Blades Of Fire: Forge Criptex Locations & Interactive Tracking Guide

Forge your best weapon, then forge it better. Forge Criptexes are the collectibles that raise the ceiling on how good that weapon can actually be — each one adds a point to the Forge Stars skill tree, increasing the maximum number of stars achievable when crafting a specific weapon school at a Forger's Anvil.

The confirmed ceiling is 7 Forge Stars per weapon — and collecting all 14 Forge Criptexes is required to reach it across every school. All 14 locations are properly documented on our complete Blades of Fire interactive maps.

Why Forge Stars Matter

Star rating determines a weapon's quality tier, which directly controls how many times it can be repaired before being permanently destroyed.

A 7-star weapon outlasts a 3-star equivalent by a substantial margin — critical on Steel difficulty, where resource scarcity makes losing a high-investment weapon genuinely costly.

Every Forge Criptex found increases the maximum star rating achievable for one or more weapon schools in the tree, so finding them early compounds across the whole campaign.

Two Criptex Types, One Menu

Forge Criptexes are one of two upgrade items tracked in Aran's progression menu. The parallel system — Life Criptexes — improves healing flask count and effectiveness rather than forging quality.

Both are found in the same ornate chest type, both contribute to 100% completion, and both are missable during the campaign but fully retrievable in post-game free-roam via the Forger's Oracles.

All 14 Forge Criptex Locations

• Besacarr Hamlet — basement of the large southeastern house, reached via the upper-level ladder
• Kar-Lethel Swamp (×2) — one halfway down a cave well, one on a ledge under the wall after the rope and shimmy point
• The Crimson Fort (×2) — one in the tower basement; one in the locked gate room accessed after the Bony Prince area
• Doyen Graves (×2) — one in the southwest mausoleum; one on the upper level of the northern tower via a platform jump
• The Iron Castle — end of the corridor under the exterior wall, dropped through a floor hole
• Central Hiss Hall — balcony chest, accessible only via the northern entrance through story progression
• The City of Curved Stones — upper floor of a house, reached via the Light Rune entrance unlocked through the Watchtower Domain
• The Egion's Abbey — base of the scaffolding by the wall
• The Roggs Mountains (×2) — one near Hurmuz's statue behind a blown wall (Charged Amulet required); one in a side cave inside Koko's dark lair
• Citadel of Tharas-Munda — on a platform reached by climbing a rope after reflecting a statue's beam to disable it