What Is Tempering?
In Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, Tempering is a special system that allows you to temporarily strengthen your weapon with unique effects while increasing its damage. You have a limited number of charges for Tempering, but these charges refill each time you die or visit a shrine and enter the Dream. It’s best to assign Tempering to a quick slot so you can activate it quickly during intense moments without needing to open your menu.
Note that Tempering only affects the weapon you activate it on. It doesn’t apply to both weapons at the same time.
Every Type Of Tempering Needle And What It Does
All weapons can use Tempering, but some are only compatible with certain effects. If a weapon has no elemental or status effects, it can use any Bone Needle. If it deals a specific damage type—like Flamebringer’s Fire damage—it can only be Tempered with a Bone Needle of the matching type. For example, Flamebringer can be Tempered with a Fire Bone Needle to ignite it in fire.
Some weapons work differently. For instance, Plumed Grace deals Feathering damage but can be Tempered with Feathering, Poise Break, or Spellpower needles. You can see if a weapon supports a specific effect by checking in the Tempering menu.
Additionally, certain weapons boost specific Tempering effects’ potency or duration, making them more effective.
At the start, you only have one Tempering charge, but you can upgrade to up to three in the Impetus Repository. Only one Bone Needle can be equipped at a time and only in the Yangchi Acupoint. Other Stone Needles can be equipped freely in any combination.
Every Type Of Tempering Needle And What It Does
Needles are grouped by categories, each providing different effects, and multiple options are available in each category:
- Bone Needles: For the Yanchi Acupoint, add elemental or status effects and boost damage. Types include Fire, Lightning, Frostbite, Corruption, Blight, Poise Break, Arcane, Magic, Leech, and Feathering.
- Shadow/Gleaming Stone Needles: Increase damage scaling based on the weapon’s Control multiplier. Types include Strength, Agility, Feathering, Magic.
- Plumed Stone Needle: Increases overall attack boost from Tempering. Only one can be used.
- Root Stone Needle: Enhances the status build-up from your Bone Needle. Only one can be used.
- Everlight Stone Needle: Extends how long Tempering effects last. Only one can be used.
Remember, the damage bonuses from Stone Needles only activate when you use Tempering, not passively.
How To Unlock More Tempering Needles
Defeating Manifested Inner Demons
To unlock additional Stone Needles, you need to find and defeat your Inner Demon. This demon manifests naturally in specific areas. When you are in one of these spots, the screen will pulse red and display “Demon Manifested.” Defeating the demon here grants you a bottle of Bo Blood and a new Stone Needle. The Needle you receive is unique to each encounter. In New Game+ runs, defeating the same demon again will reward a stronger version called a Gleaming Stone Needle, which increases the effect’s power.
Fighting these Inner Demons can also reset your Madness level to zero, and you can face them regardless of your current Madness status.
Obtaining Needles at the Impetus Repository
The process for acquiring Bone Needles with special effects is straightforward and unmissable. All Bone Needles are located in the Impetus Repository, requiring only a single Red Mercury Essence to unlock. They are divided into two sections, with a passive ability that must be unlocked first. Because you can refund Red Mercury Essence at any time, it’s wise to only unlock Bone Needles as needed and then refund once they’ve served their purpose, putting the essence into other upgrades instead.
How To Unlock More Tempering Needle Slots
Unlocking Additional Acupoints
Initially, only two Acupoints are available: the Yangchi Acupoint for Bone Needles and the Huizhong Acupoint for Stone Needles. You’ll want more slots for better versatility. To unlock the others, you can simply access them through the Impetus Repository. The Tianjing and Xiaoluo Acupoints are unlocked this way.
The Jialiao Acupoint, however, requires owning the Cyan Feather Chisel. To get the Chisel, you need to defeat Zhao Yun at the Tomb in the Avian Dwelling after completing the White-Robed Elder questline and reaching the Bo Capital, an endgame location. Returning to the Tomb and defeating Zhao Yun grants you the Cyan Feather Chisel, allowing you to unlock the Jialiao Acupoint and maximize your Tempering potential.
