Giants' Foundry/Strategies

This guide provides detailed information as to recommended equipment and alloys, the acquisition of materials and workings of refinement of a preform in the Giants' Foundry.

Brief overview

The Giant's Foundry is quite simple in terms of its core mechanics, but quite complex in terms of possible strategies. This overview section is intended to provide a short description of how to approach the minigame efficiently without having to understand all the underlying intricacies. All statements in this section are explained further throughout the full article.

Equipment

Smiths' Uniform is the obvious choice as each piece gives a 20% chance to give increased progress on preforms in the Giants' Foundry, with the whole outfit giving a 100% chance. Prioritise this over weight reducing gear, as run energy is rarely an issue. Ice gloves are also very important if not combined into the smiths gloves already.

Alloy choice

Depending on your level, do not immediately assume that the highest quality alloy is the best option for your level.

• < Level 70 Smithing - For levels below 70, all alloys are profitable to make, so using the best alloy quality is advised unless a lower sword difficulty is desired for the purpose of having a more relaxed experience.
• Between 70 and 85 Smithing - The best economy option beyond level 70 is to use 10 adamant bars and 18 mithril bars. This is also the best option for experience and Foundry Reputation per hour. For both of these options, aside from being more economically viable, the base difficulty level of these alloys is also lower than their maximised counterparts, resulting in easier and more forgiving smithing tasks.

• > 85 Smithing - Beyond level 85 Smithing, using 19 adamant bars and 9 rune bars is arguably the most efficient alloy in terms of maximizing experience and reputation at the best price. For best economy, it is still recommended to use 10 adamant bars and 18 mithril bars as it is 3x as cheap as the 19:9 adamant-rune method while yielding only about 15% worse experience rates.

For more depth explanation, read the metal score section and the alloy choice subsection.

Moulds and Smiths' Uniform buying order

When spending Foundry Reputation in the shop, it is worth buying at least a few of the best moulds you have available first, but after buying roughly 5-6 of the optimal moulds, every next mould will yield diminishing returns in your average sword quality. After obtaining a few moulds it is therefore advisable to save up for the Smiths' Uniform before buying out the rest of the moulds, as it has a perk that speeds up the actions performed during the sword refinement process. The effective gain in experience and reputation per hour by using the uniform reaches 15% when the full set is obtained, whereas buying all moulds after having bought 5-6 only yields 3-5% higher average rates. The optimal buying order depends on your level, and it might be advisable to buy a few more moulds if you reach a level that unlocks a new optimal mould, and it might be slightly more efficient to buy a few more moulds before saving up for the outfit, but unless you are planning to buy out the entire shop before moving on to other activities, getting the outfit before buying out all moulds is more time-efficient.

Recommended equipment

The Smiths' Uniform, a set obtainable in this minigame, provides a chance of bonus progress upon each machine tick, with the full set guaranteeing the bonus. This effectively results in an experience gain of approximately 15%, depending on the difficulty of the sword. The smiths gloves can be combined with ice gloves, making retrieving the preform seamless.

Kovac restores 50% run energy after handing in a blade. Even without the graceful outfit, it is very unlikely that the player will deplete their energy, so it is not required. At 75 agility and without graceful, approximately 15 kg of gear can be worn in addition to the preform. The hood and cape (or other weight-reducing items) can be used to compensate for the minute weight of the preform and the Smiths' Uniform, if desired.

Hourly rates

This table shows the average experience and gold rates for optimal alloys, with the average scoring of commissions, all optimal moulds, optimal player performance, and without the Smiths' Uniform. It should be noted that both the performance and the commissions issued will vary, and so these rates may also slightly vary hour-to-hour, albeit within 10% of deviation. Similarly, changes in Grand Exchange market prices will also result in changes in expenses and thus profits.

Unless stated otherwise, the alloys are in a 1:1 ratio, and due to optimal moulds requiring up to 81 Smithing, this Smithing level is assumed for this table. Claws are not considered as smelting material due to high difficulty in obtaining a sufficient amount. Note that alloys with slightly lower base scores can often be cheaper and easier to smith, sometimes resulting in almost no loss in experience per hour while being significantly faster and economical.

Alloy		Level	Swords/hr	Material cost		XP/hr	Rep/hr	Reward GP/hr	Using bars		Using items		Rep GP/ hr
				Bars/hr	Items/hr				Profit/hr	GP/XP	Profit/hr	GP/XP	Addtl. Profit /hr
	Bronze/Iron	15	16	52,160	3,456	97,920	1,264	195,840	143,680	1.47	192,384	1.96	225,109.97
	Iron/Steel	30	16	153,216	19,936	133,920	1,568	267,840	114,624	0.86	247,904	1.85	279,250.35
	Steel/Mithril	50	14	294,980	104,468	164,640	1,722	329,280	34,300	0.21	224,812	1.37	306,676.72
	Mithril/Adamantite	70	12	494,592	278,376	198,000	1,836	396,000	−98,592	−0.50	117,624	0.59	326,979.36
	Adamantite/Runite	85	11	2,186,800	1,664,432	253,110	2,068	506,220	−1,680,580	−6.64	−1,158,212	−4.58	368,297.01

Refinement mechanics

Tool characteristics

• Waterfall/Lava pool - The waterfall and lava pool both offer two different rates of temperature change, the faster one being accessible via right-click. In addition, the longer the time the character is spending there, the faster the rate becomes, easily jumping 10% of the entire temperature bar in one tick if left unattended.
• Trip hammer - The trip hammer is significantly slower than the other machines, but progresses in larger chunks. Some attention should be given to the progress bar, and occurrences where the temperature drops out of range in between strikes is also more likely.
• Polishing Wheel - The polishing wheel cools down the sword the fastest of all machines by a considerable margin and care should be taken to not have one's attention wander while operating it. To complete a polishing section without re-heating the blade and without a sweet spot bonus is impossible, unless wearing the Smiths' uniform.
• Grindstone - The grindstone is the only tool to heat the sword up instead of cooling it, and it does so relatively quickly, where finishing a grinding section without a sweet spot is only feasible in higher-difficulty swords. Less practiced players may cause damage to the sword by placing the temperature on the high end of range by mistake. The grindstone is the most likely of the 3 stages to be completed in one round.

The preform storage allows for the player to store their preform and come back to at a later point. It may be beneficial to point out that if the player leaves the Foundry, for example by the main entrance, the preform will be automatically unequipped and placed in storage.

The Refinement HUD features a thin white border that appears around the temperature range and progress section where the sword is situated. It is very helpful when edging a temperature range to affirm the player may work the preform, or to resolve edge cases where the progress arrow is stuck between two sections.

Temperature management

Heating/cooling the sword to the very edge is recommended only as long as a sweet spot is able to occur, since this allows for a stage to be completed in one attempt without the need to re-heat or re-cool the preform. Finishing a cycle, without the help of a sweet spot, even whilst maximizing temperature ranges, is inconsistent at best and impossible at worst. This can be improved while having parts of the Smiths' uniform equipped as it has increased chance to provide additional progress per action. Once all sweet spots have been used, it is acceptable to have small margins when adjusting temperatures.

For routine heating and cooling, players may use the standard heat and cool preform options and with it they will achieve moderate performance. For optimal performance, it is best to start heating or cooling with the accelerated quench and dunk options (available by right clicking), which changes temperature at a higher intervals. Once you're close to the desired temperature, you can then fine-tune temperatures by re-clicking the normal heat or cool options which will reset the speed.

It can be desirable to heat beyond the threshold and allow for passive cooling to maximise progress. It should be noted the natural cooling of the sword oscillates, and therefore is not reliable. When on the edge of a temperature range while working a machine, particularly the trip hammer, keep a very close eye on the white outline around the temperature range. If it disappears, try to disengage immediately to avoid damage to the blade. Also note, when maximizing efficiency, the point at which the user arrives at the machine and begins working can affect heating and cooling timings.

Progress management

If doing a sword of 5 or less sections, it is extremely difficult to complete a stage of progress within 1 round of heating or cooling unless a sweet spot occurs. The polishing wheel is exceptionally difficult, as the passive cooling of the preform adds to the cooling effect of the polishing wheel, however, both of these effects are unreliable. Without bonuses from the Smiths' Uniform, the polishing wheel cannot be completed in one action, even on a 6-section sword.

Players may want to consider staying off heavily populated worlds while playing in the Foundry. Occasional tick stutters may throw one off and delayed input response may cause the character to interact with a machine longer than intended, potentially resulting in damage.

Utilising Sweet Spots

Sweet spots are an often overlooked but essential component to finishing a section in one round. Sweet spots will occur a maximum of 2x for swords with 5 or less sections and 3x for 6 or 7 sections. Be careful with sweet spots as it is possible for a sweet spot to occur on the final action and attempting to perform any action outside of its designated temperature will damage the blade. Do note that sweet spots provide some repair to a damaged blade.

One must be especially careful when utilising sweet spots on either the polishing wheel or grindstone as using it will more than likely push the blade into the next stage and requires quick reaction to not damage the blade. Therefore the player must be ready to disengage immediately. Also be sure not to double-click the machine, as doing so will cause you to overwork the preform and miss the action. Once a sweet spot is missed, it is gone. Once all sweet spots are gone, it is best to prioritise safety of the sword as opposed to min-maxing temperatures.

Obtaining materials for smithing

Pure metal

The simplest (and most experience efficient) way to produce material to forge with is through metal bars. They are simply inserted in the amounts desired without having to work out how many bars they are worth and are readily available on the Grand Exchange at high buy limits. For ironmen, the quickest and cheapest way to obtain bars up to Mithril is through the Blast Furnace Ore Seller. Even when including the time and cost to turn them into bars at the Blast Furnace, it is still half the price and significantly faster than world hopping to buy items in stores.

Smelting weapons and armour

Obtaining smithable weapons and armour from the Grand Exchange to be used in the Foundry will result in a considerable increase in profit. However, acquiring a decent stock of such items may take some time and the player should note that many of the compatible items have a relatively low buy limit of 125, which may be fully spent in 2–3 hours of playing the Foundry, depending on the item. When used, the item will add an amount of bars that is one less than what is needed to smith it.

The cheapest method for obtaining rune materials is to use rune platebodies. For other materials, players may find that Aneirin's Armour in Prifddinas has a stock of armour from mithril to rune and the Blacksmith in Civitas illa Fortis has stock from bronze to adamant that are useful for making alloys. The claws may seem like a near-universal choice for savings, but are impractical due to extremely low stocks, taking days to purchase in some cases. One alternative for metals up to mithril is to buy the required ores at the Blast Furnace Ore Seller and make your own bars there, as it is cheaper and potentially quicker due to the high stock and a nearby bank.

A recommendation for cheaper items to obtain for Bronze to Adamant is Cam Torum Blacksmith for Warhammers, reduce the cost per bar considerably over the Blacksmith in Civitas illa Fortis.

Shipwreck salvaging is one method that you can use to obtain mithril and adamant weapons to smelt down. Plundered salvage commonly contains mithril scimitars; martial salvage commonly contains mithril longswords, adamant longswords and adamant 2h swords.

The tables below contain all compatible items of all metal types, their worth in bars when used and their associated costs, whether purchased from the Grand Exchange, or from an NPC vendor. Click here to refresh the prices on the table below.

Bronze bar price: 54

Bronze Item Prices

Item		Recycled bars	Grand Exchange				Specialty store
			GE price	Price per bar	Profit per bar vs GE bars	Daily volume	Store price	Price per bar	Profit per bar vs GE bars
	Bronze scimitar	1	40	40.00	14.00	4,900	32	32.00	22.00
	Bronze longsword	1	41	41.00	13.00	1,878	40	40.00	14.00
	Bronze full helm	1	35	35.00	19.00	2,652	44	44.00	10.00
	Bronze sq shield	1	17	17.00	37.00	2,489	48	48.00	6.00
	Bronze claws	1	182	182.00	−128.00	61	15	15.00	39.00
	Bronze warhammer	2	24	12.00	42.00	1,026	61	30.50	23.50
	Bronze battleaxe	2	34	17.00	37.00	838	52	26.00	28.00
	Bronze chainbody	2	18	9.00	45.00	3,501	60	30.00	24.00
	Bronze kiteshield	2	81	40.50	13.50	1,785	68	34.00	20.00
	Bronze 2h sword	2	93	46.50	7.50	5,685	80	40.00	14.00
	Bronze platelegs	2	66	33.00	21.00	1,786	80	40.00	14.00
	Bronze plateskirt	2	60	30.00	24.00	741	80	40.00	14.00
	Bronze platebody	4	20	5.00	49.00	23,063	160	40.00	14.00

Iron bar price: 146

Iron Item Prices

Item		Recycled bars	Grand Exchange				Specialty store
			GE price	Price per bar	Profit per bar vs GE bars	Daily volume	Store price	Price per bar	Profit per bar vs GE bars
	Iron scimitar	1	81	81.00	65.00	3,806	112	112.00	34.00
	Iron longsword	1	29	29.00	117.00	1,339	140	140.00	6.00
	Iron full helm	1	76	76.00	70.00	3,058	154	154.00	−8.00
	Iron sq shield	1	9	9.00	137.00	545	168	168.00	−22.00
	Iron claws	1	146	146.00	0.00	52	50	50.00	96.00
	Iron warhammer	2	17	8.50	137.50	5,136	173	86.50	59.50
	Iron battleaxe	2	51	25.50	120.50	1,057	182	91.00	55.00
	Iron chainbody	2	71	35.50	110.50	3,187	210	105.00	41.00
	Iron kiteshield	2	77	38.50	107.50	3,357	238	119.00	27.00
	Iron 2h sword	2	63	31.50	114.50	2,473	280	140.00	6.00
	Iron platelegs	2	85	42.50	103.50	4,337	280	140.00	6.00
	Iron plateskirt	2	56	28.00	118.00	1,200	280	140.00	6.00
	Iron platebody	4	95	23.75	122.25	33,969	560	140.00	6.00

Steel bar price: 538

Steel Item Prices

Item		Recycled bars	Grand Exchange				Specialty store
			GE price	Price per bar	Profit per bar vs GE bars	Daily volume	Store price	Price per bar	Profit per bar vs GE bars
	Steel scimitar	1	112	112.00	426.00	5,181	400	400.00	138.00
	Steel longsword	1	116	116.00	422.00	2,900	500	500.00	38.00
	Steel full helm	1	156	156.00	382.00	2,572	550	550.00	−12.00
	Steel sq shield	1	140	140.00	398.00	1,725	600	600.00	−62.00
	Steel claws	1	365	365.00	173.00	204	175	175.00	363.00
	Steel warhammer	2	165	82.50	455.50	7,235	640	320.00	218.00
	Steel battleaxe	2	159	79.50	458.50	8,035	650	325.00	213.00
	Steel chainbody	2	218	109.00	429.00	2,442	750	375.00	163.00
	Steel kiteshield	2	296	148.00	390.00	4,833	807	403.50	134.50
	Steel 2h sword	2	357	178.50	359.50	2,471	1,000	500.00	38.00
	Steel platelegs	2	395	197.50	340.50	3,570	1,000	500.00	38.00
	Steel plateskirt	2	345	172.50	365.50	954	1,000	500.00	38.00
	Steel platebody	4	875	218.75	319.25	57,780	2,000	500.00	38.00

Mithril bar price: 967

Mithril Item Prices

Item		Recycled bars	Grand Exchange				Specialty store
			GE price	Price per bar	Profit per bar vs GE bars	Daily volume	Store price	Price per bar	Profit per bar vs GE bars
	Mithril scimitar	1	453	453.00	514.00	12,368	1,040	1,040.00	−73.00
	Mithril longsword	1	455	455.00	512.00	9,447	1,300	1,300.00	−333.00
	Mithril full helm	1	692	692.00	275.00	2,637	1,430	1,430.00	−463.00
	Mithril sq shield	1	682	682.00	285.00	1,524	1,716	1,716.00	−749.00
	Mithril claws	1	1,131	1,131.00	−164.00	1,084	522	522.00	445.00
	Mithril warhammer	2	919	459.50	507.50	7,172	1,660	830.00	137.00
	Mithril battleaxe	2	947	473.50	493.50	5,872	1,690	845.00	122.00
	Mithril chainbody	2	957	478.50	488.50	8,136	1,950	975.00	−8.00
	Mithril kiteshield	2	988	494.00	473.00	8,511	2,431	1,215.50	−248.50
	Mithril 2h sword	2	1,180	590.00	377.00	5,035	2,600	1,300.00	−333.00
	Mithril platelegs	2	1,203	601.50	365.50	7,449	2,600	1,300.00	−333.00
	Mithril plateskirt	2	1,210	605.00	362.00	3,192	2,600	1,300.00	−333.00
	Mithril platebody	4	2,697	674.25	292.75	74,719	5,200	1,300.00	−333.00

Adamantite bar price: 1,977

Adamant Item Prices

Item		Recycled bars	Grand Exchange				Specialty store
			GE price	Price per bar	Profit per bar vs GE bars	Daily volume	Store price	Price per bar	Profit per bar vs GE bars
	Adamant scimitar	1	1,541	1,541.00	436.00	2,373	2,560	2,560.00	−583.00
	Adamant longsword	1	1,522	1,522.00	455.00	9,720	3,200	3,200.00	−1,223.00
	Adamant full helm	1	1,796	1,796.00	181.00	6,265	3,520	3,520.00	−1,543.00
	Adamant sq shield	1	1,988	1,988.00	−11.00	2,210	3,840	3,840.00	−1,863.00
	Adamant claws	1	1,693	1,693.00	284.00	4	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Adamant warhammer	2	2,597	1,298.50	678.50	3,566	4,120	2,060.00	−83.00
	Adamant battleaxe	2	2,407	1,203.50	773.50	8,990	4,160	2,080.00	−103.00
	Adamant chainbody	2	2,580	1,290.00	687.00	7,436	4,800	2,400.00	−423.00
	Adamant kiteshield	2	2,935	1,467.50	509.50	7,564	5,440	2,720.00	−743.00
	Adamant 2h sword	2	3,464	1,732.00	245.00	8,013	6,400	3,200.00	−1,223.00
	Adamant platelegs	2	3,512	1,756.00	221.00	10,739	6,400	3,200.00	−1,223.00
	Adamant plateskirt	2	3,508	1,754.00	223.00	760	6,400	3,200.00	−1,223.00
	Adamant platebody	4	9,522	2,380.50	−403.50	230,620	16,640	4,160.00	−2,183.00

Runite bar price: 12,223

Rune Item Prices

Item		Recycled bars	Grand Exchange				Specialty store
			GE price	Price per bar	Profit per bar vs GE bars	Daily volume	Store price	Price per bar	Profit per bar vs GE bars
	Rune scimitar	1	14,836	14,836.00	−2,613.00	26,456	38,400	38,400.00	−26,177.00
	Rune longsword	1	18,653	18,653.00	−6,430.00	27,588	32,000	32,000.00	−19,777.00
	Rune full helm	1	20,546	20,546.00	−8,323.00	51,140	35,200	35,200.00	−22,977.00
	Rune sq shield	1	22,554	22,554.00	−10,331.00	11,919	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Rune claws	1	6,596	6,596.00	5,627.00	2,827	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Rune warhammer	2	24,758	12,379.00	−156.00	39,989	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Rune battleaxe	2	24,490	12,245.00	−22.00	13,348	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Rune chainbody	2	29,450	14,725.00	−2,502.00	28,369	47,500	23,750.00	−11,527.00
	Rune kiteshield	2	32,027	16,013.50	−3,790.50	61,146	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Rune 2h sword	2	37,876	18,938.00	−6,715.00	31,282	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Rune platelegs	2	37,792	18,896.00	−6,673.00	56,690	60,800	30,400.00	−18,177.00
	Rune plateskirt	2	37,997	18,998.50	−6,775.50	10,155	60,800	30,400.00	−18,177.00
	Rune platebody	4	38,416	9,604.00	2,619.00	62,526	84,500	21,125.00	−8,902.00

Bar type		GE price	Item price per bar	Cheapest item
	Bronze bar	54	5		Bronze platebody
	Iron bar	146	8.50		Iron warhammer
	Steel bar	538	79.50		Steel battleaxe
	Mithril bar	967	453		Mithril scimitar
	Adamantite bar	1,977	1,203.50		Adamant battleaxe
	Runite bar	12,223	6,596		Rune claws

Smithing items to be used in the Giants' Foundry

Players may think that smithing a stock of bars into equipment for Giant's Foundry would be a way to "double-dip" your bars and be more cost efficient. While this may seem more efficient, it actually is less efficient and more expensive, reducing the amount of XP and GP per bar compared to using the bars at the foundry directly.

For example, using 126 steel bars and 126 mithril bars directly at the foundry would result in approximately ~81k XP across 9 games (~9011 per game). Even if you minimise the loss of bars by converting them into platebodies at a 3:1 ratio, you lose out on two full games of giants foundry and only get 11025 XP for the direct smithing. This process results in an XP total of only ~74k XP.

Metal score

Pure metals

Bar	Level	Score
Bronze	15	10
Iron	15	20
Steel	30	30
Mithril	50	40
Adamant	70	50
Rune	85	60

Alloys

The highest metal score for each bar combination is highlighted.

Bar 1	Bar 2	Level	# of Bar 1	27	26	25	24	23	22	21	20	19	18	17	16	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
			# of Bar 2	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27
Bronze	Iron	15	Metal Score	11	12	12	13	14	15	16	16	17	18	18	19	19	20	20	20	20	20	21	21	21	21	21	20	20	20	20
Bronze	Steel	30		11	13	15	16	17	19	20	21	22	24	25	25	26	27	28	28	29	29	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30	30
Bronze	Mithril	50		12	14	17	19	21	23	25	26	28	29	31	32	33	35	36	36	37	38	39	39	40	40	40	40	40	40	40
Bronze	Adamant	70		13	16	19	21	24	26	29	31	33	35	37	39	41	42	43	45	46	47	48	48	49	49	50	50	50	50	50
Bronze	Rune	85		13	17	21	24	27	30	33	36	39	41	43	46	48	50	51	53	54	55	57	57	58	59	59	60	60	60	60
Iron	Steel	30		22	24	26	28	30	32	33	35	36	37	38	38	39	40	40	40	40	40	39	39	38	37	37	35	34	33	31
Iron	Mithril	50		23	26	29	32	35	37	40	42	43	45	46	48	49	50	50	51	51	51	51	50	50	49	48	46	45	43	42
Iron	Adamant	70		24	28	32	36	40	43	46	48	51	53	55	57	58	60	60	61	62	62	62	61	61	60	59	57	56	54	52
Iron	Rune	85		25	30	35	40	44	48	52	55	59	61	64	66	68	70	71	72	72	73	73	73	72	71	70	68	67	65	62
Steel	Mithril	50		34	38	42	46	49	52	55	57	59	61	62	63	64	65	65	65	64	63	62	61	60	58	55	53	50	47	43
Steel	Adamant	70		35	41	46	51	55	59	63	66	69	71	73	75	76	77	78	78	77	77	76	74	73	70	68	65	62	58	54
Steel	Rune	85		37	44	50	56	61	66	71	75	78	82	84	86	88	90	90	91	91	90	89	88	86	83	81	77	74	69	65
Mithril	Adamant	70		47	53	60	65	71	75	80	83	86	89	91	93	94	95	95	94	93	92	90	87	85	81	77	73	68	62	56
Mithril	Rune	85		48	57	65	72	78	84	90	94	98	102	105	107	108	110	110	110	109	107	105	103	100	96	91	86	80	74	67
Adamant	Rune	85		60	70	79	88	95	102	108	114	118	122	125	127	129	130	129	129	127	125	122	118	113	108	102	95	87	79	69

Alloy tier	Metal score	Sections
Lowest	10-19	3
Low	20-59	4
Medium	60-89	5
High	90-119	6
Highest	120-130	7

Choice of alloy (70 smithing or higher)

When choosing which alloy to make, there are four factors to consider: hourly experience rate, cost effectiveness, reputation per hour and click intensity. The highest hourly experience rate can be reached by using an alloy of 14 rune and 14 adamant bars, but this is also very expensive and click intensive. Having an alloy with a base score of below 120 will reduce the difficulty one level, meaning that you will have one less section per sword to worry about, and generally bigger margins for error. Some options to consider:

Bar 1	Bar 2	Base score	Sections	Swords per hour	Relative xp/hr	Relative rep/hr	average xp/sword	Item cost	Commission (profit)	Cost per hour (profit per hour)	Relative cost/xp
14	14	130	7	11	100%	100%	19192	109,193.00	38,384(−70,809.00)	1,201,123.00 (−778,899.00 )	100%
10	18	122	7	11	93% (−7%)	95% (-5%)	17756	87,623.00	35,512(−52,111.00)	963,853.00 (−573,221.00 )	79.55%
9	19	118	6	12	97% (-3%)	101% (+1%)	17058	82,230.50	34,116(−48,114.50)	986,766.00 (−577,374.00 )	70.08%
14	14	95	6	12	76% (-24%)	86% (-14%)	13278	23,191.00	26,556(3,365.00)	278,292.00 (40,380.00 )	-7.70%
10	18	89	5	14	82% (-18%)	94% (-6%)	12363	20,189.00	24,726(4,537.00)	282,646.00 (63,518.00 )	-10.88%

Bar 1	Bar 2	Base score	Sections	Swords per hour	Relative xp/hr	Relative rep/hr	average xp/sword	Item cost	Commission (profit)	Cost per hour (profit per hour)	Relative cost/xp
14	14	130	7	11	100%	100%	19192	312,599.00	38,384(−274,215.00)	3,438,589.00 (−3,016,365.00 )	100%
10	18	122	7	11	93% (−7%)	95% (-5%)	17756	232,913.00	35,512(−197,401.00)	2,562,043.00 (−2,171,411.00 )	77.81%
9	19	118	6	12	97% (-3%)	101% (+1%)	17058	212,991.50	34,116(−178,875.50)	2,555,898.00 (−2,146,506.00 )	67.28%
14	14	95	6	12	76% (-24%)	86% (-14%)	13278	31,409.00	26,556(−4,853.00)	376,908.00 (−58,236.00 )	2.34%
10	18	89	5	14	82% (-18%)	94% (-6%)	12363	30,755.00	24,726(−6,029.00)	430,570.00 (−84,406.00 )	3.13%

This table illustrates that sacrificing some experience per hour can greatly increase cost effectiveness. Using 9 rune bars and 19 adamant bars per sword has 67.28% of the cost, while only losing out on 3% of the hourly experience, as more swords can be made per hour. Creating swords with 10 rune bars and 18 adamant bars will yield a bigger loss of experience per hour for a smaller reduction in cost per sword, which is thus not advisable. Do note however that while more swords per hour can be made when smithing swords with only 6 sections, this does still require a focused playstyle. If you are going for easier swords because you are looking for less focused gameplay, the relative experience rates could be lower for easier swords, assuming that you have some downtime between swords for example. Choosing for the 14:14 mithril/adamant alloy yields roughly 76% of the hourly experience rate relative to the 1:1 rune/adamant alloy, and can be profitable in some cases. However, choosing for a 18:10 ratio of mithril/adamant, the base score will fall below the 'hard' tier, removing a section of smithing per sword and increasing the amount of swords made per hour. This effectively leads to a reduction of only about 18% of experience per hour, while reducing the cost per experience to 3.13% and only losing out on 6% of the reputation per hour. These options may be very economical, with a higher experience rate at a lower cost, with the choice of adamant-mithril alloy mainly be dictated by (opportunity) cost, the difficulty and required attention.

Also note that the expected reputation per hour decreases when using 10 rune and 18 adamant bars or 14 adamant and mithril bars, but that reputation per hour actually goes up slightly when using 9 rune bars and 19 adamant bars, making this option a very economically viable choice, sacrificing only minimal experience gains.

Optimal mould unlock order for maximum points

Over 79 Smithing

Order	Mould	Level	Reputation Cost	Cumulative Cost
1	The Point!	81	450	450
2	Spiker! / Choppa!	79/80	450	900
3	Spiker! / Choppa!	79/80	450	1,350
4	Fleur de Blade	71	400	1,750
5	Serrated Tip	60	350	2,100
6	Chopper Forte +1	70	400	2,500
7	Claymore Blade	59	350	2,850
8	Flamberge Blade	48	300	3,150
9	Defenders Tip	52	300	3,450
10	Stiletto Forte	50	300	3,750
11	Defender Base	51	300	4,050
12	Needle Point	69	400	4,450
13	Serpent Blade	50	300	4,750

Note the Corrupted Point and Juggernaut Forte are always worse than other moulds at this level, so are skipped. These cost an extra 300 and 350 reputation respectively for a total cost of 5,400 reputation for all moulds.

Before 79 Smithing

Order	Mould	Level	Reputation Cost	Cumulative Cost
1	Flamberge Blade	48	300	300
2	Serrated Tip	60	350	650
3	Juggernaut Forte	61	350	1,000
4	Claymore Blade	59	350	1,350
5	Chopper Forte +1	70	400	1,750
6	Fleur de Blade	71	400	2,150
7	Defenders Tip	52	300	2,450
8	Needle Point	69	400	2,850
9	Stiletto Forte	50	300	3,150
10	Serpent Blade	50	300	3,450
11	Defender Base	51	300	3,750

The Corrupted Point mould, costing 300 reputation, is skipped as it becomes obsolete at 60 by buying the Serrated Tip. If you are very low level and solely doing Giants' Foundry, you should have enough reputation to buy the moulds as you level, making the optimal order be the level requirement.

Best mould combinations

The following table contains a list of the best mould combinations for various objectives. It assumes you want to maximise the sum of both objectives. If the player already meets the level requirement to use all of the purchasable moulds, then there is no need to purchase the Juggernaut Forte and the Corrupted Point moulds from the shop, as they are never optimal. The Juggernaut Forte mould becomes obsolete at level 79, and the Corrupted Point mould at level 60.

Default Moulds

Commission	Forte	Blade	Tip	Score
Broad Heavy	Medusa Ricasso	Medusa Blade	Saw Tip	44 (22+22)
Broad Light	Medusa Ricasso/Chopper Forte	Medusa Blade/Saw Blade	Chopper Tip	24 (20+4)
Broad Spiked	Medusa Ricasso	Medusa Blade/Saw Blade/Defender's Edge	Saw Tip	30 (22+8)
Broad Flat	Medusa Ricasso	Medusa Blade	Saw Tip/Gladius Point	36 (22+14)
Narrow Heavy	Serrated Forte	Gladius Edge	Gladius Point	46 (22+24)
Narrow Light	Serpent Ricasso	Stiletto Blade	Serpent's Fang	42 (22+20)
Narrow Spiked	Serrated Forte	Stiletto Blade	Serpent's Fang	38 (24+14)
Narrow Flat	Serpent Ricasso	Stiletto Blade	Gladius Point	44 (22+22)
Heavy Spiked	Serrated Forte	Gladius Edge/Medusa Blade/Defender's Edge	Saw Tip	38 (24+14)
Heavy Flat	Medusa Ricasso	Gladius Edge	Gladius Point	44 (22+22)
Light Spiked	Serpent Ricasso/Disarming Forte	Saw Blade	Serpent's Fang	30 (18+12)
Light Flat	Serpent Ricasso	Stiletto Blade	Gladius Point	36 (14+22)

The average mould score using the optimal default moulds is 38.

All Moulds

Default moulds are highlighted in bold.

Level	Commission	Forte	Blade	Tip	Score
71	Broad Heavy	Defender Base	Fleur de Blade	Defenders Tip	58 (22+36)
80	Broad Light	Stiletto Forte	Choppa!	Serrated Tip	49 (1+48)
79	Broad Spiked	Spiker!	Claymore Blade	Defenders Tip	56 (26+30)
81	Broad Flat	Chopper Forte +1	Claymore Blade	The Point!	65 (21+44)
71	Narrow Heavy	Serrated Forte	Fleur de Blade	Needle Point	52 (26+26)
80	Narrow Light	Stiletto Forte	Choppa!	Needle Point	61 (26+35)
79	Narrow Spiked	Spiker!	Flamberge Blade	Needle Point	59 (27+32)
70	Narrow Flat	Chopper Forte +1	Serpent Blade	Needle Point / The Point!	58 (28+30)
79	Heavy Spiked	Spiker!	Fleur de Blade	Saw Tip / Defenders Tip	59 (28+31)
81	Heavy Flat	Defender Base / Chopper Forte +1	Fleur de Blade	The Point!	58 (28+30)
80	Light Spiked	Spiker!	Choppa!	Serrated Tip	64 (38+26)
81	Light Flat	Chopper Forte +1	Choppa!	The Point!	69 (27+42)

The average mould score using optimal purchased moulds is 59.