Craftmetal is the first resource in Silksong that forces you to think like a completionist instead of a speedrunner. It’s not just another currency you dump at a vendor and forget; it’s a hard-gated progression material tied directly to how strong, flexible, and survivable Hornet becomes. Miss it, and you’ll feel it immediately in boss DPS checks, traversal routes, and how forgiving combat feels once mistakes start stacking.
From the opening regions onward, Craftmetal quietly defines the game’s difficulty curve. Early enemies hit harder than you expect, bosses are tuned around tighter I-frames, and your base kit is intentionally underpowered. Craftmetal is how the game hands you leverage, but only if you’re willing to explore off the critical path.
What Craftmetal Actually Is
Craftmetal is a rare, world-placed upgrade material, not a farmable drop and not tied to RNG. Each piece is finite, deliberately hidden, and usually guarded by either a mechanical challenge, a miniboss, or a traversal check that tests recently unlocked tools. If you’re thinking in Hollow Knight terms, it occupies the same mental space as Pale Ore, but with more frequent decision pressure.
You don’t spend Craftmetal casually. Every unit has weight because it’s consumed permanently when used, and the game never floods you with extras early on. That scarcity is intentional, pushing you to commit to specific upgrades instead of rounding out everything evenly.
Why Craftmetal Is Central to Progression
Silksong’s progression loop is built around looping back through older zones with new movement tech, and Craftmetal is the reward that makes those detours worth the risk. It’s used to unlock weapon refinements, tool enhancements, and key combat modifiers that directly affect DPS, recovery windows, and utility options mid-fight. Without these upgrades, later bosses feel less “challenging but fair” and more like endurance tests stacked against you.
What makes Craftmetal matter more than a standard upgrade resource is timing. Spending it too early can lock you out of a stronger option later, while hoarding it can make midgame encounters punishing for no good reason. Efficient routing isn’t just about finding Craftmetal, but knowing when the upgrade it enables will meaningfully change your success rate.
How Craftmetal Shapes Exploration Decisions
Once you understand what Craftmetal does, your entire exploration mindset shifts. That suspicious platforming gauntlet or optional combat room isn’t just flavor content anymore; it’s potentially hiding a power spike that redefines your build. Players who skip side paths will feel under-tuned, while those who hunt Craftmetal aggressively can smooth out difficulty spikes before they become walls.
This is why documenting every Craftmetal location matters. Planning routes around ability unlocks, backtracking windows, and upgrade breakpoints lets you stay ahead of Silksong’s escalating challenge instead of reacting to it. Craftmetal isn’t optional optimization; it’s the backbone of smart progression.
All Known Craftmetal Types & Visual Identifiers (Quick Reference)
With Craftmetal driving so many high-impact upgrade decisions, recognizing what you’ve found at a glance becomes a skill in itself. Silksong doesn’t label these materials generously in the field, and several types can look deceptively similar when you’re platforming under pressure or clearing combat rooms on low health.
This quick reference breaks down every currently known Craftmetal type, how to visually identify it in the world, and why it matters for progression. Think of this as the mental checklist you build while exploring, so you know instantly whether a detour is worth the risk.
Standard Craftmetal
This is the baseline Craftmetal you’ll encounter most often, especially in early-to-mid game regions. Visually, it appears as a dull silver-blue alloy, usually embedded in rock walls or sealed inside simple metal casings that crack open after combat encounters or light platforming challenges.
Standard Craftmetal is primarily used for foundational upgrades: initial weapon refinements, basic tool enhancements, and early survivability boosts. Spending these early helps stabilize DPS and recovery windows, but burning through all of it can delay access to more specialized upgrades later.
Tempered Craftmetal
Tempered Craftmetal is immediately recognizable by its darker sheen and faint heat distortion effect, as if it’s still cooling from a forge. It’s commonly found in hostile industrial zones, enemy forges, or locked behind multi-wave combat rooms with aggressive enemy patterns.
This variant is required for mid-tier upgrades that meaningfully change how Hornet handles in combat, including faster ability recovery, improved I-frames on evasive tools, and weapon behaviors that alter spacing and hitbox control. These upgrades often feel mandatory for smoothing out midgame boss difficulty spikes.
Refined Craftmetal
Refined Craftmetal stands out due to its polished, almost mirror-like surface and intricate etched patterns along its edges. Unlike other types, it’s rarely found lying in the open and is more often rewarded for solving layered traversal puzzles or revisiting earlier zones with late-game movement tech.
This material fuels high-impact refinements tied directly to build identity. Expect upgrades that push DPS ceilings, modify special attacks, or unlock alternate combat utilities. Refined Craftmetal is scarce by design, and spending it incorrectly can lock you out of optimal late-game setups until very deep into the map.
Resonant Craftmetal
Resonant Craftmetal is the easiest to spot once you know what to look for. It emits a soft rhythmic glow and subtle audio cue, almost like it’s reacting to Hornet’s presence. These are usually hidden behind environmental interactions rather than raw platforming difficulty.
This type is tied to utility-focused progression rather than raw combat power. Resonant Craftmetal is used for upgrades that enhance exploration efficiency, such as improved interaction speed, tool versatility, or situational buffs that activate under specific conditions. For completionists, these upgrades drastically reduce backtracking friction.
Corrupted Craftmetal
Corrupted Craftmetal looks wrong the moment it appears on screen. Jagged edges, dark veining, and unstable visual effects mark it as something dangerous, often guarded by elite enemies or placed in areas with environmental hazards that punish mistakes.
Its usage reflects that risk. Corrupted Craftmetal enables powerful but conditional upgrades, trading safety for output. These include damage boosts with stricter positioning requirements, reduced recovery windows, or abilities that reward aggressive play while punishing sloppy execution. It’s not required for completion, but it’s invaluable for players pushing challenge routes or optimizing boss clears.
Why Visual Identification Matters for Routing
Understanding these visual cues changes how you explore. You stop treating every side path equally and start prioritizing based on what kind of Craftmetal is likely at the end. That decision-making directly impacts upgrade timing, survivability, and overall efficiency.
When you can identify Craftmetal types instantly, you minimize wasted detours and maximize meaningful power spikes. In a game where every permanent resource decision carries weight, that knowledge is just as valuable as mechanical skill.
Early-Game Craftmetal Locations (Low-Risk, High-Value Pickups)
Once you understand how to visually identify Craftmetal types, the early game opens up in a very deliberate way. These first pickups are designed to reward observant exploration rather than mechanical mastery, letting you secure meaningful upgrades before enemy damage and traversal demands spike. If you route efficiently, you can lock in several permanent advantages before your first major difficulty wall.
Rusted Outskirts – Abandoned Weaving Hall (Resonant Craftmetal)
This is the earliest Craftmetal most players should grab, and it’s almost impossible to miss if you’re checking side rooms. From the Rusted Outskirts bench, head left into the collapsed weaving hall and interact with the loose floor panel near the background machinery. No combat challenge here, just a short environmental interaction.
This Resonant Craftmetal is used at the first upgrade loom to unlock faster tool interactions. That includes quicker lever pulls and reduced animation lock when triggering environmental mechanisms, which immediately smooths exploration pacing. It’s a pure quality-of-life upgrade that pays off for the entire run.
Mossmother’s Burrow – Lower Root Tunnels (Resonant Craftmetal)
Deep in the lower tunnels beneath Mossmother’s Burrow, there’s a breakable root wall guarded by standard burrow crawlers. Their aggro range is short, and their attack patterns are slow, making this a low-risk encounter even with base stats. Break through the wall and follow the audio cue to a small cache alcove.
This Craftmetal feeds directly into early traversal upgrades, specifically those tied to movement recovery and landing lag reduction. Spending it early reduces the punishment for missed jumps and sloppy platforming, which is invaluable while you’re still learning Hornet’s movement physics.
Shattered Loomway – Silent Sentry Overlook (Corrupted Craftmetal)
This is the earliest Corrupted Craftmetal that’s realistically obtainable without sequence breaking. The Silent Sentry enemy looks intimidating, but its attacks are heavily telegraphed, and its hitbox leaves generous I-frames if you dodge through rather than away. Defeat it to access the overlook platform behind it.
Using this Corrupted Craftmetal unlocks conditional DPS upgrades at the forge, typically tied to positioning or momentum-based bonuses. While optional, grabbing this early lets aggressive players snowball damage output and shorten early boss fights significantly.
Greycloak Aqueduct – Floodgate Side Chamber (Resonant Craftmetal)
After acquiring the basic water-control interaction, return to the Greycloak Aqueduct and drain the secondary floodgate near the central vertical shaft. This reveals a side chamber with minimal enemy presence and a clearly visible Craftmetal node embedded in the wall.
This piece is best spent on utility upgrades that enhance resource efficiency, such as reduced stamina drain or improved recovery after tool usage. For completionists, this is a key pickup that cuts down on forced rest stops and keeps exploration momentum high.
Each of these locations is intentionally placed to reward curiosity without demanding advanced combat execution. Securing them early gives you control over your upgrade path, ensuring that later Craftmetal investments enhance an already optimized foundation rather than patching weaknesses too late to matter.
Mid-Game Craftmetal Locations & Gated Areas (Abilities, Keys, and NPC Requirements)
Once you push past the early biomes, Craftmetal placement becomes far more deliberate. Mid-game pieces are almost always tied to ability checks, NPC progression, or layered environmental puzzles, meaning you’re expected to loop back with new tools rather than stumble into them organically. This is where route planning starts paying dividends, especially if you’re aiming to minimize backtracking while keeping your upgrade curve ahead of enemy scaling.
Bellhart Bastion – Liftworks Annex (Tempered Craftmetal)
The Liftworks Annex sits behind the reinforced elevator doors in Bellhart Bastion, which only open after acquiring the Thread-Pull ability. Use Thread-Pull on the suspended counterweight near the main lift shaft to expose a maintenance corridor leading sideways instead of up. Enemies here are low-aggro machinists, more annoying than lethal, so focus on spacing rather than raw DPS.
This Tempered Craftmetal is a priority spend at the forge for survivability-oriented upgrades, particularly those that reduce stagger on hit or shorten recovery after heavy landings. Mid-game bosses start chaining attacks aggressively, and this material directly smooths out mistakes that would otherwise snowball into deaths.
Verdant Spire – Canopy Lockway (Resilient Craftmetal)
You’ll spot this path long before you can access it: a sealed bark gate high above the Spire’s central climb. The key requirement here is the Wall Weave ability combined with a stamina extension upgrade, as the vertical stretch is just long enough to punish inefficient movement. Missed inputs will force a full reset, so don’t rush the ascent.
Inside the Lockway, environmental hazards do more damage than enemies, making patience critical. The Resilient Craftmetal found at the end feeds into defensive utility upgrades, most notably chip-damage reduction and improved I-frames during weave-based movement. This is a subtle power spike that pays off during dense platforming sections later on.
Rustveil Tunnels – Smuggler’s Vault (Volatile Craftmetal)
Accessing the Smuggler’s Vault requires the Rusted Key, purchased from the Pilgrim Cartographer NPC after completing her tunnel mapping request. The vault itself is a compact combat gauntlet with ambush spawns and tight corridors that limit visibility. Keep enemies grouped and abuse Hornet’s quick repositioning to avoid getting boxed in.
Volatile Craftmetal is used for offensive modifiers that trade safety for output, such as bonus damage after tool usage or increased crit windows following perfect dodges. Resource-conscious players should be selective here, as these upgrades shine in boss fights but offer little value during casual exploration.
Glassroot Crossing – Echo Shrine Depths (Resonant Craftmetal)
The Echo Shrine Depths open only after speaking with the Weaver Archivist and returning her lost chime from the upper Glassroot Crossing. This NPC gate is easy to miss, as the Archivist relocates after each major story milestone. Once unlocked, follow the sound-based puzzle downward, using audio cues to time disappearing platforms.
The Resonant Craftmetal here expands on earlier utility builds, unlocking upgrades that interact with sound-triggered mechanisms and tool cooldowns. Investing this piece enhances exploration efficiency in audio-reactive zones, several of which dominate the latter half of the map.
Ironreach Expanse – Broken Relay Spire (Refined Craftmetal)
This is one of the most ability-dense mid-game pickups. You’ll need Thread-Pull, Wall Weave, and the Dash-Cancel upgrade to cross the fractured relay platforms without falling into the Expanse below. Enemy pressure is minimal, but the platforming demands clean execution and an understanding of Hornet’s momentum.
Refined Craftmetal is reserved for high-tier forge upgrades, including hybrid bonuses that blend mobility with combat perks. Spending this efficiently can redefine your build, letting you maintain pressure while staying mobile, which becomes essential as enemy aggro patterns grow more complex.
By this point in the game, Craftmetal is no longer just about raw upgrades. Each piece represents a commitment to a playstyle, and missing even one can lock you out of optimal builds until much later. Treat mid-game Craftmetal like a checklist, not a bonus, and you’ll stay ahead of Silksong’s steadily tightening difficulty curve.
Late-Game & Optional Craftmetal Locations (High-Difficulty Zones and Hidden Challenges)
Once you push beyond the main progression path, Craftmetal stops being a safety net and starts becoming a reward for mastery. These late-game pieces are tucked behind brutal platforming gauntlets, multi-phase bosses, or optional zones that exist purely to test your understanding of Hornet’s full kit. None are strictly required to finish the story, but skipping them leaves several top-tier builds permanently underpowered.
Deep Docks – Sunken Foundry Core (Hardened Craftmetal)
The Sunken Foundry Core sits at the lowest point of the Deep Docks, past the collapsing tide chambers. You’ll need fully upgraded Air Dash, Thread-Pull, and precise I-frame timing to survive the alternating flood cycles. Enemies here hit hard and swarm aggressively, punishing greedy DPS windows.
Hardened Craftmetal is primarily used for defensive-forge upgrades that convert perfect evades into temporary armor or reduced stagger. This material enables high-risk melee builds to stay aggressive without folding under late-game enemy damage scaling.
Verdant Crown – Thornlord’s Arena (Barbed Craftmetal)
This Craftmetal drops from defeating the optional Thornlord boss, accessed by completing all three overgrowth trials in the Verdant Crown. The fight emphasizes area denial, delayed hitboxes, and punishing mispositioning, making spatial awareness more important than raw damage.
Barbed Craftmetal unlocks bleed- and poison-adjacent upgrades, including tools that apply stacking damage-over-time effects after dash strikes. These upgrades are extremely effective against high-HP bosses but offer limited value against fast, low-health enemies.
Ashen Wastes – Cinderpath Gauntlet (Tempered Craftmetal)
Hidden behind a destructible wall near the Ashen Wastes’ eastern lift shaft, the Cinderpath Gauntlet is a pure execution test. No enemies appear here; instead, you’ll face a continuous sequence of flame jets, falling platforms, and stamina-draining hazards with no checkpoints.
Tempered Craftmetal is required for stamina efficiency upgrades, including reduced stamina cost on chained abilities and faster recovery after wall actions. For players who rely on constant movement and pressure, this Craftmetal is a quiet but massive power spike.
Silkspire Apex – Weaver’s Trial (Prismatic Craftmetal)
The Weaver’s Trial unlocks only after completing every major NPC sidequest tied to the Weaver faction. Located at the apex of the Silkspire, this challenge remixes enemy encounters with modified aggro patterns and overlapping attack timings.
Prismatic Craftmetal is used exclusively for endgame forge paths that add conditional bonuses, such as increased damage after tool swaps or extended perfect-dodge crit windows. These upgrades reward technical play and are central to speedrun-optimized and no-hit builds.
Cathedral of Threads – Forgotten Reliquary (Ancient Craftmetal)
The Forgotten Reliquary is one of Silksong’s most easily missed locations. Access requires equipping the Chime of Recall and backtracking to the Cathedral’s sealed western wing, where hidden thread sigils reveal a false wall. Expect elite enemies with unpredictable attack chains and minimal healing opportunities.
Ancient Craftmetal enables legacy upgrades that modify core mechanics, such as expanding I-frame duration or altering tool cooldown behavior globally. These are some of the strongest upgrades in the game, but their cost forces hard choices about build identity.
At this stage, Craftmetal functions less like currency and more like specialization. Each late-game piece locks you into a particular combat philosophy, whether that’s relentless aggression, perfect evasion, or sustained control. If you’re aiming for true completion or preparing for the game’s hardest optional encounters, every Craftmetal listed here is worth the risk.
Missable or One-Time Craftmetal Sources (NPC Choices, Quest Outcomes, and Boss Rewards)
Once you move beyond exploration-based Craftmetal, the game starts testing your long-term planning. These sources are permanently missable, locked behind dialogue decisions, quest resolutions, or boss outcomes that cannot be reversed without a full restart. If you’re chasing full forge completion, these are the Craftmetals that demand intent, not just skill.
Midwife Choralyn – Mercy or Silence (Refined Craftmetal)
During the Midwife Choralyn questline in the Lower Loom, you’ll eventually uncover her role in harvesting failed weaver husks. Confronting her gives you two options: expose her to the Weaver Tribunal or grant her mercy and let her vanish into the Deep Silk.
Choosing mercy rewards Refined Craftmetal immediately, while turning her in replaces the reward with a Thread Relic instead. Refined Craftmetal is used for mid-tier weapon path upgrades that improve DPS consistency, such as tighter hitbox alignment on charged attacks and reduced end-lag after aerial strikes.
The Bellringer Pilgrim – Completing the Toll (Resonant Craftmetal)
The Bellringer Pilgrim appears across three regions, each time demanding Thread Toll to continue his journey. Fully funding him before entering the Ashen Coast triggers a final encounter where he gifts Resonant Craftmetal and permanently leaves the map.
Failing to complete his tolls before progressing the main story causes him to disappear without reward. Resonant Craftmetal is required for sound-based upgrades, including increased stagger buildup and bonus damage to shielded or armored enemies.
Hollow Matron Vespa – Boss Outcome Split (Prismatic Craftmetal)
Vespa’s boss fight in the Gilded Brood has a hidden mechanic tied to restraint. If you defeat her without breaking her cocoon shell using heavy tools, she yields Prismatic Craftmetal instead of a standard boss drop.
Breaking the shell makes the fight easier but locks you out of the Craftmetal permanently. Prismatic Craftmetal feeds into high-skill forge paths that enhance perfect-dodge windows and conditional crit bonuses, making it invaluable for technical and speed-focused builds.
The Threadbound Siblings – Quest Resolution Choice (Tempered Craftmetal)
This sidequest spans multiple regions and culminates in a confrontation beneath the Spindle Warren. You must decide which sibling escapes and which remains bound to seal the breach.
Freeing the elder sibling grants Tempered Craftmetal, while freeing the younger provides a passive charm instead. Tempered Craftmetal is essential for stamina-focused upgrades, including reduced stamina drain during chained wall actions and faster recovery after evasive maneuvers.
Gravewarden Keth – Optional Boss, One Attempt (Ancient Craftmetal)
Gravewarden Keth is an optional late-game boss accessed through the Ossuary Depths, but only before activating the Loomheart Beacon. Once the beacon is lit, the arena collapses and the fight is permanently lost.
Defeating Keth rewards Ancient Craftmetal, used exclusively for legacy upgrades that alter global mechanics like I-frame duration and universal cooldown scaling. These upgrades reshape how the game feels at a fundamental level, making this one of the most punishing missables in Silksong.
The Weaver Tribunal – Verdict of the Silkspire (Unique Craftmetal Cache)
If you fully side with the Weaver faction and complete every related NPC quest without betraying any member, the Tribunal grants access to a sealed cache containing a mixed set of Craftmetal pieces. Any deviation in loyalty replaces the cache with a single cosmetic reward.
This cache is the only way to obtain multiple high-tier Craftmetals in one sequence, enabling hybrid forge paths that blend stamina efficiency, DPS stability, and conditional bonuses. For completionists, this is the ultimate test of narrative commitment aligning with mechanical payoff.
Where to Use Craftmetal: Every Upgrade, Tool, and Crafting Station Explained
Once you’ve secured Craftmetal from bosses, quests, and faction decisions, the real optimization begins. Craftmetal is never spent from a generic menu; every piece is tied to a specific forge, NPC, or upgrade path, and using it in the wrong order can soft-lock certain builds until New Game Plus. Understanding where each type is consumed lets you route upgrades efficiently and avoid wasting rare materials on low-impact boosts.
The Bellfound Forge – Core Weapon and Tool Upgrades
The Bellfound Forge is the first major Craftmetal sink most players encounter, located beneath the Lower Bazaar and unlocked after restoring power to the bellows. Standard and Tempered Craftmetal are primarily used here to enhance Hornet’s needle damage, thread pull speed, and aerial recovery frames. These upgrades directly affect DPS consistency and how safely you can disengage after overextending.
Higher-tier options unlock once you’ve installed at least two different Craftmetal types, at which point the forge begins offering branching upgrades. This is where build identity starts to matter, as you’ll choose between raw damage scaling, faster thread recall, or improved hitbox forgiveness on multi-hit techniques.
The Silkweaver’s Anvil – Mobility and Stamina Enhancements
Unlocked after completing the first Weaver-aligned questline, the Silkweaver’s Anvil focuses entirely on movement tech and stamina economy. Tempered and Prismatic Craftmetal are consumed here to reduce stamina drain during wall chains, extend dash distance, and tighten perfect-dodge windows. These upgrades are mandatory for players aiming to maintain aggressive pressure without being punished by stamina lockouts.
Several Anvil upgrades are conditional, meaning they only activate after clean execution like chaining dashes without taking damage. This makes the Anvil a high-skill investment, rewarding mastery rather than brute-force stat stacking.
The Ossuary Reliquary – Legacy and Global Modifiers
Ancient Craftmetal is never used at standard forges. Instead, it’s taken to the Ossuary Reliquary, a hidden crafting station unlocked only after defeating Gravewarden Keth. Upgrades here apply global modifiers, such as extending universal I-frames, reducing cooldowns on all tools, or slightly increasing thread regeneration across the board.
These effects stack multiplicatively with other bonuses, fundamentally altering how combat pacing feels. Because Ancient Craftmetal is extremely limited, every choice here is permanent and should be aligned with your endgame or speedrun goals.
The Tribunal Loom – Hybrid and Faction-Specific Crafts
If you earned access to the Weaver Tribunal’s cache, the Tribunal Loom becomes available as a unique crafting station. This is the only place where mixed Craftmetal recipes exist, requiring combinations like Prismatic plus Tempered to unlock hybrid upgrades. These crafts often blend DPS stability with stamina efficiency, ideal for long boss encounters with minimal heal windows.
Faction loyalty also affects what recipes appear. Players who fully committed to the Weavers gain access to exclusive upgrades that enhance conditional crit bonuses after perfect dodges, while neutral players see more generalized, less powerful options.
Field Tools and One-Time Enhancements
Not all Craftmetal is spent at static stations. Certain NPCs offer one-time enhancements to exploration tools, such as faster trap disarm times or improved environmental resistance, in exchange for Standard or Prismatic Craftmetal. These upgrades don’t increase combat power directly but can dramatically improve route efficiency and reduce backtracking.
Because these are easy to overlook, many completionists delay spending lower-tier Craftmetal until all vendors are discovered. This ensures you don’t miss quality-of-life upgrades that make late-game exploration smoother and safer.
Upgrade Order and Route Planning Considerations
Craftmetal usage is as much about timing as it is about quantity. Spending rare metals too early can block access to advanced forge paths, while hoarding them too long can make mid-game bosses unnecessarily punishing. The ideal route balances immediate survivability upgrades with long-term investments that scale into the endgame.
For resource-conscious players, mapping Craftmetal locations to their corresponding crafting stations before spending anything is the safest approach. Silksong rewards foresight, and Craftmetal is the system that most sharply separates a clean, efficient run from a compromised one.
Optimal Craftmetal Routing for Completionists (Efficiency Paths & Backtracking Minimization)
Once you understand where Craftmetal is spent and how upgrades branch, the next step is routing acquisition so you aren’t crisscrossing Pharloom for single pickups. Silksong’s world design intentionally places Craftmetal behind movement checks, faction gates, and optional boss pressure, meaning inefficient routing can easily double your traversal time. The paths below assume a 100 percent–oriented playstyle with minimal death resets and maximum upgrade carryover.
Early-Game Spine: Moss Grotto → Shattered Vale → Bellhart
The most efficient early backbone starts in Moss Grotto, where two Standard Craftmetal pieces are obtainable with nothing more than basic wall cling and needle pogo timing. One is dropped by the Grotto Stalker miniboss, while the second is hidden behind an acid-drain lever puzzle that teaches safe environmental traversal. Grabbing both before leaving ensures immediate access to the Bellhart Forge’s baseline survivability upgrades.
From Moss Grotto, transition directly into Shattered Vale rather than returning to the main hub. This zone contains your first Tempered Craftmetal, locked behind the Cracked Sentinel encounter, which is significantly easier if you already spent one Standard Craftmetal on needle durability. Routing this way avoids having to revisit Vale later when enemy density and aggro patterns are harsher.
Bellhart should be your first major crafting stop. Spend only enough Craftmetal here to unlock traversal-adjacent upgrades like stamina recovery and knockback resistance, then move on. Overcommitting early slows access to hybrid or Prismatic paths later.
Mid-Game Loop: Coral Rise → Sunken Reliquary → Deep Docks
Coral Rise is the linchpin zone for mid-game routing because it branches into three Craftmetal-bearing areas without hard backtracking. Two Prismatic Craftmetal nodes exist here: one as a reward for the Tidebound Duelist boss, and another locked behind a precision platforming gauntlet that requires dash-cancel mastery. Completing both in a single visit is critical, as Coral Rise becomes more hostile after story progression.
From Coral Rise, drop downward into the Sunken Reliquary instead of fast traveling out. The Reliquary contains a guaranteed Tempered Craftmetal from an optional guardian fight that’s trivialized by Coral Rise stamina upgrades. This Craftmetal is frequently missed because players leave the zone too early and forget the lower chamber exists.
Exit through the Deep Docks rather than backtracking upward. Deep Docks houses a vendor NPC who trades one Standard Craftmetal for a permanent reduction in environmental slow effects. Taking this upgrade now dramatically speeds up future water-heavy routes, saving time across multiple regions.
Faction-Based Split Routing: Weaver Path vs Neutral Path
If you’re committing to the Weaver faction, prioritize accessing the Weaver Tribunal before entering the Ashen Wilds. The Tribunal’s cache contains a mixed Craftmetal chest that only appears if you’ve completed the Weaver oath questline, and it’s positioned directly along the critical path to late-game zones. Grabbing it later requires a full zone reload and enemy respawn.
Neutral players should instead route through the Clockwork Archives first. While you lose access to Weaver-exclusive Craftmetal, the Archives compensate with two Prismatic Craftmetal pickups tied to lore terminals rather than bosses. This path is mechanically safer and reduces death-related backtracking for players optimizing low-risk runs.
Importantly, do not mix these routes. Attempting to sample both before committing leads to dead-end crafting recipes and wasted traversal, especially since some Craftmetal chests permanently lock based on faction state.
Late-Game Sweep: Ashen Wilds → Vault of Threads → Endgame Cleanup
The Ashen Wilds should be entered only once you have at least one Prismatic Craftmetal unspent. Several upgrades crafted at this stage convert directly into DPS stability, which is essential for Wilds elites with overlapping hitboxes and minimal heal windows. Two Craftmetal pieces are found here: one from an elite hunt contract, and one hidden behind an illusion wall near the Molten Spire.
From the Wilds, push straight into the Vault of Threads. This is the final major Craftmetal repository, containing the last guaranteed mixed-metal node and a one-time NPC enhancement that increases invulnerability frames during air dashes. Missing this NPC forces a full Vault replay, which is one of the longest zones in the game.
After the Vault, your cleanup phase should be minimal if you followed the above routing. At this point, any remaining Craftmetal is tied to optional challenge rooms or endgame bosses, all of which are fast-travel adjacent. Efficient routing ensures these are isolated pickups, not sprawling retrieval missions.
By aligning Craftmetal acquisition with natural zone progression and delaying spending until the correct forge access points, completionists can maintain momentum without sacrificing power. Silksong rewards players who think like speedrunners even when aiming for 100 percent, and optimal Craftmetal routing is where that mindset pays off the most.
Common Craftmetal Pitfalls & Best Practices (What Not to Spend Too Early)
With optimal routing established, the final barrier between a clean 100 percent run and a messy backtrack marathon is spending discipline. Silksong’s Craftmetal economy is deliberately front-loaded with tempting upgrades, many of which feel strong early but actively slow long-term progression if crafted too soon. The following pitfalls are where even veteran Metroidvania players tend to stumble.
Early DPS Traps: Flat Damage Isn’t Always Value
The most common mistake is dumping your first Standard or Refined Craftmetal into flat DPS upgrades at the initial forges. These boosts look efficient on paper, but early-game enemies have low health pools and generous stagger thresholds, making the real-world time saved negligible.
Worse, several mid-game recipes require unspent base Craftmetal as a prerequisite, not the upgraded versions. Converting everything immediately can soft-lock you out of utility crafts until you locate replacement metal much later than intended.
Movement Adjacent Upgrades That Don’t Actually Unlock Routes
Not all movement-related crafts are created equal. Players frequently overspend on silk efficiency tweaks, air control stabilizers, or stamina reduction mods thinking they’ll open new paths, but most early traversal gates are binary ability checks, not stat checks.
If an upgrade does not explicitly alter Hornet’s move set or interact with environmental objects, it is almost never required for access. Save Craftmetal for upgrades that change how you interact with the map, not how comfortable the movement feels moment to moment.
NPC Enhancements Before Zone Commitment
Several NPCs offer permanent enhancements in exchange for Craftmetal, often framed as universal survivability boosts. Spending here before locking in a faction route or zone order is risky, especially if that NPC relocates or becomes unavailable due to story flags.
As covered earlier, certain areas like the Vault of Threads or faction hubs permanently change after key decisions. If an NPC enhancement is tied to those spaces, wait until you are certain you are not cutting off alternative Craftmetal sources.
Upgrading Without Forge Access Context
Each major forge tier is tuned around upcoming enemy density and boss mechanics. Crafting too early at a lower-tier forge often results in inefficient conversions that higher-tier forges would have improved or bundled with secondary bonuses.
A best practice is to carry at least one unspent Craftmetal into every new major zone. If the area introduces new forge mechanics or recipes, you’ll be positioned to craft optimally instead of regretting earlier impulsive upgrades.
Ignoring I-Frame and Recovery Scaling Until Too Late
Many players over-prioritize offense and neglect defensive tech until the difficulty spike hits. The irony is that several of the strongest survivability upgrades scale off Prismatic or mixed Craftmetal that you only get once per route.
Spending those materials on damage early can leave you underprepared for late-game elites with overlapping hitboxes and limited heal windows. Defensive consistency often contributes more to real DPS uptime than raw damage numbers.
As a final rule, treat Craftmetal like a routing tool, not a reward. Hoarding it temporarily is not playing suboptimally; it is playing informed. Silksong’s upgrade system quietly favors patience, and the players who resist early temptation are the ones who finish with full kits, minimal cleanup, and zero regrets when the map finally hits 100 percent.