Ultimate Guide to Forbidden & Arcanus in Minecraft

Forbidden & Arcanus is one of Minecraft’s most atmospheric magic mods, blending dark aesthetics with deep crafting progression. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know — from your very first steps with Soul Looting all the way to building and upgrading the Hephaestus Forge and beyond. This guide was filmed in Minecraft 1.21.1 but should work across all versions.

Step 1: Getting the Soul Looting Enchantment

The very first thing you need to do is obtain the Soul Looting enchantment. This enchantment is essential for progressing in Forbidden & Arcanus — without it, you cannot gather the core materials the mod requires. You can find it through wandering traders, enchantment tables, or dungeon loot, though the chance from wandering traders is quite low. The highest level is Soul Looting 7, which gives you the best odds. Apply it to your weapon of choice — a netherite sword works great.

Step 2: Farming Corrupt Souls and Growing Edelwood

Once you have Soul Looting on your weapon, start killing mobs. There is a chance that a Corrupt Soul will spawn and attempt to fly away — kill it quickly before it escapes. It has a fairly low spawn chance, so keep at it. When killed, it will drop a Corrupt Soul item.

Take your Corrupt Soul and right-click it onto an Oak Sapling. This will corrupt the sapling and transform it into a Growing Edelwood. You can use Bone Meal to speed up the growth. The result is a large, eerie tree called an Edelwood, which drops Edelwood Logs and Carved Edelwood Logs when chopped.

Step 3: Processing Edelwood — Dark Matter and the Auprem Jar

With your Edelwood Logs in hand, you need to do two things:

Smelt some Edelwood Logs in a furnace to produce Dark Matter. Even just one or two to start is fine, though you will want more later.

Craft an Auprem Jar using Edelwood Planks (simply craft the logs into planks first) and Glass.

Use the Auprem Jar to craft a Soul Extractor.

Step 4: Extracting Souls from Soul Sand

Head to the Nether and collect Soul Sand. Place your Soul Extractor and use it on the Soul Sand — it will extract the souls from within, turning the sand into Soulless Sand and releasing little soul items you can pick up. These souls are a core resource you will need throughout the mod.

Step 5: Mining the Required Ores

Before building any multiblocks, you will need to mine a significant amount of several special ores. Here is where each one spawns:

Arcane Crystal Ore — Spawns very rarely between specific Y coordinates (check JEI/REI for exact values).

Runic Stone — Spawns at the very bottom of the world, at Y level 2 and below.

Stellar Canaan — Spawns between Y -44 and Y 42. Warning: it will explode when mined, so be careful.

Dark Stone — Spawns very deep underground around Y -50, near lava lakes.

Step 6: Building the Clibano (Multiblock Furnace)

Crafting the Structure

The Clibano is a multiblock furnace you will need to smelt special alloy ingots. To build it, you will need Polished Dark Stone and Polished Dark Stone Bricks, both crafted from the Dark Stone you mined.

The structure is built in three layers:

Bottom layer: A cross shape in the middle using Polished Dark Stone Bricks, with plain Polished Dark Stone in the four corners.

Middle layer: All Polished Dark Stone Bricks, with a Clibano Core placed in the very center. The Clibano Core is crafted using Dark Stone and a Blast Furnace.

Top layer: Identical to the bottom layer.

Activating the Clibano

Once the structure is fully built, you need to right-click the Clibano Core with Mundabeatu Dust (you may see this written as Mundabeteer Dust depending on the version). This dust is crafted from:

Arcane Crystal Dust (smelted from Arcane Crystals)

Bone Meal

Phantom Membranes

Gunpowder

Blaze Powder

Redstone Dust

Right-click the core with the Mundabeatu Dust and the multiblock will fully form into the Clibano.

Using the Clibano — Smelting Obsidian Steel

The Clibano has several slots:

Soul slot — place your extracted souls here.

Fuel slot — place coal or any combustible fuel here.

Top-left relic slot — place an Artisan Relic here. This item is found in Armorer, Toolsmith, or Weaponsmith villager buildings. It saves experience and enables you to create alloys.

To smelt Obsidian Steel Ingots, place Raw Iron and Obsidian into the input slots along with the Artisan Relic in the top-left slot. Souls are not required for this specific recipe. The Clibano will process them into Obsidian Steel Ingots.

Step 7: Creating X Petrified Orbs via a Black Hole

X Petrified Orbs are a key resource used to fill the Experience bar in the Hephaestus Forge. To make them you must first create a Black Hole.

Making Corrupty Dust

First, craft Corrupty Dust using:

An Obsidian Steel Ingot

Arcane Crystal Dust

Ender Pearl Fragments (crush an Ender Pearl)

Nether Water

Spawning the Black Hole

Throw both Corrupty Dust and Dark Matter onto the ground next to each other. They will combine and spawn a Black Hole. Be careful — the Black Hole will consume any nearby items.

Feeding the Black Hole Experience

To produce X Petrified Orbs, you need to feed the Black Hole enough experience. The most reliable method is to craft Bottles of Enchanting and throw them directly at the Black Hole. Approximately seven bottles of enchanting worth of experience is needed per orb. The Black Hole will then spit out an X Petrified Orb.

Step 8: Building the Hephaestus Forge

Structure Layout

The Hephaestus Forge is the centrepiece of Forbidden & Arcanus. Here is how to build it:

The main body is built primarily from Polished Dark Stone.

Place Gilded Chiseled Polished Dark Stone in eight specific positions — one on each of the four sides, spaced two blocks apart, with one in the center of the arrangement.

Place Chiseled Arcane Polished Dark Stone in four positions surrounding the center.

Place a Smithing Table in the very center of the structure.

To craft the Gilded and Arcane variants you will need Polished Dark Stone combined with Deorum Ingots. Deorum Ingots are crafted from Mundabeatu Dust, Charcoal, and Arcane Crystal Dust.

Activating the Forge

Once the structure is fully in place, right-click the central Smithing Table with Mundabeatu Dust. A bolt of lightning will strike and transform the structure into the fully formed Hephaestus Forge.

Adding Dark Stone Pedestals

Place Dark Stone Pedestals on each of the eight outer Gilded positions around the forge. Your Hephaestus Forge is now complete.

Step 9: Filling the Hephaestus Forge — The Four Core Resources

Right-clicking the Hephaestus Forge opens its UI. You will see four resource bars that need to be filled: Experience, Souls, Oriel, and Blood.

Experience

Place your X Petrified Orbs into the bottom-right slot of the forge UI. A stack of 16 orbs provides a significant amount of experience. You can also use Bottles of Enchanting directly, but X Petrified Orbs are far more efficient.

Souls

Place the souls you extracted from Soul Sand into the bottom-left slot of the forge UI to fill the Soul bar.

Oriel

You can fill Oriel by placing Oriel Bottles (crafted from Potion of Regeneration II surrounded by Arcane Crystal Dust) into the top-left slot. However, there is a much more efficient passive method:

Craft nine Arcane Crystals into an Arcane Crystal Block. You need two of these.

Remove one pedestal from the forge.

Place an Arcane Polished Dark Stone block, then place your two Arcane Crystal Blocks on either side of it.

Right-click the arrangement with Mundabeatu Dust.

This will transform into an Arcane Crystal Obelisk, which will passively generate Oriel for your forge.

Blood

There are two ways to fill the Blood bar:

Test Tubes: Craft a Test Tube using a Rune and a Glass Bottle. Hold it in your off-hand while killing mobs and it will collect Blood directly.

Kill mobs near the forge: Simply killing mobs in the vicinity of the forge will also passively fill its Blood bar.

One filled Test Tube provides a generous amount of Blood to the forge.

Step 10: Performing Rituals — Example: The Quantum Catcher

With your forge filled, you can now perform rituals. Open JEI/REI and press U on the Hephaestus Forge to see all available recipes. The first tab shows the forge upgrade chain (Tier 1 through Tier 5) and the second tab shows all craftable items.

As a worked example, here is how to craft the Quantum Catcher:

Craft a Quantum Core using Mundabeatu Dust, a Rune, and Flint.

Mine a spawner without Silk Touch to obtain Spawner Scraps.

Place the Quantum Core in the central slot of the Hephaestus Forge.

Place four Spawner Scraps on the four surrounding pedestals. The forge will light up to confirm the recipe is correct.

The ritual requires 200 Oriel, 5 Souls, 1200 Blood, and 155 Experience.

Craft a Gavel — make a Gavel Head from clay along with a stick (you can also use wood, iron, or diamond variants). Combine the head and stick to complete the Gavel.

Right-click the Hephaestus Forge with your Gavel to begin the ritual. It takes approximately 30 seconds to complete.

The Quantum Catcher allows you to right-click any mob to catch it. The amount of Oriel consumed depends on the mob’s health — higher health mobs cost more Oriel. Right-click again to release the mob.

Step 11: Upgrading the Hephaestus Forge

Upgrading to Tier 2

To upgrade the forge to Tier 2 you will need:

Four Spawner Scraps placed on four of the eight pedestals.

Four Arcane Crystals placed on the remaining four pedestals.

An Edelwood Plank placed in the central forge slot.

Make sure all four core resource bars (Experience, Souls, Oriel, Blood) are sufficiently filled — if the forge does not light up, you are likely missing one of these resources. Right-click with the Gavel and the forge will automatically upgrade to Tier 2, unlocking a second relic slot.

Upgrading to Tier 3

It is recommended to upgrade to Tier 3 immediately after Tier 2. You will need:

Four Deorum Ingots on four pedestals.

Four Arcane Crystals on the remaining four pedestals.

A Chiseled Polished Dark Stone in the central forge slot.

Blood is required in larger quantities for this upgrade, so make sure your Blood bar is well filled. Right-click with your Gavel to complete the upgrade to Tier 3.

Upgrading to Tier 4 and Tier 5

Tier 4 requires Stether Right pieces and Runes.

Tier 5 requires Sculk Catalysts, Dragon Scales (dropped by the Ender Dragon), a Stether Right Block, and Dark Nether Stars (crafted by surrounding a Nether Star with Obsidian Steel Ingots).

Step 12: The Elementarium and Prisms

Finding and Using the Elementarium

The Elementarium is a special upgrade relic that enables the creation of elemental items. You can find it naturally in Jungle Temples, Desert Pyramids, and Underwater Ruins. At Tier 3 you can also craft additional ones. Place the Elementarium into the first upgrade relic slot of your forge.

Smelter Prism (Tier 1 Forge)

Crafted using four Blaze Powder, two Coal, and an Arcane Crystal Block in the center, along with an Elementarium Enhanced Relic in the left slot. When applied to your tools via a Smithing Table (using a Forbidden & Arcanus Smithing Template made from Dark Stone), the Smelter Prism causes all mined blocks to be automatically smelted. It also stacks with the Fortune enchantment.

Terastomp Prism (Tier 2 Forge)

Crafted using a Block of Diamond, two Pointed Dripstones, two Dripstone Blocks, and two Flint, plus an Enhanced Relic. When applied to your tools it causes them to mine in a 3×3 area, letting you break nine blocks at once.

Sea Prism (Tier 3 Forge)

Crafted using Turtle Scute, Lapis Lazuli, Prismarine Shards, and a Heart of the Sea. Applied to a helmet, it grants aquatic armour effects such as Aqua Affinity and Water Breathing. Note: there are reported bugs with this prism in some versions.

Whirlwind Prism (Tier 3 Forge)

Crafted using Phantom Membranes and a Bat Wing. In modpacks like ATM 10 this is primarily used for crafting Allthemodium Alloy Paxels at a Tier 5 Forge. It has limited standalone use cases at present.

Step 13: Additional Items and Features

Eternal Steller (Item Modifier)

Requires a Tier 3 Forge. In ATM 10, this uses Allthemodium, X Petrified Orbs, and a Stether Right Ingot. When applied to gear via a Smithing Table it makes items unbreakable. It can also be right-clicked to instantly repair all items in your inventory.

Ferromagnetic Mixture

Crafted using Wax (made from a Honey Bottle and Slime) and Lodestone. Apply it to your boots to increase your item pickup radius. It can also be used to upgrade Dark Stone Pedestals.

Edelwood Bucket

A highly practical utility item. A single Edelwood Bucket can carry the equivalent of:

4 buckets of Water

4 buckets of Milk

3 buckets of Lava (slightly heavier)

Edelwood Ladder

Functions like a regular ladder but allows you to climb faster than a standard ladder.

Magical Farmland

Right-click regular farmland with Arcane Bone Meal to convert it into Magical Farmland. Most crops will produce double drops when harvested here. Golden Orchids can only grow on Magical Farmland.

Obsidian Skull

Crafted using a Skeleton Skull surrounded by Obsidian Steel Ingots. When kept in your inventory it grants fire damage immunity for up to 30 seconds, though your armour will still take durability damage.

Spectral Eye Amulet

Requires a Nether Star to craft. Right-click to activate. Highlights nearby mobs within a radius around you using colour coding:

Red — Hostile mobs

Green — Passive mobs

Blue — Aquatic mobs

Tia Armour

A strong armour set available through the mod. Check JEI for the recipe in your specific modpack.

Boss Catcher (Tier 4 Forge)

Crafted by combining a Nether Star, a Quantum Catcher, and Stether Right Pieces at a Tier 4 Hephaestus Forge. Works exactly like the Quantum Catcher except it can capture bosses, including Wardens. Use with caution on multiplayer servers.

Soul Binding Crystal

To craft this you will need a Divine Packed Relic (found in Villages and Pyramids), along with:

Ender Pearl Fragments

Amethyst Shards

A Corrupt Soul

A Soul

Nether Quartz

An Enchanted Soul

To obtain an Enchanted Soul, find a regular floating soul and throw a Splash Potion of Oracle at it. This transforms it into a Lost Enchanted Soul. Kill it to receive the Enchanted Soul drop.

Apply the Soul Binding Crystal to any piece of gear to make it Soul Bound — meaning you will keep that item on death and it will never be lost.

Summary

Forbidden & Arcanus is a deeply rewarding magic mod that rewards patience and careful resource gathering. The core progression loop takes you from hunting Corrupt Souls and growing Edelwood, through building the Clibano and Hephaestus Forge, all the way to performing powerful rituals and upgrading your forge to Tier 5. Along the way you unlock game-changing tools like the Quantum Catcher, Boss Catcher, Soul Binding Crystal, and a suite of elemental Prisms. Take your time with each step, use JEI to cross-reference recipes, and make sure your four core forge resources — Experience, Souls, Oriel, and Blood — are always stocked.

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