Guides / Netherite Conversion
Netherite Conversion: The Free Upgrade Everyone Delays Too Long
September 18, 2026
Every enchanting guide on this site assumes you'll eventually want netherite gear. Here's the part most players get wrong: there's no reason to wait until after you've finished enchanting to upgrade.
The smithing table upgrade is free
Unlike an anvil combine, running diamond gear through a smithing table with a Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template and a netherite ingot costs zero experience levels. It also does not increase the item's prior-work (anvil use count) penalty at all — that counter is simply carried over unchanged, along with every enchantment already on the item, its current durability percentage, and any armor trim it's wearing.
That combination of facts leads to one clear strategy: enchant the diamond version of your gear completely first, using AnvilCalc to find the cheapest combine order, and only upgrade to netherite once you're happy with the result. Upgrading earlier buys you nothing (the stat bonuses are the same either way), and upgrading later costs nothing extra — so there's no version of "I should have waited" or "I should have upgraded sooner" that actually matters financially. The one exception: if you're not sure you'll finish the enchant build in one sitting, keep it in diamond until you are, purely so you don't accidentally lose track of which piece is upgraded.
Efficiency V- Fortune III
- Unbreaking III
- Mending I
Getting the template
The Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template only drops from Bastion Remnant chests in the Nether — it is not craftable from scratch. Once you have one, though, it duplicates: combine it with 7 diamonds and a block of netherrack at a smithing table (or in a crafting grid) to produce another copy, so a single lucky find is enough to upgrade your entire kit forever.
What you need per item
One diamond item, one Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template, and one netherite ingot (itself crafted from 4 netherite scrap — smelted from ancient debris — plus 4 gold ingots). The smithing table consumes the template and the ingot; your diamond gear becomes its netherite equivalent in place, enchantments and all.