THE FORGE
Build the right station
A Forge costs 10 Cut Stone + 4 Charcoal. You will need a Stonecutter for the masonry and a Smelter for ingots. A Forge makes new heads and blades; an Anvil is used for repair. They are not interchangeable.
For your first bronze pickaxe, bring three Bronze Ingots to the Forge. Once the head is finished, take it to a Workbench and fit a handle. Armor pieces do not need handles.
Shape within the heat band
Choose the recipe and design, heat the workpiece, and follow the target outline. Each metal has its own working range, shown by the gold band. Strikes outside that range increase stress. Light strikes within the band help reduce it.
Copper starts with fixed templates. Bronze adds width adjustment; iron adds length; steel and higher allow curved swords. Use the practice option in Help to learn the controls before committing better metal.
A piece that looks right can still carry stress. Reheat and use controlled strikes before finishing.
Choose a quench
Iron and higher tool heads and blades can be quenched. Plate armor cannot be quenched. Finish shaping first: the quench closes that part of the process.
| Quench at the right heat | Damage | Durability |
|---|---|---|
| Oil | Unchanged | +5% |
| Water | +8% | −5% |
Water is the more aggressive choice and can warp an uneven or overly hot piece. For steel, plan the temper as part of the same job: leaving quenched steel untempered carries a durability penalty.
Read the temper colors
Steel, Blacksteel and Star Iron can be tempered after quenching. The color reflects a different balance between damage and durability.
| Color | Heat range | Damage | Durability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straw | 40–50 | +5% | −8% |
| Bronze | 32–40 | +2% | Unchanged |
| Purple | 26–32 | Unchanged | +6% |
| Blue | 20–26 | −3% | +12% |
These heat values are game readings, not temperatures in degrees. Select the finish for the job: a durability-focused tool and a damage-focused weapon need not use the same temper.
Plan your metal before you travel
The mining progression runs from stone tools to bronze, iron and steel. Steel uses 3 Iron Ingots + 2 Charcoal; Star Iron has its own ingot recipe. Use the recipe calculator to prepare a batch without guessing the fuel.
