Casting

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Casting is the process of smelting ore into a liquid state and molding the molten metal into quick and convenient tool heads and ingots. While not inherently the most important facet of metallurgy, it is one of the first gateways by which a seraph can forge ahead into the throes of advancement and survival.

Required Materials

To cast metal, a player needs a crucible and molds , a firepit , fuel (firewood , peat , coal , charcoal , or coke ), and ore nuggets. Players can also use metal bits as an alternate source of metal, obtained by combining a metal tool head or an ingot with a chisel in the crafting grid.

Whereas most ore nuggets can be thrown within the crucible and cast, because of high temperature thresholds and a lack of fuels that reach those thresholds, Iron, Meteoric Iron, Blister Steel, and Steel must be bloomed , smithed on an anvil, or carburized in order to be utilized.

Obtaining metal

Copper ore can be found in small stone surface deposits.

Ore nuggets can be found in one of four ways: panning , cracked ore vessels , buying them directly from a trader, or via surface ore bits.

  • Panning sand, gravel, or bony soil can yield a 15% chance or less to receive copper, gold, silver or tin nuggets, which can be good in a pinch.
  • Cracked ore vessels contain a small assortment of bismuth, chromium, copper, gold, lead, silver, tin, titanium, and zinc nuggets; these vessels can be found in surface or underground ruins or sold by Treasure Hunter traders.
  • Commodities traders might have bismuth, copper, tin, and zinc nuggets circulating in their current goods rotation.
  • Surface ore bits can be found in most rock types, with the exception of bauxite, halite, obsidian, scoria volcanic rock, suevite impact rock, and tuff volcanic rock. These ore bits contain a single nugget that can be collected by breaking the stone with an empty or filled hand (active hotbar slot), and are an indicator of larger underground deposits .
    • Depending on the ore and stone combination, they can blend into the environment and be easily missed.
    • While suevite impact rock is by itself not a host rock for ore, its presence is an indicator of meteoric iron.

It is recommended to add waypoints to any ore location for later collection operations, especially with regards to a full inventory or a current lack of need for that particular ore.

An alternate source of metal comes from metal bits , which can be obtained by combining a chisel with any metal tool head or ingot in the crafting grid. This allows players to break down metal items and re-cast them for other uses.

Preparing metal

A copper hammer extracting ore from a rich chunk of iron.

While loose nuggets are ready to be smelted and do not require additional preparation, the nuggets within regular and crystallized chunks are trapped within their parent stone, such as basalt or kimberlite, and are otherwise unusable until they are further processed. Chunks are placed in the inventory crafting grid under any tier of hammer, which crushes the stone and extracts the nuggets inside.

There are four kinds of ore chunks - poor, medium, rich, and bountiful.

  • Poor chunks are the most common type of chunk and can be found in all strata where ores are available. A poor regular chunk will offer 3 nuggets and a poor crystalized chunk will offer 6 nuggets.
  • Medium chunks, like poor chunks, can be found in all strata where ores are available. A medium regular chunk will offer 4 nuggets and a medium crystalized chunk will offer 8 nuggets.
  • Rich chunks are somewhat uncommon and can be found in less strata than poor and medium chunks. A rich regular chunk will offer 5 nuggets and a rich crystalized chunk will offer 10 nuggets.
  • Bountiful chunks are also uncommon and in strata where they are accessible, it is more likely that one will find greater amounts of rich ore than bountiful ore. A bountiful regular chunk will offer 7 nuggets and a bountiful crystalized chunk will offer 14 nuggets
Ore-bountiful-nativecopper-basalt.png Protip:
Each rock strata will have different ore and chunk generations - poor and medium copper chunks can be found in sandstone but all four copper chunk types can be found in basalt - which are located in the handbook under their respective metals. Keeping track of the ore and chunk generations can ensure a steady supply of nuggets for current and future casts.


Smelting metal

Crucible in the input slot.

The first step to processing metal is smelting, which is performed in a crucible. A single crucible can hold up to four complete stacks of 128 nuggets, however only one pure metal or alloy may be smelted within the crucible at a time. Each nugget is equivalent to 5 units of metal, which means that a full crucible can hold up to the equivalent of 2560 units. Most tools or ingots require 100 units (20 nuggets) per mold, with the exception of a few larger items, such as plates, anvils, and metal blocks, which can require significantly more.

Nugget ratios that do not fulfill this numeric requirement create amounts of metal too small to cast.

Pure metal smelting is very simple in that the same nugget type can be used throughout the entire process. Alloy smelting is slightly more complicated, as the ratios of each alloy all differ and the appropriate mix of several kinds of nuggets must be placed in the crucible prior to heating.

The number of nuggets that can be used for an alloy are somewhat variable, which can be advantageous if certain nuggets are in shorter supply. As an example, an alloy of Bismuth Bronze requires 10 to 20% bismuth, 50 to 70% copper, and 20 to 30% zinc or, broken down into nuggets, 2 - 4 bismuth nuggets, 10 - 14 copper nuggets, and 4 - 6 zinc nuggets.

If more zinc is available, a ratio of 2 bismuth nuggets, 12 copper nuggets, and 6 zinc nuggets can suffice, and vice versa, if more bismuth is available, a ratio of 4 bismuth nuggets, 12 copper nuggets, and 4 zinc nuggets is acceptable.

Preparing the crucible

Fully heated crucible in the output slot.
  1. Place the crucible in the input slot (left) of the firepit to access the crucible GUI
  2. Add nuggets into one or more of the four input slots of the crucible GUI.
  3. When a proper alloy ratio has been reached, the GUI will display the amount in metal units and either the pure metal or alloy that will be produced from the smelting process.
  4. Add fuel and light the fire pit. Selecting the appropriate fuel is paramount to raising and maintaining the temperature of the metal above its particular smelting temperature, which liquifies the nuggets.
  5. When the nuggets have been fully liquified, the glowing crucible will shift to the output slot (right) of the firepit. The crucible will begin to cool down if it remains in the output slot or is otherwise pulled away from the heat, and if the crucible cools down far enough without being casted, the liquefied metal will be rendered solid and be otherwise unusable until heated up again.

Adding or removing ores after the process has begun will reset the temperature.

Casting metal

Once smelted, liquified metal is available within a crucible, it is ready to be cast within ingot or tool molds.

Filling molds

  1. Place the required mold to be filled on a solid surface. Tool molds occupy one block while ingot molds may be placed two to a block.
  2. With the glowing crucible in an empty hand (active hotbar slot) and a pair of tongs in your off-hand , select the desired mold with the display crosshairs and pour the liquid metal into that mold.
  3. When the mold is filled, metal will no longer be allowed to be added into the mold.
  4. The metal will reach various states of cooling in the mold- from liquid to soft to hardened to cold - which can be identified with the current item temperature in the mold GUI.
  5. When the tool or ingot is hardened or completely cold, it can be removed from the mold.

If a mold is picked up before the metal is hardened or cold, the soft or liquid material will be lost. Subsequently, a partially filled mold cannot be picked up, even if the metal is cold, because there are no assets available for metals that are too small to be fully cast and utilized.

Crucible.png Protip:
Liquid metal of two different types cannot be added to a mold to get an alloy. Pure metals and alloys must be heated and liquified within the crucible before being poured.


Mold availability

Mold Mold Type Tool Type Uses
Toolmold-burned-anvil.png Anvil Crafting Manual and mechanized smithing.
Toolmold-burned-axe.png Axe Harvesting Chopping leaf, plant, and wood blocks, including trees, logs, planks, fences, gates, and other wooden building components; creates firewood.
Toolmold-burned-blade-falx.png Falx blade Combat Mob damage, melee combat weapon.
Toolmold-burned-hammer.png Hammer Crafting Crushing ores, crystal clusters, and certain soft stones; crafting components for mechanical power, item transportation, and steel carburization; polishing stone; cutting stone brick.
Toolmold-burned-helvehammer.png Helvehammer Crafting Mechanized smithing.
Toolmold-burned-hoe.png Hoe Crafting Tilling and converting soil for farming.
Ingotmold-burned.png Ingot Crafting Ingot distribution, which can be used for manual and mechanized smithing and crafting components.
Toolmold-burned-lamellae.png Lamallae Combat Creating and repairing body lamellar armor.
Toolmold-burned-pickaxe.png Pickaxe Harvesting Mining ceramic, rock, stone, ore, metal, and ice blocks.
Toolmold-burned-prospectingpick.png Prospecting Pick Harvesting Damaging rock blocks for long and short range ore and mineral detection.
Toolmold-burned-shovel.png Shovel Harvesting Digging clay, gravel, peat, sand, soil, and snow blocks.

Metal Types

There are 27 types of metal available for collection and usage, 14 castable metals and 13 uncastable metals. Of those castable metals, 6 are tiered, or tied to progression through the metallurgic ages, and 8 are untiered, which while useful, do not contribute to any advancement on their own merits.

Castable Metals

Tiered Metals
Ingot Nugget Bits Metal Geologic Name Metal Type Tier Alloy% % Conversion
in nuggets
Smelting Temperature Casting Uses
Ingot-copper.png Nugget-nativecopper.png Nugget-malachite.png Metalbit-copper.png Copper Native copper
Malachite
Pure 2 1084°C Armor, ingots, tools, weapons, nails and strips
Ingot-gold.png Nugget nativegold.png Metalbit-gold.png Gold Native gold Pure 2 1063°C Armor, ingots, tools, weapons, nails and strips
Ingot-silver.png Nugget-nativesilver.png Metalbit-silver.png Silver Native silver Pure 2 961°C Armor, ingots, tools, weapons, nails and strips
Ingot-tinbronze.png Metalbit-tinbronze.png Tin Bronze Alloy 3 Copper: 88 - 92%
Tin: 8 - 12%
Copper: 18
Tin: 2
950°C Armor, ingots, tools, weapons, nails and strips
Ingot-bismuthbronze.png Metalbit-bismuthbronze.png Bismuth Bronze Alloy 3 Bismuth: 10 - 20%
Copper: 50 - 70%
Zinc: 20 - 30%
Bismuth: 2 - 4
Copper: 10 - 14
Zinc: 4 - 6
850°C Armor, ingots, tools, weapons, nails and strips
Ingot-blackbronze.png Metalbit-blackbronze.png Black Bronze Alloy 3 Copper: 68 - 84%
Gold: 8 -16%
Silver: 8 -16%
Copper: 16
Gold: 2
Silver: 2
1020°C Armor, ingots, tools, weapons, nails and strips
Untiered Metals
Ingot Nugget Bits Metal Geologic Name Metal Type Tier Alloy% % Conversion
in nuggets
Smelting Temperature Casting Uses
Ingot-bismuth.png Nugget-bismuthinite.png Metalbit-bismuth.png Bismuth Bismuthinite Pure 271°C Ingots
Ingot-lead.png Nugget-galena.png Metalbit-lead.png Lead Galena Pure 327°C Ingots, leaded glass panes
Ingot-tin.png Nugget-cassiterite.png Metalbit-tin.png Tin Cassiterite Pure 232°C Ingots
Ingot-zinc.png Nugget-sphalerite.png Metalbit-zinc.png Zinc Sphalerite Pure 419°C Ingots
Ingot-brass.png Metalbit-brass.png Brass Alloy Copper: 60 - 70%
Zinc: 30 - 40%
Copper: 12 - 14
Zinc: 6 - 8
327°C Ingots
Ingot-leadsolder.png Metalbit-leadsolder.png Lead Solder Alloy Lead: 45 - 55%
Tin: 45 - 55%
Lead: 9 - 11
Tin: 9 - 11
327 °C Alcohol distillation, ingots
Ingot-molybdochalkos.png Metalbit-molybdochalkos.png Molybdochalkos Alloy Copper: 8 - 12%
Lead: 88 - 92%
Copper: 2
Lead: 18
902 °C Ingots
Ingot-silversolder.png Metalbit-silversolder.png Silver Solder Alloy Silver: 40 - 50%
Tin: 50 - 60%
Silver: 8 - 10
Tin: 10 - 12
758 °C Alcohol distillation, ingots
Ingot-electrum.png Metalbit-electrum.png Electrum Alloy Gold: 40 - 60%
Silver: 40 - 60%
Gold: 8 - 12
Silver: 8 - 12
1010 °C Rift Ward, Jonas assemblies, tools, ingots
Ingot-cupronickel.png Metalbit-cupronickel.png Cupronickel Alloy Copper: 65 - 75 %
Nickel: 25 - 35%
Copper: 13 - 15
Nickel: 5 - 7
1171 °C Jonas assemblies, ingots, nails and strips

Uncastable Metals

These metals can be found within the game’s asset library or in game, but cannot currently be smelted, cast, and/or worked.

Ingot Nugget Bits Metal Geologic Name Metal Type Tier Alloy% % Conversion
in nuggets
Smelting Temperature Casting Uses
Ingot-iron.png Nugget-hematite.png Nugget-limonite.png Nugget-magnetite.png Ironbloom.png Metalbit-iron.png Iron Hematite
Limonite
Magnetite
Pure 4 1482°C
Ingot-meteoriciron.png Stone-meteorite-iron.png Metalbit-meteoriciron.png Meteoric Iron Pure 4 1476°C
Ingot-blistersteel.png Ingot-steel.png Metalbit-blistersteel.png Metalbit-steel.png Blister Steel
Steel
Pure 5 1602°C
1502°C
Ingot-chromium.png Nugget-chromite.png Metalbit-chromium.png Chromium Chromite 1907°C
Nugget-rhodochrosite.png Manganese Rhodochrosite
Ingot-nickel.png Nugget-pentlandite.png Metalbit-nickel.png Nickel Pentlandite Pure 1455 °C
Ingot-platinum.png Metalbit-platinum.png Platinum 1770°C
Ingot-rhodium.png Metalbit-rhodium.png Rhodium
Ingot-stainless steel.png Metalbit-stainless steel.png Stainless Steel
Ingot-titanium.png Nugget-ilmenite.png Metalbit-titanium.png Titanium Ilmenite 1668°C
Ingot-uranium.png Nugget-uranium.png Metalbit-uranium.png Uranium Uranium
Nugget-wolframite.png Tungsten Wolframite

Casting Tutorial Videos


Ores, metals and minerals
Guides Ore Deposits Metals
Metals Copper Iron Meteoric iron Gold Silver Lead Tin Zinc Bismuth Titanium (Ilmenite)
Alloys Bronze (Tin bronze, bismuth bronze, black bronze) • Steel Brass Solder (Lead solder, Silver solder) • Molybdochalkos Cupronickel Electrum
Minerals Alum Borax Cinnabar Coal Halite (Salt) Lapis lazuli Quartz Saltpeter Sulfur Sylvite (Potash)
Tools Pickaxe Hammer Prospecting Pick Crucible Forge Ore blasting bomb Quern Anvil Bloomery Helve hammer Pulverizer
Other Gemstones
Related mechanics Panning Mining Clay forming Casting Smithing Steel making



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