The Arcane Pickaxe in Roblox’s The Forge is a late‑game tool hiding in the first world. It sits behind a locked gate in the starter cave, gated by a side quest and a steep gold price, but its stats make it one of the strongest all‑round mining options for World 2 and beyond.
Arcane Pickaxe location and requirements
The Arcane Pickaxe is sold in a secret area inside the World 1 cave, often referred to as the Fallen Angel’s Cave or a hidden padlocked chamber. You cannot open this gate when you first arrive in the area; access is tied to a specific quest and item:
- You must complete the Bard’s Guitar (also called Lost Guitar) quest in World 1.
- That quest rewards the Unknown Key.
- The Unknown Key unlocks the padlocked gate deeper inside the World 1 cave.
- Inside the gated room is a pedestal where you can buy the Arcane Pickaxe for 125,000 gold.
Once the gate is unlocked with the key, it stays open for you, so you can leave and come back when you finally have enough gold.
How to unlock the Arcane Pickaxe
Step 1: Go to the first island (World 1) spawn area and find the Bard NPC sitting near his campfire close to Sensei Moro. Talk to him and accept his quest to recover his missing guitar.
Step 2: Enter the main World 1 cave. Walk down the main tunnel until you reach the first large opening.
Step 3: From the cave entrance, turn left into the side passage. In this area, there are two common variants for the guitar location:
- A “secret hole” hidden behind some bushes, you can jump through, leading down to a lower ledge with the guitar.
- An invisible wall between rock formations; walk straight through the gap to find a small chamber with the guitar.
Step 4: Approach the guitar and interact with it (default key: E) to pick it up. You can ignore any NPCs nearby; they are not required for the quest to progress.
Step 5: Leave the hidden chamber, climb or walk back to the main tunnel, and return all the way to the Bard at his campfire. Talk to him again and hand over the guitar to complete the quest.
Step 6: After turning in the guitar, the Bard gives you the Unknown Key. This item is what opens the padlocked gate in the cave.
Step 7: Go back into the same World 1 cave entrance and follow the main tunnel again, but this time stay on the right‑hand side rather than taking the earlier left turn.
Step 8: Continue forward on the right‑hand path until you see a metal gate with a padlock in front of you. Walk up to the lock and interact with it (default key: E). With the Unknown Key in your inventory, the lock will accept it, and the gate will open.
Step 9: Walk through the now‑open gate into the Fallen Angel cave. At the far end is the Arcane Pickaxe on a stand. Interact with it and confirm the purchase for 125,000 gold.
Once bought, the Arcane Pickaxe is added to your equipment and can be equipped like any other pickaxe.
Arcane Pickaxe stats and what they mean
The Arcane Pickaxe is tuned for mid‑to‑late game mining, especially in World 2. Its key stats are:
| Stat | Arcane Pickaxe value | Impact in play |
|---|---|---|
| Mine Power | 115 | High enough to comfortably break World 2 ores and Volcanic Rock with a small number of hits. |
| Mine Speed | +10% | Moderate animation speed boost; each swing is slightly faster than baseline, which adds up over long sessions. |
| Luck Boost | +50% | Greatly improved odds of rolling rarer ore traits and higher‑rarity drops from nodes. |
| Rune Slots | 3 | Allows three runes, commonly used for stacking luck and yield runes for better drops. |
| Cost | 125,000 gold | Significant early‑mid game investment; usually purchased after progressing into World 2. |
The combination of 115 Mine Power and +10% Mine Speed is enough to handle Volcanic Rock, cobalt veins, and other tougher World 2 nodes in a few swings. The +50% Luck Boost is the standout stat: with runes, achievements, potions, totems, and races that add luck, this pickaxe becomes a core part of late‑game farming for legendaries and mythicals.
How Arcane fits into pickaxe progression
In a typical progression path, the Arcane Pickaxe sits after early and mid‑game tools but before the absolute end‑game:
| Pickaxe | Role | Key stats (simplified) | Cost (gold) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stonewake’s Pickaxe | Early game | 33 Mine Power, +10% Luck, 1 rune slot | 3,333 |
| Mythril Pickaxe | Mid game | 80 Mine Power, +55% Luck, 2 rune slots | 67,500 |
| Arcane Pickaxe | Late‑mid / early end game | 115 Mine Power, +10% Mine Speed, +50% Luck, 3 rune slots | 125,000 |
| Demonic Pickaxe | End game | 175 Mine Power, +47.5% Luck, 3 rune slots | 500,000 |
Arcane is strong enough to function as a long‑term main pickaxe. It hits the threshold needed for Volcanic Depths mining, so it can both unlock and then help you farm toward the much more expensive Demonic Pickaxe if you decide to buy that later.
Arcane vs Magma and other late‑game pickaxes
Arcane is often compared directly to the Magma Pickaxe and Demonic Pickaxe, since all three are late‑game tools with strong stats and high costs. Different overviews use slightly different numerical values, but the broad trade‑offs look like this:
| Pickaxe | Mine Power | Luck (approx.) | Rune Slots | Notable strengths |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arcane Pickaxe | 115 | +50% (some tier lists list a higher value) | 3 | High luck, enough power for Volcanic Rock, maximum rune flexibility. |
| Magma Pickaxe | 135 | +46% | 2 | Higher raw damage for faster break times when you do not need maximum luck. |
| Demonic Pickaxe | 175 | +47.5% | 3 | Highest mine power, still strong luck, fully end‑game focused. |
This makes Arcane a hybrid: it sacrifices some mine power compared to Magma and Demonic in exchange for stronger luck (in many builds) and three rune slots. For players focused on raw ore throughput, a higher mine power pickaxe will shave a few swings off tougher nodes. For players who care more about legendary and mythical ore density, Arcane’s luck and rune capacity can push drop rates higher over thousands of mined nodes.
In practical play, Arcane comfortably mines Volcanic Rock, cobalt, and other high‑tier ores in Volcanic Depths and World 2 zones, while driving frequent legendary drops such as Mithril, Uranium, Lightite, and rarer mythicals like Demonite and Darkryte when combined with high‑tier luck setups.
Why Arcane is so strong for luck‑based farming
Arcane’s defining trait is how well it scales with other luck sources. Many late‑game setups stack:
- The pickaxe’s own Luck Boost (+50% or more, depending on balance changes and item rolls).
- Luck runes slotted into its three rune sockets (often two or three dedicated luck runes).
- Account‑wide achievements that grant extra luck percentage.
- Luck potions and luck totems consumed or placed during farming sessions.
- Luck‑leaning races, such as Angel or Elf, which increase the baseline chance of better drops.
With all of these working together, players can push total luck well past 100%, which translates to noticeably more:
- Legendary ores like Mithril, Uranium, and high‑value legendaries used for armor and weapon crafting.
- Mythical ores such as Demonite and Darkryte that unlock premium armor perks and high‑end weapons.
- Epic ores with strong trait bonuses, such as Obsidian for armor defense or critical‑focused epics for weapons.
Because Arcane has three rune slots, it can carry one more luck or yield rune than most competing pickaxes. Over dozens of hours of AFK or semi‑AFK mining, that extra slot adds up.
When to buy the Arcane Pickaxe
The 125,000 gold price means the Arcane Pickaxe is not an early purchase. A common timing is:
- Use Stonewake’s Pickaxe to accelerate early mining and get into the Forgotten Kingdom.
- Upgrade to Mythril Pickaxe once you can afford 67,500 gold and reach Miner Fred’s shop, so you can mine Basalt Veins and improve luck.
- Progress through the main story into World 2, continuing to clear quests and fill Index entries for ores, monsters, and crafted items to build your gold reserves.
- Once you are comfortable in World 2 and have the Bard’s Unknown Key, return to World 1’s cave and buy the Arcane Pickaxe.
At that point, Arcane becomes your default pickaxe for most mining tasks until you either replace it with Demonic Pickaxe or decide you prefer Magma’s higher damage profile. Many players simply stay on Arcane because it already lets them mine every node type and fuels the luck‑heavy endgame loop of crafting optimized armor and weapons.
The Arcane Pickaxe is one of those rare tools that pays for itself. It asks for a quest, a hidden key, and a painful gold sink, but in return, it gives flexible rune slots, enough mine power for late‑game rocks, and the kind of luck bonus that quietly reshapes your ore inventory over time.
