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The Forge’s spear line runs six craftable weapons, and the Steel Spear is the best value for most players: 4 Steel Ingots, 1 Oak Haft and 2 Linen Wraps turn into a 26-damage weapon with 2.7 m of reach in about 90 seconds of forge time. If you are already farming the Cinder Caverns, skip ahead to the Blacksteel War Spear — 6 Blacksteel Ingots, 1 Ironwood Haft and 1 Resin Binding — which is the highest base damage spear in the current build at 41. Below is every spear recipe with its materials, the crafting steps in order, the stat outcomes, and the shortest routes to the materials each one eats.
Quick comparison: all six spears
| Spear | Best for | Core materials | Forge time | Base damage | Reach | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron Spear | First weapon, levels 1–10 | 3 Iron Ingot, 1 Ash Haft, 1 Leather Cord | 45 s | 18 | 2.6 m | 2.1 kg |
| Steel Spear | General PvE, best overall value | 4 Steel Ingot, 1 Oak Haft, 2 Linen Wrap | 1 min 30 s | 26 | 2.7 m | 2.4 kg |
| Hunter’s Spear | Throwing, hunting, kiting | 2 Steel Ingot, 1 Ash Haft, 1 Balanced Counterweight, 1 Leather Cord | 1 min 15 s | 21 (14 thrown) | 2.5 m | 1.9 kg |
| Blacksteel War Spear | Boss fights, PvP, endgame | 6 Blacksteel Ingot, 1 Ironwood Haft, 1 Resin Binding, 1 Iron Pin | 4 min | 41 | 2.9 m | 3.3 kg |
| Embersteel Spear | Fire-weak enemies, cold zones | 5 Embersteel Ingot, 1 Ironwood Haft, 1 Ember Core, 1 Resin Binding | 6 min | 38 + 9 fire | 2.8 m | 3.1 kg |
| Steel Pike | Group play, holding chokepoints | 7 Steel Ingot, 1 Oak Haft, 1 Iron Band, 1 Linen Wrap | 2 min 45 s | 30 | 3.6 m | 4.6 kg |
Quantities above match the in-game recipe panel in the current build. Recipe values are rebalanced between patches, so confirm the panel before you commit rare materials such as Ember Cores.
The full spear recipe list
Iron Spear — the recipe you should forge first
Materials: 3 Iron Ingot, 1 Ash Haft, 1 Leather Cord.
Station: Forge (tier 1), no anvil upgrade required.
Outcome: 18 damage, 2.6 m reach, 2.1 kg, 120 durability.
It is cheap enough to lose without regret and it teaches the socket-and-pin assembly you will repeat on every later spear. Trade-off: the soft iron head blunts fast — expect the edge to drop one damage tier after roughly 200 hits.
Steel Spear — best overall for the mid game
Materials: 4 Steel Ingot, 1 Oak Haft, 2 Linen Wrap.
Station: Forge (tier 2) with the Blast Furnace running for the ingots.
Outcome: 26 damage, 2.7 m reach, 2.4 kg, 220 durability.
Steel ingots are the bottleneck, not the wood. Each Steel Ingot costs 2 Iron Ingot plus 1 Coal at 20 seconds smelt time, so one Steel Spear is really 8 Iron Ingot, 4 Coal and about 2 minutes of furnace time before you touch the anvil. The trade-off versus Blacksteel is damage ceiling; the trade-off versus Iron is roughly 40 percent more material for 44 percent more damage.
Hunter’s Spear — throwing and hunting
Materials: 2 Steel Ingot, 1 Ash Haft, 1 Balanced Counterweight, 1 Leather Cord.
Outcome: 21 damage melee, 14 damage thrown, 2.5 m reach, 1.9 kg — the lightest spear in the line.
The Balanced Counterweight shifts the centre of mass back, which is what makes the throw arc predictable. It is the only spear worth carrying if you plan to hunt moving prey; on a straight melee build the lower reach and damage make it strictly worse than the Steel Spear.
Blacksteel War Spear — best for bosses and PvP
Materials: 6 Blacksteel Ingot, 1 Ironwood Haft, 1 Resin Binding, 1 Iron Pin.
Station: Forge (tier 3) with Blast Furnace; Blacksteel requires the tier-3 smelting unlock.
Outcome: 41 damage, 2.9 m reach, 3.3 kg, 380 durability, armour-piercing on the thrust.
This is the highest-damage spear in the current build and the only one with an armour-piercing modifier, which is why it dominates duels. Trade-off: 3.3 kg and a slow wind-up make it punishing against fast, mobile enemies — you commit to every thrust.
Embersteel Spear — best against fire-weak enemies
Materials: 5 Embersteel Ingot, 1 Ironwood Haft, 1 Ember Core, 1 Resin Binding.
Outcome: 38 physical + 9 fire damage, 2.8 m reach, 3.1 kg, 340 durability, applies Burning for 4 seconds.
The Ember Core is a rare drop rather than a craftable, so this spear is gated behind drop luck as much as materials. Against fire-resistant bosses it is a straight downgrade on the Blacksteel War Spear; against anything in the frozen zones it out-damages it comfortably.
Steel Pike — reach over damage
Materials: 7 Steel Ingot, 1 Oak Haft, 1 Iron Band, 1 Linen Wrap.
Outcome: 30 damage, 3.6 m reach, 4.6 kg, 260 durability, cannot be thrown.
The Iron Band reinforces the haft against the leverage of a 3.6 m shaft. It exists for group content — standing behind a shield line and poking past it. Solo, the weight and the 0.9-second wind-up cost more than the extra reach earns.
How to craft a spear, step by step
- Smelt your ingots first. Forging pulls from your inventory, not from ore, so run the Blast Furnace before you queue the recipe — otherwise the Forge silently stalls mid-craft.
- Queue the recipe at the Forge and confirm the material list. The panel locks in the exact ingot count; adding a haft type it does not expect (Ironwood on a Steel Spear) wastes the haft rather than upgrading the result.
- Heat and hammer the head blank. This is the forge-time phase shown in the table. Do not leave the station mid-phase — the timer resets and you lose the coal you already spent.
- Draw out the socket. The socket, not the blade, determines whether the head stays on. A head with a poor socket loses durability roughly twice as fast no matter how good the steel is.
- Quench, then temper. Quenching alone gives a hard but brittle head; the temper pass is what stops it shattering on armour. Skipping it is the single most common reason a freshly crafted spear breaks within a session.
- Seat the haft and align the grain. Ash flexes, oak is neutral, ironwood is stiff. Run the grain along the shaft, not across it, or the haft splits at the socket under a heavy thrust.
- Bind and pin. Wrap the binding tight, then drive the iron pin through socket and haft. The pin is a cheap component that prevents the most expensive failure mode in the game: losing the head mid-fight.
- Finish with resin or oil. The finish slows durability loss from wet and cold zones and costs one Resin Binding or one Oil Flask.
Efficient material routes
| Material | Source | Typical yield | Used by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iron Ingot | Ironhold Mine nodes, shallow caves | 12–16 per 15-minute run | Iron Spear; smelted up into Steel |
| Coal | Surface seams, common mob drops | 20+ per run | Every steel and blacksteel smelt |
| Steel Ingot | Blast Furnace: 2 Iron + 1 Coal, 20 s each | 3 per minute of furnace time | Steel Spear, Pike, Hunter’s Spear |
| Obsidian Shard | Cinder Caverns, deep nodes | ~8 per 20-minute run | Blacksteel smelting |
| Blacksteel Ingot | Blast Furnace: 2 Steel + 1 Obsidian Shard, 45 s each | 1 per 45 s plus materials | Blacksteel War Spear |
| Ironwood Haft | Northern grove; requires a Steel Axe | 4–6 hafts per run | Blacksteel, Embersteel |
| Linen Wrap | Tailoring: 2 Flax per wrap | Craftable anywhere | Steel Spear, Pike |
Worked example: one Blacksteel War Spear needs 6 Blacksteel Ingots, which is 12 Steel Ingots, which is 24 Iron Ingots and 12 Coal. Add 6 Obsidian Shards, 1 Ironwood Haft and 1 Resin Binding. At the yields above that is roughly 26 minutes of iron farming, 15 minutes in the Cinder Caverns, and 4.5 minutes of furnace time — about 45 minutes of gathering per spear if you start from raw ore. That is why most players forge the Steel Spear first and bank the blacksteel materials for a single endgame weapon rather than a set.
Durability, repairs and the mistakes that ruin spears
The head is almost never what wears out first. In practice the binding fails around 120 hits, the haft around 250, and the head only past 400. Repair costs scale the same way: one Linen Wrap or Resin Binding for the binding, one matching haft for the haft, one matching ingot for the head. Replacing a binding early costs a fraction of what a snapped haft costs, so top up the wrap whenever you return to base.
Common mistakes worth avoiding: quenching without tempering (brittle head, early shatter); using an Ash Haft on a heavy head (flexes and splits at the socket); skipping the Iron Pin (the head detaches, and the head is the expensive part); and forging the Embersteel Spear for fire-resistant bosses, where its physical damage alone leaves it behind the Blacksteel War Spear.
Which spear should you forge? Decision matrix
| Your situation | Forge this | Why |
|---|---|---|
| First 10 levels, low materials | Iron Spear | Cheap enough to lose; teaches the assembly |
| Mid game, steady PvE | Steel Spear | Best damage per material in the line |
| Hunting and kiting | Hunter’s Spear | Lightest, predictable throw arc |
| Bossing or duelling | Blacksteel War Spear | Highest damage, armour-piercing thrust |
| Frozen zones, fire-weak enemies | Embersteel Spear | Fire damage plus a 4-second Burning |
| Group play, holding a line | Steel Pike | 3.6 m reach behind a shield wall |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best spear in The Forge?
The Blacksteel War Spear has the highest base damage at 41 and the only armour-piercing thrust, making it the strongest duelling spear. For most players, though, the Steel Spear is the better craft — it delivers 26 damage for roughly a third of the materials and forge time, and it is easy to replace when it breaks.
How many Blacksteel Ingots do you need for the Blacksteel War Spear?
Six. Each Blacksteel Ingot is smelted from 2 Steel Ingots plus 1 Obsidian Shard, so the full spear effectively consumes 12 Steel Ingots, 24 Iron Ingots, 12 Coal and 6 Obsidian Shards, plus the Ironwood Haft, Resin Binding and Iron Pin.
Can you craft a spear without a Forge?
No. Every spear recipe requires a Forge station, and the higher tiers require an upgraded Forge plus the Blast Furnace for steel and blacksteel ingots. Wood and leather components such as hafts, Linen Wraps and bindings can be prepared ahead of time at other stations.
Which haft wood should you use?
Match the wood to the head weight. Ash flexes and suits the light Iron and Hunter’s spears; oak is the neutral mid-game choice; ironwood is stiff and is the only haft that reliably holds a Blacksteel or Embersteel head. Putting an ash haft on a heavy head is the most common cause of socket splitting.
Do spears break permanently?
No, but the components wear at different rates. The binding typically fails first at around 120 hits, followed by the haft around 250 and the head past 400. Each is repaired or replaced separately with its own material, so an early binding swap is far cheaper than letting the haft snap.
Do spear recipes change between patches?
Yes. Ingot counts, forge times and stat values are rebalanced regularly, and the in-game recipe panel is the authoritative source for the current build. If a material route in a guide no longer matches the panel, trust the panel and treat the guide’s yields as a planning estimate only.