In the world of Forspoken, players take on the role of Frey, a young girl who finds herself stranded in the mysterious land of Athia. As she embarks on different journeys and faces various enemies like mutants, breakzombies, and errant soldiers, crafting and upgrading become essential skills to learn in order to survive and thrive in this foreign land.
Crafting and upgrading allow Frey to raise her stats, resulting in benefits such as increased survival against the wildlife of Athia, longer lasting battles, and increased capacity in her pouches. Frey has two pouches at her disposal – the Materials Pouch, used to carry crafting items, and the Medicine Pouch, used to carry healing draughts. Upgrading her Cloak and Necklace stats can also increase Frey’s HP, Power, Defense, and resistance in battle.
To unlock crafting and upgrading, players must meet and help Olevia in Cipal City during chapter three of Frey’s journey. As Frey attempts to leave the city, she encounters Olevia, a young girl who offers her help in exchange for an apple. Once Frey gives Olevia what she wants, she follows her to the crafting bench at Cipal City, near Olevia’s “Finders Keepers” area. Here, Olevia teaches Frey the basics of crafting and upgrading her items and equipment.
To craft, players need to collect raw items from Athia’s fields and transform them into valuable items such as Healing Draughts, increased medicine pouch capacity, and increased materials pouch capacity. These items can be gathered by exploring the lands of Athia thoroughly, and by keeping an eye out for items that respawn near Olevia’s dump. Crafting can only be done on a crafting bench, which can be found inside different refuges, at campfires, and inside the city walls.
To upgrade, players need to interact with the crafting bench and choose the upgrade section. This is used to enhance the stats of Frey’s Necklaces and Cloaks. The materials needed to upgrade each stat vary, so players should pick the stats they wish to add to their equipment to figure out which materials they need. It should be noted that initially, crafting items or upgrading equipment requires a few resources, but it increases with each upgrade. The only exception to this is the Healing Draught, which can always be crafted with two Balm Flax.
In conclusion, crafting and upgrading are essential skills to learn in Forspoken as they allow players to increase their stats and survive in the dangerous land of Athia. Players must meet and help Olevia in Cipal City to unlock these skills, and can gather raw materials by exploring the lands thoroughly and keeping an eye out for respawning items. By using the crafting bench, players can turn raw materials into valuable items and upgrade their equipment to better face the challenges that lie ahead in Forspoken.