Stardew Valley: Mastering Enchantments and Weapon Forging

At the end of Ginger Island's Volcano Dungeon, players can discover a unique forge that offers magical enhancements for their tools and weapons. This forge, unlike any other in Stardew Valley, allows players to significantly boost their equipment's capabilities at the cost of valuable gemstones and crystals. The investment is well worth it, as these enhancements can transform gameplay and open up new strategic possibilities.

While the Volcano Forge may initially seem complex, it's actually quite user-friendly once players grasp the various effects they can apply. This guide will detail how to achieve each effect and highlight the most beneficial choices for enhancing your Stardew Valley experience.

Updated January 6, 2025, by Demaris Oxman: Stardew Valley's 1.6 update has introduced numerous changes, including enhancements to the weapon forging system. Players can now enchant the Pan alongside other tools and explore innate enchantments for weapons. This guide has been revised to reflect these updates, ensuring players can optimize their tools and weapons effectively.

Obtaining Cinder Shards

All functions of the Volcano Forge require Cinder Shards, which can be found throughout the Volcano Dungeon. To fully enchant and forge a tool or weapon, players will need at least 65 Cinder Shards per item, necessitating some time spent farming these crystals. Here are the methods to obtain them:

• Mining a Cinder Shard node in the Volcano Dungeon. These nodes are identifiable by their pink-orange specks, as shown in the image above.
• As drops from specific enemies within the Volcano Dungeon, with the following drop rates:
  • Magma Sprite: 50% chance to drop
  • Magma Duggy: 40% chance
  • Magma Sparker: 50% chance
  • False Magma Cap: 50% chance to drop
• Produced from a fishing pond with 7 or more Stingrays, with a 7-9% daily chance to spawn 2-5 Cinder Shards.

Note that Cinder Shards are classified as a resource, not a gemstone, so they cannot be replicated in the Crystalarium.

The Mini-Forge

With Combat Mastery, players can craft a Mini-Forge, eliminating the need to travel to the Volcano Dungeon for forging. This portable forge functions identically to the one in the volcano and can be placed anywhere. To craft it, players need:

• 5 Dragon Tooth
• 10 Iron Bar
• 10 Gold Bar
• 5 Iridium Bar

Weapon Forging

With sufficient Cinder Shards, players can use gemstones to forge their weapons, enhancing their stats. A weapon can be forged up to three times, with each successive level providing a greater stat increase. Forging is exclusive to weapons and cannot be applied to tools like the Axe, Hoe, Watering Can, or Pickaxe.

The cost of forging increases with each level: 10 Cinder Shards for the first forge, 15 for the second, and 20 for the third. Each gemstone corresponds to a specific enhancement:

• Amethyst: Increases knockback by +1 per level.
• Aquamarine: Boosts critical hit chance by 4.6% x forge level.
• Emerald: Enhances weapon speed, with +2 for the first forge, +3 for the second, and +2 for the third.
• Jade: Increases critical hit damage by 10% x forge level.
• Ruby: Boosts weapon damage by 10% x forge level.
• Topaz: Increases defense by 1 x forge level.

Alternatively, using a Diamond adds three random upgrades at once, costing 10 Cinder Shards.

Best Upgrades To Pick

When selecting gems for weapon forging, consider your play style and objectives. For those focused on slaying monsters, Emerald and Ruby enchantments are crucial, as they increase speed and damage, respectively, boosting DPS. Adding Aquamarine or Jade can further enhance critical hits.

For players prioritizing survival, especially during Qi Challenges, Topaz and Amethyst are beneficial. They increase defense and knockback, respectively, helping to keep distance from monsters and withstand more hits.

Unforging Weapons

To reset a weapon to its original state, simply place it in the left square slot of the forge and select the red X symbol. This process will remove all forging, restore the weapon's original appearance, and recover some Cinder Shards, though the gemstone used will not be returned. No additional materials are needed for unforging, and enchantments remain intact.

Infinity Weapons

Players with the Galaxy Sword, Galaxy Dagger, or Galaxy Hammer can upgrade them to Infinity Weapons at the Volcano Forge using three Galaxy Souls, each requiring 20 Cinder Shards. The upgraded weapon retains any existing forged upgrades or enchantments.

Galaxy Souls

Galaxy Souls are challenging to obtain and require completing some of Stardew Valley's toughest challenges. Here are the primary methods to acquire them:

• Purchase from Mr. Qi in Mr. Qi's Walnut Room for 40 Qi Gems each.
• Defeat a Big Slime with a Galaxy Soul inside it in the Dangerous Mines or during Mr. Qi's quests.
• After killing 50 Dangerous Monsters, additional methods unlock:
  • Purchase from the Island Trader on the last day of the season for 10 Radioactive Bars each.
  • Galaxy Souls may drop from Dangerous Monsters.

Enchantments

Enchantments add unique effects to weapons and tools, enhancing their utility beyond stat boosts. Any tool or melee weapon can be enchanted using a Prismatic Shard and 20 Cinder Shards. The enchantment applied is random, but players can re-enchant to try for a different effect, mindful of the material cost.

Weapon Enchantments

Possible weapon enchantments include:

• Artful: Halves cooldown for special moves.
• Bug Killer: Doubles damage to specific bugs and allows killing Armored Bugs.
• Crusader: Doubles damage to certain undead enemies and permanently kills mummies.
• Vampiric: 9% chance to regain health upon killing a monster.
• Haymaker: Increases the chance of dropping fiber and hay from weeds.

Bug Killer and Crusader are typically the most useful, enhancing damage against challenging enemies. Haymaker is generally considered the least beneficial due to the abundance of fiber and hay.

Innate Enchantments

Innate enchantments, similar to weapon forging, can be applied using a Dragon Tooth. These enchantments come in two sets, with at least one from the first set guaranteed:

The second set of enchantments is not guaranteed:

Tool Enchantments

There are twelve tool enchantments, each specific to certain tools:

Best Enchantments For Each Tool

While all enchantments have their uses, preferences may vary based on play style. Players can re-enchant tools at the Volcano Forge if needed, provided they have the materials:

• Axe: Shaving for resource gathering, Swift or Efficient for energy efficiency.
• Watering Can: Bottomless for endless water.
• Hoe: Generous for steady supplies, Archeologist for museum collections, Reaching or Efficient for large-scale farming.
• Pickaxe: Swift and Powerful for faster mining.
• Fishing Rod: Preserving to conserve bait and tackle, though Master can be useful for increasing Fishing level.
• Pan: Generous and Reaching for better artifact and treasure hunting.