Introduced in the 1.5 update for Stardew Valley, Qi Gems are a new, special type of currency that becomes available to you on Ginger Island. You can use Qi Gems at Mr. Qi's special shop, the Walnut Room, and buy some rare and highly valuable items from his stock. This includes the key for the town, which gives you access to most buildings at any day or time.
In order to start earning Qi Gems, you first need to find a bunch of Golden Walnuts, which are all hidden in various locations around Ginger Island. Leo will give you hints for some locations. Once 100 Golden Walnuts have been found, Qi's shop is opened and you can start trading your excess walnuts for Qi Gems, with one Walnut going for two Qi Gems. There are, however, other ways such as Mr. Qi's special board quests which will be detailed below, as well as the Mines and Skull Cavern.
How To Get Qi Gems In The Mines
It's possible to earn some Qi Gems by starting the challenge mode in the Mines by approaching the Shrine of Challenge found at level 120. Pull the lever, and all enemies found within the Mines will be much stronger. Their monster loot can also be sold for Qi Gems.
In order to start this challenge, make sure you've unlocked Ginger Island and finished the quest Danger In The Deep.
Let's Play A Game - 10 Qi Gems
Head over to the Stardrop Saloon, and unlock the Junimo Kart arcade machine. To do this, you'll need to have completed Skull Cavern, which holds the key to this normally locked arcade game.
If you manage to score 50,000 points in the Endless mode, Mr. Qi will reward you with 10 Qi Gems.
Extended Family - 20 Qi Gems
This quest is ideal for all those confident in their fishing skills. Mr. Qi has given you three days to catch the second generation of the original legendary fish you're probably already familiar with from the original version of the game. You'll have to catch the following fish:
- Ms. Angler: Found towards the Mines, past the bridge to Joja Mart, in the river.
- Legend II: Found by the two islands in the northern river in front of the mine entrance. Best to look south.
- Radioactive Carp: Found inside the sewers accessible from Pelican Town or Cindersap Forest.
- Son of Crimsonfish: Found on the far eastern side of the beach where coral spawns.
- Glacierfish Jr.: Found on the Southern tip of the middle island of Cindersap Forest.
Qi's Hungry Challenge - 25 Qi Gems
Skull Cavern is one of the most dangerous locations in the game, and this quest has you pummeling through it without using any foods to heal yourself. You need to reach level 100 in Skull Cavern without food, although there are methods to help you with this task.
Some monsters will drop small hearts that can be used to heal a bit of your HP as you keep fighting. If you happen to have the Vampire Ring, this quest is the easiest to get through, as it recovers a bit of your HP each time you kill a monster.
Qi's Cuisine - 25 Qi Gems
Time to get cooking with this quest, which has you ship freshly cooked food to the value of 100,000 gold. Anything cooked before accepting the quest doesn't count, so make sure to begin grinding for this quest as soon as you accept it. All foods counted towards the grand total will have to have the "fresh" label on them.
There are many strategies to tackle this quest. To this day, there's no cost-efficient method that's also fast. One way is to simply purchase a ton of wheat flour from Pierre and turn it into bread. Either way, you will lose some money if you directly buy the ingredients and don't have your own at hand. Make sure to have some cooking ingredients in storage for this one if you can't afford to make a loss.
Qi's Prismatic Grange - 35 Qi Gems
A seemingly simple quest, but one which will require quite a few resources from the player. Mr. Qi wants you to get 100 items of each color of the rainbow. In total, that's 600 items that you need to drop into Mr. Qi's box. Here are examples of a few items.
- Red: Coral, Red Mullet, Tomato, Salmonberry, Crab, Cranberry
- Orange: Winter Root, Spice Berry, Sunfish, Poppy, Pumpkin, Apricot
- Yellow: Beer, Cheese, Wheat, Topaz, Honey, Gold Bar, Oil
- Green: Seaweed, Jade, Hops, Green Bean, Bok Choy, Emerald, Cactus Fruit
- Blue: Sardine, Joja Cola, Frozen Tear, Crystal Fruit, Broken CD, Blueberry, Anchovy
- Purple: Amethyst, Amaranth, Pomegranate, Wine, Bug Meat, Eggplant, Beet
Four Precious Stones - 40 Qi Gems
This is a pretty straightforward quest, and luckily, if you have any leftover Prismatic Shards in your storage, you can use them even if they were acquired before you accepted the quest.
Otherwise, you'll need to go hunting for them in the Mines or Skull Cavern. Mr. Qi will ask for four Prismatic Shards in total.
Skull Cavern Invasion - 40 Qi Gems
During a special Mr. Qi quest called Skull Cavern Invasion, similarly to the Mines, Skull Cavern will receive a difficulty buff. The enemies will also be significantly deadlier, but the monster loot can be traded for Qi Gems.
This is one of the toughest combat quests in the game, so go in prepared with plenty of food and your best weapons. You need to reach level 100 in the cavern to qualify for the quest rewards.
Qi's Kindness - 40 Qi Gems
In terms of difficulty and rewards, this is one of the easiest quests to complete. At this point in the game, you should have a solid idea of what most villagers will love, which will help you significantly to speed up this quest.
Mr. Qi will request that you give 50 gifts within seven days that must all be Loved gifts. Here are a few easy items and who loves them.
- Wine: Harvey, Leah
- Frozen Tear: Sebastian
- Beer: Shane, Pam
- Amethyst: Abigail, Emily, Clint, Dwarf
- Leek: George
- Diamond: Maru, Penny, Evelyn, Gus, Jodi, Krobus, Marnie, Willy
Danger In The Deep - 50 Qi Gems
Complete this quest in order to flip the lever at the bottom of the mines at level 120 and fight off stronger monsters.
The idea of this quest is similar to the Skull Cavern challenge run, except you need to reach level 120. Make sure to come prepared with tons of food and your best gear.
Qi's Crop - 100 Qi Gems
The toughest quest of all, it has a hefty reward if you can complete it within the one-month timeframe. You have 28 days to find Qi Beans which Mr. Qi has scattered all around, and plant them to grow Qi Fruit. Before the time limit, you need to ship 500 units of Qi Fruit to qualify for the reward.
Qi Beans reach fully grown about four days after being planted, and they'll grow during any season. To find some Qi Beans, simply start harvesting trees and rocks. They can also be looted from monsters, and can even pop out of Geodes. Make sure to check any trash cans around Pelican Town, too. Overall, it shouldn't be too difficult to find them.