Before diving into glyphs and runes, it's important to Last Epoch gold Crafting isn't just about upgrading understand which items can be crafted:

Set Items: Cannot be crafted, but they can be shattered for affix shards.

Unique Items: Usually cannot be crafted, though some mechanics allow rerolling affix ranges in special cases. If a unique has Legendary Potential, it can be combined with an exalted item of the same base in the Temporal Sanctum dungeon. The higher the Legendary Potential, the more affixes can transfer.

Exalted Items: These are the backbone of Last Epoch crafting. Not only are they powerful on their own, but they're also the key ingredients in creating legendary gear by merging with unique.  Having enough Last Epoch gold can help you get it well.

Every item has Forging Potential (FP), which acts as crafting fuel. Once FP reaches zero, no further crafting can be done on that item.

Glyphs

Glyphs modify crafting outcomes and are consumed during the process. Here's how they work:

Glyph of Hope: The most commonly used glyph. Grants a 25% chance that crafting won't consume FP. Essential for extending the life of valuable items.

Glyph of Chaos: Changes one affix into a different one when upgrading. Useful for replacing unwanted stats, but risky if it alters something you want to keep.

Glyph of Order: Prevents a stat from rerolling within its range. Best used when a desirable affix is already maxed out and you don't want to lose the perfect roll.

Glyph of Despair: Seals a low-tier affix, freeing up its slot while preserving it as a "sealed affix." This opens space for better stats and is critical in advanced crafting strategies. Sealing is more reliable on Tier 1-2 affixes; Tier 3 is rare, and Tier 4 is nearly impossible.

Glyph of Envy: Converts item stability into timeline progression. Niche use, mostly for speeding up Monolith progression or alt leveling.

Runes

Runes are more powerful than glyphs and often reshape an item entirely.

Rune of Shattering: Destroys an item and converts its affixes into shards. Core tool for stockpiling crafting resources.

Rune of Removal: Removes one random affix but returns all its shards. Very effective on items with only one or two affixes.

Rune of Refinement: Rerolls the numeric values of affixes without changing tiers. Useful for pushing Tier 7 exalted affixes toward their maximum rolls, especially before slamming into uniques.

Rune of Discovery: Adds random affixes to an item with open slots at no FP cost. Fantastic for early-game gearing, but rarely useful at endgame.

Rune of Shaping: Rerolls an item's implicit values. Best used on leveling gear where implicits (like crit multiplier on daggers) can make a big difference.

Rune of Ascendance: Transforms a normal item into a random unique of the same type. Great for target farming non-boss uniques, especially when combined with Circle of Fortune bonuses.

Rune of Weaving: Advances Weaver's Will on special items, instantly applying the random affixes you would normally gain by playing with them. Saves time but doesn't guarantee useful results.

Rune of Havoc: Shuffles the tiers of affixes on an item. This can move a powerful T7 affix into a desirable stat slot, unlocking endgame crafting potential.

Rune of Redemption: Rerolls exalted affixes into different ones. Useful for "fixing" double exalted items with poor stat rolls.

Rune of Creation: The rarest and most powerful rune. It duplicates an item, but sets FP on both copies to zero. Essentially, Last Epoch's version of a Mirror of Kalandra in Path of Exile-reserved for the best items you'll ever craft.

Advanced Strategies

Crafting isn't just about upgrading affixes; it's about knowing when to use each tool:

Shatter for Resources - Shatter every non-exalted rare with good affixes. Build a shard bank so you're never short on cheap Last Epoch gold key stats.