You won’t get very far in Starsand Island before you find yourself in need of some iron ore – it’s a key crafting component even in some early-game recipes, and if you want to kit yourself out with anything fancier (like that cute cat-themed gaming set-up), you’re going to need plenty of iron to work with.
You might have already worked out that, like most ores in Starsand Island, the best place to mine iron is in Moonlit Forest, a sub-area map separate from the main island with an entrance conveniently right behind the player’s house. However, iron can be a bit tricky to locate within the forest even once you get there. Read on for where to find iron ore deposits in Starsand Island.
How to get Iron in Starsand Island
Iron is in fact plentiful in Starsand Island’s Moonlit Forest map – you just need to do a little prep work to get to it. To begin with, you’ll need an Impulse Pickaxe, the second-tier quality of that particular tool type, which you’ll only unlock after becoming an Apprentice in the Crafter career.
Iron ore deposits are most plentiful in the Dreamfall Garden region of Moonlit Forest, which is the third area you’ll unlock during normal exploration. There’s not much chance of finding iron in the first two areas, and depending on how efficiently you’re able to explore, you might not even reach Dreamfall Garden during your first trip to the forest.
Iron mining nodes can be a little hard to visually distinguish from some of the other mineral deposits in the Moonlit Forest. Dark blue ore chunks sticking out of a rock indicate that you’re looking at an iron node, although it can still be easy to confuse with the lighter silver-coloured ores of a tin node, or the black chunks in a coal node. Luckily, a pop-up will identify each mineral as you approach.
Further iron deposits can be found in the Crystalith Hideout and Azure Bay areas, which you’ll uncover in due time as your explorations take you further north. But the biggest iron deposits are all in Dreamfall Garden, which is good news for a key early-game resource.
What to do with Iron Ore in Starsand Island
In order to process Iron Ore into something you can craft with, you at minimum need to have upgraded your Furnace to Level 2, which you can only do after reaching Junior rank in the Crafter career. This will grant you the ability to turn Iron Ore into Iron Ingots.
Some blueprints require other refinements of Iron Ore, however, such as Iron Nails. These require you to have access to the Gear Smith, a higher-level crafting device – which, fortunately, also becomes available once you’re a Junior Crafter.
Since you need to be proficient in both the Explorer and Crafter careers in order to get your hands on some iron, be sure to take a look at our guide to finding every job mentor in Starsand Island. You might also appreciate our Starsand Island beginners’ tips page!