Moonlight Peaks Gold Bars Guide: Unlock the Furnace and Find Gold Ore
In Moonlight Peaks, the path to Gold Bars starts surprisingly early. The recipe unlocks as soon as you gain access to the Furnace, which typically arrives a few in-game days into a fresh save file. Even with that recipe in hand, you still won’t be able to produce Gold Bars right away.
That delay comes from the key ingredient: Gold Ore. You can only reach the areas where Gold Ore spawns after unlocking the Mermaid Form for your character and gaining the ability to swim. In practice, that happens well past the halfway mark of the first in-game year.
If you’re trying to plan your economy, there’s a lot more to do than just chase gold. This guide also covers strong money-making routes like making wine and juice, collecting foraged items, and setting up Bee Houses.
Where to Find Gold Ore in Moonlight Peaks
Gold Ore Location
Gold Ore in Moonlight Peaks is located in the eastern and northern portions of the Cave of Echoes. The eastern area is gated behind the Mermaid form, since that’s what grants the ability to swim through water. The northern area requires Bat form, which unlocks flying over ledges.
Both forms are tied to the main storyline, so progression is the real requirement. Since Mermaid form is obtained first, you can focus on that earlier unlock to access the Gold Ore in the cave’s east side.
The Cave of Echoes sits in the southwestern corner of Misty Shores, the same region where you’ll also find Copper and Iron Ore deposits. When you head out for a Gold Ore mining run, bring the right tools: smaller Gold Ore nodes can be harvested with an Iron Pickaxe, while larger nodes require a Gold Pickaxe.
Gold Ore deposits also aren’t one-and-done. They respawn after a set amount of in-game time passes, letting you cycle back for more material.
Unlocking Mermaid Form
You’ll unlock Aqua form and swimming in Moonlight Peaks by completing the story quest “A Mermaid’s Wish”. The specific day the quest becomes available depends on how quickly you move through the game, so it won’t line up exactly for every player. That said, the quest chain that leads into it remains the same across playthroughs.
For a concrete example, one playthrough unlocked Mermaid form on Night 10 of Autumn, Year 1. Your timing may differ, but the quest sequence ran like this:
- Night 25 of Summer, Year 1: Ludo greets you at the door and asks you to help uncover the truth behind the mermaid legend in Moonlight Peaks (A Curious Passage quest).
- Night 28 of Summer, Year 1: Samuel reminisces about a lost love when you enter town (The Mysterious Bay quest).
- Night 5 of Autumn, Year 1: Ludo and Ridge repair the bridge connecting Howling Marshes and Luna Bay after eating Margherita Pizza (Ludo’s Plan quest).
- Night 10 of Autumn, Year 1: Samuel meets Kim in Luna Bay and immediately proposes. Kim accepts and asks you to convince Yabbis to brew a potion so she and the other mermaids can get legs (A Mermaid’s Wish quest).
- Night 11 of Autumn, Year 1: Yabbis brews the potion for the mermaids, giving them legs to walk on land. He also forces you to drink it, which unlocks Mermaid form and lets you swim through water.
Beyond its travel benefits, Mermaid form also lets players interact with sparkly water ripples that occasionally appear across rivers and lakes in the game.
How to Make Gold Bars in Moonlight Peaks
Once you have Gold Ore, the next step is straightforward crafting. You smelt Gold Ore at a Furnace by combining it with Charcoal. Charcoal is made by burning Wood at a Furnace, and you can craft the Furnace at a Workbench using 15 Copper Ore and 5 Refined Stone.
- Gold Ore x4
- Charcoal x1
All Gold Tools in Moonlight Peaks
There are five Gold Tools you can craft in Moonlight Peaks. If you’d rather skip crafting and buy outright, all of these tools are also available from Ridge at the Howling Hammer shop.
