9 Kings Blacksmith Guide: Damage, Placement and Surge

Blacksmith provides recurring damage growth to eligible adjacent plots. It belongs to King of Nothing. Its value comes from developing an attacker that actually contributes to the battle; it does not supply troop numbers or a frontline by itself.

Connect the damage recipient

The official card reference describes annual attack-damage additions to adjacent troops and buildings. For an illustrative troop plan, Blacksmith at B3 touches Paladin or Soldier at B2. It does not touch a troop at C2 diagonally. Inspect the recipient's current damage and eligible support effects before spending another card.

The Nothing frontline route pairs this damage role with Farm, which develops one adjacent troop's unit count. The Scout Tower route uses a different damage core and needs an actual tower-eligible connection. The current game preview should resolve eligibility when card types or modifiers differ from an old guide.

Surge has a developer example

Patch #30 introduced Surge, a Rainbow tome that triggers a targeted support building's effect nine times. The developer's example is a level-three Blacksmith producing 27 effect stacks, or 36 with Overwork. Those are the stated example values, not a measured final damage multiplier for every kingdom.

The distinction matters: effect applications and final displayed attack damage are different quantities. The announcement does not document every stacking order, rounding rule or interaction with multiple modifiers. It also does not establish an unlimited Surge loop. Patch #31 fixed a separate Surge–Library interaction; do not turn that fix into an unsupported promise about every support combination.

Surge belongs to the Rainbow pool. Obtaining Blacksmith does not guarantee a Surge draw, and a multiplayer season may restrict the available Rainbow cards. A practical opening should work before optional rewards arrive.

When more damage support helps

If the army survives but hits are too weak, useful Blacksmith growth can address that failure. If the intended recipient dies before attacking, repair its survival or the protection around it. If the problem is reaching a distant target, more damage alone may not fix targeting.

Avoid surrounding a Blacksmith with unrelated supports just because they have empty neighboring plots. Identify the recipient, trigger and contribution first. The Paladin guide explains the defensive branch; the card database helps compare troop and tower roles.

Evidence and version

Checked on 15 October 2026 through Patch #31 / 0.9.8. Role and annual growth: official cards. Surge example: Patch #30. Latest interaction fix: Patch #31. The layout is editorial and carries no measured clear or damage benchmark.