iron ore and blacksmithing

[Shinoskay]

So, I've finally got back to iron ore, went pretty fast this time... was at iron on the multiplayer server before I lost my char data switching to dev for the meet up.

this is really the first time ive gotten to iron (usually I've kept at tin because of weight preference). What EXACTLY factors into success?

I imagine the anvils tier level, what about the hammer tier level? skill, naturally... but what else?

I'm trying to find the best just before iron set up to allow me to break into iron itself. I just wasted like 20 iron ingots trying to make an anvil... tried cheeping the game using task manager to avoid save on quit but the game some how laughed in my face and told me im going to suffer the iron loss and be happy about it (which is fair).

So, trying to do this right.

Just made a wruaght iron anvil because I can de assemble that and iron ingot it after it helps me make an iron anvil. i have an iron hammer... and a basalt furnace. Ive seen that the anvil can actually have quality but dunno if wasting twine on wraught im just going to reforged is worth it even if it helps me break into iron tools (and thats all its going to get me, tools, Im going iron tools and bronze gear... cause meta).

Suggestions and guidance please... I've got a lot of islands to get talc, lime, and ore from but would rather not keep breaking ingots just spamming .1 percent failures.

[Shinoskay]

Wait, I just realized bronze gives higher tier tools? What... so is it bronze, and not iron, thats end game!?

[Mr. X]

Yes, with some Tools Bronze is better than Iron. In my opinion endgame is both, iron and bronze. When you compare Iron/Bronze Tools in the Crafting menue, you see the Tier level. But in most cases Bronze is better (maybe because Iron is cheaper to craft)

Edit: But i dont know how the magical property "Aptitude" works. Is a Bronze Knife (Butcher Tier XI) with Aptitude x3 better than a Iron Knife (Tier X) with Aptitude x4?

[Owlie]

Irc, Iron still makes for better hammer and armor. Bronze is also much heavier in comparison

[Shinoskay]

Originally posted by Owlie:

Irc, Iron still makes for better hammer and armor. Bronze is also much heavier in comparison

yes, iron is better for anvil. basalt is also better for furnace and kilns.

[King Smidgens]

You want to find items that have the highest Roman numeral on them.

Like an Iron Hammer is a "Hammer IV" or whatever and Bronze is only "Hammer III" - another pro for the Iron Hammer is that it's actually easier to make. Lower crafting difficulty increases your odds of getting that in quality. While quality doesn't improve the "Hammer" in this instance, it will improve the Crafting efficacy a bit. Definitely worth it. It will tick up the direct usage things like "Repair IV" would be "Repair V" if it's Superior (Green) quality.

I'd recommend going Copper first with high quality and if you can, get Aptitude on tools. Tongs, Hammer, high quality Cast Flask - Clay is good, but Basalt would be a little better. Copper, being easy to work with, will be much easier to get properties like the aforementioned Aptitude on. This will at least double the effectiveness and is well worth it.

Anvils and Furnaces can't get Aptitude, but high quality will make a difference. Clay is Furnace II but will be easy - relatively - to Masterwork. I'm not sure if the higher Fire Source on Basalt would help or not, if it does, Basalt would be a little better but I'm unsure to what degree, if it's harder to Masterwork.

Mastering the skill and using items to go over 100 will help A LOT. Turning Bones into Bone Poles and Sharpened Bones will give you a good chance at getting things you can hold in your hands for skill bonuses. I found making/disassembling Tin/Copper/Wrought Iron - the latter of which doesn't take Talc to smelt) - being pretty easy to craft, resulted in high quality items that made chasing 125%+ Blacksmithing a lot easier at that point.

[Mr. X]

I can recommend this guide if you have not see it yet:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2508489381