Stardew Valley: A Complete Guide To Enchantments & Weapon Forging

This guide explores the Volcano Forge in Stardew Valley, detailing how to enhance tools and weapons with enchantments and forging. The 1.6 update expanded these features, adding the Mini-Forge and innate weapon enchantments.

Obtaining Cinder Shards:

Cinder Shards, crucial for all forge functions, 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).

Note: Cinder Shards cannot be replicated in the Crystalarium.

The Mini-Forge:

Achieving Combat Mastery unlocks the Mini-Forge crafting recipe:

• 5 Dragon Teeth
• 10 Iron Bars
• 10 Gold Bars
• 5 Iridium Bars

It functions identically to the Volcano Forge.

Weapon Forging:

Gemstones enhance weapon stats (up to three times per weapon). Costs increase with each forge: 10, 15, then 20 Cinder Shards. Gemstone effects:

• Amethyst: +1 knockback per level.
• Aquamarine: +4.6% crit chance per level.
• Emerald: +2/+3/+2 speed per level (stacks).
• Jade: +10% crit damage per level.
• Ruby: +10% damage per level.
• Topaz: +1 defense per level.
• Diamond: Three random upgrades (10 Cinder Shards).

Optimal Weapon Upgrades:

Prioritize Emerald & Ruby for DPS, adding Aquamarine or Jade for critical hits. For survivability (Qi Challenges), Topaz and Amethyst are beneficial.

Unforging Weapons:

Use the red X in the forge to remove all forging, recovering some Cinder Shards but not the gemstone. Enchantments remain.

Infinity Weapons:

Upgrade Galaxy Sword/Dagger/Hammer into Infinity versions using three Galaxy Souls (20 Cinder Shards each). Forged upgrades and enchantments are retained.

Galaxy Souls:

Obtain Galaxy Souls from:

• Mr. Qi (40 Qi Gems each).
• Big Slime drops (Dangerous Mines, Qi quests).
• Island Trader (10 Radioactive Bars, last day of season – unlocks after 50 Dangerous Monster kills).
• Occasional drops from Dangerous Monsters (unlocks after 50 Dangerous Monster kills).

Enchantments:

Enchant tools/weapons using a Prismatic Shard and 20 Cinder Shards for a random effect. Re-enchant for a different effect.

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/33% hay chance from weeds.

Bug Killer and Crusader are generally most useful.

Innate Weapon Enchantments:

Use a Dragon Tooth for innate enchantments (one from each set guaranteed/optional):

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

Tool Enchantments:

Twelve enchantments, tool-specific. Examples:

• Auto-Hook (Fishing Rod): Instant hook.
• Bottomless (Watering Can): Endless water.
• Efficient (various): No energy drain.
• Preserving (Fishing Rod): 50% chance to save bait/tackle.

Choose enchantments based on your playstyle. Re-enchant as needed.