Moonlight Peaks Launch Week: How to Unlock the Fishing Rod, Cast Ethereal Tools, and Locate Ridge

With Moonlight Peaks finally launching on Steam, Nintendo Switch, and Switch 2, cozy farming fans are trading sun-drenched valleys for foggy gothic homesteads. While the core loop of farming and socializing feels familiar, your supernatural status introduces magical layers that alter how you should spend your first few nights.

Early reviews show that reviews critics applaud cozy vampire sim, praising its atmospheric style. If you are just starting to clear your haunted plots, focus on a few essential unlocks, spells, and key residents to make the transition easier.

Skip Physical Tools: Buy Ethereal Spells First

Unlike typical farm simulators where upgrading your iron axe is the primary goal, your vampire protagonist has access to spellcraft. At the start of the game, money is tight. Purchasing physical tools eats into your starting budget, leaving you with little capital for magical seeds.

To bypass this bottleneck, purchase the Ethereal Axe and Ethereal Pickaxe spells as soon as they become available. These spells rely entirely on your Mana pool to harvest wood and stone. Using Mana instead of tool durability lets you reserve your gold for planting and farm machines, which is a useful strategy during your first week. Make sure to consult the spells list and tools and upgrades guides to see how these magic spells scale as you progress.

How to Secure the Fishing Rod

As you explore the waterways around town, you will notice dark silhouettes moving beneath the surface. To catch them, you will need to unlock the fishing rod, which becomes available early in the campaign.

Unlocking the rod allows you to participate in the local fishing economy, providing an easy source of night-time income. Selling your catches is a reliable way to build up your bank roll early on, though you should save rare varieties for future recipes. More details on different aquatic species and optimal fishing locations can be found in our fishing and foraging overview.

Locating Ridge, Your Lumberjack for Upgrades

Expanding your gothic cabin and adding structures to your farm requires raw materials and construction help. That is where Ridge comes in. Ridge is the resident lumberjack in Moonlight Peaks, serving as your primary point of contact for building upgrades and farm expansions.

Building a relationship with Ridge does more than just open up new carpentry options. He is also one of the 23 dateable characters in the game. Checking in with him regularly and offering his preferred gifts will help you progress both your farm renovations and your social standing. If you want to pursue a partnership with him, our romance guide details the gifts he prefers.

Hunt for Vampsters and Collect Soul Blobs

Outside of farming and clearing land, keep an eye out for small local fauna. Mystical creatures known as Vampsters are hidden across the map, waiting to be found. Locating them adds to your collections and helps you get familiar with the layout of the town.

Additionally, make sure to collect any Soul Blobs you spot during your nightly patrols. Saving these resources rather than immediately selling them will pay off later when crafting advanced equipment. Combining these gathering habits with early beginner tips will keep your inventory stocked with the right ingredients before the seasons change.