At the end of Ginger Island's Volcano Dungeon, players can find a mysterious forge. This isn't an ordinary forge, though — here, Stardew Valley players 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.

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.

Updated March 3, 2023 by Demaris Oxman: With Stardew Valley's 1.5 update now available on all platforms, including mobile, plenty of players are discovering all that Ginger Island has to offer. In addition to a new farming space, new crops to grow, and parrots to befriend, this tropical paradise is home to an adventure-filled mining opportunity: the Volcano Dungeon. At the summit of this perilous journey lies the Volcano Forge, where players can enhance the capabilities of their weapons and tools. Since many players will be discovering this aspect of the game for the first time, this guide has been updated to help players choose the best enchantments and effects for their tools and weapons in Stardew Valley.

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Cinder Shards

All of the Volcano Forge's functions require Cinder Shards, which players can find throughout the Volcano Dungeon. In order to enchant and fully forge a tool or weapon, players will need at least 65 Cinder Shards per item, so they may need to spend some time farming these mysterious crystals. They can be found through the following methods:

• Mining a Cinder Shard node in the Volcano Dungeon. These nodes have the appearance of other mineral nodes with pink-orange specks, as seen circled in the image above.
• As a drop from certain enemies in the Volcano Dungeon: Magma Sprite, Magma Duggy, Magma Sparker, and False Magma Cap.
• Produced from a fishing pond with 7 or more Stingrays.

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. Forging can only be applied to weapons, and cannot be used with tools such as the Axe, Hoe, Watering Can, or Pickaxe.

Because the enhancements increase in power with each successive forge, the price increases with each one. 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, meaning that enemies hit by this weapon will be knocked farther away from the player. Each forge with this gemstone adds +1 per level.
• Aquamarine: Increases the chance of landing critical hits. The increase is equal to 4.6% x forge level:
  • First forge: + 4.6% critical hit chance
  • Second forge: +9.2%
  • Third forge: +13.8%

• Emerald: Increases weapon speed. The first forge adds +2, the second forge adds +3, and the third adds +2. These effects stack, meaning that three Emerald forges will result in a +7 speed increase.
• Jade: Increases damage done by critical hits by 10% x the forge level:
  • First forge: +10% critical hit damage
  • Second: +20%
  • Third: +30%

• Ruby: Increases the weapon's damage by 10% x the forge level:
  • First forge: +10% to both minimum and maximum hit damage Second: +20% Third: +30%

• Topaz: Increases the wielder's defense by 1 x the forge level:
  • First forge: +1 defense
  • Second: +2
  • Third: +3

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Alternatively, players can use a diamond to add three random upgrades to their weapon at once; 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.

Infinity Weapons

If the player has the Galaxy Sword, Galaxy Dagger, or Galaxy Hammer, they can turn these weapons into Infinity Weapons at the Volcano Forge. This process requires three Galaxy Souls, each of which calls for 20 Cinder Shards in order to forge into a weapon. Once upgraded, the weapon will transform into a more powerful version of itself, which will keep any forged upgrades or enchantments that had already been applied to it. Players can find an in-depth guide to Infinity Weapons here.

Unforging Weapons

If players wish to reset their weapons to their original state for whatever reason, the unforging process is easy. Simply place the weapon into the left square slot in the forge and select the red x symbol. This will remove all forging, restore the weapon's original appearance, and recover some of the Cinder Shards used to forge the weapon.

Note that while this process removes all forged upgrades, it does not remove enchantments.

Enchantments

Unlike forging, which increases an item's stats, enchantments provide an additional effect that 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 enchant it again to get a different result.

Weapon Enchantments

When enchanting a weapon, players may get any one of the following at random:

• Artful: Cooldown for special moves is halved.
• Bug Killer: Doubles damage done to grubs, flies, spiders, bugs, and rock crabs. It also allows the weapon to kill Armored Bugs, which are typically invulnerable.
• Crusader: Doubles damage done to mummies, skeletons, ghosts, and void spirits. Allows the weapon to permanently kill mummies, which under normal circumstances require bombs to be truly killed.
• 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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Best Weapon Enchantments

Among the available 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). Most find that Haymaker is the least useful enchantment. Fiber and hay are not generally difficult to come by, and the enchantment does nothing to aid the player in combat.

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:

Best Enchantments For Each Tool

Although every enchantment is useful, some players may have different preferences according to their play styles. If a player finds that their tool's enchantment is no longer helpful for them, they can use the Volcano Forge at any time to try to get a different enchantment, as long as they have the necessary materials.

• 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 Archeologist 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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