As you progress through Stardew Valley you'll find that iridium is a sparse and important resource. It can be a little difficult to get a hold of and there isn't much indication on how to do so either. So to make things a little easier we've put together a guide on how to get iridium, and what you can use it for!
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How to get iridium
Iridium ore is a resource that can be found in multiple ways. You can find it in Iridium Nodes, Mystic Stones, Magma Geodes, and Omni Geodes, and these can all be obtained through mining. If you want a higher chance of getting geodes then go for the Geologist Profession at mining level 5, and the Excavator Profession at mining level 10.
Iridium can also be found in treasure chests when fishing, meteorites on your farm, and can even sometimes be a rare drop from high-level enemies. You may also find iridium ore when panning, though this isn't as common. One of the easiest ways to get this valuable ore is through The Statue of Perfection. It produces 2-8 ore each day. You may also be able to buy some iridium ore from the Traveling Cart for 300-1,000g.
The best way to get iridium
The more common option to get iridium ore is in the Skull Cavern, which requires reaching level 120 in the regular mine and then repairing the vault in the community center. This will cost you 42,500g, which sounds like a lot, but it's well worth doing.
The lower into the Skull Cavern you go, the higher the chance of finding some iridium. Purple slimes can sometimes drop both iridium ore and bars, and they might even give you more iridium than mining will. Iridium bats also have a chance to drop an iridium bar although it's unlikely, as they generally tend to drop up to 4 iridium ore when killed. Iridium crabs can drop up to 3 iridium ore when slain.
Once you've mined a good amount of ore, you can smelt it inside a furnace to create iridium bars. Iridium bars can be used to craft a number of items in Stardew Valley, such as sprinklers which can make your farm life a lot easier. If you want to enlist some friends to help tackle Skull Cavern and mine for iridium, then we've also got a guide on how to set up a co-op multiplayer farm.
For more articles like this, take a look at our Guides and Stardew Valley page.