Whether you have stumbled across the Dark Talisman quest, are looking to trigger it, or are trying to unlock Wizard obelisks for your farm: you need to know everything you can about the Stardew Valley Dark Talisman. After reading this brief guide, you will have the information you need to access the Witch’s Swamp!
Description
The Dark Talisman is a quest item that cannot be sold. Also, it is not utilized for anything other than the Dark Talisman quest.
 | Quest Text | Requirements | Rewards |
| The Dark Talisman | “The Wizard asked me to retrieve the Magic Ink from his ex-wife’s house… but to gain access I’ll need a dark talisman. Enter the sewer and ask Krobus about the dark talisman.” | Speak to Krobus and then head to the Mutant Bug Lair to retrieve the talisman. Return to the cave at the Railroad once collected. | Access to Witch’s Swamp |
You can find this item inside a chest located within the Mutant Bug Lair. After you obtain the item, it is not located inside your inventory. Instead, it is found inside your wallet in the Player’s Menu (on the Skills Tab). Similar to other items found in your wallet, like the Skull Key, you can find it there even after you use it.
What is the Dark Talisman Used For?
The Stardew Valley Dark Talisman is used to access the Witch’s Swamp for the Dark Talisman questline. This passageway through the rock wall to the Witch’s Hut is located in the Railroad area of the Stardew Valley map. The Railroad area is located at the very top of the map, directly north of the Carpenter’s Shop.
Once you enter the Railroad area, continue straight up past the train platform to the northeastern corner of the area map and you will find the cave entrance.
The Witch
If you are someone who has played through the first year of the game, you are probably at least a little familiar with the witch. There is a random event where a witch flies across the night sky and casts a spell on one of your chicken eggs leaving a void egg in its place. This random event only occurs if you own a big or deluxe coop that isn’t filled.Â
Note: If you place the void egg in the incubator of your chicken coop, a void chicken will hatch from it.
You will learn some of the back story of the witch during the Dark Talisman quest. We will talk about it here so if you don’t want it to be spoiled for you I would suggest skipping on down.
You learn that a long time ago the Witch and the Wizard were happily married. Until one day he (The Wizard), “made a mistake that drove her (The Witch) away”. This “mistake” caused her to turn green out of anger and envy, and now she flies around cursing everything in her path. The Wizard chose to seal the passage in an attempt to protect the villagers from her dark magic.
Now he needs to unseal the passage to retrieve his magic ink that he left behind when they separated. For reasons unknown, he needs it back and asks you for help to get it back. The cutscene ends as the Wizard vanishes and the witch flies across the screen. Now that we have a better understanding of how this all started, let’s move forward to how one would trigger The Dark Talisman quest.
How to trigger the Dark Talisman Questline
To activate the Dark Talisman quest, all you need to do is enter the Railroad Area once you have completed either the Joja Warehouse tasks or fully restored the Community Center. Even if you have done one of these, then it is possible the quest still does not trigger. This is possible if you have not leveled up your friendship with the Wizard high enough, or that you have not waited until at least Year 2.
If all of these requirements have been fulfilled, and you are still not able to begin the Dark Talisman quest, there is one more thing to try. This is to make sure you have had the Seal of Promise cutscene with the Wizard, Dwarf, and Krobus before attempting to trigger the quest. After the Wizard casts a “seal of promise” finishing the cutscene, there should be nothing holding you back from triggering the Dark Talisman questline.
Where to find the Stardew Valley Dark Talisman
Once you receive the Dark Talisman questline, you will need to first access the Sewers and talk to Krobus to find out more about the Dark Talisman. Since this is a later game quest, you should already have access to the Sewers. If you do not, then you will need to obtain the Rusty Key from Gunther by donating 60 items from the Museum. Then you will need to travel to one of the two Sewer entrances.
One is through the sewer cover in the south area of Pelican Town. The second is through the sewer grates in the southeastern area of Cindersap Forest. After entering the Sewers, navigate to Krobus. Before you talk to Krobus, this area will be inaccessible, forcing you to talk to him before proceeding. He is located on the opposite side of the Sewers from the Statue of Uncertainty.
Once you navigate to Krobus and interact with him, it will bring up a dialogue shown below.
After you finish talking with Krobus, he will open up the entrance to the Mutant Bug Lair. Travel to the northwest corner of the Sewers to find the split in the Sewer wall illuminated by two white glowing torches. Make sure you prepare for battle before entering because inside there are both mutant grubs and mutant flies to fight before you can reach the Dark Talisman.
 | Mutant Grubs | Make sure to kill them before they incubate into Mutant Flies |
 | Mutant Flies | Behave similarly to Cave Flies, will swoop through walls. Try to stand still and let them come to you. Do not get swarmed by multiple flies. |
After navigating past the enemies, keep following the path and look for a treasure chest. The Dark Talisman chest is very similar to treasure chests found in the Mines. Opening the chest will give you the talisman, which is covered in bug slime. After retrieving the Talisman, you can exit the Mutant Bug Lair.
What to do with the Stardew Valley Dark Talisman
Now that you have the Dark Talisman, all you have to do is return to the Railroad area with the talisman. Return to the blocked passageway where you had the cutscene with the Wizard and interact with it. This unblocks the passageway and you can now go inside the cave entrance and be teleported to the Witch’s Swamp!
This completes the Dark Talisman Quest and begins the Goblin Problem Quest.
