stardew-valley-notes.md

Stardew Valley Notes

"It ain't much but it's honest work"

• Tools and other objects have very limited range.
• Check the weather forecast for rain which will mean you don't have to water your crops.
• Television also conveys other useful information, such as recipes.
• Little 3x3 grids for crops are optimal (at least in the beginning?).
• Don't plant more than 15 crops unless you have one or more scarecrows, each of which defends an 8 tiles in each direction. Scarecrows can therefore defend at least 5x5 patches to the northeast, southeast, southwest and northwest.
• Fishing can be very frustrating. What's worked for me so far is casting the line out as far as possible with the Training Rod, which will presumably become useless at level 5 of Fishing.
• Only two advanced fishing rods can use Bait.
• Stumps don't grow back so I'm not sure why some people appear to advocate leaving them there.
• A Chest to store excess goods is the first item you should craft. In terms of degradation of materials it appears to make no difference whether Chests are in- or outdoors. (They will last forever.)
• Fences are useful for keeping weeds at bay and protecting crops.
• Pierre's General Store has the upgraded backpacks for 2000G and 10000G respectively.
• Seasons are 28 days long. Plan sowing and reaping accordingly.
• Cauliflower is a good beginner's crop.
• "Always Show Tool Hit Location" appears useful.
• Use fertilizer.
• Use Crab Pots.
• It's necessary to go behind the counter to "meet" entrepreneurial villagers.
• Pierre's General Store has a calendar posted out front.
• Tilled ground without crops on it will gradually be reclaimed by nature.
• Put paths under sprinklers and scarecrows to prevent them from being hoed up.
• Plant strawberries in the spring. (Seeds available at the Egg Festival.)
• Trout Soup enhances Fishing skill for a while.
• Be sure to identify recipients of quest items positively before giving the item.
• Bring food with you into the mines.
• Right-click to move just single items between Chests/inventory.
• Fishing outcomes depend on distance bobber cast from land, location, season, time of day and weather.
• It's possible to clear tilled land with the pickaxe tool.
• Visit the Traveling Merchant for rare valuable goods.
• Right-clicking with weapons can invoke a secondary ability in most cases.
• Pay attention to time while in the mines.
• Fruit trees need to have a clear area around them to grow.
• Tilling the beach is a good way to get Clay.
• Hoe worms for resources.
• Some crops are multi-seasonal.
• Tackle can help catch fish.
• Use the mine elevator for rapid transit.
• Holding Shift while buying does it in increments of five. Holding down both left and right mouse buttons also greatly increases the speed of purchase.
• Upgrading a tool means it won't be available for two days.
• Repair the bridge on the beach with 300 Wood.
• Old Mariner on the beach has an amulet to sell at some point.
• There seem to be a lot of valuable items on the beach post-Luau.
• Remember to use Museum rewards later in the game.
• The Spa can replenish energy.
• Storms sometimes make crops vanish.
• The cave in the western region of your farm becomes viable during the first summer.
• Lightning rods can harvest electricity.
• Upgraded versions of the watering can and hoe allow the player to water and till multiple squares of land in a single use (using click-and-hold).
• Sunflowers sometimes produce their own seeds.
• You can't pave tilled land.
• Hoe land early.
• Rivers have salmon during the autumn.
• Accept all story quests.
• Sell prices depend on where items are dropped off.
• Look into "retaining soil".
• Use tappers on mature trees.
• Stardrops willp permanently increase energy.
• "Cooking is a game mechanic that becomes available after upgrading the farmhouse for the first time. The house upgrade adds a kitchen, which includes a stove and a refrigerator. The stove is the cooking interface, while the refrigerator provides 36 slots of storage space, similar to a Chest. The refrigerator is unique in that it is directly linked with the cooking interface, as if it were an extension of the player's inventory. Only ingredients in the player's inventory, refrigerator or Mini-Fridge are seen as usable items for a recipe."
• There appear to be major expansions to the game world, including a desert and a Dwarf.
• Stacks of objects top out at 999.
• The player needs to store hay for winter.
• Sprinklers can be very costly.
• Luck is important for mining.
• Take little with you when undertaking dangerous mining operations.
• Dumpster diving in the presence of others is frowned upon.
• Greenhouses can grow crops during winter.
• Regarding chicken hearts: "It's easy you just have to feed them and right click on them every day. also, right clicking on them will not increase their hearts when they are upset. so give them heaters in the winter and let them outside in the summer, Fall and spring ( they will not get lost because thay all come back inside beetween 5PM and 5.30PM) Hope this helps!"
• Cut out weeds, stumps and stones from the wilderness to maximize space for foraging.
• Animals prefer outdoors grass (but not being out in the rain).
• Refined Quartz is made from firing Quartz with Coal.
• Put space between Crab Pots so they're easy to distinguish.
• Bundle progress can be checked from the Player Menu.
• It's way more efficient to harvest from many Crab Pots with Bait in hand ready to put it in.
• Linus has the recipe for Sashimi (Friendship level 3, by mail next day).
• It's not always profitable to turn fish into Sashimi. (I assume this refers to farmed fish? No, there's a page on the wiki about this IIRC.)
• Coffee can be used to increase player speed!
• If Willy isn't in his shop you can take Bait off your fishing pole for Crab Pots.
• Dig on spots where little brown stems appear.
• Trellis crops can't be walked through. (Suggest 3x3 design with empty center? That or rows to walk between.)
• The Mayonnaise Machine can be quite profitable.
• Grass mowed while all Silos are full doesn't count towards Hay.
• Light sources are needed for lower mine levels.
• Grass multiplies if permitted to, which can be used to harvest Hay sustainably.
• Bees with flowers growing near them can produce flavored honey.
• Friendship can decay! One must talk to villagers to maintain it.
• Sell high quality crops and keep regular ones for cooking because ingredient quality (currently) makes no difference.
• Passing trains deposit items apparently.
• Pigs can dig up truffles.
• Oil of Garlic will prevent swarm attacks in the Mine.
• At events (and maybe elsewhere) people can be talked to more than once.
• Have an excess supply of fertilizer on hand.
• You can leave your horse anywhere and it will return.
• Special Fishing-related foods can enhance Fishing skill past max level.
• Shift+Right Click on Chests splits a stack in between the Chest and inventory.
• Ripe produce can continue to be watered and may turn into "large" variants.
• Kegs can produce a wide variety of products.
• Fishing is also possible in swamps and lava.
• In Spring, plant Strawberries.
• One can buy a calendar from Robin.
• New items appear on the Beach after rainfall.
• Pale Ale and other goods can be aged in Casks.
• Weapons can only be sold at the Adventurer's Guild.
• Tilling soil in the Mines can have some interesting outcomes.
• Remember to scythe down all your grass before seasons change.
• Professions can be switched using the Statue of Uncertainty.
• A lot of Crab Pot finds can be turned into Sashimi and be more profitable that way!
• Crab Pots also work in freshwater.
• If cooking, ensure that ingredients are not in fact worth more than the final product!
• Item quality affects effects of gift-giving.
• Museum items can be rearranged.
• Fairy Roses are best for making Fairy Rose Honey.
• Plant Cranberry Seeds early to profit best. (That applies more generally for crops that keep yielding after first harvest.)
• Ordinary trees need only one space to thrive but giving them two might make tapping operations easier to work with.
• The Old Mariner sells the Mermaid's Pendant, vital to marriage.
• Extra friendship levels appear after marriage.
• Once ten hearts of friendship are attained they never go down.
• Apparently children are possible?
• "For processing animal products, I suggest putting them in the building with the relevant animals. So, put your cheese presses in your barn, put your mayo-makers in the coop. If you have 1 per animal then you can just pick up whatever 'raw material' they produce and put it straight in to the relevant artisan machine."
• Once the mine carts are restored, they open up rapid transportation around Stardew Valley.
• The Cork Bobber is quite effective.
• Consider building a Chest for sourcing artisan goods production in the Shed.
• Worm Bins can make Bait for the player.
• Casting a fishing rod into a pool of bubbles with increase rare catches and lead to earlier biting.
• Mummies need to be destroyed with some sort of bomb after being downed.
• Once the player gets all four lit candles on Grandpa's Shrine, it can be interacted with to get the Statue of Perfection, which yields Iridium Ore.
• Sunflowers are by far the fastest way to make Oil.
• The Big and Deluxe Coops have an Incubator.
• Pigs need to be let out of the Barn to produce Truffles.
• Abigail watering some of the crops doesn't mean they're all watered.
• Casks have to be used in the Cellar.
• It's possible to place Chests in the entry area to the Mine.
• Temporarily put top-row stuff you don't use as often in the two lower rows for convenience.
• Pale Ale seems like a much better option option than Wine for Kegs. (Actually Ancient Fruit Wine is even better.)
• Sunflowers should not be used as a cash crop but as a source of Oil.
• The Iridium Band seems very nice.
• Don't forget about the Missing Bundle.
• Mind the lower right part of the Secret Woods.
• The Greenhouse has its own water supply!
• Be sure to buy the Return Scepter when you can afford it.
• Use Auto-Grabbers as they make life easier and obviate the need to hold the Milk Pail and Shears in your inventory.
• "When placed, the [Gold Clock] prevents debris from appearing on your farm. It also keeps any placed fences from decaying, so they'll no longer need repair."
• Speed-boosting items also work when on horseback.
• Your horse needs a gap of two spaces to navigate a narrow area.
• Find all the secret notes!
• Forage and beachcomb on Saturday, before the weekly reset.
• Seed packets can be profitable.
• It is possible to plant Rice Sprouts within three tiles of water and it will be unnecessary to water them.
• Tea Saplings are also waterless.
• Ancient Fruit can be immensely profitable.
• Minecarts in mine levels have coal at the end car.
• Salmonberries are best turned into Jellies.
• The Casino can be unlocked.
• Use Tree Fertilizer to accelerate tree growth.
• Maybe letting Pigs out all day is a good idea?
• Give back the Wizard's Magic Ink to make magic buildings available.
• The Iridium Band is really nice.
• Harvey's clinic has valuable supplies!
• Hold down the LMB to plant fertilizer and seeds efficiently.
• Fish can be taken out of a Fish Pond with any fishing rod.
• Place a Wicked Statue in a Slime Hutch to prevent bewitching.
• Don't use the built-in Slime Incubator in any Slime Hutch if you don't want the possible eyesore of seeing it working endlessly when the Slime Hutch reaches maximum population.
• The Tab key cycles through inventory rows.
• Fairy Roses have a crappy profit margin but can increase the price of honey produced by bees to a very high degree.
• ~/.config/StardewValley/ErrorLogs/SMAPI-latest.txt contains useful diagnostic info that can be parsed here.
• Use the cog button on the title screen for mods using Generic Mod Config Menu.
• Chests in this order, right to left: non-comestibles from above ground, non-comestibles from below ground, automated furnace, random junk, spring produce and other comestibles, then summer produce, fall, winter and/or foraged comestibles, eggs and dairy, fish and meat.
• ...and one cooking ingredients drawer. (Why not just put cooking ingredients in the refrigerator?)
• There is a Stardew Valley Checklist on Google Docs that includes info for mods.
• Community Center progress can be viewed from inventory.
• If using the automated animal door mod, it's best to feed and pet animals first thing.
• Blueberries sell for as much as they do from Preserve Jars as from Kegs, but in half the time.
• Some Golden Walnut locations do not work unless a special note is read first.
• I was able to get to the end of the Volcano Dungeon using only food increasing Speed, bridges of cooled lava and the screenshot trick.