Animal Crossing: New Horizons: Golden Tools - How To Get Golden Tools Explained

So, you've been playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons for a while and you're fed up of your axe, shovel and fishing rod breaking every five minutes. You're probably wondering how to craft Golden Tools.

On this page we'll look at the different methods and requirements to unlock every Golden Tool available in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Be warned, though — they still break.

What are Golden Tools?

Golden Tools are the highest tier tools in the game. Golden Tools are the most durable items available to craft and they look pretty, although they are not unbreakable.

Unfortunately, unlocking the DIY recipe for every Golden Tool takes a lot of work, but not having to harvest materials like iron nuggets and wood and craft a replacement makes them indispensable items in your inventory.

Our thanks goes out to Kyugma on YouTube for doing the sterling work required to unlock Golden Tools in record-breaking time and sharing that information well before the rest of us mere mortals managed to unlock a single Golden Tool.

Where can I find Gold Nuggets?

Once you have obtained the DIY recipe, to craft a Golden Tool you'll need a Golden Nugget combined with the non-golden version of the tool you wish to make.

Golden nuggets appear at random when you hit rocks with a shovel. They're much like iron nuggets, but much rarer. You'll want to use the Rock 'Trick' to extract the maximum amount of material from every rock on your island and the islands you visit, and make sure to save the Gold Nuggets rather than selling them for Bells.

By the time you come to unlock the Golden Tool DIY recipes, you'll have build up a collection of Golden Nuggets to use in crafting.

How to get a Golden Shovel

To get the Golden Shovel DIY recipe you'll have to find and help Gulliver 30 times.

Gulliver is a seagull sailor that washes up on the shore on random days and mails you souvenirs from around the world in return for your help. After waking Gulliver you'll need to find 5 communicator parts buried in the sand around your island and return them to him. Do this 30 times (on 30 different, random days) and you'll receive the DIY recipe for the Golden Shovel.

To craft the Golden Shovel you'll need the following items:

• 1x Gold nugget
• 1x Shovel

How to get a Golden Fishing Rod

People who have played previous games in the series can likely guess what you need to do to get a Golden Fishing rod. To be able to craft a Golden Fishing rod you'll have to catch every fish in the game, including rare fish like the Golden Trout and Stringfish, and fill every entry in the fishy part of your Critterpedia.

That's 80 fish in total, and many of them are only available at certain times of the year. That means that unless you're willing to time travel by playing with the clock on your Switch, it will be several months before you can get your hands on the Golden Fishing Rod.

In order to craft the Golden Fishing Rod, you'll need the following items:

• 1x Gold Nugget
• 1x Fishing rod

How to get a Golden Net

To get the Golden Net you'll have to catch every single bug in the game. That's 80 creepy crawlies filling your Critterpedia, many of which are absent from the game for months of the year at a time.

This means that as well as hunting and catching the bugs, you'll have to wait until they appear. This means patience, unless you want to fiddle with your Switch's clock and time travel to find the bugs you need.

Once you've caught every bug in the game, you'll earn the DIY recipe for the Golden Net. To craft the Golden net you'll need the following familiar items:

• 1x Gold Nugget
• 1x Net

How to get a Golden Axe

Compared to the work involved in catch every fish or bug, getting the Golden Axe is relatively easy. To get the Golden Axe DIY recipe you have to break 100 axes. These can be Flimsy Axes, Stone Axes or standard Axes, it doesn't matter. Break 100 axes of any kind and Golden Axe is yours to craft.

This means it is possible to craft a bunch of Flimsy Axes, dig some holes next to a rock and mindlessly destroy them until you unlock the Golden Axe DIY recipe. It's hardly fun, but might be something to do with your hands while watching your favourite show.

Here's what you need to craft a Golden Axe:

• 1x Gold Nugget
• 1x Axe

How to get a Golden Slingshot

Getting the Golden Slingshot requires you to shoot down 300 balloons and complete the Nook Miles achievement "It's Raining Treasure". After shooting 300 the next one you see should be a 'golden balloon'

However, bearing in mind that you only get one pellet with the Golden Slingshot (as opposed to 3 in previous games), this is perhaps the least desirable Golden Tool of the bunch.

To craft the Golden Slingshot you'll need the following items:

• 1x Gold Nugget
• 1x Slingshot

How to get a Golden Watering Can

In order to get a Golden Watering Can you'll need to achieve a perfect 5-star rating for your island.

To do so you'll have to go to Resident Services and talk to Isabelle. She will give you feedback on how to improve your island, but it involves pulling weeds, filling the island with flowers, projects and happy residents, and generally being an excellent citizen. Once you have the coveted 5-star perfect island rating you'll receive the DIY recipe for the Golden Watering Can.

To craft the Golden Watering Can... oh, come on, you know by now what you'll need...

• 1x Gold Nugget
• 1x Watering Can

Are Golden Tools unbreakable?

Sadly, no. As mentioned at the top of the page, Golden Tools break just like any other tool in the game. They do last longer than any other type, but they will eventually disintegrate just like the others. Rubbish!

We can only hope that there are a set of hitherto undiscovered 'Diamond' Tools to craft later in the game. Something for an update, perhaps.

How to repair tools in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

If all the above requirements have caused you to break out into a mild sweat, maintaining your tools is the next best thing to getting better quality Golden Tools. In fact, by customising your existing tool using a single Customisation Kit you can reset its durability to 'brand new' status.

However, this does involve keeping track of how much you've used your tools, and after you've exhausted your initial supply of 50 Customisation Kits you'll have to purchase them from Nook's Cranny for 600 Bells a pop.

It's not ideal, but until Nintendo reveals a new tier of unbreakable 'Diamond Tools', it looks like we're stuck crafting and repairing the tools we've got, however pretty and golden they may be.

This article is part of our Animal Crossing: New Horizons walkthrough, which includes a Complete Fish List, Complete Bug List and Complete Sea Creatures List. If you're looking for specific fish or bugs, we can tell you how to catch the elusive Coelacanth, Mahi-Mahi, Giant Trevally, Stringfish, Golden Trout and all the Sharks and Beetles, along with a full list of critters leaving at the end of the month (unless you visit Kapp'n's Boat Tour islands, of course!).

We can also help with How to Spot Redd's Fake Paintings and Statues, How to Make Bells Fast, How to Breed Flowers, How to Get more DIY Recipes, How to Upgrade Nook's Cranny, where and when to find special characters like Gulliver, Sable, Label, Wisp, Celeste, Pirate Gulliver and Jack, plus tips on using the Star Wand, Tool Ring, Rock Trick, Cutting Down and Moving Trees, using amiibo on Harv's Island, How to Back Up Your Island Data, How to Time Travel, How to Get a 5-Star Island Rating and a whole lot more.

If it's new content you're looking for help with, we can help you find gyroids, unlock Brewster's café, use the new Pro Camera App for selfies, enact new ordinances, get the beloved Froggy Chair, and even learn How to Cook.

And finally, Where to Buy Animal Crossing: New Horizons on Nintendo Switch, if for some reason you haven't yet picked up the game, and How To Buy The Happy Home Paradise DLC, too!