At the end of Ginger Island's Volcano Dungeon, players can discover a unique forge that offers magical enhancements for their tools and weapons. This Volcano Forge, as it's known, requires valuable gemstones and crystals, but the enhancements it provides are well worth the investment.
The Volcano Forge, though initially complex, is straightforward once players grasp the available effects. This guide will detail how to achieve each effect and suggest which enhancements offer the most utility in Stardew Valley.
Updated January 6, 2025, by Demaris Oxman: The 1.6 update for Stardew Valley introduced numerous changes, including quality-of-life improvements and new features like the Mastery system. Weapon forging has also been expanded, allowing enchantments on the Pan and introducing innate enchantments for weapons. This guide has been updated to reflect these changes and additions to the Volcano Forge in Stardew Valley 1.6, helping players optimize their tools and weapons.
Obtaining Cinder Shards
All functions of the Volcano Forge require 
Cinder Shards, which can be found throughout the Volcano Dungeon. To fully enchant and forge an item, players need at least 65 Cinder Shards per item, which may involve some farming. Here's how to obtain them:
- Mining Cinder Shard nodes in the Volcano Dungeon, recognizable by their pink-orange specks.
- Dropped by certain enemies within the Volcano Dungeon:
- 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, with a 7-9% daily chance to spawn 2-5 Cinder Shards.
Cinder Shards cannot be replicated in the Crystalarium, as they are classified as a resource rather than a gemstone.
The Mini-Forge
With Combat Mastery, players can craft the 
Mini-Forge, eliminating the need to travel to the Volcano Dungeon. The Mini-Forge offers the same functionality and can be placed anywhere on the farm. Crafting it requires:
- 5
Dragon Tooth - 10
Iron Bar - 10
Gold Bar - 5
Iridium Bar
Weapon Forging
Players can enhance their weapons using gemstones and Cinder Shards to improve their stats. Each weapon can be forged up to three times, with each successive level increasing the enhancement's power. Forging applies only to weapons, not tools. Here's what each gemstone does:
Amethyst: Increases knockback by +1 per level.
Aquamarine: Boosts critical hit chance by 4.6% per level.
Emerald: Increases weapon speed: +2 for the first forge, +3 for the second, and +2 for the third.
Jade: Boosts critical hit damage by 10% per level.
Ruby: Increases damage by 10% per level.
Topaz: Boosts defense by +1 per level.
Alternatively, using a 
Diamond applies three random upgrades at once, costing 10 Cinder Shards.
Best Upgrades To Pick
Choosing the right gem depends on play style and goals. For those focused on slaying monsters, combining Emerald and Ruby for increased speed and damage is ideal. Adding either Aquamarine or Jade can further enhance critical hits. For survival-focused players, such as those tackling Qi Challenges, Topaz and Amethyst can help by increasing defense and creating distance from enemies.
Unforging Weapons
To reset a weapon to its original state, players can place it in the left square slot of the forge and select the red X symbol. This process recovers some Cinder Shards but not the gemstone used. Enchantments remain unaffected by unforging.
Infinity Weapons
Players can upgrade the 
Galaxy Sword, 
Galaxy Dagger, or 
Galaxy Hammer into Infinity Weapons using three Galaxy Souls at the Volcano Forge. Each Galaxy Soul requires 20 Cinder Shards. Upgraded weapons retain any previous upgrades or enchantments.
Galaxy Souls
Galaxy Souls are challenging to obtain, often requiring players to complete difficult in-game challenges. Here are some methods to acquire them:
- Purchase from Mr. Qi in Mr. Qi's Walnut Room for 40 Qi Gems each.
- Defeat a Big Slime with a Galaxy Soul inside in the Dangerous Mines or during Mr. Qi's quests.
- After killing 50 Dangerous Monsters, players can buy Galaxy Souls from the Island Trader on the last day of the season for 10
Radioactive Bars, or they may occasionally drop from Dangerous Monsters.
Enchantments
Enchantments add unique effects to weapons and tools, enhancing their utility. Any tool or melee weapon can be enchanted using a 
Prismatic Shard and 20 Cinder Shards. The enchantment is random, but players can re-enchant to try for a different effect, mindful of the material cost.
Weapon Enchantments
Possible weapon enchantments include:
- Artful: Halves cooldown for special moves.
- Bug Killer: Doubles damage to certain insects and allows killing of Armored Bugs.
- Crusader: Doubles damage to undead and prevents mummy resurrection.
- Vampiric: 9% chance to regain health upon killing a monster.
- Haymaker: Increases fiber and hay drop rates from weeds.
Bug Killer and Crusader are often the most beneficial due to their effectiveness against specific enemies. Haymaker is generally the least useful, as fiber and hay are easily obtainable.
Innate Enchantments
Using a Dragon Tooth, players can apply innate enchantments to melee weapons. These enchantments come in two sets, with one from the first set guaranteed:
| Enchantment | Effect |
|---|---|
| Slime Slayer | Increased damage to Slimes. |
| +25-75 Crit Power | Boosts Critical Power. |
| +1-5 Attack | Increases Attack stat. |
| +1-X Speed | Enhances swing speed. |
A second set may be applied, but it's not guaranteed:
| Enchantment | Effect |
|---|---|
| Slime Gatherer | Increases Slime drops from slain Slimes. |
| +1-2 Defense | Boosts Defense. |
| –1-5 Weight | Reduces Knockback effect. |
Tool Enchantments
Tool enchantments are specific to each tool's function:
| Enchantment | Compatible Tools | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-Hook | Fishing Rod | Immediately hooks the fish or junk. |
| Archeologist | Hoe, Pan | Increases artifact find rate. |
| Bottomless | Watering Can | Endless water supply. |
| Efficient | Axe, Hoe, Watering Can, Pickaxe, Fishing Rod | No energy drain when used. |
| Fisher | Pan | 10% chance to catch fish. |
| Generous | Hoe, Pan | Doubles item find rate. |
| Master | Fishing Rod | Increases Fishing by 1. |
| Powerful | Axe, Pickaxe | Adds extra power levels. |
| Preserving | Fishing Rod | 50% chance to preserve tackle and bait. |
| Reaching | Hoe, Watering Can, Pan | Increases area of effect to 5x5 tiles. |
| Shaving | Axe | Increases resource drops from trees and crops. |
| Swift | Axe, Hoe, Pickaxe | 33% faster tool use. |
Best Enchantments For Each Tool
- Axe: Shaving for resource gathering, Swift or Efficient for energy efficiency.
- Watering Can: Bottomless for endless water.
- Hoe: Generous for resources, Archeologist for museum collections, Reaching or Efficient for large areas.
- Pickaxe: Swift and Powerful for faster mining.
- Fishing Rod: Preserving to save on bait and tackle.
- Pan: Generous and Reaching for more efficient treasure and artifact hunting.
