List of Material items

Materials are all items. They are used to upgrade the hero enhancement feature.

Uses
Materials are required in different amounts for upgrading hero gear to a higher level. Every upgrade of a piece of gear gives an extra +1 gear bonus when this item is equipped to a hero. Also, by upgrading a piece of gear, the maximum star level it can have is increased by 1, while the current star level (if any) is decreased by one. Therefore, it is recommended to save up gems and not use them or star levels until gears are at level 10.

Acquirement
The hardest thing to farm for in Evony seem to be materials. They drop extremely rarely from high level valleys. For most people, about 5 hours of farming will yield about 2-3 gems, with a loss of up to 800k warriors. The easiest way to get materials is to buy them in the shop from in-game cents.

Controversy
Obviously, when you do have to buy items for cents to become a big player on your server, people complain that the game is called Evony, free forever. However, on the other hand, Evony does not state that it is still free for you if you wnat to be a top player with a 15-set and lots of Historic Heroes. As materials do have a (very limited) drop rate, technically everyone could become a player with a lv. 15 star set.