The Bottom Line: Weapon billets are those annoyingly rare crafting materials you need for 4-star weapons – expect about a 12% drop rate from weekly bosses. Northlander billets handle Mondstadt/Liyue/Inazuma weapons, while Midlander billets are your Sumeru go-to. Hit up 3+ weekly bosses every week, grab those one-time souvenir shop deals, and focus on Prototype Amber, Amenoma Kageuchi, and Tidal Shadow for the best F2P setups.
Getting Your Head Around Weapon Billets: The Full Picture
So What Exactly Are These Things?
Think of weapon billets as your golden tickets to crafting decent 4-star weapons at any blacksmith across Teyvat. There's actually a whole system here – three distinct series, to be exact. You've got Northlander billets covering the classic trio (Mondstadt, Liyue, Inazuma), Midlander billets for all things Sumeru, and the upcoming Borderlander billets that'll handle Nod-Krai weapons.
Each series breaks down into five weapon types: Sword, Claymore, Polearm, Bow, and Catalyst. Here's the kicker – weekly boss drops give you roughly one billet every 8-9 attempts. Yeah, that 12% drop rate can feel pretty brutal when you're staring at your third consecutive talent material drop.
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Northlander vs Midlander: What's the Deal?
Northlander billets are your old-school workhorses. They craft weapons from the original regions – think Prototype Amber for your healing needs or Amenoma Kageuchi for energy-hungry sword users. You'll get these from the classic weekly boss lineup: Andrius, Dvalin, Childe, Azhdaha, La Signora, and Raiden Shogun.
Midlander billets? That's pure Sumeru territory. These craft region-specific weapons like Sapwood Blade and Fruit of Fulfillment, dropping from Guardian of Apep's Oasis, Scaramouche, and Tree of Dreams rewards.
Here's where it gets interesting – Dream Solvent (which drops at a much more reasonable 32.5% rate) lets you convert between billet types. One Dream Solvent plus any billet transforms into the corresponding type from another series. Game-changer for resource management.
How This Crafting Thing Actually Works
The recipe's pretty straightforward: 1 billet, 50 Crystal Chunks (or whatever your region uses), 50 White Iron Chunks, and 500 Mora. Ten seconds later, boom – new weapon.
Regional quirks matter though. Inazuma weapons want Amethyst Lumps, Fontaine demands Condessence Crystals, and the upcoming Nod-Krai will use Rainbowdrop Crystals. (Editor's note: I'm genuinely curious how they'll balance the material economy with these new crystal types.)
Pro tip: Character passives can save you serious materials. Diluc (Claymore), Ganyu (Bow), and Zhongli (Polearm) each provide 15% ore refunds. That adds up fast when you're crafting multiple weapons.
Northlander Billet Hunting: Your Complete Farming Blueprint
Weekly Boss Strategy
Six bosses drop Northlander billets, and honestly? That 12% drop rate means you're playing the long game here. Weekly reset hits Monday at 4:00 AM Server Time – mark your calendar.
First three bosses cost 30 Original Resin each. After that, you're looking at 60 Resin per fight. The math gets ugly fast if you're trying to hit all six every week.
Most Trounce Domains support Co-Op (everything except Stormterror). Adventure Rank 40+ unlocks Quick Challenge, which is a lifesaver for accessing bosses from regions you haven't fully explored yet.
One-Time Goldmines
Sacred Sakura's Favor is basically free billets if you're willing to grind Electro Sigils. You'll get guaranteed drops: Sword at Level 4, Claymore at Level 14, Polearm at Level 24, Catalyst at Level 34, and Bow at Level 44.
Souvenir shops offer one-time purchases that never restock. Mondstadt's With Wind Comes Glory sells 1 Northlander Sword Billet for 225 Anemo Sigils. Liyue's Mingxing Jewelry handles the other four types at 225 Geo Sigils each.
Don't sleep on world quests either. The Festering Fang in Dragonspine rewards billets plus weapon diagrams. These opportunities don't come back, so grab them early.
Event Opportunities
Special events occasionally feature Northlander Billet Troves – these let you pick your specific billet type instead of gambling with RNG. Version 1.6's Midsummer Island Adventure was a perfect example.
When these events pop up, prioritize them. Eliminating the randomness factor is worth way more than the time investment.
Midlander Billet Acquisition: The Sumeru Focus
Domain Rewards
Sumeru's weekly bosses (Guardian of Apep's Oasis, Scaramouche) follow that same 12% pattern, but your options are more limited. Unlike Northlander sources spread across multiple regions, Midlander acquisition concentrates entirely on Sumeru content.
You'll need Sumeru progression to access these fights, which creates a natural bottleneck for newer players.
Regional Tree Rewards
Tree of Dreams in Vanarana provides guaranteed Midlander billets through Dendro Sigil offerings. This creates a direct exploration-to-crafting pipeline that's way more predictable than boss RNG.
The milestone-based reward structure makes Sumeru exploration feel more rewarding than just wandering around hoping for chest spawns.
Weekly Boss Farming: Strategy & Schedule Optimization
Smart Boss Rotation
Here's the reality check: fighting three different bosses weekly costs 90 total resin versus 180 for all six encounters. With that 12% drop rate, you're looking at months of consistent participation regardless.
Choose your three based on more than just billets. Factor in talent materials, gems, and Dream Solvent drops. Make every resin count.
For optimized weapon enhancement alongside your farming efforts, ensuring adequate Genesis Crystal recharge before pulls keeps your progress steady. BitTopup offers secure, fast Genesis Crystal top-ups with excellent customer support – because weapon crafting and character acquisition should complement each other, not compete for resources.
Understanding the Numbers
That 12% represents maximum World Level encounters. Individual variance creates frustrating dry spells followed by sudden lucky streaks. Dream Solvent's 32.5% rate means it drops roughly three times more often, making conversion a viable strategy.
Resin Math That Actually Matters
30-resin cost for your first three encounters represents peak efficiency. Additional fights jump to 60 resin, which significantly tanks your expected value. Three weekly encounters at 12% each should net you roughly one billet every 2-3 weeks on average.
Craftable Weapon Rankings: What's Actually Worth Your Billets
The Top Tier
Prototype Amber stands out as the premier craftable catalyst. 510 base ATK, 41.3% HP bonus, and a passive that regenerates 4-6 Energy every 2 seconds for 6 seconds after Elemental Burst – plus party-wide HP restoration. This thing's invaluable for HP-scaling healers like Kokomi or Neuvillette support builds.
Amenoma Kageuchi claims the top craftable sword spot with 454 base ATK and 55.1% ATK bonus. Its Succession Seeds mechanic generates energy based on Elemental Skill usage, providing burst energy during consumption. Perfect F2P alternative for burst-dependent characters like Ayaka.
Tidal Shadow represents Fontaine's strongest craftable claymore offering 510 base ATK and 41.3% ATK. The 24% ATK increase for 8 seconds after healing synergizes beautifully with dedicated healers or Furina teams requiring party-wide healing support.
Character Synergy Deep Dive
Kitain Cross Spear brings 565 base ATK and 110 Elemental Mastery to the table. It increases Elemental Skill damage while managing energy through its drain-and-regenerate mechanic. Ideal for Thoma in Burgeon teams or Xiangling in reaction-heavy compositions.
Song of Stillness matches Tidal Shadow's stat distribution but for bows, offering 16% damage increase for 8 seconds after healing. The off-field trigger capability makes it valuable for self-healing characters like Lyney or teams with strong healing support.
Meta Reality Check
Current meta heavily favors energy management, healing synergy, and reaction support. Prototype Amber's healing aligns perfectly with survivability demands in challenging content. Amenoma Kageuchi addresses the universal need for burst uptime. Fontaine weapons represent the newest power level with higher base stats and healing-focused team synergy.
Crafting vs Refinement: Making Smart Choices
When New Beats Refined
Always prioritize filling weapon inventory gaps before chasing refinements. A single Prototype Amber copy provides full healing functionality – you don't need R5 to make it work.
Character roster expansion drives better decisions than refinement optimization. Each new DPS benefits more from having their own dedicated weapon than sharing a refined version.
Refinement Reality
Support weapons like Prototype Amber see minimal improvement from refinements. DPS weapons show more substantial gains, but rarely justify the billet cost versus crafting alternatives.
Most craftable weapons gain 20-30% effectiveness from R1 to R5. A second weapon provides 100% additional utility. The math's pretty clear.
Resource Allocation Framework
Billet scarcity demands strategic thinking. Priority order: unique utility weapons (Prototype Amber's healing), critical gaps (main DPS weapons), broad applicability across multiple characters.
Keep Dream Solvent reserves for conversion flexibility. It's easier to stockpile these than specific billet types.
Blacksmith Locations & Crafting Logistics
Where to Find Your Crafters
Wagner (Mondstadt): Right near the main plaza – super convenient NPC access.
Master Zhang (Liyue Harbor): Commercial district location with easy teleport access. Estelle (Fontaine Court): Sells local weapon diagrams for regional materials. Lyulka (Rossum Workshop, Nasha Town): Your future Nod-Krai diagram provider.
Material Requirements Breakdown
Standard recipe stays consistent: 1 billet, 50 Crystal Chunks (or regional equivalent), 50 White Iron Chunks, 500 Mora. That 10-second completion time enables efficient batch crafting when you've got multiple projects lined up.
Regional variations add complexity. Fontaine needs Condessence Crystals, upcoming Nod-Krai requires Rainbowdrop Crystals. Plan accordingly.
Prep Work That Pays Off
Community-mapped ore routes yield roughly 165 Crystal Chunks per circuit with 48-72 hour respawn timers. White Iron Chunks appear more frequently than Crystal variants, so they're rarely your bottleneck.
Regional ores like Condessence Crystals might actually limit your crafting speed more than billet availability. (Editor's observation: This feels intentional from a game design perspective – they want regional progression to gate crafting, not just material farming.)
Advanced Optimization: Getting Every Edge
Route Efficiency
Optimized routes combine multiple ore types with artifact investigation points and local specialties. Smart route planning considers respawn timers and daily resin patterns – schedule collection during natural exploration between resin activities.
Time Management Mastery
Weekly boss scheduling around Monday reset ensures consistent progress. Early week completion provides flexibility for additional encounters if you're feeling lucky or need specific materials.
Coordinate with Battle Pass missions and friendship farming. Multiple progression systems running simultaneously maximizes your time investment.
Multi-Region Balance
Balance billet acquisition with immediate crafting needs across regions. Focus Northlander sources early for proven weapons, then transition to Midlander farming once you've accessed Sumeru.
The conversion system enables flexible resource management regardless of immediate regional needs. Don't get locked into regional thinking.
Avoiding Common Pitfalls
Resource Waste Prevention
The biggest mistake? Crafting without clear character assignments or team planning. Billets are too scarce for experimental crafting – every decision needs purpose.
Refinement prioritization wastes billets on marginal improvements versus weapon diversity expansion. This hurts new players especially hard.
Priority Mistakes
Crafting lower-tier weapons when superior options exist burns resources you can't easily replace. Research tier lists and meta recommendations before committing billets.
Ignoring character synergy leads to suboptimal choices that provide minimal benefit to intended users. Match weapons to characters, not the other way around.
Recovery Options
Suboptimal decisions aren't permanent disasters. The conversion system and strategic planning can partially recover from early mistakes.
Dream Solvent enables billet type conversion for better options. Long-term planning overcomes early mistakes through patient accumulation and improved decision-making.
Future-Proofing Your Strategy
What's Coming Next
Borderlander billets will introduce Nod-Krai crafting requiring Rainbowdrop Crystals and region-specific diagrams. Early examples include Serenity's Call (Sword) and Snare Hook (Bow).
Blackmarrow Lantern catalyst features 454 base ATK and 221 Elemental Mastery, suggesting reaction-focused gameplay will continue expanding.
System Evolution
Historical precedent shows periodic expansions while maintaining core mechanics. Future updates will likely maintain the weekly boss foundation while adding regional progression sources similar to Sacred Sakura Tree and Tree of Dreams patterns.
Smart Stockpiling
Conservative management focuses on proven weapons with broad applicability versus speculative crafting. Maintain small reserves for character acquisitions or meta shifts, but don't hoard excessively.
Dream Solvent stockpiling (at that 32.5% drop rate) provides conversion flexibility that's more feasible than billet hoarding.
Your Most Pressing Questions Answered
How often should I actually fight weekly bosses for billets? Three weekly bosses minimum for that 30-resin cost advantage. The 12% drop rate means roughly one billet every 2-3 weeks. Additional fights cost 60 resin each – less efficient, but viable if you're swimming in resin.
New weapons or refinements – what's the smart play? Always craft new weapons over refinements. Single copies provide core functionality, while refinements offer only 20-30% improvement from R1 to R5. Multiple character weapons provide exponentially more value.
Which craftable weapons give the best F2P bang for buck? Prototype Amber (healing support), Amenoma Kageuchi (energy management), and Tidal Shadow (ATK-scaling DPS). These provide unique utilities that remain valuable throughout your entire progression, working effectively with multiple characters.
Can I actually convert between Northlander and Midlander billets? Absolutely. One Dream Solvent plus one billet converts to the corresponding weapon type in another series. Dream Solvent drops at 32.5% rate, making conversion totally viable when direct farming falls short.
What's the most efficient way to gather crafting materials? Follow optimized ore routes every 48-72 hours – you'll get roughly 165 Crystal Chunks per run. Use crafting passive characters (Diluc, Ganyu, or Zhongli) for that sweet 15% ore refund.
How should I prep for future weapon releases? Accumulate Dream Solvent for conversion flexibility rather than hoarding specific billet types. New regions introduce their own billet series, so conversion materials provide better adaptation than speculative stockpiling.