Tinkers' ConstructModular tools and weapons, the Smeltery, and a parallel material economy
About
Tinkers' Construct replaces vanilla tools with modular ones: a tool is a head + handle + binder (+ optional extras), each made from a different material. Stone heads dig fast but break fast; obsidian heads are slow but durable; cobalt heads are mining-tier 4 right out of the gate; queen's slime heads have huge durability and regenerate. Tools have levels and accumulate modifiers as you use them — sharpness, fortune, smite, lightning, soulbound (kept on death), traveler's gear (free flight while wearing the set), and many more.
The other half of the mod is the Smeltery: a multiblock furnace built from Seared Bricks that melts ores into fluid metal at a 1.0× → 2.0× ingot return rate (ore → 2 ingots' worth of liquid). It runs on a Seared Heater (or melts lava directly). With a Casting Basin / Table you pour fluid metal into ingot blocks, blocks, plates, and tool parts.
Things to do
- Read the Materials & You book (drops in starter loot) — covers parts, materials, and modifiers
- Build a Smeltery (~12 Seared Bricks for the smallest 3×3×2) — doubles all ore intake
- Make a Mattock (combo of axe + shovel + hoe) as your first multi-tool
- Materialis (in this pack) adds Tinkers material support for every mod's metals → cobalt isn't your only top-tier choice
- Construct's Armory addon (also in this pack) — modular armor with the same modifier system, separate page in the wiki
- Modifiers: every tool can level up by use, granting modifier slots — pump diamonds, emeralds, gold, books, redstone, lapis into tools for huge stat bumps
Getting started
You need ~13 logs of wood to bootstrap. Make planks → sticks → Crafting Station (the upgraded vanilla bench Tinkers gives you) → Tool Station + Part Builder + Pattern Chest. Carve wooden tool parts at the Part Builder. Assemble in the Tool Station. Your first real upgrade: build the Smeltery (12 Seared Bricks form the smallest interior — see the wiki diagram), throw stone in, run a Seared Heater under it, and watch it melt. Cast iron tool parts in molds and you're off.