The Ginger Island Mushroom Cave Argument
This is a follow up of my "Mushroom Cave vs Fruit Bat Cave" post.
Originally this was going to be included in my initial post, but I felt like it was long enough so I am going to be making this it's own seperate post.
This also ensures that I can dedicate my full focus on this argument and everything within it, so buckle up for yet another long post as this contains information for every. single. aspect. of getting to ginger island, different things within certain aspects of it, and much more.
Divider Credit
A common argument I see within the various discussions I participate in or just read through without throwing my opinion into the mix related to this topic is, essentially, "Ginger Island has a Mushroom Cave so you should just pick the Fruit Bat Cave because you don't need two of the same cave!" and I, frankly, find this argument to be insane. This post goes into why.
The Boat:
Anytime after Summer 1, Year 1 you can enter the fish shop and a cutscene will trigger, Willy does not have to be in the shop, but the cut scene is Willy telling you how he has an "old friend" in the back and hints that if business picks up he will show you what he has in the back room. This door is locked before this cut scene and remains locked afterwards.
To be able to access the back of the shop you need to finish either the Community Center or the Joja Warehouse. Sometime afterward Willy will send you a letter inviting you to enter the back room of his shop, where you will find his "old friend" - a broken down boat. The boat has three things which need to be repaired, the hull, the anchor and the ticket stand.
The Hull: 200 Hardwood The Anchor: 5 Iridium Bars Ticket Stand: 5 Battery Packs
Hardwood:
To get hardwood you can find it from a Large Stump, Large Log, Mahogany Tree or Mystic Tree. If you have the Lumberjack Profession, all trees have a chance to drop hardwood.
Large Stumps can be destoryed with a Copper Axe or better. You need 5 Copper Bars and 2,000g to get that. Large Stumps provide 2 hardwood, meaning you'll need to chop down at minimum 100 Large Stumps to get 200 hardwood. Large Stumps have a 10% chance of dropping a Mahogany seed.
Large Stumps (Re)Spawning: - In the Secret Woods there are 6 Large Stumps which respawn - On the Forest Farm there are 8 Large Stumps which respawn - On the Four Corners Farm there is 1 large Stump which respawn - With the Shrine of Callenge activated you can find Large Stumps on floors 41-69 in the Mines. Stumps spawned on the Standard Farm do NOT respawn
Large Logs can be destoyed with a Steel Axe or better. You need a Copper Axe, 5 Iron Bars, and 5,000g to get that. Large Logs provide 8 heardwood, and do not respawn.
A large log does block the entrance to the Secret Woods, meaning that unless you glitch through with a chair to the Secret Woods, you won't be able to get the hardwood from the secret woods until you have the Steel Axe.
A Mahogany Tree produces between 8-13 hardwood when felled, I suggest not chopping down your first Mahogany Tree that you grow but instead letting it spread for awhile until you start to chop them down incase you do not get another mahogany seed when you fell your first tree.
A Mystic Tree also produces between 7-11 hardwood when felled, but I think that tree is better used being tapped for Mystic Syrup over farmed for hardwood.
Iridium:
To get iridium you must head to the Skull Cavern (you can also find it in the Volcano Dungeon, but that is found on Ginger Island.) If you pick the Hill-top or Four Corners farm, there is a chance of them spawning there after reaching Level 10 in your Mining Skill.
You can also find them from Magma Geodes, Omni Geodes, Super Cucumber Fish Pond once the population reaches levle 9, a meteorite, fishing treasure, panning, the traveling cart and the Statue of Perfection.
A Meteorite has a 1% chance of happening, and will only happen if the random 3x3 area the event chooses on the farm has a 2x2 area within it that has no water, placed objects that block movement, buildings, resource clumps or farm animals. If this isnt met the event does nothing. If you get the meteorite, you need a Gold Pickaxe or better to harvest this. To get a Gold Pickaxe you'll need a total of 17,000g, 5 Copper Bars, 5 Iron bars, and 5 Gold bars. When you destory a meteorite you get 6 iridium ore, 6 stone, and 2 geodes with 25% chance to drop a prismatic shard.
They can also drop from Purple Slines, Iridium Bats, Iridium Crabs, and Iridium Golems in the Skull Caverns.
Magma Geodes can be found on levels 81 - 119 of the Mines. Omni Geodes are found when breaking rocks but every Tuesday Krobus Sells 1 for 300g and the Oasis sells 3 every wednesday for 1,000g each.
In total you will need at least 25 Iridium Ore, and 5 coal, to get 5 iridium bars.
The traveling cart has a chance of selling an iridium bar for 3,000-5,000g. The following mobs also have a chance of dropping an iridium bar:
Shadow Shaman at 0.2%
Shadow Brute at 0.2%
Iridium Bat at 0.8%
Purple Slime at 0.9%
Iridium Golem at 3%
Battery Packs:
Battery Packs are gained from Lightning Rods during thunder storms, solar panels after 7 sunny days, 5% chance to dropped from the iridium bat, and as a possible gift from Pam or Kent. The traveling cart also sells them at times for 1,500-2,500g
If you pick the remixed bundles and get and complete the Children's Bundle, you will be awarded with 3 battery packs. The solar panel recipie is acquired after the "Island Ingredients" Special Order is completed, but you have to have Ginger Island unlocked to have a chance of getting this Special Order.
The Lightning Rod recipie is acquired after reaching foraging level 6 and you craft it with 1 Iron Bar, 1 Refined Quartz, and 10 Bat wings. You also get one when completing the 10,000g Bundle in the Vault in the community center.
The Lightning Rod can only be hit once per thunderstorm, so if you only have one lightning rod you'll need at least five thunder storms to obtain 5 battery packs.
If noLightning Rodd have been struck there is a 100% chance for one to be hit. If 50% of the Lightning Rods on the farm have been struck there is a 75% chance for the rest to be hit. If 90% of the Lightning Rods on the farm have been struck there is a 19% chance of the rest to be hit.
The Community Center / Joja Warehouse
You need to complete the Community Center to be able to even repair the boat. This takes, at minimum, a year to do but can take much longer depending on your playstyle. You will need 42,500g to complete the Vault bundles.
You can also pick the Joja Warehouse to complete, but you will need a total of 140,000g to buy the membership as well as all of the developments. You can fudge this a bit by completing certain Community Center bundles and then buying the Membership so you can reduce the amount of gold you have to spend.
Ginger Island
Once you repair the boat you can travel to Ginger Island for 1,000g per boat ride. When you reach the island you are on 'Island South', this contains the dock as well as the paths to the other parts of the island.
You will head to the only open path with takes you to 'Island East', where you follow the island resident "Leo" and upon interacting with things within his hut you will unlock 'Island North'.
When you unlock 'Island North' you will follow the Magma Sprite and head to the Volcano. You will only be able to unlock 'Island West' after gathering 10 Golden Walnuts.
'Island West' includes the farm, and a dilapidated farmhouse that can be fixed up for 20 Golden Walnuts, you will need an additional 5 Golden Walnuts to be able to recieve mail while on the island. For another 20 Golden Walnuts you can craft the Farm Obelisk which will only warp you to the farm, you will have to get a seperate Obelisk to be able to warp to the Island without using a totem. Upon making the Farm Obelisk, you will be given one Island Warp Totem.
You can sleep at Ginger Island and will wake up on the island. The golden walnuts are scattered around the island, and can be found when completing puzzles, fishing, tilling up certain locations around the island, and more.
Ginger Island Mushroom Cave
Now that we are on the Island, how can we get the Mushroom Cave?
Head to 'Island North', when you see the Field Office (Green tent with bone on the outside) head to the left. There is a broken bridge which can be repaired for 10 Golden Walnuts. This leads to the dig site, which has the Mushroom Cave. There is a boulder blocking the cave which you need to blow up with a bomb to not only release Professor Snail but also have access to the Mushrooms.
The cave randomly spawns new mushrooms everyday, and they grow directly from the ground so you benefit from the Gatherer or Botanist profession as well as get XP from them, this does make it better than the Farm Mushroom cave on that front but not the cost front.
Staying On Ginger Island?
The only thing that would make the mushroom cave a benefitial thing at this point in the game is if you stay on the island and never leave it. You can, somewhat realistically, do this as you do have a farm on the island, a bed, as well as a shipping bin.
The island farm does have some perks such as not needing scarecrows, sprinklers can be placed here, fruit trees can be grown here, and the island acts as a greenhouse.
However, you will have to head back to the normal farm to be able to complete certain quests, get certain achievements, unlock certain items, have animals and keep them happy, catch certain fish, get various items and much more. So, to even fully play the game you cannot stay on Ginger Island forever, this means we need to either spend 1,000g every time we want to head over and benefit from the mushroom cave and the other things we can benefit from on the island, or we need to be able to craft the warp totem or build the obelisk.
Warp Totem: Island
Bought from the Volcano Dwarf for 10,000g.
Floor Five of the Volcano Dungeon houses a dwarf that runs a small shop but unless you have the Dwarvish Translation Guide you won't be able to access his shop.
You get the Dwarvish Translation Guide by donating all four of the Dwarf Scrolls to the Museum. - Dwarf Scroll 1 can be found Tilling in the mines or Skull Cavern on any floor at 0.16% chance. Bat, Bug, Cave Fly, Duggy, Green Slime, Grub, Rock Crab and Stone Golem have a 0.5% chance of dropping it. - Dwarf Scroll 2 can be found Tilling in the mines between floors 1-39 at 0.1% chance. Ghosts, Frost Bats, Dust Sprites, and Blue Slime all have a 0.5% chance of dropping it. - Dwarf Scroll 3 has a 1.5% chance of being dropped by Blue Slime while other Slimes, Lava Bat, Lava Crab, Squid Kid, Shadow Brute, Shadow Shaman, Metal Head, Spider, and Blue Squid have a 0.5% chance of dropping it. - Dwarf Scroll 4 has a 0.2% chance of being tilled up in the Mine on floor 80 and above. Monsters outside of Serpents, Skeletons, Wilderness Golem, Carbon Ghost, Iridium Bat, Iridium Crab and Haunted Skull have a 0.1% chance of dropping it.
If you are able to access his shop, you will be able to purchase the recipie for the Warp Totem: Island for 10,000g. This will always be in his shop until you purchase it.
To craft a singular warp totem you will need 5 Hardwood, 1 Dragon tooth, and 1 Ginger.
Dragon Tooth:
Obtained in the Volcano Dungeon either around the skeletal remains of a dragon or by killing a Lava Lurk, which has a 15% drop chance.
If your inventory isn't full, you don't have to worry about items falling into the lava as they will automatically go into your inventory, however if you don't have room there is a chance that when it drops on the ground it can land in the lava.
You can also get Dragon Teeth from a Stingray Fish Pond which has a population of at least 9.
Stingrays are found in the Pirate Cove found on the Southeast side of Ginger Island. You unlock this area by building the Beach Resort for 20 Golden Walnuts after repearing the Farmhouse. If you put a Stingray in a fish pond, you will have to fulfill quests to be able to reach max amount of fish in the pond. For the first quest you'll have to give them seven cinder shards, which are found within the Volcano Dungeon by either mining nodes, inside chests, or dropping from a Magma Sprite, Magma Sparker, Magma Duggy or False Magma Cap. For the second quest you'll have to give them a dragon tooth. Once you reach 9-10 Stingray in the fishponds: - Roe has a 63-69% daily chance of spawning - Magma Cap has a 4% daily chance of spawning - Cinder Shard has a 9-10% daily chance of spawning - Dragon Tooth has a 5% daily chance of spawning - Battery Pack has a 9-10% daily chance of spawning
These are, as far as I am aware, the only ways to get Dragon Teeth. There is not a guarentee that a Dragon Tooth will spawn around the Dragon Skeleton, and Lava Lurkers seem to be the best way to get them.
Ginger:
Ginger cannot be grown as it is similar to Spring Onion. You can find it growing wild on the island and harvest it with your hoe. TigerSlime have a 9% chance of dropping Ginger and theyre found in the volcano dungeon as well as in tiger slime grove.
Tiger Slime Grove is found in 'Island North' and is north of the pond.
Island Obelisk
You can buy this Obelisk from the Wizard for 1,000,000g, 10 iridium bars, 10 dragon teeth, and 10 bananas. It is 3x2 building and is neceassary to achieve perfection.
To be able to buy the various buildings from the Wizard, you need to complete both the Dark Talisman Quest and the Goblin Problem Quest. To complete the Dark Talisman Quest you need to complete the community center or joja warehouse and unlock the sewers. You will have to trigger a cut scene up in the mountains after completing either the CC or the JW, then speak to krobus. After speaking to krobus you'll have to go to the mutant bug lair and go through it to get the dark talisman. Upon retreiving the dark talisman, you'll head back to the railroad and place it in it's appropriate area. To complete the Goblin Problem Quest you'll enter the witches swamp, speak to Goblin once and then you'll give him a void mayo. You can either fish up the void mayo from the surrounding water, or you can buy a void egg from krobus and turn it into void mayo, or if you have a void chicken you can turn one of it's eggs into void mayo. Once you give the Goblin his void mayo, he'll run into the hut. You now have access to the hut, he won't be around. Grab the Magic Ink and head back to the Wizards hut through the symbols on the floor. You are now able to access the Witches Hut, the Shrines within it, as well as the Buildings in the Wizard tower.
Banana:
Bananas and mangos do not spawn in the fruit bat cave so if you picked that, you're SOL on collecting these fruits from your farm.
To obtain the banana sapling you will have to get the Island Trader for 10 Golden Walnuts on 'Island North' after purchasing the Island Farmhouse. Banana Saplings cost 5 dragon teeth.
You can also obtain the Banana Sapling through Golden Coconuts and completing the Large Animal Collection in the Island Field Office.
Golden Coconuts
These can be found by shaking palm trees that have a visible coconut on them. There is 10% chance the palm tree will drog a golden coconut. If you have a fish pond with Blue Discus there is a 4-5% daily chance for them to give you one. Their quests include 3 taro root then 10 taro root, which is a crop you can grow after buying them from the Island Trader for 2 Bone Fragment per Taro Tuber.
You can also trade 10 coconuts for 1 golden coconut.
You break the coconuts like you do with Geodes by using Clint, they cannot be broken with the Geode crusher. The first golden walnut you crack open will always produce a golden walnut. Afterwards the golden walnut will produce other items.
Golden Coconuts can produce Banana Saplings, Mango Saplings, Pineapple Seeds, Taro Tubers, Mahogany Seeds, Fossilized Skulls, Iridium Ore, and a Golden Helmet.
The probability is a bit weird on the wiki, and I don't fully understand it but I will provide it here: Banana Sapling: 1/7 Mango Sapling: 1/7 Pineapple Seeds: 1/7 Taro Tuber: 1/7 Mahogany Seed: 1/7 Fossilized Skull: 1/7 Iridium Ore: 1/7 Golden Helmet: 1/20 All of them have an asterislk next to them which leads to: "After getting the Golden Helmet the probability is set to 0. If the player does not have it yet, the probability of getting the other ite,s is actually 19/140 until it is obtained. If you can explain to me what this means, that would be a wonderful help! It is possible I am not understanding this as I am typing this all out at 5am after being up since 9am yesterday but as of right now that is just gibberish to me.
Large Animal Collection
Fossilized Leg (2): Breaking Bone Nodes at the Dig Site, 10% Chance
Fossilized Ribs (1): Digging Artifact Spots on the Southern side of the island, 25% chance, and breaking bone nodes at the dig site, 1.35% chance
Fossilized Skull (1): Golden Coconut
Fossilized Spine (1): Fishing in Dig Site River, 10% chance
Fossilized Tail (1): Panning in Dig Site River, 20% chance
Completing this collection awards you with 6 golden walnuts and 1 banana sapling.
Bare Minimum List Of Materials Needed
Hardwood: 205 (+ 5 for every extra warp totem: island crafted)
Iridium Bars: 15 (75 iridium ore, 15 coal)
Battery Packs: 5 (1 Iron Bar, 1 Refined Quartz, 5 Bat Wing Per Rod)
Copper Bars: 5 (25 copper ore, 15 coal. For Copper axe.)
Iron Bars: 5 (25 iron ore, 15 coal. For Steel axe.)
Dragon Teeth: 16 (+ 1 for every extra warp totem: island crafted. Not counting fish pond requests)
Ginger: 1 (+1 for every extra warp totem: island crafted.)
Bananas: 10
For the Gold amount:
Community Center Completed: 1,058,500g (+ 1,000g for every ginger island trip)
Joja Warehouse Completed: 1,156,000 (+ 1,000g for every ginger island trip)
I dunno about y'all but this seems like a lot of time, gold, and effort just to get a mushroom cave when you can get one upon earning 25,000g.