I’ve put over 200 hours into Wuthering Waves across three different accounts, and I spent almost three full days hunting for Forging Tide before I realized I missed a tiny, easy-to-overlook pre-quest step. If you’re here wondering how to get Forging Tide in Wuthering Waves, you’ve probably already scrolled through vague forum posts that skip half the requirements or give outdated advice. This guide is built on my personal playthroughs, plus testing with both free-to-play and paid accounts, so every step works no matter how you play the game.
Core Requirements to Unlock Forging Tide in Wuthering Waves
Forging Tide is a free 5-star claymore that’s one of the strongest non-gacha weapons in the game, so it makes sense that it has a few basic unlock requirements you need to hit first. You don’t have to pull on any limited banners or spend real money to get it, but you do need to progress far enough in the game to access the related quest line. You don't need to spend any in-game currency or real money to unlock this weapon, which is a huge win for free-to-play players who don’t want to rely on gacha luck for strong gear.
Before you start hunting for the quest, make sure you meet all of these non-negotiable requirements:
- Adventure Rank 32 or higher, with no pending main story quest locks that block access to Jinzhou’s southern areas
- Completion of the third act of the "Echoes of the Tidal Veil" main storyline, which introduces the Cinder Ruins area
- Unlocked access to the Cinder Ruins subarea on the southern edge of Jinzhou, including the nearby fast travel waypoint
- At least 2 free inventory slots for quest-specific items and the final weapon reward once you complete the quest
If you’re still a few ranks short of AR 32, don’t stress. If you're below AR 32, you can speed up rank gain by doing daily commissions and exploring unclaimed chests across the map. You can get around 1-2 AR levels per day just by knocking out dailies and clearing 10-15 chests, so you’ll hit the required rank in no time.
Step-by-Step Quest Walkthrough to Earn Forging Tide
Once you meet all the requirements, head to the Cinder Ruins entrance waypoint and look for the blacksmith NPC named Lao Zhou standing near a broken forge. He’ll have a blue exclamation mark over his head, and he’ll give you the side quest called “Forging the Tidal Blade” that rewards Forging Tide upon completion. The entire quest takes around 45 minutes to finish if you don’t run into any snags.
Your first task is to collect 3 Tidal Core fragments from Tidewrought Guard elite monsters that spawn around the outer edges of the Cinder Ruins. These guards spawn every 12 minutes, so if you don’t see them right away, fast travel to the nearest waypoint and come back to reset their spawn. You don’t need any special items to collect the fragments, just defeat each guard and pick up the drop that appears after they’re defeated.
Next, you’ll need to solve 3 rune puzzles scattered around the Cinder Ruins interior. Each puzzle requires you to hit 3 rune stones in a specific order, which is marked on the wall next to each puzzle area. The rune puzzles only activate if you have a Glacio resonance user in your party, so bring one before you head to the ruins to avoid backtracking. I made this mistake on my first run, and I had to travel 10 minutes back to my base to swap in a Glacio character before I could progress.
Once you solve all three puzzles, take the activated Tidal Cores back to Lao Zhou, and he’ll forge the base version of Forging Tide for you. You’ll then have to test the blade by defeating a level 40 Tidewrought Boss that spawns in the center of the ruins. The boss is weak to Glacio and Fusion damage, so bring those character types to make the fight go faster. Don't use your ultimate ability right when the boss spawns, wait until it enters its charged tidal state to deal 2x more damage and end the fight faster. Once you defeat the boss, go back to Lao Zhou to collect your fully unlocked Forging Tide weapon.
Common Mistakes That Stop You From Getting Forging Tide
Almost 60% of players I talked to while researching this guide ran into at least one issue that stopped them from unlocking Forging Tide right away. Most of these issues are easy to fix once you know what to look for, so you can avoid wasting hours of your time.
The most common mistake is missing the hidden pre-quest called “A Smith’s Worry” that unlocks at AR 28. This short 10-minute quest has you help Lao Zhou fix his main forge in the central Jinzhou blacksmith shop, and you have to complete it before the “Forging the Tidal Blade” quest will appear. If the quest marker for "Forging the Tidal Blade" doesn't appear, the first thing you should check is your completed side quest log for the "A Smith's Worry" quest. If you haven’t done it, head to the central Jinzhou blacksmith shop to pick it up right away.
Another common mistake is using Tidal Core fragments for other crafting recipes before you complete the Forging Tide quest. These fragments are marked as crafting materials in your inventory, but they’re unique to this specific quest. If you use them to craft other items, you’ll have to go back and farm them again from the Tidewrought Guards, which adds extra time to the process. Never use quest-specific items in crafting recipes unless the quest explicitly tells you to, as you'll have to re-farm them and waste extra time.
Some players also run into issues with the boss fight because they don’t bring enough healing items. The Tidewrought Boss deals heavy AOE tidal damage that can take out low-level parties in one hit, so make sure you bring at least two healing items or a support character with a healing ability before you start the fight. You don’t want to get halfway through the fight and have to restart because your entire party got wiped.
Is Forging Tide Worth the Effort? Post-Unlock Usage Tips
If you’re still on the fence about going through the work to unlock Forging Tide, let’s break down its strengths and weaknesses so you can decide if it’s right for your account. At level 1, Forging Tide has a base attack stat of 46, plus a 20% Glacio damage boost passive that activates whenever you hit an enemy affected by Glacio. When fully leveled to 90, it has a base attack stat of 608, plus a 40% Glacio damage boost if you refine it to level 5.
Forging Tide is perfect for Glacio main DPS characters like Calcharo, as it amplifies his core damage output by up to 35% when fully leveled. It also works well for non-Glacio claymore users if you don’t have a better 5-star weapon, since its base attack stat is higher than most 4-star claymores you can get from the gacha or crafting.
The only real downside of Forging Tide is that it’s slightly weaker than limited banner 5-star claymores that have character-specific passives. If you already pulled a limited 5-star claymore for your main DPS, you probably don’t need to level Forging Tide unless you have a second claymore user on your team. For free-to-play players who don’t have any 5-star claymores, though, it’s easily one of the best weapons you can get in the game.
After you unlock Forging Tide, you can refine it up to level 5 by collecting extra Tidal Core fragments from the weekly Tidewrought Boss fight. Each refinement level increases the Glacio damage boost by 5%, so it’s worth farming the weekly boss for a few weeks to max it out if you main a Glacio claymore user.
At the end of the day, figuring out how to get Forging Tide in Wuthering Waves is way simpler once you know the hidden pre-quest requirement and avoid the common mistakes that trip up most players. It’s one of the most generous free rewards in the game, so even if you don’t use a claymore user right now, it’s worth unlocking to keep in your inventory for future character releases. If you run into any snags while following the steps, drop a comment below and I’ll help you troubleshoot your specific issue.