"The Elder Scrolls: Blades" Tempering Guide

In The Elder Scrolls: Blades, tempering is a system that allows you to make minor upgrades to your gear's effectiveness and durability. To do so, you must use the Smithy to temper your items. It will cost time and resources that vary with the level of the tempering and the tier of the gear being tempered.

Tempering has varying levels of quality, with each more impactful and more expensive as it increases. The quality levels are:

• Lv. 1 Fine (Uncommon/Green)
• Lv. 2 Superior (Uncommon/Green)
• Lv. 3 Remarkable (Uncommon/Green)
• Lv. 4 Exquisite (Uncommon/Green)
• Lv. 5 Magnificent (Rare/Blue)
• Lv. 6 Flawless (Rare/Blue)
• Lv. 7 Exemplary (Epic/Purple)
• Lv. 8 Sublime (Epic/Purple)
• Lv. 9 Majestic (Legendary/Orange)
• Lv. 10 Mythical (Legendary/Orange)

The level your Smithy can temper to is driven by the maximum level of the Smithy in your town, plus any additional levels granted by the perk "Advanced Tempering" found in the perks section of your skills on the middle right branch.

There is some nuance to how you temper your weapons. Unlike other games, tempering does not have to be done in order. You can temper a unit from un-tempered to Mythical should you have the resources and be high enough level to do so. If you do temper in order, the cost of your previous tempers will be reduced from your higher tempers. For example, if Fine costs 7 Iron Ingot, and Superior costs 15 Iron Ingot, Superior will then cost 8 Iron Ingot if you first temper the item to Fine. However, it's worth noting that the time to temper does not decrease, so if you incremental temper you will end up waiting more time in total. The time isn't that significant compared to the cost, so it's not something you should be overly worried about.

In order to temper items, you will need quite a handful of various items and resources. Most often you will require an ingot for the material type of the gear you're tempering plus another type of ingot to go along with it. However, for higher rank tempering, you will also need other more rare tempering materials. For a rough idea of the materials you will need, check the list below:

• Iron Tempering
  Standard: Iron Ingot, Brass Ingot
  High Level: Topaz, Garnet
• Steel Tempering
  Standard: Iron Ingot, Steel Ingot
  High Level: Topaz, Amethyst, Garnet
• Silver Tempering
  Standard: Steel Ingot, Silver Ingot
  High Level: Amethyst, Ruby, Garnet
• Orcish Tempering
  Standard: Iron Ingot, Steel Ingot, Orichalcum Ingot
  High Level: Amethyst, Ruby, Sapphire
• Dwarven Tempering
  Standard: Dwarven Ingot, Orichalcum Ingot
  High Level: Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald
• Chitin Tempering
  Standard: Scrib Chitin, Leather
  High Level: Ruby, Amethyst, Garnet
• Quicksilver Tempering
  TBD
• Elvish Tempering
  TBD
• Glass Tempering
  TBD
• Ebony Tempering
  TBD

You'll notice they'll always pull in materials from lower level gear, so it's important to keep a stockpile of all types of materials.

Tempering is very expensive, particularly at the higher ranks. You have to be very careful and mindful of if and when you should temper an item. For example, tempering your early gear too much is just wasted resources as you'll replace it fairly quickly. However, un-tempered gear is worse and can cause you to perform worse or more slowly as you grind through your levels.

Here are some tips to consider:

• Early gear is not necessary to temper; some tempering on Orcish will be helpful, and Dwarven gear is a good time to start as the game slows down a bit at that point.
• Tempering explodes in cost at Exquisite and beyond due to the introduction of gems in the crafting materials. There is a cost/benefit sweet spot at "Remarkable." It is often the highest increase in stats when compared to the cost and rarity of the ingredients due to the fact that gems aren't yet in the recipe. If you need to invest in some gear, tempering it to "Remarkable" is a good place to go.

Overall, be mindful of how long you plan on using the gear and invest accordingly. Also, take note that Abyss runs can be incredibly valuable when fighting above your level. Optimizing your gear can let you push those boundaries. For more information on the Abyss, check out my guide.