Vintage Story v1.22: The Forge & Fishing Update
Released in early 2026, Version 1.22 (stable-preview) is one of the most mechanically dense updates in Vintage Story's history. It transforms the smithing and survival loops with deep technical systems that reward precision and patience.
🎣 New Fishing System
Fishing is no longer a simple click-event. Over 20 species of freshwater fish inhabit the world, each with specific biome and depth requirements. Players must craft rods, manage line tension, and use the correct bait to succeed.
Technical Smithing: The Forge Rework
Gone are the days of simply hitting hot metal. The new forge mechanics introduce three critical metallurgical stages:
1. Quenching
Plunging hot tools into water or oil now determines the Hardness of the metal. Cooling too fast can lead to brittle tools (high damage but low durability), while cooling too slow may leave them soft.
2. Tempering
After quenching, tools can be reheated to a specific temperature to balance toughness. This is essential for high-tier axes and picks that need to withstand heavy strikes without shattering.
3. Grinding & Honing
Newly introduced grindstones allow you to sharpen your blades. Sharper tools have a higher Harvesting Speed but require periodic maintenance to keep their edge.
Enhanced Storage: Voxel Precision
The storage system has been overhauled to allow "Voxel-Level Placement." You can now place individual items like ingots, clay, and components inside cabinets and on shelves with pixel-perfect accuracy, allowing for beautiful and functional workshops.
New Mechanical Power: Waterwheels
- Large Windmills: Reach higher altitudes for consistent torque.
- Waterwheels: Now rebuildable with modular blades to optimize for river current speed.
- Mechanical Belts: A new way to transfer power over short distances with lower friction loss than gears.
⚠️ World Generation Changes
v1.22 changes how rivers and underwater biomes are generated to support the new fish. If you are upgrading an old world, new fish species will only spawn in newly explored chunks.
Ready to master the new metalwork meta? Rent a Vintage Story Server with high-performance cores to handle the increased physics load of v1.22's mechanical power systems.