The Complete Stonewards Forge Upgrades Guide

Last verified: September 24, 2026 — Game version: Stonewards Early Access 0.2.2 hotfix on top of 0.2.0 “Later Summer” (current). Facts come from official Steam sources and verified player reports.

The forge is where you turn mined resources into power. Between waves, you can craft arrows, repair walls, and buy randomized upgrades that shape each run. The Blacksmith and Crafter are central to both offense and defense, and their options expanded significantly after Early Access launched.

What You Can Craft and Upgrade

The forge menu lets you spend resources on three categories of items:

Category	Examples
Ammunition	Arrows and ranged ammo
Repairs	Wall and gate health
Character upgrades	Attack, health, speed, jump, knockback, wall toughness

The exact upgrade pool is randomized each run, so you cannot guarantee the same build every time.

Blacksmith Level Cap

Hotfix 0.1.5 raised the Blacksmith maximum level from 101 to 999. This massively increased the long-term scaling of character upgrades in longer runs. If you are playing Infinite Mode or pushing deep into a mission, the Blacksmith becomes one of your most important investments. Community footage confirms players saw the level cap increase in the upgrade UI (The Boys are Dwarves, 03:52).

Craft Speed Changes

The Craft Speed upgrade was reworked in Demo 0.1.9. It no longer reduces crafting time by a flat amount. Instead, it acts as a percentage multiplier. This makes the upgrade more valuable in the late game and less dominant in the early game.

Forge Changes Since Hotfix 0.1.5

The upgrade pool changed more in 0.2.0 than in any patch since launch:

• Gold is now a multiplier, and it has a ceiling. 0.2.0 made Gold Bonus increase the Gold you earn instead of the chance for Gold to appear; 0.2.1 made the Permanent Gold Upgrade and the Gold Ring scale multiplicatively (the Gold Ring went from +3% to +8% per upgrade); 0.2.2 capped the total Gold multiplier at 200x.
• New Tomes (0.2.0): Compass Range, Team Attack, Team Max Health, Precious Treasures and Forge Boost. Precious Treasures changed in 0.2.1 from a guaranteed +1 item per upgrade to a +20% chance for an extra item, and Forge Boost was lowered so each upgrade cuts less XP from leveling.
• New Rings (0.2.0): Explosion Combat Range, Magic Range, Heal on Block and Digging Speed. The Difficulty Ring was pulled from the pool while the developer reworks it.
• Scaling rules changed (0.2.0). Effects above 100% can trigger more than once per activation, high-value stats (Jump Height, Movement Speed, Sprint Speed, melee and ranged attack speed, Digging Speed) have stronger diminishing returns at the top, and Knockback Chance and Dodge stop appearing once they reach their maximum effective value — a small Gold reward can appear when the Ring pool runs short.
• Team-wide upgrades had multiplayer bugs until 0.2.1 fixed them not being restored on join or rejoin, and not displaying correctly in the inventory.

Upgrade Types to Watch

Based on developer devblogs and community reports, these upgrade categories exist:

• Attack damage — raises melee and ranged output.
• Health — increases survivability, especially for frontline classes.
• Knockback — keeps monsters away from walls; can chain for crowd control.
• Jump — helps reach high ore veins and escape swarms.
• Wall toughness — makes repairs more efficient and gates harder to break.

Some upgrades may be class-specific or unlockable. The full list and numeric values are not yet confirmed.

From Community Gameplay

Co-op footage shows how the forge loop works in practice. These details are based on community observation rather than official documentation:

• Resources act as Blacksmith experience. Depositing ore and wood into the forge fills the Blacksmith’s XP bar, which then unlocks a randomized set of upgrade choices (The Boys are Dwarves, 01:23; 01:50).
• Upgrade choices are random and sometimes voted on. The team sees the same upgrade options and can vote for the one that benefits the group, such as an automated defending ballista or faster campfire healing (The Boys are Dwarves, 05:30; 05:31; 34:55).
• Normal mining does not drain stamina. Only charged attacks consume stamina, so stamina management is about combat and power swings rather than every pickaxe hit (The Boys are Dwarves, 12:02).
• Crafting speed affects more than forging. It also speeds up arrow crafting and potion brewing, making it valuable for the team even if you are not upgrading gear directly (The Boys are Dwarves, 10:58; 35:18).
• Recycle old gear for resources. A dedicated recycling NPC breaks down unwanted weapons and returns crafting materials, which can then be fed back into the forge (The Boys are Dwarves, 26:56).
• Stone repairs walls; wood makes arrows. These two resources remain the backbone of every inter-wave phase, so do not dump everything into upgrades if defenses are low (The Boys are Dwarves, 30:25; 35:45).

When to Forge

Do not wait until the last second. Use the gap between waves to:

1. Repair critical walls and gates.
2. Craft enough arrows for the next wave.
3. Spend leftover resources on upgrades.
4. Return to position before the horn sounds.

For build priorities, read our best upgrades and builds guide. For the resource loop, see mining and resources.

Sources

• Official Steam store page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4502710/
• Official Steam announcements hub: https://steamcommunity.com/games/4502710/announcements/
• Steam Community discussions: https://steamcommunity.com/app/4502710/discussions/
• The Boys are Dwarves gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-XuIMMYeW8

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Fan-made guide. This site is not affiliated with Banana Tiger Studio, Steam, or Valve; all game content and media belong to their respective owners.