Cinder Shard conundrum (No Mine Challenge run)

[autumnfarmer]

First time post here on the forum because I need some out of the box thinking...

Context of the Ask
I've been doing a challenge run on my latest game. I've played Stardew a lot over the years and wanted to try something different. So I decided to try and play the game without setting foot in the Mines, Quarry Mine, Skeleton Mines, or Volcano Mines. I've been at it for a while and I haven't had any significant snags. Challenges, sure! But that was part of the fun. Finding unique solutions. I've completed the Community Center (Remixed bundles for additional challenge...), movie theater, I've got all the Golden Walnuts (had to pay the Joja Bird for the final batch)...And I'm well on my way to opening the mastery room. My overall goal is to do everything in the game possible that doesn't directly relate to the mines, eventually getting perfection by paying gold for anything that ends up being impossible.

But there's one chunk of the game I can't do and it's driving me a bit batty.

The Problem
I can't get Cinder Shards. This wouldn't be a huge deal, but it means I can't get an Ostrich Incubator. It also dominos a bit and means I can't get the Mini-Forge---mini forge requires Dragon teeth and dragon teeth can be gained from a sting ray pond (1 dragon tooth obtained by deconstructing the island warp you get when you build the Island--->Home totem). According to the wiki and every other source I dig through, there are three ways to get cinder shards:

1. The Volcano Mines
2. Deconstructing an Ostrich Incubator (gives you 20)
3. Stingray Fish pond

#1 is out because it violates the challenge.
#2 is out because you can obtain an Ostrich Incubator---you can only build one.
#3 is out because in order to get the stingray pond to a point where it produces cinder shards you have to give them 7 cinder shards.

So I'm looking to see if anyone has any ideas about how to solve this riddle. Either obtaining cinder shards some other way than the above 3, obtain an ostrich incubator, or somehow bypass the stingray quest. The wiki is pretty darn solid most of the time, but I know it occasionally misses small details. Looking to see if anyone knows a small detail I haven't stumbled across...

 

[FilthyGorilla]

Yeah this is actually an issue that comes up in no energy runs too, as you can't get to the top of the volcano (needed for getting efficient on the rod for catching fish) without first using the watering can, and are unable to get cinder shards to forge in any capacity without already having cinder shards (stingray ponds), or stepping into the volcano.

None of your proposed solutions are possible without glitches unforunately, but there is one way to circumnavigate this issue, that is, utilizing the raccoons. After the 6th quest, any subsequent quest you fulfill with give you one of a subset of rewards, one of which includes the next unshipped item you have in your shipping tab, so long as you have not have the shipping tab filled or have >100 golden walnuts found. This excludes category -26 of items (artisan goods iirc), but doesn't exclude important locked items like cinder shards or radioactive ore/bars.

So your route is going to be not getting over 100 walnuts, filling the entire shipping tab up to cinder shards, and finally completing quest after quest from the raccoon until you get one. So long as you don't ship the cinder shard, you can repeat this until you get the 7 required to fulfill the stingray fish pond quest and can get infinite from the pond.

 

[stardew_luv]

Wow! All I can say is best of luck and I do hope you get suggestions here. So are you planning on getting ore from fishing and panning alone then? Do you have Hill Top farm then? Again, I really hope the best for you but this sounds like a mega mega challenge. Best wishes!