Forge It Anew is one of the best side quests in The Blood of Dawnwalker. Complete it and you walk away with the Imbued Sword of St. Mihai — a legendary weapon that hits differently at night versus daytime and scales all the way to level 50. The catch? You need to track down three sword shards across Vale Sangora, grab the hilt from a whole other questline, and find the one blacksmith who can actually put it all back together. This guide covers every step.
If you’re new to the game, start with our Blood of Dawnwalker Prologue walkthrough first. And if you want to understand how Brencis reacts as you push through quests like this one, check out our full Infamy Edicts guide — because raising your Infamy while doing this questline has real consequences.
TL;DR – Forge It Anew at a Glance
- This is a side quest with three sub-quests: Do Not Disturb, Hostile Takeover, and Executive Order.
- You need to collect 3 Sword Shards from Kobold caves and camps across Vale Sangora.
- You also need the Broken Sword of St. Mihai (the hilt), earned through the A Monk and a Saint questline.
- Take all pieces to the Uriashi Blacksmith at the Uriashi Hermitage — tell her you want to kill Brencis.
- Head northwest to a cave, perform the ritual at the red orb, survive the enemy waves.
- Reward: Imbued Sword of St. Mihai (Legendary), Arbiter’s Blade trophy/achievement, 500 XP, and 1 skill point.
- Total time cost: 14 time segments for the full questline.
- Recommended level: 21+ before attempting all three shards.
Quest Overview and Requirements
- Quest Type: Side Quest (multi-part)
- Available: Any time after the Prologue
- Fail State: None
- Time Required: 14 time segments total (9 for the three shards, 2 for the hilt questline, 3 for the final ritual)
- Reward: Imbued Sword of St. Mihai (Legendary), Arbiter’s Blade trophy/achievement, 500 XP, 1 Skill Point
How to Start Forge It Anew
This quest does not show up in your journal automatically. Two things can unlock it.
The first way is to walk into any of the three sword shard caves in Vale Sangora. Each cave has a wall mural. Inspect it using Focus Mode and it will drop markers for the other shard locations on your world map. This gets the quest started right away.
The second way is to complete the A Monk and a Saint quest in Svartrau. This ends with a fight against St. Mihai in the cathedral crypt and gives you the Broken Sword of St. Mihai — the hilt piece. Picking that up also triggers the Forge It Anew questline.
You need both the shards and the hilt to finish the quest, so A Monk and a Saint is not optional regardless of how you start.
Important: You are very likely underleveled when you first encounter these caves. Aim to be level 21 or higher before seriously attempting all three sub-quests. Explore the map, build your skills, and come back ready. Check our best skills to level up guide to make sure you’re spending points in the right places.
All 3 Sword Shard Locations – Forge It Anew Sub-Quests
You can collect the shards in any order. Each one costs 3 time segments to obtain. Here are all three locations, from easiest to hardest.
Sword Shard 1 – Forge It Anew: Do Not Disturb (Maragir Wealds)
This is the easiest of the three and a good place to start. Head to the northeast area of the Maragir Wealds, northeast of the Upper Maragir Wealds shrine, across the river. Look for a large, slanted rock formation — pass underneath it and follow the trail into the woods.
Near the cave entrance you will find a bloody camp. Activate Focus Mode (L2/LT) and investigate the camp. The yellow markings will reveal a trail of blood. Follow it into the Kobold den.
Clear out the Kobolds inside and loot the shard from the broken cross at the rear of the room. Also interact with the cave wall painting here — examining it will mark the locations of the other two shards on your world map. This saves you a lot of hunting time later.
Sword Shard 2 – Forge It Anew: Hostile Takeover (Near Shrike’s Crag)
Travel southwest of Boar’s Back, just past the Giant’s Pawns shrine. You will find a cave entrance marked with a white “X” icon on the wall above it. Crouch to get inside.
This cave is not a simple Kobold nest. Inside you face a Wrongs variant miniboss called Munch-Munch — a giant corrupted Kobold. It is dangerous. Its claw swipes and breath attacks inflict poison, so keep your distance, block, and dodge. One useful tip: Munch-Munch is susceptible to Dirty Trick, which can give you an opening to deal heavy damage.
Once Munch-Munch is dead, loot the nest at the end of the cave to collect the second Sword Shard.
Sword Shard 3 – Forge It Anew: Executive Order (Near St. Tyna’s Grove / Tantari)
Head southeast of St. Tyna’s Grove, near Tantari. The cave entrance is close to the inn where you first meet Anca. This also connects to the Echoes of Silenced Bells quest area if you’re tracking that one too.
Enter the cave and use Focus Mode to inspect the dead bodies and wall painting inside. You will quickly find that the shard is already gone — Xanthe’s soldiers got here first and took it.
The quest marker then updates to a soldier encampment south of Tantari, near the Drunken Bear Inn. Head there and clear out the camp. Note that these are Level 25+ enemies bearing Xanthe’s colors — they’re noticeably tougher than earlier soldiers. After defeating them, search the main tent. The shard is on top of a barrel to the right as you enter, highlighted yellow in Focus Mode. Taking this camp also counts as a Xanthe Court Activity.
How to Get the Sword Hilt – A Monk and a Saint
The hilt is called the Broken Sword of St. Mihai and it comes from completing the A Monk and a Saint side quest in Svartrau. This is a lengthy quest on its own — it requires you to infiltrate the crypt beneath the Svartrau Cathedral and confront what remains of St. Mihai himself.
A Monk and a Saint is typically only triggered after you complete the Echoes of Silenced Bells quest with Anca. So if you haven’t done that yet, do it first. You can read more about that questline in our Echoes of Silenced Bells guide. For the cathedral itself, our Svartrau Cathedral treasury guide and cathedral locked door key guide will help you navigate it.
After you defeat St. Mihai, loot the stone tomb at the end of the crypt. You will receive the Broken Sword of St. Mihai and Mihai’s Journal. This closes A Monk and a Saint and fully opens up the Forge It Anew questline.
Talk to the Uriashi Blacksmith to Reforge the Sword
Once you have all three Sword Shards and the Broken Sword of St. Mihai, it is time to find the one blacksmith in Vale Sangora who can actually work on this weapon.
Head to the Uriashi Hermitage, located in the northwest area of Briar Sloughs, west of that area on the map. Use the Uriashi Hermitage shrine as your fast travel point. You will find a lone hornless Uriashi hermit here, standing near a large standing stone.
Talk to her about the sword. When she asks why you want to fix it, tell her you want to kill Brencis. This is the correct answer — she will agree to reforge the blade. Hand over all four pieces (the three shards plus the Broken Sword) and she will forge them into the Restored Sword of St. Mihai (purple rarity).
But that is not the final version of the weapon. There is one more step.
Find the Place the Blacksmith Mentioned
The hermit tells you about a nearby cave where the ritual must be completed. Head northwest of the Hermitage to find the cave entrance. There will be red vines or thorns blocking the entrance — destroy them to get inside.
Clear out the enemies inside the cave, then climb upward through the interior. At the top, go through the door at the end to reach the ritual room.
Temper St. Mihai’s Sword – The Final Ritual
Inside the ritual room you will find a red orb at the center of an ancient ruin. Interact with it to begin the tempering sequence.
This summons the Echoing Anger — not a single boss fight, but three waves of enemies. Fight through all of them. Once the final wave is done, a cutscene plays where Coen imbues the sword with power, completing the ritual.
The Restored Sword upgrades into the Imbued Sword of St. Mihai. You also unlock the Arbiter’s Blade trophy/achievement and receive 500 XP plus 1 skill point.
Imbued Sword of St. Mihai – Stats and Weapon Art
This is one of the best weapons in the game, and it scales with your level up to 50. Here is what it does at base level:
- Weapon Art: Daywalker Slash Enhanced (15-second cooldown, wide area hit that changes between day and night)
- Swordmastery Ability Cooldown: -5%
- Weapon Critical Hit Chance: +5%
- Weapon Critical Hit Damage: +7.5%
- Damage Against Supernatural Enemies: +8%
All four bonuses scale up as you level the weapon. At level 50, each stat reaches roughly three to four times its base value, and raw damage sits in the 451 to 651 range. It pairs naturally with a Swordmastery-focused build. If you want to get the most out of it, make sure you have enough ability slots unlocked to run a full Swordmastery setup.
The daytime weapon art hits a wide area. The nighttime version changes the behavior slightly. Most players prefer the daytime AoE version for clearing grouped enemies.
Tips Before You Start Forge It Anew
- Don’t rush it early. The shard caves are accessible after the Prologue but the enemies — especially Munch-Munch and the Xanthe soldiers — are built for a player around level 21+.
- Inspect the mural in any first cave. This reveals all three shard locations on your map and saves a lot of backtracking.
- Do A Monk and a Saint before or alongside this quest. You cannot complete Forge It Anew without the hilt from that questline, and the A Study in Crimson quest in Svartrau is a good companion too. See our A Study in Crimson guide for more context on Svartrau quests.
- Watch your silver before Infamy rises. The shard caves cost time segments and you may be shopping for gear between objectives. See our silver selling guide to stay funded.
- The Executive Order shard is in a camp, not a cave. The cave is ransacked — the soldiers moved the shard. Don’t waste time searching the cave thoroughly looking for it.
- Tell the hermit you want to kill Brencis. This is the only dialogue choice that convinces her to reforge the sword.
- Destroy the red vines at the ritual cave entrance. They block the door and you need to break them before you can get inside.
Frequently Asked Questions – Forge It Anew Blood of Dawnwalker
Where are all 3 sword shard locations in Forge It Anew?
The first is in a Kobold cave in the northeast of Maragir Wealds (Do Not Disturb). The second is in a cave southwest of Boar’s Back near Shrike’s Crag, guarded by the miniboss Munch-Munch (Hostile Takeover). The third was taken by Xanthe’s soldiers and is found in a soldier camp south of Tantari near the Drunken Bear Inn (Executive Order).
How do I get the Broken Sword of St. Mihai (sword hilt)?
Complete the A Monk and a Saint side quest in Svartrau. It leads you into the cathedral crypt where you fight St. Mihai. Looting the stone tomb afterward gives you the Broken Sword of St. Mihai. This quest is usually unlocked after finishing Echoes of Silenced Bells with Anca.
What do I say to the Uriashi Blacksmith in Forge It Anew?
When the hermit asks why you want to reforge the sword, choose the option that says you want to kill Brencis. That is the answer she needs to hear before she agrees to help.
Is the Imbued Sword of St. Mihai worth the time investment?
Yes, absolutely. It costs 14 time segments for the full questline but the result is one of the highest raw-damage weapons in the game with excellent bonuses for Swordmastery builds. The Daywalker Slash Enhanced weapon art alone makes it worth it, and its stats scale all the way to level 50. It is the ideal weapon heading into the late game against Brencis and supernatural enemies.
