Enchantments and Forging Secrets Revealed: Stardew Valley's Ultimate Guide

This guide explores the Volcano Forge in Stardew Valley, detailing how to enhance tools and weapons using Cinder Shards and gemstones. Updated for Stardew Valley 1.6, it covers forging, enchantments, and Infinity Weapons.

Obtaining Cinder Shards:

Cinder Shards, essential for the Volcano Forge, are found in the Volcano Dungeon via:

• Mining Cinder Shard nodes (pink-orange specks).
• Enemy drops (Magma Sprite, Magma Duggy, Magma Sparker, False Magma Cap – varying drop rates).
• Fishing ponds with 7+ Stingrays (2-5 shards, 7-9% daily chance).

Cinder Shards cannot be duplicated in the Crystalarium.

The Mini-Forge:

After achieving Combat Mastery, craft a Mini-Forge (5 Dragon Teeth, 10 Iron Bars, 10 Gold Bars, 5 Iridium Bars) for convenient on-farm forging and enchanting. It functions identically to the Volcano Forge.

Weapon Forging:

Gemstones enhance weapon stats (up to three times per weapon):

• Amethyst: +1 knockback per forge.
• Aquamarine: +4.6% critical hit chance per forge.
• Emerald: +2/+3/+2 speed per forge (total +7).
• Jade: +10% critical hit damage per forge.
• Ruby: +10% damage per forge.
• Topaz: +1 defense per forge.
• Diamond: Three random upgrades (10 Cinder Shards).

Each forge level requires increasing Cinder Shards (10, 15, 20).

Best Weapon Upgrades:

For maximizing damage, prioritize Emerald and Ruby. For survivability (Qi Challenges), Topaz and Amethyst are beneficial.

Unforging Weapons:

Place the weapon in the forge's left slot and select the red X to remove all forging (recovering some shards, but not gemstones). Enchantments remain.

Infinity Weapons:

Upgrade Galaxy Sword, Dagger, or Hammer into Infinity versions using three Galaxy Souls (20 Cinder Shards each). Forged upgrades and enchantments are retained. Galaxy Souls are acquired via Mr. Qi, Big Slimes (Dangerous Mines, quests), Island Trader, or Dangerous Monster drops (after 50 kills).

Enchantments:

Use a Prismatic Shard and 20 Cinder Shards for random enchantments on tools and melee weapons. Re-enchant for different effects.

Weapon Enchantments:

• Artful: Halved special move cooldown.
• Bug Killer: Double damage to bugs, kills Armored Bugs.
• Crusader: Double damage to undead, permanently kills mummies.
• Vampiric: Chance to regain health on kill.
• Haymaker: Double fiber/hay chance from weeds.

Bug Killer and Crusader are generally most useful.

Innate Weapon Enchantments:

Use a Dragon Tooth for additional enchantments. One from each of two sets is guaranteed:

Set 1: Slime Slayer, +Crit Power, +Attack, +Speed. Set 2: (Optional) Slime Gatherer, +Defense, -Weight.

Tool Enchantments:

Twelve tool enchantments (Axe, Pickaxe, Watering Can, Hoe, Fishing Rod, Pan) with varied effects. See table for details.

Best Tool Enchantments:

Axe: Shaving, Swift, Efficient. Watering Can: Bottomless. Hoe: Generous, Archeologist, Reaching, Efficient. Pickaxe: Swift, Powerful. Fishing Rod: Preserving. Pan: Generous, Reaching.

This guide provides a comprehensive overview of the Volcano Forge's functionalities, empowering players to optimize their tools and weapons in Stardew Valley.