Choosing Between Silver, Gold, Diamond, Crystal and Obsidian Barrels

Understand the branch points

The barrel chain is not a single line. After Iron Barrel you can go to Silver Barrel with Iron To Silver or to Gold Barrel with Iron To Gold. Both Silver and Gold then feed into Diamond Barrel through Silver To Diamond or Gold To Diamond. Pick whichever intermediate material you can supply more easily; the end result at Diamond is the same.

Diamond is the fork

Diamond Barrel is where the chain splits into two parallel end tiers. Use Diamond To Crystal for Crystal Barrel, or Diamond To Obsidian for Obsidian Barrel. These two are alternatives, not sequential steps. Neither token converts Crystal into Obsidian or the reverse, so choose deliberately.

Shortcut tokens

Several tokens skip tiers entirely. Wood To Diamond and Wood To Obsidian jump a wooden barrel straight to the top of the crafting chain. Copper To Silver bypasses Iron. Silver To Gold lets a Silver Barrel reach Gold without going back through Iron. Use these when you have the token but not the intermediate barrel.

Netherite above all

Netherite Barrel is reached only through the smithing_transform recipe, using a Diamond Barrel or Obsidian Barrel as the base. Crystal Barrel does not appear as a Netherite base in the available recipes, so if Netherite is your goal, route through Diamond or Obsidian.