Forging Vanguard Armor & Golem Salvage
Barbaric Vanguard Armor provides heavyweight protective plating engineered specifically for modular golem frames, combining dense netherite plating with specialized structural templates. Assembling these heavy defensive plates requires substantial endgame resources, but damaged or surplus armor can also be broken down through automated crushing mechanisms to reclaim raw minerals.
Forging Barbaric Vanguard Armor
Crafting a full set of Barbaric Vanguard Armor requires combining multiple netherite armor pieces, nether quartz crystals, anvils, and specialized 
Metal Golem Template items across a standard crafting table.
Barbaric Vanguard Helmet: Requires five 
Netherite Helmet items, one 
Nether Quartz, and one Metal Golem Template. Place the quartz in the top-middle slot, three netherite helmets across the middle row, and two netherite helmets flanking the template in the bottom row.
Barbaric Vanguard Chestplate: Combines six 
Netherite Chestplate items, two Nether Quartz, and one Metal Golem Template. Arrange two netherite chestplates flanking the template on the top row, three netherite chestplates across the middle row, and one chestplate flanked by two nether quartz crystals in the bottom row.
Barbaric Vanguard Shinguard: Crafted from three 
Netherite Leggings, two Nether Quartz, and one Metal Golem Template. Position one netherite leggings between two quartz in the top row, the template centered in the middle row, and two netherite leggings in the bottom corners.
Barbaric Vanguard Boots: Forged using two 
Netherite Boots, two 
Anvil blocks, and one Metal Golem Template. Place two boots in the top corners, and two anvils flanking the central template in the middle row.
Smithing Upgrades for Vanguard Armor
Once forged, Barbaric Vanguard components serve as foundational bases for advanced boss-tier transformations on a smithing table:
- Cursium Golem Armor: Upgrade individual Barbaric Vanguard pieces with a Cursium Upgrade Smithing Template and a block of cursium to create
Cursium Golem Helmet, 
Cursium Golem Chestplate, and 
Cursium Golem Shinguard. - Harbinger Armor: Combine Vanguard armor pieces with a
Harbinger Upgrade Template and witherite materials. The helmet and chestplate require a block of witherite, while the shinguard upgrades using a witherite ingot to craft 
Harbinger Shinguard, 
Harbinger Helmet, and 
Harbinger Chestplate. - Ignitium Armor: Upgrade Vanguard components using an Ignitium Upgrade Smithing Template and a block of ignitium to produce
Ignitium Golem Helmet, 
Ignitium Golem Chestplate, and 
Ignitium Golem Shinguard. - Monstrosity Armor: Combine Vanguard pieces with a
Monstrosity Upgrade Template and a monstrous horn to forge heavy 
Monstrosity Chestplate, 
Monstrosity Helmet, and 
Monstrosity Shinguard.
Reclaiming Minerals through Crushing Salvage
When retiring older combat frames or recycling excess loot, players can process vanguard armor and specialized golem weaponry through crushing wheels. Crushing breaks down the reinforced metal back into raw gems and ingots:
- Feeding one Barbaric Vanguard Chestplate into crushing wheels yields 40
Diamond. - Processing one Barbaric Vanguard Helmet through crushing wheels recovers 20 Diamond.
- Crushing one Barbaric Vanguard Shinguard returns 18 Diamond.
- Similarly, processing
Wind Spirit Chestplate yields 40 Diamond, 
Wind Spirit Helmet yields 20 Diamond, and 
Wind Spirit Shinguard yields 18 Diamond. - Heavy iron vanguard pieces such as
Roman Guard Chestplate yield 40 
Iron Ingot, while the matching 
Roman Guard Helmet recovers 20 Iron Ingot, and 
Roman Guard Shinguard yields 18 Iron Ingot.
Golem weapons also yield direct returns when crushed. One 
Diamond Golem Sword crushes into 5 Diamond, one 
Diamond Golem Axe returns 4 Diamond, and one 
Diamond Golem Spear breaks down into 3 Diamond. Their iron counterparts yield identical quantities of Iron Ingot, making scrap reclamation a reliable logistical loop.