Moonlight Peaks: Dark Wood Location and Resources — Complete Guide

What This Guide Helps You Do#

This guide teaches you how to locate, harvest, and efficiently farm hardwood and timber in Moonlight Peaks’ foothills biome, so you can craft the weapons, gear, and building materials you need to progress through the game. You’ll learn where divvy trees grow, how to identify pirate camps that mark hardwood clusters, and the mechanics behind tree respawning so you never run out of wood again.

It’s best for players who’ve reached the foothills biome (either by defeating the first boss or through side quests), or those returning to the game who want to optimize their hardwood farming before tackling endgame content.

Requirements & Prep#

Before heading to the foothills to harvest hardwood, you’ll need an axe to chop trees efficiently. You can craft one at a workbench with basic materials, or find one as loot. A stone pickaxe is also useful if you plan to mine iron or sulfur in the same trip, since the foothills contains both resources in rocky areas.

You’ll want fast travel capability set up before you start farming. This means either crafting portable fast travel bells (which require copper ingots smelted at a furnace) or using your ship’s helm to fast travel directly from the water. Both methods let you return to harvest zones quickly without walking across the entire island.

Bring at least one tent with you if you’re exploring higher-level pirate camps. Tents are extremely cheap to craft (only plant fiber or wood) and let you set a spawn point before fighting, so if you die, you respawn nearby instead of far away.

Route Overview#

The foothills biome is your primary hardwood zone. Unlike the starting jungle biome where you find regular wood and clay, the foothills contains hardwood trees (divvy trees) that yield the timber you need for advanced crafting. The most reliable way to find them is to follow your map’s marked points of interest—pirate camps, ancient farms, and villages all cluster near hardwood forests.

Your farming loop works like this: fast travel to a foothills island, run to the nearest marked point of interest on that island, scout the area for divvy tree patches (usually just outside the camp), harvest the trees, then move to the next island. Because trees respawn after a set time (roughly 6 real-life hours, or 24 hours if you haven’t played in that window), you can rotate between 3–4 islands and always find fresh hardwood when you return.

If you want to avoid fighting pirates entirely, use your ship’s cannons to shoot trees from the water before landing, or build temporary torches and platforms to climb high and reach trees without engaging enemies. This approach is slower but safer if you’re early-game or under-geared.

Step-by-Step Walkthrough#

Reach the Foothills Biome#

If you haven’t been to the foothills yet, follow your main story quests and defeat the first boss, which is the game’s intended progression path. Alternatively, side quests like “Sacrificial Lamb” can lead you there, or you can simply explore randomly until you find a foothills island. Since maps are procedurally generated, your island layout and locations won’t match another player’s, but the marked points of interest (pirate camps, ancient farms, ancient villages) will always contain the same types of resources and NPCs.

Identify Divvy Trees and Hardwood Forests#

Once on a foothills island, open your map and locate the marked points of interest. Hardwood forests—patches filled with divvy trees—are often found just outside pirate camps. Divvy trees look visually distinct from regular trees; they’re noticeably different in appearance and grow in their own forest patches, so you won’t miss them once you see them. If a marked location is filled with pirates who are actively chopping wood, there’s almost certainly a hardwood forest nearby outside that camp.

Walk around the perimeter of pirate camps and check the surrounding terrain. Divvy trees typically cluster in a small forest area within a few hundred meters of the camp. If you don’t see them immediately, expand your search radius or move to the next marked location on the island.

Harvest Hardwood from Trees and Stumps#

Approach a divvy tree and use your axe to chop it down. Each tree yields multiple hardwood logs. You can also collect hardwood by chopping up fallen logs and stumps inside pirate camps—these are pieces of wood that pirates have already cut down. This method is safer if you want to avoid direct combat, since you’re just looting what’s already been harvested rather than cutting fresh trees while enemies are nearby.

Fill your inventory with hardwood. Don’t worry about being over-encumbered; you can always drop items on the ground and pick them up later, or use a portable fast travel bell to return to your base, drop off your harvest, and come back to continue looting.

Use Your Ship’s Cannons for Safe Harvesting#

If you want to avoid pirates entirely, sail your ship close to shore where you can see trees from the water. Switch to your ship’s cannon view and shoot trees directly from your vessel. Once trees fall, jump onto the land, grab the wood, and return to your ship. This is slower than ground harvesting but completely safe and requires no combat gear.

To use your ship’s cannons, get on your ship and aim from the helm. The cannon will fire in the direction you’re facing. Trees fall like any other destructible object, leaving harvestable wood behind.

Craft Timber at Your Base#

Return to your base (fast travel via your ship’s helm or a portable fast travel bell) and go to a workbench. Once you’ve collected hardwood at least once, you’ll automatically unlock the timber schematic. Craft timber by converting hardwood at a 3:1 ratio—every 1 timber requires 3 hardwood. Store your timber in a chest for later use in weapon, gear, and building recipes.

Rotate Between Multiple Islands#

Don’t farm the same island repeatedly in one session. Trees respawn after roughly 6 real-life hours of game time, but they don’t respawn if they’re within a bonfire’s range. This means if your base bonfire is on a foothills island, trees near that bonfire won’t regrow. Instead, identify 3–4 different foothills islands with hardwood forests and rotate between them. By the time you finish harvesting island 4, island 1 will have respawned.

Use fast travel to move between islands quickly. Call your ship in the water and use your ship’s helm to fast travel to any previously discovered location, or place portable fast travel bells at key harvest zones to return instantly.

Troubleshooting & Common Mistakes#

• Can’t find divvy trees: Check outside pirate camps, not inside them. Hardwood forests are separate patches adjacent to camps. If you’re still stuck, move to the next marked location on the island.
• Trees aren’t respawning on your home island: Your bonfire’s range prevents tree respawning. This is intentional—place your base away from harvest zones, or accept that you’ll need to farm on other islands.
• Inventory full and can’t carry more hardwood: Drop excess hardwood on the ground (it won’t despawn), fast travel back to your base to drop off what you’ve collected, then return to the same spot to pick up the rest.
• Pirates are blocking your access to trees: Use your ship’s cannons to shoot trees from the water, or build torches and platforms to climb above the pirates and harvest from high ground without engaging them.
• Ran out of copper for fast travel bells: Follow the main quest to unlock fast travel points at your base, or use your ship’s helm to fast travel from the water instead. Both methods are free once unlocked.
• Timber is too expensive (3 hardwood per timber): This is the only conversion method. If you need timber urgently, focus on collecting more hardwood first, or prioritize quests that reward timber directly.
• Forgot where a hardwood forest was: Return to the pirate camp that was nearby—hardwood forests always cluster around marked locations. Scan the area outside the camp again.
• Enemies are too strong to fight: Set a tent before the fight, use building blocks as barriers to trap enemies or gain high ground, or avoid combat entirely by harvesting stumps and fallen logs instead of fresh trees.

Advanced Tips & Time Saves#

Temporary Base Camps for Rapid Harvesting: If you’re doing a long hardwood run, place a bonfire and a few decorations at your harvest location. This gives you a comfort bonus, which boosts your stamina regeneration and lets you sprint longer without tiring. Once you’re done harvesting, destroy everything and get all your resources back—since bonfires and decorations are cheap (just wood and plant fiber), you break even.

Parry Pirates Instead of Killing Them: If you’re confident in combat, learn to perfect block (parry) pirate attacks. Press block just before they hit you; you’ll see an orange ring appear, and their posture will break instead of depleting your shield. Once they’re stunned, you can land free hits or just run past them to the trees. This saves time and resources compared to a full fight.

Use Building Mode to Skip Enemies: You can enter build mode at any time without a bonfire. If pirates are guarding hardwood, place torches or platforms to climb above them and harvest from high ground. This is slower than direct harvesting but completely safe and requires only wood.

Farm During Respawn Windows: If you play consistently every day, trees respawn roughly every 6 hours. If you play sporadically, they respawn after about 24 hours regardless of how much you’ve played. Plan your farming sessions around these windows—return to the same islands after a break to find fresh hardwood waiting.

FAQ#

Where do I find hardwood in Moonlight Peaks?#

Hardwood (from divvy trees) is found exclusively in the foothills biome, typically in forest patches just outside marked pirate camps, ancient farms, and ancient villages. Divvy trees look visually distinct from regular trees and grow in their own clusters, so they’re easy to spot once you know what to look for.

How do I get timber, and what’s the recipe?#

Timber is crafted at a workbench and requires a 3:1 conversion: 3 hardwood = 1 timber. You unlock the timber schematic automatically once you collect hardwood for the first time. Timber is used in advanced weapon, gear, and building recipes.

Do trees respawn, and how long does it take?#

Yes, trees respawn after roughly 6 real-life hours of game time, or about 24 hours if you haven’t played in that window. However, trees don’t respawn if they’re within a bonfire’s range. Place your base away from harvest zones to allow trees to regrow, or rotate between multiple islands to always have fresh hardwood available.

Can I harvest hardwood without fighting pirates?#

Yes. Use your ship’s cannons to shoot trees from the water before landing, collect hardwood from fallen logs and stumps inside camps (already harvested by pirates), or use building blocks and torches to climb above pirates and harvest from high ground. All three methods avoid direct combat.

What’s the fastest way to farm hardwood?#

Rotate between 3–4 foothills islands with marked points of interest. Fast travel between them using your ship’s helm or portable fast travel bells. Harvest divvy trees and stumps at each location, then move to the next island. By the time you finish the fourth island, the first will have respawned. This method ensures you’re always harvesting fresh hardwood without waiting.

How do I unlock the foothills biome?#

Defeat the first boss by following the main story quests, or reach the foothills through side quests like “Sacrificial Lamb.” You can also find foothills islands by exploring randomly. Once you reach the biome once, you can fast travel back to any discovered foothills island.

Checklist#

• Craft or find an axe for harvesting hardwood.
• Unlock fast travel via your ship’s helm or craft portable fast travel bells.
• Reach the foothills biome (main quest or side quest path).
• Locate marked points of interest on your foothills island map.
• Scout the area outside pirate camps for divvy tree patches (visually distinct from regular trees).
• Harvest hardwood from divvy trees, fallen logs, or stumps using your axe.
• Fill your inventory; drop excess hardwood on the ground if needed.
• Fast travel back to your base and go to a workbench.
• Craft timber at a 3:1 ratio (3 hardwood = 1 timber).
• Store timber in a chest for later crafting recipes.
• Identify 3–4 foothills islands with hardwood forests and rotate between them on future runs.
• Remember: trees don’t respawn near your bonfire, so place your base away from harvest zones or farm on separate islands.

Source & credit#

This guide draws on the excellent video walkthrough by Astrosive — watch it for the full visual run-through, and give the creator your view:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0IJZ1xMTco