"The Elder Scrolls: Blades" Tempering Guide

Author:
sigbog
Updated date:
Jul 16, 2020

Sigbog is an avid gamer whose addiction spans PC and mobile titles. They love to break games down and pick them apart.

Tempering gear allows you to increase the stats and durability of your equipment.

Tempering in The Elder Scrolls: Blades

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 Ordering

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.

Tempering Perk on the Perks Page

This perk can increase the tempering level your Smithy can upgrade to.

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Tempering Resources

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.

Resource Costs for a Dwarven Helmet

Sublime tempering can be very expensive and require rare materials

Tempering Strategies

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.