Every Spade in Dragonwilds: Five Digs to One, and There Is No Iron Spade
Every spade in Dragonwilds costs the same 10 stamina per dig. What changes is how much of a plot stage that dig clears — from 20% on the wooden spade to instantly on the adamant. That turns a five-dig job into a one-dig job, and it is the only stat on the ladder that actually matters.
There are five spades, and — as the wiki itself points out — there is no iron spade, despite the iron logging axe existing.
The Five Spades
| Spade | Power | Durability | Progress per dig | Digs per stage | Stamina per stage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wooden spade | 1 | 300 | 20% | 5 | 50 |
| Bronze spade | 2 | 300 | 40% | 3 | 30 |
| Steel spade | 3 | 450 | 60% | 2 | 20 |
| Undead spade | 5 | 450 | Same stats as steel | 2 | 20 |
| Adamant spade | 7 | 750 | Instant | 1 | 10 |
Every dig costs 10 stamina regardless of tier, so the stamina column above is simply the dig count multiplied by ten. The adamant spade clears a stage for a fifth of the stamina the wooden one needs — which is the real upgrade, not the durability.
Note the rounding on bronze. At 40% per dig it takes three digs to cross 100%, not two and a half, so the third dig is partly wasted. Steel's 60% is the cleanest ratio on the ladder until adamant.
The undead spade is a steel spade with a story. The wiki states outright that it shares the same stats as a steel spade — power level 5 against steel's 3, but the same 450 durability and the same dig value. It exists because you found a vestige, not because it is better.
Where They Are Made, and What They Cost
| Spade | Bench | Materials |
|---|---|---|
| Wooden | Crafting table | 6 Ash Logs, 1 Coarse Thread |
| Bronze | Blacksmith's bench | 4 Bronze Bars, 2 Oak Logs, 2 Leather |
| Steel | Blacksmith's bench | 4 Steel Bars, 2 Willow Logs, 2 Draconic Leather |
| Undead | Blacksmith's bench | 4 Steel Bars, 4 Undead Bones, 2 Willow Logs, 2 Draconic Leather |
| Adamant | Blacksmith's bench | 4 Adamant Bars, 2 Yew Logs, 2 Scorch Leather, 1 Gypsum Wax |
Only the wooden spade uses the crafting table. Everything above it is a blacksmith's bench item, which means the spade ladder is gated behind smithing rather than farming.
Two unlock conditions worth knowing:
- The adamant spade unlocks the first time you pick up an adamant bar. No recipe hunt, no quest.
- The undead spade needs the rotten farming tool vestige studied, and gives 50 Artisan XP on the craft — the only spade that does.
The undead spade moved benches in 0.12.0. It used to be made at the Smithing Anvil, which has been removed from the game; the recipe now sits on the blacksmith's bench with everything else.
What Spades Are Actually For
Spades do exactly two jobs:
- Clearing weed-infested plots and dead plants throughout Ashenfall. This is the farming job, and it is the one the progress percentages describe.
- Digging for buried treasure at disturbed ground.
Disturbed ground is scenery you interact with, and it exists across the map — the wiki maps buried treasure in Brynmoor, Ghornfell, Fellhollow, Dowdun Reach and Umbral Sands. Without a spade in your bag, every one of those is scenery you walk past.
Do not confuse it with Fellhollow's spectral chests. Those are floating chests reached by becoming Soul Rifted and jumping across spectral platforms — no digging involved, and no spade required.
The practical rule: carry a spade on any exploration trip, not just on farming days. The plots will wait; the treasure is wherever you happen to be.
Which One to Make
- Make the wooden spade immediately. Six ash logs and one coarse thread, at the crafting table, and it unlocks digging at all.
- Skip bronze if steel is close. Bronze has the same 300 durability as wooden and only takes you from five digs to three. Steel doubles the improvement and adds 150 durability.
- Make the undead spade for the look, not the numbers. It is a steel spade with a vestige behind it — the only reason to prefer it is the 50 Artisan XP on the craft.
- Make the adamant spade the moment you have an adamant bar. It unlocks on pickup, clears a stage instantly, and carries 750 durability — two and a half times the wooden spade's.
- Remember there is no iron spade. If you are waiting for one between bronze and steel, you are waiting for nothing.
Running your own Dragonwilds server
A spade is the tool you notice missing, not the tool you plan around — which is exactly why it wants to live in a shared chest on a world everyone can reach. A gamever Dragonwilds server keeps Ashenfall persistent with automatic updates and one-click backups.
Conclusion
Dragonwilds has five spades and no iron spade, and since every dig costs the same 10 stamina, the only figure that matters is how much of a plot stage one dig clears: 20% on wooden (five digs, 50 stamina), 40% on bronze (three digs, 30), 60% on steel (two digs, 20), and instantly on adamant (one dig, 10). The undead spade shares steel's stats exactly — 450 durability, the same dig value — and exists for the rotten farming tool vestige and its 50 Artisan XP, not for performance. Only the wooden spade is a crafting-table item; the rest are blacksmith's bench work, so the ladder is gated behind smithing rather than farming, and the adamant spade unlocks simply by picking up an adamant bar. Spades do two jobs — clearing weed-infested plots and digging buried treasure at disturbed ground, which the wiki maps across Brynmoor, Ghornfell, Fellhollow, Dowdun Reach and Umbral Sands — so carry one on exploration trips, not just farming days.
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