How to Get Ectoplasm in Stardew Valley

In your first fall of Stardew Valley, you will unlock the Special Orders Board, where you may see an advertisement posted by the Wizard, M. Rasmodius, requesting an “an extremely rare and powerful goop, known as ‘ectoplasm’.”

Fulfilling the Wizard’s request will get you a reward: 2500g, plus a Mini-Obelisk recipe. This guide will take you through the steps needed to find and deliver this ectoplasm.

Stardew Valley: How to Get Ectoplasm

The quest is called “A Curious Substance”, and ectoplasm will not be an obtainable resource unless you’ve picked it up. Fortunately that isn’t an issue, as the ectoplasm is good for nothing but this quest. Once the quest has begun, you will have seven days to collect the rare and powerful goop.

Ectoplasm, as you may have guessed, is dropped by ghosts. There are three different kinds of ghosts in this farming sim: Ghosts, Carbon Ghosts, and Putrid Ghosts.

Putrid Ghosts, which are green, are the only kind of ghost that will not drop ectoplasm. Ghosts (white) and Carbon Ghosts (blue) each have 9.5% chances of dropping some when killed.

Where to Find Ghosts in Stardew Valley

Standard Ghosts have 96 health and deal 10 base damage and are by far the easier of the two ghost types to kill, making them the go-to for ectoplasm. They can be found in the mines.

You will have to fight and mine your way to the 51st floor before you can start finding ghosts. Standard ghosts will appear all the way down to the 79th floor, meaning you should have plenty of opportunities to potentially earn ectoplasm.

Do note that if the clock strikes 2 a.m., you will be ejected from the mines and will have to return later. Thus, it’s best to go in early in the day.

Where to Find Carbon Ghosts in Stardew Valley

Carbon Ghosts are more powerful, having 190 health and dealing 25 base damage. They can be found in the Skull Cavern, in the northwest area of the desert.

You will need the Skull Key, which is obtained on the final floor of the mines, on floor 120. Unless you descended the mines to that point before accepting this quest, you will likely already have ectoplasm by the time you can even find Carbon Ghosts.

If you’ve already done all this, then Carbon Ghosts are a good enemy to target for ectoplasm, as the loot you’ll obtain along the way will be much better in the Skull Cavern.

Unlike the standard Ghosts that appear between set floors, Carbon Ghosts can simply appear on any Mummy level of the Skull Cavern, and the levels are all randomized.

There are 2147483647 caves in the Skull Cavern, quite literally the 32-bit maximum integer, so you’ve got plenty of opportunities to encounter Carbon Ghosts. When engaged in combat with them, use a slow high-damage weapon, as every hit will launch them several feet backward anyway.

Be careful not to let them hit you, as they will teleport to a new location after doing so. 

After you’ve got your ectoplasm, you’re going to want to turn it in to M. Rasmodius before the quest expires after seven days. If not, all of the ectoplasm in your possession will disappear.

If you found this guide helpful, check out our other Stardew Valley guides.