Craftable weapons are one of the few items available for free outside of event and fishing weapons. Let’s take a look at the five craftable weapons of the Sumeru region and whether or not they are worth investing in.
Craftable weapons are free 4-star options, outside of events and fishing, that players can turn to when filling the voids in their arsenal. Although usually not as powerful as ones obtained from Wishes, some craftable weapons are still capable of providing decent stats and effects. Each region offers a distinct set of five craftable weapons, catering to every weapon type, with the latest set being from Sumeru. New regions tend to only release annually, making the introductions of new craftable weapons likely a rare occurrence. An exception to this is the weapons introduced at launch and with Dragonspine in the early stages of the game. Therefore, investing resources into a few craftable weapons can be quite worthwhile, particularly for players with limited options. Let’s briefly examine the five craftable weapons that Sumeru has added to the game.
To acquire the Forging Blueprints for these five weapons, players are required to go through the extensive Aranyaka World Quest series and obtain multiple ‘Stories of You and the Aranara’’ as quest rewards. Once collected, these ‘Stories’ can be exchanged with Aravinay, an NPC located by the Tree of Dreams, for the five Blueprints. The ‘Stories’ can be obtained from completing the following:
Forest Regalia is a Claymore boasting an impressive 565 Base Attack, which is tied for the highest among all 4-star Claymores at level 90. The Claymore has Energy Recharge as a substat and an effect that revolves around Dendro Reactions. However, compared to other Claymores with the same substats, its Energy Recharge at level 90 is relatively lower, standing at 30.6%. As for its effects, upon triggering a Dendro reaction, the weapon can generate a ‘Leaf’ that grants Elemental Mastery to the character that picks it up. At Refinement 5, the effect gives a considerable 120 Elemental Mastery. The Leaf’s effect lasts 12 seconds, and can only be generated every 20 seconds, resulting in an 8 second cooldown. Additionally, the effect can be triggered even when the wielder is off field, making it an ideal weapon for sub-dps and supports.
Although the base stats and effects are decent, the downside lies in the limited number of characters that can greatly benefit from them. The weapon’s effect requires Dendro reactions to trigger, rendering it ineffective on characters whose elements cannot interact with Dendro. Out of the 11 Claymore characters currently available, approximately half are Cryo, Geo, and Anemo, which cannot react directly with Dendro. Nevertheless, Anemo characters can rely on Swirl and their teammates to successfully trigger this effect. As a result, Sayu may utilize this weapon in specific niche team compositions, although other free options may be more favorable.
Additionally, characters like Xinyan and Razor tend to favor Physical Damage, making the effect less than ideal for them. While Forest Regalia can potentially work on Diluc in a reaction focused team, the Energy Recharge substat is quite undesirable on him.
This leaves Beidou and Dori, who happen to be good candidates for this weapon, provided they are placed in a Dendro focused team. Both these characters can trigger the effect from off-field and greatly benefit from the Energy Recharge substat. However, it may not be the most optimal decision to craft Forest Regalia exclusively for Dori, as there are other free 4-star weapons that may be more fitting for her, such as Favonius Greatsword or Katsuragikiri Nagamasa. On the other hand, Beidou is a great match for Forest Regalia since she often utilizes the ‘Emblem of Severed Fate’ Artifact set, which strengthens from additional Energy Recharge.
In summary, Forest Regalia has a limited use and may not be worth crafting for most characters, except for Beidou. Even as a stat-stick weapon, other free 4-star options such as Prototype Archaic and Luxurious Sea-Lord are better suited and can be utilized by more characters.
The Sapwood Blade shares the same Base Attack, substats, and effects as the Forest Regalia. The Elemental restrictions of the weapon’s effect remains the same as the Claymore, but a broader range of characters may be able to use it. Bennet, in particular, desires Energy Recharge and can trigger the effect off-field with his Burst. Additionally, having an Elemental Mastery buff for the weapon helps to avoid overlapping with Bennet’s Attack buff from his Burst. For Dendro reaction teams, this may be Bennet’s best free to play option.
The Sapwood Blade is also a decent option for other sword users such as Xingqiu, Nilou, Shinobu, and Traveler. Given the prevalence of Energy Recharge in some of their builds for more frequent Burst usage, this weapon's substat is a decent stat-stick for many. In addition, the Elemental Mastery buff is quite nice considering that this weapon will be primarily utilized in Dendro reaction teams. However, it should be noted that many of these characters have superior free-to-play alternatives such as the Iron Sting and Amenoma Kageuchi, or Festering Desire if available. While Kazuha, Jean, and Alhaitham can use Sapwood Blade in certain situations, it is generally not considered an optimal choice for them.
Overall, while Sapwood Blade may not be the top F2P choice for many sword users, it is certainly a viable alternative to consider, especially for Bennet. For players with a limited weapon collection, Sapwood Blade can be a decent flex option for several characters. Keep in mind, this effect does not stack with Forest Regalia, so it is pointless to have both on the same team.
The King’s Squire has a relatively low Base Attack of 454 at level 90 and a decent 55% Attack substat. The bow gives an Elemental Mastery buff for 12 seconds when an Elemental Skill or Burst is used. When the effect ends, or is removed via character swap, a nearby opponent suffers damage based on the character’s Attack stat. At max refinement, this bow offers 140 Elemental Mastery and deals 180% of Attack as damage.
The King’s Squire’s low Base Attack and wonky switch effects make it difficult to recommend on many of the existing bow characters. The bow’s strength lies in maximizing the duration of the Elemental Mastery buff, as the damage effect after it ends is extremely lackluster. Not only is the damage effect insignificant in AoE situations, but the single target damage is also not impressive enough to justify ending the buff early. Due to these factors, this bow is generally not ideal for characters that need to be frequently swapped off-field, such as supports and sub-dps.
That being said, if the player is extremely limited, the bow can be a viable option for characters such as Tighnari, Yoimiya, Ganyu, and Childe when put on a reaction focused team. Nonetheless, it generally pales in comparison to other available 4-star options. The Slingshot, a 3-star bow at Refinement 5, can also often outperform it on most characters.
Moonpiecer boasts a commendable Base Attack of 565 at level 90 and 110 Elemental Mastery as a substat. This is only one of three Polearms to provide Elemental Mastery as a substat, with the other two being 4-star rarity as well. Similar to Forest Regalia and Sapwood Blade, its effect also revolves around Dendro reactions, though the ‘Leaf’ grants an attack buff instead. At Refinement 5, the buff provides 32% Attack, which is a solid amount for a 4-star rarity.
Moonpiecer is a great F2P option that can be used on both main and sub-dps characters. This polearm is especially useful for characters like Xiangling that scale well with Elemental Mastery. While ‘The Catch’, a free weapon from fishing, may usually offer better performances, it may not always be readily available due to its widespread use on other characters. Moonpiecer can be a reliable substitute while The Catch is being used on another character, like Raiden. Similarly, Moonpiecer is one of the best F2P weapons for Raiden when building her as an off-field sub-dps on Dendro teams. With its good stats and readily achievable effects, Moonpiecer can be considered worth crafting.
Fruit of Fulfillment has a Base Attack of 510 at level 90 and a relatively high 45.9% Energy Recharge substat. Currently only four 4-star Catalysts have Energy Recharge as a substat, while no 5-star Catalysts have it. The weapon effect allows the character to build a stacking Elemental Mastery buff at the cost of Attack each time they trigger an Elemental Reaction. This effect can stack up to a maximum of five times for a total of 180 Elemental Mastery at Refinement 5 and a loss of 25% Attack.
This Catalyst is specifically designed for characters that deal mainly Transformative Reaction damage, such as Overload, Electro-Charged, Swirl, Burgeoning, Hyperbloom, etc. Transformative Reactions scale based on Elemental Mastery and are unaffected by Attack stats, effectively bypassing the bane portion of the weapon. The weapon will generally work better on characters that can provide off-field reactions, such as Lisa, Yae Miko, Mona, and Sucrose. Unless Energy Recharge is severely lacking, Catalyst users that require Elemental Mastery are generally better off using Mappa Mare, another craftable 4-star weapon. Given its niche application, it may not be worthwhile to invest in Fruit of Fulfillment unless the player’s other options are limited.
The value of craftable weapons varies among players depending on their available roster and weapons. Among Sumeru’s craftable weapons, the Sapwood Blade and Moonpiecer are two of the more promising ones to consider investing in. In general, when options are limited, craftable weapons can always serve as stat-sticks, as long as the effects don't hinder the characters’ performance.
