Tinkers Tools

The primary content of Tinker's Construct (TiCon) are the Smeltery and customizable tools. Similar to their vanilla counterparts, there are shovels, pickaxes, hoes, swords and axes. TiCon offers many additional unique tool and weapon variants, each of which is made up of two or more parts. Each tool part can be made from a different material and will have varying attributes depending on what it's made out of. Tool parts are combined in a Tool Station or it's upgrade, the Tool Forge. Tools and weapons can also be repaired in the same interface by adding the main part's raw material, typically an ingot. Some tools have a "Mining Level" that determines what blocks they can break, and all tools/weapons have a "Tool Level" that increases the more it's used.

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This page provides data and information about the Tinker's Construct tools. You may be looking for GregTech Tools instead.

• Spreadsheet Data (slightly outdated).

Searching for Parts

Given that there are so many materials in GT:NH, it can be overwhelming to try and pick just one. The listings below offer suggestions of the most useful materials at each tier. The majority of TiCon parts are blacklisted in NEI and cannot be searched for directly. The easiest way to find them is to look up the desired material first, usually an ingot, and then hit "U" for uses or right-click on it and check the "Tool Materials" tab for general statistics.

To look up actual parts, find the Cast item for the specific part (ex. "Pickaxe Head Cast"), look up uses, and navigate to the Casting Table for parts that can be made with the Smeltery and the Extruder tab for everything else. Be warned that there will be potentially hundreds of pages to scroll through this way.

Levels

Iron Tool Material stats.

Iron Pickaxe head stats.

There are two separate levelling systems associated with TiCon tools/weapons.

Mining Level

The first is Mining Level/XP, which is only present on tools that break stone/ore blocks like Pickaxes and Hammers. Mining XP will either be two numbers divided by a slash showing the current / needed XP, or "Boosted", which means the tool is fully powered up. When a new tool is made or the tool head is replaced, Mining XP will reset to zero. Until it reaches "Boosted" status, the tool's Mining Level will be reduced by one. Any tool can only go up by one Mining Level using this method. The maximum/Boosted Mining Level is shown in the Tool Materials tab of NEI, while looking at the TiCon part will show the Mining Level it starts off with, which is -1 its potential. Compare the two images to the right.

Mining Level can also be boosted instantly by attaching a mob head (Zombie 1, Skeleton 2, Creeper 4 or Wither 7) to a tool. Each one works only on tools of up to a specific mining level and will show on the tool's icon. Mob heads do not cost a modifier slot to apply but can only be added to fully repaired tools, just like other modifiers. Mob heads cannot be attached to tools that already have Boosted status.

A tool's Mining Level determines what blocks it can break. Most blocks that are not ores don't require a specific Mining Level; if one is needed it will be displayed in the Waila tooltip i.e. "Harvest Level: 05-Obsidian". The text will be green if the current tool meets the requirement, or red if it does not.

Level	Block Tier	Notable Materials
00	Stone	Flint, Bone, Netherrack, Paper, Magical Wood
01	Copper	Copper
02	Iron	Iron, Thaumium
03	Tin	Bronze
04	Redstone	Steel, Damascus Steel, Vanadiumsteel
05	Obsidian	Alumite, Shadow Metal, Manasteel, Unstable, Energetic Alloy
06	Ardite	Ardite, Infinity, Vibrant Alloy
07	Cobalt	Cobalt, Oriharukon
08	Manyullyn	Manyullyn, Bedrockium, Draconium
09+	---	Awakened Draconium, Infinity Catalyst, Ichorium, Gaia Spirit, Transcendent Metal

Tool Level

Mod Slot	Level
Every Level	2 & 3
Every 2 Levels	5 to 11
Every 3 Levels	14 to 20
Every 4 Levels	24 to 40
Every 5 Levels	45 to 99

The second level is Tool Level, which all TiCon tools/weapons have thanks to Iguana Tinker's Tweaks. Unlike Mining Level/XP, there is no practical cap on tool levels, though it takes progressively more XP for each increase. Tool Levels go up as the tool/weapon is used appropriately, accumulating 1 XP per block harvested / enemy killed until a new level is reached. Tool Level maxes out at 100, and grants modifiers at certain levels. When a tool gains XP, it will do so for both Mining and Tool (if possible) at the same time. The amount of XP it takes to level up is based on the tool's speed, or damage dealt for weapons.

Tools

Pickaxe/Shovel/Axe/Mattock

General rule of thumb for pickaxes is to use the head with the best mining level you can get. You can more or less follow similarly with shovels/axes, as only speed/durability matter here. If ingots are in short supply, it's fine to hold off upgrading your shovel/axe/mattock. Don't upgrade to a pickaxe head you don't have the ability to repair.

Steam

• Head: Bronze
• Binding: Any (Any material you want, this only adds the trait and has NO other effect)
• Tool Rod: Slime Crystal (requires an Alloy Smelter, slime - Slimy trait will occasionally spawn small slimes) > Bronze

LV

• Head: Alumite
• Binding: Any (Paper or Thaumium add an extra modifier, which is given as a quest reward also. Paper/Thaumium parts are made in the part builder)
• Tool Rod: Slime Crystal > Alumite/Steel > Bronze. If you don't care about durability, you can use Thaumium for the extra modifier (does not stack with Thaumium binding).

MV

• Head: Cobalt or Vanadiumsteel (post MV extruder)
• Binding: Paper or Thaumium
• Reinforced Tool Rod (The metal "Reinforced Ingot", requires an implosion compressor or luck from loot bags) > Damascus Steel > Vanadiumsteel, or stick with Thaumium

HV+

Energetic Alloy, Vibrant Alloy, or most other GT metals are good upgrades for later on, but by then you will be using the tools exclusively for base building. Later on you can make a Vajra which essentially acts as all tools plus GT tools in one and insta-mines blocks.

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Hammer/Lumberaxe/Excavator

Hammers should be rushed ASAP as it will greatly speed up your mining.

In general, it's good to aim for a material that gives a good mix of durability and mining speed while being easily repairable. Higher mining speed also increases the tool experience required to level exponentially, so be careful when upgrading especially when you are close to the next tool level.

For Lumberaxe and Excavators, it is recommended to start out of Netherrack for ease of repairing as they are incredibly easy to level up and Wood/Dirt/Sand has no mining level. However, making them out of the common materials is fine as well.

Steam

• Head: Alumite (if you can afford steel/aluminum, this is not necessarily the best) or Bronze (common, preferred)
• Large Plates: Alumite > Bronze > Iron
• Tool Rod: Alumite/Steel > Bronze > Iron

LV

• Head: Alumite/Bronze
• Large Plates: Alumite, Iron
• Tool Rod: Alumite/Steel > Bronze > Iron

MV

• Head: Cobalt, Vanadiumsteel (post MV Extruder)
• Large Plates: You can use either Vanadiumsteel (good balance of durability/mining speed) or Perditio (very low durability but high mining speed)
• Tool Rod: Damascus Steel > Vanadiumsteel > Aeon Steel

After that

You should be switching to at least MV+ miners, which will do the mining for you without user input. At that point, you'll be using your hammer mostly for base building.

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Broadsword/Rapier/Cleaver

Broadsword is more or less an early game sword which becomes replaceable quickly by Crossbow in terms of total damage starting in LV from there. There are some certain cases where you will have to use a melee sword, such as Withers when they have protection from ranged attacks on, or against Vengenance mobs or Witch spiders. Rapiers are okay in that their damage goes through armor, which can be particularly effective vs some bosses like Lich, but Broadsword does just fine for all the early game needs.

Cleaver is not recommended to make, as its damage is poor in comparison to Crossbow. You'd only ideally make one for the Beheading bonus (Cleaver comes with innate 20% Beheading chance) which you will likely make in HV-tier due to the NASA Workbench requiring 9 Nether Stars, which require Wither kills. If you are at this point, you can make the MV one identically; large plates only affect durability and speed, so it doesn't matter what you want to use here. It is recommended to make a Skullfire Sword instead of a Cleaver as they guarantee 3 Wither Skeleton heads on every regular Skeleton kill, but this path requires some Thaumcraft progression (up to the Infusion altar).

Every other weapon not mentioned aren't known to be strong/meta, mostly a meme, or impossible to make in a Tool Forge (i.e. Katanas which you can only get from loot bags).

Steam/LV

• Blade: Alumite (2 damage) > Bronze/Iron (1.5 damage)
• Binding: Any with Reinforced or bonus modifier (Paper/Thaumium)
• Tool Rod: Slime Crystal (or the best durability multiplier you can find) > Wood

MV

• Blade: Vanadiumsteel (7 damage, post MV Extruder)
• Binding: Thaumium
• Tool Rod: Damascus Steel > Vanadiumsteel

The better upgrades after Vanadiumsteel Blade in order of progression are Meteoric Steel (12 damage, early EV), Tungstensteel (14 damage, mid-EV), Palladium (16 damage, IV), Adamantium (19 damage, LuV), and Neutronium (20 damage, UV).

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Crossbow

Like most tools, binding only give its trait, so you would use the highest reinforced stat possible (obsidian) or free modifier (thaumium). Paper tough binding is not possible to make, so only use these two.

Steam

• You can only make a crossbow once you have access to the Tool Forge, at that point you should be more or less close to LV. Invest in a hammer instead of a crossbow
• If you still want one, you can follow the quests where it tells you to make a wooden crossbow in Steam page after Tool Forge, but not recommended. A broadsword is enough for your early game needs.

LV

• Limb: Carbon
• Bowstring: Fiery (Spiders in Nether drops them like candy)
• Tough Binding: Obsidian or Thaumium
• Body: Slime Crystal > Wooden

MV

• Limb: Carbon
• Bowstring: Fiery
• Tough Binding: Thaumium
• Body: Damascus Steel (can buy from shop) > Vanadiumsteel

HV

• Limb: Energetic Alloy
• Bowstring: Fiery
• Tough Binding: Thaumium
• Body: Damascus Steel > Vanadiumsteel

IV

• Limb: Osmiridium
• Bowstring: Fiery
• Tough Binding: Thaumium
• Body: Damascus Steel > Vanadiumsteel

After that

• Upgrade the head to Infinity.

• Upgrade body to:

1. Neutronium
2. Draconium
3. Trinium
4. Awakened Draconium
5. Infinity

In that order at any point when you feel like it and have access to the material, only changes durability. (durability multiplication modifier)

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Crossbow Bolts

Rule of thumb is "highest damage tip material with the lightest rod". Use Slimeleaf Fletching, made of Slimy Leaves from a Slime Island tree, for all bolts by preference.

With the Tinker's Smeltery only some basic materials can be cast directly on a tool rod placed on the casting table, tipping the rod with the same metal, such as Iron. For higher tier tips, a MV Fluid Solidifier is required, supplied with the tool rod and molten metal from the Smeltery. For crossbow bolts the Fluid Solidifier cannot use GT molten metals.

Upgrade fully repaired bolts by making a new tool rod tipped with the desired metal, replacing both old rod and tip in a Crafting Station or Tool Forge.

Steam

• The quest asks you to make an iron tipped wooden rod that you can use the Smeltery to make, although still not recommended here.

LV

• Tool Rod: Slime Crystal
• Tip: Alumite
• Fletching: Slimy Leaves

MV

• Tool Rod: Carbon
• Tip: Vanadiumsteel
• Fletching: Slimy Leaves

HV

• Tool Rod: Energetic Alloy
• Tip: Meteoric Steel (post Moon, NOT Meteoric Iron!), Vanadiumsteel
• Fletching: Slimy Leaves

EV/IV

• Tool Rod: Energetic Alloy
• Tip: Palladium
• Fletching: Slimy Leaves

LuV

• Tool Rod: Energetic Alloy
• Tip: Adamantium
• Fletching: Slimy Leaves
  

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Modifiers

Modifiers are special abilities independent of material traits. They require Modifier Slots to be applied to tools, which are acquired either by sacrificing valuable materials for a once-per-tool extra slot, or by levelling up. All tools start with zero modifiers unless one of their materials gives modifier slots as its bonus. Up to three modifier slots can be added to any tool using the items below, by combining them with a tool in a Tool Station or Tool Forge. Some Enhanced Lootbags have a chance to drop a Creative Tool Modifier for an additional slot. Creative modifiers are unlimited in uses-per-tool but a non-renewable and chance based acquisition.

Once-per-tool Add Modifier Combos

• Diamond + Gold Block
• Golden Apple (enchanted) + Diamond Block
• Nether Star

Pickaxe/Shovel/Axe

• Redstone
• Diamond

There are only a few modifiers using early game - Redstone for faster mining, and optionally Diamond for upgrading a pick's mining level to mine Obsidian if the resources to upgrade to Steel or Alumite are elusive. Reinforced or Moss modifiers are generally not worth putting on basic tools, as they're easy to repair (typically 1-3 ingots to full durability). Save Ball of Moss for crossbow bolts and Reinforced for making unbreakable tools for Automated Farming later. Fortune can be considered for a pickaxe as it grants bonus drops for small ores/vanilla ores only - nice for rare Nether smalls or Silver pre-Twilight Forest, but can clog up the inventory faster.

Hammer

• Redstone

The only modifier you will be putting on your hammer is Redstone. This is non-negotiable - hammers tremendously benefit from mining speed, which helps with fast-clearing veins. Hammers are already fat in durability and therefore don't really need any other modifiers.

Lapis is optional, however they only affect small ores from mining, which is probably good for very very few ores like Silver, though they spawn as ore in Twilight Forest and later on. Since miners later on will have in-built Fortune bonus, this modifier is effectively pointless once you get there and you'll only use it for base building.

Lumberaxe

• Reinforced

The general strategy with lumberaxe (as mentioned above) is making them out of Netherrack (due to lower speed and ease of repairing) and then cutting as many trees as possible to level them up before making them Unbreakable. After that you can put on whatever you want with it.

Excavator

• Redstone
• Reinforced

The idea is to max out Redstone until you can basically one-tick blocks, which happens at 22 mining speed. After that, use Reinforced.

Broadsword/Rapier/Cleaver/any melee weapon

• Quartz
• Beheading (maybe)

Virtually every other modifier is terrible in comparison to Quartz for more damage on these weapons. Beheading is only an option if you want to improve chance on Cleavers for heads if you do not want to bother with Thaumcraft for Skullfire Sword.

Crossbow

• Redstone
• Lapis
• Diamond (optional)
• Reinforced

In that order. You want to hit a 0.25 draw speed on your Crossbow ASAP, which effectively turns it into a gun turret. Afterwards, you can apply Lapis on it for Looting bonus; this will also apply to your Bolt for kills.

After the modifiers, you can add a Diamond if you are using a Carbon limb to help with durability, or stack Reinforceds on it after everything else.

Note that every other modifier (such as Quartz) only works if you use the Crossbow as a melee weapon, so don't bother putting them on!

Bolt

• Moss
• Quartz

This is the only Tinker's tool where it's recommended to use 2x Moss on your Bolt, which work really well with it once you have a maximized draw speed on your Crossbow for faster regen. You'll have one Moss from one of the early quests - definitely use it on here once you get it. For a second Moss, you will have to do some research in Thaumcraft on GTNH tab - it's an Infusion recipe, so it may be a while for you to get a second one. Alternatively, opening early game loot bags has a chance to give a Pierce bolt which has an innate Moss and Diamond (plus extra modifier slots) but that's more or less RNG.

After that, spam Quartz on it for more damage. Keep doing it until you get 200 hearts of damage - then add more Quartz!

Auto Leveling

Dynamism tablet from Thaumcraft can automatically level some of your tinkers tools. Melee weapons will gain XP from killing mobs, mining/digging/woodcutting tools can level by either killing mobs or breaking automatically placed blocks. Shurikens gain XP by killing mobs too, but require switching to right-click mode and it will consume ammo really quick. Other ranged weapons and ammo can't be leveled this way.

Troubleshooting

Issue	Cause
Cannot swap parts	Tool must be fully repaired before parts can be changed.
Broken tool	Restore durability by repairing the tool. Combine an ingot of the tool head material and tool in a Crafting Station, Tool Forge or Adventure Backpack grid.
Cannot add more Redstone	Tools and weapons have a max limit, notably 0.25s Draw Speed for crossbows.
Cannot add materials	Adding redstone/lapis/reinforcement or any other trait to a tool requires a modifier slot. Some take one modifier per level.
Cannot craft part	Some parts are made in the Tool Station, some are cast in the Smeltery, and many require an Extruder. Also check the material cost; some parts require more than one block/ingot to craft. For creating casts, use cobblestone in the Tool Station.

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