Celestial Smithing
Celestial is the gear tier above Legendary. You cannot buy a Celestial Relic, find one in a chest, or roll one. There is exactly one way to hold one: you forge it, over ten separate cooks, across weeks.
That is the design. A Relic is meant to be the thing you point at when someone asks what you have been doing all season.
Celestial Smithing is live and gated behind its unlock. The full ten-step chain is in place and every material now has a source you can reach. Nothing here is purchasable with Resonance, ever.
Before you start: the unlock
Everything below is locked until you buy Celestial Smithing from the Research Center for 3 Scrolls.
At the base research rate that is roughly three weeks of Scroll generation. That is the real front door to the whole system.
Until you own Celestial Smithing, Celestial Trace shows as Locked in the Hollow Merchant. That is deliberate, not a bug. Trace has exactly one use — this chain — so buying it beforehand would convert hundreds of Crests into an item you cannot spend and cannot refund. The lock exists to stop you burning weeks of Crests on a dead end.
What a Relic costs
One finished Relic, all in:
| Material | Amount | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Celestial Trace | 100 | Hollow Merchant — 25 Crest each (2,500 Crests) |
| Avatar Essence | 50,000 | Your usual Essence income |
| Element Reagents | 10 | Enemy drops on Hard/Nightmare (or Dissonance D21+) — from enemies of your relic's class, while you're on a Reagent step |
| Apotheosis Core | 1 | Forged in-chain at step 7, or sub-crafted from 25 Celestial Trace |
| Class Sigil | 1 | Boss drop on Hard/Nightmare (or Dissonance D21+) — with an Avatar of your relic's class in the party, while you're on The Sigil Hunt |
| Avatars | 2 | Sacrificed from your roster — same role |
| Soul of your Class | 1 | Cooked, as for Ascension |
| Research Scrolls | 3 | Spent on the unlock |
Nothing on that list can be bought with Resonance or traded from another player.
The rules
One Relic at a time. You commit to a single Relic — a class and a role — and that is what you are forging until it is finished or you abandon it.
The steps are strictly in order. You cannot skip ahead, repeat a step, or go back. Step 4 is unavailable until step 3 is done.
You cannot farm ahead. This is the part that surprises people: the Sigil and Reagent drops only start dropping when you reach the step that needs them. There is no stockpiling before you begin, and no rushing a later step by pre-farming its materials. Progress is the gate.
Your progress is an item. When you begin, you receive an Unfinished <Relic> in your inventory. It is the physical proof of the chain — it advances with each cook and is consumed when the Relic is finally struck.
The ten steps
Each step is its own cook in the Kitchen, and each takes 24 hours. The Trace cost ramps across the chain — a gentle rise from step 1, then the Capstone is a deliberate wall.
| # | Step | Costs | Then |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kindling | 2 Trace · 2,000 Essence | Sigils begin dropping |
| 2 | The Sigil Hunt | 3 Trace · 3,000 Essence · 1 Sigil | Reagents begin dropping |
| 3 | First Binding | 4 Trace · 5,000 Essence · 3 Reagents | |
| 4 | Second Binding | 5 Trace · 5,000 Essence · 3 Reagents | |
| 5 | Third Binding | 6 Trace · 5,000 Essence · 4 Reagents | |
| 6 | Soul Casting | 7 Trace · 8,000 Essence · 1 Soul | |
| 7 | The Commission | 9 Trace | Forges your class's Apotheosis Core |
| 8 | The Smith's Fee | 11 Trace · 10,000 Essence · 2 Avatars | |
| 9 | Tempering | 13 Trace · 12,000 Essence | |
| 10 | The Capstone | 40 Trace · your Apotheosis Core | The Relic is struck |
The front nine steps spend 60 Trace between them; the Capstone alone spends 40. The final strike is the single most expensive act in the chain, by design.
The Smith's Fee
Step 8 permanently consumes two Avatars of the same role. They are gone — not stored, not recoverable. The Ninth Smith forges in voices, not metal, and this is the price.
Plan for it. Avatars that are equipped, on a Journey, in the Militia, or working a Cultivator cannot be sacrificed, so raise the two you intend to spend.
Where the materials come from
Celestial Trace — the Hollow Merchant's Crest cloth, 25 Crest each. Crests come from the Daily Journey Quest, so Trace is a slow, steady drip. At 100 Trace per Relic (2,500 Crests) this is the single largest time cost in the chain.
Class Sigils — dropped by bosses on Hard or Nightmare (or Dissonance D21+), in any world, and only while an Avatar of your Relic's class is in the party. Roughly a 1 in 20 (~5%) chance per qualifying clear.
Element Reagents — dropped by enemies of your Relic's class (a Conjurer's Relic wants reagents from Conjurer enemies), again on Hard or Nightmare (or Dissonance D21+), at roughly ~12% per qualifying kill.
Apotheosis Core — not the ordinary Ascension Core. Each class has its own. It is forged in-chain at The Commission (step 7); it can also be sub-crafted on its own from 25 Celestial Trace if you need one directly.
After it's struck
A Celestial Relic is class-locked and binds to the first Avatar that equips it, permanently. Choose carefully — that binding cannot be undone.
Each Relic also carries a signature skill unique to that class and role, on top of stats that sit above anything Legendary can roll.
See also
- The Research Center — where the unlock comes from
- The Hollow Merchant — where Trace is bought
- Ascension — Souls and Cores
- Equipment — how gear tiers compare