KCD2’s Blacksmithing Should Be the RPG Crafting Benchmark

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 proves itself to be the RPG benchmark in many ways, as it places significant value on the choices that players make, thereby allowing it to be a truly authentic role-playing experience. Its heavy reliance on realism and reactivity puts an immense amount of weight on player choice, to the point that they frequently see the immediate effects of those decisions in the form of either punishment or reward. While it certainly has plenty of systems in place to accomplish this, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2‘s blacksmithing is one of the best examples of the game’s authentic role-playing mechanics, to the point that it should set a new standard for RPG crafting systems.

Crafting is a staple mechanic of RPGs, but most of these systems often boil down to stats and chance. In Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, however, blacksmithing is largely detached from stats, with results primarily boiling down to the amount of effort that players put into it. This characteristic, in addition to the depth and immersion it offers, makes it an experience worthy of the game’s RPG categorization, effectively leaving an example in its wake for future RPG crafting systems to follow.

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Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Review

With Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Warhorse Studios delivers one of the first great games of 2025.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s Blacksmithing Sets a New Standard for Crafting

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s Blacksmithing Is Next-Level Immersion

If there’s one thing that Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 does impeccably well, it’s immersing players into its authentic recreation of medieval Bohemia with an unprecedented degree of realism at its back to reinforce that immersion. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2‘s blacksmithing system is a great example of the game’s emphasis on realism and immersion, as it involves the player more than almost any other crafting system ever designed for an RPG.

Most RPG crafting systems require very little direct involvement from the player and instead rely mostly on their stats and RNG. So long as the player’s crafting stats are adequate, they can generally produce the intended results. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, on the other hand, actually places players in the shoes of a blacksmith, where they must temper a weapon and hammer it on an anvil until it is finished. Sure, the game has an experience bar for Craftsmanship, and while that can certainly help with blacksmithing, the crafting system as a whole doesn’t rely solely on a player’s stats but on their patience and attention to detail.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s Blacksmithing Matches Output With Effort

The most prominent role-playing factor of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2‘s blacksmithing system is the fact that its output matches the effort players pour into it. For example, it’s possible to produce a high-quality weapon right off the bat, without the need for experience with it first. Leveling up the Craftsmanship skill in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 will allow for the production of even higher-quality weapons, but it’s still possible for players to produce the highest-quality weapon available as soon as they begin experimenting with the system.

This is a far cry from the crafting systems of other modern RPGs, which see the output of a recipe ultimately reliant upon the player’s stats. In a way, it’s similar to the philosophy of FromSoftware’s soulslike games, which allow players to challenge and defeat tougher enemies, even if they don’t have the stats or experience that would make said encounters easier. This makes Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2‘s blacksmithing system, not only one of its standout features, but also a new standard for RPG crafting.

Game

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RPG

Action-Adventure

Open-World

Systems

Released

February 4, 2025

ESRB

Mature 17+ // Use of Alcohol, Blood and Gore, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity

Developer(s)

Warhorse Studios