ForgeTax Sword Evolution Tree: Every Form by Grade

The ForgeTax sword evolution tree maps every form a blade takes from +0 to +20 and beyond. Swords change shape as their enhancement grade rises — damage does not change appearance — and the branching structure is fixed: shared early stages, three lanes at +6, six families at +10, plus three merchant-exclusive lines worth double value. All data below comes from the community database built on the game's files (Steam build 25755699).

Shared Stages: +0 to +5

Every delivered blade looks identical through the early grades:

• Worn Sword (+0 to +1) — the broken-down starter every run begins with.
• Refined Sword (+2 to +3) — the first visible upgrade.
• Decent Iron Sword (+4 to +5) — the last shared form.

Everything up to +5 is pure value growth with no identity. The blade's destiny is decided at the anvil, not at delivery.

The Three Lanes at +6

At +6, a blade takes one of three shapes based on its delivery lane — the physical path the sword travels when handed over. Each lane spans two forms:

• +6 to +7: Thick Iron Sword / Angry Metal Lump / Magic Shard
• +8 to +9: Portable Iron Gate / Biting Blade / Awakened Blade

The lane assignment happens at delivery and cannot be chosen later. This is the first branch point of the tree, and the first place where two identical +5 blades can end up looking completely different.

The Six Families at +10

At +10 the blade becomes one of six families, decided by a coin flip at delivery. Each family contains six forms, advancing one form per +2 grades up to +20:

The +20 forms are the game's collector targets — streamers treat the Holy Sword line's Excalibur as the shiniest prize in the catalog.

The Three Merchant Lines

The Ghost Merchant sells three exclusive sword lines that bypass the family tree entirely. They are worth double a normal sword and gain a new form every two grades from +0 all the way up:

• World Tree swords: from "This Used to Be a Branch" (+10) through "Tree That Holds the World" (+18) to Yggdrasil, the World Tree (+20).
• Fishblades: from "Grilled Fish Skewer" (+10) through "Kraken Tentacle" (+18) to Leviathan's Fang (+20).
• Funerary Swords: from "Bell That Wakes the Dead" (+10) through "Uprooted Grave" (+16) and "Graveyard of the Dead" (+18) to Key to the Underworld (+20).

Their low-grade forms are equally distinct — World Tree lines start at a "Worn Sword"-like branch, Fishblades pass through Cuttlefish Bone and Frozen Tuna, Funerary Swords through a Gravedigger's Shovel. Collectors note the catch from reviews: merchant-only lines depend on merchant luck, so chasing specific shapes can take extra visits.

What Evolution Means for Strategy

The tree is cosmetic on the surface but economic underneath. Family membership does not change strike odds or value per level — value depends on grade, not shape — but merchant lines carry the 2× multiplier, which changes how their value should be spent.

Practical consequences: never break a merchant blade on experimental strikes, since its double value makes it premium tribute or sale currency. And for completionists, the coin flip at +10 means family hunting is a delivery-count game — plan cheap blades for lane and family scouting, and spend real resources only on blades you intend to push deep.

Key Takeaways

The tree has exactly three branch points: lanes at +6, the coin-flip families at +10, and the merchant's separate economy. Everything below +5 is shared, everything above +20 is family-final. Value follows grades, not shapes — but the shapes are the collection, and the merchant's three lines are where the double-value money lives.