Stardew Valley: A Complete Guide To Enchantments & Weapon Forging

Stardew Valley's Volcano Dungeon holds a secret: a forge capable of magically enhancing tools and weapons. While the cost in gemstones and crystals is significant, the power boost is well worth it. This guide simplifies the process, detailing each enchantment and offering strategic upgrade choices for optimal gameplay.

Updated January 6, 2025, to reflect Stardew Valley 1.6 updates, including Mastery system changes and expanded weapon forging options (Pan enchantments and innate weapon enchantments).

Obtaining Cinder Shards

• Mining Cinder Shard nodes (pink-orange specks, see image).
• 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).

Cinder Shards, being resources, not gemstones, cannot be duplicated in the Crystalarium.

The Mini-Forge

After achieving Combat Mastery, craft a Mini-Forge:

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

This functions identically to the Volcano Forge.

Weapon Forging

Forge weapons (up to three times) using Cinder Shards and gemstones:

• First Forge: 10 Shards + Gemstone
• Second Forge: 15 Shards + Gemstone
• Third Forge: 20 Shards + Gemstone

Gemstone effects:

• Amethyst: +1 Knockback per forge.
• Aquamarine: +4.6% Crit Chance per forge.
• Emerald: +2/+3/+2 Speed per forge.
• Jade: +10% Crit Damage per forge.
• Ruby: +10% Damage per forge.
• Topaz: +1 Defense per forge.
• Diamond: 3 random upgrades (10 Shards).

Best Weapon Upgrades

Prioritize Emerald & Ruby for DPS (damage per second). Combine with Aquamarine or Jade for critical hit optimization. For survivability (Qi Challenges), Topaz and Amethyst are valuable.

Unforging Weapons

To reset a weapon, place it in the left slot, select the red X. Some Shards are recovered, but not the gemstone.

Infinity Weapons

Upgrade Galaxy Sword, Dagger, or Hammer into Infinity versions using 3 Galaxy Souls (20 Shards each). Upgrades and enchantments are retained.

Galaxy Souls

Obtain Galaxy Souls by:

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

Enchantments

Enchant weapons/tools using a Prismatic Shard and 20 Shards. Effects are random; re-enchant for different results.

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: 9% chance to regain health on kill.
• Haymaker: Double fiber/33% hay chance from weeds.

Bug Killer and Crusader are generally most useful.

Innate Enchantments

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

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

Tool Enchantments

Twelve tool enchantments (random, tool-specific):

See table in original text for details.

Best Tool Enchantments

Axe: Shaving (resources), Swift/Efficient (speed/energy). Watering Can: Bottomless (essential). Hoe: Generous (resources), Archeologist (artifacts), Reaching/Efficient (area/energy). Pickaxe: Swift/Powerful (speed/power). Fishing Rod: Preserving (consumables). Pan: Generous/Reaching (resources/area).