Crafting and Upgrades — Graven Guide

Navigate Graven's crafting and upgrade systems. Find components and make impactful enhancements to your arsenal and abilities at the Altar of Transmutation.

Mastering the crafting and upgrade systems in Graven is crucial for survival and overcoming the increasingly dangerous challenges the world throws at you. This section will guide you through the essentials, from finding the necessary components to making the most impactful enhancements to your arsenal and abilities.

The Altar of Transmutation

Your primary hub for all things crafting and upgrading is the Altar of Transmutation. These altars are scattered throughout the game world, often found in safe zones or before particularly difficult encounters. Interacting with an Altar opens the crafting menu.

Resources: What You Need

To craft and upgrade, you'll need two main types of resources:

• Scrap Metal: Found in abundance in destroyed structures, discarded machinery, and dropped by certain mechanical enemies. Essential for most weapon and armor upgrades.
• Essence Shards: These glowing fragments are dropped by defeated magical creatures and found in chests containing arcane items. Used for enchanting weapons and upgrading magical abilities.
• Specific Component Items: Rarer items like Clockwork Gears, Enchanted Runes, and Dragon Scales are required for unique upgrades and powerful enchantments. These are often found in hidden areas, boss arenas, or as rewards for completing specific quests.

Crafting: Creating New Items

At the Altar of Transmutation, you can craft several useful items:

• Potions:
  • Health Potion: Restores a portion of your health. Requires Herbal Poultice and Clean Water.
  • Mana Potion: Restores a portion of your mana. Requires Arcane Dust and Clean Water.
• Ammunition:
  • Standard Bullets: For your firearms. Requires Scrap Metal.
  • Silver Bullets: Effective against undead and certain supernatural enemies. Requires Scrap Metal and Silver Ore.
• Grenades:
  • Frag Grenade: Deals area-of-effect physical damage. Requires Scrap Metal and Sulfur Powder.
  • Incendiary Grenade: Deals fire damage over time. Requires Scrap Metal and Oil Flask.

Strategy: Always keep a healthy stock of Health Potions. Prioritize crafting ammunition for your primary weapon, especially if you're running low.

Upgrading Weapons

Each weapon in Graven has a unique upgrade path. Upgrades typically increase damage, fire rate, reload speed, or add special properties.

• Basic Weapon Upgrades: These require Scrap Metal and sometimes specific components. For example, upgrading the Bolt-Action Rifle might require Scrap Metal and a Reinforced Stock.
• Weapon Enchantments: These use Essence Shards and Enchanted Runes to add elemental damage (fire, ice, lightning) or status effects (poison, bleed) to your weapon.

Locations: You'll find Scrap Metal in most combat zones. Enchanted Runes are more common in areas with a strong magical presence, such as ancient ruins or corrupted forests.

Strategy: Focus on upgrading your most frequently used weapon first. Consider the types of enemies you'll be facing when choosing enchantments.

Upgrading Armor and Abilities

While armor upgrades are less frequent, they provide significant defensive boosts. Magical abilities can also be enhanced.

• Armor Upgrades: Require Scrap Metal and sometimes specialized materials like Hardened Leather or Plated Mail. These increase your defense and resistance to various damage types.
• Ability Enhancements: These use Essence Shards and Essence Crystals to increase the potency, duration, or reduce the cooldown of your active abilities. For instance, upgrading your Arcane Shield might increase its duration and damage absorption.

Locations: Hardened Leather can be scavenged from defeated beast-like enemies. Essence Crystals are rarer than Shards and are often found in challenging optional areas or dropped by mini-bosses.

Strategy: Invest in armor upgrades when you find yourself taking too much damage. Prioritize upgrading abilities that complement your playstyle.

Finding Rare Components

Certain powerful upgrades require rare components. Keep an eye out for:

• Clockwork Gears: Found in abandoned workshops and dropped by mechanical constructs. Essential for improving the precision and speed of firearms.
• Dragon Scales: Obtained from defeating dragon-like creatures or found in their lairs. Used for powerful fire-resistant armor and potent fire-based enchantments.
• Mystic Herbs: Grown in secluded, magically charged areas. Crucial for crafting advanced healing and mana potions.

Strategy: Actively seek out areas known to contain these rare components. Completing side quests can often reward you with these valuable items.