Minecraft Dungeons guide: How to use the new Blacksmith vendor

Do you have a favorite weapon or armor in Minecraft Dungeons that you love, but can no longer use on higher difficulty levels? Well, a new change brought with the Creeping Winter DLC will probably make you very happy: the blacksmith has a new job description. Instead of selling completely random pieces of gear to players in exchange for emeralds (there’s another new vendor who’s taken on this role), you can now upgrade your existing gear. In this Minecraft Dungeons guide, we’ll go over one of five new vendors in the game, the blacksmith.

Here’s how to use the new Blacksmith Vendor in Minecraft Dungeons:

What is the Black-smith in Minecraft Dungeons?

The Blacksmith is one of five new vendors added to Minecraft Dungeons in a recent update, alongside the new Deluxe Merchant who offers exclusive high-end goods. The blacksmith differs from most other vendors, however, in that they won’t sell you new gear, but will further upgrade your existing gear. If you have powerful and rare Uniques that just aren’t level high enough for you anymore, or you’ve found a piece of gear with the perfect enchantments, or any other reason you choose not to use certain objects, the blacksmith can be for you.

In exchange for your hard-earned emeralds, the blacksmith will upgrade any of your gear to more appropriate power levels. The blacksmith does this based on your game’s recommended difficulty, so there’s a limit to that. This means you no longer have to leave gear behind or constantly scrap rare and powerful gear just because it’s too weak to withstand tougher baddies. If you have Emeralds saved up, you can simply upgrade them instead. There’s a catch, however, and that’s that the blacksmith can’t upgrade your gear instantly. Let’s talk more about how to use the blacksmith.

How can I use the blacksmith in Minecraft Dungeons?

Using the blacksmith is very simple, but there are three essential rules that the blacksmith will explain to you the first time you use it. These rules are:

• Upgrading an item will instantly return all invested enchantment points
• Upgrading an item requires three completed missions
• Upgrading an item boosts the power level based on the difficulty you recommend

Let’s go through each rule very quickly. The first rule means that any enchantments you spent points on the item you want to upgrade will be reset, and those enchantment points will be returned to you. Once you’ve collected the item, you can reinvest those enchantment points in the same way, mix things up, or use them on a different item. The choice is yours.

The second rule means that the blacksmith will not improve your equipment immediately. You’ll need to go out and complete a total of three missions of your choosing (one successful, mind you), and then you’ll receive your gear in its new, more powerful form. This encourages you to experiment with your loadouts and try new gear while you wait for Old Faithful to return from the shop. It also means you have to be careful, as you don’t want to get accidentally stranded without a decent loadout or the emeralds to buy one.

Finally, the third rule states the purpose of the blacksmith: to re-roll the power and stats of the item you are upgrading around your recommended difficulty. That means at the highest difficulty levels you’re looking at around 110 to 115, plus or minus a few levels. Keep this in mind when upgrading: using the blacksmith does not guarantee a higher level; it simply rerolls the item at your recommended difficulty. If an item is already at that power level, it may not get any stronger at all.

Now we can talk about using the blacksmith:

To upgrade an item, you will need to scroll down to view the list of available gear. Keep in mind that this won’t show equipped gear, so if you want to upgrade something you’re actively using, you’ll need to unequip it first. The list organizes it by power level, but it places gear that already has enchantment points invested near the bottom, so you can find them in a separate location if you want. Once you locate the gear you want to upgrade, you will see the cost in emeralds at the bottom.

Do you have money and want to spend it? Hold down the corresponding button (“A” on an Xbox controller), and the blacksmith gets to work! Keep in mind that there is no confirmation prompt, just hold down the button. Also, once you choose to upgrade something, you can’t undo or cancel it and you must complete all three missions to get that item back, so make sure you want/can upgrade. level something before doing it.

Once you’ve chosen the item you want to upgrade, get out there and keep playing! You can return to the blacksmith to see your progress, or just go ahead and complete three missions, then stop to pick up your gear in its newly upgraded glory.

That said, you can also choose to upgrade multiple items at once through the blacksmith, which saves you time and even emeralds.

To upgrade multiple items through the blacksmith, simply navigate to the second or third slot at the top of the screen, then follow the same process as the first slot. Each location tracks its own mission completions, but one mission completion can track all locations at the same time. This means that if you upgrade three items at the same time and then complete three missions, all three items will be ready for you. But if you upgrade an item, play a mission, and then upgrade a second item, the first slot will show a completed mission and the second slot will show no completed missions.

How can I upgrade blacksmith in Minecraft Dungeons?

Before you start asking about upgrading blacksmith to upgrade your gear faster or to be able to take on more projects at once, blacksmith doesn’t really have an upgrade path. Unlike other vendors, who usually expand their inventory each time you make special contracts for them, the blacksmith has their deal three at a time, and that’s it. There are no unique missions for them to complete.

In the current form of the blacksmith, it’s not so bad. Three projects at a time should be more than enough, especially since you really shouldn’t have to constantly update your gear. However, if the blacksmith gains new abilities (e.g. re-rolling enchantments on an item), it may make sense for the blacksmith to add missions to unlock that feature. As it stands, you get what you get.