maximize the quality of your base item. A well-tempered item has more potential and unlocks better affixes.

Save Masterworking Materials: Because these are limited and valuable, only apply masterworking affixes to gear you intend to use long-term.

Experiment With Affixes: Try different masterwork affixes on various items to find the perfect synergy with your skills and playstyle.

Combine With Other Crafting Systems: Use tempering and masterworking alongside enchanting, re-rolling, and reforging to craft the ultimate gear.

Final Thoughts
Tempering and Masterworking in Diablo 4 offer players a sophisticated crafting experience that rewards knowledge, patience, and strategic resource management. Tempering improves your gear’s baseline performance, while masterworking customizes it with powerful, build-defining affixes.

By mastering these systems, you can create gear that not only looks amazing but also significantly boosts your character’s effectiveness. Whether you’re a Diablo 4 Gold for sale casual adventurer or a hardcore grinder, investing time in tempering and masterworking will elevate your gameplay and help you conquer Sanctuary’s toughest challenges.