This is a beginner's guide with a walkthrough of early mod progression.
Please install JEI (Just Enough Items) if you have not already. It shows recipes in-game. It's invaluable for playing with mods!
With some exceptions, crafting recipes will not be shown here. JEI shows you almost everything. When in doubt, try putting items into a crafting grid together. That is how most upgrades are applied (although some require the smithing table).
- Gear Item (or just "gear") - A tool/weapon/armor/other item that is created using parts (and typically a blueprint). All instances of any given type of gear is associated with a single item, and distinguished by their NBT. For example, all pickaxes from Silent Gear are
silentgear:pickaxe, the same item. Only their NBT tag is different. - Part (or "gear part") - Something used to create gear items. They are associated with an item. Most parts are made of materials (such parts are called compound parts), but some are not. Many require a blueprint to craft.
- Compound part - A part craft with materials (and typically a blueprint). Compound part items often have a small "P" in the lower left corner to help distinguish them from other items.
- Simple part - An item not made of materials which acts like a part. One example is vanilla sticks, which are treated as generic wood rods.
- Material - Something used to create compound parts. These are the main contributors of stats and traits. Most have at least one ingredient associated with them, just like recipes. Most materials use an item tag (
forge:ingots/iron) or item ID (minecraft:iron_ingot). Any item that matches the ingredient can be used as that material, regardless of what mod it came from. - Stat - A value that determines some property of an item, such as harvest speed or attack damage. Materials and parts can provide stat modifiers which contribute to the final stat value of the gear item. Stats can sometimes be modified by traits.
- Trait - Gives unique abilities/properties to gear items. Some will increase/decrease stats as durability is lost, provide potion effects to the user or attack target, give right-click abilities, and many other things. Most traits come from materials, but sometimes parts will give traits by themselves (such as the spoon upgrade).
From the Beginning
When you first spawn into the world, you may (depending on the config) spawn with a blueprint package. Using it will place several blueprints into your inventory, so you may want to wait until you have picked a spot to set up.By default, this only gives a few basic blueprints. You will need to craft blueprints or templates for other items.
If you choose to wait on opening the blueprint package (or did not receive one), you can use vanilla tools for now. You can also place vanilla tools back into your crafting grid to convert them into equivalent Silent Gear tools. Not all vanilla tools support conversion by default, but new recipes can be added with data packs.
Also note that converted tools may look different, especially if you modified vanilla items with a texture pack. Silent Gear's default textures are intended to match vanilla's default textures as closely as possible.
The rest of the guide assumes you will be crafting with blueprints or templates and have only default materials available. If you did not receive a blueprint package, check the "Crafting With Templates" section to learn how to get template boards.
Finding Iron
Progression is mostly the same as vanilla, so finding iron should be one of your first goals after collecting some wood and food and finding a place to dig. If you have not already, craft a pickaxe of a material with harvest level 1 (stone, flint, etc.) A wood rod is acceptable, and likely your best option at this point.
Stone tool rods are an option, and they do give a speed bonus, but are also somewhat brittle. Likewise, if you choose to craft armor or a shield at this point, wood is better than stone. Stone has very low armor durability, which is a separate stat from normal durability.
Repairs
If your tools break at some point, you can repair them with a repair kit. Craft a very crude repair kit if you do not have iron yet, or a crude repair kit if you do. Some mod packs may also allow you to repair tools without one by simply placing the tool with one or more compatible materials into the crafting grid.
See Repairing Gear for more information.
Diamonds
Once you find iron, your next goal is to find diamonds. Diamond ore requires a harvest level 2 pickaxe to mine. One solution is to craft on iron tip upgrade using a tip upgrade blueprint/template. While this is cheaper, you may not have the materials to craft the blueprint/template yet. So, let's make a whole new iron pickaxe instead.
Craft an iron pickaxe head with your blueprint, the same way as before. If you use a wooden rod, the pickaxe's stats will be identical to a vanilla iron pickaxe. But we can also make better rods from iron. Craft a tool rod blueprint with two (2) iron ingots to make a set of four (4) iron rods. Then craft the iron pickaxe head with one (1) of the rods. Feel free to use the remaining rods to craft some more upgraded tools, or craft them with existing tools to swap out the rod they already have.
Iron has the Magnetic trait, which pulls nearby items towards you. The rod provides a higher level of it than the head does. The level of the trait on the final tool should be the same as the part with the highest level, so the rod overrides the head in this case.
Now, go find and mine some diamonds!
Obsidian
Obsidian is your next goal after getting some diamonds. It requires harvest level 3 (diamonds) to mine. Same as with iron, you could craft an entirely new pickaxe (or just replace the head in the same way you can replace rods). But let's assume you did not find enough diamonds for a pickaxe head. We can craft a tip upgrade instead (assuming you can craft the blueprint).
Obsidian is also a material. Most of its stats are not especially impressive, but it has very high durability and makes good armor.
Diamond-Tipped Upgrade
Craft a tip upgrade blueprint (or template) if you have not already done so. Next, craft the blueprint with one (1) diamond. Finally, craft the diamond tip upgrade you just crafted with your iron pickaxe. The result is an upgraded iron pickaxe with some stat bonuses. It now has a harvest level of 3, allowing you to mine obsidian. You also get some other stat bonuses, including a decent durability boost, and a new trait which boosts mining speed when standing in light, all for the cost of a single diamond.
Note: Harvest level is usually treated a bit differently than other stats. It will typically be the highest level of all parts on the tool, which is why a diamond tip upgrade raises the level of an iron pickaxe, but would not lower the level of a tool with a higher harvest level.
Enchanting
Silent Gear items can be enchanted in the same ways as any other item. This includes the enchanting table, enchanted books, and enchantment tokens from Token Enchanter (1.16.x and later) or Silent's Gems (1.16.x and earlier). Items with an enchantability stat of zero cannot be enchanted through the enchanting table.
Enchantment Traits
Some traits can add enchantments to items as well. There are not many built-in enchantment traits and they are rarely found on any materials. More can be added with simple data packs. Unfortunately, items that receive enchantments through traits will not be enchantable in the enchanting table.
To The Nether
Silent Gear makes some small modifications to the Nether, including one new ore and some extra loot in certain chests.
Crimson Iron
You can find the reddish crimson iron ore in netherrack throughout the Nether and at most heights. It requires only a harvest level 2 (iron) pickaxe to mine. It can be smelted into crimson iron ingots in a furnace, or processed in certain machines like the Silent's Mechanisms crusher.
Crimson iron is a respectable material on its own, but is mainly used as an ingredient for the material from which the "crimson" part of the name comes from: crimson steel.
Crimson Steel
Crimson steel is not found anywhere in the world, but is crafted. Check JEI to see the recipe. If you have Silent's Mechanisms, you can also make it in the alloy smelter, which is less costly. Either way, you need crimson iron, blaze rods, and magma cream.
Crimson steel is stronger than diamond, and has a harvest level of 4, which will come in handy later. Crimson steel also gives the flame ward trait, which will give you complete fire resistance if every piece of your armor has the trait.
Blaze gold
Blaze gold is not found but crafted, just like crimson steel (although you might also find a few ingots in loot chests). Check JEI to see the recipe.
As a main material, blaze gold is not exceptionally useful, thanks to its durability, which is only twice that of gold. But it applies some good bonuses to other stats and makes good tool rods. It also unlocks the material grader (see the page on Grades for more details).
Netherite
Netherite can be applied to Silent Gear items by using a smithing table, similar to vanilla. Netherite is considered a coating. It completely covered the main part of the item, but does not replace it. Coatings usually give significant stat bonuses to whatever they are applied to.
Netherite's stat modifiers are intended to make netherite-coated diamond items match their vanilla counterparts exactly. Since most of those modifiers are multipliers, items made with materials better than diamond will get even bigger bonuses. But unlike vanilla, netherite will also boost the harvest level to 4.
The End
Like the Nether, Silent Gear makes some small changes to The End, adding one more new ore.
Azure Silver
You can find azure silver ore in end stone throughout The End and at most heights. Azure silver ore requires harvest level 4 to mine! If your pickaxe is not harvest level 4, try replacing the head with crimson steel or coating it with netherite (see above).
Azure silver ore can be smelted into azure silver ingots or processed in some machines, including the Silent's Mechanisms crusher, just like crimson iron.
While azure silver has the unique Moon Walker trait, it is not particular strong. Just like crimson iron, its name and primary use lies in azure electrum.
Azure Electrum
Just like crimson steel, azure electrum is crafted, not found. Check JEI to see the recipes. You will need azure silver, ender pearls, and gold. The Silent's Mechanisms alloy smelter can be used to craft azure electrum with less materials, just like crimson steel.
Azure electrum is a strange material. While not nearly as durable as crimson steel, it has an insanely high mining speed, good attack damage, and excellent enchantability. It also gets even faster as it wears out, thanks to its signature Accelerate trait.
TODO
TODO: add sections on metal alloyer, recrystallizer, and tyrian steel
Templates are like blueprints, but can only be used once. Blueprints can be used infinitely. Templates are good if you do not yet have paper or blue dye to craft blueprint paper.
Templates require template boards. Template boards require a knife or dagger to craft. Sometimes knives from other mods may work (anything tagged as forge:knives). Your blueprint package may have given you a knife blueprint. If not, use one of the crude tool recipes.
Making Template Boards Without a Blueprint/Template
Craft some rough rods with two sticks in a diagonal. Then craft a single main material (cobblestone, flint, wood, etc.) with a rough rod below it (shaped recipe). To craft a knife instead, line the two items up diagonally instead. Finally, craft the knife/dagger with any log to make template boards. The knife/dagger will take a small amount of damage with each use.
From this point on it would be best to avoid rough rods, as they reduce the item's stats.
Most recipes are visible in JEI. Check JEI for recipes. If you ask how to craft something on Discord that you could have checked yourself, I will tell you to install JEI.
Most gear items will require at least one blueprint to craft. Most recipes are shapeless, however. The blueprint is what distinguishes them. However, the order you place main materials into the craft grid can matter if they are not all the same.
Tools
Most tools are crafted the same way. They require a main part (head, blade, etc.) and a tool rod.
Let's craft a pickaxe as an example. First, craft a pickaxe head using a pickaxe blueprint. While the recipe for the blueprint is shaped, the pickaxe head recipe is shapeless. Pickaxes require three (3) main materials.
Next, craft a rod with the pickaxe head to make a complete pickaxe. This can be a compound rod made with a rod blueprint, or it could be a simple rod like a stick or a bone. You can only use one (1) rod, not two.
Many items also have a "quick recipe" that let's you craft the full item in a single step (not counting crafting the rod, of course).
Ranged Weapons
Ranged weapons like bows are similar to tools, but also require a bowstring part. Bowstrings are crafted with a bowstring blueprint and three (3) bowstring materials. Examples of bowstring materials include string, flax string, and sinew fibers. Sinew is dropped occasionally by some animals when killed.
Armor
Armor requires only a main part to function. Craft an armor blueprint (helmet blueprint, etc.) with the appropriate number of materials (5, 8, 7, 4) to craft armor plates. Then, place the armor plates back into the crafted grid to make the final armor item. You can optionally add an armor lining as well for some small extra bonuses.
Elytra
Silent Gear adds an elytra item as well. The blueprint recipe requires a vanilla elytra by default, so this is normally a late game item. They require two parts (wings and a binding) to craft and have some special restrictions on the main part's materials.
- Elytra wings (main part, required) can only be crafted with cloth category materials. Phantom membranes will roughly match the durability of vanilla elytra.
- Binding part (required) can be crafted from any binding material. Examples include string, sinew fibers, and fine silk. The elytra wings cannot function as an elytra until the binding is added. The final item still gets the stat bonuses the binding provides.
Curios
Curios, such as rings and bracelets, can be crafted and worn in Curios slots (if Curios API is installed). The main part (shank, band, etc) can only be crafted from materials in the "metal" category†. An adornment part can be crafted from certain materials using jeweler tools. The same tools can then be used to craft the completed curio out of both parts. The adornment is technically optional, but usually has the most useful traits.
† Some data packs may not yet have updated to include material categories. These are not detected automatically, so data packs must update.
Materials are things that can be used to craft gear parts, which in turn are used to craft gear items. Materials have at least one ingredient associated with them, just like recipes. Most materials use an item tag (forge:ingots/iron) or item ID (minecraft:iron_ingot). Any item that matches the ingredient can be used as the material.
What Materials Are Available?
This question cannot be properly answered in a wiki, considering the data-driven nature of the mod. Other mods, data packs, and mod packs can all add or modify materials.
Currently there is no in-game guide book. I will work on it... eventually. It's a difficult task from the coding side.
Spreadsheet Dump Command
The best solution right now is the use the /sgear_mats dump command. This should be done on a singleplayer world with cheats enabled. The resulting TSV file can be imported into any spreadsheet program (Google Sheets, LibreOffice Calc, Excel, etc.) Clicking the path of the file in chat will attempt to open it.
In JEI
The easiest method is to search for "#material" in JEI (note the "#", which means "search in tooltip"). The results should be all items that can serve as a material.
Normally, you cannot search the full material tooltip because it is collapsed. If you enable JEI's search.SearchAdvancedTooltips options, you will be able to search for some additional things, like categories and trait names. You can also hold the keys to expand the tooltip (Ctrl + Shift by default) while the world is loading to make the full tooltip searchable.
