Ginger Island [Beginner]

[gingerpayne]

So, I finally made it to Ginger Island. I had to start a new save file, and play on Xbox to get the 1.5 update. Now that I’m there, I’m excited but I’m getting this overwhelming feeling about all of it. I haven’t figured out a whole lot yet. Got through the first few rooms of the volcano, gathered like 3 golden walnuts. I don’t know what to do first, or anything! Any suggestions?
Thanks!

 

[imnvs]

The first thing you want to do is run around finding golden walnuts. First place to go is to the East, talk to the kid in the feather cloak (his name is Leo) and to the parrot in his tree house. You have to give your first walnut to this parrot to get access to the north part of the island. Once you find 10 walnuts total, Leo will warm up to you, start talking to you and you can start giving him gifts. (I recommend high quality duck feathers.) When it comes to walnuts, look for places where you have rocks or shells or plants arranged in a circle or cross or X shape and dig in the center with your hoe. Shake them off of bushes. (You also need to farm for some, break up rocks for some, fish for some, do a few quests, play darts with pirates. They're all over the place. There are 130 total.

When you go to spend walnuts, talk to the parrot by the big turtle first, get him out of your way so you have access to the farm space. Next unlock the dig site. These two get you access to the first areas you need to get a lot of stuff you need to do on the island. As soon as you can unlock the resort, that also unlocks the southeast area where you can find more walnuts.

 

[Salty1]

Aside from getting walnuts to unlock the various features of the island and use them to the fullest, the most useful thing is probably the forge on the top of the volcano.

If you get up to the top once, then you can double back around to a screen that will take you back to the entrance area and open a gate that will allow you to go straight to the top/to the forge thereafter. You might still want to go to the dungeon afterward for other reasons, but being able to go to the forge whenever you want is nice.

The volcano dungeon has ten levels. Fifth level is always a "break stop" level with a shop. Staircases won't work, but the exit is always pre-determined. If you want to get an edge, you can use the screenshot feature to figure out where the exit to your current level is without exploring for it.

The forge will help you with getting an edge on end-game content, so it is well worth the bother!

Most walnuts require puzzling/exploring and finding the right little places to whack, but there's plenty to earn by doing everyday things too (like just breaking rocks in the volcano, up to a certain threshold). Don't sweat it if it feels like you're not getting much done - some island days are effectively just a vacation and that's fine.

 

[gingerpayne]

Thank you all so much, this was very helpful!
I have been playing everyday for hours on end, so I’m totally in love with the game!
I was just so excited to finally be able to go to Ginger Island, so once I got there I just kind of panicked lol! But, this kind of helps me out. So, Golden Walnuts. That’s the ticket to unlocking most parts of the island? I see the Golden Walnuts in places that I haven’t quiet figured out how to get to yet. Ginger Island is super mysterious to me, I love it, but I’m intimidated.

 

[Cuusardo]

There's a parrot you can talk to that will give you hints on where to find golden walnuts. Some of those places you might not be able to get to at first, but you will eventually figure out how to get to them.

 

[Zen_the_Ogre]

One thing I advise is to slow on the use of crops on the island. The dig points can be covered up and this can delay certain walnuts and notes

 

[Shae_]

Can someone please help me out? i've recently unlocked volcano dungeon and i am not able to get to 10th floor

 

[Ereo]

Can someone please help me out? i've recently unlocked volcano dungeon and i am not able to get to 10th floor

You’ll need to be more specific about your issue. Do you have trouble getting through the volcano in time? Do you reach the 9th floor but can’t find the exit? In that case a screen shot of the floor might be helpful.

 

[Lew Zealand]

If you're going in to gather items and loot chests, you won't have nearly as much time to make it to Floor 10 so make your choice: Chests/Dragon Teeth or The Forge.

The floors change (each day?) and sometimes I get the dreaded Find-3-floor-buttons one and I tend to give up on the Forge and turn to looting if there's not much time left. Try the next day and hope for a different configuration. However I tend to focus on moving fast, Bombing through blocked sections, and fighting as little as possible while keeping Gold Cheez in my hotbar to heal up when I get hit a bunch. The Magma Sprites and Sparklers are the bane of my existence there as everything else can usually be avoided. With Coffee and Spicy Eel, you can mostly keep away from those but only if you have a clear path.

 

[DragonGwen]

My strat is get to the top floor and get the chest on floor nine as short as possible and I've had some good runs starting at 8 am and ending at 4 pm. My food advice is food with good buffs and plenty of energy tonic as it gives you your health back but doesn't interfere with your food buffs

 

[Maher]

Magma Caps are great nourishment and can be foraged as you go. A gold one is as good as life elixir/energy drink, and doesn't hurt buffs.

 

[Maher]

Oh, and squid ink ravioli for the upper 5 levels to deal with debuffs from the sparklers.

 

[MogBeoulve]

Food, lots of it, and speed buffs are my recommendation. Eat any time your health drops even a tiny bit and just keep running. I use this as a basic strategy until I get the equipment to tank the dungeon. I suggest focusing first on getting the forge unlocked, then collecting enough cinder shards to combine rings. If you didn't already get a prismatic shard, there's one at the forge so you can get galaxy weapons.

 

[Starboo]

Jumping on this as I need help. I got to level 5 in the dungeon but the dwarf (?) won't talk to me, I just get a ? So I can't buy anything.

Please help!

 

[DragonGwen]

Jumping on this as I need help. I got to level 5 in the dungeon but the dwarf (?) won't talk to me, I just get a ? So I can't buy anything.

Please help!

You haven't completed the dwarf scrolls at the museum, after you do, Gunter will give you a dictionary that allows you to speak with them

Museum - Stardew Valley Wiki

The Museum can be found in the South-East corner of Pelican Town, south of the Blacksmith.

stardewvalleywiki.com

 

[ArtifactSpot]

Wear as much protective clothing from the mainland (space boots, slime charmer ring can really help as the tiger slimes are abundant and deal a lot of extra damage while you fight off the flames/sparklers, napalm ring if you have, rock crab ring if not.) Use Galaxy Sword if have, Lava Kantina if not. And as others said speed. A speed food and triple shot expresso are good. If you have a magic rock candy that is a great bonus. Don’t worry about any ores on your first run, getting to the forge on top and pressing the gate open button beyond and below the forge are the most important. Run through gate after you press the gate open button and now you can use forge anytime without going through volcano. It will be just to your right before you cross bridge to volcano. Then you can re-enter volcano later to collect cinder shards and gems on lower floors to upgrade weapons. Also, go on highest luck day will reduce the number of flames/sparklers a slight bit. Hope that helps. I used to dread the volcano and now it’s my favorite as I’ve had hundreds of run through and with good clothes, food and practice it gets to be a ton of fun and lots of good ores/gems are in there. Also remember unless you are trying to reach perfection or monster slayer goal you don’t have to go in the volcano. There are a ton of other places to explore on Ginger Island that are lots of fun. Also remember to befriend the little boy in the jungle tree house to 6 hearts and then he will come to live in Stardew Valley permanently and he will become friends with Linus, Willy, Jas and Vincent. Most of all have fun!

 

[Tom]

There's a screenshot toot at the bottom of the last tab of your menu that on PC is like cheating. But it's a legit native tool. You can see where everything is on any map without using any in-game time. I use this whenever time is tight. In the volcano you can use it to find buttons, dragon teeth, lava lurks, and exits.

 

[ThePerfectGarden]

There's a screenshot toot at the bottom of the last tab of your menu that on PC is like cheating. But it's a legit native tool. You can see where everything is on any map without using any in-game time. I use this whenever time is tight. In the volcano you can use it to find buttons, dragon teeth, lava lurks, and exits.

Good point! I hadn't even thought of that yet, thanks!

 

[3729goldencoconuts]

Meet Leo abd get 10 hearts with him.

 

[Tom]

Jumping on this as I need help. I got to level 5 in the dungeon but the dwarf (?) won't talk to me, I just get a ? So I can't buy anything.

Please help!

It's okay if you don't buy anything. I don't know if I have ever bought anything from the Dwarf there. You would have to own a translation guide before you could talk their language.