Stardew Valley How To Get Iridium

Iridium is one of the most valuable crafting materials in Stardew Valley. Having a supply of it makes your life incredibly easier, since it allows you to begin automating your farm. The days in the game go by fast, so if you manage to set up an efficient sprinkler system, your crops never require you to waste precious time to water them.

Naturally, the best tool for this job is the Iridium sprinkler, which waters 24 tiles. Iridium is also invaluable when it comes to upgrading your tools and crafting some other high-end equipment, like the Crystalarium or Deluxe Fertilizer. Getting a hold of this rare material can prove rather difficult, especially during the first year of the game.

10 Prioritize Tasks

Obtaining Iridium before the end of Year 1 will require you to make some sacrifices. There simply isn't enough time for you to do every single possible thing in an in-game day. A wealth of activities is at your disposal, but if your goal is to get Iridium as fast as possible, avoid wasting time fishing or talking to every NPC.

You should primarily focus on anything that is mining related. A good way to organize your time is to spend the morning doing your regular farm chores, and then devote the rest of the day to specific objectives, like upgrading your pickaxe or finding geodes.

9 We Must Go Deeper

Iridium is obtainable only after you encounter copper, iron, and gold. Each material functions as a prerequisite for the next: you can only mine Iridium ores with a golden pickaxe, or gold ores with a steel one, and so on. Each of the lower tier materials can be easily found in the mine located next to the Adventurer's Guild.

If you have been playing Stardew Valley for a while, you know this mine has a 120 levels. It's impossible to get through them in a couple of days with the game's starting gear. So start digging — this mine will essentially become your home away from home in your quest to get Iridium. Furthermore, you also need to reach the bottom of the mine to find the Skull Key, which unlocks the Skull Cavern, the best place to find Iridium ores.

Mining can quickly drain your stamina, especially in the beginning of the game. Upgrading your pickaxe has two important benefits: it breaks rocks and ores faster, and saves your energy. You should upgrade this tool as soon as you can if you plan to reach the Skull Cavern fast.

A good weapon also helps while mining, since you'll constantly run into bothersome monsters. The Adevnturer's Guild has a shop that sells weapons, as well as a bulletin board with a list of monsters to slay for rewards. Dispatching 125 bugs unlocks a free Insect Head, which is basically a cheap sword that's better than the starting one.

7 Stock Up On Bombs

Bombs are essential elements that make mining significantly easier. They break multiple rocks with one detonation, allowing you to quickly get through a crowded area. They also help uncover staircases or shafts, the latter being essential to get far in the Skull Cavern and increase your chance at finding Iridium.

The standard bomb is the best out of the three available types, since its explosion is big enough to destroy a significant amount of rocks, but not big enough to deal damage if you get away in time. Buying bombs from the Dwarf is the best way to stack them up, but they also drop from Lava Crabs quite often.

6 Check The Traveling Cart

You might try your luck and check to see if the Traveling Cart sells any Iridium Ore. There exists a chance that it might, so make sure to check the forest on Fridays and Sundays, when the cart shows up.

This is an unreliable way to obtain Iridium, however, since it's never guaranteed that an ore will be on sale. Nonetheless, the are plenty of Fridays and Sundays in one in-game year, so you will eventually be able to make a purchase if you keep checking the cart's stock whenever possible.

5 Keep That Super Cucumber

The best passive way to farm Iridium is to unlock the Statue Of Perfection, which produces 2-8 ores every day. However, it's impossible to do this before the beginning of Year 3. The next best alternative, is to make a Super Cucumber pond.

Like most fish in the game, the Super Cucumber can be placed in a pond to produce roe. Once the population of the pond increases, the fish will ask you for certain objects. Bringing those to them will further increase the fish population, and once it reaches 9 there is a chance that they will produce 1-3 Iridium ores instead of roe.

4 Plan Your Profession

Each skill in the game unlocks a profession at level 5 and an upgrade for that specific profession at level 10. Mining initially gives you these options: Miner, which gives you +1 ore per vein, or Geologist, which increases your chance to find gems in pairs.

To ensure you gain the most amount of Iridium from an ore, you should definitely pick the Miner profession. Iridium is incredibly scarce when you first approach the Skull Cavern, and finding more ores per veins will make your life much easier. You can always change your professions at the Statue Of Uncertainty in the Sewers.

3 Magma And Omni Geodes

Geodes are a great source of artifacts and ores. Specifically, Magma and Omni Geodes have a chance to drop Iridium ores. You can easily find Magma Geodes in the regular mine, anywhere after level 80. Omni Geodes are a bit harder to come by, but Sandy is guaranteed to sell three every Wednesday.

Notably, the geologist profession comes with a branching upgrade, Excavator, that doubles your chance to find geodes when you mine. Keep in mind that this upgrade prevents you from using the Miner profession.

2 Cook Savory Recipes

Food in Stardew Valley is the key to becoming the most efficient farmer ever. Eating is essential to restore your stamina in a pinch, and certain recipes can also boost specific skills. Once you reach the Skull Cavern, bringing the right combination of tasty meals proves invaluable to find Iridium.

You can mix and match a drink's and a cooked dish's boosts for maximum effect. The triple shot espresso gives you +1 speed, while the pumpkin soup gives +2 luck and +2 defense. Both of these items are easy to come by, provided you have the right ingredients: coffee beans, pumpkins, and milk. Alternatively, you can buy coffee at the Stardrop Saloon. The combined speed and luck boosts are important to quickly traverse the Skull Cavern and increase your chances to find Iridium.

1 Exploit Luck

The single, most important, factor that helps you obtain Iridium quickly is luck. Unlike the other abilities in the game, luck does not steadily increase over time, but rather fluctuates. Every morning, the Fortune Teller on your TV will tell you how the spirits are feeling on that particular day. When you see the message, "The spirits are very happy today! They will do their best to shower everyone with good fortune," it means it's time to get on the bus and go to the Skull Cavern.

Bring your best tools, your most valuable weapon, plenty of bombs, and foods that boost your speed and luck. Place bombs near large clusters of rocks, your maximized luck should help reveal a shaft or a staircase. Pay no attention to most of the enemies, only engage in combat if you absolutely must. Mine every possible rock as soon as you can. Your goal is not to gather materials, but to go deep.

The deeper you go, the more you will increase your chances to find Iridium Ores. If you managed to correctly prepare for this task, and forget about playing the rest of the game, you should be able to find Iridium towards the Winter of Year 1, if not sooner.

NEXT: Stardew Valley: Complete Guide And Walkthrough

Gamers Are Mad At Aloy's Cheeks In Horizon Forbidden West Because Of Course They Are

Aloy's cheeks have been the subject of a lot of mockery from gamers online in the past few days because they're a bit bigger.