Overview
The Moonlight Glow Stick is a portable light source found in the Moonlit Forest. It is one of three special tools discovered through exploration of the forest, alongside the Broom and the Geocalligraphy Brush. The Glow Stick provides a soft, steady illumination that lights up dark caves, tunnels, and passages within the forest's underground network, making it essential for navigating areas that are otherwise too dark to explore safely.
Unlike torches or lanterns that might appear in other games, the Moonlight Glow Stick draws its energy from the same bioluminescent properties that characterize the Moonlit Forest itself. It emits a cool blue-white light that matches the forest's ambient glow, and it never runs out of charge or requires fuel.
How to Find
The Moonlight Glow Stick is hidden in the early sections of the Moonlit Forest, making it one of the first found tools most players encounter. It is placed on a natural stone shelf inside a shallow cave near the forest's main entrance path. The cave is visible from the path but easy to overlook if the player is moving quickly.
To find it, look for a small cave opening on the right side of the path shortly after entering the Moonlit Forest's first underground transition. The cave is only a few steps deep, and the Glow Stick rests on a rocky ledge at the back, emitting a faint glow that is its own visual cue.
No quest, profession level, or other tool is required to collect the Glow Stick. Walk up to it and interact to add it to your tool inventory.
Illumination Mechanics
When equipped, the Moonlight Glow Stick radiates a cone of light in front of the player character, illuminating approximately 8 to 10 meters ahead. The light also spills to the sides, providing peripheral visibility for about 4 to 5 meters in each direction. This is sufficient to see walls, obstacles, hidden items, and environmental details in most dark areas.
The Glow Stick can also be placed on the ground by using it while standing still. When placed, it sits upright and emits a full 360-degree light radius, turning it into a stationary light source. This is useful for illuminating a large room or cavern while the player explores freely with both hands available for other tools.
Placed Glow Sticks remain active indefinitely until the player picks them back up. There is no limit to how long they stay lit, and they do not despawn. However, the player only has one Glow Stick, so placing it in one location means they must return to retrieve it before lighting another area.
Dark Zones in the Moonlit Forest
The Moonlit Forest contains several dark zones: areas where the ambient bioluminescent light is absent or too dim to navigate by. These zones are deliberately designed as exploration challenges. Without a light source, the player can still walk through them but cannot see obstacles, hidden items, or puzzle elements.
Dark Zone | Location | What the Glow Stick Reveals |
|---|---|---|
Shadow Tunnel | Between forest entrance and Mushroom Grotto | Wall markings, a hidden side passage |
Obsidian Chamber | Deep Forest Core, lower level | Floor debris (for Broom), pressure plates |
Blind Passage | Root Tunnels, eastern branch | Glyph outlines on walls and floor |
Collapsed Gallery | Upper Cave Network | Treasure chests, breakable wall sections |
Subterranean Pond | Near Spore Cascade entrance | Rare fishing spots, collectible items |
Some dark zones are optional and contain bonus rewards, while others sit along the main exploration path and must be traversed to progress further into the forest. The Glow Stick makes both types of zones significantly easier and more rewarding to explore.
Integration With Other Found Tools
The Moonlight Glow Stick is the first tool in the three-step exploration workflow used throughout the Moonlit Forest. It reveals the hidden elements that the Broom and Geocalligraphy Brush then interact with.
In practice, the typical sequence in a dark area is: equip the Glow Stick to see the room clearly, spot debris piles and switch to the Broom to clear them, then identify any revealed glyphs and switch to the Geocalligraphy Brush to activate them. The three tools form a complementary set that unlocks the full depth of the Moonlit Forest's content.
Held vs. Placed Strategies
Choosing whether to hold the Glow Stick or place it depends on the situation.
Strategy | Best For | Trade-Off |
|---|---|---|
Held in hand | Linear tunnels, narrow passages, initial scouting | Occupies the tool slot; cannot use Broom or Brush simultaneously |
Placed on ground | Large open caverns, rooms with multiple puzzles | Fixed position; player must return to retrieve it |
For narrow tunnels, holding the Glow Stick while walking through is the most practical approach. For large caverns with multiple puzzle elements to solve, placing the Glow Stick centrally and then switching to other tools as needed is more efficient.
Connection to the Moonlit Forest Walkthrough
The Moonlit Forest Walkthrough article covers the full progression path through the forest, including when and where to use each found tool. The Glow Stick is the first tool the walkthrough recommends collecting, as it opens up visibility in every subsequent area.
Players following the walkthrough will be directed to the Glow Stick's location within the first few steps of entering the forest. Players exploring independently should still prioritize finding it early, as navigating dark zones without it is unnecessarily difficult and risks missing hidden content.
Tips
Find the Glow Stick before anything else in the Moonlit Forest. Its location is near the entrance, and having it from the start makes every subsequent area easier to explore.
Place the Glow Stick on the ground in large rooms so you can use both hands for the Broom and Geocalligraphy Brush. Pick it up again before moving to the next area.
The Glow Stick's light reveals subtle details that are invisible in the dark, including barely visible glyph outlines and hairline cracks in walls that indicate breakable sections.
Do not forget to retrieve a placed Glow Stick. Since you only have one, leaving it behind means entering the next dark zone without light.
The Glow Stick has no use outside the Moonlit Forest. Surface areas and other locations have sufficient ambient light, so there is no reason to keep it equipped when exploring the rest of the island.
If you find a dark area that the Glow Stick does not seem to illuminate fully, look for secondary light sources (glowing mushrooms, luminous crystals) that can be activated to supplement the Glow Stick's range.