upgrade material
/ˈʌpɡreɪd məˈtɪəriəl/
CommonA resource collected specifically to power up or enhance existing gear or abilities.
Can refer to literally any material used in an upgrade system. Also used loosely to mean 'farm for upgrade stuff' as a gameplay goal.
Real-world examples4 examples
| # | Example | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | been farming this dungeon for 2 hours just for upgrade materials | Spent significant time grinding repetitive content to collect resources. | x, 2024 |
| 02 | don't waste your upgrade materials on gear you'll replace in two hours | Advising against using rare resources on temporary equipment. | youtube, 2023 |
| 03 | i have everything maxed except i'm still missing 3 upgrade materials for the last slot | Almost fully upgraded but blocked by a resource bottleneck. | reddit, 2023 |
| 04 | hoarder mindset: sitting on 500 upgrade materials and still won't use them | The speaker stockpiles resources but never actually spends them. | tiktok, 2024 |
Use it when
- You are farming or collecting items specifically to upgrade gear.
- Explaining what you are spending your time collecting.
- Describing the resource bottleneck for improving a character's power level.
Do not use it when
- The material is used to craft a new item from scratch.Use “crafting recipe” instead.
- You are talking about currency used to buy upgrades.
Origin and context
Standard terminology from RPG and action game upgrade systems. Widely used across genres from Monster Hunter to Destiny to Genshin Impact.
- First seen
- 2000s
- Confidence
- medium
Cite this page
Use this stable URL to reference the entry.
https://slang.fyi/upgrade-materialUpdated: 2026-08-29License: CC BY 4.0