This guide details the Volcano Forge in Stardew Valley 1.6, explaining how to enhance tools and weapons. The forge, located at the end of Ginger Island's Volcano Dungeon, allows applying magical enhancements using Cinder Shards and gemstones.
Obtaining Cinder Shards:
Cinder Shards are crucial for all forge functions. Acquire them by:
- Mining Cinder Shard nodes (pink-orange specks) in the Volcano Dungeon.
- Receiving them as drops from Magma Sprites (50%), Magma Duggies (40%), Magma Sparkers (50%), and False Magma Caps (50%).
- Harvesting from a fishing pond with 7+ Stingrays (7-9% daily chance of 2-5 shards).
Note: Cinder Shards are resources, not gemstones; they can't be replicated in the Crystalarium.
The Mini-Forge:
After achieving Combat Mastery, craft a Mini-Forge, replicating the Volcano Forge's functionality. Requires:
- 5 Dragon Teeth
- 10 Iron Bars
- 10 Gold Bars
- 5 Iridium Bars
Weapon Forging:
Enhance weapons using gemstones and Cinder Shards (10, 15, then 20 shards per forge level). Each forge level increases the effect.
- Amethyst: +1 knockback per forge level.
- Aquamarine: +4.6% critical hit chance per forge level.
- Emerald: +2/+3/+2 speed per forge level (stacks).
- Jade: +10% critical hit damage per forge level.
- Ruby: +10% damage per forge level.
- Topaz: +1 defense per forge level.
- Diamond: Three random upgrades (10 shards).
Best Weapon Upgrades: Emerald & Ruby (increased DPS) are generally best for combat. Topaz & Amethyst aid survivability.
Unforging Weapons: Place the weapon in the left slot and select the red X to remove all forging (some shards are returned, but not the gemstone).
Infinity Weapons:
Upgrade Galaxy Sword, Dagger, or Hammer into Infinity Weapons using three Galaxy Souls (20 shards each). Forged upgrades and enchantments are retained.
Galaxy Souls: Obtain from Mr. Qi (40 Qi Gems), Big Slimes (Dangerous Mines, Mr. Qi's quests), Island Trader (10 Radioactive Bars), or as drops from Dangerous Monsters (after 50 kills).
Enchantments:
Apply random effects to tools/weapons using a Prismatic Shard and 20 Cinder Shards. Re-enchant to get a different effect.
Weapon Enchantments:
- Artful: Halved special move cooldown.
- Bug Killer: Doubles damage to bugs, kills Armored Bugs.
- Crusader: Doubles damage to undead, permanently kills mummies.
- Vampiric: Chance to regain health upon killing a monster.
- Haymaker: Increased fiber/hay drop chance from weeds.
Innate Enchantments (Dragon Tooth): Apply one enchantment from each of two sets to melee weapons.
Tool Enchantments: Various effects for Axe, Pickaxe, Watering Can, Hoe, Fishing Rod, and Pan (see guide for details). Best enchantments depend on playstyle.
This revised response provides a more concise and organized overview of the Volcano Forge's mechanics and options in Stardew Valley 1.6. The image links remain functional, assuming they point to valid image URLs.