This guide explores the Volcano Forge in Stardew Valley, a location where players can enhance tools and weapons using gemstones, crystals, and Cinder Shards. The 1.6 update expanded these options, adding innate enchantments and allowing pan enchantment.
Acquiring Cinder Shards:
Cinder Shards are crucial for all Volcano Forge functions. Gather them by:
- Mining Cinder Shard nodes (pink-orange specks) in the Volcano Dungeon.
- Obtaining them as drops from Magma Sprites, Magma Duggies, Magma Sparkers, and False Magma Caps. Drop rates vary.
- Harvesting from a fishing pond with at least seven Stingrays (7-9% daily chance of 2-5 shards).
Note: Cinder Shards are resources, not gems, and cannot be duplicated in the Crystalarium.
The Mini-Forge:
After achieving Combat Mastery, craft a Mini-Forge, replicating the Volcano Dungeon forge's functionality. The recipe requires:
- 5 Dragon Teeth
- 10 Iron Bars
- 10 Gold Bars
- 5 Iridium Bars
Weapon Forging:
Enhance weapons (up to three times) using gemstones and Cinder Shards (10, 15, then 20 shards per forge). Gemstone effects:
- Amethyst: +1 knockback per forge.
- Aquamarine: +4.6% critical hit chance per forge.
- Emerald: +2/+3/+2 speed per forge (cumulative).
- Jade: +10% critical hit damage per forge.
- Ruby: +10% damage per forge.
- Topaz: +1 defense per forge.
Alternatively, a Diamond provides three random upgrades (10 shards).
Optimal Weapon Upgrades:
For maximizing damage, combine Emerald and Ruby enhancements. For survivability (e.g., Qi Challenges), prioritize Topaz and Amethyst.
Unforging Weapons:
Reset weapons to their original state using the forge's red X. Some Cinder Shards are recovered, but not the gemstone.
Infinity Weapons:
Upgrade Galaxy Sword, Galaxy Dagger, or Galaxy Hammer into Infinity Weapons using three Galaxy Souls (20 Cinder Shards per soul). Forged upgrades and enchantments are retained. Galaxy Souls are acquired through various challenging methods (detailed in a separate Infinity Weapons guide).
Enchantments:
Apply random enchantments to tools and melee weapons using a Prismatic Shard and 20 Cinder Shards. Re-enchant for different effects.
Weapon Enchantments:
Random enchantments include: Artful (halved special move cooldown), Bug Killer (double damage to bugs, bypasses Armored Bug invulnerability), Crusader (double damage to undead, permanently kills mummies), Vampiric (chance to regain health on kill), and Haymaker (double fiber/hay chance from weeds). Bug Killer and Crusader are generally most valuable.
Innate Enchantments:
Use a Dragon Tooth to add one enchantment from each of two sets to melee weapons. Sets include: Slime Slayer (+damage to slimes), +Crit Power, +Attack, +Speed; and Slime Gatherer (+slime drops), +Defense, -Weight.
Tool Enchantments:
Twelve enchantments, each tool-specific. Examples include: Auto-Hook (instant fish hook), Archeologist (artifact/bone fragment finding boosts), Bottomless (endless water), Efficient (no energy drain), and others. (See table for complete list and effects).
Optimal Tool Enchantments:
Axe: Shaving (increased wood/resources). Watering Can: Bottomless. Hoe: Generous (increased item drops) or Archeologist (museum collection). Pickaxe: Swift/Powerful (increased speed/power). Fishing Rod: Preserving (conserves bait/tackle). Pan: Generous/Reaching (increased item drops/area).
This updated guide covers all aspects of the Volcano Forge, including the additions from Stardew Valley's 1.6 update, ensuring players can effectively enhance their equipment.
