Island 3, Frostspire Expanse, adds an entire new tier of pickaxes to The Forge. These tools sit between the Volcanic Depths line and the hidden endgame Prismatic and Angelite options, and they’re built to carry you through every ore currently available in the winter update.
The key to using them well is understanding how their mine power, speed modifiers, luck, and rune slots trade off against each other—and when it’s worth spending over a million cash on a marginal upgrade.
All Island 3 shop pickaxes and stats (Frostspire Expanse)
Miner Fred’s shop in Frostspire Expanse sells six permanent pickaxes. They’re unlocked once you reach Island 3 and follow the early questline to Sensei Morrow’s area.
| Pickaxe | Mine Power | Mining Speed | Luck Boost | Rune Slots | Price (cash) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tungsten Pickaxe | 150 | -15% | +48% | 2 | $200,000 |
| Aqua Pickaxe | 200 | +5% | +52% | 2 | $375,000 |
| Mist Pickaxe | 250 | +15% | +55% | 2 | $500,000 |
| Snow Pickaxe | 320 | +10% | +58% | 3 | $750,000 |
| Frost Pickaxe | 420 | +5% | +62% | 3 | $1,000,000 |
| Void Pickaxe | 550 | -5% | +68% | 3 | $1,350,000 |
Mine power controls what you can break and how quickly raw HP disappears from rocks. Mining speed is a percentage modifier on swing time: positive values make swings faster, negative values slow them down. Luck affects ore rarity and essence drops, while rune slots set the ceiling for long‑term optimization through Minor Shard runes and their future higher‑tier versions.
Christmas event pickaxes on Island 3
On Frostspire Expanse’s main platform, Santa’s hub opens up a second path to high‑end pickaxes. Instead of cash, these tools cost XMas Tickets earned from limited‑time quests and Christmas Store purchases.
| Pickaxe | Mine Power | Luck Boost | Currency | Cost | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candy Cane Pickaxe | 280 | +65% | XMas Tickets | 800 | Christmas Store (limited) |
| Christmas Pickaxe | 550 | +72% | XMas Tickets | 3,600 | Christmas Store (limited) |
The Candy Cane Pickaxe is a strong bridge between Mist and Snow if you’re heavy on event currency but light on cash. The Christmas Pickaxe effectively competes with Void on raw power, with an even higher luck bonus, and is one of the best event investments if you plan to keep mining beyond Island 3.
How much mine power you actually need on Island 3
Frostspire Expanse is tuned around a clear breakpoint: 320 base mining damage. That value lets you mine every ore currently available on Island 3, including the tougher nodes behind Sensei Morrow’s objectives and the hidden Prismatic Pickaxe barrier.
That requirement turns the Snow Pickaxe into a practical goalpost. Once you own Snow, you can stop worrying about access checks and shift into optimizing speed, luck, and rune setup instead of chasing higher power just to unlock rocks.
Best pickaxe progression path on Island 3
The obvious question is whether it’s worth buying every new pickaxe as it appears in the shop. For most players, the answer is no. The cash curve in Frostspire Expanse is steep, and saving a million or more by skipping small upgrades has a real impact on how quickly you reach true endgame tools.
A focused progression path looks like this:
- Stay on your Volcanic Depths pickaxe (Arcane, Magma, or Demonic) when you first touch Island 3. Those tools are strong enough to handle early Spider Cave ores and crystal mobs while you learn routes and stack essence.
- Skip Tungsten, Aqua, and Mist unless you are badly under‑geared. Their power gains over a good Forgotten Kingdom pickaxe are incremental, and their prices eat heavily into your Prismatic fund.
- Buy Snow Pickaxe as your first Island 3 upgrade. Snow hits the 320 power breakpoint, carries three rune slots, and offers a healthy +10% speed and +58% luck. It’s the first shop pickaxe that feels like a complete late‑game platform rather than a stepping stone.
- Decide between Frost and Void from Snow. If you want a smooth curve, Frost is a solid mid‑tier jump in both power and luck. If you’re patient, it makes more sense to grind directly from Snow to Void and pocket the million cash difference.
- Plan your transition into Prismatic Pickaxe. Void or Snow can take you there; what matters is your bank account and rune setup more than a single extra tier of shop power.
Snow → Void → Prismatic is the most future‑proof arc if you play a lot. Snow → Prismatic is cheaper and still viable if you’d rather funnel every coin into the underwater chamber as soon as possible.
Where Prismatic and Angelite sit relative to Island 3
Prismatic and Angelite aren’t technically “Island 3 pickaxes,” but they live in the same Frostspire Expanse ecosystem and define the ceiling players are pushing toward.
| Pickaxe | Mine Power | Mining Speed | Luck Boost | Rune Slots | Price / Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prismatic Pickaxe | 650 | +20% | +72% | 4 | $2,000,000 (hidden chamber) |
| Angelite Pickaxe | 888 | +25% | +85% | 4 | $3,500,000 (location TBA) |
Prismatic is accessed from Frostspire Expanse by returning to Bjorn, taking the left path, dropping into the icy pool below, and breaking through an ice wall that checks for 320 mining damage. Once that barrier is gone, the Prismatic altar becomes a permanent endgame goal with enough power and speed to trivialize every rock currently in the game.
Angelite, with 888 power and 85 percent luck, clearly points at future worlds and ore tables. Its exact acquisition route is still marked as “to be announced,” but its stats alone show how far the developers plan to push long‑term progression beyond Island 3.
How the new pickaxes compare to Volcanic Depths tools
If you arrive in Frostspire Expanse with a Demonic, Arcane, or Magma Pickaxe, the early Island 3 line can feel underwhelming. Those Forgotten Kingdom tools already sit near the top of the pre‑winter tier list.
| Pickaxe | Mine Power | Luck Boost | Rune Slots | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arcane Pickaxe | 115 | +50% | 3 | Fast, highly customizable, strong in Volcanic Depths. |
| Magma Pickaxe | 135 | +46% | 2 | Free upgrade path in Ashen Passage. |
| Demonic Pickaxe | 175 | +47.5% | 3 | Expensive but top‑tier pre‑Island‑3 power. |
| Tungsten Pickaxe | 150 | +48% | 2 | Sidelong upgrade from Magma or Demonic in raw power. |
This is why players are better off treating Tungsten, Aqua, and Mist as catch‑up tools for under‑geared accounts or alts rather than mandatory purchases. Snow is the first Frostspire pickaxe that clearly outclasses the Volcanic Depths line across power, luck, and rune flexibility.
Rune slots, Minor Shards, and why they matter more on Island 3
By the time you reach Frostspire Expanse, runes should be doing a lot of the heavy lifting for your mining build. Minor Shard runes can roll perks like Yield, Swift Mining, and Luck, and they currently cap out at tier one. Even at that level, stacking three Luck 1 rolls with maximum values can push your overall luck into double‑digit percentage gains per rune.
On Island 3 pickaxes, the slot count shapes how far you can take that concept:
- Two slots (Tungsten, Aqua, Mist) limit you to a focused pair of perks. For example, one Luck and one Swift Mining rune, or a Yield/Luck hybrid if you’re optimizing ore per hour.
- Three slots (Snow, Frost, Void, Christmas) let you cover all three core mining perks at once or double down on a single stat while still keeping a utility rune in play.
- Four slots (Prismatic, Angelite) are where builds start to feel broken, especially once higher‑tier Minor Shards arrive. You can push luck hard while still running speed and yield, or lean into a hybrid mining/combat setup, depending on how the developers expand rune types.
Because runes can be detached for a fee, you only ever need to roll three strong Minor Shard runes for mining and move them from pickaxe to pickaxe as you upgrade. That makes it easier to justify skipping intermediate shop tools: your real investment lives in those runes, not the pickaxe frame.
Where each Frostspire pickaxe fits in the meta
Viewed together, the Island 3 pickaxes form a clear curve from early‑world catch‑up to late‑game min‑maxing:
- Tungsten Pickaxe is a power fix for players who reached Frostspire Expanse on a weak Forgotten Kingdom tool. Its negative 15 percent speed penalty comes with decent luck, but it is not a long‑term solution.
- Aqua Pickaxe normalizes speed with a small bonus and nudges both power and luck up enough to feel smoother in Spider Cave and around Sensei Morrow’s mine.
- Mist Pickaxe is where Island 3 mining starts to feel fast. A 15 percent speed boost paired with 250 power and 55 percent luck makes it a strong combat‑mining hybrid for players still catching up.
- Snow Pickaxe is the first real destination. It clears the 320 power gate for all current ores, runs three rune slots, and carries enough luck to support serious essence grinding.
- Frost Pickaxe extends Snow’s concept with higher power and slightly better luck, but the speed buff drops to five percent. It is a quality‑of‑life upgrade rather than a fundamental shift.
- Void Pickaxe is the Frostspire ceiling in the main shop. It trades a small five percent speed penalty for a big jump to 550 power and 68 percent luck, still on three rune slots. For players who live in high‑HP ores and don’t mind slightly slower swings, Void is the most efficient way to farm materials and cash until Prismatic.
- Candy Cane Pickaxe slots between Mist and Snow as a high‑luck option when you are rich in event tickets but conserving cash.
- Christmas Pickaxe sits on the same 550 power tier as Void but with 72 percent luck instead of 68. For pure farming in the event window, it is arguably the strongest Island 3‑adjacent pickaxe you can acquire without touching the Prismatic chamber.
The result is a mining ecosystem where you can choose between speed, raw power, and luck, but the real breakpoints are fixed. Hit 320 power to unlock everything on Island 3, then decide how quickly you want to climb toward Prismatic and beyond.
If you plan to stay in The Forge long term, treat Snow as the functional minimum, Void or Christmas as comfort picks, and Prismatic as the real goal. Everything else, including the flashy early shop upgrades, is there to keep the climb flexible—without being strictly required.
