Intro
Coal is one of the most valuable resources in Stardew Valley, and if you love Kegs like me, you’re going to need a lot of it.
Turns out though, I had been farming coal wrong for so long. Previously I would go to the frozen mines and clear each floor of Dust Sprites, and only reset at the bottom. I would get around 160 coal and consider myself happy with that. But there is a faster way that leads to getting around 350-400+ Coal consistently.
What I should have been doing is taking the elevator to floors 45, 55, and 65, and looking for clusters of Dust Sprites to kill for large amounts of Coal. Keep reading for more on this method.
Quick Run Down of the Method
The fastest way to farm coal is by taking the elevator in the Mines to floors 45,55 and 65. You want to look for clusters of Dust Sprites and kill them. If there aren’t any (or none worth moving to) then you take the elevator to the next floor.
Once all three floors are cleared, go back to the start of the Mines to reset the floors. You will then be able to repeat the above method. In order to get maximum Coal you will want the Burglar’s ring and Monster Musk.
Watch the method in action
Here’s a short clip showing exactly how I do this method
In the video you can clearly see the power of Monster Musk doing its magic. At the start it had run out and I wasn’t getting any Monsters, but as soon as I applied some more, all the Dust Sprites started coming out on the next floors.
I finished today’s Coal farming with just over 380 Coal in one run.
What You’ll Need
While you don’t need any special items to farm coal this way, a few upgrades will make the process much more efficient.
- Burglars Ring
- Monster Musk
- Food Buffs (I recommend Spicy Eel and Triple Shot Espresso)
- A Strong Weapon
Burglar’s Ring and Monster Musk are what I would consider to be essentials for serious Coal Farming. These two together takes this method from maybe over 100 coal, to getting close to 400 coal a day.
Burglar’s Ring
If you only go out of your way to unlock one item for Coal farming, make it this one.
WHY I RECOMMEND IT
The Burglar’s Ring gives every defeated enemy another chance to drop loot. Against Dust Sprites, that means more Coal from every run through the mines.
HOW TO GET IT
The perfect thing about this method, is it’s also the best way to get the Burglar’s Ring. Just go and kill 500 Dust Sprites, then you can claim it from Gil at the Adventurer’s Guild. Then go and kill more Dust Sprites for more Coal.
This is one of the best Rings in the game. The ability to double the loot from monster’s doesn’t just mean more monster loot, but also more food and other useful items too.
Monster Musk
More monsters means more loot, and more Coal
WHY I RECOMMEND IT
Monster Musk increases the number of monsters that spawn, allowing you to kill more Dust Sprites. Killing more Dust Sprites means more Coal for you.
HOW TO GET IT
The recipe is unlocked by completing the Wizard’s Prismatic Jelly Special Order. Crafting one requires 30 Slime and 30 Bat Wings.
Food Buffs
Movement speed is your biggest friend when farming Dust Sprites.
I recommend bringing:
- Spicy Eel or Crab Cakes for Speed buff. Crab Cakes is nice because it last most of the day, but Spicy Eel is usually easier to get.
- Triple Shot Espresso to stack another Speed boost.
The faster you move, the faster you can get to the Dust Sprite clusters.
A Strong Weapon
Finally, bring the best weapon you have available. Ideally, you want to kill Dust Sprites in a single hit so you can clear floors as quickly as possible.
If your weapon isn’t cutting it, here’s my guide on how to get the Galaxy Sword. It’s one of the best weapons in the game and makes farming Dust Sprites much faster.
Seven Dust Sprites in one frame, and you can definitely expect more with Monster Musk active.
The Full Method
Make sure you have all the gear as described above. You want to go to the Mines, apply your Monster Musk and any food buffs.
Take the elevator to floor 45 to start. Listen out for any Dust Sprites as soon as you are on the floor. Walk a few steps and see if any Dust Sprites are in.
If there is a nice cluster of Dust Sprites (3 or more) and they are easy to get to, then go and kill them. If there isn’t any (or none worth going for) then hop back on the elevator and go to floor 55 or 65 and repeat above. Once you’re done on all three floors go back to floor 0.
Going back to floor 0 resets the other floors, allowing the Dust Sprites to spawn again. Then keep repeating this method until you have enough coal for your needs.
Keep reading if you want to get into some of the finer details to take this method a little further.
The Finer Details
While this method is pretty efficient all-around, there are always some finer details that will get you a little bit more Coal on average. These are some of the little details that I have found while testing this method that pushes this method a little further.
I am no Min-Maxer either, these are just details I have noticed. Feel free to comment if there are any nuances you know of that pushes this method further.
Make Sure your Camera Is Zoomed Out
You really want your camera to be as zoomed out as you are able. You want to be able to scout the floors for any Dust Sprite clusters that are further out. You don’t want to be traversing to far into the floors, especially if there is nothing on them.
Keep your camera zoomed out so you can easily see as much of the floor as soon as you’re off the elevator.
3 Dust Sprite Minimum
I find that I get my best results by only making my way through a floor if I see a group of at least 3 Dust Sprites. If there are a couple Dust Sprites close by I will go for them, but I find that anything less than 3 isn’t worth the steps to go to. It usually proves to be less efficient.
This is definitely one of those nuances that can be tested even further. It could be possible that only targeting even higher concentrations (4 or even 5 in a group) of Dust Sprites leads to more Coal per day. You would spend more time in the elevator menu, and more real time doing this, for potentially a little more coal, but it remains to be tested from my end.
For now I feel comfortable recommending only going for groups of at least 3, unless they are a few steps from you.
This is a decent cluster of Dust Sprites
Check for obstacles
In keeping with the last tip, if there are a lot of rocks between you and a small group of Dust Sprites, you need to weigh up whether it is actually worth going for them. Speed is your friend, and chances are it is of more benefit to you to just go to the next floor.
We aren’t trying to spend too long on any one floor, as every new floor has another opportunity for us.
Back to the elevator, or down the ladder?
This is something I have found definitely makes a noticeable difference when using this method. When first trying it I would go back to the elevator after clearing Dust Sprites, and ignore the ladders.
But I quickly found that it is much faster to take ladders dropped by the Dust Sprites down and then taking the ladder straight back up to the start of the mines, rather than running all the way back to the elevator. This is only true if you are on the opposite side of the room however, I wouldn’t take a ladder that is close to an elevator.
Occasionally there are even some Dust Sprites close by on the next floor that makes it worth it. This is especially true when taking the ladder from floor 55 to 56.
A nice cluster on floor 56 after taking the ladder down instead of the elevator
Floor 55 and 56
In my experience with this method, I have noticed I have my best results from floor 55. I notice a significant amount more Dust Sprites come from this floor than the other two.
The other benefit to floor 55, is surprisingly floor 56. While I usually try to stick to the elevators where possible, floor 56 is a relatively small floor that has a chance to spawn a heap of Dust Sprites in.
Below is a video of both floors 55 and 56, notice how many Dust Sprites are spawning.
Listen, Move and Abandon
This is just going to take practice, I’ve already said what to look for on a floor, we want a cluster of 3 or more Dust Sprites before we venture further. But what I usually try to do as soon as I enter a floor is listen for the Dust Sprites, and their high pitched squeals.
I then walk a few tiles down to scope the floor, and that’s it. If I don’t see or hear anything, I’m straight back in the elevator and onto the next floor.
When to buy Coal from Clint
Once your farm has a consistent flow of money, you may be better off buying Coal directly from Clint. You’re trading money for time. Instead of spending an entire day farming Dust Sprites, you can simply buy the Coal and get back to whatever project you’re working on. This is definitely an option to consider if you’re bringing in more money than you realistically need each week.
Another thing to note is that the prices of Coal in Year 1 are far cheaper than those in Year 2 and beyond. A piece of Coal from Clint in Year 1 is 150G, where as in Year 2 onwards it shoots up to 250G a piece. If you’ve had a profitable first year, it’s well worth stocking up before the price increase.
TIP
You should also think about stocking up on Wood and Stone in Year 1 too. Wood goes from 10G to 50G, and Stone goes from 20G to 100G in Year 2. If you have spare gold near the end of Winter Year 1, buying extra Wood and Stone is one of the best long-term investments you can make.
What about Charcoal Kiln’s?
Charcoal Kilns solve one resource shortage by creating another. Wood is arguably the most used resource, and you will need plenty in your Stardew Valley journey. Unless you have a Tree farm, I wouldn’t recommend Kiln’s being a primary way of getting Coal. You’re better off saving your wood and farming dust sprites instead.
In Year 1 however, it’s actually cheaper to buy Wood from Robin and convert it into Coal than it is to buy Coal directly from Clint. You save 50G by buying 10 pieces of wood from Robin, and chucking it into a Kiln.
If you do decide to use Charcoal Kilns, each one costs 20 Wood and 2 Copper Bars to craft. Every batch then converts 10 Wood into 1 Coal over the course of 30 in-game minutes.
Conclusion
Farming Dust Sprites is the best way to build up a healthy stockpile of Coal, especially early in the game. As you unlock items like the Burglar’s Ring, this method only becomes more efficient. Later on, once your farm is bringing in plenty of gold, don’t be afraid to buy Coal from Clint to save yourself valuable time. Charcoal Kilns can be useful if you have an abundance of wood, but for most players I wouldn’t recommend relying on them as your primary source of Coal.
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