This is a guide on how to reforge and any information you might be wondering on reforging in Mabinogi. If there was a guide about this before and I just didnt notice it I'm sorry I will delete this thread or something but I didn't see one and I felt like this was a good idea.
Introduction to Reforging:
Reforging has become a key aspect in Mabinogi at this point and is not something to just overlook for the most part. Reforging is a pretty simple system and is pretty easy to pick up once you get the hang of it, but I will attempt to go into as much detail as possible about reforges. For the sake of my own sanity, I will not be going into the specific reforge effects for the most part, except for maybe a couple of them. Lets get started...
Reforging Lines:
Reforges have up to a maximum of 3 lines that are completely independent of each other in terms of what can go on them along with how they work. A Reforging Tool must be used on an item that can be reforged (this is what will show up on an item that can be reforged before reforging) before a Crednes, Fine, or Commerce Reforging Tool can be used on said item. A Reforging Tool has a chance to give between 1 and 3 lines on use and also has a very small chance to skip rank 3, and rank 2 on that item (to put it in perspective, I have reforged hundreds of items and the only time I ever skipped a rank with a Reforging Tool was a couple days ago on an item I was randomly throwing reforges at for no reason). It is ideal to get the maximum number of lines (3) on an item you intend to reforge seriously due to the fact that each line is independent of every other line for what reforges are given to you along with their effects being independent of each other and potentially allowing you to stack effects from the same reforge on the same item. Something to note about reforging lines is that once you unlock the next line on a reforge that line is permanently there and there is no need to worry about losing said line for the that item. Once you get 3 lines on an item that item will forever have 3 lines (which is a good thing).
Reforging Ranks:
Reforging ranks work in the same way as reforging lines in that there are 3 levels that you can potentially have, however the go in reverse from the lines. The lowest rank is level 3 and is the easiest level to obtain on any item due to the fact that almost all reforges start at level 3. The next level of reforging ranks is level 2 and normally requires you to use either a Credne or Fine reforging tool to obtain it however there is a small chance of obtaining it with a normal reforge tool by skipping rank 3 but it is a very low chance. The last level of reforging ranks is level 1 which is almost only obtainable by Credne or Fine Reforges. The reforging ranks determine the restrictions each specific reforge can get at that level of reforging. Reforges are restricted to a max level per reforging rank level and by the time you reach rank 1 the maximum potential a reforge can reach is unlocked and obtainable. Reforging ranks can normally only go up by using a Fine or Credne Reforging tool and the ranking process can be identified by a small cutscene happening after the use of a Fine or Credne Reforging tool. Just like with reforging lines, once you obtain the next reforging rank that rank is forever unlocked and will not decrease. So once you get Rank 1 on an item through reforging that item will never go back to rank 2 or rank 3.
Reforge Ranking Efficiency: Generally, starting at rank 3 reforge level you will first want to unlock all 3 lines using a Crednes Reforging Tool. After you have 3 lines, you will want to use Fine Reforging Tools to get your item to rank 1 reforge level unless it already is at that. After the item has hit rank 1 reforge level, you will want to continue using Fine Reforging Tools to get the desired reforges on at least one of your lines. This is normally, the least costly method to reforge an item that you are starting from scratch on.
Type of Reforging Tools:
Reforging Tool: This is the basic reforging tool that can be purchased from General Store NPC's for 5,000 Gold each. These reforges can only be used once per item and can give anywhere from 1-3 lines and potentially skip reforging ranks at a very low chance.
Credne's Reforging Tool: This reforge is the most costly of all reforges due to its cost in the Nexon Cash Shop and its primary usage. It's main usage is to unlock all 3 lines of reforging for an item. Usage of this reforge does NOT guarantee an extra line is added past 1 line nor is it restricted to one extra line per usage. This reforge can potentially go from 0 lines to 3 lines in one usage or potentially never give more than 1 line after multiple uses. There is no proof, however it is believed by many players that Credne Reforging Tools have a higher chance to rank an item through its usage than a Fine Reforging Tool. I would not recommend its usage for that purpose due to its high cost and no concrete proof on this but that is for you to decide.
Fine Reforging Tool: This reforge is used primarily for 2 uses. Its first use is normally to rank up your item though multiple uses. Ranking up an item through this reforge is completely based on RNG and it's not guaranteed after so many uses (to put it in perspective I had one item that ate 500 fine reforges and it never hit rank 1). The second use it has is to get the specific reforge on 1 or more lines that you want. This is the only realistic method to obtain a specific reforge that you want on an item (Crednes technically can be used for this purpose but it is far too costly to realistically use it for that sole purpose). The reforges you can get on an item for each line are completely random by both level and type so it is a general rule of them to get 3 lines to maximize the chance of getting the reforge you want on at least one line. There is a chance to get the reforge rank up cutscene after you hit rank 1 on an item; obtaining the ranking cutscene after you hit rank 1 generally means (at least from what I have seen from reforging countless items after they hit rank 1) that you will receive 2-3 high level reforges on that item (normally from level 15- level 20 for both) and that is very good for MOST items.
Commerce Reforging Tool: This reforge has one specific use for it and can only be used on specific items. This reforge is generally used to obtain a specific reforge named the Commerce Speed Boost Reforge. Use of this tool does NOT guarantee that you will obtain any level of that specific reforge on the item but it DOES allow you the chance of obtaining that reforge where you would normally not be able to obtain it from any other type of reforge. This reforge has a lot of restrictions tied to it. This reforge can only be obtained on the chest piece of gear. The reforge level for it is restricted to a maximum of level 10 on most gear pieces in that slot. The only exceptions to this rule are for Antonio's Costume, Bassanio's Costume, Portia's Costume, and Shylock's Costume but they all need to be the G15 version (they will have the indication next to the item name like this). The restriction for those outfits for commerce speed reforge are removed and they can obtain a maximum of level 20 instead of level 10.
Elemental Reforges:
I am putting in this section due to the popularity and complexity of the reforge.
The Elemental Reforge is by far the most broken (in my opinion anyways) reforge that can go on an item. The elemental reforge has many restrictions tied to it for specific items, but the main restriction for them is that they can only go on weapons. In the past couple of years devCat has been restricting certain weapons to not be allowed elemental reforges on them.
The weapons that currently cannot obtain Elemental Reforges on them are:
-Control Bars
-Dual Guns
-Magic Weapons
-Alchemy Weapons
-Music Instruments
-Ninja Shuriken
-Gathering Tools(?)
[Edited in by Tyskiyomy]
The following can get Elemental Reforges:
-1 Handed Swords (Elemental reforges are restricted on 1 handed weapons to only be able to receive a maximum of level 3 at rank 1)
-2 Handed Swords
-Lances
-Bows
-Blunts
-Axes
Elemental Reforges have 3 different types or “elementals†which are Lightning, Fire, and Ice. These elemental types directly affect the reforges themselves and also have a very special ability for them compared to other reforges.
Firstly, the elemental type of elemental reforge affects how much damage is dealt to a specific enemy. Neutral elemental enemies are the least complicated as the first level of elemental reforge does not affect them, but the 2nd level of elemental reforge allows you to deal an additional 11.1% overall damage to that enemy and so on and so forth for every successive level.
The maximum level one line of an elemental reforge can have is level 6 and that will increase your overall damage on a neutral enemy by 55.5%. However if you are facing an enemy that has a specific elemental affinity to it the elemental reforge has either a boost or a loss in overall damage percent.
For instance, if you are facing an enemy with an Ice elemental affinity and you have a Fire Elemental reforge on your weapon, the elemental effects of the reforge are multiplied by 2x. However for elemental reforges of the same type the damage dealt by each reforge level is halved.
The most potentially broken part about elemental reforges on weapons is that if that weapon has 3 lines it can potentially have ALL 3 elemental reforge types. The damage for each level is indeed stacked on top of each as well, which can allow for potential +100% or more overall damage (there is controversy or at least controversy I have heard about the fact that elementals have a cap of 100% increased damage, while other people say that there is no cap to said elemental levels. That is up for debate and can be discussed by people in this thread if so be it but don't let it get out of hand please).
Rank 2 reforge level seems to have (at least from my personal experience) a higher chance at elementals appearing on a weapon and thus a higher level for elementals appearing on multiple lines which can allow for rank 2 to gain a potentially easier double or triple elemental on it. Rank 1 reforge, while it can have higher elemental levels, seems to have a lower chance of obtaining those elemental levels.
There are a few things that I am still discussing with some other people about how specific elemental reforges work in specific situations and will update this thread when I have reached a reliable conclusion.
Misc. Information about Reforges:
This section is more for some miscellaneous information about certain reforges and certain items that get specific restrictions to reforges.
Accessories: Accessory reforges are slightly different than most reforges. Firstly, the reforge levels for MOST reforges are restricted to a fraction of what you can receive on other pieces of equipment. The rank 3 level reforges are restricted to level 1 on most reforges if not all. The rank 2 level reforges are restricted to level 2 on most if not all reforges. The rank 1 level reforges are restricted to level 3 on most if not all reforges. There are a few exceptions to that rule but only by a bit. For instance, stat increasing reforges (i.e. dex, str, luck, int, will etc.) tend to have a bit higher of a level cap for both accessories and other items that can receive them. Also, due to the fact that accessories have a much larger amount of potential reforges to grab from, specific reforges for accessories can be difficult to receive and I highly recommend holding off on reforging accessories unless you have nothing left to reforge.
There are specific reforges that can only be obtained on specific items and only at specific ranks (normally those are restricted to rank 1). For instance, the Shieldless Charge reforge is restricted to head piece and accessory reforge and can only be obtained at rank 1. Any other reforges that might have similar restrictions can be found here (with a bit of digging as well).
Pre-Reforged Items: For a while now, gachapons have been giving out items that have a pre set reforge level set on them (like this) that makes it much easier to reforge them due to the ability to automatically skip some reforge levels. However, these specific items cannot have a Reforging Tool purchased at an NPC used on them. Instead, these items can only have either a Credne or a Fine reforging tool used on them to gain lines of reforges. From my personal experience, using a Fine reforging tool on them will only net you 1 line no matter what, so it would be in your best interest to use a Credne Reforging Tool first and get 3 lines. I like to think that those pre-reforged items are already reforged but have 0 lines instead of 1 line.
Conclusion:
Reforging is pretty simple to pick up once you have it down, but it can be slightly annoying to understand in the very beginning. Once you get the hang of it, you will understand its trend pretty easily and be able to assume things that are mostly correct for reforging and types of reforges. I will most likely add onto this if I find anything to add on to, or fix anything that needs fixing since there are a few confusing parts to reforging even for me. If you have anything to note or add about reforging for what I have already put in please don't be afraid to mention it.