Gj dude! Thx for this. Really 
I don’t know man. In my stream that I linked I do it over and over again, and almost all of my hammers turn out level 8 damage, 1600 durability, and 3x3, and it’s the stability that keeps me from continuing, because I could almost always Catalyst to get more vigour, but my stability is under 100 so there would be no point. Not trying to shamelessly plug my stream lol, but maybe watch it, especially towards the end when I’ve pretty much solidified the procedure, to get an idea of where you might be losing your vigour. My initial idea is it’s in the Transmute. Usually you have to use 1 or 2 in the first rounds, because you’ll get say Hard Hitter first and then have to Transmute to hopefully Damage or Durability. And then if your second boon is Hard Hitter again, you’ll have to use another Transmute. If at any point you get unlucky and have to roll more Transmutes because it gives you some random boon that’s neither Damage nor Durability, you’re already working at a vigour deficit for the rest of your forge. But even in those instances, you can still usually pull off level 8 damage and 3x3, you’ll just have less durability. Are you using Defect Reversal Catalyst more than once? Because those are 200 vigour each. And in my tests, I only use one per forge, maybe 2 if my rolls weren’t so great and I’m getting into higher rounds. You could also try using Deconstruction Resin 3 in place of Protection Paste 2 since vigour seems to be where you’re coming up short. I have a pretty reliable strategy using Deconstruction Resin as well if you’d like me to share it. I use less Transmutes with that deck usually, but with the above strategy I’ve had many more reliably better forges.
Anyone use boon compound 1s? I rarely use vigour catalyst since the update. Invigoration paste and boon 1 will give you 50 vigour back each time the points bar doesn’t land favourably and you don’t waste boon 3 on under 200 points.
Also if you apply an invigoration before your gums won’t cost anything and apply a stabilisation paste as well and you can gain the stability cost of the initial 2 pastes back while applying gums.
Just thought I’d share, haven’t seen anyone mention it
I always start my forges with a stab2 paste; it’s cheap and you score stability while adding gums yup.
Depending on the rest of my deck i sneak some vigour paste in aswell, but generally only on my non-catalytic forges 
Ps shhhhh you’re ruining the secrets of forging! /s
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So I realized what the problem is, and I’ve edited the post to reflect it. I used Corrupted Boon Compound 1 NOT 2. So sorry for the mistake. That’s where all your vigour is going 
I only realized the problem when I was forging on live and accidentally made Compound 2 instead of 1 and was forging with it and was in the same boat, like “Where the H is all my vigour going?? And why am I all of a sudden having such a problem with defect points??” Again, sorry for the mistake, but use Corrupted Boon Compound 1 and not 2 and all your woes should disapper! 
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What about using Defect removal compound 2 instead of defect removal catalyst? less vigour and remove 400defect point instead of 50% of defect point.
That would work as well, however, instead of using 200 vigour, it uses 100 vigour and 100-110 stability. Since stability is usually the limiting factor in how far you can push your forges, in my opinion using the extra 100 vigour is worth saving the stability. It also removes just as many boon points as well, which isn’t that big of a deal, but another factor to consider.
Your using the trait reduction gum wrong, it only favours existing boons, once you have 3 boons, it’s pointless to use it because you have 3/3 boons and aoe is one of them. That gum is only useful to level your first or first two boons when you don’t want a 3rd added yet.
Your also adding aoe first, add it last so your boon removal can de-level it from 5 to 4 when your other boons are high enough. Otherwise it looks like a good method, but your making mistakes with your gums.
the defect reduction compound removes up to 400 boon points, if you time it nicely when your slider is empty, is near painless!
That is true, but I still prefer the Defect Reduction Catalyst because of the no stability cost. Unless RNG is against me and I have to use more Transmutes, I’m limited by my stability and not vigour, even when using Protection Paste or Stabilisation Paste. So I’d rather use more vigour and save my stability.
Hey! I am going to give your method a try because it looks promising and a little more affordable? 
Mind telling me where I can find Merlin’s pre-update method though? Is it the very first vid he posted on the forums here? Thanks!
Oh also, now would you change anything about your method (in case you know better or something)?
The only change I have made is currently I am using Deconstruction Resin 3 instead of Quirk Transmute Solvent. I found if I am just trying to make “average” forged then having the ability to start over is more important than being able to min/max. Anywhere that I mention using decon resin below you can replace that with “Use boon removal until nothing is on the hammer then setting resin”
His old method is located in the old thread of his (if you search “So easy an oortian can do it” you should be able to find the thread), like halfway down. I can break it down, though
- Add 1 Special Gum
- Draining Boon 1
- If you get AoE use Vigour Catalyst 2 to reset the deck. If not, use a decon resin and go back to 1.
- Add 1 Effect Gum
- Draining Boon 1
- If you get Devastating Damage use Vigour Catalyst 2 to reset the deck, if not either use boon removal to reroll into DD, or use a decon resin and go back to step 1. If you use a BR and still miss, decon and start over.
- Add 3 Longevity Gum (replace this with Lightness Gum if you want action speed instead of durability)
- Add Fate Paste 2
- Draining Boon 1
- If you get Dura/Action speed, keep adding draining boon 1 until your stability is ~1100. This should get you at or near level 7 Durability. If not, boon removal to hit it.
- Vigour Catalyst 2 to reset the deck
- Add 1-3 Special Gum (depending on how everything else is gone and your risk tolerance)
- Add Fate Paste 2
- Use Draining Boon 1 until you have AoE 4.
- Vigour Catalyst 2 to reset the deck.
- Add 3-5 Effect Gum (depending on how everything else is gone and your risk tolerance)
- Add Fate Paste 2
- Depending on what quirks you have started so far and your remaining vigour, use either Draining 1 (want to fill in quirks) or Pure 3 (don’t want to fill in quirks). Use this until you have damage 8.
- (Optional) Sometimes, if you get lucky, you get to this point with Dura 7, Damage 8, and AoE 4 and still have some vigour and stability left. If so, you can clear the deck again with a Vigour Catalyst 2, add some longevity gums, and try to get up to Durability 8 or 9. Usually, though, you will get up to damage 8 with either 0 or 1 rounds of stability left.
- Setting resin and wait an hour for your hammer.
I hope this helps. Feel free to PM me any questions, and if you come up with any refinements please let me know.
Edit: If you want to roll with Quirk Transmute instead of Decon, whenever you roll a quirk you have to make the call whether you’re okay with that quirk or not. If it’s good or doesn’t matter if it’s on the hammer just continue as normal. If you roll a quirk you don’t want, use Vigour Catalyst 2 to reset the deck and then start transmuting it. I found I could usually use 2-3 and still have enough vigour to get my 7/8/4 hammers. Once you have it transmuted into something you like reapply the gums you were using (or the next step’s if you finished the previous step) and continue on.
Edit 2: Basic assumptions for this method to work: 7200 Power working with gem(mostly diamond) tools that allow you to get up to 200% efficiency. If you want to forge topaz, for example, the boon levels you can hit are slightly lower due to topaz only getting up to 165% efficiency so fewer overall boon points may be applied.
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Thanks a lot for this detailed reply - I appreciate you taking the time to write all of this. I got a bunch of old forged tools now but as soon as i use them all, ill try this method. It doesnt seem too risky or costly so i am willing to give it a shot
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Quick question: why are people not using pure boon compound 2? I’m new to forging and can’t quite understand this thread completely. But that’s all I use is the pure boon 2 to keep it defect and whatever else stress free.
Edit: any tips would be very much appreciated! Thank you!
Basically because you can get more rolls using corrupted/unstable. When the corruption builds up for example, and you clear the board with vigour catalyst you get much more vigour back and can pump boons longer, and therefor get stronger traits.
Ahhh… makes sense now. I’ll try doing as you described on a few titanium hammers to get a feel for it first. Thank you for the pointers!
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