Every Tool Tier in Dragonwilds: Four Ladders That Do Not Match
Dragonwilds has four gathering tool families — pickaxes, logging axes, spades and watering cans — and they do not run in parallel. Pickaxes have seven tiers, logging axes six, spades five and watering cans four. The mismatch is not cosmetic: it changes which upgrade is available when, and it includes one genuine oddity the wiki flags itself.
The Four Tool Families
| Family | Tiers | The ladder |
|---|---|---|
| Pickaxes | 7 | Stone, Bone, Bronze, Iron, Steel, Mithril, Adamant |
| Logging Axes | 6 | Stone, Bronze, Iron, Steel, Mithril, Adamant |
| Spades | 5 | Wooden, Bronze, Steel, Adamant, Undead |
| Watering Cans | 4 | Wooden, Bronze, Steel, Adamant |
The pickaxe ladder is the longest, and it has an extra rung the axe ladder does not. The wiki notes it explicitly: "Despite the existence of a bone pickaxe, there is no bone logging axe." A Bone Pickaxe is an early alternative to Bronze that woodcutters simply do not get.
Spades and watering cans skip Iron and Mithril entirely. Both go Bronze → Steel → Adamant, which means there are only two upgrades between your first metal tool and the best one in the game. If you are waiting for a Mithril Watering Can, it does not exist.
The Undead Spade sits outside the metal ladder. It is not a tier in the Wooden→Adamant progression but a separate item, which puts it in the same category as found or quest tools rather than crafted ones.
And there is a fifth tool with no ladder at all. Iron Secateurs are the only secateurs in the game — no bronze, no adamant, no upgrade path. One tool, one tier, done.
What the Tier Actually Gates
Most nodes are not locked behind a tool tier — they are slow behind one. As our mining node guide sets out, node health runs from 45 on clay to 700 on Soul Stone, and higher tiers do not give fewer ores — they simply take far longer per ore.
Some nodes do name a minimum, though. Coal Nodes require an Iron pickaxe or better, stated on the node's own page. Where a node names a tool, that is a hard gate rather than a slow grind.
So the practical rule is: a low-tier tool costs you time, not access — except where the node says otherwise. Checking a node's requirement before a trip is cheaper than discovering it at the rock face.
Adamant is the ceiling on all four families. There is no Rune-tier tool in the current build, so an Adamant pickaxe, axe, spade and watering can is a completed set — and, per our Rune or Dragon guide, the next tier is a 1.0 question rather than a today one.
Tools are Artisan crafts. All four families come off the same benches as the rest of your equipment, which means tool upgrades compete with weapon upgrades for the same bars.
What to Upgrade First
Pickaxe first, and it is not close. Mining is where the health numbers are brutal — Adamantite at 400 health per ore and Soul Stone at 700 — so every pickaxe tier compounds across the longest grind in the game. It is also the family with the most rungs, which means the most upgrades available.
Logging axe second, and take the perk with it. The Overhead Chop (right-click, against the normal across-body swing on left-click) is a separate mechanic from the axe tier, and it is worth learning at whatever tier you are on.
Watering can third. Farming runs on the world's clock, so a faster watering can shortens a chore rather than a grind — real, but smaller than the mining case.
Spade last. It is the least-used of the four, and its ladder is short enough that the Bronze Spade covers most of the game acceptably.
The Bone Pickaxe is the early shortcut worth knowing about. Sitting between Stone and Bronze, it is available before you have a smelting chain running — which makes it the fastest way out of the Stone Pickaxe's misery.
And upgrade both mining tools together where you can. Pickaxes and logging axes share metal tiers from Bronze upward, so a smelting session that produces enough bars for one usually produces enough for both.
Practical tips
- Four ladders of different lengths: 7 pickaxes, 6 logging axes, 5 spades, 4 watering cans.
- There is a Bone Pickaxe but no bone logging axe — the wiki flags this itself.
- Spades and watering cans skip Iron and Mithril entirely.
- Coal Nodes require an Iron pickaxe or better — a real gate, not a slow grind.
- Most other nodes are slow, not locked, behind a low tool.
- Adamant is the ceiling on all four families right now.
- Iron Secateurs are the only secateurs — no ladder at all.
- Upgrade order: pickaxe, logging axe, watering can, spade.
Running your own Dragonwilds server
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Conclusion
Dragonwilds' four gathering tool families run to different lengths: seven pickaxes (Stone, Bone, Bronze, Iron, Steel, Mithril, Adamant), six logging axes (the same minus Bone), five spades (Wooden, Bronze, Steel, Adamant and the separate Undead Spade) and four watering cans (Wooden, Bronze, Steel, Adamant). Spades and watering cans skip Iron and Mithril entirely, and the wiki flags the standout oddity itself: there is a bone pickaxe but no bone logging axe. Tier mostly buys speed rather than access — node health runs from 45 to 700 and higher tiers mean more health per ore, not fewer ores — but some nodes name a minimum, and Coal requires an Iron pickaxe or better. Adamant is the ceiling on every family today. Upgrade the pickaxe first, because mining carries the worst numbers, then the axe, then the watering can, and leave the spade for last.
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