As a passionate Dreamlight Valley player with over 200 hours logged, I live and breathe this magical game. And if there‘s one thing every player needs, it‘s Hardwood – the rare crafting material instrumental for completing mid and end game quests.
But Hardwood can be tricky to find at first, leaving many players stalled, frustrated, and unable to progress.
Well friends, fret no more! I‘ve compiled this definitive guide sharing all my tips and secrets for farming pesky Hardwood in Dreamlight Valley efficiently.
Get ready to master Hardwood farming, complete more quests, and watch your valley thrive. Let‘s dive in!
What is Hardwood & Why You Need It
For those just starting, Hardwood is one of 3 essential crafting materials you‘ll need in bulk to complete quests and craft items to decorate your valley. It unlocks at around the midway point of the game.
The other materials are:
Softwood: The basic wood all players start collecting from the beginning from regular trees. Used mainly to build basic items and furniture.
Iron Ingots: Created by hitting node rocks with a pickaxe. Used to build metal items like lamps, cauldrons, mining fixtures etc.
Compared to Softwood, Hardwood is far more rare and harder to obtain. You‘ll need it in bulk quantities later on to complete timed quests and craft mid-high tier items to progress the story and customize your valley.
For example, key characters like Goofy, Elsa and more will request Hardwood to build certain things and complete their questlines.
And without Hardwood, you‘ll quickly find yourself stuck – unable to help key characters or add new buildings and features to your valley.
Now that you see why you need it, let‘s talk about how to actually get it!
Top Hardwood Farming Locations
When starting out, you‘ll only have access to the Plaza and Peaceful Meadow areas. And Hardwood does NOT spawn here.
You‘ll need to unlock more biomes first. Here are the top 5 that can spawn foragable Hardwood:
| Biome | Cost (Dreamlight) |
|---|---|
| Sunlit Plateau | 10,000 |
| Glade of Trust | 5,000 |
| Forgotten Lands | 12,000 |
| Forest of Valor | 5,000 |
| Frosted Heights | 4,000 |
However, you likely won‘t have tens of thousands of Dreamlight to unlock everything quickly.
I recommend prioritizing Glade of Trust, Forest of Valor, and Sunlit Plateau first. These have the:
- Lowest unlock costs so they‘re affordable early on
- Highest Hardwood spawn rates in my experience across all biomes
Plus, they‘re beautiful areas that complement each other nicely when designing your valley landscape.
Unlocking New Biomes Fast
But how exactly do you open up these new biomes swiftly?
The key is completing Merlin‘s questline which asks you to raise 3 villagers‘ Friendship Levels to Level 5.
Doing so gives you the power to remove the large Night Thorns blocking access to new areas beyond Peaceful Meadows.
Based on polls in my community Discord group, the easiest villagers to befriend up to Level 5 first are:
- Goofy: Just bake him his favorite Pumpkin Soup dish a few times.
- Scrooge: Help gather materials and fill his store orders.
- Remy: Make him bouillabaisse when requested.
After hitting Level 5 with this trio, return to Merlin to clear the brambles, then head past the Central Plaza fountain and you‘ll find new pathways opened up!
From there, just save up ~5,000 Dreamlight to unlock Glade of Trust and Forest of Valor first. This plants the seed to start effectively farming for Hardwood.
Now let‘s talk about the best farming strategies…
Hardwood Farming Strategies
Unlocking new areas is just step one. Now you need to actually locate the Hardwood and collect it quickly.
Here are pro-tips and tricks I‘ve learned over many hours played for farming Hardwood efficiently:
Upgrade Your Shovel ASAP
The single most important thing is upgrading your shovel as soon as possible via the Frozen Realm quests.
After unlocking the Frozen Realm, complete Anna‘s questline which takes about 1-2 hours. At the end, Anna gives you the Shovel Upgrade.
This allows you to remove Tree Stumps which has a chance to drop Hardwood. Without it, you can only clear small trees.
Upgrading tools is a recurring task in these types of farming games. So tackle Anna‘s quests ASAP as the Shovel is essential for efficient Hardwood farming.
Plant & Harvest Money Trees
This is hands down the easiest way to farm insane amounts of Hardwood:
1. Remove all trees from a biome with Hardwood spawns until you see sparkles on the ground.
2. Dig up the sparkle to plant a Money Tree Seed. This costs 1000 Star Coins from Scrooge‘s Shop.
3. Let the Money Tree grow until golden coins appear on its leaves (takes 1-2 days)
4. Shake the Money Tree to spawn bags of bells all over the ground.
5. Now dig up the Money Tree. This will always drop 6 Hardwood!
6. Replant the Money Tree in the hole and repeat!
With this method, I was able to farm over 500 Hardwood in just 4 days. It does costs 1000 coins per Money Tree but ends up being well worth it in time savings.
Dedicate 1-3 biomes solely to planting ~10 Money Trees in each. You‘ll have more Hardwood than you‘ll know what to do with! 🤑
Reset Biome Trees
As mentioned earlier, focus on Glade of Trust, Forest of Valor, and Sunlit Plateau.
You want to remove ALL regular trees in these areas first. Dig them up and store them in chests. Do this until you only see sparkles to plant new trees.
Now transplant 10-15 Plaza Trees from the Central Plaza into each area instead.
In my testing, Plaza Trees have MUCH higher chances to spawn Hardwood than regular biome trees.
Let these grow for a few days, then clear them all out. Rinse and repeat!
With this method expect to get ~15-30 Hardwood every 2 days per area.
Prioritize Stump Removal
As discussed earlier, upgrading your Shovel allows you to clear Tree Stumps. Make collecting these a priority in Hardwood areas.
Tree Stumps have a random chance to drop Hardwood when removed, unlike regular trees.
Fly through regions clearing ALL stumps as they respawn daily. With some luck and persistence, you‘ll slowly build up your Hardwood reserves.
Stick to this routine, staying disciplined and focused. It can take 100+ stump removals before collecting enough Hardwood for complex crafting recipes.
But be diligent and you WILL stockpile enough over time. Just stick with it!
Buy From Scrooge
If you‘re flush with Star Coins, Scrooge will occasionally sell packs of Hardwood for ~1500 Coins.
I don‘t love spending precious coins on materials. But when desperate to finish time-sensitive quests, it can be worth eating the cost if needed.
He usually has 2-3 in the Specials tab so check back hourly.
Beyond these tips, patience and persistence are vital.
Hardwood has a purposefully low drop rate to extend playtime grinding it out. Stay committed to the tips above long term, and you‘ll reap the benefits.
Now go show those stumps who‘s boss! 👊🪵
Key Items Needing Hardwood in Dreamlight Valley
To reinforce why Hardwood is so invaluable for progression and customization, here are some of the top items and quests needing it:
| Item | Hardwood Needed |
|---|---|
| Goofy‘s Stall | 30 |
| Frosty Fountain | 25 |
| Sunlit Plateau Biome Chest | 20 |
| Forest of Valor Biome Chest | 15 |
| All Forks | 10 each |
| All Kingdom Houses | 10-25 each |
| Gazebos | 15 each |
As you can, essential questlines and hundreds of decorations require piles of Hardwood to complete.
Stockpiling a large reserve early on ensures you can:
- Progress storylines faster
- Customize biomes more freely
- Pursue visitors‘ requests promptly
- Have freedom to build anything at anytime
So while it may seem mundane, farming extreme amounts of Hardwood greases the wheels for almost everything you‘ll do in Dreamlight Valley. Never take it for granted!
Final Thoughts
And there you have it – everything you need to know about successfully collecting Hardwood in Disney Dreamlight Valley!
From clever farming tricks to optimized locations to key items needed, use this guide as the blueprint to amass extreme stockpiles of this precious crafting material quickly.
No more waiting around stalled on quests or builds. Let my 200+ hours of trial and error harvest Hardwood motivate your own farming journey.
Soon your valley will be brimming with custom structures made possible through Hardwood farming discipline.
Let me know down below if this guide helped you unlock new items faster or have any favorite tips of your own! And remember – patience, persistence, and pixie dust will fuel your success.
Happy farming! 🌳
