Crystalarium
| Crystalarium | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Crafted Item |
| Recipe | Mining (Level 9) |
The Crystalarium is a gem-copying machine. Placing a single gem or mineral inside makes it produce copies of that stone, one after another, for as long as it stands. The original stone is never used up, so one Diamond can turn into an endless line of Diamonds. The recipe comes late, at Mining level 9, but the game also hands out free Crystalariums for Museum donations and the Vault. Loaded with a Diamond, it becomes one of the steadiest gem earners on the farm, and it also feeds gift lists and trades.
Recipe
Reaching Mining level 9 teaches the recipe. The ingredient list leans on deep mining. Stone is easy, and the Gold Bars come from smelting Gold Ore with Coal in a Furnace. The Iridium Bars need Iridium Ore, which the Skull Cavern supplies best. The Battery Pack is the odd one out. A Lightning Rod catches one when lightning strikes it during a thunderstorm, and the pack is ready to collect the next day.
Free Crystalariums turn up in three places. Gunther gives one for donating fifty minerals to the Museum. Completing the 25,000g Bundle in the Vault rewards another. Treasure rooms in the Skull Cavern sometimes hold one too.
These are the ingredients one batch needs.
| Name | Image | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Stone | 
|
99 |
| Gold Bar | 
|
5 |
| Iridium Bar | 
|
2 |
| Battery Pack | 
|
1 |
Use
Holding a gem or mineral and using it on the Crystalarium starts the copying. Each kind of stone has its own copying time. Quartz takes only a few in-game minutes, while a Diamond takes about five days. When a copy is ready, collecting it lets the machine start the next one straight away.
Almost any gem or mineral can go in. Gems such as Emerald, Ruby and Jade work, as do foraged minerals and the stones from geodes. The Prismatic Shard is the one stone it refuses. Removing the Crystalarium with a tool returns the original stone, so nothing is lost by changing plans.
Notes
For pure profit, the Diamond is the usual choice. Its high price more than makes up for its long copying time. It works out to around a hundred and fifty gold a day per machine. Diamonds also make excellent gifts, since nearly every villager likes or loves them.
Cheaper stones have their own uses. Quartz copies so quickly that a few machines build a large pile fast. The Desert Trader swaps Quartz for Bombs, so a Quartz Crystalarium doubles as a bomb supply. Other minerals can be copied for gifts or for trades at the Desert Trader.
All Crafting
Every entry in this group, with its key details.
