Pickaxe Upgrade Routes Using ForgeCalculator

In The Forge, your pickaxe is your real main character.

Weapons feel great, but every ore, every gold piece, and every future forge begins with a swing of your pickaxe. Community guides all repeat the same truth:

“If your pickaxe is bad, your progress is capped — no matter how good your weapon looks.”

In this article we’ll show you how pickaxe progression works, what a typical upgrade route looks like, and how to use ForgeCalculator to plan your path toward late-game tools like the Demonic pickaxe.

Why Pickaxe Progression Matters

In The Forge, pickaxes control: :contentReference[oaicite:19]{index=19}

Which rocks and veins you can mine
How fast you gather ores
How often you see high-rarity ores
Your overall income and access to late-game forging recipes

A popular community pickaxe progression route looks roughly like:

Stonewake’s Pickaxe → Mythril Pickaxe → Arcane Pickaxe → Demonic Pickaxe :contentReference[oaicite:20]{index=20}

Lower-tier pickaxes simply cannot break certain late-game nodes such as Volcanic Rock, which you need for top ores like Demonite and Darkryte. :contentReference[oaicite:21]{index=21}

What ForgeCalculator Can Do for Pickaxes

ForgeCalculator isn’t just about weapons and armor. A good forge calculator can also help with pickaxe planning: :contentReference[oaicite:22]{index=22}

Show the cost of each pickaxe tier
Estimate the time needed to reach a target pickaxe based on your income
Suggest the best ores to farm for your current pickaxe
Calculate when upgrading gives you a big profit spike vs when it’s just a small quality-of-life bump

On ForgeCalculator.org, you can combine ore profitability data with your pickaxe route to see which upgrades are actually worth rushing.

Early Game: From Starter to Mythril Pickaxe

Most guides agree that your first major power spike is reaching a solid mid-tier pickaxe like Mythril. :contentReference[oaicite:23]{index=23}

Goals in Early Game

Unlock better ore nodes in Stonewake’s Cross and early Forgotten Kingdom zones :contentReference[oaicite:24]{index=24}
Build a stable gold income
Avoid overspending on tiny upgrades

Using ForgeCalculator in Early Game

Enter your current pickaxe and gold into the calculator.
Let it estimate:
- The cost of going straight to Mythril
- Which ores are most profitable with your current tool
Farm the top few gold-per-minute ores suggested by the tool.
Upgrade once ForgeCalculator shows that:
- Your time to return the investment is reasonable
- The new pickaxe unlocks new ore tiers you currently can’t mine

This keeps you from buying every small upgrade and instead aims for meaningful jumps.

Mid Game: From Mythril to Arcane

Once you have Mythril, you can already mine stronger ores with good multipliers and income potential, thanks to its higher power and luck bonus. :contentReference[oaicite:25]{index=25}

What Changes in Mid Game

You unlock new ore locations with better traits and higher multipliers. :contentReference[oaicite:26]{index=26}
Forging profitable gear becomes more realistic. :contentReference[oaicite:27]{index=27}
You can start aiming at specific builds instead of random upgrades. :contentReference[oaicite:28]{index=28}

How ForgeCalculator Helps Here

Compare profit per ore across the new zones. :contentReference[oaicite:29]{index=29}
See how a stronger pickaxe would affect your drops and income.
Plan when it’s better to stay on Mythril and farm longer vs jumping into Arcane.

A typical goal is to let ForgeCalculator show you:

“If I upgrade to Arcane now, how many hours of farming until it pays for itself?”

When that number looks comfortable for you, it’s time to upgrade.

Late Game: Demonic Pickaxe and Beyond

At the top end, many tier lists consider Demonic pickaxe one of the best tools in the game, especially when paired with strong races and builds. :contentReference[oaicite:30]{index=30}

Demonic-level tools are important because they:

Break Volcanic Rock and other end-game nodes
Farm high-tier ores like Demonite (5.5x multiplier) much more efficiently :contentReference[oaicite:31]{index=31}
Feed your best-in-slot weapon and armor forges

Using ForgeCalculator here, you can:

Estimate the total cost (gold) to go from Arcane to Demonic
See how much faster you can farm top ores after upgrading
Decide whether to:
- Finish your current armor/weapon set first
- Or rush Demonic pickaxe and craft end-game gear later

Some calculators even show time estimates based on daily playtime so you can plan realistically. :contentReference[oaicite:32]{index=32}

Common Pickaxe Mistakes ForgeCalculator Helps You Avoid

Skipping too many tiers.
Jumping straight from a weak pickaxe to a very strong one can sound smart, but you might suffer through a long, slow grind in the middle. ForgeCalculator lets you check whether a smaller intermediate upgrade massively improves your income.
Over-upgrading too early.
Buying an expensive pickaxe before you can afford to use it properly (no gear, no ore access) can stall your progress.
Ignoring ore profitability.
Not all ores are equal. Some cheap ores with great traits and multipliers are far better to farm than shiny but inefficient ones. :contentReference[oaicite:33]{index=33}
Not adapting after patches.
When devs rebalance ores or change locations, the “best route” can change. ForgeCalculator is easier to update than your memory. :contentReference[oaicite:34]{index=34}

FAQ: Pickaxes & ForgeCalculator

Which pickaxe should I rush first?

Most players should rush Mythril or an equivalent mid-tier pickaxe as their first major upgrade, according to pickaxe progression guides. It offers a large jump in ore access and income without the huge cost of late-game tools. :contentReference[oaicite:35]{index=35}

Is Demonic pickaxe mandatory?

No, but it’s extremely strong. If you want to farm top ores and end-game gear efficiently, you’ll eventually want a Demonic-level pickaxe or similar. :contentReference[oaicite:36]{index=36}

How often should I check ForgeCalculator?

Whenever you:

Unlock a new region
Notice your current pickaxe struggling to break new nodes
Get enough gold that a big upgrade becomes possible

Run the numbers again and let ForgeCalculator tell you whether upgrading now makes sense.

Final Thoughts

Pickaxes quietly decide how fast your The Forge account grows. By combining community-tested routes with the math from ForgeCalculator, you can:

Upgrade at the right time
Grind in the right spots
Reach powerful tools like Demonic pickaxe without burning out

Next, pair your ideal pickaxe route with our guides on ore multipliers, traits, and profitable forging to complete your long-term gear plan.