Entering the mid-point of Disney Dreamlight Valley, you’ll be swamped with quests asking for three crafting ingredients — Softwood, Hardwood, and Iron Ingots. Sometimes they don’t ask for the materials exactly, just for crafted items that require multiple materials to make. Hunting down these materials can be tricky, so we’re going to provide hints to make your life easier. There’s never enough of all three, and there are easier methods for tracking them down. Stop running around in circles and start collecting materials the easy way.
More Disney Dreamlight Valley guides:
All Royal Tool Locations | Royal Tools Upgrades | All Recipes & Cooking Combos | Second Floor & Storage Upgrade Guide | Fast Travel Guide | How To Feed All Animals | How To Cook Smoked Peanuts & Anglerfish | Ratatouille Recipe | Crudites Recipe | Mystical Cave Puzzle Solutions | All Character Unlocks | Daily Passive Rewards | How To Catch Fugu Fish | Friendship Leveling Tips | How To Get Emeralds | All Seed Type Locations | How To Earn Millions Of Star Coins | How To Earn Dream Shards | How To Skip Barrier & Sequence Break | Why You Shouldn’t Time Travel
Material Hunting Guide | Softwood, Hardwood & Iron Ingots
Once you reach the Forest of Valor and the Glade of Trust, you’ll be overwhelmed with quests to collect materials for Moana, Wall-E, and Kris. All three of these material types is precious and finding Harwood especially can be tricky without the right tools.
- How To Find Softwood: Softwood is commonly located in the Forest of Valor and Glade of Trust. It can be found through foraging for sticks near trees.
Softwood is relatively common and most players report finding x10 more Softwood than any other material in these regions. Softwood can be found in many regions, including the starting areas, but is abundant in the Forest and the Glade. It will respawn after about 5~ minutes.
- How To Find Hardwood: Much rarer than softwood, but there’s an easier way to collect Hardwood. Complete quests for Anna (Frozen Realm) in the valley to unlock the Shovel Upgrade.
- The Shovel Upgrade allows you to dig up tree stumps. By digging up tree stumps, you’ll gain access to new areas and make finding Hardwood much, much easier.
Without the Shovel Upgrade, Hardwood is a rare version of Softwood and is collected in the same way through foraging. Trying to find enough Hardwood through foraging can be incredibly tedious — some players report finding almost no Hardwood. If you’re especially unlucky, I recommend getting the Shovel Upgrade as quickly as possible. It’ll make your crafting jobs so much easier to complete.
- How To Find Iron Ingots: Iron Ingots are dropped from any Mining Node — these are black / grey rocks with gems that appear everywhere in the valley. The best places to hunt for Iron Ingots are the Forest of Valor and the Glade of Trust. Go to these areas and pickaxe each mineral node.
To increase Iron Ingot results, bring a Level 10 Mining Companion and only mine nods in the Forest / Glade. These areas don’t spawn gold, so you’re more likely to get more Iron Ingots instead of different mining materials. Move from one realm to the other — the mineral nodes reset every 5~ minutes. If you’re farming for Emeralds or gems, you’ll quickly collect a huge stockpile of Iron. It is so much easier to find compared to the rarest materials, but you’ll need a whole lot of it.
And that covers farming some of the most commonly required materials in the valley. Softwood is easy to find, even in the Plaza or the Peaceful Meadow. Hardwood is hard-to-find but becomes easier with the right upgrades. Iron needs to be farmed in two specific locations to avoid getting better / different drops. Follow these steps and you’ll finally collect enough to complete even the biggest project.
