Getting every weapon to level 99 in ForgeTax sounds like an impossible grind, but there is a specific relic path that makes it genuinely achievable. This guide walks through the damage-flow build I used, from the early game where you’re scraping by on cheap relics, to the point where every sword can climb past 90 without breaking a sweat.
I’m writing this because the early game is where most people give up — you’re gambling on high-value swords, losing them to breakage, and feeling like the numbers are rigged. The damage-flow approach fixes that by trading controlled damage for lower break chances, and once it snowballs, the whole game opens up.
Core Relics to Prioritize
The foundation of this build is a set of relics that reduce break probability and convert breaks into damage. You don’t need all of them immediately — grab the core ones as they appear, fill in with cheap non-core relics to survive, and swap them out later once your engine is running.
| Relic | Effect | My Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Cracked Joint Plate | Damage reduces break chance | Essential |
| Giant’s Spine | Two damages convert into one break protection | Essential |
| Sturdy Iron Hoop | Break sign -2 | Essential |
| Ashen King’s Sheath | When a +7 sword breaks, permanently adds a sign before break for the rest of the run | Essential |
| Unfalling Cornerstone | Once per sword, a break becomes damage instead | Essential |
| Scythe and Hammer | All base signs become 5 | Essential |
Optional Non-Core Relics
While hunting for the core pieces, these help plug gaps without costing much. I’d grab whichever ones show up cheaply and not worry about holding them long-term — they’re stepping stones, not the foundation.
| Relic | Effect | My Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Deep Sea Pearl | Damage +3; two damages won’t drop level anymore | Optional |
| Dragon Scale Pliers | Break chance -25% for +6 and above | Optional |
| Phoenix Ash | Each sword can resist one break, losing 40% value | Optional |
| Thorn Weight | 2 sustain cards convert to damage | Optional |
| Black Rope Knot | Break chance -10% | Optional |
| Wire-Wrapped Sheath | First break each round becomes damage | Optional |
The Early Game: Play It Safe
In the opening stretch, your whole job is lowering break probability and trading damage for safety rather than chasing expensive swords. Lean on Cracked Joint Plate, Giant’s Spine, Sturdy Iron Hoop, and Unfalling Cornerstone to keep your break rate down. Don’t gamble on a high-value blade — just get one or two swords through their missions however you can, and slowly stockpile both swords and relics as you go. It feels slow, but the compounding matters more than any single sword.
The Mid Game: Where It Clicks
Once the core relics start landing — especially the Scythe and Hammer plus Sturdy Iron Hoop combo — break probability drops to around 3/23, roughly one in eight. At that point missions stop being stressful, and I switched focus to hoarding swords and hunting the real prize: Ashen King’s Sheath.
That sheath is the key to the late game. After all your base signs become 5 (with Sturdy Iron Hoop pushing break from 5 down to 3), the sheath permanently adds non-break signs for the rest of the run, which keeps driving the break chance lower and lower.
The Late Game: Let It Snowball
When break chance gets pushed down to roughly 5% — which works out to around 25 to 30 triggers of Ashen King’s Sheath — something satisfying happens. Without using a single item, swords reliably climb to around level 70 to 80, and with good luck they can hit 99 outright. Even when a break does trigger, there are two layers of safety net: Unfalling Cornerstone covers the first ten or so, and after that Giant’s Spine recharges off damage to catch the rest.
From here, pick a sword, heat it, open your auto-clicker, and let the forging run. Even a failed forge still helps, because Ashen King’s Sheath pushes the break chance lower each time. All that’s left is grinding every weapon up to 99 — and if one breaks at 90+, you can burn an item to rewind it, or just shrug and start the next sword if you don’t want the hassle.
The one problem I ran into late is purely logistical: there’s nowhere to put all those level 99 swords, so they end up scattered on the floor in a messy pile. Not pretty, but when the pile is full of 99s, I’ll take it.