Summary

• The Adamantine Forge in Baldur's Gate 3 offers unique weapons and armor with special abilities and a turquoise glow.
• Crafting items with the forge requires mining Mithral Ore, hidden above lava, and defeating the boss Grym.
• The Adamantine Longsword is considered the best weapon from the forge, while the Adamantine Splint Armor provides the highest defense.

The Adamantine Forge is a powerful crafting opportunity in Baldur's Gate 3, but choosing what item to use it for can be a difficult decision. Found in Grymforge, a Duergar camp made among impressive ruins, the forge can make use of Mithral Ore to make any one of a selection of unique weapons and armor. The infusion of a turquoise glow gives items created at the Adamantine Forge a strong cosmetic appeal, but the biggest draw comes from their combat utility, as each one offers special abilities to empower whoever happens to wield it. To craft items with the Adamantine Forge, the party must first find the Mithral Ore hidden above the lava.

Making use of the Adamantine Forge can be something of a challenge in Baldur's Gate 3. The path to the Forge is tucked away behind rubble, which Rothé can clear either as a favor to a party that helps them turn on the Duergar or simply by being forced to. The path to the Adamantine Forge contains some hazards, but it's also strewn with the molds necessary to produce each of the items that the forge can create. The real challenge is beating the boss Grym, who will appear after the Adamantine Forge is activated, but defeating this construct will allow a party to reap their rewards.

6 Adamantine Mace

Rare One-Handed Mace

The Adamantine Mace isn't a bad weapon, but it struggles to stand out among the options that can be created by using the Adamantine Forge in Baldur's Gate 3. The biggest appeal of the mace for long-term use might be the Diamondsbane feature, which makes all hits to an object critical. Although this would have a much greater appeal if it worked on enemies as well as objects, it can still make a big difference when it comes to breaking doors down or chests open. Critical hits can clear thresholds that would otherwise be a roadblock, sometimes eliminating the need for lockpicking tools or the knock spell.

The Adamantine Mace will become quickly outclassed upon exiting Act 1 of BG3 by other one-handed weapons, so it's best to avoid crafting this item.

Unfortunately for the mace, Diamondsbane is shared by other adamantine weapons, and this tool fails to stand out much in any other way. The Lethal Weapon feature is also shared by other Adamantine options, although each is specific to the weapon type. In this case, the mace ignores bludgeoning resistance, which isn't frequently of critical use. A +1 weapon enchantment is a solid boost, but it can be easily equaled by a variety of other weapons. Proficiency with the weapon type unlocks Concussive Smash, which, sticking to the theme, can be found in plenty of alternatives.

5 Adamantine Scimitar

Rare One-Handed Sword

Like the mace, the Adamantine Scimitar is hard to justify as the best pick at the Adamantine Forge in Baldur's Gate 3. This deals more damage and exhibits both the Light property, which allows it to be dual-wielded, and Finesse, which allows it to be used by Dexterity-based fighters. Lethal Weapon on the Scimitar ignores resistance to slashing damage, which can occasionally be put to use against thick-skinned enemies of various sorts.

Parties are limited to crafting only two Adamantine items, so it's important to choose which items to craft wisely.

Proficiency with the Adamantine Scimitar unlocks two abilities, Lacerate and Flourish. Lacerate can be used as an action to deal damage and possibly inflict Bleeding on enemies, a status effect that does slashing damage each turn and inflicts Disadvantage on Constitution saves. Flourish is a fairly useful bonus action thanks to its ability to throw an enemy off balance, which offers advantage on a subsequent attack.

4 Adamantine Longsword

Rare Two-Handed Sword

In most situations throughout Baldur's Gate 3, the Adamantine Longsword can be considered the best of the Adamantine Forge's weapons. The only real downside to the longsword is that it lacks the scimitar's Finesse property, making it irrelevant for martial characters focused on Dexterity. For Strength-based characters, however, this deals more damage, unlocks an extra ability, and retains the Versatile property to allow for strong dual-wielding use. Like the scimitar, the Adamantine Longsword also ignores resistance to slashing damage.

Ultimately, most parties will quickly find stronger weapons than the Adamainte Forge can produce fairly early in Act 2 of Baldur's Gate 3.

The extra ability that the longsword carries with it is Rush Attack, which offers another way to throw enemies off balance. In this case, it can be done as the main action of the turn, charging with the weapon pointing forward and forcing enemies to make a Strength save. The Adamantine Longsword may not be a total game-changer in Baldur's Gate 3, but it is the only one of the weapons that can be crafted in Grymforge to feel like the complete package.

3 Adamantine Scale Mail

Very Rare Medium Armor

Things get serious with the Adamantine armor options, which generally hold up much better in Act 2 and 3 of Baldur's Gate 3 as less easily outclassed equipment. Adamantine Scale Mail's property as Medium Armor makes it possible for a variety of party to comfortably use it, and it offers several key advantages when it comes to defense. The reduction of all incoming damage by 1 and the complete disallowal of critical hits can take off a lot of hurt in combat, and an armor class of 16 is rock-solid by itself.

Adamantine Backlash is another great aspect of the scale mail, sending melee attackers Reeling for two turns. This condition inflicts a -1 on attack rolls, further reducing the likelihood of anything penetrating the armor. The only major downside is Disadvantage on stealth checks, something that tends to come with the territory of being metal armor. Although the scale mail doesn't feature the best abilities of any Baldur's Gate 3 armor set, it's absolutely nothing to sneeze at.

2 Adamantine Shield

Rare Shield

The Adamantine Shield is the most versatile of the Baldur's Gate 3 defense options from the Adamantine Forge, as little more than a free hand is required to make this a viable item. The excellent Shield Bash ability allows melee attackers who fail a Dexterity saving throw to be knocked prone with the use of a reaction, offering a bit of an offensive edge to a defensive item. It retains a couple of the same core properties as the Scale Mail as well, sending melee attackers who miss Reeling for two turns and shutting down critical hits.

The Adamantine Shield is more effective on characters that have a high Armor Class or AC, as the stat increases the enemy's chance to miss.

The Adamantine Shield is an even better piece of gear because in cases where the party only has one tank or heavy-armor wearer. Alternatively, giving the shield to other party like spell-casters or healers can add additional durability they wouldn't otherwise get until much later in the game.

1 Adamantine Splint Armor

Very Rare Heavy Armor

The Adamantine Splint Armor is the real king of Adamantine Forge creations, offering the titanic level of defense that all heavy armor strives for but few sets ever achieve. The base armor class is ratcheted up to 18 rather than 16, an effect compounded by dialing up a couple of the features that it shares with the scale mail and shield. Incoming damage is reduced by 2 rather than 1, and attackers are sent Reeling for 3 turns instead of 2.

As with the other defensive options, the Adamantine Splint Armor blocks critical hits for an extra level of sturdiness. An interesting upside that's exclusive to the splint armor is its impressive 3,800 value in gold, dwarfing the price tag of any other item that can be made at the forge. If this excellent armor does ever manage to get outmoded, it can be tossed off on a merchant with enough gold in their pockets for an impressive cash flow. None of the Adamantine Forge items in Baldur's Gate 3 are bad, but the Adamantine Splint Armor claims the title of the best.