Vintage Story Wiki
Crafting Mechanic: Quenching and Tempering
craftinginfo-quenching
· from game
Ferrous metal (iron, meteoric iron, and steel) tool and weapon heads can obtain extra properties if properly quenched and/or tempered. Non-ferrous metals cannot gain bonuses (or penalties) from these processes.
Quenching
Quenching can be done with, or without, a layer of fire clay being added to the item. With clay, the durability will be improved. Without clay, the power level will be improved.
Successful quenching can only be done starting from a certain temperature range, as shown in the tooltip of the item. When the item has reached this range, you may toss it in a block of liquid, orrightmouse while looking at a block of water or barrel of quenchant liquid (as of 1.22 water is the only valid quenchant). You must swiftly bring the temperature down to below 100C.
Quenching does cause stresses in the metal, in the form of a percent chance to shatter if quenched again. You can quench an item an unlimited number of times, but the shatter chance will go up consistently, while the benefits gained will decrease in magnitude each time. The shatter risk only applies to quenching, not tempering.
After quenching, the bonus obtained will be shown in the tooltip, as will the number of times this piece was properly quenched. If the item shatters during quenching, the item and all its metal will be lost.
Tempering
The tempering process is used to reduce the shatter chance that quenching adds to the item. Similar to quenching, the tempering process involves bring the work piece up to a specific temperature range, and then cooling it. It differs from quenching, in that the temperature is lower, and the rate of cooling must be much slower than quenching. Allowing the item to simply cool in the air while held or placed is sufficient
Successful tempering will reduce the shatter chance slightly. If your tempering improved the durability of the blade, that durability will remain unchanged. However if your quenching improved the power, the power will also go down slightly. The shatter chance will go down more though, as a percentage of the total. One cannot temper an item more times than it has been quenched.
Quenching
Quenching can be done with, or without, a layer of fire clay being added to the item. With clay, the durability will be improved. Without clay, the power level will be improved.
Successful quenching can only be done starting from a certain temperature range, as shown in the tooltip of the item. When the item has reached this range, you may toss it in a block of liquid, or
Quenching does cause stresses in the metal, in the form of a percent chance to shatter if quenched again. You can quench an item an unlimited number of times, but the shatter chance will go up consistently, while the benefits gained will decrease in magnitude each time. The shatter risk only applies to quenching, not tempering.
After quenching, the bonus obtained will be shown in the tooltip, as will the number of times this piece was properly quenched. If the item shatters during quenching, the item and all its metal will be lost.
Tempering
The tempering process is used to reduce the shatter chance that quenching adds to the item. Similar to quenching, the tempering process involves bring the work piece up to a specific temperature range, and then cooling it. It differs from quenching, in that the temperature is lower, and the rate of cooling must be much slower than quenching. Allowing the item to simply cool in the air while held or placed is sufficient
Successful tempering will reduce the shatter chance slightly. If your tempering improved the durability of the blade, that durability will remain unchanged. However if your quenching improved the power, the power will also go down slightly. The shatter chance will go down more though, as a percentage of the total. One cannot temper an item more times than it has been quenched.