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During your time inReturn To Moria, you are going to be digging. Like,a lot.The Steel Pickaxe will be your first upgraded pickaxe. Not only will this pickax open up the deeper sections of the mines to you, but it will also make quick work of objects that had previously been pretty tedious to work through.
While the pickax is part of your main progression through the game, there is nothing stopping you from grabbing it early. This guide will take you through the process of acquiring the Steel Pickax and help you dramatically improve your digging early!

What Do I Need To Get The Steel Pickaxe?
In order to forge the Steel Pickaxe you will needfour pieces of Elven Wood,one Hide, andthree Steel Ingots.
However, before you can obtain this recipe, you will need to reignite the Great Forge in the Elven Quarter.There is nothing stopping you from digging your way straight to the Elven Quarter,by the way. However, if you don’t build up your equipment first, you will have a tougher time in the Elven Quarter, as you will be dealing with far tougher enemies.

Unfortunately, we can’t give you specific directions to get there, as the worlds are randomly generated,but if you just keep tunneling through every dirt wall encounter, you will eventually work your way into the second major area in the game.
The Great Forge is far easier to locate.The Elven quarter is just a giant ring. You can circle it and you will inevitably find the forge.

How To Repair The Great Forge Of Narvi
In order to gain access to the Steel Pickaxe, you will need to repair The Great Forge. This gigantic furnace is located in the Eleven Quarter of Moria. There are three parts missing. Two gears and a pipe.
The two gears are easy enough to locate, as they are sitting in the same room as the forge itself. Just pick them up, carry them over, and insert them into the machine.

Getting The Pipe For The Great Forge
So, for starters,this pipe is located in the enemy camp south of the forge. It is in the southeast corner,up against the wall. you may try sneaking over to it and picking it up while the Goblin Men in the camp are distracted, or you can clear the camp out if you are feeling brave. If you have run straight here, and trying to get the Steel Pickaxe early, that will be atouchchallenging with your crude axe. Though itisdoable.
Alternatively, you could just grab the pipe and run for it.Even if they kill you, as long as you have a camp nearby that you have slept in, you will be able to head back and pick up the pipe resting out of sight of the enemy camp’s occupants. Or, if you want to clear out the camp,you can find a nearby bear and have them chase you into the camp.Then let the bear and the Goblin Men fight it out.

Once you have the pipe, take it to the section right of The Great Forge. Unfortunately, you will find that the stairs are broken. So, there is only one thing to do,build platforms lead up the stairs, and then toss the pipe up to the top of the platform.
to throw the pipe, select it like you would a weapon, and then press right on the d-pad if you are using a controller, and you will see an arching line that demonstrates where your thrown object will travel.
If the pipe rolls down the stairs a few times, don’t worry about it, just try again. It will eventually stick.From there, hop up your makeshift stairs (constructed of platforms), and slot the piping in.
The other option for acquiring all the parts is to simply forge them. However, this seems like a pretty terrible use of your Iron…
Once you repair the forge, prepare yourself: you are about to deal with a Horde Raid. So, prepare to stand your ground, as dozens of enemies are going to fold in on you. Once you have defeated them, you can interact with the forge, and you will be able to craft the Steel Pickaxe.
Once you have repaired The Great Forge,you do not need to return to it to construct the Steel Pickaxe.Every recipe you gain from its repair will be able to be forged atanyforge from here-on out.
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