Forged
“Take pride in your work; bring souls before your master that they might be Forged in his image.
The Forged are a recently appearing army that is scouring the Crystal Desert and Elona in service to Balthazar, the God of War and Fire. They are constructs of living metal and fire imbued with souls of the dead.
Physiology[edit]
The metal which the Forged are made out of is specially treated to withstand heat and fire. Without the elemental and fire magic that binds souls to the construct, they appear as normal suits of armor.[1]
Psychology[edit]
Those turned into Forged retain their memories and personalities, but lose their free will and are forced to revere Balthazar although they are able to voice their concerns.[2][3][4] Those who attempt to resist the indoctrination are subjected to prolonged, agonizing pain which only becomes bearable if they surrender to the war god's will.[5]
History[edit]
Following his failed attempt at killing the Elder Dragons Primordus and Jormag in 1329 AE, the war god Balthazar set his sights on the only viable Elder Dragon left: Kralkatorrik who was residing in the Crystal Desert. Knowing that he would need a bigger army than mercenaries and faithful mortal followers like the Zaishen Order and the Church of Balthazar to take on the Elder Crystal Dragon, Balthazar traveled to the United Kingdom of Elona and negotiated a mutually beneficial deal with King Palawa Joko. In exchange for Joko assisting him in assembling his army, the former god would reward Joko with a share of these new recruits.
Balthazar and Joko located and raided the long fallen city of Kesho to learn the ritual that the Forgotten had used to create the Exalted. Balthazar modified this ritual to create the Forged, having experimented on the Exalted of Kesho to learn the magic and create the first functioning prototypes for his army.[6] After the raid on Kesho and their first successful experiments, Joko helped Balthazar access the Domain of the Lost for the souls of those who had suffered traumatic deaths, only to be betrayed and imprisoned by the former god who no longer required the lich king's services.[7]
The first group of Forged were created out of the Eternal Army that served Balthazar in the Fissure of Woe after their deaths as warriors and fighters. However, to bolster their number, the Forged began mercilessly attacking the inhabitants of the Crystal Desert and Elona, and took the souls of the victims out of the Domain of the Lost. The Forged had similarly created portals into the Realm of Torment at the Ruptured Heart in the Desolation to further bolster their numbers and brought in more reinforcements via a portal they had set up in the Foundry in the Domain of Vabbi. The fanatical human members of the Zaishen Order joined the Forged willingly, recruited Elonian refugees,[8] and performed the rituals that turned souls into new Forged.[9][10]
As their army grew with new recruits, the Forged began a campaign to take down Kralkatorrik. To accomplish this goal, they began hunting down the dragon Vlast and the Dragonsblood Spear which could hurt the Elder Dragon, constructed the Warbeast, sent troops south to Elona to prepare for the siege on Kralkatorrik and Joko's Awakened forces which resisted their advance, and raided settlements and caravans for supplies for the war effort while keeping any who would try to stop Balthazar from hindering his conquest.[2]
In 1330 AE, the Forged launched a full-scale assault on Kodash Bazaar where Kralkatorrik was last seen and fought against Awakened, Branded and members of Dragon's Watch. After Balthazar and his Warbeast had been defeated atop Joko's Sky Garden and Kralkatorrik had flown away, the leaderless Forged fell under attack by the emboldened Awakened who mopped up the remaining Forged while reclaiming the regions they had lost to the war god's army earlier.[11] By 1331 AE, it was unknown if any Forged survived.
Known bases[edit]
- Forged Foothold
- Unnamed camp in Amnoon Farms
- Unnamed camp in Sifuri Sand Sea
- The Foundry
- Unnamed camp in Jennur's Run
Types[edit]
- See also: Category:Forged
- Catapult
- Champion Forged Ambusher
- Champion Forged Assembler
- Champion Forged Brutalizer
- Champion Forged Cannonade
- Champion Forged Commander
- Champion Forged Lieutenant
- Champion Forged Lurker
- Champion Forged Marauder
- Champion Forged Maverick
- Champion Forged Officer
- Champion Forged Proliferator
- Champion Forged Punisher
- Champion Forged Scavenger
- Champion Forged Sharpshooter
- Champion Forged Shieldbearer
- Champion Forged Sorcerer
- Champion Forged War Mage
- Champion Forged Warmonger
- Champion Forged Wildhound
- Champion Forged Wolfhound
- Champion Victorious Forged
- East Forged Catapult
- Elite Forged Assembler
- Elite Forged Cannonade
- Elite Forged Forerunner
- Elite Forged Hookhead
- Elite Forged Officer
- Elite Forged Prowler
- Elite Forged Reinforcement
- Elite Forged Scavenger
- Elite Forged Sharpshooter
- Elite Forged Shieldbearer
- Elite Forged Vanguard
- Elite Forged Warhound
- Elite Forged Weaponeer
- Elite Foundry Overseer
- Elite Realm Keeper
- Forged Bastion
- Forged Captor
- Forged Crawling Bomb
- Forged Exalted
- Forged Forerunner
- Forged Hookhead
- Forged Prowler
- Forged Raider
- Forged Reinforcement
- Forged Scavenger
- Forged Sentry
- Forged Sentry
- Forged Sharpshooter
- Forged Shield Generator Pylon
- Forged Shieldbearer
- Forged Soldier
- Forged War Mage
- Forged Weaponeer
- Herald of Balthazar
- Hothead Forged Soldier
- Hothead Forged Weaponeer
- Hound of Balthazar
- Legendary Forged Corpsrazer
- Legendary Forged Demolisher
- Legendary Forged Rampager
- Legendary Forged Tegon
- Legendary Forged Temar
- Legendary Forged Tormentor
- Magnetized Forged Soldier
- Magnetized Forged Weaponeer
- North Forged Catapult
- Realm Builder
- Realm Devourer
- Realm Sharpshooter
- Resilient Forged
- Veteran "Scraps"
- Veteran Artillery Cannonade
- Veteran Explosive Cannonade
- Veteran Forged Assembler
- Veteran Forged Cannonade
- Veteran Forged Forerunner
- Veteran Forged Hookhead
- Veteran Forged Officer
- Veteran Forged Prowler
- Veteran Forged Rampager
- Veteran Forged Scavenger
- Veteran Forged Sharpshooter
- Veteran Forged Shieldbearer
- Veteran Forged Vanguard
- Veteran Forged War Mage
- Veteran Forged Warhound
- Veteran Forged Weaponeer
- Veteran Launcher Cannonade
- Veteran Realm Builder
- Veteran Realm Hound
- Veteran Realm Sharpshooter
- Veteran Realm Skimmer
- Veteran Resilient Forged
- Warbeast
- West Forged Catapult
Gallery[edit]
- Screenshots
- Concept art
Concept art by Zhengyi Wang.
Concept art by Lena Richards.
- Render
Render by Kate Picchi and Peter Konig.
Render by William Patrick.
Render by Kate Pfeilschiefter.
Related achievements[edit]
- Slayer: Slagger of the Forged — Kill 1000 members of Balthazar's Forged. (16 )
- Return to Path of Fire: Foes Reborn: Forged — Defeat Forged enemies in any region. (0) (Historical)
See also[edit]
- Associated items
References[edit]
- ^ Night of Fires
- Forged Scrap: This piece of metal appears to be a piece of discarded Forged armor.
- Forged Scrap: This metal armor has been specially treated to withstand heat and fire. The surface is scratched and pockmarked, indicating it has seen battle. [...]
- Forged Husk: This Forged husk has been abandoned here, and the flames within the suit of armor have gone out.
- Forged Husk: Without the elemental and spirit magic animating the Forged soldier, it's just a suit of armor. It appears some sort of ritual must have been used to bind a spirit to the metal.
- ^ a b Strange Burning Scroll
- ^ Patrol the area near the Mouth of Torment with Redeemer Kossan
- ^ Sparking the Flame
- Herald of Balthazar: I was once like you—full of noble intentions.
- Herald of Balthazar: But then Balthazar chose me as his instrument.
- <Character name>: Are you just a puppet? You have a choice!
- Herald of Balthazar: No. The choice was made for me.
- ^ The Sacrifice
- Herald of Balthazar: Give in to his will. I too tried to resist, but I failed. And surrender makes the pain more bearable.
- <Character name>: Maybe I'm stronger than you.
- Herald of Balthazar: Prove you are stronger. Kill my god.
- Herald of Balthazar: Please.
- ^ The Way Forward
- <Character name>: Why were Balthazar and Joko here?
- Sadizi: They came seeking the Forgotten magics that imbue battle armor with living spirits. The same that created the Exalted.
- Sadizi: They quickly discovered that they could use those magics to create these...abominations. The horrors they call "Forged."
- Sadizi: The red Exalted you fought were the results of their early experiments on us. Left behind as mindless sentries.
- ^ The Departing
- Palawa Joko: I was deceived by the fallen god Balthazar. I led him here to claim spirits for his army.
- Palawa Joko: In exchange, I was promised a share of his new recruits. But he betrayed me and stranded me here instead.
- ^ Amnoon Farms ambient dialogue
- ^ Disrupt the Forged ritual and destroy the crucible
- ^ Defeat the Priests of Balthazar powering up the Forged cannonades, and then destroy the cannonades
- ^ Small Victory (Epilogue) Grand Vizier Utumishi: It is a happy day indeed. Even now, the Awakened forces of the transcendent King Joko are driving out the last of Balthazar's underlings.