If you’re playing Moon Studio’s newest genre-bending game, you’ve probably quickly realized that Diablo this ain’t. Gear drops are very few and far between in NRFTW, so upgrading your arms and armor is essential to surviving after you land in the game’s major hub city of Sacrament.

If you’ve defeated Warrick the Torn and progressed to the capital, you’ll earn access to the Forge. This is the place to upgrade your weapons and armor (which strictly increases their base stats). Just one problem: all that copper ore you’ve been collecting isn’t going to turn into bars. You’ve got two options for getting your hands on the bars needed for the first upgrade tier.

Screenshot by Destructoid.

Option one: Buy them

You could shell out some coppercoinsat the blacksmith to buy the bars (I doubt this is a fair trade for him) if you’re in a pinch. They aren’t particularly expensive, at12 coppercoins each, so getting just a few to kickstart your gear upgrades isn’t a bad bit of financial investment.

Option two: Smelt them yourself

But wait! The blacksmith’s station doesn’t come with a forge by default. For this, you’ll need to speak toDanosup in the town square, just up the stairs north of the Sacrament Whisper. Once you’ve spoken with him, you may exchange raw materials for town upgrades. To deck out the blacksmith with a useable forge, just hand over10 Pine Wood and 10 Copper Ore, wait an hour, and voila. Now you can turn copper ore into copper bars at a rate of 1:1. Teach a man to smelt and all that.

Screenshot by Destructoid.

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