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Unlike cloaks and necklaces, nails have two slots (one on each hand), allowing the player to double up on one particular style or mix and match two different designs. With such a massive selection to choose from, here are all the different types of nails in Forspoken, ranked by usefulness.
10 Health Nails
These nails grant buffs dependent on the player’s health. Flaunt deals more damage at high health, whereas Grit deals more damage at low health. Neither is particularly useful, as it can be difficult to maintain high health and dangerous to maintain low health. In most cases, Frey’s HP will be somewhere in-between, meaning players won’t benefit from the buff all that often.
Flaunt and Grit are awarded for completing Fort Gabb and Plateau Hollow Cave respectively, both found in Visoria.
9 Debuff Nails
With one debuff nail available for each of the four magic styles, these nails increase the duration of debuff effects from spells. This can be useful in certain circumstances, but debuffs are usually not as impactful as raw damage, so are highly situational. They do increase the spell damage for the chosen style of magic though, so they aren’t all bad.
III (Frey’s magic) is found at Kloros Guild, Twisted (Sila’s magic) at Ruins of Eskii, Heavy (Prav’s magic) at Perle Village, and Tease (Olas’ magic) at Ruins of Teharnaa.
8 Recharge Nails
This set of nails is focused on reducing spell cooldowns. Blue Flash recharges attack magic faster, Jet recharges support magic, Dig Deep recharges surge magic, and Beaucoup boosts the recharge rate of surge magic based on the number of spells the player has learned. These could be useful, but with each nail aside from Jet coming with a penalty to damage output, they’re slightly underwhelming and even a bit redundant.
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Blue Flash can be obtained from Chapter 3, whereas Jet is found at Ruins of Sommay, Dig Deep at Wielki Fort, and Beaucoup at Ruins of Alda.
7 Enemy Nails
Two nails that have an impact on enemies, Amped and Fatale are both decent options depending on the type and number of opponents players are up against. Amped increases the amount of damage based on the number of foes Frey is facing. This allows players to thin out the herd quickly before their numbers start to overwhelm them. It also increases purple magic damage. Fatale, on the other hand, makes it easier for enemies to be knocked to the ground, and buffs spell damage across the board.
Amped is earned by completing Ruins of Calme in Avoalet, whereas Fatale is rewarded for defeating Gigas at The Rock Beds in Praenost.
6 Attack Magic Nails
Another set available for each of the four magic styles, these nails grant additional effects to top-level attack magic as well as increase their damage overall. On Point (Frey’s magic) deals extra damage, while Ignite (Sila’s magic) sets enemies on fire, Frostbite (Prav’s magic) can freeze enemies in place, and Wired (Olas’ magic) can electrocute enemies. A fifth option, Nightshade, can poison enemies but suffers from a damage penalty. These can be good options if players are choosing to specialize in one style of magic.
On Point is located at Abandoned Merchant Convoy, Ignite at Ruins of Zelenina, Frostbite at Fort Sestina, Wired at Biichu Village, and Nightshade at Ruins of Lepsi.
5 Healing Nails
Two nails that boost the effectiveness of healing items, Bounce gives a general buff, whereas the aptly named Clutch only grants the buff when Frey is at low health. The trade-off is that Bounce has a penalty to damage, whereas Clutch increases spell damage. Both are decent choices, so it’s up to the player whether they want to use the more reliable Bounce or equip the riskier Clutch and avoid the damage penalty.
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Bounce is awarded for completing Brome Guild in Avoalet, and Clutch for completing Reeve Village in Junoon.
4 Learned Spells Nails
These five nails boost damage based on the number of spells players have learned over the course of the game. Savage is universal to all spells, whereas Hope (Frey’s magic), Passion (Sila’s magic), Honor (Prav’s magic and Wisdom (Olas’ magic) are all based on spells learned in their own style. While performing poorly in the early game, these nails provide a strong late-game buff and are especially useful if the player wants to prioritize one magic style over another. Alternatively, Savage can grow to become a highly powerful modifier if enough spells are learned.
Savage can be obtained from Upril Village, Hope from Fort Chahiye, Passion from Fort Optima, Honor from an Amphicynodon enemy drop, and Wisdom from Fort Laayak.
3 Critical Hit Nails
Some of the most powerful nails in the game, Blessed and Spectrum both improve critical hit rate. Blessed gives a blanket buff combined with some extra spell damage, whereas Spectrum boosts critical hit rate by the number of spells learned. Blessed may be a better choice early on when fewer spells have been learned, but Spectrum can also grow to potentially overtake it in terms of damage output. Spectrum also has a unique rainbow design for those wanting to sport the colors of the pride flag.
Blessed can be found at Chichek Village in Avoalet, and Spectrum from a Deinosuchus enemy drop.
2 Killer Blow Nails
Unsurprisingly, nails that improve one of the best combat moves available are also some of the best nails in the game. Aftershock makes killer blows generate a shockwave, dealing damage to surrounding enemies, as well as the one targeted by the killer, blow. Escalate, on the other hand, allows killer blows to be chained together for deadly combos. Both powers are unique and have a strong impact on the battlefield.
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Aftershock is earned during Chapter 5, and Escalate by defeating Apsaravis at the Ruins of Koshish in Junoon.
1 Surge Magic Nails
These two powerful nails will provide plenty of value over the course of the game. Lit makes attack magic deal more damage when surge magic is fully charged, whereas Slay functions similarly with support magic. This allows players to more efficiently deal with weaker enemies while saving their powerful surge magic for more challenging opponents, avoiding any wasted potential. If that wasn’t enough, both nails also increase spell damage, giving an extra little bonus.
Lit is located at Zakto Village, and Slay can be obtained from Chapter 3.
Forspoken is available for PS5 and Windows.
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