NieR

This is the Forging Master achievment. You must upgrade all 30 weapons to level 4 to obtain this achievement. Be forewarned: this achievement is a crime against humanity.

Here is how it is done. It is the most time consuming achievement in the game. If the forging achievements are the very last achievements you work on, even after your third playthrough without rushing the game (meaning you bothered to stop and gather and maybe farm a bit) expect getting 15 and 30 weapons forged to take 20-30 hours for these two achievements. This is not an exaggeration. After watching ending B and starting your next playthrough, equip your best +droprate word on all your weapons and spells, if not even earlier. XP quickly becomes irrelevant, but drops are a huge pain in the ass.

The best droprate increasing word is available from the armored sword enemies in the area recommended to farm forlorn necklaces apparently (on top of the lost temple (may need to have all the key fragments, unsure)). The word gives you items +30% which will help on your hunt for the necklace. (To be honest I only ever found Mahizarr (+25% droprate) and I don't remember what enemy yielded it. I know I had it by the end of my second playthrough.)) I suspect the 30% word is Mahizarken, but did a lot of checking and the above description was the only even vague lead on where to acquire it I found.

First off, if you want to prioritize your weapon upgrading on the basis of effectiveness of the weapon, this is my advice on that:

The best weapon, IMO, is the phoenix spear. A good alternative in tight quarters with huge swarms of tiny enemies is something like the phoenix dagger or, since the materials to fully upgrade the phoenix dagger are rough, the ancient overlord is probably the second best one-handed sword.

Two-handed swords are not generally useful, but there is one way under certain circumstances to effectively use them: If you come upon a heavily armored shade, jump above him with your strongest 2h sword- speed is irrelevant here (the strongest period is the DLC 2h sword- 999atk power fully upgraded and smolders with sparks of fire, very cool looking, but it is also of course a 2h sword (inherently slower than any other weapons, even if they say "light" they swing MUCH slower than a spear or 1h sword that is "light") and its weight catagory is "very heavy", so not practical for general use). anyway, jump above a heavily armored enemy and hit Y (special attack) to do the helm smash attack where you slam downwards with your sword and then immediately roll out out of it to cancel the recovery time (the roll is important). This will smash down through the enemy from top to bottom doing devastating damage and destroying the majority of their armor if it doesnt kill them outright. Rinse and repeat if you find a situation where heavily armored enemies are giving you any trouble.

Alternatively, you could just charge up dark whirlwind and walk into them with that to destroy their armor while stabbing wtih a spear. Hell, even if an armored enemy is blocking, using no magic at all, I can stab once with a spear and they will parry and stagger, then stab again to heavily damage them or lunge to kill them straight up, or just follow up with a third jab and that kills most any regular enemy. With a fully upgraded phoenix spear I kill the large shades in the lost temple at the end of the game instantly with one spear lunge (Y attack), for reference.

DLC weapons do not count toward this achievement.

The basic material and weapon upgrade component list is typed up from the BRADYGAMES guide by this fellow and the original version is formatted nicer, but I've added a TON of more specific details on item locations and farming methods on this solution post.
original base version:
http://www.ps3trophies.org/forum/nier/48567-weapon-raw-mater...
However, like i said: here on this post I added in quite a lot of notes in certain areas for clarification and further gathering strategies not included in the linked guide from both personal experience and a lot of research online.

Nier: Weapon & Raw Material FAQ
by: Dedemaru - NOTE HE DID NOT CREATE THIS, HE ONLY TYPED IT UP FROM THE BRADYGAMES GUIDE

The purpose of the FAQ is to help people upgrade all of their weapons. As you may know, there are three weapon types: One-handed swords, Two-handed swords and Spears. You can upgrade you're weapons at "Two Brothers Weaponry" in the Junk Heap. Each individual weapon upgrade costs 1,000 gold and a large quantity of materials. Some materials are more rare than others. The first half of this guide will tell you all of the material types you'll require and how many of each item. Nier has a lot of random crap in it. I made this guide so people can decide what raw materials to keep, how many, and what to sell for profit. The categories I have each materials listed in do not exist in the game. They were created by me for organization. I will eventually be adding as many item locations as possible. Though most stuff is random, some things can be found in certain places.

The second half of this guide will tell you the name of each weapon, the materials needed to upgrade it (and their quantities), and eventually the weapons locations (when I finish the game).

NOTE: I'd like to include that words like "mahes", "mahira", etc. increase the item drop rate percentage. With words like those on your primary weapons or magic, you can increase the rate of finding some of these harder to find materials.

Please enjoy. Respond with any questions, comments or corrections.

Alloys
Titanium Alloy (24/Rare)
Junk Heap: Projectile Drones, P-33 Drones, DLC part 3 crates
Memory Alloy (8/Rare) (Don't turn in a memory alloy to the guy in the village for part 2 sidequest by the pigs. he just rewards you with money, and if your luck is anything like mine, these will be a bit of a pain to come by. I think I ran the entire junkheap 6 times in a row without getting a single memory alloy at one point)
Junk Heap: P-33 Drones

Ores (note: if you do man of means (1million gold in pocket) before this achievement, you can easily purchase any ores you are missing besides gold of course, as you need quite a lot of iron. it would be silly to farm it from gathering spots)
Iron Ore (163)
Gather Spots, Two Brother's Weaponry (1000G)
Copper Ore (88)
Gather Spots, Two Brother's Weaponry (480G)
Silver Ore (121)
Gather Spots, Two Brother's Weaponry (1500G)
Gold Ore (20/Rare)
Gather Spots

Jewels/Gems/Pearls
Amber (6/Rare)
Junk Heap: Boxes, Facade Materials (6000G)
Pyrite (14/Rare)
Barren Temple: Gather Spots, Junk Heap: Boxes (almost never spawns in junk heap - zone into barren temple, check the 3 spawns (one at the bottom of the first left stairway, and at the end of the room to the left and right) and check any that are up, then zone out and back in and repeat. this is the fastest way to get pyrite. I got extremely lucky and managed to get 8 in about an hour and a half on my second session here. I also picked up 1 pyrite in the third section of the DLC on one of my 4 clears of it. this is not efficient but I thought I'd include it as a note.)
Crystal (8/Rare)
Barren Temple: Gather Spots, Facade Materials (2400G)
Moldavite (8/Rare)
Desert: Gather Spots, Seafront Materials (5000G)
Flourite (18/Rare)
Barren Temple: Gather Spots, Junk Heap: Boxes
Meteorite (5/Rare)
The Aerie/Desert/Barren Temple: Gather Spots
Pearl (1)
Seafront: Gather Spots, Seafront Materials (3000G)
Black Pearl (15/Rare)
Seafront: Gather Spots (both beaches) - save your game at the seafront mailbox, check the small beach, then the beach with the seals- if you dont find any black pearls immediately reload from the mailbox and try again. if you do find one, save at the mailbox then reload that save immediately to reset the gather points. this works with any gather point.

Machine Parts
Simple Machine (6/Rare)
Dropped: Most larger Shades (best place to farm large shades is the lost temple after collecting all 5 key fragments. climb the tower until you spawn and kill the second large shade on your way up, then jump back down to the bottom, zone out and back in, and climb back up killing both large shades, jump down- repeat as necessary)
Complex Machine (8/Rare)
Dropped: Most larger Shades (see Simple Machine)
Elaborate Machine (5/Rare)
Dropped: Most larger Shades (see Simple Machine)
Machine Oil (5/Rare)
Junk Heap B2: Floating Drones
Stripped Bolt (10)
Junk Heap: Projectile Drones, Two Brother's Weaponry (900G)
Large Gear (6/Rare)
Junk Heap: Ground Robot Drones (gold ones I believe)

Jewelry
Forlorn Necklace (4/Rare)
Dropped: Shaman Shades (any human sized caster shade. armored or not. one spot you can spawn them repeatedly is the top of the lost temple in part 2 by entering the doorway to the first boss room and exiting, killing both, then zoning in and out of the door to reset them. it's a very rare drop, but like I said, it really can obtained from any human sized caster shade. I got one from the non-armored ones in the northern plains in part 2. the armored ones may have a better drop rate, but it's almost impossible to confirm this.)
Subdued Bracelet (3/Rare)
Dropped: Flying Shades (this can be one of the worst farms in the game. after getting the loyal cerberus key fragment, there are 3 places in the desert when you walk over them, near smaller shades, where armored flying shades will erupt out of the ground. if you are quick, you can stab the two that come out of the ground before they take off and instakill them with a spear lunge. If they take flight, I would use dark phantasm and then tag them with a dark blast shot to finish them off as they are very agile and dark phantasm cannot miss unless they're beyond your radius. make sure you have a mahzarr or another drop word on all your spells just like on all your weapons. zone in and out of the area to reset the spawn, although there are times when it will not trigger the reset. you have to walk over very specific spots to make them spawn, and the one in the sandstorm only spawns if you approach from facade, not coming from the barren temple. Posted a youtube video at the bottom that shows the exact method and locations of these shades.)
Twisted Ring (5/Rare)
Dropped: Armored Shades, Sword Shades

Animal Parts & Natural Ingredients
Scorpion Claw (10)
Dropped: Scorpions
Giant Egg (6/Rare)
Village: Gather Spots
Eagle Egg (4/Rare)
The Aerie: Gather Spots (NOW AVAILABLE IN THE THIRD GAUNTLET SECTION OF THE DLC AS WELL- more details at the bottom. eagle eggs are god. awful. to farm. running the third section of the DLC I got 1 eagle egg on 2 out of 4 runs from the bridge filled with crates. you can die in the next room and get punted back outside to your house and you hold on to all your materials. the rare items from boxes really end at that bridge. the only reason to fully complete that section is if you really want the 50k gold or still need the costume/weapon reward for completing the 3rd part at least once.)
Clay (18)
Gather Spots, Facade Materials (800G)
Natural Rubber (1)
Southern Plains: Gather Spots, Seafront Materials (700G)

Broken Items
Broken Arm (49)
Junk Heap: Standard Drones, Projectile Drones
Broken Saw (4/Rare)
Dropped: Small Shades
Broken Lens (5)
Junk Heap: Standard Drones
Broken Battery (5)
Junk Heap: Floating Drones
Broken Antenna (37)
Junk Heap: Standard Drones, Projectile Drones
Broken Pottery (2/Rare)
Northern Plains/The Aerie: Gather Spots
Broken Motor (11)
Junk Heap: Projectile Drone, Floating Drone
Broken Wristwatch (11/Rare)
Dropped: Shielded Shades, Heavily-Armored Shades
Broken Earring (4/Rare)
Dropped: Shaman Shade (human sized casters- armored or not)

Rusted Items
Rusty Kitchen Knife (11/Rare)
Dropped: Small Sword Shades, Small Axe Shades (in part 2, the southern road between seafront and the village can have spawns of these. it's either spawns of the little guys with round hats or just tons of big club/shield full armored shades. if you see the club/armor shades and are there for kitchen knives, just zone back in and out of seafront/village until you don't see them- then just walk around and the small shades will spawn instead- it's basically just two different modes of spawns for that area that are random when you go in)
Rusty Bucket (10)
Found Fishing
Rusted Clump (12)
Found Fishing

Random Materials
Dented Metal Bat (21/Rare)
Dropped: Small Shades (best place for this is in the laboratory under emil's mansion. as you zone down the stairs to the second floor, one room ahead will spawn about 50 of the tiny shades that drop these. kill all of them, then go back up the stairs and down the stairs, then kill them all again. you should have all your bats in no-time)
Metal Piercing (4/Rare)
Dropped: Flying Shades, Armored Flying Shades (you will easily get these while going for the subdued bracelets). The only places these are really found are in 3 spots in the desert after obtaining the loyal cerberus key and inside the shadowlords castle after passing the point of no return. I will post a youtube video showing exactly how to farm these effectively shortly, so you know exactly where you need to stand to make them pop out of the sand.
Mysterious Switch (9)
Junk Heap: Projectile Drones
Stopped Clock (3/Rare)
Dropped: Sword Shades

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Weapon FAQ
-also posted by Dedemaru AKA BRADYGAMES plagiarizer (apparently), but at least he was nice enough to type it out for everyone else. props for that.

Aside from a some of the first weapons in the game, most weapons can either be bought at the Blacksmith, found in a box in a dungeon or given to you by nobility. The most expensive weapon is around 32,000 gold. Not too bad. Here is a list of the games thirty weapons, where to find them and how to upgrade them.

NOTE: Most of the weapons can't really be missed. If you forget to pick up a weapon or just flat out miss one, don't fret. Almost all weapons are for sale in the second half of the game. Just look around at the different blacksmiths.

ONE-HANDED SWORDS

Nameless Blade
Automatically Obtained
Level 2: Automatically Upgraded
Level 3: Titanium Alloy (2)/Stripped Bolt (10)/Broken Arm(3)
Levl 4: Titanium Alloy (2)/Dented Metal Bat/Simple Machine

Nirvana Dagger
Lost Shrine (Box)
Level 2: Titanium Alloy/Rusty Kitchen Knife (2)
Level 3: Titanium Alloy/Broken Arm (3)/Gold Ore (2)
Level 4: Titanium Alloy/Mysterious Switch (3)/Pyrite

Lily-Leaf Sword
2,400G at Blacksmith
Level 2: Titanium Alloy (3)
Level 3: Titanium Alloy (2)/Broken Antennea (7)/Large Gear
Level 4: Titanium Alloy (2)/Forlorn Necklace (2)/Pyrite

Moonrise
Obtained in Southern Plains by saving a guard.
Level 2: Titanium Alloy/Broken Saw
Level 3: Titanium Alloy/Broken Saw/Broken Lens
Level 4: Titanium Alloy/Rusty Kitchen Knife (2)/Pyrite

Rebirth
Obtained from the Prince of Facade after Barren Temple
Level 2: Iron Ore (4)/Twisted Ring
Level 3: Iron Ore (10)/Large Gear/Broken Battery
Level 4: Iron Ore (20)/Broken Wristwatch (3)/Amber

Earth Wyrm's Claw
8,400G in Facade
Level 2: Iron Ore (8)/Scorpion Claw (10)
Level 3: Iron Ore (8)/Clay (3)/Broken Pottery (2)
Level 4: Iron Ore (10)/Clay (15)/Amber

Beastbain
16,800G at Blacksmith
Level 2: Iron Ore (12)/Complex Machine
Level 3: Iron Ore (20)/Complex Machine/Machine Oil
Level 4: Iron Ore (15)/Pyrite (2)/Crystal

Blade of Treachery
The Manor (Box)
Level 2: Copper Ore (10)/Simple Machine
Level 3: Copper Ore (15)/Machine Oil (2)/Rusted Clump
Level 4: Copper Ore (20)/Pyrite/Rusted Clump

Faith
Obtained from the Mayor of the Forest of Myth
Level 2: Silver Ore (3)/Broken Antennea (30)
Level 3: Silver Ore (5)/Elaborate Machine/Natural Rubber
Level 4: Silver Ore (4)/Moldavite/Titanium Alloy (4)

Acient Overlord
Obtained from the King of Facade (Part II)
Level 2: Silver Ore (4)/Broken Motor (10)
Level 3: Silver Ore (6)/Broken Wristwatch (3)/Crystal (2)
Level 4: Silver Ore (5)/Moldavite/Memory Alloy (2)

Phoenix Dagger
31,200G in Seafront (Part II)
Level 2: Silver Ore (6)/Giant Egg (2)
Level 3: Silver Ore (6)/Eagle Egg/Broken Earring (2)
Level 4: Silver Ore (6)/Black Pearl (5)/Amber (2)

Labyrinth's Whisper
Quest: A Bridge in Peril (Part II)
Level 2: Flourite
Level 3: Flourite (2)
Level 4: Flourite (3)

Iron Pipe
Quest: The Magical Stone
Level 2: Dented Metal Bat (5)/Broken Arm (8)
Level 3: Dented Metal Bat (8)/Broken Arm (15)/Rusty Bucket (10)
Level 4: Dented Metal Bat (6)/Broken Arm (20)/Rusted Clump (5)

TWO-HANDED SWORDS

Kusanagi
Automatically Aquired (Part II)
Level 2: Iron Ore (10)
Level 3: Iron Ore (18)/Broken Battery (4)/Forlorn Necklace
Level 4: Iron Ore (20)/Broken Earring/Moldavite

Axe of Beheading
19,200G The Village & The Aerie (Part II)
Level 2: Copper Ore (10)
Level 3: Copper Ore (15)/Rusty Kitchen Knife (3)/Subdued Bracelet
Level 4: Copper Ore (18)/Stopped Clock (2)/Meteorite

Fang of the Twins
Underground Facility (Box, Part II)
Level 2: Silver Ore (3)/Elaborate Machine
Level 3: Silver Ore (5)/Broken Wristwatch (2)/Stopped Clock
Level 4: Silver Ore (10)/Mysterious Switch (3)/Meteorite

Vile Axe
21,600G Seafront (Part II)
Level 2: Silver Ore (4)/Simple Machine
Level 3: Silver Ore (8)/Broken Lens (2)/Twisted Ring
Level 4: Silver Ore (12)/Broken Saw (2)/Amber

Beastlord
Lost Shrine (Box, Part II)
Level 2: Gold Ore/Complex Machine
Level 3: Gold Ore/Complex Machine/Machine Oil
Level 4: Gold Ore (3)/Amber/Simple Machine (2)

Iron Will
Two-Brothers Weaponry (Part II)
Level 2: Memory Alloy
Level 3: Memory Alloy (2)/Rusted Clump (2)/Dented Metal Bat
Level 4: Memory Alloy (3)/Pyrite/Elaborate Machine (2)

Phoenix Sword
Shadowlord's Castle (Box, Part II)
Level 2: Gold Ore (2)/Giant Egg (2)
Level 3: Gold Ore (3)/Eagle Egg (2)/Complex Machine
Level 4: Gold Ore (4)/Black Pearl (5)/Moldavite

Labyrinth's Song
Quest: Disturbing the Sleep of Kings (Part II)
Level 2: Flourite
Level 3: Flourite (2)
Level 4: Flourite (3)

SPEARS

Transience
Obtained Automatically (Part II)
Level 2: Iron Ore (2)
Level 3: Iron Ore (2)/Twisted Ring (3)/Metal Piercing
Level 4: Iron Ore (4)/Crystal (2)/Pyrite

Spear of the Usurper
21,600G Village & Seafront (Part II)
Level 2: Iron Ore
Level 3: Iron Ore (2)/Large Gear (2)/Subdued Bracelet
Level 4: Iron Ore (5)/Broken Lens (2)/Pyrite

The Devil Queen
Lost Shrine (Box,Part II)
Level 2: Iron Ore (5)/Crystal (3)
Level 3: Iron Ore (10)/Metal Piercing (2)/Broken Motor
Level 4: Iron Ore (13)/Metal Piercing/Moldavite

Sunrise
21,600G The Aerie (Part II)
Level 2: Silver Ore/Large Gear (2)
Level 3: Silver Ore (2)/Rusty Kitchen Knife (2)/Forlorn Necklace
Level 4: Silver Ore (3)/Subdued Bracelet/Pyrite

Beastcurse
Junk Heap (Box/Part II)
Level 2: Silver Ore/Complex Machine
Level 3: Silver Ore (2)/Complex Machine/Machine Oil
Level 4: Silver Ore (3)/Moldavite/Elaborate Machine

Captain's Holy Spear
30,000G Facade (Part II)
Level 2: Silver Ore (2)/Broken Wristwatch (2)
Level 3: Silver Ore (4)/Mysterious Switch (3)/Broken Earring
Level 4: Silver Ore (4)/Moldavite/Complex Machine

Dragoon Lance
Shadowlord's Castle (Box, Part II)
Level 2: Silver Ore (3)/Pyrite
Level 3: Silver Ore (4)/Pyrite (3)/Pearl
Level 4: Silver Ore (5)/Meteorite (3)/Simple Machine

Phoenix Spear
32,400G Facade (Part II)
Level 2: Gold Ore/Giant Egg (2)
Level 3: Gold Ore (2)/Eagle Egg/Broken Wristwatch
Level 4: Gold Ore (3)/Black Pearl (5)/Moldavite

Labyrinth's Shout
Quest: The Damaged Map (Part II)
Level 2: Flourite
Level 3: Flourite (2)
Level 4: Flourite (3)

Update: all 3 DLC weapons take 1 damascus steel per level to forge, although they are not counted for this achievement. the best place to farm damascus item is in the DLC gauntlets. I've also picked up some from crates in b2 of the junk heap.



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credit gamertag: Perfekt

Some materials can be gathered more efficiently by performing the 'load trick'. This trick exploits the fact that loading the game is faster than zoning in and out of an area, and it also resets all harvest points. Below is an example for getting Eagle Eggs:


-Save game in the Aerie
-Walk down the lower bridge until you get to the middle circular platform section, turn around and look directly at the eagle egg spawn point which is just to the left of the left house below the mayor's house. double jump to verify if its there or not.
-If the harvest point doesn't exist, load your game and try again.

-If the harvest point exists (is flashing), walk over to the gathering point, harvest and cross your fingers.
-If its not the eagle egg, load your game and try again.
-If it is the eagle egg, go save your game and load again until you find as many as you need.

(personal note from Rastal: even using this method, expect to repeat this for hours to gather the 4 eagle eggs you need. this achievement is a beast.)

!!! (Update from Rastal: the may 12th DLC has eagle eggs in the third section of it that I got 2 out of the 4 times I fought through that final section- you can even die out after you pick them up or go through the crates and fail to spawn one and just get punted back outside in your house, but you'll retain all the items you picked up. The first 2 sections dont really have any key drops, but the third section you'll get lots of titanium and likely damascus and 50k gold and 10k(?) xp for finishing the entire thing. The last enemy, on easy, smashed me with his arm knocking me 60 feet backwards and taking off about 70% of my lifebar at level 40. As long as you avoid that and just kindve stay behind him he isnt so bad. the enemies do not mess around in the DLC. (where I got the 2 eagle eggs I found was on the metal bridge leading to a circular room... the bridge has crates all over it. the DLC is basically like playing the game on mind altering drugs and fighting stuff way more brutal than anything in the main game. it's not very long, and I didn't know what to expect going into it, but now, even without it directly having any achievements, it was worth the money for the fun it provides. the different armor models you can choose are interesting and also change the rest of your party members armor, and also uh,.... there's an option to turn all the red orb projectiles into emil's head. I'm not even kidding. i just dont know what to say about that. the music turns into hybrids of the original beautiful music and techno/trance remixes... it's kinda awesome, but just the whole DLC is freakin WTF. when he said his wife went crazy in the later diary entries you "experience" he was not making an understatement.)
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Re: The Below Video for Subdued Bracelet/Metal Piercing Farming

I didn't personally record this video, but it shows exactly where the shades spawn. He gets a bracelet on his run so he returns and saves, but, if after killing the third shade you have gotten nothing from them you need from any of them then just immediately reload to the mailbox in facade to save time.

If you learn the exact spot the shades pop out of you can lunge with a spear you can easily 1-shot kill the first two he pops in the video right as they are coming out of the ground once you memorize their spots. I dont know why he was using the phoenix dagger as it is hard to kill them before they take off using a sword except for the fact that level 4 phoenix dagger gives +80% magic boost and magic is the nearly the only way to kill them once they take flight. Level 4 Phoenix spear offers the same magic boost however, and at least half the time, probably more, you will be relying on dark phantasm/dark blast to finish off these frisky flying bastards.

Sometimes randomly when you zone into the desert no enemies of any kind will be up. If you notice the first few shades/scorpions missing then just go back and zone in and out of the door to facade and that should spawn everything.

*NOTE: this is not a guide telling you all the materials you need for all the upgrades or on where to get them*
this is a guide informing you on the fastest method on getting the dreadfull eagle eggs I literally got all 4 eagle eggs in less than an hour (this really all depends on luck but it is faster than normal methods) I literally got 2 in a row!
step 1. go to the aerie and save at the post box... its really hard to miss.
step 2. go to the first giant platform and jump in the air to where you can at least see the shine where it usually is.
step 3 A. if it is not there then simply go into the options and load game.
step 3 B. if it is there then painfully run up there and collect it. if it is the unrealistic weapon fortification item then save and repeat. also save if you need the random item it gives you. if it is not the item you need then load game.
P.S. the items I have noticed that only spawn in this area is meteorite, iron, copper, silver, and gold ores, broken pottery, clay (this annoyingly shows up the most), and the eagle egg.