Inks are what you use to make spell Scrolls in Iron’s Spells ‘n Spellbooks, and there’s one for each spell rarity, going from 
Common Ink up to 
Legendary Ink. Without Ink the 
Scroll Forge won’t make anything, so it’s one of the things you’ll be looking for in every chest once you start collecting spells.
The rarity of the Ink decides the level of the spell you get. Common Ink gives you the lowest level a spell can be, and the higher Inks give you higher levels of that same spell, so a lot of the mod’s progression comes down to finding better Ink. You can also brew weaker Ink into stronger Ink, and recycle Scrolls you don’t want back into Ink.
Obtaining
Inks can’t be crafted at a Crafting Table, so most of your early supply comes from killing spellcasting mobs and looting chests in magic structures. Once you have a stack of weaker Ink, you can brew it up a tier at a time in an 
Alchemist Cauldron, and a Wandering Trader might sell you some as well if you have the 
Emeralds.
The Dead King is the best single source of high tier Ink in the mod. He rolls his Ink pool three times, and each roll can only be Rare, Epic or Legendary, so you’ll usually walk away with at least one Legendary Ink. Each roll is picked separately, so a lucky kill can give you three Legendary Ink at once.
The regular mages are a lot less generous than that. Their Ink is 29% Common, 48% Uncommon, 14% Rare and only 7% Epic on each roll, and they never drop Legendary. That makes them fine for keeping your Common and Uncommon stock up, but you’ll want bosses, vaults and brewing for anything higher than that.
Brewing Stronger Ink
To brew Ink you’ll need an Alchemist Cauldron, which is made with Arcane Essence. Right-click the cauldron with four bottles of the same Ink to pour them in, and you’ll get your 
Glass Bottle back each time. Then throw in the upgrade item, and after a few seconds the four Inks turn into one Ink of the next tier up.
Each tier needs a different item. A 
Copper Ingot turns Common Ink into 
Uncommon Ink, an 
Iron Ingot makes 
Rare Ink, a 
Gold Ingot makes 
Epic Ink, and an 
Amethyst Shard turns Epic Ink into Legendary Ink. Right-click the cauldron with an empty Glass Bottle to take the new Ink back out.
Brewing works out quite expensive, because every step is four Inks for one. Going all the way from Common to Legendary costs 256 Common Ink for a single Legendary, so it’s better for filling small gaps than for making all of your Ink. The upgrade items are cheap next to the Ink itself, so the cost is almost all in the bottles you pour in.
| Ink | Brewed from | Upgrade item | Wandering Trader price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common Ink | Loot only | None | 2 to 3 Emeralds |
| Uncommon Ink | 4 Common Ink | Copper Ingot | 10 to 11 Emeralds |
| Rare Ink | 4 Uncommon Ink | Iron Ingot | 18 to 19 Emeralds |
| Epic Ink | 4 Rare Ink | Gold Ingot | 26 to 27 Emeralds |
| Legendary Ink | 4 Epic Ink | Amethyst Shard | 34 to 35 Emeralds |
If you’re short on one tier in particular, it’s usually cheaper to buy it from the Wandering Trader or pull it out of a boss than to brew it. Save the cauldron for turning your pile of Common and Uncommon Ink into the odd Rare or Epic Ink when you’re one short.
Unlike a lot of brewing mods, the Alchemist Cauldron doesn’t need a fire underneath it. As long as there’s liquid in it, anything you drop in will start cooking, and it’s done after around five seconds.
Recycling Scrolls
Scrolls you don’t want can be turned back into Ink. Fill the Alchemist Cauldron with Water using a 
Water Bucket or Water Bottles, then throw the Scroll in. The Scroll is always used up, and half of the time the Water turns into the Ink that matches the Scroll’s rarity, so a Rare Scroll gives you Rare Ink.
The other half of the time you just lose the Scroll, so it isn’t a guaranteed way to get your Ink back. It’s still worth doing with duplicate Scrolls and spells from schools you’re not using, because a stack of spare Scrolls slowly adds up into a decent amount of Ink over time.
Usage
Ink has two jobs, which are making new Scrolls at the Scroll Forge and upgrading existing Scrolls at the 
Arcane Anvil. In both cases the rarity of the Ink is what matters, and a spell’s level decides its rarity, so higher level spells always need rarer Ink.
Crafting Scrolls
At the Scroll Forge you put Ink in one slot, 
Paper in another, and a focus item in the last slot, which decides the school of spells you can pick from. The spell you make comes out at the lowest level that fits the Ink’s rarity, so the same spell made with Rare Ink is a higher level than one made with Common Ink.
Some spells have a minimum rarity, so they can’t be made with weak Ink at all. If you try, the forge tells you to get a higher quality Ink, and you’ll need a stronger one before it’ll let you make that spell. The Scroll Forge uses up the focus along with the Ink and the Paper, so each Scroll costs one of each.
Upgrading Scrolls
At the Arcane Anvil, putting a Scroll in the first slot and an Ink in the second raises the Scroll’s spell by one level. The Ink has to match the rarity of the level you’re going to, not the level you’re on, so if the next level of that spell is Epic, only Epic Ink will work.
This is how you finish off a spell once you’ve crafted it, since the Scroll Forge only gives you the bottom level of each rarity. It’s also a good use for Ink you can’t brew any higher, and the Arcane Anvil is also where Upgrade Orbs and imbued spells are added.
FAQ
The Dead King is the most reliable way, since each of his three Ink rolls has a 37% chance of Legendary Ink. It’s also in rare chests like the Citadel vaults, a Wandering Trader might sell it for around 35 Emeralds, and you can brew four Epic Ink and an Amethyst Shard into one in an Alchemist Cauldron.
Ink can’t be made at a Crafting Table. You loot Ink from spellcasters and chests, buy it from a Wandering Trader, brew weaker Ink into stronger Ink in an Alchemist Cauldron, or recycle Scrolls into it, which works half of the time.
The spell you picked has a minimum rarity that’s higher than the Ink you put in. Swap it for a rarer Ink, like Rare or Epic, and the forge will let you make the Scroll, or pick a different spell that can be made with the Ink you have.
It levels up a Scroll by one. Put the Scroll in the first slot and an Ink in the second, and it only works if the Ink matches the rarity of the Scroll’s next level, so a spell going from Rare to Epic needs Epic Ink.
