Methodology, Sources & Testing
Trustworthy arithmetic needs visible working. This page shows every formula, every game constant with its source, and how the math is tested.
The formulas
All four calculators run on one small, pure engine:
net material cost = Σ(qty × price) × (1 − return rate) · per returnable line
sale proceeds = price × qty × (1 − sales tax [− setup fee if order])
profit = proceeds + returns sold − net material cost − fees
profit per focus = profit ÷ (focus per craft × crafts)
break-even sell = invested ÷ (qty × (1 − tax fraction))
“Reuse returns” (the default) nets returned materials against the next craft - the standard community model. “Sell returns” values them at your entered prices minus the sales tax. Both are labelled in each calculator's assumptions line.
Game constants and their sources
| Fact | Value used | Source | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return-rate formula & bonus points | bonus ÷ (100+bonus); city +18, refining city +40, crafting city +15, focus +59 | Albion Free Market | 2026-10 |
| City refining specialisations | Thetford bars · FS planks · Martlock leather · Lymhurst cloth · Bridgewatch blocks | Official wiki (archived) | 2026-10 |
| Refining recipes & base focus | T2–T8: 1–5 raw + 1 lower; focus 18/31/54/94/164/287/503 | AOScout | 2026-10 |
| Market tax structure | 2.5% setup fee (orders, non-refundable) · 4% sales tax · 2% with Premium | AFM worked examples · wiki (archived) | 2026-10 |
| Focus cost formula | base × 0.5^(efficiency ÷ 10,000) | AFM focus analysis | 2026-10 |
| Station fee formula | nutrition = item value × 0.1125 · fee = nutrition × rate ÷ 100 | AFM station fees | 2026-10 |
| Enchant components | .1 runes · .2 souls · .3 relics · .4 Avalonian shards (counts vary by slot) | Official crafting guide · AFM melding | 2026-10 |
Sandbox Interactive changes numbers in patches. Every preset is editable in the calculators, and we re-verify the table above after major economy patches - see the changelog.
Testing
The engine is a pure TypeScript module with no browser dependencies, covered by Vitest scenarios whose expected values are hand-computed with plain arithmetic (the same numbers printed in the worked examples on each tool page). The suite checks:
- Refining: 100× T5 bars in a bonus city (36.7% return) → net cost 160,782, profit +242,418, break-even 1,674.81.
- Crafting: artifact jacket batch → net materials 118,198.68/craft, profit +53,401.32/craft, break-even 124,373.63.
- Transport: 500 bars Martlock→Thetford → 8 trips, profit +354,000, break-even sell 4,062.5.
- Enchanting: .0→.1 upgrade → profit +79,720.25, premium over selling base +83,320.25.
- Tax edge cases: instant sell vs sell order, Premium halving, buy-order setup fee.
Run them yourself: npm test in the repository.
AI-use disclosure
AlbionForge's pages and code were drafted with AI assistance and are reviewed, corrected and owned by the site maintainer. Every game number was independently checked against the cited sources at publishing time; two of our own initial guesses (the crafting city bonus and two city specialisations) were wrong and fixed during that verification - which is exactly why this page exists.
Measurement & privacy
We run no analytics - no GA4, no counters, no cookies. The trade-off is deliberate: we measure success by the only signal that matters for a static tool, whether visitors finish their calculation and come back, and we keep the promise that nothing you type leaves your browser. Hosting logs (Cloudflare Pages) exist solely to serve the site.
Spotted an error? Contact us - corrections are credited in the changelog.