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Blacksmith & Forge — Complete Guide

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Guide noticeThis page contains gameplay and story spoilers and may describe mature systems.

The Medieval Blacksmith Shop is where most of the player's combat gear gets built and improved. Gastoff handles weapons, armor, the four armor pieces, and every major construction project at the brothel. This guide covers every action available at his shop, every upgrade tier, the dungeon's secret rival blacksmith, and the related forge minigame for armor pieces. There are also a few non-blacksmith ways to upgrade gear that are worth knowing — those are listed at the end as cross-references.

Table of Contents

Quick Start

If you've just started the game and you walked into the Blacksmith Shop for the first time, an intro scene plays automatically — that's Gastoff introducing himself. After that, the full action list is available.

The most important things to know right away:

  1. Buy your starting sword and armor — $150 each, level 1 gear, available at both the Blacksmith Shop (Kings Demesne) AND the Village Market (Outskirts). They're identical purchases.
  2. Come back to the Blacksmith Shop to upgrade them through levels 2-5, with cost and material requirements rising at every tier.
  3. The Forge is a separate sub-screen at the Blacksmith Shop — a minigame-driven crafting station for four extra armor pieces (gauntlets, helmet, shield, pauldrons) that uses the ingots you mine at Mountain Foothills.
  4. Construction commissions for your brothel (courtyard, pool, menagerie, cell corridor, and individual cells) are all hired through Gastoff at his shop. They're huge gold sinks, gated by brothel reputation, and unlock entire new locations.

Locations

Blacksmith Shop (Kings Demesne, Medieval)

Open 6 AM – 9 PM. The main hub for everything in this guide. Reached by traveling to the Merchants Quarter and then to the Blacksmith Shop. Gastoff is here every day during open hours.

Village Market (Village Outskirts, Medieval)

Open 6 AM – 9 PM. A small village shop that — beyond its supplies and odds-and-ends — also sells the same level 1 sword and level 1 armor as Gastoff, at the same price. Useful when you're already in the Outskirts and don't want to travel.

The Village Market does NOT sell upgrades. For those you must go to the Blacksmith Shop in Kings Demesne.

Minotaur Blacksmith (Dungeon Floor 26)

A fixed encounter on floor 26 of the catacombs. He's a separate blacksmith with his own pricing, his own upgrade limits, and only accepts Dragon Coins as payment. Details further down.

Mountain Foothills (Village Outskirts, Medieval)

Not a blacksmith location — but this is where you go to get the iron, silver, and mithril ingots the Forge needs. Mining at the foothills is a minigame; see the Mining guide for details.

Buying Your First Sword and Armor

You start the game with no melee weapon and no armor (level 0). Both are bought as a one-time purchase that brings you up to level 1.

Action Cost Time Result
Sword $150 20 min Melee Weapon → Wooden Sword (lvl 1)
Armor $150 20 min Armor → Leather Armor (lvl 1)

Both actions are available at the Blacksmith Shop AND the Village Market. The action only shows up while you don't yet own the gear (so once you've bought a sword, the "Sword" action disappears and the "Upgrade Sword" action takes its place).

Wooden Sword and Leather Armor are basic gear, but they're a major step up from nothing — you'll want them before any serious dungeon attempt.

Upgrading Your Sword and Armor at Gastoff

The Blacksmith Shop is the ONLY place to upgrade your sword and armor through levels 2-5 in the standard way. (Levels 6-10 happen via the dungeon's Minotaur Blacksmith, the patron statue's Sylwithe rewards, and other special sources — see the Other Ways to Upgrade Gear section.)

The next-tier upgrade action only appears once you have the previous tier. So you'll see "Upgrade Armor" when you have level 1 armor, and after upgrading, the same slot transforms into the next tier's upgrade. This keeps the action list clean — only your CURRENT next upgrade is shown.

Sword & Armor Upgrade Path

Upgrade Cost Materials Time Result
Level 1 → 2 $250 30 common materials 20 min Bronze Sword / Chainmail Armor
Level 2 → 3 $600 20 rare materials 20 min Iron Sword / Plated Armor
Level 3 → 4 $1,200 10 epic materials 45 min Steel Sword / Knight Armor
Level 4 → 5 $10,000 40 common + 25 rare + 15 epic materials 20 min Mithril Sword / Royal Armor

(Costs above are per-piece — sword and armor are upgraded separately and each requires its own payment.)

Material tiers refer to the Materials resource pool you collect throughout the game (common, rare, and epic materials are tracked separately on the Supplies screen). Most early-game material drops are common; rare materials trickle in from dungeon tiles, ratmen, and certain shopping actions; epic materials usually require trades, Black Market deals, or deep dungeon runs.

Sword and Armor Tier Names by Level

Level Sword Armor
0 Wooden Club Tattered Rags
1 Wooden Sword Leather Armor
2 Bronze Sword Chainmail Armor
3 Iron Sword Plated Armor
4 Steel Sword Knight Armor
5 Mithril Sword Royal Armor
6 Enchanted Sword Bone Armor
7 Infernal Sword Infernal Armor
8 Runic Sword Divine Armor
9 Divine Sword Prismatic Armor
10 Celestial Sword Celestial Armor

Levels 6-10 are achieved through the Minotaur Blacksmith, supporter statue rewards, and other special encounters described later in this guide.

A Quick Note for the Tutorial Quest

One of the early tutorial quests, "Forged in Fire", asks you to upgrade your weapon to level 3. The reward is +2 Strength. Make sure your weapon (and not your armor) hits level 3 to claim the reward — the quest checks the melee weapon slot specifically.

The Minotaur Blacksmith (Dungeon)

Deep in the catacombs, on floor 26, there's a fixed 3×3 lava-ring chamber with a massive bull-headed blacksmith at the center. Stepping onto his tile triggers an upgrade scenario.

How He Works

  • Currency: Dragon Coins ONLY (no gold accepted)
  • Limits: He upgrades weapon and armor between levels 1 and 7 — anything below level 1 he calls "too crude" to work with, and anything at level 8+ he says is beyond his improvement
  • One upgrade per visit: Each time you encounter him, you can pick exactly one upgrade — sword OR armor, not both. Leave the dungeon and come back to upgrade the other.
  • The tile stays: Unlike most dungeon scenarios, the minotaur tile doesn't disappear — you can keep coming back as long as you have Dragon Coins.

His Pricing

The cost in Dragon Coins is 3 + (current level − 1):

Current Level Dragon Coin Cost
1 → 2 3
2 → 3 4
3 → 4 5
4 → 5 6
5 → 6 7
6 → 7 8
7 → 8 9

Total for upgrading sword AND armor from 1 to 8: 84 Dragon Coins (42 each).

Why You Want Him

The Minotaur is the primary path to levels 6, 7, and 8 on your weapon and armor — Gastoff caps out at level 5, and most other gear-upgrade sources hand out only one or two upgrades. If you want endgame-quality gear, you're going to spend a LOT of time farming Dragon Coins for the Minotaur.

Dragon Coins are earned through the guaranteed underwater coin on Floor 13, random coin tiles, and many dungeon scenarios. Floor 26 guarantees access to the Minotaur Blacksmith, not a Dragon Coin pickup, so arrive with coins already saved.

Gastoff's Forge — The Four Armor Pieces

Inside the Blacksmith Shop, there's an action called "Use the Forge". Selecting it opens a separate screen where Gastoff lets you craft four armor pieces using the ingots and clusters you've mined at Mountain Foothills.

The Forge is open during the same hours as the Blacksmith Shop (6 AM – 9 PM) and costs no time or money to access — only resources at the moment of crafting.

The Four Pieces

  • Gauntlets
  • Helmet
  • Shield
  • Pauldrons

Each is its own permanent key item you carry around. You can wear all four simultaneously — they don't compete for slots.

The Four Tiers

Each piece progresses through four tiers in order:

  1. Iron (entry tier)
  2. Silver (middle tier)
  3. Mithril (advanced tier)
  4. Gemmed (top tier — "Mastered")

When you forge a higher tier, the previous tier's key item is removed and replaced. So you'll only ever have ONE version of each piece in your key items at any given time, but you can wear all four pieces side-by-side.

Forge Costs

The first three tiers use the same formula for every piece — 10 ingots of the matching tier plus a number of mineral clusters:

Tier Cost
Iron 10 Iron Ingots + 1 Mineral Cluster
Silver 10 Silver Ingots + 2 Mineral Clusters
Mithril 10 Mithril Ingots + 3 Mineral Clusters
Gemmed 20 Silver Ingots + 20 Mithril Ingots + 10 Gems + 10 of a piece-specific monster drop

The Gemmed tier is the endgame step. Each piece demands 10 of a unique drop harvested from Infinity Dungeon monsters (15% drop chance per kill):

Piece Gemmed Drop Required
Gauntlets Void-Touched Fang ×10
Helmet Abyssal Eye ×10
Shield Shimmering Heartscale ×10
Pauldrons Gilded Heart ×10

Total for taking ALL four pieces from nothing to Mithril:

  • 40 Iron Ingots + 4 Clusters
  • 40 Silver Ingots + 8 Clusters
  • 40 Mithril Ingots + 12 Clusters

That's 120 ingots and 24 clusters total. Mithril is the rarest of the three ingots, so plan on grinding the mining minigame for a while if you want full Mithril gear. Going all the way to Gemmed on all four adds another 80 Silver + 80 Mithril Ingots, 40 Gems, and 40 Infinity Dungeon drops on top.

Reading the Forge Screen

Each of the four piece slots shows you:

  • Owned — the highest tier you currently own (or "None")
  • An image of the piece — greyscaled if you don't yet own any tier, full color if you do
  • A button labeled either "Forge [Tier]" (when you don't yet own that piece at any tier), "Upgrade to [Tier]" (when stepping up from one tier to the next), or "Mastered" (when you already own the Gemmed version)
  • The exact ingot and cluster cost

The button stays unclickable if you can't afford the cost. Your current ingot inventory is shown in the top-right of the screen so you can plan around it.

Where Ingots Come From

Mining at the Mountain Foothills is the only reliable source. The minigame's tiles drop iron, silver, and mithril fragments at varying rates, and 100 fragments roll over into 1 whole ingot. Mineral Clusters come from the gem-type tiles in the same minigame.

Some search encounters and dungeon rewards can give an occasional bonus ingot, but the bulk will come from mining sessions. See the Mining guide for the details on rates and best practices.

Brothel Construction Commissions

After you've taken over the brothel, Gastoff becomes your go-to contractor for major brothel expansions. These are huge gold sinks but unlock entire new sections of the property — both for housing workers and for capturing monster girls in the dungeon.

All construction is hired through the "Talk to Gastoff" style action list at the Blacksmith Shop, NOT through any brothel screen. Each one is a story plot — when you commission, time advances, money and materials are deducted, and a short scene plays. The new location is unlocked the moment the scene ends.

The Construction List (in order)

Project Cost Materials Brothel Rep Other Requirements
Courtyard $30,000 10 epic materials + 10 epic ingredients + 10 epic fabrics 5 —
Pool $200,000 25 epic materials + 25 epic ingredients + 25 epic fabrics 6 Courtyard built
Menagerie $2,000,000 50 epic materials + 50 epic ingredients + 50 epic fabrics 9 Courtyard built
Training Room $10,000,000 500 common + 200 rare + 75 epic of materials, ingredients, AND fabrics 9 —
Cell Corridor $1,000,000 35 rare materials + 35 rare ingredients + 35 rare fabrics 8 Raven recruited and active
Cell 2 $1,500,000 50 rare materials + 50 rare ingredients + 50 rare fabrics — Cell Corridor built
Cell 3 $2,000,000 25 epic materials + 25 epic ingredients + 25 epic fabrics — Cell 2 built
Cell 4 $2,500,000 30 epic materials + 30 epic ingredients + 30 epic fabrics — Cell 3 built
Cell 5 $3,000,000 35 epic materials + 35 epic ingredients + 35 epic fabrics — Cell 4 built
Cell 6 $3,500,000 40 epic materials + 40 epic ingredients + 40 epic fabrics — Cell 5 built
Cell 7 $4,000,000 45 epic materials + 45 epic ingredients + 45 epic fabrics — Cell 6 built

All commissions take 3 hours of in-game time (the menagerie takes 3 hours 20 min; the training room takes 4 hours). Materials, ingredients, and fabrics each have their own three-tier inventory (common / rare / epic) — the construction calls on the tiers as listed.

What Each Project Unlocks

Courtyard — A peaceful walled outdoor area behind the brothel. The pool, garden, and menagerie are all reached through here. Also raises the brothel decor level.

Pool — A deep pond inside the courtyard with underwater caves. Required before Sashimi the mermaid can leave the wild and move to the brothel.

Menagerie — A magical-warded enclosure for housing exotic creatures. Built jointly with Aziza — she handles the enchantments while Gastoff handles the construction. (Gives both Gastoff and Aziza +15 relationship.)

Training Room — A dedicated training hall at the brothel with elite trainers on staff. Once built, four training actions become available there: Train Strength, Train Stamina, Train Ability, and Train Mystic. Each costs $80,000 and 120 minutes (-50 energy, -50 calm) and grants a random +2 to +5 boost to that stat — repeatable with no daily limit, making it the fastest raw stat-grind in the game if you can fund it. (Completing the commission also gives +20 Gastoff relationship.)

Cell Corridor + Cell 1 — A secure underground corridor with seven planned cells for holding captured monster girls. Building the corridor automatically builds Cell 1 at no extra charge. This unlocks the cell-corridor exit from your dungeon and is the prerequisite for the entire monster girl capture system.

Cells 2-7 — Six additional cells for the corridor, each unlocked sequentially. They're commissioned individually and the price climbs steeply. Each new cell allows you to hold one more monster girl. Cell 8 is planned for a future update.

Why the Order Matters

Your brothel reputation must hit each project's threshold before that commission appears. Reputation grows as your brothel develops. Plan your priorities:

  • Courtyard is the unlock for everything outdoor — make this your first big purchase after the brothel is profitable.
  • Pool is gated by the courtyard but gives you Sashimi access, which is a major character unlock.
  • Cell Corridor requires Raven, who you recruit through her own dungeon questline. Until she's active and you have $1 million, the cells aren't an option.
  • Menagerie is the most expensive single project until you start adding cells, and it requires the highest brothel reputation in the list.

The cells together cost roughly $17.5 million if you build them all. Pace yourself.

Iron Ore & Mithril Ore Quests

The Fighters Guild quest board includes two retrieve quests that are flavored as Gastoff commissions:

  • Quest 3 — Iron Ore Sample: Collect 5 iron ore samples from dungeon floors 6-10. Reward: $150, 2 clout, 1 Crystal.
  • Quest 8 — Mithril Ore Sample: Collect 5 mithril ore samples from dungeon floors 16-20. Reward: $250, 3 clout, 1 Crystal.

Both quests are accepted and turned in at the Fighters Guild — Gastoff doesn't appear in person. The ore tiles spawn at a 50% chance per floor in the listed range while the quest is active. Step on a tile, fight a brief encounter, and the ore is added to your count.

These quests are part of the regular guild progression, not a separate Gastoff questline. See the Fighters Guild guide for the full quest board.

Talking to Gastoff (Stat Rewards)

Two repeatable / one-time action options on Gastoff give you stat boosts:

Talk to Gastoff

  • Cost: 10 min
  • Effect: +2 Gastoff relationship per conversation
  • Daily limit: 6 talks per day
  • The standard relationship-grinding action. Use this to climb his relationship stages so he opens up over time.

Forge Philosophy (one-time stat boost)

  • Cost: 30 min
  • Required: Communication 48+
  • Relationship: Stage "Known" or higher
  • Reward: +1 Strength permanently
  • One-time action. Talk philosophy with him about strength and the forge — and walk away with a permanent stat point.

Musclecraft Exchange (Body Builder only)

  • Cost: 40 min
  • Required: Body Builder proficiency (your character's starting profession)
  • Relationship: Stage "Acknowledged" or higher
  • Reward: +1 Attractiveness permanently
  • One-time, exclusive to the Body Builder build. A muscle-and-physique exchange between you and Gastoff that turns into a +1 Attractiveness reward.

Admire Armor

  • Cost: 5 min, +1 Calm
  • A cheap "look around" action available at the Blacksmith Shop. Useful when you have an extra few minutes and want to nudge your Calm stat up while you're in the area.

Other Ways to Upgrade Gear

The Blacksmith Shop is the main hub, but it's not the ONLY place gear can be upgraded. For completeness, here are the other upgrade paths in the game (none of these involve Gastoff directly):

Aziza's Magic Shop (Kings Demesne, Medieval) — Sells the Grimoire upgrade action. This takes your grimoire from level 1 to level 2 only ($1,000, 30 min). Higher grimoire levels come from special encounters.

Future Fringe Zone — All five tiers of ranged weapon upgrades happen here, not at the Blacksmith. The Blacksmith Shop only handles melee weapons and armor.

Patron Statue (Sylwithe rewards) — Dedicated supporters of the game can use crystal codes at the patron statue. Sylwithe's reward set includes +1 weapon level, +1 armor level, and +1 ranged weapon level rewards. These each push one level higher than the standard upgrade paths normally allow.

Search Encounters & Dungeon Scenarios — Several rare encounters across the game's search/dungeon system offer +1 grimoire, +1 weapon, or +1 armor as rewards for choosing a specific dialogue option. Examples include the wizard riddle encounter in the Back Alleys (grimoire) and the Void scenario in the deep dungeon (grimoire).

Crystal-redeemed plots — Some redeemable crystal-code plots include weapon or armor upgrades as part of their reward bundle.

If your goal is to reach max gear (level 10 sword, level 10 armor), you'll need a combination of: Gastoff (1-5), Minotaur Blacksmith (5-7 or 6-8), and a mix of patron rewards and dungeon scenarios for the final levels. There's no single source that takes you all the way.

Tips and Strategy

Early Game

  • Buy the Wooden Sword and Leather Armor before your first real dungeon run. $300 total at level 1 gear is one of the best damage/defense investments early on.
  • Do the "Forged in Fire" tutorial quest to grab a free +2 Strength as soon as you can afford the level 3 sword upgrade ($600 + 20 rare materials).
  • Don't ignore Admire Armor — 5 minutes for +1 Calm is genuinely useful filler when you're already at the shop.

Mid Game

  • Don't rush the Blacksmith Shop level 4 upgrade. The cost ($1,200 + 10 epic materials) is steep for what's a single level bump. You're better off saving the money for the brothel courtyard commission, which unlocks far more value.
  • Plan your epic material spending. Both the level 4 sword/armor upgrade and the Courtyard commission ask for epic materials simultaneously — don't burn them all on one and starve out the other.
  • Get to the Forge as soon as you have 10+ iron ingots and a cluster. Iron Gauntlets / Helmet / Shield / Pauldrons are extremely cheap relative to their combat value.

Late Game

  • The Minotaur Blacksmith is your endgame plan for sword and armor. Stockpile Dragon Coins. Floor 26 is reachable but not trivial — make sure you can survive the route there before committing.
  • The brothel cell commissions cost roughly $17.5 million all-in. That's enormous — make sure your daily brothel income is in the hundreds of thousands per day before you start chaining cells. Otherwise you'll burn months of in-game days saving up.
  • Mithril Forge gear is grindy. 40 mithril ingots is a LOT. Don't put off mining until the end — start banking mithril early so you have a stockpile by the time you can afford the upgrades.

Things Most Players Miss

  • The Village Market sells the same level 1 sword and armor as Gastoff. Useful when you're traveling through the Outskirts already.
  • Cell Corridor includes Cell 1 for free — you only pay for cells 2-7 individually after that.
  • The Forge action gives you four extra armor pieces beyond the main armor slot — these don't replace your main armor; they STACK with it.
  • Admire Armor doesn't require any other action to be unlocked — it's there from your first visit.
  • Gastoff lives at the Blacksmith Shop — he's there every day from 6 AM to 9 PM, no schedule complications.
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