“ | The wealth of Moria was not in gold or jewels, the toys of the Dwarves; nor in iron, their servant (…) Its worth was ten times that of gold, and now it is beyond price; for little is left above ground, and even the Orcs dare not delve here for it (…) Mithril! All folk desire it. It could be beaten like copper, and polished like glass; and the Dwarves could make of it a metal, light and yet harder than tempered steel. Its beauty was like to that of common silver, but the beauty of mithril did not tarnish or grow dim. | ” |
–Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring |
Mithril is the most powerful, expensive and rare ingot in the game. It can make the strongest armour and tools that are even more powerful than their diamond counterparts, which are no longer obtainable in Middle-earth.
Lore[]
Mithril was extremely rare by the end of the Third Age, as it was found only in Khazad-dûm. The Dwarves of Moria mined for Mithril too greedily and too deep and thus released the Balrog. Once the Balrog known as Durin's Bane destroyed the kingdom of the Dwarves at Khazad-dûm, Middle-earth's only source of new Mithril ore was cut off. Before Moria was abandoned by the Dwarves Mithril was worth ten times its own weight in gold. After the Dwarves abandoned Moria and production of new Mithril ore stopped entirely, it became priceless, as the presence of the Balrog prevented the Orcs in Moria from delving for it. The only way to obtain a Mithril object at the end of the Third Age was to either use heirloom Mithril weapons and armour that were produced before the fall of Moria, or to melt down these existing weapons to forge new ones. However, most of that which had been produced by the Dwarves before the fall of Moria was gathered by the Orcs and paid as tribute to Sauron, who was said to covet it.
Obtaining[]
Mithril ingots are smelted from Mithril ore, which can only be found in the Misty Mountains and, prior to Public Beta 33, in the Meneltarma biome at layer 16 or below, and can be mined using any pickaxe with more than 4 attack damage. When it is mined, Mithril ore drops the ore block, not the ingot. It can then be smelted into an ingot using a forge.
Mithril can also be very rarely obtained as loot from chests in Dwarven mines. Nine mithril nuggets can be used to craft one mithril ingot:
Mithril nuggets are sometimes found as loot in various structures, including smials and underwater Elven ruins. Some NPCs will, on rare occasions, drop Mithril nuggets when killed. They can also be rarely found in Troll hoards, probably as property stolen from the Trolls' unfortunate victims. Another way to obtain Mithril nuggets is from fishing and opening mystery webs.
Usage[]
Each Mithril ingot can be crafted into nine mithril nuggets; these, in turn, can be sold to Wood-elf, Galadhrim and Lindon smiths, making them a profitable source of money. Nine ingots can also be made into a block of Mithril (and vice versa), which has no real use other than decoration or storage:
In the Legacy version since Public Beta 2, and in the Renewed version since Renewed Snapshot 1.4, Mithril Blocks have a connected texture.
Mithril ingots are also used to craft Mithril equipment, chandeliers, trimmed Dwarven bricks, armour and the Mithril crossbow.
To make Mithril Armour, you'll first need to make Mithril Mail:
Tolkien's Inspiration[]
In Hervarar saga, which was a cycle dealing with the magic sword sword Tyrfing (and from which Tolkien borrowed, for instance, the names Dwalin and Durin), the hero Orvar-Odd wore a silken mailcoat which nothing could pierce (Oddr svarar: "ek vil berjask við Angantýr, hann mun gefa stór högg með Tyrfingi, en ek trúi betr skyrtu minni, enn brynju þinni, til hlífðar").
Related Achievements[]
- True Silver: Mine some Mithril ore.
- Treasures of Old: Equip a full set of Mithril armour.
- More than Meets the Eye: Suffer a blow from an orc spear while wearing a Mithril chestplate.
Note[]
- ↑ Dwarf miners, Utumno orcs and Tormented Elves will rarely drop Mithril nuggets when slain; Barrow-wights will drop Mithril equipment and the nuggets.
The One Wiki to Rule Them All has an article on:
|
The Tolkien Gateway has an article on:
|
General:
Bronze •
Copper •
Gold •
Iron •
Mithril •
Silver •
Tin
|