How does Infusing work?
I'm aware of the general requirements for infusing a piece of gear:
- Target item must have the Infuse perk.
- Sacrificed item must be:
- Unlocked (available for disassembly)
- Not equipped
- Same general type (fit in same gear slot) as the target item
- Same year as the target item
- Minimum rarity rating of blue/"Rare"
- Higher Attack/Defense rating than the target item
- Player must have other required resources (Glimmer, Marks, etc.)
However, I haven't been able to find anything yet on exactly how Infusing works. Particularly I want to know:
- How much of an increase in Attack/Defense does Infusing grant?
- Are any other stats increased as well?
- Do any perks get transferred?
- Does the amount of difference in Attack/Defense between the two items affect how much of an increase is granted?
Solution 1:
Summarizing data gleaned so far:
1. How much of an increase in Attack/Defense does Infusing grant?
Approximately 80% of the difference between the values of the gear that is used. (See answer to #4 for more detail.)
2. Are any other stats increased as well?
Other stats may get a slight bump, to scale with the gear's quality, but the overall roll won't be substantially changed. Which stats see boosts, and by how much, hasn't been verified.
3. Do any perks get transferred?
No.
4. Does the amount of difference in Attack/Defense between the two items affect how much of an increase is granted?
Yes. The formula is roughly N = O + ((I - O) * 0.8), where:
- N is the new Attack/Defense value for the item being boosted.
- O is the original Attack/Defense value for the item being boosted.
- I is the Attack/Defense value of the item being disassembled for infusion.
Some sort of rounding is done when the formula does not put out a whole number value for N. The rounding logic that is used (or even if the rounding is predictable at all) has not yet been definitively verified.
The minimum boost is 1. Logically, this reduces the likelihood that "round down" is being used since that would require hard-coding the minimum. (Not really a big deal, but probably best to avoid if possible.)
Indeed, some players have reported "round up" being used while others report cases of "round down". This would make "round to nearest" seem to be the most likely candidate, but I personally have had mixed results and haven't been able to nail it down.
Further testing and input would certainly be appreciated.
Solution 2:
There's been a lot of discussion and experimentation on this posted on Reddit
Specifically this thread
To answer 1 and 4 here is what the above thread says (paraphrased slightly):
New Value = Original Value + ((Infuse Target - Original) * 80%) Rounding up where appropriate and with a minimum increase of 1
Solution 3:
As you play more and more, the value of legendary marks will diminish. With this in mind, it is best to simply give in and upgrade gear as you go instead of hoarding them.
If you plan to save, the best piece to buy with your legendary marks if you are at a low light level is the 280 ghost shell.
Okay, so we are past hoarding and now into spending marks with disregard. In order to maintain a solid piece of legendary gear, it will need to be infused.
Infusing does not change the roll on the gear. Infusing will increase the stats of the gear slightly to scale depending on the increase but will not change the type of stats. Infusing will give roughly 80% (plus rounding, which seems to be normal rounding, so above .5 rounds up, below rounds down, and .5 rounds to the nearest even number - to note though, .5 is impossible to reach when multiplying a whole number by .8) of the different in light (which is to say that a difference of 100 yields +80).
Infuse often, and make sure that you save some of your higher light blues in order to raise up gear which may be quality but not quite high enough to use.
Exotics can be infused, even with blues. Legendaries can be infused, even with blues (or exotics, or legendaries).
Infusing will open an interface (so you can click it and then look at the interface before use). The interface will hold a set of that same slot gear which has a higher light level than the piece to be infused. Then you must hold x on the selected piece to dismantle it (this destroys the other piece) and the upgraded light level is shown once complete.
The only thing that infusing increases is stat numbers and light level.