This guide details the Volcano Forge in Stardew Valley 1.6, explaining how to enhance tools and weapons.

Obtaining Cinder Shards: All Volcano Forge functions require Cinder Shards. Obtain them by:

• Mining Cinder Shard nodes (pink-orange specks) in the Volcano Dungeon.
• Receiving them as drops from enemies (Magma Sprite, Magma Duggy, Magma Sparker, False Magma Cap). Drop rates vary.
• Harvesting from a fishing pond with 7+ Stingrays (7-9% daily chance of 2-5 shards).

Cinder Shards, being resources, not gemstones, cannot be replicated 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

The Mini-Forge functions identically to the Volcano Dungeon forge.

Weapon Forging: Forge weapons up to three times using gemstones and Cinder Shards (10, 15, then 20 shards per forge).

• Amethyst: +1 knockback per forge level.
• Aquamarine: +4.6% critical hit chance per level (cumulative).
• Emerald: +2/+3/+2 speed per level (cumulative).
• Jade: +10% critical hit damage per level (cumulative).
• Ruby: +10% damage per level (cumulative).
• Topaz: +1 defense per level (cumulative).
• Diamond: Three random upgrades (costs 10 Cinder Shards).

Best Weapon Upgrades: For maximizing damage, prioritize Emerald and Ruby. For survivability, choose Topaz and Amethyst.

Unforging Weapons: Place the weapon in the left slot and select the red X to remove all forging (some shards are recovered, but not the gemstone). Enchantments remain.

Infinity Weapons: Upgrade Galaxy Sword, Dagger, or Hammer into Infinity Weapons using three Galaxy Souls (20 Cinder Shards each per soul). Forged upgrades and enchantments are retained.

Galaxy Souls: Obtain Galaxy Souls by:

• Purchasing from Mr. Qi (40 Qi Gems each).
• Killing Big Slimes in the Dangerous Mines or during specific Mr. Qi quests.
• Purchasing from the Island Trader (10 Radioactive Bars each, last day of season).
• Dropping from Dangerous Monsters (after killing 50).

Enchantments: Apply enchantments using a Prismatic Shard and 20 Cinder Shards. The enchantment is random.

Weapon Enchantments:

• Artful: Halves special move cooldown.
• Bug Killer: Doubles damage to bugs, kills Armored Bugs.
• Crusader: Doubles damage to undead, permanently kills mummies.
• Vampiric: 9% chance to regain health on kill.
• Haymaker: Doubles fiber/hay drop chance from weeds.

Innate Enchantments: Use a Dragon Tooth for additional enchantments (one from each set guaranteed):

• Slime Slayer, +Crit Power, +Attack, +Speed
• Slime Gatherer, +Defense, –Weight

Tool Enchantments: Random enchantments vary by tool. Examples include:

• Auto-Hook (Fishing Rod): Instantly hooks fish.
• Bottomless (Watering Can): Endless water.
• Efficient (Various): Tools don't drain energy.
• Preserving (Fishing Rod): 50% chance to save bait/tackle.

Best Tool Enchantments: Choose based on play style. Bottomless for Watering Can is highly recommended. Shaving for Axe maximizes resource gathering. Generous or Archeologist for Hoe are strong choices. Swift and Powerful for Pickaxe boost mining efficiency. Preserving for Fishing Rod conserves resources. Generous or Reaching for Pan maximizes artifact/treasure finds.