Axe

File:ACNL Axe Breaking Screenshot.jpg

A player’s reaction to their broken axe

An Axe is a tool that chops down trees to remove them. In Doubutsu no Mori, only one axe is available and it is unbreakable. However, in all subsequent games, standard axes have a limited number of uses and will degrade with every use before shattering.

Usage

An axe can be swung at trees, which will fall after three strikes. Striking this tree can cause any object on the tree to fall, including fruit and beehives. Cutting down a tree results in a stump which must be dug out using a shovel. Swinging an axe when there are no surrounding obstacles results in the player swinging and missing. Attempting to strike a villager with an axe will result in the axe either missing or simply bouncing off of them. Axes used in any game after Doubutsu no Mori have a limited number of uses before shattering, requiring them to be replaced. As an axe degrades, its inventory icon becomes more visibly distressed with a crack appearing to become increasingly larger. Axes can also be used as a substitute for the shovel to hit rocks to find insects, Bells and ore. This will also quickly degrade the axe, however.

More advanced variations of the axe are available; a Silver Axe is more durable, and the Golden Axe is quicker to use and unbreakable. In New Leaf, the Rental Axe available from Lloid on Tortimer Island is also unbreakable, despite appearing otherwise identical to a standard Axe. Finally, in New Leaf, the Silver Axe and Golden Axe can create special designs on the stumps left behind after felling a tree.

In New Horizons, every type of axe is breakable, even the Golden Axe. In addition, only the Axe made from iron nuggets and the Golden Axe can break trees by chopping them, and the Flimsy Axe and Stone Axe can only cut trees to retrieve wood.

Obtaining

In Animal Crossing

Item	Image	Buy Price	Sell Price	Available From	Info
Axe		400 Bells	100 Bells	Tom Nook	Unbreakable (DnM) Breaks after 23 uses (AC) Breaks after 28 uses (DnMe+)
Golden Axe		Not for Sale	100 Bells	Received from Farley after maintaining Perfect Town environment status for 15 days	Unbreakable

In Wild World

From Wild World onwards, the reward for having a Perfect Town is changed to the Golden Watering Can. The Golden Axe is now obtained through other means.

Item	Image	Buy Price	Sell Price	Available From	Info
Axe		400 Bells	100 Bells	Tom Nook	Breaks after several uses
Golden Axe		Not for Sale	100 Bells	Received from completing the Golden Axe trading sequence	Unbreakable

In City Folk

City Folk introduces the Silver Axe, which is unbreakable. The Golden Axe continues to be unbreakable but will now also swing much quicker than the other axes.

Item	Image	Buy Price	Sell Price	Available From	Info
Axe		400 Bells	100 Bells	Tom Nook	Breaks after 37 uses
Silver Axe		Not for Sale	100 Bells	Received randomly from Serena after throwing a standard Axe into the Town Fountain	Unbreakable
Golden Axe		Not for Sale	100 Bells	Received randomly from Serena after throwing a standard Axe into the Town Fountain	Faster usage Unbreakable

In New Leaf

New Leaf changes the effects of the Silver Axe and Golden Axe, which can now produce unique designs on tree stumps. The Silver Axe is no longer unbreakable and will shatter after many more uses than a standard axe.

Item	Image	Buy Price	Sell Price	Available From	Info
Axe		400 Bells	100 Bells	Garden Center	Breaks after 32 uses
Silver Axe	File:Acnl-silveraxe.png	80 medals	100 Bells	Island Shop	Always creates special designs on tree stumps Breaks after 136 uses
Golden Axe	File:Acnl-goldenaxe.png	Not for Sale	100 Bells	Received from Leif after purchasing 50 tree saplings from the Garden Center	Occasionally creates special designs on tree stumps Faster usage Unbreakable

In New Horizons

Axes in New Horizons will break after a specific amount of uses. Hitting trees and rocks and breaking rocks all reduce an axe's durability. An axe's durability is not reduced when swinging the axe without making contact with anything, hitting other players or characters, or hitting objects that aren't rocks.

Unlike most other tools, axes will not break for certain actions even when they are no longer durable, to prevent the breakage from interfering with the action. Such actions include destroying a rock or hitting a rock that dispenses an item; the axe will remain usable until a short moment after such actions have stopped. Additionally, unlike other iron tools, axes of any kind cannot be customized, and consequently cannot have their durability reset; this is reflected in the fact that the upgraded Nook's Cranny does not sell any novelty variations of the standard axe, only the flimsy and iron ones.

Item	Image	Buy Price	Sell Price	Available From	DIY Materials	Durability
Flimsy axe		800 Bells (Nook's Cranny)  100 Nook Miles (Mystery Island Tour)	160 Bells	Crafting Nook's Cranny Wilbur	1× Tree Branch 1× Stone	Breaks after 40 uses
Stone Axe		Not for sale	448 Bells	Crafting	1× Flimsy Axe 3× Wood	Breaks after 100 uses
Axe		2,500 Bells	500 Bells	Crafting Nook's Cranny	1× Flimsy Axe 3× Wood 1× Iron Nugget	Breaks after 100 uses
Golden Axe		Not for sale	10,655 Bells	Crafting (Recipe unlocked after breaking 100 axes)	1× Axe 1× Gold Nugget	Breaks after 200 uses

Names in other languages

	Axt	Axe
	Hacha	Axe
	Hache	Axe
	Ascia	Axe