Achievements are an important part of the long-term progression in ForgeTax. There are nineteen achievements in total, and sixteen of them unlock a relic. Once you unlock one of these relics, it joins the relic shop in every save slot from that point onward.
This means achievements are not just there for completionists. Many of them give you access to powerful relics that can completely change how you build your swords. Some require you to forge specific blades to +20, while others are run-based challenges that you can complete during a normal attempt.
In this section, I will go through every achievement, explain exactly what you need to do, and tell you which relic you get from it. I will also cover the three achievements that do not unlock relics, so you can see exactly what is worth working toward.
ForgeTax Achievements Guide – How to Unlock all Achievements
Continent-Cleaving Iron Citadel
Achievement: Citadel Sword Mastery
Requirement: Forge a Citadel Sword to +20.
Unlocks: Unyielding Cornerstone
Unyielding Cornerstone makes the first Break of every sword become Damage instead. This is a very useful defensive relic because it can save your sword from an early Break and give you another chance to continue forging.
Excalibur
Achievement: Holy Sword Mastery
Requirement: Forge a Holy Sword to +20.
Unlocks: Dawn Scabbard
Dawn Scabbard passes 40% of a broken sword’s enhancement to the next unforged +0 sword. Inheriting that enhancement also gives the new sword four Frenzy charges.
This is especially useful if you are regularly pushing swords to high levels and want to recover some of their value after they break.
Unstoppable Gears of Ruin
Achievement: Sawblade Mastery
Requirement: Forge a Sawblade to +20.
Unlocks: Ceaseless Driveshaft
Ceaseless Driveshaft gives you an extra +1 level for every two Successes. If your strategy already produces plenty of Success results, this relic can help you push swords higher much faster.
Demon Blade: Dragonslayer
Achievement: Dragonfang Mastery
Requirement: Forge a Dragonfang to +20.
Unlocks: Dragon Heart
Dragon Heart activates at +7 or higher. From that point, every Success or Great increases the sword’s value by 15%.
This makes it particularly useful for high-level sword and money-focused builds.
Akasha, Blade of Genesis
Achievement: Runeblade Mastery
Requirement: Forge a Runeblade to +20.
Unlocks: Perfect Mana Core
Perfect Mana Core gives you +6 Great tickets during Frenzy. If you enjoy building around Frenzy, this relic can give you a huge boost while Frenzy is active.
Sovereign of Blades
Achievement: Splitblade Mastery
Requirement: Forge a Splitblade to +20.
Unlocks: Seal of Twins
Seal of Twins gives every surviving strike a 2% chance to duplicate the sword. The chance is low, but successfully duplicating a valuable sword can give you a huge payoff.
Yggdrasil, the World Tree
Achievement: World Tree Mastery
Requirement: Forge a World Tree to +20.
Unlocks: Eternal Seed
Eternal Seed gives you +6 Hold tickets, and every Hold increases the sword’s base value by 40 G.
If you are building around Hold results, this is one of the relics I would definitely want to unlock.
Leviathan’s Fang
Achievement: Fishblade Mastery
Requirement: Forge a Fishblade to +20.
Unlocks: Abyssal Pearl
Abyssal Pearl gives you +3 Damage tickets, but there is an important advantage: the first two Damages of each sword do not lower its level.
Damage relics still activate, so this can be very strong in a build that intentionally takes advantage of Damage.
Key to the Underworld
Achievement: Funerary Sword Mastery
Requirement: Forge a Funerary Sword to +20.
Unlocks: Undertaker’s Ledger
Undertaker’s Ledger rewards you when high-level swords break. If a +7 or higher sword breaks, you gain one extra sword the next day, up to two extra swords per day.
Run Feat Achievements
The next achievements are different because you complete them through actions during a run rather than simply mastering a particular sword.
Clocking Out
Requirement: Survive through May 5 and complete your contract.
You need to reach Day 21, which is May 5, with fewer than three failed tributes.
The final payment does not have to be completely full, as long as it is not your third failed tribute.
Unlocks: Sickle and Hammer
Sickle and Hammer sets each outcome’s base ticket count to 5. This can completely change the way your ticket distribution works, so unlocking it gives you another interesting strategy to experiment with.
All Thumbs
Requirement: Break 10 swords in one run.
This achievement counts every sword destroyed on the anvil during a single run. However, swords whose Break is converted into Damage by a relic do not count.
Unlocks: Butterfingers
Butterfingers gives you +3 Break tickets and +5 Great tickets.
It is a risky relic because the extra Break tickets make your swords more dangerous, but the five additional Great tickets can make aggressive builds much stronger.
No Rest for the Hammer
Requirement: Enter Frenzy 5 times in one run.
Any Frenzy started during the run counts, regardless of which sword you are forging.
Unlocks: Undying Wick
Undying Wick increases Frenzy duration by 2 seconds.
If you enjoy Frenzy builds, this achievement is definitely worth completing because extra Frenzy time gives you more opportunities to benefit from your Frenzy-related relics.
Keep the Change
Requirement: Pay at least 3 times the tribute requirement.
The requirement is compared against the quota after Sealed Rebate and any carried credit have been applied. Because of this, a reduced quota makes this achievement easier to complete.
Unlocks: Royal Change
Royal Change allows 30% of your excess tribute to count toward the next requirement, reducing the next requirement by up to 30%.
This can make future tributes considerably easier when you have a run where you are consistently earning more than the required amount.
One Last Chance
Requirement: Pay tribute in full at the last Rage stage.
To complete this achievement, you need to make a full payment on a day when two tributes have already failed.
Unlocks: Dragon’s Pardon
Dragon’s Pardon prevents death once, lowers Rage by 1, and then disappears.
This is essentially an emergency safety net, so it can be extremely valuable during difficult runs.
I’ll Take Everything
Requirement: Buy all stock during one merchant visit.
You need to completely sell out every offer during a single merchant visit. This also includes the full stock of basic swords.
Unlocks: Wandering Ghost’s Ledger
Wandering Ghost’s Ledger makes merchants bring two extra offers during their next visit.
This gives you more choices when shopping and can make it easier to find the items or swords you need for your current strategy.
A Job for Life
Requirement: Pay tribute in full 3 times after completing the contract.
After reaching May 5, choose to continue forging instead of ending your run. You then need to make three full tribute payments.
Unlocks: Lifetime Contract
Lifetime Contract is one of the strongest late-game relics. Issued swords start at +7, and swords no longer need heating.
This is a huge change to the normal forging process, so it is definitely one of the achievements I would prioritize once you are comfortable surviving longer runs.
Milestone Achievements
Not every achievement unlocks a relic. There are three milestone achievements that simply record important accomplishments.
One More Hit?
Requirement: Forge any sword to +10 for the first time.
Any blade reaching +10 counts immediately. If you already have a sword in your codex that is +10 or higher, the achievement will be awarded the next time you launch the game.
Reward: No relic.
This is simply a progression milestone showing that you have successfully forged your first +10 sword.
Now Hiring
Requirement: Die to the dragon for the first time.
This achievement is awarded on the death screen after your third failed tribute.
Reward: No relic.
You do not need to deliberately chase this achievement because it will naturally happen if you eventually lose a run to the dragon.
Hammer Time
Requirement: Enter Frenzy for the first time outside the tutorial.
Any Frenzy entered after the opening tutorial counts.
Reward: No relic.
This is another straightforward milestone that you will naturally unlock as you learn how Frenzy works.
Best Achievements to Prioritize
If you are trying to unlock the most useful relics rather than simply collecting achievements, I would focus on the achievements that unlock relics with effects that match your preferred playstyle.
For defensive builds, work toward Continent-Cleaving Iron Citadel for Unyielding Cornerstone.
For high-level sword builds, Excalibur and its Dawn Scabbard can be very useful because you can recover enhancement after a sword breaks.
For Success-focused builds, Unstoppable Gears of Ruin gives you Ceaseless Driveshaft.
For high-level money builds, Demon Blade: Dragonslayer unlocks Dragon Heart.
For Frenzy builds, Akasha, Blade of Genesis gives you Perfect Mana Core, while No Rest for the Hammer unlocks Undying Wick.
For Hold builds, Yggdrasil, the World Tree unlocks Eternal Seed.
For Damage-focused builds, Leviathan’s Fang unlocks Abyssal Pearl.
For extra sword supply, Key to the Underworld gives you Undertaker’s Ledger.
The important thing to remember is that these relics are permanent progression. Once you unlock one through an achievement, it becomes available in the shop across every save slot. So even if you do not immediately use the relic, completing the achievement permanently expands your future ForgeTax options.