The main goal of Blacksmithing Crafting in The Elder Scrolls Online is to craft weapons and heavy armor. For that you need specific blacksmithing materials that you can find in the open world.
What does a Blacksmith do?
A Blacksmith mines the mountains of Tamriel for the metals they need to work their craft. Blacksmiths use these raw resources at a Blacksmithing Station. One of the many anvils commonly found in cities and towns throughout Tamriel. Here they can refine metal ores into metal ingots, improve existing items, research new traits, and deconstruct weapons and armor they have found throughout their journeys.
A skilled Blacksmith will always seek to learn new techniques to better their skills at the forge. Finding special crafting motifs is the key to learning new armor and weapon styles, and researching traits allows for the creation of more powerful weapons and armor.
How do I recognize Metals?
Here you can see a character mining a Rubedite Ore which contained 3 Rubedite Ore, a Grain of Pearl Sand and a Platinum Dust in it. Rarely you can also find non blacksmithing related items in an ore that are used for other purposes, in this case here Platinum Dust which is used for Jewelry Crafting whereas the Grain of Pearl Sand which is part of the Order of the Hour Style.
Refining metals
By refining ore you will create an ingot that will be used to craft items. In our case here, we refine Rubedite Ore, which will turn into Rubedite Ingot, this is the material that is used to craft Champion Points Level 150 & 160 gear.
The following metals currently exist:
Name | Level |
Iron Ingot | 1-14 |
Steel Ingot | 16-24 |
Orichalcum Ingot | 26-34 |
Dwarven Ingot | 36-44 |
Ebony Ingot | 46-50 |
Calcinium Ingot | Champion Points 10-30 |
Galatite Ingot | Champion Points 40-60 |
Quicksilver Ingot | Champion Points 70-80 |
Voidstone Ingot | Champion Points 90-140 |
Rubedite Ingot | Champion Points 150-160 |
Creation Process
The creation process works similarly. In our example here, we want to craft a greatsword at Champion Points Level 160. We use a basic Breton style in combination with the trait Charged. That will give us a Breton Style greatsword with the charged trait.
You can craft the following things at the Blacksmithing station:Weapons
- 1H Axe
- 1H Mace
- 1H Sword
- 2H Battle Axe
- 2H Maul
- 2H Greatsword
- 1H Dagger
Apparel
- Heavy Chest
- Heavy Sabatons
- Heavy Gauntlets
- Heavy Helm
- Heavy Greaves
- Heavy Pauldrons
- Heavy Girdle
Deconstruct Process
You can also deconstruct weapons and apparel via the Deconstruct Tab. You can multi select items to deconstruct many at the same time. Once you deconstruct an item, you will regain some of the materials, and gain some blacksmithing experience. When you deconstruct an item, make sure to have the passive Metal Extraction active, which will increase the amount of materials you can extract.
Improvement Process
You can also improve the quality of your weapons or apparel. You always start out with the normal white quality. There are a few more:
Quality | Color | Item |
Normal | White | Base |
Fine | Green | Honing Stone |
Superior | Blue | Dwarven Oil |
Epic | Purple | Grain Solvent |
Legendary | Gold | Temperin Alloy |
Research Process
To be able to craft weapons & apparel with certain traits, you need to research them first! The first few traits that you research won't take long. However, the further down the list you go, the longer it will take. As a new player it is especially important to research traits all the time!Trait Research Time:
- 1st Trait: 6 hours
- 2nd Trait: 12 hours
- 3rd Trait: 24 hours
- 4th Trait: 48 hours
- 5th Trait: 96 hours (4 days)
- 6th Trait: 192 hours (8 days)
- 7th Trait: 384 hours (16 days)
- 8th Trait: 768 hours (32 days)
- 9th Trait: 1536 hours (64 days)
Diagrams Furnishing
The Blacksmithing Table is also used to create certain furnishings. The tab is called "Diagrams".
Crafting a furnishing works the same as crafting a weapon or armor. You need to make sure to have the right materials, if that is the case you can craft the furnishing. In this example here we crafted the Khajiit Brazier, Claw. Once we crafted it we can place it in our home.
Conclusion
Blacksmithing is an important tool in ESO to create powerful weapons & apparel and even more important, upgrade the quality and strength of your items. This guide explained the basics, lets move on to more advanced topics in the next section of the guide.