Simply Swords in FTB StoneBlock 4

Simply Swords is a weapon mod. It adds spears, glaives, chakrams, katanas, greathammers and greataxes, rapiers and many more weapons, for 14 weapon variants in total. Each variant has its own playstyle, and with Better Combat installed they also get their own attack animations.^[1]

This pack includes Simply Swords version 1.70.2-1.21.1, the NeoForge build.^[2]

Who it's for

If you like having a lot of melee choices instead of sticking with one sword, this mod is for you. Throwable chakrams, fast twinblades and cleaving greataxes all feel different in your hands.^[1]

There is also a loot angle. Opening chests while you explore gives you a chance to find unique weapons with powerful abilities. These unique weapons cannot be crafted, so you have to go out and find them.^[1]

Where it fits in the pack

The mod's items appear in the pack's "gearing_up" quest chapter. Quest "Simply Swords" quest has tasks for the Sword on a Stick and the Runic Tablet. The task list in my source is cut off, so there may be more tasks on that quest.^[3]

The mod supports LevelZ, Gobber and Mythic Metals, which adds more than 200 individual weapons overall. Whether those other mods are in this pack is not confirmed in my sources, so don't count on the extra weapons.^[1]

Good to know

• Architectury is a required dependency for the mod.^[1]
• Better Combat is recommended for the unique weapon animations, and Patchouli is recommended for in-game documentation. I can't confirm from my sources whether this pack includes either one.^[1]

Simply Swords adds a big range of weapon types, like spears, glaives, chakrams, katanas, greataxes and rapiers. In this pack the basic iron, gold and diamond weapon recipes have been changed, so use the recipe blocks below instead of what you remember from the mod's defaults.^[1][4]

Step 1: Make an Iron Longsword

Start at the iron tier with the Iron Longsword. It's also the base for the next step. The pack changed this recipe, so this is the in-pack version:^[4]

Iron LongswordChanged by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any wood stick	Empty slot	Empty slot
Empty slot	any iron ingot	Empty slot
Empty slot	Empty slot	any iron ingot

Recipe id: simplyswords:iron_longsword

Step 2: Craft a Sword on a Stick

The Sword on a Stick builds on your Iron Longsword. The quest "Simply Swords" quest in the gearing_up chapter lists it as a task, together with the Runic Tablet. This recipe is the mod's own, not changed by the pack.^[3][4]

Sword on a StickMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Empty slot	Iron Longsword	Empty slot
Empty slot	String	Empty slot
Empty slot	any wood stick	Empty slot

Recipe id: simplyswords:sword_on_a_stick

Step 3: Build the Runic Forge

The Runic Forge is used to awaken unique weapons. The pack changed its recipe, and the Runic Tablet is part of it.^[4][5]

Runic ForgeChanged by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any gold ingot	Obsidian	any gold ingot
Amethyst Shard	Smithing Table	Amethyst Shard
any gold ingot	Runic Tablet	any gold ingot

Recipe id: simplyswords:runic_forge

Unique weapons can't be crafted. Opening chests as you explore gives you a chance to find them.^[1]

Step 4: Move up through gold and diamond

Gold and diamond versions of each weapon type exist, and the pack changed those recipes too. For example, here is the Diamond Longsword:^[4]

Diamond LongswordChanged by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any wood stick	Empty slot	Empty slot
Empty slot	any diamond gem	Empty slot
Empty slot	Empty slot	any diamond gem

Recipe id: simplyswords:diamond_longsword

Iron SpearChanged by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any iron plate	Empty slot	Empty slot
Empty slot	any wood stick	Empty slot
Empty slot	Empty slot	any wood stick

Recipe id: simplyswords:iron_spear

Step 5: Upgrade to netherite

Netherite weapons are made at a smithing table by upgrading the diamond version. For example, the Netherite Longsword comes from the Diamond Longsword. The pack changed this recipe.^[4]

Netherite LongswordChanged by the pack

Smithing Transform

• Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template
• Diamond Longsword
• any netherite ingot

Recipe id: simplyswords:netherite_longsword

Later: remnants

Smelting one of the mod's gems gives you an Empowered Remnant. You can then craft it into a Contained Remnant, whose recipe the pack changed.^[4]

Empowered RemnantMod recipe

Smelting

• any gem

Recipe id: simplyswords:gem_melting

Contained RemnantChanged by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any iron ingot	Empowered Remnant	any iron ingot
Glass	Empowered Remnant	Glass
any iron ingot	Empowered Remnant	any iron ingot

Recipe id: simplyswords:contained_remnant

Simply Swords adds weapons, and the sources here describe no machines, multiblocks, power or fluid handling for it. What matters is how you get the weapons, how their special abilities work, and how the pack's config ties them into spellcasting.^[1]

Craftable weapons vs. unique weapons

The mod adds 14 weapon variants, such as throwable chakrams, blazing fast twinblades and cleaving greataxes. They have different playstyles and attack animations when paired with Better Combat, which the mod recommends.^[1]

Unique weapons are a separate group. Opening any chest gives you a chance to obtain one, and they cannot be crafted.^[1]

The pack changed the recipes of the gold, diamond and iron weapons in its recipe dump. Don't rely on what you remember from the mod's defaults. Here are the gold and diamond spears as examples.^[4]

Gold SpearChanged by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any gold plate	Empty slot	Empty slot
Empty slot	any wood stick	Empty slot
Empty slot	Empty slot	any wood stick

Recipe id: simplyswords:gold_spear

This recipe is changed by the pack.

Diamond SpearChanged by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Diamatine Crystal	Empty slot	Empty slot
Empty slot	any wood stick	Empty slot
Empty slot	Empty slot	any wood stick

Recipe id: simplyswords:diamond_spear

This recipe is changed by the pack.

Runic powers and unique effects

Weapon tooltips label their abilities in two ways, either "Runic Power" or "Unique Effect". The Runic Forge is described as the block used to awaken unique weapons, and the mod also has advancements for finding and obtaining unique weapons and for obtaining a runic weapon.^[5]

• Active Defence regularly fires arrows at nearby enemies, but it requires arrows.^[5]
• Dancing Blades gives you a chance on hit to summon a clone of your weapon that orbits you and strikes nearby enemies.^[5]
• Evocation periodically conjures evoker fangs beneath nearby enemies, slowing them and dealing weapon damage.^[5]
• Bloodwake's Crimson Revelry makes your hits inflict Bleed. Striking an enemy at maximum Bleed consumes it in a blood burst and grants Blood Frenzy, and Blood Frenzy raises your attack speed by 10% per nearby bleeding enemy counted.^[5]
• Dreadtide's Voidcaller passively builds Voidcloak stacks that increase attack speed and reduce incoming damage by 10% per stack. Taking damage removes a stack. The tooltip also warns that wielding it inflicts you with corruption over time.^[5]

Remnants

The Contained Remnant is described as stabilised, contained energy sourced from remnants. Its tooltip says it reacts near some surfaces and that keeping it in your inventory may yield further insights. It also suggests carrying it alongside a Runic Tablet while exploring the End dimension.^[4][5]

The pack changed how you craft it, and the recipe uses an Empowered Remnant.^[4]

Contained RemnantChanged by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any iron ingot	Empowered Remnant	any iron ingot
Glass	Empowered Remnant	Glass
any iron ingot	Empowered Remnant	any iron ingot

Recipe id: simplyswords:contained_remnant

This recipe is changed by the pack.

Spellcasting integration in this pack

The pack's compatibility config links weapon abilities to Iron's Spells schools. enableSpellPowerScaling is set to true, ironsSpells.basePower is 2.17, and ironsSpells.enableCooldownReduction is true.^[6]

Each ability is assigned a school. For example, ironsSpells.weaponAbilitySchools.simplyswords:bloodwake maps to blood and ironsSpells.weaponAbilitySchools.simplyswords:frostfall maps to ice. Runic powers have their own entries, such as ironsSpells.gemPowerSchools.simplyswords:dancing_blades mapping to ender.^[6]

The mod gives you a clear ladder to climb in this pack: iron, gold, diamond, netherite, then runic. Nearly every weapon recipe here is marked as changed by the pack, so don't rely on what you remember from the mod's defaults. Check the recipes below instead.^[4]

Where the quests come in

The quest for this mod is "Simply Swords" quest in the Gearing Up chapter. Its tasks include a Sword on a Stick and a Runic Tablet.^[3]

Sword on a StickMod recipe

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Empty slot	Iron Longsword	Empty slot
Empty slot	String	Empty slot
Empty slot	any wood stick	Empty slot

Recipe id: simplyswords:sword_on_a_stick

This one is the mod's own recipe, not changed by the pack.

Iron, gold and diamond

Iron, gold and diamond weapons are all crafted directly in the pack, and every one of those recipes is a pack change. You don't upgrade a gold weapon into a diamond one. You pick the tier whose material you have. Here are the iron and diamond longswords as examples.^[4]

Iron LongswordChanged by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any wood stick	Empty slot	Empty slot
Empty slot	any iron ingot	Empty slot
Empty slot	Empty slot	any iron ingot

Recipe id: simplyswords:iron_longsword

Diamond LongswordChanged by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any wood stick	Empty slot	Empty slot
Empty slot	any diamond gem	Empty slot
Empty slot	Empty slot	any diamond gem

Recipe id: simplyswords:diamond_longsword

Spears are the odd one out. The pack gives the Iron Spear, Gold Spear and Diamond Spear different materials from the rest of their tier. Check the spear recipes before you gather anything.^[4]

Diamond SpearChanged by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Diamatine Crystal	Empty slot	Empty slot
Empty slot	any wood stick	Empty slot
Empty slot	Empty slot	any wood stick

Recipe id: simplyswords:diamond_spear

Netherite

Netherite weapons are smithing-table upgrades of the matching diamond weapon, and the pack changed these recipes too. For example, the Netherite Longsword is an upgrade of the Diamond Longsword, so don't throw your diamond weapons away.^[4]

Netherite LongswordChanged by the pack

Smithing Transform

• Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template
• Diamond Longsword
• any netherite ingot

Recipe id: simplyswords:netherite_longsword

Runic

The runic tier is another smithing upgrade, this time from the matching netherite weapon, and the pack changed these recipes as well. The Runic Longsword is upgraded from the Netherite Longsword. The recipes I can see cover runic versions of the chakram, claymore, cutlass, glaive, greataxe, greathammer, halberd, katana, longsword and rapier.^[4]

Runic LongswordChanged by the pack

Smithing Transform

• Netherite Longsword
• Runic Tablet
• any diamond gem

Recipe id: simplyswords:runic_longsword

Runic Forge and gems

The Runic Forge is a crafted block, and the pack changed its recipe.^[4]

Runic ForgeChanged by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any gold ingot	Obsidian	any gold ingot
Amethyst Shard	Smithing Table	Amethyst Shard
any gold ingot	Runic Tablet	any gold ingot

Recipe id: simplyswords:runic_forge

The gem chain starts when you smelt a gem into an Empowered Remnant, which is the mod's own recipe. From there you can smith a Netherfused Gem, which the pack changed, or a Runefused Gem, which is the mod's own recipe. The pack also changed the Contained Remnant recipe.^[4]

Empowered RemnantMod recipe

Smelting

• any gem

Recipe id: simplyswords:gem_melting

Netherfused GemChanged by the pack

Smithing Transform

• Empowered Remnant
• Runic Tablet
• any netherite ingot

Recipe id: simplyswords:netherfused_gem

Runefused GemMod recipe

Smithing Transform

• Crying Obsidian
• Empowered Remnant
• Runic Tablet

Recipe id: simplyswords:runefused_gem

This one is the mod's own recipe, not changed by the pack.

Contained RemnantChanged by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

any iron ingot	Empowered Remnant	any iron ingot
Glass	Empowered Remnant	Glass
any iron ingot	Empowered Remnant	any iron ingot

Recipe id: simplyswords:contained_remnant

The pack changed this recipe.

The clearest link between this mod and another mod in this pack is a recipe the pack changed. The Diamond Spear is crafted with a shaped recipe that includes an item from a different mod, so you need access to that mod's items before you can make the spear. The block below shows the exact in-pack recipe.^[4]

Diamond SpearChanged by the pack

Crafting Shaped

Crafting Shaped

Diamatine Crystal	Empty slot	Empty slot
Empty slot	any wood stick	Empty slot
Empty slot	Empty slot	any wood stick

Recipe id: simplyswords:diamond_spear

The pack changed this recipe, so it is not the default one.

Quests

Quest "Simply Swords" quest in the gearing_up chapter has Sword on a Stick and Runic Tablet among its tasks. Both are items from this mod, so the quest data we have does not show this quest linking the mod to another one.^[3]

Simply Swords shows up in one quest in the pack, and it sits in the "gearing_up" chapter. That's the only quest involving this mod that I can confirm.^[3]

Gearing Up

The quest "Simply Swords" quest has no title in the quest file. Its task list starts with Sword on a Stick, followed by Runic Tablet. These are item tasks, so you submit the items to complete them.^[3]

Unverified The task list for this quest is cut off after the Runic Tablet, so a third item task exists but I can't tell you what it is. Rewards, quest dependencies and where this quest falls in the chapter's order can't be confirmed either, so check the in-game quest book for those.

The pack's config files for this mod cover how the weapons tie into spell power and Iron's Spells, plus the tuning for each gem power. Here is how this pack sets the main ones.^[6][7]

Spell power scaling

• enableSpellPowerScaling is true, so spell power scaling is switched on.^[6]
• spellPowerApi.enableWeaponAttributes is true, and spellPowerApi.scalingMultiplier is 0.5.^[6]
• Diminishing returns start at 1.4 (spellScalingDiminishingReturnsStart) with a strength of 10 (spellScalingDiminishingReturnsStrength).^[6]

Iron's Spells compatibility

ironsSpells.basePower is set to 2.17, and ironsSpells.enableCooldownReduction is true.^[6]

Each weapon also has a mana cost entry. Caelestis is the most expensive one at 150, Wickpiercer costs just 3, and Longsword of the Plague costs 0. Weapon spell power bonuses in the pack come in at either 2 or 4. For example, Arcanethyst gets 4 and Bloodwake gets 2.^[6]

Gem powers

disabledPowers is an empty list, so the pack does not disable any gem power there. Each power has its own tuning keys. For example, dragonMaw.chance is 15, dancingBlades.chance is 5, and snifferSlam.chance is 5.^[7]

Spell scaling varies a lot between powers. evocation.spellScaling is 0.4, imbued.spellScaling is 2, and snifferSlam.spellScaling is 4.^[7]

FTB StoneBlock 4 1.21.0 ships Simply Swords 1.70.2 for Minecraft 1.21.1, and the mod has been in the pack since 1.0.0 or earlier. I don't have any pack changelog entries for this mod, so everything below comes from the mod's own changelogs.^[2]

1.70.2 (the version in the pack)

• Fixed a crash with Epic Fight.^[8]
• Fixed a bug that stopped the Simply Swords loot inject and pity system from working with Lootr chests.^[8]
• Updated the Simplified Chinese localization.^[8]

1.63.0

• Fixed crashes when opening OracleIndex from tooltips.^[9]
• Fixed an incompatibility with Excavated Variants.^[9]
• Added a dependency on Simply Tooltips.^[9]

1.62.0

• Added a new unique weapon, Chomp'olotl.^[10]
• Many unique weapons can now be obtained deterministically via Contained Remnants.^[10]
• Increased the Contained Remnant 'hatch' time and made it configurable.^[10]
• Changed Tempest's passive particle effect.^[10]
• Fixed a bug that made Enigma damage its owner and friendly players.^[10]
• Fixed an issue that made some weapons spawn with invalid enchantments.^[10]
• Fixed some inconsistent config translations.^[10]

If you use Lootr chests, the 1.70.2 fix means the mod's loot inject and pity system now work with them. These are only the changelogs I was given, so releases between these versions aren't covered here.^[8]