The Forge Katana builds that are worth your rare Ore

Katanas sit in a sweet spot in The Forge – they swing fast, hit hard, and cover more ground than fists without the sluggish feel of Colossals. With the right ore mix, traits, and runes, a Katana can delete late‑game enemies and still feel responsive in moment‑to‑moment combat.

There isn’t a single “perfect” recipe for every player, but a few patterns consistently outperform the rest: Darkryte for multipliers, Magmaite for area damage, Eye Ore and Fireite for single‑target pressure, and Blast Chip and Drain Edge on the rune side.

How Katana crafting works in The Forge

Weapon crafting in The Forge is built around three levers:

• Ore count: How many pieces you drop into the recipe.
• Ore type and tier: This sets the base damage multiplier and which traits the finished weapon can roll.
• Weapon roll chances: Each ore combination has different odds of producing a Katana versus other weapon types.

For Katanas, the key points are:

• 12 ores is the sweet spot. Using exactly 12 pieces of ore gives roughly a 72% chance to roll a Katana. Going higher or lower pushes you into riskier territory with only marginal gains in power.
• Damage scales off a multiplier, not just base numbers. High‑tier ores like Darkryte, Magmaite, Eye Ore, Fireite, and Demonite stack into a total “multiplier” that drives base damage.
• Traits are tied to specific ores. Magmaite adds AoE explosions, Fireite adds burn, Eye Ore increases weapon damage at the cost of health, and so on.

With that in mind, the best Katana builds fall into three buckets: pure damage recipes, hybrid late‑game setups, and ultra‑greedy one‑shot builds that accept lower Katana odds.

Best high‑damage Katana recipes (raw DPS)

Raw‑damage Katanas are built around Darkryte and a small group of late‑game ores that push the multiplier as high as possible. These setups prioritize base damage and usually add at least one strong trait.

Two things stand out in these recipes:

• Darkryte is the core damage ore. Stacking Darkryte drives the multiplier up; the 8x Darkryte setup already pushes a Katana close to 100 base damage with a safe 12‑ore count.
• Magmaite fixes Katana’s biggest weakness. Katanas excel at single‑target duels but struggle in crowded rooms. Magmaite’s explosion trait (50% of weapon damage with ~35% proc chance at high values) lets each swing chew through packs.

If you want a reliable, late‑game generalist weapon and can access both Darkryte and Magmaite, the 8x Darkryte / 4x Magmaite Katana is the best “set and forget” damage build that still respects the 12‑ore Katana chance.

Hybrid “best overall” Katana recipe

The cleanest all‑rounder Katana mixes Darkryte’s multiplier with three trait‑heavy ores:

• Darkryte for base damage.
• Magmaite for AoE explosions.
• Eye Ore for flat weapon damage at a health cost.
• Fireite for burn damage over time.

A widely used late‑game layout is:

• 4x Darkryte
• 3x Magmaite
• 3x Eye Ore
• 3x Fireite

This keeps you at 12 ores with a Katana chance in the mid‑60% range. You give up a bit of raw base damage compared with the pure Darkryte/Magmaite stacks, but you gain:

• Strong AoE explosion from Magmaite (mid‑30% to 50% damage at a ~25–35% proc chance).
• Consistent burn damage from Fireite (around 13–20% extra damage, ~20–30% chance on hit depending on distribution).
• Weapon damage bonuses from Eye Ore (~10–15%), offset by a moderate health penalty.

On paper this looks like a downgrade from 100+ base damage builds; in practice, the layered traits turn each swing into a burst of up‑front and over‑time damage across multiple enemies, which is much more valuable in high‑density zones and boss phases with mobs.

Late‑game trait‑stacked Katana (utility‑heavy)

There is also a trait‑maxed variant that leans harder into Eye Ore and Fireite at the expense of some base damage. A simple but effective 12‑ore spread is:

• 4x Magmaite
• 4x Eye Ore
• 4x Fireite

This setup:

• Sits around a 4.5x multiplier, landing roughly 75–80 base damage.
• Pushes Magmaite’s explosion, Fireite’s burn, and Eye Ore’s weapon damage bonus very close to their caps for a non‑mythical build.
• Maintains a 72% Katana roll chance thanks to the 12‑ore count.

On raw hit numbers, this Katana lags behind a 100+ damage Darkryte build. On a full combo into a pack, it often wins, because you are reliably proccing burn and explosions while each Eye Ore stack quietly multiplies every source of damage on the weapon.

For most players who want a powerful end‑game Katana without micro‑optimizing small percentage gains, this trait‑heavy Magmaite/Eye Ore/Fireite split is the most forgiving choice.

Greedy “one‑shot” Katana recipes

A different branch of Katana builds bluntly chases the highest base damage number and trusts runes, race bonuses, and achievements to carry the rest. These recipes often drop below 12 ores or contort the distribution in ways that lower Katana odds.

The standout pattern looks like this:

• 6x Darkryte
• 4x Demonite
• 3x Eye Ore

Key outcomes:

• ~100 base damage Katana with very high multiplier.
• +~10% weapon damage from Eye Ore, with a matching health penalty in the single‑digit percent range.
• Demonite adds its own late‑game trait line, and synergizes well with Demon race bonuses and fire builds.

In practice, this kind of Katana is usually paired with:

• A high critical chance achievement bonus (up to 35% if you have forged enough items).
• Demon race, which adds around 20% physical damage and 20% fire damage on top of the ore traits.

With all of that stacked, a heavy attack or crit can spike so high that elite mobs and even Reapers can die in a single combo, especially if burn and explosions roll at the same time. The trade‑off is low health from Eye Ore, volatility from crit reliance, and the very real possibility that the forge spits out a different weapon type instead of a Katana when you deviate from safer 12‑ore patterns.

What each key ore actually does for Katanas

Choosing the “right” recipe gets easier once each late‑game ore has a clear role in your head.

When in doubt:

• Prioritize Darkryte + Magmaite if you want a safe all‑purpose Katana.
• Sprinkle in Eye Ore if you’re comfortable paying some health for more damage.
• Add Fireite once you have a reliable healing source, like Drain Edge or lifesteal traits on armor.

Ultra‑rare ores like Galaxite and Arcane Crystal technically unlock even higher damage ceilings, but they are so scarce that most players are better served by the ore suite above.

Best runes for Katanas (and why they work)

Even a perfect ore recipe needs runes to keep up with late‑game content. Two runes rise above the rest for Katana builds:

• Blast Chip
• Drain Edge

Blast Chip adds an on‑hit AoE explosion similar to Magmaite’s trait. High‑roll Blast Chips can reach close to 40% of weapon damage with procs around 20% or more, which makes them a natural fit for:

• Darkryte‑heavy Katanas that skipped Magmaite in the recipe; the rune restores missing AoE coverage.
• Existing Magmaite builds; explosion damage stacks additively and can push total AoE damage to 70–80% of the main hit on a proc.

Drain Edge adds lifesteal, solving two Katana problems at once:

• Compensating for Eye Ore’s health penalty and aggressive Demon‑race builds.
• Letting fast attack chains heal back chip damage taken while staying in melee range.

The simplest late‑game setup is:

• Rune slot 1: Blast Chip with the highest explosion percentage you can find, ideally with a useful secondary stat like attack speed or lethality (weapon damage bonus).
• Rune slot 2: Drain Edge, unlocked once your Katana reaches a high enough enhancement level.

If you are leaning heavily into Darkryte and Eye Ore and feel stable on health thanks to armor and race bonuses, you can replace Drain Edge with a second strong Blast Chip. Doubling Blast Chip can push total explosion damage into the high‑70% weapon damage range with solid proc chance, which pairs dangerously well with a 100+ base damage Katana.

Enhancing and supporting a Katana build

The ore recipe is only one part of a strong Katana. Several systems around it amplify the weapon:

• Enhancement levels: Upgrading your Katana at the Enhancer raises its base stats and eventually unlocks the second rune slot. Reaching enhancement level 6 typically opens that slot, though the exact thresholds vary by weapon.
• Achievements: The forging‑related achievement track grants a permanent critical chance boost, scaling up to around 35% crit chance if you have forged enough items. Katanas benefit heavily because of their fast, multi‑hit combos.
• Race choice: The Demon race is particularly strong for Katana builds, with roughly 20% physical damage and 20% fire damage baked in, stacking cleanly with Eye Ore and Fireite traits.
• Armor traits: Using Eye Ore on armor pushes weapon damage even further, at the cost of more max HP. This should be paired with Drain Edge or other reliable healing to avoid getting one‑shot.

On the resource side, late‑game weapon crafting leans heavily on mining:

• Volcanic rocks are the main source of Demonite, Darkryte, Fireite, and Magmaite.
• Pickaxes like the Arcane pickaxe carry built‑in luck bonuses, which can be further boosted by attaching luck or yield‑focused runes to the pickaxe itself.
• Playtime‑based achievements can grant additional luck bonuses, improving rare ore drop rates.

For efficient farming, most high‑end players stack luck and yield on an Arcane or strong late‑game pickaxe, use a mining‑oriented race like Dwarf for extra mining power, and camp volcanic rock spawns until they have enough Darkryte, Demonite, and Magmaite to attempt their chosen Katana recipe multiple times.

Strong Katanas in The Forge come from a clear priority list, not blind gambling: 12‑ore recipes to keep Katana chances high, Darkryte as the damage spine, Magmaite and Blast Chip to handle crowds, Eye Ore and Fireite for boss‑killing pressure, and Drain Edge to make all that aggression sustainable. Once those foundations are in place, chasing small upgrades in rune rolls and ore tiers turns the weapon from “very good” into something that can comfortably shred even the toughest enemies in the game.