Hoe

Overview

The Hoe is the primary farming tool in Starsand Island. It is used to till soil and create planting plots on your farm. Every crop needs tilled ground before a seed can be planted, making the Hoe one of the first tools you craft and one you will use throughout the entire game.

The Hoe has five upgrade tiers: Stone Hoe, Wide Hoe, Steel Wide Hoe, Powered Hoe, and Hydraulic Hoe. Each tier tills a larger area per swing, saving both time and stamina when preparing fields. The Mechanical Tiller is a separate automated farming tool that sits outside the main Hoe upgrade chain.

Hoe Tiers

Blueprints for hoe upgrades are purchased from the Happiness Seed Shop and crafted at progressively higher-tier Worktables. Each upgrade requires the previous Hoe as a crafting ingredient, so you work through the chain sequentially.

Tilling Range

Higher-tier hoes till more squares per swing. The stamina cost per swing stays at 15 stamina regardless of which Hoe you use (before any skill reductions), so upgrading effectively lets you till more ground for the same stamina investment.

How to Unlock and Craft

1. Stone Hoe: Given during the farming tutorial by Graminova. Craft it at Worktable I using 3 Softwood and 3 Stone.

2. Wide Hoe: Purchase the blueprint from the Happiness Seed Shop for 400 Coins once you reach Junior Farmer tier. Craft at Worktable II.

3. Steel Wide Hoe: Purchase the blueprint from the Happiness Seed Shop for 1,000 Coins at Junior tier. Craft at Worktable II. Requires Iron Sheets, Hardwood Planks, Radiant Crystals, and your Wide Hoe.

4. Powered Hoe: Purchase the blueprint for 6,500 Coins at Senior Farmer tier. Craft at Worktable III. Requires Flamecore Ingot, Premium Wood Planks, Starflare Crystals, Alloy, and Rubber.

5. Hydraulic Hoe: Purchase the blueprint for 10,000 Coins at Expert Farmer tier. Craft at Worktable III. Requires Eternal Alloy, Meteor Planks, and your Powered Hoe.

Since every upgrade consumes the previous Hoe, you only ever carry one Hoe at a time. There is no reason to keep an older tier once you have crafted the next one.

Stamina and the Effortless Tilling Skill

Each swing of any Hoe costs 15 stamina by default. On a typical mid-game stamina bar of 400 to 600 points, tilling 50 plots by hand would drain most or all of your energy before you even water anything.

Effortless Tilling is an Apprentice-tier Farmer profession skill with three levels. It significantly reduces the stamina cost of using the Hoe. At higher levels it also grants a chance to receive free seeds while tilling. This is widely considered the first skill farmers should max out, because it pays for itself on the very first day of tilling.

Other ways to reduce tilling stamina costs include:

• Veggie Noodles: A cooked dish that grants the Field Prep Mastery buff, reducing stamina cost when tilling. The buff stacks up to 5 times.

• Hot Spring visits: Hot springs recover roughly 1 stamina per second, letting you refill between tilling sessions. Tickets cost 100 Coins at the General Store.

• Stamina food: Various cooked meals restore stamina directly, extending how many plots you can till in a single session.

Mechanical Tiller (Separate Tool)

The Mechanical Tiller is not part of the Hoe upgrade chain. It is a standalone automated farming tool that tills soil at zero stamina cost. It is crafted at Worktable II using 5 Alloy, 5 Premium Wood Planks, 5 Prisms, and 5 High-Performance Wire Sets. The blueprint costs 5,000 Coins from the Happiness Seed Shop.

For players managing large farms of 50 or more plots, the Mechanical Tiller eliminates tilling stamina entirely. Combined with sprinklers for automated watering, two of the three daily farming chores become free, leaving only harvesting as a manual task.

Tilling Mechanics

• Soil persistence: Tilled soil plots do not disappear over time, even if they are left empty and unwatered. You can till an entire field in advance and plant seeds later.

• Trellis restriction: Do not till soil before placing a trellis. Trellis crops (like grapes and tomatoes) cannot be placed on top of already-tilled soil. If you need trellis plots, leave the ground untilled and place the trellis directly.

• Treasure discovery: Tilling soil has a chance to uncover buried treasure chests containing 200 to 800 Coins and occasionally Everlasting Seeds. This makes tilling profitable even on plots you do not intend to farm.

Tips

• Max out Effortless Tilling as your first profession skill. The stamina savings compound across every farming day.

• Upgrade to the Wide Hoe as early as possible. Going from one tile per swing to three tiles per swing cuts your tilling time by roughly two-thirds.

• Save your old Hoe materials in advance. Since each tier requires the previous Hoe, you cannot skip tiers. Stock up on Copper, Iron Sheets, and Radiant Crystals ahead of time.

• Use optimal farm layouts that align rows with your Hoe's tilling direction. A 1x3 Wide Hoe works best with rows three tiles wide.

• Consider the Mechanical Tiller as a mid-game priority if you run a large farm. Zero-stamina tilling frees up your entire stamina bar for gathering, fishing, or exploring.

• Till extra land when you have leftover stamina at the end of a day. The soil stays tilled indefinitely, so you will be ready to plant the next time you buy seeds.

• Remember that tilling can dig up treasure chests. It is worth tilling open patches of land on your property even if you are not planting crops there.