ForgeTax relics are passive items obtained by feeding forged swords into the forge's relic machine or selecting a starter gift at the beginning of a run. Instead of offering raw stats, relics directly alter your anvil strike draw tickets—manipulating the odds of Success, Great Success, Hold, Damage, and Break—while unlocking safety nets and economic scaling.
Balancing relic investment against the dragon's mounting daily tribute requirements dictates whether you survive the contract or meet your demise.
How Relic Mechanics Work
In ForgeTax, each strike on the anvil draws an outcome ticket from a hidden probability pool. Basic outcomes include Success (raising the sword's level), Great Success (boosting value by 2.5× and pushing levels faster), Hold (maintaining level), Damage (reducing level), and Break (shattering the blade entirely).
The Relic Machine and Resource Economy
The relic machine requires you to trade away completed swords to purchase relics or reroll stock. This dynamic introduces a constant strategic trade-off: every blade deposited into the relic machine is a blade withheld from the dragon's tribute counter.
Following official updates by developer GraveYardDev, every new run now grants a free choice of one out of three starting relics drawn from the early-game pool, even if you skip the introductory tutorial.
Relic Draw Tickets and Stacking
Relics that modify tickets add or subtract flat amounts from the active outcome pool. For example, relics like Iron Hoop reduce Break tickets, while Golden Nail adds Great tickets. Ticket bonuses earned permanently for a run remain active even if the relic itself is later replaced or sold, though they reset when starting a new campaign.
Complete Relic Directory by Function
Relics in ForgeTax fall into specific tactical categories based on how they alter anvil outcomes, mitigate shattering, or compound gold generation. All numeric values reflect data extracted from official patch updates and internal game files.
Break Prevention and Recovery Relics
These relics provide insurance against shattering, which becomes increasingly aggressive as weapons reach higher enhancement levels.
| Relic Name | In-Game Effect | Unlock / Availability |
|---|---|---|
| Black Knot | Break chance reduced by 10%. | Early run (Days 2–6 higher weight) |
| Iron Hoop | Directly removes 2 Break tickets from the draw pool. | Early run (Days 2–6 higher weight) |
| Dragonscale Tongs | At level +6 or higher, Break chance is reduced by 25%. | Mid run |
| Phoenix Ash | Prevents a Break once per sword at the cost of 40% of its current value. | General pool |
| Wirebound Scabbard | The first Break result each round is converted into Damage. | Early run (Days 2–6 higher weight) |
| Unyielding Cornerstone | The first Break of each individual sword becomes Damage. | General pool |
| Dragon’s Pardon | Prevents death from tribute failure once, reduces dragon Rage by 1, then vanishes. | Achievement unlock |
| Red Thread | After rolling a Hold, the next strike's Break chance drops by 20%. | General pool |
Break Inheritance and Scrap Relics
When high-level blades inevitably shatter, these relics salvage value, carry over upgrades, or provide emergency funds to meet tribute thresholds.
| Relic Name | In-Game Effect | Synergy Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Broken Holy Sword | Passes 30% of a broken sword's level to the next +0 sword; grants 3 Frenzy charges. | Combines additively with Dawn Scabbard. |
| Dawn Scabbard | Passes 40% of a broken sword's level to the next +0 sword; grants 4 Frenzy charges. | Combines additively with Broken Holy Sword. |
| Undertaker's Chalice | When a sword breaks, offers 30% of its peak value as scrap tribute. | Costs 1 sword; available from Day 2. |
| Ash Sieve | Grants 500 G whenever a sword breaks. | Early survival tool. |
| Ossuary King's Scabbard | When a +7 or higher sword breaks, permanently adds 1 ticket of its prior result for the rest of the run. | Stacks persistent draw power. |
| Undertaker's Ledger | When a +7 or higher sword breaks, receive 1 extra sword the next day (up to 2 per day). | Achievement unlock. |
| Grudge Nail | Banks single-use Great tickets equal to the broken sword's enhancement level. | Stores burst power for fresh blades. |
| Mourning Knot | Each failed tribute permanently adds 1 Great ticket for the remainder of the run. | Mitigates missed tribute penalties. |
Damage and Hold Scaling Relics
Instead of treating non-success outcomes as pure losses, these relics turn Damage and Hold results into value engines.
| Relic Name | In-Game Effect | Tactical Role |
|---|---|---|
| Cracked Splice | Each Damage reduces the sword’s Break chance by 15% (stacks up to 60%). | Synergizes with intentional low-risk strikes. |
| Defeated King's Seal | Each Damage adds +1 extra enhancement level to the next Great Success. | Converts setbacks into level spikes. |
| Unbroken Oath | Each Damage has a 70% chance to grant +1 level regardless of value lost. | Offsets level degradation. |
| Abyssal Pearl | Adds 3 Damage tickets; the first 2 Damages on each sword do not reduce its level. | Safely triggers Damage-dependent relics. |
| Sealed Heart | Each Hold adds +1 extra level to the next Great Success (stacks up to +4). | Rewards holding on risky thresholds. |
| Sleeping Ember | Each Hold outcome has a 70% chance to grant +1 level. | Turns neutral rolls into positive progress. |
| Sealing Stone | Adds 2 Hold tickets; every 2 consecutive Holds grant +1 level. | Enables stall-and-grow forging strategies. |
| Chained Hourglass | Each Hold outside Frenzy has a 50% chance to add 1 Frenzy charge. | Accelerates the 10-strike Frenzy trigger. |
Frenzy and Striking Speed Relics
Ten successful hits on a single blade trigger Frenzy—a temporary window where the blade cannot break under any circumstances.
- Glass Hourglass: Great Successes landed during Frenzy award +3 enhancement levels per hit.
- Undying Wick: Extends Frenzy duration by 2 seconds.
- Red Hourglass: Increases Frenzy duration by 1 second.
- Perfect Mana Core: Adds 6 Great tickets specifically while Frenzy is active.
- Bell Collar: Each strike landed during Frenzy raises total sword value by 5%.
- Headless Bell: Grants +1 enhancement level immediately when Frenzy concludes.
- Possessed Bellows: Boosts forging hammer speed by 30% while in Frenzy.
Tribute and Economic Relics
- Tax Tally: Grants +1 relic shop sword credit each time you pay the dragon's tribute in full.
- Royal Change: Directs up to 30% of excess tribute payment to reduce the next day's requirement (capped at a 30% discount).
- Worn Voucher: Grants 1 free relic shop reroll every round.
- Sealed Rebate: Permanently reduces daily tribute requirements by 10%.
- Lifetime Contract: Achievement-unlocked relic that makes all supplied basic swords start at level +7 and removes the requirement to heat blades in the furnace.
Best Relic Synergies
Crafting high-tier blades like the Continent-Cleaving Iron Citadel or Excalibur requires leaning into overlapping relic effects. Several core relic loops dominate high-tier play:
1. The Inheritance Battery (Broken Holy Sword + Dawn Scabbard)
Following recent balance updates, developer GraveYardDev explicitly made the inheritance properties of Broken Holy Sword and Dawn Scabbard additive.
- Combined Effect: You pass along 70% of a broken sword's enhancement level to an unforged +0 base weapon while immediately generating 7 Frenzy charges.
- Execution: You can aggressively push a disposable weapon past +15 without break protection. If it lands, you secure an astronomical payout; if it breaks, your next base sword immediately starts near +10 and needs only 3 strikes to trigger Frenzy.
2. The Controlled Failure Engine (Abyssal Pearl + Cracked Splice + Defeated King's Seal)
This setup turns bad rolls into safe forging conditions.
- Abyssal Pearl introduces extra Damage tickets, but negates the level loss on the first two hits.
- Each of those safe Damage procs triggers Cracked Splice, immediately stripping away up to 30% of the blade's Break chance.
- Meanwhile, Defeated King's Seal primes your next Great Success to skip multiple levels at once, creating rapid leaps in sword value with minimal shattering risk.
3. Frenzy Burst Stacking (Glass Hourglass + Perfect Mana Core + Undying Wick)
Because base Frenzy no longer grants passive hammer speed increases by default, value during this window depends on duration and ticket replacement.
- Stacking Undying Wick with Perfect Mana Core floods the active ticket pool with Great Successes over an elongated window.
- Combining this with Glass Hourglass ensures that every rapid strike during Frenzy boosts the weapon by 4 levels (+1 base Great plus +3 from the relic), easily propelling mid-tier swords past level +20 safely.
Relic Rebalances and Pool Removals
Developer updates have reshuffled the relic roster to eliminate degenerate gold loops and prevent unwinable early-game seeds:
- Temporarily Removed Relics: Interest, Copper Ledger, Small Safe, Relief Sack, and Burial Coin have been withdrawn from the active pool by the developer. Owned copies in older saves are refunded as relic shop sword credits.
- Early-Game Weighting: To prevent early death spirals, defensive relics—including Undertaker's Chalice, Iron Hoop, Black Knot, Wirebound Scabbard, and Cracked Splice—have increased appearance rates across Days 2 through 6.
- Great Success Multiplier Adjustment: The base value multiplier awarded by Great Success outcomes has been rebalanced from 3.0× down to 2.5×, making value-stacking relics like Cracked Bell and Dragon Heart far more vital for clearing late-game tributes.
- Maximum Upgrade Cap: Weapons are no longer hard-capped at level +30. Players can enhance weapons up to level +99, though visual blade transformations cease after level +20.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you combine Broken Holy Sword and Dawn Scabbard?
Yes. Official patch notes confirm their effects stack additively. Equipping both transfers 70% of the shattered sword's enhancement level directly to a fresh +0 sword and immediately grants 7 Frenzy charges.
What happens to unused draw tickets if I discard a relic?
Draw tickets permanently earned for the current run (such as those from Ossuary King's Scabbard or Mourning Knot) remain active in your ticket pool even after discarding or replacing the source relic. However, they clear upon starting a new run.
Why did Interest and Copper Ledger disappear from my shop?
Developer GraveYardDev temporarily removed economy-duplicating relics like Interest, Copper Ledger, and Small Safe during the Relic & Balance Overhaul to rework role overlap and tribute pacing. Any previously owned copies are automatically refunded as relic shop credits.
Sources
- Official Steam Announcements by GraveYardDev: Relic & Balance Overhaul, Hotfix — Startup Fixes and Recovery Relic Improvements, and New Relics and the Funerary Sword.
- Steam Store Data & Patch History: ForgeTax (App ID: 5245810).
- ForgeTax Tools Database: Build 25755699 relic parameters, probability curves, and item code.
