Ah, the shovel! In the charming world of Animal Crossing, this humble tool is your gateway to unlocking so much of what makes the game special. Whether you’re dreaming of a perfectly landscaped island, eager to unearth hidden fossils, or just want to plant that beautiful new flower, you’ll find yourself reaching for your shovel time and time again.
But how exactly do you get your hands on this indispensable item? If you’re just starting out or haven’t quite figured out its acquisition, don’t worry! We’ve got you covered. This guide will walk you through every step, ensuring you’re digging your way to island paradise in no time.
Getting Your First Shovel: The Flimsy and the Standard
The journey to a well-equipped Animal Crossing island begins with the basics, and that includes your first shovel. There are two main types of shovels you’ll acquire early on: the Flimsy Shovel and the standard Shovel. Each serves its purpose, and understanding how to get them is crucial.
The Flimsy Shovel: Your Initial Digging Tool
When you first arrive on your island, Tom Nook will guide you through some initial tasks. As part of this early game progression, you’ll be introduced to crafting. The Flimsy Shovel is one of the first tools you’ll learn to craft.
Here’s how it typically works:
- Progress through Tom Nook’s Tutorial: Early in your island life, Tom Nook will give you various tasks. Pay attention to his instructions and complete them.
- Receive the DIY Recipe: Once you’ve progressed far enough, Tom Nook will provide you with the DIY recipe for the Flimsy Shovel. Sometimes this is given directly, other times it’s unlocked by obtaining other basic tools first.
- Gather Materials: The Flimsy Shovel requires 5 Tree Branches to craft. You can find these scattered on the ground around your island. Just pick them up!
- Craft at a Workbench: Head over to your Resident Services building or any DIY workbench you might have placed. Select the Flimsy Shovel recipe and craft it using the collected tree branches.
The Flimsy Shovel is essential for your initial digging needs. It’s perfect for planting flowers, digging up weeds, and unearthing your first few fossils. However, it has a limited durability and will break after a certain number of uses. This is by design, encouraging you to upgrade!
Upgrading to the Standard Shovel
Once you’ve experienced the joy of digging with your Flimsy Shovel, you’ll naturally want something more robust. The standard Shovel (often referred to as the ‘Iron Shovel’ in some contexts due to its crafting material) is your next step up. It’s significantly more durable and can be used for a wider range of tasks, including digging up stubborn rocks.
Here’s how you typically obtain the recipe for the standard Shovel:
- Reach a Certain Point in Island Development: The recipe for the standard Shovel isn’t available from day one. You need to have progressed a bit further in the game. This usually involves reaching a stage where Tom Nook is pushing for island development, perhaps after you’ve built your first bridge or expanded your house.
- Visit the Nook’s Cranny Store: The primary way to get the standard Shovel DIY recipe is by purchasing it from Nook’s Cranny. This is the general store on your island, run by Timmy and Tommy Nook.
- Wait for the Recipe to Appear: When Nook’s Cranny first opens, it will sell basic items and tools. However, the DIY recipes for upgraded tools like the standard Shovel often appear in the ‘Special’ or ‘Limited’ sections of the cabinet, or sometimes as a separate DIY card. Keep checking the store daily, as its inventory rotates.
- Purchase the Recipe: Once you spot the ‘Shovel DIY’ or ‘Iron Shovel DIY’ card, purchase it for a relatively small amount of Bells.
- Craft the Shovel: The standard Shovel requires 1 Iron Nugget and 3 Tree Branches to craft. Iron Nuggets are a bit rarer than tree branches. You can obtain them by hitting rocks on your island with a Stone Axe or Hammer.
Having the standard Shovel is a significant upgrade. It allows for more extensive digging and is crucial for some of the more advanced island customization and resource gathering activities. (See Also: how to get flimsy shovel animal crossing)
The Golden Shovel: The Ultimate Digging Powerhouse
For the dedicated Animal Crossing player, the Golden Shovel is the holy grail of digging tools. This tool boasts incredible durability, meaning it will likely last you for hundreds of uses, if not the entire lifespan of your island progress. It’s also the only shovel that can plant money trees.
How to Obtain the Golden Shovel Diy Recipe
The Golden Shovel recipe is tied to a very specific, and somewhat time-consuming, achievement:
- Achieve 100 Successful Museum Donations: This is the key requirement. You need to have donated a total of 100 unique items to Blathers for his museum. This includes fish, bugs, fossils, and sea creatures.
- Donate at least one of each type: While the total count is 100, it’s generally understood that you need to have donated at least one of each category of item (fish, bug, fossil, sea creature) to trigger the recipe.
- Talk to Isabelle: Once you’ve met the donation requirement, the next time you speak to Isabelle at Resident Services (or the Town Hall once it’s upgraded), she will announce that she has a new DIY recipe to share with you.
- Receive the Golden Shovel DIY: Isabelle will then give you the DIY recipe for the Golden Shovel.
- Craft the Golden Shovel: The Golden Shovel requires 1 Golden Nugget and 1 standard Shovel to craft. Golden Nuggets are much rarer than Iron Nuggets and are typically obtained by hitting rocks with a stone axe or hammer, with a small chance of yielding a Golden Nugget instead of an Iron Nugget.
The Golden Shovel is a true investment of time and effort, but its longevity and unique ability to create money trees make it incredibly worthwhile for any serious island architect.
Other Ways to Get a Shovel (without Crafting)
While crafting is the primary and most rewarding way to get shovels, there are a couple of other, albeit less common, methods:
1. Purchasing From Nook’s Cranny
As mentioned earlier, Nook’s Cranny is your go-to for many tools. While they primarily sell the DIY recipes for upgraded tools, there are times when they will have the Flimsy Shovel or even the standard Shovel available for direct purchase as a pre-made tool. This is great if you’re in a pinch and need a shovel immediately, but it’s usually more expensive than crafting and doesn’t give you the DIY recipe.
2. Receiving From Villagers
Occasionally, a friendly villager on your island might gift you a shovel. This is usually a random occurrence, often happening when you have a good friendship level with them or when they’re celebrating a special event. Don’t rely on this as a primary method, but it’s a nice bonus when it happens!
3. Trading with Other Players
If you play Animal Crossing: New Horizons with friends or online, you can trade items. If someone has a spare shovel or a Golden Shovel DIY recipe they’re willing to part with, you can arrange a trade. This is a great way to get specific tools quickly if you’re struggling to craft them yourself.
Shovel Durability and Repair
It’s important to remember that all tools in Animal Crossing, including shovels, have durability. They will break after a certain number of uses. This is a core mechanic of the game designed to encourage resource management and crafting. (See Also: how much to shovel a driveway)
How Durability Works
Each use of a tool counts towards its durability. For example, digging up a fossil or planting a sapling counts as one use. Hitting a rock counts as one use. The Flimsy Shovel breaks relatively quickly, the standard Shovel lasts much longer, and the Golden Shovel is practically indestructible.
Repairing Tools (or Lack Thereof)
Unlike some other crafting games, you cannot repair tools in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Once a tool breaks, it’s gone. Your only option is to craft a new one or purchase a replacement. This is why obtaining the DIY recipes is so important, as it allows you to craft replacements whenever needed.
Maximizing Tool Lifespan
While you can’t repair, you can prolong the life of your tools by using them wisely:
- Use the Flimsy Shovel only for basic tasks like weeding and planting flowers.
- Save the standard Shovel for digging fossils, rocks, and more significant landscaping.
- Reserve the Golden Shovel for its unique money tree ability or for general, heavy-duty digging to preserve its incredible durability.
Common Shovel Uses in Animal Crossing
The shovel is arguably one of the most versatile tools in your inventory. Here are some of its primary uses:
1. Digging Up Fossils
This is a major function. Every day, your island will spawn three new fossils. These are buried in the ground, indicated by a distinct star-shaped crack on the surface. Use your shovel to dig them up, identify them at the museum, and donate them to Blathers to complete your fossil collection.
2. Digging Up Gyroids
Gyroids are quirky, musical items that can be found buried in the ground. They are also indicated by a star-shaped crack. Dig them up with your shovel to collect these unique decorations for your island or home.
3. Planting and Digging Up Saplings and Trees
Need to move a tree or plant a new one? The shovel is essential. You can dig up saplings or small trees (if they haven’t fully grown into trees yet) and replant them elsewhere. For fully grown trees, you’ll need to eat a piece of fruit first to ‘power up’ and then use the shovel to dig them up.
4. Planting Flowers and Bushes
Want to create a beautiful garden? Dig holes with your shovel to plant flower seeds, saplings, or bushes. You can also dig them up to rearrange your landscaping. (See Also: how to keep snow from sticking to your shovel)
5. Digging Up Buried Bells
Sometimes, you’ll see a faint sparkle in the ground. Use your shovel to dig here, and you’ll unearth a bag of Bells! This is a great way to earn a little extra income.
6. Creating Money Trees (golden Shovel Only)
As mentioned, the Golden Shovel has a unique ability. You can bury a bag of Bells (up to 10,000 is recommended for the best return) in a glowing hole in the ground. If you use the Golden Shovel to bury the Bells, a money tree will grow, yielding three times the amount you buried (up to 30,000 Bells per tree).
7. Digging Up Clams and Other Sea Creatures
When you’re on the beach, you might see little spouts of water coming from the sand. These indicate buried sea creatures. Equip your shovel to dig them up for your museum or for crafting.
8. Breaking Rocks
While a Stone Axe or Hammer is the primary tool for breaking rocks, you can also use your shovel to dig up the rocks themselves after they’ve been broken into smaller pieces or if you want to relocate them (though this is less common). It’s more common to use the shovel to dig up the area *around* a rock if you’re trying to maximize your Bell yield from hitting it.
9. Terraforming (with Caution)
While terraforming tools are the main way to reshape your island, the shovel plays a minor role. You can use it to dig holes and create small dips or mounds, though for significant changes, you’ll need the Island Designer app.
Troubleshooting: Can’t Find the Shovel Diy?
It can be frustrating when you’re eager to dig but can’t find the necessary DIY recipes. Here are some common reasons and solutions:
- You haven’t progressed far enough: For the Flimsy Shovel, ensure you’ve completed the initial tasks for Tom Nook. For the standard Shovel, make sure Nook’s Cranny is built and operational.
- Nook’s Cranny inventory hasn’t rotated: The DIY recipes at Nook’s Cranny are not always available. Check back daily. Sometimes, buying other items can help refresh the inventory.
- You’ve already learned the recipe: Double-check your DIY recipes list in your NookPhone. You might have already learned it and forgotten!
- Isabelle hasn’t announced it: For the Golden Shovel, ensure you’ve met the 100-item donation requirement and then speak to Isabelle.
Patience is key in Animal Crossing. Keep playing, keep interacting with your villagers and the shops, and the tools you need will eventually become available.
Conclusion
Acquiring a shovel in Animal Crossing is a fundamental step towards unlocking the full potential of your island life. From the essential Flimsy Shovel to the robust standard Shovel, and the ultimate Golden Shovel, each tool plays a vital role in digging, planting, and discovering. Keep an eye on Nook’s Cranny, progress through Tom Nook’s quests, and achieve those museum milestones to ensure you’re always equipped for your next great dig!
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