Easily the most powerful of all the 2nd classes, the Blacksmiths sport damage equal to that of the trans 2nd classes(except their own trans class of course). Their only weakness lies in the fact that they only have 1 multitarget AoE spell (Cart Revolution) that has knockback and limited range, making it hard to target with. As a single target killer though, it is no doubt that this class shines bright as the leading killer. A Battle Blacksmith's main skills revolve around the theme of self-buffing to increase damage. The main offensive skills are Mammonite and Cart Revolution, which both can be learned as a Merchant.
Blacksmiths also have the ability to forge weapons. They can master the power to imbue weapons with elements of Fire, Earth, Wind and Water and also have the ability to increase the weapon damage further.
Note:
In previous versions of Ragnarok, STR was a key defining stat for the blacksmith class, but due to nerfs on STR bonus's in Renewal mechanics, this is no longer true (still a good option in Classic versions of the game though). Pumping obscene amounts of STR is no longer wise as its a waste of stats that can be placed into better areas for more dmg output or survivability. Blacksmiths will get to makeup for this severe DPS loss when they change to Mastersmith and learn Improved Power Thrust. This nerf was Gravitys way of balancing the class with all of the new weapon options available as well as the adjustments to monsters HP (blacksmiths would be killing everything in 2-3 hits otherwise).
Warning!
This class requires the player to be financially well off to play due to the heavy expenses the player will incur through the uses of potions and the zeny tax on the Mammonite skill. Therefor, this class is NOT recommended for new players.
Due to game mechanic nerfs, the blacksmiths FLEE rate on Renewal servers is now considered to be way below the needed FLEE rate to be a successful dodger in pvm, and will result in the use of alot of potions/healing items to be able to perform successfully. While this is boostable through in game items, it still will never reach that of the thief classes and players should enter flee builds with caution.
The weapon forge list is massively out of date with the other items in game, and therefor it is not recommended to attempt to create an elemental weapon forger anymore, as there are much better in game options that will cost alot less to buy. Also the fact that you can now make/purchase weapon scroll endowing enchants from sage classes, players can now reach much higher DPS output through the use of proper weapon carding with proper element enchant then they ever could through elemental weapon forging.
Forgesmiths break items ALOT and the player may find themselves spending more money on materials then they are making the actual weapons. It really just is not worth it in the long run. Elemental weapons do not sell well at all unless the player is ranked(which is VERY difficult to get) and they are level 3 weapons with Very Very Strong status (which is very risky and very costly to make). The majority of Forgesmiths around these days only use the Weapon Upgrade ability on the Whitesmith class now due to how poor the Forge List is and how much they end up spending on materials
Changing into a Blacksmith from a Merchant requires the player to complete a number of tasks:
Item Collection
Written Test
After completing these tests, the player will be transformed into a Blacksmith. This mostly takes place in Einbroch.
Builds
Cart Revolution Build
STR: 70-90
AGI: 30-50
VIT: 70-90
INT: 1+
DEX: 50
LUK: 20-40
This build is centered around the Cart Revolution skill for AoEing groups of monsters at once. Blacksmiths can also play as tank/puller for parties, especially if switching to a Fortune Sword and Shields with Racial Reduction Cards. Skin Tempering adds an extra 5% Neutral reduction, which is helpful for stacking with Raydric Card and other Neutral resist gear. ASPD does help Cart Revolution spam rate, especially when pushing monsters against walls. Hammer Fall is useful for stunning monsters to temporarily disable them. Mammonite still provides high single target damage.
The AGI build is is usually recommended for newer players without funds. They have high ASPD and FLEE for quick single target killing, so it uses minimal HP / SP Healing Items. Their main method of attack is melee-ing single monsters with Adrenaline Rush and other damage boosting buffs active. Blacksmiths do not have skills that increase flee rate (like a Thief's Improve Dodge, so it is recommended to use at least SOME sort of FLEE gear (such as Falcon Muffler or Whisper carded garment).
Level as with a battle build. When reaching the max desired level, use stat reset to change stats to the desired forging stats. This is by far the easiest way to achieve a forgesmith in a reasonable amount of time. Otherwise the player will have to self leech themselves, since the forgesmith build has bad survivability and poor damage output.
Warning:
This build is no longer viable in Ragnarok Online due to the availability of better weapons now, and the fact that a player can use Elemental Converters on their weapon to make it whatever element they want. Players can also use an alt account with a Sage to endow themselves for up to 30 minutes. Elemental converters open up the option of making a carded weapon AND having element bonus. This is a far superior option to just using a forged elemental weapon. Players will find it extremely difficult to make money with a pure forger now, unless selling Very Very Strong Level 3 weapons and thus it is NOT recommended to attempt this build.
If players truely desire to follow the forging path, then it is STRONGLY recommended to just make a battlesmith and transcend to Mastersmith, since Mastersmiths have higher success rate due to higher job level, as well as the Upgrade Weapon ability, which is really the major source of income for a forgesmith. The majority of forgesmiths nowadays only use the Weapon Upgrade ability and have given up on forging elemental weapons.
For every 1 point of DEX, add 0.1 to forging sucess rate.
For every 1 point of LUK, add 0.1 to forging sucess rate.
Every job level adds 0.2 to the forging sucess rate.
Tactics
Recovering HP or Healing Items
When mobbing or tanking groups of monsters, especially for AoE leveling, Healing Items WILL need to be consumed and often even spammed. One popular healing item is Fresh Fish due to its cheap cost and low weight. It can be purchased from NPCs off the Chef's Assistant at the docks of Alberta (167, 134) as well as other locations for only 250z each (190z with max Discount).
Eden Group Equipment is free and a great place to start for gear to use. The Axe is a good weapon and generally a good choice for a Blacksmith and their future classes' use.
It is recommended to look at the Equipment recommendations for the Third Class job to see what equipment to strive for, rather than to spend a lot of money on a piece of equipment that will not be used in the future as a third class. However, some equipment may have a high level requirement, or are transcendent only.
Weapons
After considering what requirement skills have (some skills can only be used with certain weapon types), the Weapon Search tool within the iRO Wiki DB site is very helpful. Generally, for physical classes (both melee and ranged), something with high ATK is best. For magic classes, something with high MATK is best.
For 30~150 seconds, increase Attack Speed and hit rate of party members equipped with Axe and Mace class weapons (30% for Blacksmiths, 25% for other classes).
