Relic & Balance Overhaul — Starting Relics, +99 Forging and Codex Improvements

Hello, this is the developer of ForgeTax.

This update reworks relic roles and combinations, along with progression from the start of a run into the late game. It also improves the relic codex, controls and translations.

Choose your first relic

• New runs offer a free choice of 1 of 3 relics drawn from the early-game pool.

• You still choose a relic if you skip the tutorial.

• Progress before and after the choice is saved. Runs already in progress do not receive a retroactive gift.

• The tutorial's sword deposit demonstration, dialogue and guidance have been revised.

Relic effects, prices and availability

We have separated overlapping roles and added more ways to turn Damage, Hold and Break into future growth. Effects, prices, appearance rounds and rarity have been reviewed together.

Some of the main changes

• Cracked Splice — Each Damage reduces this sword’s Break chance by 15%, up to 60%.

• Defeated King's Seal — Each Damage adds +1 extra level to the next Great.

• Sealed Heart — Each Hold adds +1 extra level to the next Great, up to +4.

• Sleeping Ember — Each Hold has a 70% chance to grant +1 level.

• Unbroken Oath — Each Damage has a 70% chance to grant +1 level.

• Ossuary King's Scabbard — When a +7 or higher sword breaks, permanently gain 1 ticket of its previous result for this run.

• Mourning Knot — Each failed tribute permanently adds 1 Great ticket for this run.

• Broken Holy Sword — Pass 20% of a broken sword’s level to the next unforged +0 sword. Adds to other inheritance rates.

• Dawn Scabbard — Pass 40% of a broken sword’s level to the next unforged +0 sword. Adds to other inheritance rates.

• Glass Hourglass — Greats during Frenzy grant +3 levels.

• Worn Voucher — 1 free relic shop reroll each round.

• Ash Sieve — When a sword breaks, gain 500 G.

• Tax Tally — Each full tribute payment: +1 relic shop sword credit.

• Inheritance from Broken Holy Sword and Dawn Scabbard now adds together.

• Tickets permanently earned for the current run remain after discarding the relic, but reset on a new run.

• Damage-triggered effects work from the Damage result even at +0 or when the upgrade loss is prevented.

• Break chance reduction wording is now consistent. For example, reducing a 40% chance by 15% gives 34%.

• Success/Great Success tickets, base value growth, bonus upgrades, sword grants and merchant stock now have more distinct roles.

• Interest, Copper Ledger and Small Safe have been temporarily removed. Each previously owned relic refunds 1 relic-shop sword credit. Interest already earned but not yet paid is preserved.

Frenzy and tribute balance

• Frenzy no longer increases the base hammer speed by itself. Relic speed bonuses still apply separately.

• Speed-related relics for normal forging and Frenzy have been adjusted.

• The Great Success sword-value multiplier is now 2.5× instead of 3×.

• Royal Change can reduce the next tribute requirement by at most 30%.

• Requirements for rounds 1–3 are unchanged; later requirements have increased. Round 21 rises from 145,000G to 232,000G, with further increases after the contract ends.

• The base Break chance curve by upgrade level has not changed in this overhaul.

Our aim is for relic combinations and resource decisions to help you overcome the challenge. We will continue adjusting this using feedback and gameplay records from players who opt in.

Upgrade limit raised to +99

• The limit has increased from +30 to +99.

• Swords retain their final appearance reached at +20. This change does not add new appearances beyond +20.

• Fixed cases where ineffective bonus upgrades or related item uses were processed incorrectly at the cap.

Codex and controls

• Relics and merchant items can be viewed in the codex.

• Items actually displayed in a shop, acquired or owned, or unlocked reveal their names and effects through discovery; buying them is not required.

• Undiscovered relics appear as black silhouettes with ???. Unlock conditions are shown when applicable.

• Discovery carries over between runs. Codex prices and weapon counts now match the actual data.

• Right-click while carrying a sword to put it down. A control hint appears at the bottom right.

• Three red dragon doodles now appear on the wall between the tribute area and relic shop. Warnings cross them out from top to bottom; lowering anger restores the corresponding marks.

• Clarified physical sword grants, relic-shop sword credits, free rerolls and bonus notifications.

Translations and descriptions

Updated changed relic effects and tutorial text across Korean, English, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Russian, German, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese. We clarified Success versus Great Success, base value versus sword value, and effect conditions and duration. Missing Funerary Sword names, merchant text and incorrect outcome names were also addressed.

Fixes and stability

• Fixed Damage counts being mixed between normal forging and Frenzy.

• Fixed stale undo states after loading and cases that could duplicate certain gold or tickets through undo or restarting.

• Improved saving and restoring accumulated relic effects, inheritance, free uses and the starting relic choice.

• Improved Steam launch and authentication handling, save validation and error handling.

• Improved anonymous gameplay-record retries, collection-server stability and handling of abnormal requests. Sending gameplay records remains optional.

Thank you for playing and sharing your feedback. If you encounter a problem, please include the round, your relics and what happened. Screenshots are also very helpful.