How to Unlock the Ancestral Forge in V Rising (and What It Does in 2026)

To unlock the Ancestral Forge in V Rising, defeat Octavian the Militia Captain, a level 58 V Blood boss in the Bastion of Dunley in the Dunley Farmlands. The forge turns your Merciless and Sanguine weapons into Ancestral weapons with random bonus stats and a spell-school effect. Here's how to unlock it, what it costs to build, and how to get the Radium Alloy and shards it needs.

Update: older guides (including an earlier version of this one) said Raziel the Shepherd unlocks the forge. In the current game, Raziel unlocks the Jewelcrafting Table; Octavian unlocks the Ancestral Forge.

Ancestral Forge at a glance

Who unlocks the Ancestral Forge?

Octavian the Militia Captain is a level 58 V Blood carrier found in the Bastion of Dunley. Beating him also unlocks a Tier 3 spell point, the Wide Castle Entrance and Equipment Storage. He summons Militia longbowmen, dashes at you, spins around the arena and enrages at low health, so bring ranged options and keep moving. His arena also gets dynamic cloud cover during the day.

How much does the Ancestral Forge cost?

Building it takes 1 Primal Blood Essence, 8 Radium Alloy and 16 Iron Ingot. Place it on a matching Forge floor to cut material costs by 25%, and in an enclosed castle room to craft 25% faster.

Where do you get Radium Alloy?

Radium Alloy comes from Gloomrot:

• Loot it at the Transcendum Machine Factory (Gloomrot South) and the Transcendum Power Plant (Gloomrot North).
• Mechanical enemies in Gloomrot have a chance to drop it.
• Refine it yourself: 1 Sludge-filled Canister, 4 Sulphur and 60 Tech Scrap make 4 Radium Alloy at a Furnace (recipe from Ziva the Engineer).

What does the Ancestral Forge do?

It turns ordinary weapons into Ancestral weapons. Each one needs a matching Ancestral weapon shard, and its stats are rolled at random:

• Rare Ancestral: 1 Merciless Iron weapon, 1 Rare shard, 8 Radium Alloy and 1 Greater Blood Essence. Two random attributes.
• Epic Ancestral: 1 Sanguine weapon, 1 Epic shard and 4 Onyx Tears. Three random attributes.
• Legendary: named weapons such as The Gravecaller or Hand of Winter, made the same way from a Legendary shard.

Every Ancestral weapon also carries a random spell-school effect on its second weapon skill: Leech, Ignite, Condemn, Weaken, Chill or Static.

How do you get Ancestral weapon shards?

• Rare shards: 750 Stygian Shards each from the southern Vampire Merchant, or a chance to drop from level 53–76 V Blood bosses and Tier 1 Rift Incursions.
• Epic shards: 1,500 Greater Stygian Shards each from the northern Vampire Merchant, or a small chance from level 79+ bosses, Shard Bearers and Tier 2 Rift Incursions.
• Legendary shards: a 15% chance to replace any Epic shard you get.

Can you change the stats on an Ancestral weapon?

Yes. Since V Rising 1.1, Invaders of Oakveil (April 2025), you can fuse and reforge weapons and jewels instead of waiting for a perfect drop. Shard attributes can be fused at the Fusion Forge. See our V Rising 1.1 breakdown for the full update.

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• Every Waygate location in V Rising
• How to beat Dracula in V Rising

Ancestral Forge FAQ