The rainbow shell is a foraging item that you can find on the beach in the summertime.
How to get a rainbow shell in Stardew Valley
The best time to find a rainbow shell in stardew valley is in Summer — this item spawns on the beach only during one season. If you don’t have time or patience to wait until the rainbow shell season, you can try your luck and use other ways to get it. Sometimes Rainbow Shell is available for purchase in the Traveling Cart. This shop appears south of The Farm, in Cindersap Forest, on Fridays and Sundays; it also appears each day on the Night Market (Winter 15-17). The Merchant’s stock consists of 10 items, one piece of furniture and sometimes an additional “special stock” item. Stock changes each day the Traveling Merchant appears, so you can try to get a Rainbow Shell twice a week. Usually, it costs 900-1,500g, so you’ll have to shell out some gold to get this item off-season.
Since this valuable item is required for the story quests, many players wonder if there is an easy way to get a rainbow shell in Stardew Valley. If you already have Level 10 Foraging, you can open an ability Tracker that reveals all forage items’ locations so you won’t have to check the beach every day.
Another way to acquire this item at late stages of the game is to build a fish pond, which requires 5,000g, Stone (200), Seaweed (5), and Green Algae (5). This farm building is available for construction in the Carpenter’s Shop. You will have to put a Rainbow Trout in it to start Rainbow Shell farming. This fish can be found in the mountain lake or river of Pelican Town and Cindersap Forest, only in sunny weather during Summer from 6 am to 7 pm. Rainbow Trout Fish Pond provides a 2% chance to produce 1 Rainbow Shell daily when the pond’s population reaches 9.
There is also a high chance to get the rainbow shell in the mail from Demetrius or receive this item as a gift from Jas or Vincent at the Feast of the Winter Star. If you like Demetrius as a character, you can try to make friends with him, and he will start sending you gifts. The chance of receiving a present in the mail increases as your friendship with Demetrius increases; you may get a Rainbow Shell, Nautilus Shell, Amethyst, and Bream. This character can be found at Carpenter’s Shop, so you can visit Demetrius every time you go to the Robin or the mines.
Stardew Valley Rainbow Shell Uses
If you’re wondering what to do with rainbow shells in Stardew Valley, you’ll be surprised that it’s not as useless as it seems. First of all, you can gift rainbow shell: it’s a neutral gift for most of the villagers. Be careful not to give it to Harvey: he hates rainbow shells! Instead of that, please give it to the islander Leo who will definitely like it.
Another popular question from players is: do you need a rainbow shell for the community center bundle in Stardew Valley? Unlike many other foraging items, it’s not used in bundles, recipes, or for other purposes. However, you can use it with a sewing machine to create the Bikini Top or dye clothing in any colour.
Rainbow Shell can also be used on Stardew Valley Fair. It is a festival that starts on Tuesday, the 16th of Fall every year between 9 am and 3 pm. The Fair has a Grange Display Сontest where you can show the products from the farm and other resources to gain Star Tokens. If you manage to display a golden Rainbow Shell, you will gain plenty of points (8) in the gathering category. Don’t forget to get your items back after the end of the contest!
The value of rainbow shells in Stardew Valley depends on the quality of the product. Its basic sale price is 300g: the silver quality costs 375g, golden quality is 450g, and iridium quality is 600g. It’s the most valuable beach foraging item; if you want to make money from foraging, consider developing Gatherer and Botanist skills, which will double the amount of gathering resources and provide only iridium-quality drops.
Rainbow Shell Quest in Stardew Valley
One of the essential uses of Rainbow Shell in Stardew Valley is quests. In the late stages of the game, you will have to complete The Mysterious Qi mission line. To start this mission, you will have to do several things. First of all, it’s necessary to get a Battery pack: it can be created in the Lightning Rod during the thunderstorm, or purchased in the Mystery Cart. After that, you will have to go to the north of the map and enter the tunnel next to the bus stop. In this place, you will find a secret lock-box with instructions. At the next step, you will have to leave a Rainbow Shell in the box at the train platform. If you’re having troubles with this step of the quest, try checking out whether the mission restarted; if you still can’t leave the rainbow shell, check the tunnel and try putting the battery pack in it again.