What is Cinder Shards in Stardew Valley
This real-life farming simulation game always leaves players in an amused state with all the surprising and interesting addition to the game. Who would have thought that a game like Stardew Valley will let you explore places where special stones and minerals such as cinder shards can be dug up?
Cinder shards are one of the resources that you can gather and collect through different ways and map areas. After having enough cinder shards inside your inventory, you will find them extremely useful in crafting and forging. Forging will be essential in the later part of the game, especially in your combat scenes.
That being said, being diligent in finding and mining cinder shards should be one of the things you should focus on as you approach the mid to late game.
How to Farm Cinder Shards
This chunk of red crystals stuck together is the cinder shard. It is a precious resource that you have to collect, especially if you want to purchase some items from the Island Trader. Aside from that, cinder shards are also essential in enchanting weapons and other items.
To grind this resource, you have two options where you can choose from: challenge the Volcano Dungeon or wait until winter to get you a Stingray.
Volcano Dungeon
Volcano Dungeon in Ginger Island is known for the danger it poses to players. However, successfully surpassing the dangers you encounter will grant you precious and high-quality items in return. You can check the guide we made in completing the Volcano Dungeon.
Inside the Volcano Dungeon are numerous cinder shards sources. You can find several cinder shard nodes which you can mine using your pickaxe. As you walk through each level, you will see these nodes scattered around the area so make sure to have a keen eye in looking for them. However, it will be easy for you to spot these as they have shiny red crystals sticking out of them.
Other than that, you can also find different monsters that you can defeat and get cinder shards as drops. The monsters that you will be able to encounter inside are False Magma Cap, Magma Duggy, Magma Sparker, and Magma Sprite. Each of these monsters has a 50% chance of dropping one cinder shard and a 20% chance of dropping two except for Magma Duggy with only 40% and 15% respectively.
Nevertheless, fighting these monsters will give you a high chance of collecting a huge number of cinder shards.
Stingray
Another trick that you can try in order to gather enough cinder shards is by having a stingray pond on your farm. However, the only way to catch your own stingray is by going to the Southeast of Ginger Island and looking for Pirate Cove.
Once you already have a stingray pond, wait until you have at least seven stingrays in the pond and it will have an 8-10% of giving you two to five cinder shards in the chum bucket.
Tips for Farming Cinder Shards
Given that this resource is one of those that will make you almost untouchable in the later part of the game, it is just understandable that earning a good amount of this will cost you an arduous grind.
That being said, here are some tips that you can consider to make things easier for you as you try and collect these brilliant shards.
Go on a Lucky Day
Not every day is a good day in terms of gathering cinder shards. Some days are luckier and some days are just plain blah. To ensure that you will have a great deal of shards on your way back home, make sure to check your luck of the day first.
Inside your farmhouse, interact with the television and select the Fortune Teller. Once the Fortune Teller tells you that you have good luck for the day, the number of cinder shard nodes that you will encounter will be more than usual.
Use Burglar’s Ring
If your chosen method is to defeat monsters inside the Volcano Dungeon, the best thing to do as a preparation is to wear a Burglar’s Ring. Upon doing this, defeating an enemy will trigger more loot. To be precise, monsters can drop as much as twice the normal number of loot.
With this, your cinder shard journey will be a piece of cake. But to obtain this item is the opposite. There are several prerequisites that you have to do and complete to be able to purchase this powerful ring. You can check this guide to learn the steps in getting the Burglar’s Ring.
Use of Cinder Shards
As we repeatedly mention, cinder shard is an important ingredient in the recipe of making you stronger and undefeatable. The reason behind that is its participation in the forging process. Plus, you can also use this to trade some rare items with the Island Trader.
The Forge
Being an ingredient in forging is the most common and most important role of cinder shards in the game. With a cinder shard, you will be able to combine rings, forge better weapons, and enchant tools. Doing this will make you the best in combat.
Crafting
Just like any other resource in the game, a cinder shard is also used in crafting important equipment. If you have already found an ostrich egg and need to hatch it, you will initially need to look for 20x cinder shards along with 50x hardwood, and 50x bone fragments to make an Ostrich Incubator.
Trading
Being precious stones, cinder shards can also be used as currency. You can exchange this for some items from the Island Trader and the Dwarf Shop inside the Volcano Dungeon.
Here are the items that you can purchase and the amount of cinder shard needed:
- Cinderclown Shoes from the Dwarf Shop – 100x Cinder Shards
- Jungle Torch from the Island Trader – 5x Cinder Shards
- Wild Double Bed from the Island Trader – 100x Cinder Shards
- Deluxe Retaining Soil Recipe from the Island Trader – 50x Cinder Shards
