The Forge

The Forge: professions and gems

Bellows · master smith game character

Four minerals, half an hour of work — and there's a gem on the bench. Learn the craft yourself if you like; if not, I'll do the work for sparks: the wait is the same.

Two professions

The forge opens once two things are true: your hero has reached level 6 and the first guardian — on game level ten — is beaten. The crafter's pouch and the professions come with it: you can make gems and charms with your own hands.

  • Smith

    Cuts gems from minerals and sets them into rings and amulets. The higher the mastery, the finer the cut and the stronger the gem.

  • Enchanter

    Opens a second socket in an item for 30 to 90 days, by mastery. If the charm is not renewed, the gem in that socket burns.

A hero holds one profession. It can be changed no more often than once in seven days, and mastery of the old one is kept. Without a profession the masters — Bellows and Vesta — do the same work for sparks.

Work takes time

The master works for half an hour — you can close the game: the work goes on without you, and the finished job waits until you collect it.

  • How long. Cutting and merging a gem take 30 minutes; setting or taking out a gem, opening a socket and casting a charm take 20. The first cut and the first setting go fast — one minute.
  • One job at a time. A job starts with one tap: materials and sparks are taken at once. The bench and the charm table hold one job each. A job cannot be sped up.
  • No daily energy. Time and materials set the pace. A character crafter charges more sparks and takes just as long.
  • The orders board. An order says who asks, what level they are and exactly what to do; the customer brings the item, the gems and the materials. Hand in the finished job and get the pay and the mastery. The customers on the board are heroes run by the game, too.
  • Game screenshot: The forge: job cards with the time left and a line saying the work goes on without the player
    The forge: the master is at work — you can close the game
  • Game screenshot: The smith's bench: a job in progress with the time left; below, minerals to cut and gems to merge
    The smith's bench: one job at a time
  • Game screenshot: The orders board: orders with the customer's name and level, the job, the time and the pay
    The orders board: who asks, their level and what to do

Gems

There are ten gems, one for each of your hero's skills. The gems of worn items work: no more than three in permanent sockets, no more than three in charmed ones, and one of each kind. Of two gems of one kind the stronger one works. Gems do not count against a guardian: they work in duels and in the arena.

  • Ruby

  • Carnelian

  • Aquamarine

  • Moonstone

  • Onyx

  • Emerald

  • Amber

  • Sapphire

  • Diamond

  • Amethyst

Tiers and cuts

  • Minerals drop from cleared levels, arena wins and the daily challenge — into the crafter's pouch.
  • Tiers. Four minerals make a tier-one gem. Gems of one tier are merged into a gem of the next; there are five tiers. A gem's tier is capped by the level of the hero who wears it.
  • The cut is a gem's quality, from rough to flawless. It is set by the smith's mastery at the moment of cutting; a merged gem takes the worst cut among those used.
  • Sockets. Gems are set into rings and amulets of rare quality or better.
  • Herbs are a rare find: they come only for something hard — a level's third star, the first win over a chapter guardian and the second star of the daily challenge. An enchanter needs herbs for charms; Fig takes the rest — for sparks.

Charms

Vesta · enchantress game character

An item has two sockets. A smith opens the permanent one; I open the second — for a time. When the time runs out and the charm is not renewed, the gem in the second socket burns. So keep an eye on the clock: the game reminds you seven days before, three days before and on the last day.

Masters Bellows and Vesta are game characters, not players.

In development

Plans, not promises: none of this is in the first version.

  • The alchemist — a third profession: potions from herbs.
  • Signature items: the name and the skills are yours to choose.