While fans of farming sims can look at Stardew Valley as a typical farming game, there’s definitely more to the simulation game than just planting and harvesting crops. In fact, Stardew Valley offers a more nuanced take on usual farming mechanics - allowing players to craft unique items, and even break odd resources.
For instance, players have a way of breaking large obstacles such as logs, boulders, and meteorites. With the right training and the right supplies, players can treat these seemingly-unbreakable objects as mere rocks and stones.
Special Tools For Tougher Items
Throughout the course of player exploration in Stardew Valley, they may encounter objects around the Farm and around the village of Pelican Town that they can’t break with the original slate of tools that they possess. These can come in the form of large tree stumps and large rocks that seem imposing enough to seem as though they simply belong as part of the environment.
However, similar to other farming simulators, these larger objects are destructibles that players can remove with the right tools. When players encounter an object in the game world that they cannot destroy, perhaps an upgraded implement would be able to remove them. Here are some prominent examples of large obstacles that players often see throughout Stardew Valley:
Hardwood: Large Stumps, Large Logs
One of the key resources players would gather throughout their Stardew Valley experience comes in the form of Hardwood. Gathered majorly from Foraging through Mahogany Trees and Fishing via Woodskip (Fish Pond), Hardwood is often used to create much of the structures in the player’s Farm.
Although there’s an abundance of Mahogany Trees in the game, there are particularly large objects that give a lot of Hardwood that players can only destroy with specialized items. These come in the form of Large Stumps and Large Logs, some of which are often found in specific areas. Knowing which Large Stumps or Large Logs to break can greatly help players on a navigational level, especially if they want their paths uninterrupted while gifting items to both prospective Stardew Valley romances and friends on set days.
What Are Large Stumps?
In the village of Pelican Town, Large Stumps are instantly recognizable due to their appearance - large stumps of dead trees that are out of place from their fully-grown counterparts. They are fairly common across the Farm, the Secret Woods, and the Mines with the Shrine of Challenge activated. They also appear across all Seasons, meaning players can access Large Stumps whenever they please, provided they know where to look. Here are some statistics that new Stardew Valley players may want to consider regarding Large Stumps:
- Loot: 2 Hardwood, 25 Foraging Experience, Mahogany Seeds (10%)
- Bonus: 50% chance of getting +1 Hardwood (Forester Profession)
Break With: Copper Axe
Due to the heavier nature of Large Stumps, they require a more powerful Axe in order to be destroyed. It takes at least a Copper Axe or an Axe of better quality, so players can break Large Stumps and acquire Hardwood inside them. Here’s a general look into how fast each Axe variant may destroy a Large Stump:
- Copper Axe: Destroys with 7 hits
- Steel Axe: Destroys with 5 hits
- Gold Axe: Destroys with 4 hits
- Iridium Axe: Destroys with 3 hits
- Powerful Iridium Axe: Destroys with 2 hits
Ideal Spawn Locations
Although Large Stumps appear frequently throughout Pelican Town similar to Stardew Valley crops, players may want to look into locations where they regularly respawn. That way, players who want to farm for materials much faster can have a “rotation” to rely on instead of wasting their energy wandering around. Large Stumps respawn every day in these locations:
- Secret Woods: Its six (6) stumps respawn everyday
- Forest Farm: Eight (8) stumps on the west respawn every day.
- Four-Corners Farm: One (1) stump on the top-left quadrant respawns daily.
- Shrine of Challenge, Floors 41-69: Players can find these stumps in the Mines once the Shrine has been activated.
What Are Large Logs?
Aside from Large Stumps, players also encounter Large Logs throughout the village of Pelican Town except in select Stardew Valley locations such as the Wizard Tower. Compared to the stumps earlier, Large Logs are quite literally large logs that occupy around four boxes in the nearby vicinity. Players can’t pass them if they block their way, meaning they have to be broken in order for that area of the map to be passable.
Similar to stumps, Large Logs also yield Hardwood when broken. However, Large Logs seem more durable than Large Stumps and therefore need a tougher Axe to be broken. Here are other things players may want to look into regarding Large Logs:
- Loot: 8 Hardwood, 25 Foraging Experience
- Bonus: 50% chance of getting +2 Hardwood (Forester Profession)
Break With: Steel Axe
Similar to Large Stumps, it takes a special kind of tool to be able to destroy Large Logs. In this case, players need to possess a Steel Axe in order to start dismantling Large Logs for Hardwood. Large Logs are often found scattered in the Farm, the Mines, and one particular Large Log blocking the entrance to the Secret Woods.
- Steel Axe: Destroys Large Log with around 5 hits
- Gold Axe: Breaks Large Log with 4 hits
- Iridium Axe: Destroys with 3 hits
- Powerful Iridium Axe: Destroys the Large Log with 2 hits
Ideal Spawn Locations
Unlike the Large Stumps, the Large Logs in Stardew Valley don’t necessarily “respawn,” especially those outside the Mines. As such, players need to be wary where they can specifically find and destroy Large Logs, a lot of which are located in the following areas:
- The Farm: Numerous Large Logs spawn in different numbers when players start their Stardew Valley experience. These don’t respawn after being broken.
- Secret Woods: There is one Large Log blocking the entrance to the Secret Woods.
- Shrine of Challenge, Floors 41-69: Players can find various Large Logs within the Mines once they have activated the Shrine of Challenge.
Stone: Boulders
Thanks to the Mines of Stardew Valley, players have a means to acquire Stones and various precious gems throughout their Stardew Valley experience. Of all resources under the Mining banner, the Stone is of the lowest tier and is therefore the easiest to acquire.
Without gathering them, players can still purchase Stone from the Carpenter’s Shop or acquire them through Gray Slimes, Stone Golems, and Fishing Treasure Chests. Likewise, players may be able to acquire Stone through digging up on Artifact Spot, as well as the Stonefish Fish Pond. In terms of gathering, both Boulders and Normal Rocks have them. Breaking a Normal Rock will only give players a single Stone, whereas Boulders yield more rewards.
What Are Boulders?
Stones aren’t just found within the Mines near Stardew Valley monsters, but rather all around the village of Pelican Town courtesy of Boulders. Characterized by their appearances as giant rocks, Boulders are a prime source of Stone in the game, which acts as one of the major resources players need to upgrade their Farm.
Similar to Large Stumps and Large Logs, Boulders first appear in the game as environmental obstacles. Various parts of the game world are often blocked by Boulders, as though confining players to a particular area until they unlock a breakthrough and finally be able to progress through the rest of the game. Moreover, Boulders need specialized tools to be destroyed, compared to Normal Rocks that simply need any kind of Pickaxe.
- Rarity: Boulders that appear with the Farm’s first spawn will not return once removed.
- Color: Boulders have different colors depending on their locations.
- Loot (Farm): Breaking Boulders in the Farm will yield 15 Stones. No Mining experience.
- Loot (Mines): Breaking Boulders in the Mines will yield 10 Stones. No Mining experience.
Break With: Pickaxe
Unlike other breakable rocks in the game, Boulders receive a rather peculiar treatment. While Pickaxes can certainly break Boulders, it seems specific Pickaxes can break Boulders in specific locations, similar to how certain items appear depending on Stardew Valley seasons. This certainly adds a bit of flair to player inventory, as they may need to carry multiple kinds of Pickaxes to be able to break Boulders depending on where they will be staying for the rest of the day. Here are some interesting insights on Boulders and the Pickaxes players need to destroy them:
- Starter Pickaxe: Can break Boulders inside the Mines with multiple hits. Cannot destroy Boulders in the Farm.
- Steel Pickaxe: Primary tool used to break Boulders in the Farm. Destroys them with one hit.
- Gold Pickaxe: Breaks Boulders with a few hits.
- Iridium Pickaxe: Can break Boulders with one hit.
Ideal Spawn Locations
Boulders can appear in set locations in the village of Pelican Town at random intervals, such as between Stardew Valley seasons, but others don’t necessarily respawn upon destruction. Those who plan on farming Stones via destroying Boulders may want to pay attention to these potential spawn locations:
- The Farm: When players start the game for the first time, their Farm will spawn alongside various Boulders. Destroying these Boulders will clear up space for players but not spawn again.
- The Mines (Floors 1-39, Floors 81-119, Skull Cavern): Brown-colored Boulders appear within the first hundred levels or so of the Mines, except within its frozen sections.
- The Mines (Floor 41-79): Blue-colored Boulders appear within Floors 41 to 79 of the Mines, which are allocated for its frozen or cooler sections, hence the color switch.
Rare Event: Meteorite
Part of what makes Stardew Valley such a memorable game for players is its occurrence of Random Events, essentially special situations triggered through various means or sometimes out of sheer luck. These add a lot of spice to the otherwise-repetitive nature of Stardew Valley gameplay, with some Random Events ranging from the rather odd to the utterly strange.
One of these “strange” phenomenon would come in the form of the Meteorite. This purple mass of rock is one of the rarest items found in the game, and can yield quite a lot of rewards once players manage to destroy them.
What Is A Meteorite?
Similar the real space phenomenon, a Meteorite can sometimes fall from the sky and land on the ground. Such is the case in Stardew Valley, only this time around the Meteorite is purple in color and has various rocks protruding from it. This is an interesting choice in art style, as the color scheme indicates the rarity of rocks located within the Meteorite. Here are some interesting things regarding the Meteorite:
- Loot: Meteorites drop six (6) Iridium Ore, six (6) Stone, and two (2) Geodes.
- Area Risk: When the Meteorite spawns in the said 2x2 location, all paths and crops in the area are destroyed.
Break With: Gold Pickaxe
In terms of properties, Meteorites are extremely similar to Boulders, in that they are classified as extremely heavy rocks that require Pickaxes to break. However, when trying to break the Meteorite with most Pickaxes, the game only prompts them with “It looks pretty solid… maybe a very strong pickaxe could break it?”
Remember, if a Stardew Valley object is “unbreakable,” maybe a stronger item can do the job. Players can only break the Meteorite courtesy of at least a Golden Pickaxe. As per other types of rocks, players can also use higher-grade Pickaxes in order to destroy the Meteorite much faster. Here are the breaking statistics associated with each Pickaxe:
- Gold Pickaxe: Meteorites break with Gold Pickaxes after 7 hits
- Iridium Pickaxe: Meteorites get destroyed by Iridium Pickaxe after 6 hits.
Ideal Spawn Locations
Unlike other items in the game, the Meteorite is an exceptionally-rare object due to its nature as a Random Event. As such, while the Meteorite may “respawn” after it’s destroyed, there’s no guarantee as to “when” this may happen in the first place. It may instead help to learn more about what happens before, during, and after the appearance of the Meteor in order to help players prepare for it much better:
- Randomized Odds: There is only 1% chance that the Meteorite would appear in the player’s Farm. This makes the Meteorite a rather rare oddity, such as Universal Loves for Stardew Valley Villagers like Prismatic Shards.
- Randomized Area: Should it spawn, it will occupy a 2x2 area within the area’s Farm. There should be an area in the player’s Farm that contains no farm animals, resource stacks, buildings, water, or objects that impaired movement. Otherwise, the Random Event won’t create a Meteorite.
- Event Indicator: Players know a Meteorite is about to spawn once they hear an explosion-like sound at any single day. This is a unique sound that is only associated with the Meteor. Players know a Meteorite will spawn if there is a message that says “An explosion was heard in the night…”
Stardew Valley was released in 2016 and is currently available for the PC, macOS, Linux, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, and PS Vita.