Your tools are your best friend in Stardew Valley. As a farmer, your tools will allow you to shape your farm and grow your crops. When you begin the game you have very basic tools that cannot be used on certain items and you will need to find a way to improve them. So let's have a look at how to upgrade your tools.
Read More: Stardew Valley - how to get clay
How to upgrade your tools
To upgrade your tools, you will need to follow the steps we have laid out below. You can upgrade your tools multiple times but you will need to pass through each upgrade. You cannot skip one or two upgrades to get to the final one. Also, every upgrade will cost you a substantial amount of money.
Step one - Make a furnace
The morning after you collect one Copper Ore (either through mining or getting Clint to break open Geodes), Clint will appear at your front door. He will give you blueprint plans for a furnace. You will need the furnace to melt down ore and smelt them to make more useful bars.
To build a furnace, you will need:
- 20 pieces of copper ore
- 25 pieces of stone
Once you have crafted the furnace, place it down anywhere you like on your farm.
Step two - Collect ore or coal
You need to use your pickaxe tool to hit rocks and mine for ore or coal. When you have collected a substantial amount of any type of ore, you can use the furnace to turn it into metal bars. (It's worth mentioning that your first upgrades will require copper)
Step three - Take the metal bars to Clint
When you have enough metal bars for your upgrade, you will need to go to see Clint in his workshop. His workshop is on the far side of town by the museum and JojaMart. Once you have found the building, head into it and up to the till to talk with Clint. Select "Upgrade Tools".
You should then see a menu appear where you will be shown all of the upgrade options that are currently available to you. Click on the one you want and Clint will take your tool from you. He will need your tool for 2 days to upgrade it. When the tool is ready, you will be notified and you will need to go to Clint to collect it.
So there you have it, that's how you upgrade your tools in Stardew Valley. Once you have upgraded your tools, you should find that there are more things that you can do, for instance, you can clear larger debris from your farm once you've upgraded both the pickaxe and the axe.
If you want to build relationships with the NPCs around Pelican Town, we've created an extensive character hub that tells you everything you need to know. Additionally, if you're looking to make some extra money, we have a guide on how to fish.