Fortified Blacksmithing

Skill Perks

Essence cost, unlock level and proc chance for each perk, and what it opens up

Data from build 25583279, updated 21 Oct 2026

You can buy 167 perks across nine skill trees and the Mistmare, and the full set costs 15,265 Essence. You won’t have that for a long time, so order matters. Prices run from 10 Essence for the cheap first-tier perks to 215 at the top of a tree, and every tree opens a new row at skill levels 1, 15, 30, 45 and 60. Start with the picks below, then use the trees to plan what comes next. Open any perk for its proc chance, rank chain and what it unlocks.

How Perks Work

Essence and Shrines

Perks are bought with Essence at a shrine, not earned. Farming, Fishing, Archaeology, Cooking, Ranching, Woodcrafting and Blacksmithing perks are sold at the Dragon Shrine on your farm. Mining and Combat perks are at the Mines shrine instead, so skip the farm shrine for those. The Mistmare's 3 perks sit at the Horse Statue and cost 595 Essence between them. You can switch a bought perk off and on again at its shrine.

Tiers and Skill Levels

Each of the nine skill trees has five tiers, and a tier opens when that skill reaches level 1, 15, 30, 45 or 60. Tier 1 perks cost 10 to 30 Essence. By tier 5 you’re paying 200 or more apiece. Mining is the dearest tree at 2,015 Essence.

Ranks

30 perks are a second, third or fourth rank of an earlier one. Hammer Timing and Time Sensitive each run to IV, ten minutes off crafting per rank. A rank sits a tier or more above the one before it, so a chain is a long-term plan. Every perk page lists its whole chain with costs.

Perks That Gate Content

Some perks are the only way to find things. Legendary opens the four legendary fish, and Taste Maker puts 21 cooking recipes into mine chests. Reclaimer gates 119 pieces of furniture, Natural Beauty 119 and Ornamental 102. Harvest Time speeds up 11 slow crops, and Friend-Shaped lets 33 monsters drop pet skins. The “Gates content” filter in the deck lists them all.