At the end of Ginger Island's Volcano Dungeon, players can find a mysterious forge. This isn't an ordinary forge, though — here, Stardew Valleyplayers can apply magical enhancements to their tools and weapons. It will cost them valuable gemstones and crystals, but the trade-off is worth the price.
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Though it may seem complex at first, the Volcano Forge is surprisingly easy to use. Once players understand the effects that they can apply to their items, it unlocks a whole new world of possibilities. This guide will show players how to achieve each possible effect, and which choices will provide the most utility in their Stardew Valley playthrough.
Weapon Forging
With enough Cinder Shards, players can use gemstones to forge their weapons and increase its stats. One weapon can be forged up to three times, with a bigger stat increase at each successive level. Players will need 10 Cinder Shards for a weapon's first forge, 15 for the second, and 20 for the third. They will also need to use a gemstone, each of which corresponds to a different enhancement:
- Amethyst: Increases knockback
- Aquamarine: Increases critical hit chance
- Emerald: Increases weapon speed
- Jade: Increases damage done by critical hits
- Ruby: Increases the weapon's damage
- Topaz: Increases the wielder's defense
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Alternatively, players can use a diamond to add three random upgrades to their weapon; this will cost 10 Cinder Shards.
Best Upgrades To Pick
When it comes to choosing which gems to forge onto a weapon, gamers should consider their play style and goal when it comes to exploring dangerous areas. For those trying to slay as many monsters as they can, the Emerald and Ruby enchantments are invaluable. When used together, the increased speed and damage drastically raises the DPS that weapon can do. Alongside both of these, either Aquamarine or Jade can help punch up critical hits.
Alternatively, if players are simply trying to survive — for example, while completing Qi Challenges — Topaz and Amethyst can both come in handy. They allow players to take more blows and to put more space between themselves and monsters, respectively.
Enchantments
Unlike forging, which increases an item's stats, enchantments provide an additional effect or somehow enhances a weapon or tool's performance. Any tool or melee weapon (i.e., weapons other than slingshots) can be enchanted at the forge using a Prismatic Shard and 20 Cinder Shards.
Unfortunately, players cannot choose which enchantment will be applied to their weapon or tool when it runs through the forge. However, if the player gets one that they're unhappy with, they can simply unforge the item and enchant it again to get a different result.
Weapon Enchantments
When enchanting a weapon, players may get any one of the following:
- Artful: Cooldown for special moves is halved.
- Bug Killer: Doubles damage done to grubs, flies, spiders, bugs, and rock crabs. Also allows the weapon to kill Armored Bugs.
- Crusader: Doubles damage done to mummies, skeletons, ghosts, and void spirits. Allows the weapon to permanently kill mummies.
- Vampiric: Grants a 9% chance for the player to regain health upon killing a monster, equal to approximately 10% of the monster's max health.
- Haymaker: Cutting weeds with this weapon provides double the chance to drop fiber, and has a 33% chance to drop hay.
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Tool Enchantments
There are a total of eleven tool enchantments, but not all of them can be applied to every tool. The axe, pickaxe, watering can, hoe, and fishing rod can all be enchanted in the forge, and will receive a random effect compatible with its usage. The available tool enchanting possibilities are as follows:
| Enchantment | Effect | Compatible Tools |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-Hook | Immediately hooks the fish (or junk) when it bites, starting the fishing minigame. | Fishing Rod |
| Archaeologist | Doubles the chance of finding artifacts when digging up artifact spots. | Hoe |
| Bottomless | Endless water supply | Watering Can |
| Efficient | Tool does not drain Energy when used | Axe, Hoe, Watering Can, Pickaxe, Fishing Rod |
| Generous | Doubles the chance to find an item when digging | Hoe |
| Master | Increases Fishing by 1 | Fishing Rod |
| Powerful | Adds one extra power level to the axe, or two to the pickaxe. | Axe, Pickaxe |
| Preserving | 50% chance that tackle and bait are not consumed on use. | Fishing Rod |
| Reaching | Increases the tool's maximum area of effect to 5×5 tiles. | Hoe, Watering Can |
| Shaving | Increases the wood that drops from trees, hardwood that drops from stumps, and crops that drop from giant crops. | Axe |
| Swift | Tool is 33% faster | Axe, Hoe, Pickaxe |
Best Enchantments For Each Item
- Weapons: For weapon enchantments, Bug Killer and Crusader are generally the most useful. These both allow the wielder to deal extra damage to enemies, including ones that are notoriously difficult to dispatch (Armored Bugs and Mummies, respectively).
- Axe: For players trying to stock up on supplies, Shaving is one of the best enchantments for the axe. Alternatively, Swift and Efficient both allow the player to chop more wood for less energy.
- Watering Can: There's really no way to go wrong with the Bottomless enchantment. Players will never have to refill the can again.
- Hoe: It's hard to go wrong with Generous, which helps players keep a steady supply of clay and also find artifacts. On the other hand, those trying to complete the museum collection may find Archaeologist the most useful, while those clearing large areas of land for farming will want Reaching or Efficient.
- Pickaxe: For players who want to maximize their mining, Swift and Powerful are both great enchantments, increasing the rate at which the player can break stone.
- Fishing Rod: Though Master can be helpful, there are plenty of other ways to increase the Fishing level, such as tackle or food buffs. Preserving is usually the most useful fishing rod enchantment, allowing the player's supply of bait and tackle to last longer.
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