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 August 24, 2023, by Demaris Oxman: With Stardew Valley's 1.6 update confirmed by developer ConcernedApe, plenty of fans are excited to get back into the game (if they ever left at all). Little is known about the update's contents, but many are excited about the potential of new dialogue, upgraded tools, and perhaps even new endgame content. In the current version, one of players' favorite ways to spend the late stages of the game is by enchanting and forging their tools and weapons. This process, performed in the depths of the Volcano Dungeon, applies incredible buffs to any tool at the player's disposal. Here's how to apply these upgrades to breeze through late-game content even faster.

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Obtaining Cinder Shards

All 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. Each of the following enemies has specific likelihood of dropping this item.
  • Magma Sprite: 50% chance to drop
  • Magma Duggy: 40% chance
  • Magma Sparker: 50% chance
  • False Magma Cap: 50% chance to drop

• Produced from a fishing pond with 7 or more Stingrays. The pond may spawn 2-5 Cinder Shards, with a 7-9% daily chance to occur.

Because Cinder Shards are classified as a resource and not a gemstone, players cannot replicate them in the Crystalarium.

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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 knockback 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 speed, the second forge adds +3, and the third adds +2. These effects stack:
  • First forge: +2 speed
  • Second forge: +5 speed
  • Third forge: +7 speed

• 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

Alternatively, players can use a diamond to add three random upgrades to their weapon at once. This will cost 10 Cinder Shards.

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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.

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. The process will recover some of the Cinder Shards used to forge the weapon, but unfortunately will not return the gemstone. No additional materials are required to complete the process.

Note that while this process removes all forged upgrades, it does not remove enchantments, which will be discussed below.

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.

Galaxy Souls

Galaxy Souls are difficult to obtain, and require the player to complete some of Stardew Valley's toughest challenges. More information on Galaxy Souls can be found in this guide to infinity weapons, but there are a few basic methods players can use to get their hands on them.

• Purchase from Mr. Qi in Mr. Qi's Walnut Room for 40 Qi Gems each.
• In circumstances where Dangerous Monsters appear, players may encounter a Big Slime that appears to have a Galaxy Soul inside it. Killing the Big Slime will drop the Galaxy Soul. These Slimes appear in the Dangerous Mines (accessed by activating the shrine on Level 120), Mr Qi's "Danger in the Deep" quest, and his "Skull Cavern Invasion" quest.

After the player kills at least 50 Dangerous Monsters in the Dangerous Mines or the above quests, two more methods of obtaining Galaxy Souls will unlock:

• Purchase from the Island Trader on the last day of the season for 10 Radioactive Bars each.
• Galaxy Souls will occasionally drop from Dangerous Monsters.

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Enchantments

Unlike forging, which increases an item's stats, enchantments provide an additional effect that makes the weapon or tool more useful. These can range from increased efficiency to resource preservation. 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. However, bear in mind that each enchantment will consume the above materials, so use those rare Prismatic Shards wisely.

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 prevent them from resurrecting.
• 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 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 certain 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 — in fact, most enchantments are quite specific to a particular tool's function. 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:

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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. Since this effect makes the player's supply of bait and tackle last longer, players will use fewer materials, since they won't need to craft replacements as often.

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