How to Get Iridium Ore in Stardew Valley: Fastest & Most Reliable Ways

How to Find Iridium Ore

Mining. The best way to find Iridium Ore in Stardew Valley is to go mining. You do need to progress quite far in the mines to get a steady supply of Iridium Ore, though there are a few other ways you can collect Iridium Ore via mining. Here's all the ways you can mine Iridium Ore: Mining Iridium Nodes. These nodes are found in the Skull Cavern or the Volcano Dungeon. The farther down you go in the Skull Caverns, the more likely you are to find Iridium Nodes. Iridium Nodes can also be found in the Hill-Top and Four Corners farms when you reach level 10 of the Mining skill. Mining Mystic Stones. Mystic Stones are found in Floor 100+ of the Mines, as well as the Quarry, Skull Cavern, and the Volcano Dungeon.

Opening geodes (or coconuts). Magma Geodes, Omni Geodes, and Golden Coconuts have a chance of dropping Iridium Ore when opened. You can increase your chances of finding Geodes by picking up the Geologist Profession at level 5 Miner and the Excavator Profession at level 10 Miner. You can buy an Omni Geode from Krobus on Tuesdays for 300 gold and 3 Omni Geodes from the Oasis on Wednesdays for 1,000 gold each. If you've opened at least one Golden Coconut, you can get more by buying 10 Coconuts from the Oasis on Mondays (for 400 gold each) and trading them to the Island Trader for 1 Golden Coconut.

Fighting high-level monsters. Purple slimes, Iridium Bats, Iridium Crabs, and Iridium Golems in the Skull Cavern all have the potential of dropping Iridium Ore when slain. Purple slimes also can be raised in a Slime Hutch, giving you a potential renewable source of Iridium Ore.

Meteorites. If a meteorite falls on your farm, it will drop six Iridium Ore when mined.

The Traveling Cart. Sometimes, the Traveling Cart will sell Iridium Ore for 300-1,000 gold.

The fish pond. If you have a Super Cucumber Fish pond, the pond may produce 1-3 Iridium Ore once you have nine fish in the pond.

Fishing. Fishing treasure chests have a small chance of containing Iridium Ore.

Panning. Panning in the river may sometimes give you Iridium Ore.

The Statue of Perfection. If you get four candles lit during Grandpa's evaluation at the start of Year Three, you will get the Statue of Perfection, which gives you two to eight Iridium Ore per day. In order to get four lit candles, you must get a score of 12 points or higher. The best ways to bump up your score is to get as much gold as possible, level up your skills as much as possible, finish the museum collection, catch every fish, ship every item, have a lot of friends, get married, have at least two house upgrades, finish the Community Center, and get both the Rusty Key and Skull Key. You can redo Grandpa's evaluation at any time by offering a Diamond.

Fastest Way to Get Iridium Ore

Skull Cavern. Skull Cavern is undeniably the easiest and fastest way to get a lot of Iridium Ore. To quickly get to lower levels, use bombs to find the hidden staircases more easily, or farm Purple slimes on the first few levels. To survive in Skull Cavern, you'll need a high combat skill, a good weapon, and good food for buffs. Sashimi, Salad, Coffee, and Espresso are good food options when you're starting out. Bring as many bombs as you can to quickly descend levels, and consider taking the Geologist and Excavator Mining professions to increase the amount of Magma and Omni Geodes you find.

Grandpa's Evaluation. If you're already close to Year Three and you've accomplished a lot in your game so far, you might just want to wait until Grandpa's Evaluation at the start of Year Three. If you get four candles at the evaluation, you'll get the Statue of Perfection which gives you at least two Iridium Ore (and up to eight) per day.

Iridium Quality Items

Iridium Quality is the best item quality in the game. You can get Iridium Quality crops, artisan items, animal products, fish, and even forageables. An Iridium Quality item is denoted by the purple star on its icon. To get more Iridium Quality items, level up the respective skill (Farming, Fishing, Foraging, etc.) and use higher quality items, such as Deluxe Fertilizer when growing crops.