A very large part ofAmber Isleis using your tools (an axe, a pickaxe, a scythe, and a shovel) to clear debris from the areas surrounding town and gather all the precious resources you’ll need for crafting. At the beginning of the game, you’ll be introduced one by one to these crucial tools.

However, your starter tools will prove to be a little useless when going up against the larger obstacles - massive rocks, huge mounds of dirt, and ugly stumps can’t be harvested with what you start with. You’ll need to rely on the kindness of Paleofolk to get these upgraded and powered up to deal with larger resource deposits.

Inviting Nellie to live on Amber Isle.

How To Upgrade Your Axe

The first Axe upgrade is obtained by completingOut Of The Woods, which isNellie’s first quest. Nellie is the first Paleofolk that you’ll invite to the island, so simplyfollow the main story quests through until you’ve built Nellie’s house.

Once Nellie’s house is built, you cantalk to herto begin the next step of the quest, which is a simpledelivery questusing one of the delivery boxes outside her house.Deliver 25 Basic Woodto this box, and you’ll complete the quest, which will upgrade your axe to aGood Axe, which will be able to destroy stumps.

Delivering Basic Stone for a quest in Amber Isle.

After getting to know Nellie a bit and increasing your friendship with her, you can unlock her second quest:Can You Hack It?This will require you todeliver a WhittleMeThis Toolsetto Nellie, which is a cheap Artisan item that is quite easy to unlock. Completing this quest will get you the next upgrade to your Axe, making it aGreat Axe.

The final Axe upgrade will take some effort, though. First, you’ll need to invite Atlas to the island (who also lives in Woodbury Forest) and complete his first two quests:

Speaking to Flint about your Scythe in Amber Isle.

After completing Special Brew, you may take on Nellie’s final quest once you max out her friendship. This quest (Carving a Path) involves a simple delivery of40 Dark Wood and 40 Red Wood, which will require you to unlock Spearfield Swamp. Completing this unlocks theMaster Axe.

How To Upgrade Your Pickaxe

The first Pickaxe upgrade is obtained by completing A Smashing Job, which isChester’sfirst quest. This is a simple quest that you can pick up as soon as you’ve invited Chester to the island and built him a house, and involvesdelivering 60 Basic Stoneto his delivery box once the quest begins.

Upgrading the Pickaxe will let you smash larger rocks, which in turn will get you a ton of resources.

Talking to Barnaby at the museum in Amber Isle.

Chester can be found at Mt. Morrisong, which is the second area you’ll unlock. you may invite him to the island after meeting him.

After becomingfriendly with Chesterandunlocking Shell Creek, you’ll be able to take on Chester’s second quest, which isThe Sword and the Stone. Once you’ve met the requirements, you’ll be able to talk to Chester to begin the quest, as your quest log will detail. This quest is another delivery quest, requiring30 Light Stone(obtained from Shell Creek rocks) and50 Dark Stone(found on Mt. Morrisong). Delivering this will get you theGreat Pickaxe.

After completing The Sword and the Stone and getting friendlier with Chester, you can unlock hisfinal quest, which rewards you with theMaster Pickaxe. This quest requires the rarest stones, specifically,50 Red Stone and 30 Metal.

How To Upgrade Your Scythe

Like the other tools, the Scythe is upgraded by completing a simple quest that unlocks after inviting a certain Paleofolk to the island. In this case, you’ll need toinvite Flint, a gardener who can be found at Mt. Morrisong, and then completeQuite Contrary, which involves adelivery of 40 Dirtand30 Plants.

The second upgrade for the Scythe is obtained bycompleting Flint’s second quest,Tomayto, Tomahto. Unlocking this will require you to reach a higher friendship level with him. The quest requires the delivery of25 Mountain Veg, 40 Bamboo, and three Soil Sacks, which are Gardener items that requireDirtto craft.

Once you’ve progressed the game enough to unlock Spearfield Swamp and also raised Flint’s friendship to level five, you can unlock his final quest, which isRose, Bud, Thornsand requires a delivery of40 Moss and five Blue Flowers. Completing this delivery will net you theMaster Scythe.

How To Upgrade Your Shovel

The Shovel is actuallyupgraded twice within one quest. Specifically, you’ll need to completePlight at the Museum, which is also the quest that involvesinviting Barnabyto the island after meeting him inWoodbury Forest.

After building his house and moving him in, Barnaby will upgrade your Shovel into aGood Shoveland unlock the next step in the quest, which requires you todeliver 60 Dirt to Barnaby. Completing this will get you the second upgrade, turning your Good Shovel into aGreat Shovel.

To acquire the third upgrade, thus giving you the Master Shovel, you’ll need tocomplete Barnaby’s second quest, Dig? Dug.

To complete Dig? Dug, you’ll need to firstraise your friendship with Barnabyuntil the quest triggers. Then, you’ll need todonate three items to the museum. You can only donate unique items that you can find bydigging up dirtand sand points across the island, and the chances of finding them are very low.

After donating three items to the museum, Barnaby will send aletter to your mailbox askingfor 50 Clay. Deliver this to his house to complete the quest.

Barnaby has another quest to complete that has the same icon as all other tool upgrade quests, but this does not actually upgrade your Shovel. In fact, when we completed it, our Shovel was bumped back down to the ‘Good’ level. This is likely a bug, so beware this quest for the time being.