i got 2 gear pieces to lv 8 now 1st in last event and now another one level 7 always seems to take almost full amount of refines to finish at least for me so if you wanna go to lv 8 better start with a lv 5 and a whole load of saved up refines so you can take advantage of the wish credits.I recommend at least 100 medium and like 150-200 advanced if you are going for lv 8. Most people will need to win reliably in sage to do this.

If your full f2p its not really viable but sometimes they do a limited sale thing where they sell medium refines at something like 50% off if not more and you can buy 30 med refines this way . If you can afford it its the best way to get med refine runes its 2/2 i think times you can buy it. Other than the montly coupons its probably one of the best ways to spend ingots on.