Weapon Recipes

[EllisDee37]

These recipes assume a typical crafter, which means crafting level 35/35/35. A couple of the recipes can be made at a much lower crafter level, so even if you're just starting out it's worth a look.

Each recipe includes a schedule for what character levels to make it. Because it's so expensive to recreate weapons from scratch, these schedules break it down into its constituent parts. So you might have a weapon with nothing but a suffix on level 3, add a prefix to it (without deconstructing first) on level 5, then an enhancement bonus on level 7. All recipes include a final scheduled pass where you do have to deconstruct first to make the +4 version, which is the best you can get for mid-30s crafting levels. Any pass that requires a deconstruction first is in red.

The idea behind these recipes is to conserve pack space wherever possible, so in many cases the crafted weapon will be "very good" against many mobs instead of "perfect" against fewer. For example, putting ghost touch on the undead weapon instead of Holy means you don't need a separate weapon for incorporeals.

Many recipes require a weapon of a specific material, such as silver, cold iron, adamantine or flametouched iron. Material types cannot be crafted, but they are preserved through disjunction, so to craft one you have to first find any weapon of that material either in quest drops or the auction house.

Once you get into the 60s you can step up the the Holy and Anarchic to their Burst forms and the Banes to Greater Banes, but the level 30 versions are quite nice in their own right. Besides which, the greater versions are now priced too expensive to be worth the trouble until you have multiple capped characters anyway.

Ooze / Rust Monsters: +4 Vicious/Screaming/True Law <bludgeon> of Everbright
Undead: +4 Ghost Touch Flametouched Iron <bludgeon> of Undead Bane
Constructs: +4 Aligned Adamantine <bludgeon> of Construct Bane
Demons: +4 Holy Cold Iron of Chaotic Outsider Bane
Devils / Vampires: +4 Holy Silver of Lawful Outsider Bane
Aberrations: +4 Holy Byeshk of Aberration Bane
Range: +4 Holy Longbow of Bleed
Hot & Cold: Flaming of Giant Bane, Icy of Elemental Bane

[EllisDee37]

Ooze / Rust Monsters

Vicious <bludgeon> of Everbright
Screaming <bludgeon> of Everbright
True Law <bludgeon> of Everbright

Many players use their muckbanes well into midgame, sometimes even all the way to level 20, but muckbane doesn't do great damage against ooze and it's even worse against rust monsters.

The everbright suffix makes a weapon immune to damage from ooze and rust monsters, but it does no damage. That leaves only the prefix for extra damage. Vicious offers the best damage, but it hurts. I went with vicious for a long time, but as you level up you keep running across rust monsters and cubes with a lot of hit points, making vicious needlessly punitive. Two viable alternatives are Screaming and True Law. All three -- vicious, screaming and true law -- have the same +1 potential so it doesn't effect the schedule whichever one you choose. Vicious is a much lower crafting level, so if you're just starting out, go with vicious until your crafting levels get higher.

I did some testing on arcane oozes, and they have "special damage dr" that reduces both screaming and true law damage, but the primary weapon damage is full strength. (Don't use acid because it actually heals some oozes.) In the end I went with screaming because it looks cooler than true law. heh.

ML3: of Everbright
ML5: (Prefix) of Everbright
ML7: +1 (Prefix) of Everbright
ML13: +4 (Prefix) of Everbright

Start with just an everbright weapon for min level 3, add whichever prefix you prefer when you get to level 5, then add a +1 enhancement at level 7 to carry you up to level 13, when you remake it from scratch as a +4 weapon.

EDIT: U13 included UMD checks on crafted gear, so be careful of True Law if you aren't of Lawful alignment.

[EllisDee37]

Undead (Skeletons, Wraiths)

Ghost Touch Flametouched Iron <bludgeon> of (Greater) Undead Bane

Incorporeal monsters (mostly wraiths) start to show up around level 5, but thankfully Ghost Touch requires a very low level in crafting so this weapon is typically the first weapon you'll craft using the Lesser Undead Bane version.

The Flametouched Iron material makes it a good-aligned weapon, so it will be effective against the ghostly skeletons in Delera's. While a Holy weapon of Undead Bane would deal more damage for skeleton-heavy quests like Delera's, making a generic all-in-one undead weapon is a good way to conserve pack space and reduce crafting costs.

Disruption is a much better undead suffix than Undead Bane, but Disruption is not a craftable suffix. If you find a good Disruption weapon, use that instead. Note that Triple Positive greensteel weapons are best of all against undead, so the longterm plan should be to aim for that. A crafted alternative is an excellent placeholder until you get the greensteel weapon.

Note: Your main slashing weapon will work fine against zombies.

ML5: Ghost Touch of Undead Bane
ML7: +1 Ghost Touch of Undead Bane
ML13: +4 Ghost Touch of Undead Bane

I can attest from experience that the ML5 version will serve you well doing Delera's on level 5. Ideally you get the +1 onto the weapon as quickly as possible because wraiths have dr/magic, and the only thing that counts as magic is an enhancement bonus. The +1 version will be good enough until 13, then remake the weapon "finish" it off.

Because Undead Bane requires a soul gem you may not want to have to craft it more than once. In that case, the lesser bane version works fine. This is also the path to take if you're just starting to level your crafter:

ML3: Ghost Touch of Lesser Undead Bane
ML5: +1 Ghost Touch of Lesser Undead Bane
ML9: +3 Ghost Touch of Lesser Undead Bane
ML13: +4 Ghost Touch of Undead Bane

Both Ghost Touch and Lesser Undead Bane are cheap and easy to craft, so remaking that version of the weapon isn't a hardship. The ML5 version isn't quite as nice in delera's -- 1d6 less damage per swing -- but will still get the job done.

[EllisDee37]

Constructs

Aligned Adamantine <bludgeon> of (Greater) Construct Bane

Many constructs have DR/Adamantine, so any crafted construct beater should be adamantine. In addition to that, some constructs have more exotic damage reduction to bypass:

Marut: DR/Chaotic
Lord of Blades: DR/Adamantine AND Good
Clay Golem: DR/Adamantine AND Bludgeon

All of this can be covered in a single Aligned Adamantine <bludgeon> weapon, leaving the suffix free for construct bane. Aligned is a slightly higher crafting level than the OP suggests, requiring level 40 divine to attempt. Aligned does no damage, and isn't needed until you face your first Marut which happens in VON3, a level 9 quest. Here's a schedule that gets you to a Marut beater by level 11, just in time to still get a bravery bonus:

ML3: of Construct Bane
ML5: +1 of Construct Bane
ML11: +1 Aligned of Construct Bane
ML17: +4 Aligned of Construct Bane

For better dps, once you get to be high enough level to craft greater banes you might consider making two weapons, one for general construct beating and a dedicated LOB beater. Any greater bane should be crafted on an AML20 2[W] weapon blank, meaning it will be ML20 no matter what. The two construct beaters my THF has are:

+5 True Chaos Adamantine 2[W] Maul of Greater Construct Bane (UMD: 20)
+5 Holy Burst Adamantine 2[W] Greatsword of Greater Construct Bane

True Chaos is nice because most constructs are neutral, meaning true chaos will hurt them. Anarchic has no UMD check but does no damage to neutrals, so anarchic gives only marginal benefit over aligned. (Anarchic will hurt Maruts and Shroud Portals, so there is some benefit. Just not a ton.) The Lord of Blades has 80% fortification instead of the typical 100% of most constructs, so I went with a greatsword.

Smiting is a much better suffix than (greater) construct bane, but isn't craftable. You may want to just stick with smiters for your general construct beaters and only craft a LOB beater. This is a particularly attractive option for TWF, since you can usually find the named Mace of Smiting on the auction house for a reasonable price. My TWF uses two of them I bought off the ah, both bound via the stone of change to prevent item damage. My THF sticks with crafted due to a lack of named adamantine maul smiters.

[EllisDee37]

Demons

Holy (Burst) Cold Iron of (Greater) Chaotic Outsider Bane

Demons are Chaotic Evil Outsiders, so you can save some Good essences by making the bane Chaotic Outsider instead of Evil Outsider.

ML7: +4
ML11: +4 Holy
ML15: +4 Holy of Chaotic Outsider Bane

The first chaotic outsider of consequence is actually a lawful outsider: Malicia, the final boss in the Phiarlan Carnival adventure pack. She has a pretty high armor class so you want as much attack bonus against her as you can, and she has dr/cold iron or good, so just a simple +4 cold iron weapon will break it. As a level 5 quest you still get full bravery if you wait until level 7 to run it.

Demons start to show up in force around level 10 (Demon Sands, Sorrowdusk, Threnal) and the ML11 version will serve you well. Note that unlike Malicia most demons have dr/cold iron and good so you really want to put holy on before the bane.

EDIT:

For high-end crafters, demon beaters present the most difficult choice when it comes to the "best" weapon. For devils it's simple: +5 holy burst silver of greater lawful outsider bane, done and done. For demons, though, there are a few issues to consider:

1) "Standard" demons have dr/cold iron AND good
2) Xoriat demons have dr/byeshk
3) Lailat (the demon queen) is surrounded by lawful evil outsiders

Xoriat demons are all over the madness packs and in the HoX raid, so you ignore their dr at your peril. Once I got my crafting levels high enough to make anything bound I decided that the best solution for demons for me is:

+5 Metalline Flametouched Iron of Greater Evil Outsider Bane

This is very expensive -- the bane costs an LDS and a demon's blood -- and very difficult to craft. Metalline is a level 100 divine recipe, which seems excessive compared to its utility. But the advantages of this weapon, which I affectionately refer to as a "crafter's min2", is that it breaks the dr of all demons (and devils, for that matter) as well as does full damage to Lailat's guard.

[EllisDee37]

Devils / Vampires

Holy (Burst) Silver of (Greater) Lawful Outsider Bane

Devils are Lawful Evil Outsiders, so you can save some Good essences by making the bane Lawful Outsider instead of Evil Outsider. (See edit.)

Vampires are Undead so the bane won't hurt them, but the Holy will and there aren't enough vampires to justify devoting an entire silver weapon for them.

ML7: +4
ML11: +4 Holy
ML15: +4 Holy of Lawful Outsider Bane

Devils don't show up until after level 15 with the exception of devil assault. Devil assault normal is level 6, and the ML7 version should do fine in there. Having never run devil assault on anything below elite (usually epic) I can't really say from experience how well it will work, but it should break the dr.

Other than devil assault, from levels 1-15 this weapon will be used for vampires, who are the final bosses in each necro pack plus a lone level 9 F2P quest. All told they show up in quest levels 6, 9, 12 and 14+. The vampire bosses typically have high ac so you'll want the high enhancement bonus in this schedule. Even better for high level crafters would be to go with +5 instead of +4 and apply masterful craftsmanship. The ML7 version works great in necro1, and the ML11 works great in necro2 and necro3 as well as the F2P quest The Church and the Cult. All qualifying for bravery.

EDIT: I just ran across an evil outsider boss in the xpack who didn't have dr and wasn't lawful. If you go with metalline on your demon beater, that means you should go with evil outsider bane on your devil beater to maximize damage against all non-dr evil outsiders. (Since if your demon beater is metalline it won't be doing holy burst damage.)

[EllisDee37]

Aberrations

Holy (Burst) Byeshk of (Greater) Aberration Bane

Mind Flayers have DR/Byeshk. Wiki lists beholders and mind flayers as being Lawful Evil, but as creatures from Xoriat I'm pretty sure they're chaotic. Whatever the alignment, all aberrations except rust monsters (who are true neutral) are evil so holy will hit them all. You wouldn't want to use this against rust monsters anyway since they'd eat it.

This weapon gets new life in the xpack with the introduction of driders, plus the fact that the end raid boss, Lolth, is an aberration. Much more useful than it used to be.

No aberrations (other than rust monsters) show up until level 8 or so, and Aberration Bane costs a soul gem, so the most logical progression for this weapon is probably:

ML3: of Aberration Bane
ML7: Holy of Aberration Bane
ML15: +4 Holy of Aberration Bane

I wouldn't even bother with it until level 7, but I included the ML3 version just for completeness.

[EllisDee37]

Range Weapon

Holy (Burst) Longbow of Bleed (for under level 20)
Wounding Longbow of Pure Good (for capped characters)

These are the best recipes Cannith crafting has to offer for general-purpose DPS. If you are using randomly generated loot as your main weapon, consider crafting one of these as an alternative. For ranged weapons, Holy of Bleed will do better DPS and have a better to-hit than the Silver Longbow.

Because range weapons don't really matter much, I'd recommend just getting "clean" random loot longbows from the auction house to maximize your to-hit: +2 ML2, +3 ML4, +4 ML6 and +5 ML8. After level 8, switch to the crafted alternative starting at level 11. Note that longbows have a faster rate of fire than crossbows, so if given a choice go with longbows. If you don't have martial weapon proficiency, go with either crossbows or a returning thrower. Either way, the recipe stays the same.

ML11: +4 Holy
ML13: +4 Holy of Bleed
ML17: +4 Wounding of Pure Good

The wounding gets really good in the highest levels, though to be honest I haven't yet switched to wounding and may not switch at all.

Wounding is paired with Pure Good instead of Puncturing or Bleed so it will break DR when shooting silver/cold iron arrows.

EDIT: I have switched over to Wounding, and my tr longbow schedule now looks like this:

ML1: of Ranged Alacrity (w/masterful)
ML7: Wounding of Ranged Alacrity
ML14: Bow of Sinew

I use +3 Deneith Sturdy Arrows for ammo so the crafted bow never needs any enhancement bonus. To help out with to-hit even more I use a bow with a guild augment slot and apply crystals of accuracy. If you don't have the ability to craft Masterful Craftsmanship shards, the levels will be ML3 and ML9 instead of ML1 and ML7.

[EllisDee37]

Hot & Cold

Flaming (Burst) of Giant Bane
Frost (Icy Burst) of Elemental Bane

For some reason I really like having hot and cold weapons. The satisfaction of drawing purple numbers from hot and cold mobs just appeals to me.

For the hot weapon, I like giant bane to give good synergy for troll killing. It's worth noting that this weapon is ideal for Reaver's Reach, though if you're thf I'd recommend a tier 3 ML12 Greataxe of Fire with Flaming and Pure Good for ML18. Masteful brings that down to ML16.

For the cold weapon, it's nice to have an elemental beater. Cold is the only element that hurts all elementals.

Neither of these weapons are ideal for their bane, though they are very good. If I were going to craft up a true elemental beater I'd probably want screaming as the prefix, and for giants I'd say acid is a better fit. But for me the banes are secondary; the main function of these are to be hot and cold weapons. Whenever I walk into a room filled with lava and fire it's just nice to pull out an icy burst weapon, and vice versa.

There is no schedule because these aren't core weapons I would recommend everyone have. They are pretty fun, though. Right up until fire elementals start casting protection from cold on themselves and that named giant boss just happens to be a fire giant. hehheh.

[Beld]

Ooze / Rust Monsters

Vicious <bludgeon> of Everbright

Many players use their muckbanes well into midgame, sometimes even all the way to level 20, but muckbane doesn't do great damage against ooze and it's even worse against rust monsters.

The everbright suffix makes a weapon immune to damage from ooze and rust monsters, but it does no damage. That leaves only the prefix for extra damage, so vicious is the way to go even though it hurts.

The +2d6 damage from vicious makes this weapon a better damage dealer vs ooze than muckbane even without any enhancement bonus, even moreso because you can start with a better base damage from a warhammer or maul. Plus it is just as effective against rust monsters.

ML3: of Everbright
ML5: Vicious of Everbright
ML7: +1 Vicious of Everbright
ML13: +4 Vicious of Everbright

Start with just an everbright weapon for min level 3, add vicious when you get to level 5, then add a +1 enhancement at level 7 to carry you up to level 13, when you remake it from scratch as a +4 weapon.

But works on Oozes and Rustys without damaging yourself. Also, if you put it on a two hander, you get much better damage than even the muckbane/muckdoom weapons.

If you use Vicious, there are a lot of stuff at higher levels that may take a while to kill, and thus, cause you to do quite a bit of damage to yourself, but that is just my opinion.

[EllisDee37]

But works on Oozes and Rustys without damaging yourself. Also, if you put it on a two hander, you get much better damage than even the muckbane/muckdoom weapons.

If you use Vicious, there are a lot of stuff at higher levels that may take a while to kill, and thus, cause you to do quite a bit of damage to yourself, but that is just my opinion.

Agreed, which is why I don't use vicious on the construct beater.

The only reason I can justify it on this one is because the longer you spend fighting ooze or rust monsters the more equipment damage you take, meaning the extra DPS could really help out. But yeah, True Law/Chaos is a fine alternative, as is Wounding.

[cru121]

have you considered a throwing/returning weapon instead of a bow? I am not sure what's better, strength to damage with throwers OR metal arrow versatility of ranged weapons.

[EllisDee37]

have you considered a throwing/returning weapon instead of a bow? I am not sure what's better, strength to damage with throwers OR metal arrow versatility of ranged weapons.

Not for me personally; I'm just too fond of longbows. But they can be a great alternative to the ooze/rust monster weapon since they don't need everbright.

[EllisDee37]

I have recently converted all my characters' ooze beaters from vicious to screaming, and have edited that post accordingly. I went ahead and left both options in with a brief explanation of their strengths and weaknesses.

[rvdvelden]

Why is Everbright needed? I thought Oozes and Rust Monsters only damage metal weapons and armor? Can't you just use a (densewood) club instead?

[sirgog]

Count me in as a voice in favor of Vicious on Oozes and Rusties.

The less hits one of those monsters take to die, the less chance they have to damage your Fortification/Con/False Life items to an unwearable state.

20 damage to yourself is a small price to pay to still have Heavy Fortification when you reach the Gnolls in Rainbow in the Dark.


Oh and add to the Constructs section - "Holy (burst) Adamantine of (greater) Construct Bane" for the Lord of Blades. He's only one monster, but he's a very important one. DR Adamantine AND Good, Lawful Evil alignment.

[Cloista]

True Chaos is also a very good option for Constructs due to their Neutral nature, and it breaches the DR on Maruts, making it a perfect overall choice.

[EllisDee37]

You could use a densewood club, but it will almost certainly break against some of the tougher oozes/rust monsters. I could easily see breaking two or three at the end of Siegebreaker.

20 damage to yourself is a small price to pay to still have Heavy Fortification when you reach the Gnolls in Rainbow in the Dark.

20 damage is greatly underestimating the number of swings on the tougher rust monsters. At the end of siegebreaker, I'd guess a minimum of 50 swings to kill the tough rusties, and there are more than one of them.

Not sure if they damage equipment, but cubes take forever as well. I finally decided to make the switch the other day running Fathom the Depths. Hiding in the "cheat corner" whacking away at the cube with my vicious, I had to stop and heal myself multiple times before finally killing the thing with my vicious weapon despite only taking damage from vicious. (It can't hit you in the cheat corner.)

[sirgog]

20 damage is greatly underestimating the number of swings on the tougher rust monsters. At the end of siegebreaker, I'd guess a minimum of 50 swings to kill the tough rusties, and there are more than one of them.

20 damage is ten swings of a Vicious weapon. There's only one rust monster in the game that I can think of that requires more than ten swings from each melee in the group - and that's the Epic Rust Emperor.

When fighting him, I tell the raid to use a garbage weapon and to take off their Heavy Fort items, unless they are Mineral 2 Shroud accessories (which have enough durability to survive a nuclear armageddon).

[EllisDee37]

20 damage is ten swings of a Vicious weapon. There's only one rust monster in the game that I can think of that requires more than ten swings from each melee in the group - and that's the Epic Rust Emperor.

Some people like to solo.