Stardew Valley is a game that’s jam-packed with nature and plant life. With several types of trees scattered around the map, it’s amazing to think that there are only two types of wood. While regular wood is useful in crafting early-game items and decorations for your farm, Hardwood takes things to the next level. Today we’ll focus on explaining what Hardwood is, how to get it, and why you should be collecting as much as possible!
What is Hardwood & Why Should You Gather It?
Hardwood is a type of wood that can be gathered by chopping down Large Stumps, Large Logs, or Mahogany Trees. This valuable resource is used for tons of different machines in Stardew. For instance, it is used in the cheese press, oil maker, cask, and hopper to name a few. Not only that but Hardwood is used to build and upgrade certain farm buildings and to craft durable decorative items like the Hardwood Fence. Overall, there are so many reasons to collect and use Hardwood in Stardew Valley it’s hard to think of a reason not to!
Crafting with Hardwood
Hardwood is a valuable resource that is used in many different crafting recipes throughout Stardew. Hardwood is used for machines, decorations, warp totems, and fishing supplies in some cases. The complete list of recipes that require Hardwood includes; the Hopper, Mini-Obelisk, Heavy Tapper, Ostrich Incubator, Cask, Carved Brazier, Stump Brazier, Worm Bin, Cork Bobber, Hardwood Fence, Oil Maker, Cheese Press, and all of the Warp Totems (Beach, Mountains, Farm, Desert, and Island). While each of these items has its own unique purpose the one thing they all have in common is that they need Hardwood to be crafted. Each item while not required to play Stardew Valley adds so much to the experience that I can say without collecting Hardwood, you never truly get the full Stardew Valley experience.
Image | Name | Ingredients | Unlocked Level |
Carved Brazier | Carpenter’s Shop – 2000g Any Level | ||
Cask | Farmhouse Cellar Upgrade | ||
Cheese Press | Farming Level 6 | ||
Cork Bobber | Fishing Level 7 Willy’s Shop (250g | ||
Hardwood Fence | Farming Level 6 | ||
Heavy Tapper | Buy from Mr. Qi | ||
Hopper | Buy from Mr.Qi | ||
Mini-Obelisk | Wizard (Special Order) | ||
Oil Maker | Farming Level 8 | ||
Ostrich Incubator | Professor Snail after Completing his collections and surveys | ||
Rain Totem | Foraging Level 9 | ||
Stump Brazier | Carpenter’s Shop (800g | ||
Warp Totem: Beach | Foraging Level 6 | ||
Warp Totem: Desert | Desert Trader for Iridium Bar – 10 | ||
Warp Totem: Farm | Foraging Level 8 | ||
Warp Totem: Island | Volcano Shop (10,000g | ||
Warp Totem: Mountains | Foraging Level 7 | ||
Worm Bin | Fishing Level 8 |
Uncrafting with Hardwood
I know that the heading may sound odd but Hardwood can be destroyed and turned into just plain old wood. How does this work you may ask? With the use of the Wood Chipper, you can turn any piece of Hardwood into wood, Maple Syrup, Oak Resin, or Pine Tar. You get the Wood Chipper from Robin during Winter of year 1, after purchasing it for 1,000g, you can place it anywhere on the farm. The woodchipper takes 1 piece of Hardwood and turns it into anywhere between 5 and 20 pieces of normal wood. Not only that but there is a tiny chance that it turns into 1 of the Tapper products (maple syrup, oak resin, or pine tar). The Wood Chipper is a valuable tool that lets you turn your Hardwood into almost any item you need!
Buildings
While Hardwood is a useful crafting material in machines and decorations, it’s also very useful in the creation of two important farm buildings. Hardwood is used as the main crafting ingredient in the Stable which allows you to get a horse to make your travel around the map faster than ever! Similarly, Hardwood is the only material needed when upgrading your Farmhouse to level 2. Robin will ask you for 50,000g and 150 Hardwood for your farmhouse upgrade. Although these two buildings are the only ones that require Hardwood to build and upgrade, they are arguably two of the most important buildings in Stardew Valley.
Image | Name | Cost |
Farmhouse Upgrade 2 | 50,000g | |
Stable | 10,000g |
Tailoring With Hardwood
Believe it or not but you can tailor using hardwood! If you use Hardwood as a spool for the sewing machine with cloth, it acts as a brown dye for clothing. And if you put it in the orange dye pot in Emily and Haley’s house, you will make brown dye.
Willy’s Boat!
After you complete the community center Willy will ask you to help him fix up his old boat in the back of his shop. The repairs for the ship will cost players 200 Hardwood among other materials. After you gather all 200 pieces of Hardwood, you can deposit it and the rest of the items into a container in Willy’s backroom. Once repaired the ship will take you to Ginger Island which unlocks a major portion of the game and contains quite a bit of endgame content. Not only that but Ginger Island is covered in Mahogany trees which, when chopped, produce a few pieces of Hardwood for you to collect.
Hardwood Quests
Quests in Stardew are fun little challenges that require the player to gather items for NPCs in order to claim a reward and increase friendship. There are four quests, not including Willy’s boat repair quest, that requires players to gather Hardwood for their completion.
- First, Robin will request 10 pieces of Hardwood via the mail on the 21st day of Winter, completing this quest will give you 500g and 1 heart with Robin.
- Similarly, she will request 80 Hardwood in her Special Order which will reward the player with 2,000g and the recipe to craft the Deluxe Double Bed.
- Using Fish ponds unlocks the next two quests as Woodskips will request 10 Hardwood to upgrade their ponds capacity to 3. In a similar way, the Crayfish, Periwinkle, or Snail all have a chance to request 5 pieces of Hardwood to increase their fish ponds capacity to 7 spaces.
Hardwood is also a necessary material in the completion of the Community Center as the Construction Bundle requires you to have 10 pieces of Hardwood to complete it. Now that you know all about why Hardwood is important, let’s talk about how to find and gather Hardwood in Stardew Valley!
Where to Get Hardwood?
Hardwood is a naturally occurring resource in Stardew Valley and it can be found in a few different ways. First, Hardwood can be found by chopping Large Logs which are mainly found on the farm, however, there is one blocking the entrance to the Secret Woods west of Marnies Ranch. Large Logs can only be chopped with a Steel Axe or better and give you 8 pieces of Hardwood per Log.
The next way to gather Hardwood is by chopping Large Stumps which can be found on the farm or in the Secret Woods. Large Stumps can only be chopped with a Copper Axe or better and each stump will yield 2 pieces of Hardwood. While that may not seem like a lot, it adds up as you can chop 6 Large Stumps daily in the Secret Woods as they respawn each morning. Not only that but if you choose the Forest Farm there will be 8 more Large Stumps each day for you to collect, allowing you to gather a total of 28 Hardwood daily if you have the right setup!
Another way to collect Hardwood is through the use of Mahogany Trees. Mahogany Trees can be grown by planting a Mahogany Seed on the farm. You can find Mahogany Seeds by chopping down Large Logs and Stumps or as a slime drop in the Secret Woods. These trees when fully grown can be chopped down by any kind of axe and will yield anywhere from 8-13 pieces of hardwood. Mahogany Trees are a great way to farm Hardwood if you really need a lot of it for some kind of machine or building as you will get tons of Mahogany Seeds while breaking Hardwood in the Secret Woods or on the Farm.
The last, and perhaps most odd way to gather Hardwood is through the use of fish ponds. By building a fish pond and placing 6 or more Woodskips inside it will have a small chance to produce 5 pieces of Hardwood every day. While this method may seem strange, it’s by far the most relaxed way to gather Hardwood and requires very little effort after getting the Woodskips in the fish pond. No matter which of these methods you decide to use you will be well on your way to collecting all the Hardwood you could need!
Becoming a Lumberjack!
Now that you know the basics of collecting Hardwood it’s time to get into some game tips that will help maximize the amount of wood you can collect daily. The Lumberjack profession is one of the best ways to increase the amount of Hardwood you gather in Stardew! The profession makes it so that any tree that you chop has a small chance to produce Hardwood. This means that not only can you plant and chop mahogany trees for Hardwood, but any old tree you chop down also gives you some pieces of Hardwood too! Though it’s only a small amount of extra wood it sure adds up over time and will be beneficial in speeding up your Hardwood collection.
To learn more about professions, Click Here.