Stardew Valley Expanded, a gigantic mod almost as big as the game itself, brings a lot of new, interesting, and challenging things. Among them is a new, highly dangerous, harsh, but truly rewarding area called Crimson Badlands, filled with new monsters that are waiting for the right opportunity to make your day worse.
The wasteland has a lot of subareas with valuable things, such as an Iridium Quarry filled with Iridium Nodes, a Treasure Cave, a Skeleton Graveyard, where you can get a lot of artifacts, a Castle Entrance, and an Oasis with new types of fish.
However, the process of unlocking this new area is tricky and lengthy but worry not because this step-by-step guide will help you in that task.
Keep in mind that this guide contains a good amount of spoilers.
Requirements
So to unlock Crimson Badlands, you’ll need to meet these five crucial requirements:
- Meet Alesia at the Adventurers guild
- Witness Marlon Galaxy Sword event
- Get rid of the boulder that blocks the Summit
- Reach the Caldera of the Ginger Island volcano
- Complete the Enchanted Grove quest
Ideally, you should start a new game after installing the Stardew Expanded mod since some quests won’t trigger if there’s a conflict between the old and the new files. Some of the players who didn’t do this experienced a lot of problems with fulfilling these questlines.
Alesia
This new NPC, who sadly I couldn’t marry, appears at the Adventurer’s Guild building soon after 90 in-game days, but before that, you’ll need to slay ten slimes and get the initiation cutscene. She is crucial for unlocking the Crimson Badlands because she will appear there frequently.
Galaxy Sword event
You can obtain the Galaxy Sword by bringing one prismatic shard to the center of three pillars in the desert. After acquiring the sword, you’ll have to wait at least a day before visiting Marlon at the Adventure’s Guild building to unlock this event cutscene.
The Boulder
To unlock the beautiful and captivating Summit, you’ll have to work with Clint in order to remove the boulder. However, you can’t start the quest without the Rusty Key, which you’ll receive from Gunther after donating 60 items to the museum, and without the Skull Key, which you’ll receive after reaching floor 120 in the mines.
After you fulfill the quest given by Clint, he will remove the boulder.
Reach the Caldera of the Ginger Island volcano.
The Volcano Dungeon is a pure hell filled with highly dangerous and sneaky mobs. To reach the Caldera, you’ll have to clear the whole dungeon, which consists of 10 hellish floors. The journey is quite painful if you come unprepared, so here are some helpful tips and tricks to make it less soul-devouring.
- Arrive as early as you can because it will take a lot of time to navigate through randomly generated floors and to get rid of annoying mobs.
- Stack up on food, especially those that boost your mining speed, luck, defense, hp, and energy. It’s best to bring coffee, spicy eel, pumpkin soup, and gold cheese.
- Eat Magma Caps, as they give from 78 to 204 hp, depending on the quality, and from 175 to 455 energy. You don’t have to keep them if the situation is dire.
- Engage with mobs only when necessary because they can quickly overwhelm you.
The Enchanted Grove quest
After you finish all of the above, the wizard will visit your farm and give you this quest to meet him at his tower. Then he’ll brew you a special elixir that will give you the ability to create warp runes, and soon the two of you will go to the woods behind the farm to create a new Nexus. Getting to this point won’t be difficult because you just have to follow the questline, and the same goes for what’s to come.
Then you’ll have to open six portals located at:
- Wizard Tower
- Farmhouse
- Adventurer’s guild
- Aurora Vineyard
- Sprite Spring
- Junimo Woods
After completing this, a new wizard named Camila will visit you and take you to the Galdoran Continet to finish the quest.
As you open the last portal, you’ll see a mining cart to your left, so just hop on it, and it will take you to the Crimson Badlands.
Why is the Crimson Badlands worth unlocking?
You’ll enjoy the incredible Stardew lore-friendly content and the well-crafted expansion. But that’s not all. You will unlock many amazing locations within the wasteland. Some of them are:
Iridium Quarry
In the western part of the Badlands, you can find Iridium Quarry, where you can farm iridium ores like they are copper ores. There will be 2 to 4 meteorites spawning in the quarry each day, along with 17 to 25 Iridium Nodes, and they will be replaced by a new spawn every day.
However, you’ll have to pass through some nasty mobs to get there, and the quarry has some strong monsters that also respawn each day.
Iridium Quarry in Crimson Badlands
Treasure Cave
In the southwestern corner lies the treasure cave that holds many valuables. The tricky part is that the boss monster called Aphopis is lurking nearby, so if you don’t want to fight it, you must be extremely cautious. Also, a group of Corrupt Mumies guards the cave, but as you defeat them, you will quickly find it was worth it. In the cave, you’ll find eight treasure chests, each worth 5000 gold, and they will reappear seven times.
There is also a locked chest that you can unlock with a prismatic shard and get the Galaxy Slingshot. The interesting thing is that you can do that an infinite number of times if you want to, but it’s not worth it because you can’t sell the slingshot.
The entrance to the Castle Village
Sadly, you won’t be able to enter the Castle Village, as the barrier blocks the entrance. However, the area is under development, and the minds behind the mod will soon add it.
Conclusion
Overall, the Crimson Badlands is a challenging but rewarding area to explore in Stardew Valley Expanded. By meeting the five crucial requirements and completing the Enchanted Grove quest, players can unlock access to the wasteland and all its treasures. From the Iridium Quarry filled with valuable ores to the Treasure Cave with its valuable loot and the locked chest containing the Galaxy Slingshot, there are many things to discover in the Crimson Badlands. So, if you’re up for a challenge and want to explore a new area filled with unique content, be sure to unlock the Crimson Badlands in Stardew Valley Expanded.