“A combustible rock that is used for crafting and smelting.”
Stardew Valley has a lot of resources that are needed when it comes to crafting as well as other functions in the game.
One of the main resources that you will need to get your hands on is Coal, which is used in both crafting as well as smelting certain ores that you obtain later in the game.
While Coal is one of the easiest items that you can get in the game, you will realize sooner or later that a lot is needed if you want to keep up production at your farm.
Where to Get Coal?
Coal in Stardew Valley is obtained in the mines but this does not mean that you can only get it by destroying rocks and minerals since some monsters may drop this as well.
There is no specific Coal location and it is rather obtained by chance from any of the rocks that you destroy in the Mines.
Dust Sprites, which are known as Coal Sprites by some players, will spawn in certain parts of the Mines, giving you a chance to get Coal when you defeat them.
How to Get Coal?
The best ways to get Coal in Stardew Valley are to either burn wood inside a Charcoal Kiln or to gather them within the mines.
When gathering them in the mines, you will need to either destroy rocks or defeat certain enemies that will drop them as loot.
Let’s see more about the process of getting coal below in detail.
1) Burn Wood In a Charcoal Kiln
One of the easiest methods for Coal farming would be to simply craft it or in other words, burn Wood to make it. (Using a Charcoal Kiln, also referred to as Coal Maker by players)
To do this, you will need to make a Charcoal Kiln, which is one of the items that become available early on when you start the game.
Using a Coal Kiln simply requires that you place a piece of Wood inside of it, which later causes it to burn into Coal after 30 seconds.
2) Mining Rocks and Minerals
Once you have gotten access to the mines, getting Coal becomes a bit easier as it has a chance to drop when you destroy rocks.
Not every rock will guarantee that you will get Coal but at the end of every mining session, you are bound to return to the farm with some.
To make Coal mining easier in Stardew Valley, we suggest that you use an upgraded Pickaxe, which will allow you to break rocks easily depending on what tier they are.
3) Defeating Dust Sprites to Get the Coal
An alternate way for obtaining Coal would be to defeat Dust Sprites but these enemies don’t just spawn anywhere in the mines.
You can find Dust Sprites on levels 41 to 79 in the mines and they will usually be more than one in an area but you should be careful to avoid getting swarmed.
Defeating Dust Sprites only gives you a chance to get Coal but the odds are quite good as they have a 50% drop rate.
Other Ways To Get Coal
- Purchasing from the Blacksmith
- Burning Wood in a Charcoal Kiln
- Recycling trash that you find
- Opening Fishing Treasure Chests
- Using a pan at certain water sources
- Harvesting a Coal Tree
Uses of Coal in Stardew Valley
Coal is mainly used in Stardew Valley when you need to smelt certain ores into bars, making it one of the most in-demand resources in the game.
Aside from being used to smelt items in a Furnace, certain items can be crafted that require a certain amount of Coal.
The following are some of the items in Stardew Valley that you can craft with Coal:
- Bee House
- Preserves Jar
- Warrior Ring
- Cherry Bomb
- bomb
- Explosive Ammo
- Wicked Statue
- Wooden Brazier
- Stone Brazier
- Barrel Brazier
- Stump Brazier
- Gold Brazier
- Carved Brazier
- Scarecrow
- Seed Maker
- Slime Egg-Press
- Cookout Kit
Getting Coal from a Tree (Coal Tree)
There are times in the game when any tree can be struck by lightning and this will cause it to become burnt, lasting for up to 4 days.
During the duration that the burnt tree (referred to as Coal Tree) is burnt, it will produce Coal instead of wood, giving you an additional source of Coal.
Verdict
It is necessary to get your hands on Coal as soon as possible in the game so that you can specific items that become useful later.
One of the most needed uses for Coal is for making different types of Bombs, which are used later on to make mining much easier.
Having a lot of Coal stored after you have finished mining is good for later on when you need to do a lot of smelting for better resources.
