If you’re looking ahead to the late game in 7 Days to Die, the first thing you’ll want to secure is Forged Steel. As the description notes, it’s crafted in a forge fitted with a Crucible, and you can think of it as an item that refines Forged Iron up into a higher grade of metal.
What is it used for?
Forged Steel serves as the material for some of the toughest items in the entire game. Specifically, it’s frequently required for high-durability steel blocks (for building your base’s defensive walls), as well as for crafting upper-tier weapons, tools, and armor. It’s fair to say its time to shine comes when you’re aiming for “the next step up from what you can make with iron.”
How to obtain and craft it
Fundamentally, this isn’t something you scavenge — it’s a material you craft in your own forge. The prerequisites to keep in mind are:
- Having a Crucible installed in addition to the forge itself
- Being able to feed the forge with the iron that serves as the base for refining, along with sufficient fuel and materials
The Crucible takes a fair amount of effort to obtain and craft, so the point at which you’ve got one ready is a good marker for the “late-mid game where you can mass-produce Forged Steel.”
When to put it to use
When you want to build a sturdy base to handle the Blood Moon, or when you want to upgrade to higher-tier gear, it pays to refine a batch in advance. The amounts required tend to add up, so it’s best to keep your forge running with plenty of leeway, making sure you never run out of iron resources and fuel.
(Required items and quantities may vary by version and recipe. Please check the actual crafting screen.)