If you want to enhance equipment in Dragon's Dogma 2, you'll need gold and some specific materials, gained from plundering treasure chests and defeating enemies. You can upgrade both weapons and armor, so whether you want to deal more damage or make your character tankier, you have options—handy if you're struggling against specific monsters such as the cyclops.

Of course, if you're struggling, changing up your vocation might be helpful, or finding a different party set-up might give you the edge you need. If you're determined to squeeze out the full potential of your gear, however, here's where to enhance your equipment in Dragon's Dogma 2. 

Dragon's Dogma 2: How to enhance your equipment 

You can upgrade your gear at any place that has a forge, so look for armorers and weaponsmiths. You can access the enhancement menu by speaking to one of these NPCs, and it will show which stats will increase, as well as the cost for the upgrade. 

The first upgrade on a piece of equipment only requires gold, while subsequent improvements additionally cost materials, and a relatively small amount of gold. Just be aware that both the rarity of the required materials and the amount of gold needed will increase with better base gear. 

As an example, my Fluted Bow needed the following materials to upgrade it fully:

• First upgrade: 40 gold.
• Second upgrade: Two Rabbit Pelts, 97 gold.
• Third upgrade: Two Harpy Pinions, one Copper Ore, 243 gold.

Another thing to pay attention to is the region where you perform the upgrade. There are different smithing styles which skew towards particular stat weights. Vermundian, for example, has a fairly balanced stat distribution, whereas Battahli leans towards strength—so you wouldn't want to level up your mage's staff in Battahl as that smithing style doesn't increase your magick stat. 

There's likely a third smithing style that skews towards magick stats but I haven't been able to confirm so far. If there is a third smith, and they're region-based, it's likely that the last style would be in the Agamen Volcano Island region to the south of Battahl. I'll update this guide as soon as I discover anything.