Stardew Valley has its own host of strange and mystical materials that help make the most out of the game. Solar Essence is definitely an item that, while not used for too many recipes, seems quite potent. It is also great for making a few generalist items that endgame Stardew Valley players should always have in their arsenal. So, this guide will explain everything that this strange material can provide!
How to Get Solar Essence
Solar Essence in Stardew Valley is dropped by a small subset of specific monsters. Undead creatures drop it, as well as several enemies from later floors of the Mines, Quarry Mines, and the Volcano Dungeon. However, you can also purchase it from Krobus or collect it from a Fish Pond full of Sunfish.
Solar Essence is a rare drop from quite a few different enemy types. These types include:
- Blue Squid
- Ghost
- Haunted Skull
- Hot Head
- Iridium Bat
- Metal Head
- Mummy
- Squid Kid
These tend to be later-game enemies. Some are on the lower floors of the Mines, the Quarry Mines, or in the Skull Cavern or Volcano Dungeon. They can also spawn from enemies that only spawn in the Dangerous version of the mines. The Dangerous mines tend to have more enemies that can drop it, but compensates for that with enemies that have extremely high health.
The enemies with the highest chance to drop Solar Essence are the Ghosts and Mummies. These guys have a high chance to drop one and a small chance to drop two essence on each kill. Most other enemies that can drop it have a fairly high chance to do so, such as the Metal Heads and Hot Heads near the bottom of the Mines.
If you want these to drop, but don’t want to fight for your life for them, you can instead farm Sunfish in a Fish Pond. When you finally get the 10 Population Fish Pond of Sunfish, they have a chance to spawn Solar Essence every day. They only produce one, though, and its at a very low rate. Not bad if you’re just starting a Fish Pond, since their Roe is worth more than they are. But, you’ll not be relying on that to farm them.
Where to Buy Solar Essence
You buy Solar Essence from Krobus, the Void Spirit living in the Sewers. He sells 10 essences per day, at a cost of 80 gold per mote. This totals to 800g for all ten of them. Thankfully, he sells them every day, meaning Krobus is a good way to guarantee drops, albeit at a very expensive price.
Solar Essence Crafting Use
Solar Essence is used to craft a couple of very important items to late-game Stardew Valley. This includes the Glowstone Ring and Iridium Band for mining and combat efficiency. It also includes the Quality Bobber and Hyper Speed-Gro for extremely efficient profiteering.
While the Glowstone Ring is a low-level mining recipe that is useful but unnecessary, the Iridium Band is a staple among endgame builds for its sheer utility. The Iridium Band’s abilities combine several strong rings – glowing, attracting items, and boosting attack by 10%. You need Combat Level 9 for it, as well as 50 Solar Essence, five Iridium Bars, and 50 Void Essence, but it’s very much worth it.
This item can be used in a few consumables as well. The Mega Bomb needs it if you want to cause a titanic explosion. The Barrel Brazier provides light in a large radius and is very cheap to boot. Quality Bobbers from Willy and Hyper Speed-Gro from Mr. Qi are both incredibly useful items for fishing and farming, respectively. The Bobber increases the quality of the fish you catch at the cost of five Solar Essence, one Copper Bar, and 20 Sap. The Speed-Gro increases growth rate by a huge 33%.
Finally, you can craft the Mini-Obelisk from the Wizard‘s special order. These things let you teleport across your farm. Useful for traveling from the north to south end! That just costs 20 Solar Essence, 30 Hardwood, and three Gold Bars.
Expert Tip
Make sure to keep one around for bundles! You can use a single Solar Essence to fulfill the Adventurer’s Bundle prerequisite. While that might seem a bit expensive, it probably beats 99 Slime or 10 Bat Wings! You can just buy this material for 80 gold, after all.
