Machine Mastery

Machine Mastery lets a machine get better the more work it does. Each machine earns its own XP, levels up, and spends the points it earns on a large shared passive tree. Later, Ascendancy Seals unlock a small specialization tree just for that machine's family.

Mastery belongs to the individual machine, not to you. Two Crushers side by side level separately, and each one keeps its progress when you break it and place it again.

Which machines have Mastery

Seven machine families have a Mastery tab:

Family	Machines	Starting point on the tree
Crusher	Every Crusher chassis	Drive
Furnace	Every Furnace, including the Stage 0 fuel Furnace	Drive / Reserve
Alloy Furnace	Every Alloy Furnace chassis	Drive / Reserve
Metal Press	Crude Metal Press and Metal Press (Metal Press)	Control
Resonance Calibrator	Every Resonance Calibrator chassis	Control
Melter	Melter	Reserve / Control
Forestry Companion	The Forestry Companion cart (Forestry Cart Station)	Control / Drive

Other machines, Gear, and cables do not level up.

Earning XP

A machine earns XP each time it successfully finishes a job that awards Mastery XP. Recipe tables on the machine pages show a Mastery XP column where a recipe gives XP.

Family	What earns XP
Crusher	Finished crushing jobs. A dense batch awards XP for each job in it.
Furnace	Smelting ores, raw metals, crushed ores, and alloy blends. Dust-to-ingot smelts, food, and decorative blocks give none.
Alloy Furnace	Finished alloy recipes.
Metal Press	Finished pressing jobs.
Resonance Calibrator	Finished calibrations, counted per lane on multi-lane chassis.
Melter	Finished melts that land in the output tank.
Forestry Companion	Planting, leaf cleanup, and harvesting.

Failed jobs, idle time, waiting on a full output, and recipes with no XP give nothing.

Harder work, more XP

Every XP-awarding job has a work level from 1 to 98. It comes from how demanding the job is: ore hardness for the Crusher, required processing level for the Melter, target heat for the Furnace, Alloy Furnace, and Metal Press, and required calibrator stage for the Resonance Calibrator. For the Forestry Companion it rises with its Tree Fell Limit.

Higher work levels pay much more XP per job. Once your machine's level passes the work level, the XP falls off:

Machine level compared with work level	XP awarded
At or below	100%
1 level above	50%
2 levels above	25%
3 or more above	0%

To keep levelling, feed the machine harder work. Fractions of XP are saved, so small amounts are never lost.

Levels and points

Machines start at level 1 and can reach level 100. Each level after the first gives one point, so a level 100 machine has 99 points.

The XP curve gets steep. These are the total XP needed to reach some levels:

Level	Total XP
2	100
10	5,600
20	184,000
30	5,334,600
50	about 35.9 million
100	about 4.2 billion

After level 30, each level needs 10% more total XP than the one before.

The passive tree

All seven families share one passive tree of 1,368 nodes. Each family enters at its own start, shown in the table above. Your machine can only grow outward from its own start, and it cannot pass through another family's start.

The tree has three attributes: Control (teal), Drive (gold), and Reserve (red). Each start gives 20 points of its attribute, split 10 and 10 on mixed starts. Travel nodes along the tree's roads add more, and machines and Gear can roll attribute suffixes. Attributes give bonuses on their own:

Attribute	Every machine	Family bonus
Control	0.1% increased Stability and 0.02% reduced Energy Usage per point	Furnace, Alloy Furnace, and Metal Press: 0.05% increased Temperature Stability per point. Resonance Calibrator: 0.05% increased Calibration Precision per point.
Drive	0.15% increased Processing Speed per point	Forestry Companion: +1 Tree Fell Limit per 20 points.
Reserve	0.25% increased Energy Capacity per point (not the Forestry Companion)	Furnace and Alloy Furnace: 0.1% increased Heat Isolation per point. Melter: 0.1% increased Fluid Transfer per point. Forestry Companion: +1 managed-cell maximum per 4 points.

A bonus only matters where the machine uses that stat. For example, the Stage 0 fuel Furnace has no FE buffer, so Reserve's Energy Capacity does nothing for it.

Hover your start node to see your current attribute totals.

Attribute scaling

Some notables turn an attribute into a stat beyond its own bonuses, such as Torque Conversion (Processing Speed per Drive), Governed Draw (reduced Energy Usage per Control), or Driven Bellows (Heat Transfer per Drive). They grow with every attribute point, so they reward stacking one attribute from the tree and from Gear. The % increased attribute nodes are weak on their own and strong in such a build.

A few keystones build on this:

• Attribute Transfiguration: 100% more Control, Drive, and Reserve, but attributes lose their own bonuses. Only attribute scaling uses the points.
• Reserve Actuation: 0.4% increased Processing Speed per point of Reserve, but Reserve loses its own bonuses.
• Governed Actuation: 0.35% increased Processing Speed per point of Control, but Control loses its own bonuses.
• Singular Drive and Deep Reserve: 50% more of one attribute and 50% less of the other two.

Hold Shift while hovering an attribute total, on your start node or in the Bonus Summary, to see where its points come from: your start, tree nodes, and each Gear part.

Surge Cycling trades steady speed for luck. Increased and reduced Processing Speed stop changing how fast the machine runs and apply to Instant Process chance instead, at 30% of their value, up to 75%. "More" and "less" speed effects still apply. Your Instant Process chance shows on the Stats tab; Shift-hover it to see where it comes from. With 200% increased speed you get 60% Instant Process. Instant Process suffixes and the Surge nodes push it toward the cap.

Node types

• Travel nodes sit along the roads and grant attribute points.
• Ordinary nodes and notables branch off the roads into reward clusters. Notables are the stronger nodes at the end or center of a cluster, at least three points in from the road.
• Keystones are big commitments, at least 10 points from every start. Most are trade-offs: Steady State gives 50% more Stability but 15% less Processing Speed, Single Pass turns off bonus output for 30% more Processing Speed, and Dense Batching adds 3 Batch Size but makes a machine wait for a full batch before it starts a cycle. The path leading to Dense Batching lowers Batch Overhead, and its notable Even Loading adds 1 Batch Size. A few only change how the machine works, and cost nothing but the points to reach them: Silent Operation mutes the machine, Even Feed makes automation fill a Furnace's input lanes evenly, and two keystones on the same node 10 points from the Drive/Reserve start set how a heated machine runs its heat: Blast Draft lets the overheat slider go past the safe maximum, and Cool Headed cools the chamber to the recipe target before every new input.

Every node is visible to every family. A node can have no effect on your machine: a Crusher can take a heat node and gain nothing from it. Any penalty on that node still applies, and the tooltip marks which effects are inactive. Some keystone payoffs only work on the machines that actually pay their cost; the tooltip lists which machines those are. For example, Flash Annealing caps Max Temperature, so its payoff works only on the Furnace, Alloy Furnace, and Metal Press. Low Heat Specialist's cap is below most alloy and press recipes, so its payoff works only on the Furnace. Use the relevance control to highlight nodes that matter for your machine.

Stat terms like "increased" and "more" are explained in Rarity and Affixes, and each stat is defined in Machine Stats.

Allocating and refunding

Open the Mastery tab to browse the tree.

• Moving around: drag to pan and scroll to zoom. Shift-scroll pans sideways and Ctrl-scroll pans up and down. The button at the top right expands the view to fill the screen. The toolbar has Home, which centers on your machine's start, and Fit, which shows the whole tree.
• Find: click the search box or press Ctrl+F, then type part of a node's name, stat, or ID. The box shows how many nodes match, and Enter jumps to the next match. Typing keystone, notable, or travel highlights every node of that type.

Spending and refunding points:

• Allocate: hover any unallocated node to preview the shortest path to it and its cost, then click to buy the whole path in one go. The path is bought only if you can afford all of it and your Gear allows every node on it; otherwise nothing is bought. The purchase happens when you release the click, so a drag that starts on a node only pans. Every node costs one point and must connect back to your start.
• Gear limits: some nodes restrict which Gear you can install. You cannot take a node your installed Gear breaks; the tooltip says why.
• Refund: right-click an allocated node to remove it. Each removed node costs one Mastery Refund. A refund must leave the rest of your tree connected and your Gear legal. Shift-click Clear to refund the whole tree at the same price per node. After an update that changes the tree, each machine's build is kept wherever it still fits, and its next Clear is free. While it is available, the X (Clear) button glows green, and the Bonus Summary and start node say so.

In the expanded view, the tab on the right edge opens the Bonus Summary: your attribute totals, keystones, and every allocated effect combined the way the machine actually adds them up. It has sections for your Ascendancy, bonuses that come from attributes, attribute scaling, limits, special behaviors, and effects this machine does not use. Hover a line to see the stat, its current contribution, and which nodes it comes from.

Mastery Refunds

Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Paper + Redstone Dust + Copper Ingot	⇄8

One craft makes eight. Creative players refund for free.

Copying builds and keeping progress

Build codes

Copy puts your allocation order on the clipboard as a build code. If the machine is following a pasted build, Copy takes the whole target build, not just the part allocated so far. Paste it into another machine with an empty tree and the same start. That machine buys what it can afford now, then keeps following the build as it earns points. Purple outlines show the target nodes. Use Pause and Resume to control following. Following pauses if a node would conflict with installed Gear or if you refund manually.

Machines that share a start can share build codes: the Furnace with the Alloy Furnace, and the Metal Press with the Resonance Calibrator.

The Configurator has a Mastery mode for copying without the clipboard. Sneak-use it in the air to switch modes. In Mastery mode, sneak-use a machine to copy its build and use it normally on another machine to paste. This works on the Forestry Companion cart too. You can also shift-click Copy on the Mastery tab: the build is saved to a Configurator in your inventory, which switches to Mastery mode.

Breaking a machine

Breaking a Mastery machine with the right tool drops it with its XP, level, tree, and ascendancy intact. Pick-block in Creative keeps them too, and the Forestry Companion keeps its progress in item form.

Progress belongs to that one machine. Crafting a higher-stage chassis starts a fresh machine at level 1. To carry your progress over, use a Soul Transfer.

Soul Transfer

A Soul Transfer moves a machine's whole Mastery into another machine of the same kind, such as from an Iron Crusher to a Steel Crusher. It carries everything: XP, level, tree, followed build, ascendancy, and Seal tiers.

1. Use it on the old machine to absorb its soul. The old machine drops back to level 1 with no Seal tiers, and the Soul Transfer glows and shows what it holds.
2. Use it on the new machine to release the soul. The Soul Transfer is used up.

Absorbing can fail. Its tooltip shows the success chance, which is the stability of the calibrated logic component you crafted it with. A failed absorb uses up the Soul Transfer, and the machine keeps its Mastery. A better-calibrated component from the Resonance Calibrator gives a safer Soul Transfer. Releasing always succeeds.

Each Soul Transfer moves one soul to one machine:

• The soul only fits the same kind of machine. A Furnace soul cannot go into an Alloy Furnace, even though they share build codes.
• A soul with an ascendancy needs a Stage 4 or higher machine, the same as Seal I.
• If the new machine already has Mastery, the first use only warns you. Sneak-use to release anyway; the new machine's own Mastery is lost.

It works on the Forestry Companion cart too.

A Soul Transfer can also take the soul out of a Dormant Machine, an old machine you wake with power.

Ingredients	Crafting recipe	Notes
Diamond + Gold Ingot + Calibrated Logic Component + Amethyst Shard		Calibrated Logic Component must be a Logic calibration, Stage 2+, stability 0+.

Ascendancies

An ascendancy is a small specialization tree for one machine family. Each family has two to choose from, and the Forestry Companion has three. You unlock one with Ascendancy Seals. Ascendancy points are separate from your passive tree points.

Ascendancy Seals

Each Seal grants 2 ascendancy points to one machine. Seals are used in order, one per tier, for at most 6 points:

Seal	Needs
Ascendancy Seal I	A machine of Stage 4 or higher. Choosing your ascendancy happens here.
Ascendancy Seal II	Seal I already used on this machine.
Ascendancy Seal III	Seal II already used on this machine.

The Stage 4 requirement means a Steel or better Crusher, Furnace, Alloy Furnace, or Resonance Calibrator, or the Metal Press. The Crude Metal Press (Stage 3) cannot ascend. The Melter counts as Stage 6, and the Forestry Companion always qualifies. Only Seal I checks the stage; Seals II and III do not.

Seals are plain items. A Seal from loot or a quest works the same as a crafted one. Your modpack may turn Seal recipes off. In Creative mode you still need the Seal in your inventory, but it is not used up.

With JEI installed, each Seal has an information page. With Jade installed, looking at a machine while sneaking shows its ascendancy and points.

Crafting Seals

Seals are crafted at a crafting table. Seal I needs a calibrated conductive component from the Resonance Calibrator; the Notes column shows the stage and stability it must have.

Ingredients	Crafting recipe	Notes
Ascendancy Seal I Sparksteel Plate + Calibrated Conductive Component + Aluminum Casing + Primed Seal Core + Advanced Electric Circuit		Calibrated Conductive Component must be a Conductive calibration, Stage 5+, stability 70+. Requires the Sparksteel material to be enabled. Requires the Aluminum material to be enabled.
Ascendancy Seal I Calibrated Conductive Component + Sparksteel Plate + Aluminum Casing + Primed Seal Core + Any Stabilizer Matrices		Calibrated Conductive Component must be a Conductive calibration, Stage 5+, stability 55+. Requires the Sparksteel material to be enabled. Requires the Aluminum material to be enabled.
Ascendancy Seal II Tungstensteel Plate + Calibrated Diamond Crystal + Nullite Plate + Lubricated Seal Core + Elite Electric Circuit		Calibrated Diamond Crystal must be a Logic calibration, Stage 6+, stability 85+. Requires the Tungstensteel material to be enabled. Requires the Nullite material to be enabled.
Ascendancy Seal III Naquadah Plate + Calibrated Diamond Crystal + Lubricated Seal Core + Exotic Machine Frame + Ultimate Electric Circuit		Calibrated Diamond Crystal must be a Logic calibration, Stage 6+, stability 95+. Requires the Naquadah material to be enabled. Requires the Tungstensteel material to be enabled. Requires the Nullite material to be enabled.

The Seal Cores at the center of each recipe come from the Component Assembler: the Primed Seal Core uses Electrolyte Solution and the Lubricated Seal Core uses Lubricant.

Input		Output	Time	Energy	Rolls traits
41k	→		20 s	12,000 FE	No

Input		Output	Time	Energy	Rolls traits
1k	→		30 s	32,000 FE	No

Choosing and spending points

On the Mastery tab, the crest beside your start node opens the Ascendancy panel. The crest appears on every family that has ascendancies and on any machine that has already earned a tier. Its pips show which Seal tiers the machine has earned, and it glows when a Seal can be used or points are waiting.

1. Press Ascend with the next Seal in your inventory. Seal I opens a dialog that previews every ascendancy for the family.
2. Pick one. Its root node is allocated for free.
3. Click nodes to spend your points. Each small node leads to one notable, so 6 points reach at most three notables. A deep notable sits one small node beyond a notable.

To refund an ascendancy node, right-click it. It costs five Mastery Refunds per node, and you refund from the tips inward. The root cannot be refunded.

Switch changes to the family's other ascendancy. It needs an empty tree apart from the root and uses up one Seal I. You keep your earned tiers and points.

If a machine's ascendancy is no longer in the game, for example after a mod update, the machine keeps its earned tiers and can choose a new ascendancy for free, without a Seal.

Ascendancy bonuses show on the machine's Stats tab and in the Bonus Summary, and build codes carry the chosen ascendancy.

Ascendancies by family

Family	Ascendancy	Summary
Crusher	Rockbreaker	Makes crushing above your Crush Head's level practical by forgiving missing head levels for time, FE, and jam risk.
	Assayer	Keeps a separate bonus-output bank for each input you crush, and can keep those banks when the Crusher is broken.
Furnace	Crucible Keeper	Heats working lanes past the recipe target for extra speed, at extra FE or fuel, and can hold lane heat while input waits.
	Bloomer	Banks part of each ore, raw, or crushed smelt and pays it out as whole extra items, in exchange for 50% less Super Output.
Alloy Furnace	Metallurgist	Builds up Flux that occasionally saves one unit of an alloy's largest ingredient.
	Blendwright	Speeds up blend recipes, and a failed direct-ingot craft returns a blend; direct-ingot recipes run 15% slower.
Metal Press	Die Keeper	Stores several molds and switches to the one that fits the input automatically.
	Drop Forge	Presses several plate, gear, or casing jobs as one batch, with a narrower safe heat window.
Resonance Calibrator	Harmonist	Each consecutive calibration of the same family on one pattern raises the stability floor.
	Mass Tuner	Spends one catalyst per cycle however many lanes run, at a lower stability ceiling.
Melter	Pressure Vessel	Much bigger tanks and more fluid per melt, at 20% less speed.
	Twin Crucible	Melts several sets per cycle, at 15% more energy use.
Forestry Companion	Timber Baron	The logger: banks part of each harvested log and pays it out as extra logs.
	Grove Warden	The grower: spends bone meal and FE on growth pulses that push managed saplings along.
	Field Hand	The farmer: plants, harvests, and replants crops on farmland instead of trees. Its Sprinkler node waters the rows using a Fluid Pump.

No ascendancy lets a loop of recipes create items or FE from nothing, and none lowers the inputs a recipe asks for.

See also

• Machine Stats
• Rarity and Affixes
• Stages
• Gear

RNGTech wiki

Guides	Automation · Battery Cells · Dormant Machines · Gear · Getting Started · Heat · Machine Mastery · Machine Stats · Modpack Creators · Power Chains · Rarity and Affixes · Stages · Uniques
Processing	Alloy Furnace · Component Assembler · Component Recycler · Crusher · Furnace · Melter · Metal Press · Resonance Calibrator · Wooden Composter
Power generation	Bio Generator · Cavitation Generator · Corrosion Cell · Fuel Cell · Potential Reactor · Solar Panel · Solid Fuel Burner · Syngas Combustor · Vacuum Collapse Generator
Energy storage	Battery Chassis
Fluids and gases	Algae Photobioreactor · Ammonia Synthesizer · Coal Gasifier · Fluid and Compressor Tanks · Silica Gel Dehumidifier · Steam Methane Reformer · Wooden Dehumidifier
Refinement	Affix Forge · Exotic Affix Forge
Logistics	Universal Cable
Tools	Forestry Cart Station · Miner's Companion · Modular Tools · Tool Bench