Stardew Valley Professions

Comparison of benefits of Stardew Valley professions to help you choose.

Ah! So you’ve finally gotten to skill level five in Stardew Valley and need to make a decision on what profession will suit you the most? Worry not, this article will help you make the best choice. Depending on the profession you’ve originally chosen, a second bonus is awarded to you at level 10 to make you even more specialized in your selected profession.

Even though only a few combinations bring about major differences in your style of play, there is actually a handful of them to choose from. As with all things, I recommend that you select that which suits you the most. While some a tad too powerful others are rather weak, so, it’s common for players to be caught at crossroads regarding what the best option is.

No choice is right or wrong, it’s all subjective. The list of professions also serves the purpose of making players aware in advance of the option they will take at level ten.

Combat Professions

Stardew Valley Fighter or Scout?

Fighter (Level 5):

At this stage, all your attacks inflict an extra 10% damage and you get +15 HP. A really handy upgrade.

• Brute (Fighter: Level 10) – Base damage is increased by 15 to 25%.
• Defender (Fighter: Level 10) – You gain some vital 25 HP.

Scout (Level 5):

Chance of getting a critical strike is increased by 50%. While this increase isn’t additive, its value rises significantly when stacked with other bonuses. Don’t expect to make a critical hit half the time.

• Acrobat (Scout: Level 10) – After special attacks, it takes half the time to cool down.
• Desperado (Scout: Level 10) – More damage done by critical hits.

Better option:

Considering the much-improved strength of critical hits, Fighter gets the nod over scout. At this stage, you are already able to lunch spam attacks and hold most monsters in a stun lock. The fighter status will enable you to annihilate them and provides you with a defensive boost. Brute makes things much more interesting.

Scout or desperado is a league behind in terms of damage done to enemies, the performance still makes it above the average mark though. A significant amount of impact will be wasted using critical attacks on weak monsters and that should not be overlooked. Special moves are great but not always useful so I didn’t give much consideration to acrobat.

Farming Professions

Stardew Valley Rancher or Tiller

Rancher (Level 5):

Value of animal products is increased by 10%.

• Coop master (Rancher: level 10) – Befriending coop animals becomes easier. Incubation time is twice as fast.
• Shepherd (Rancher: Level 10) – You earn the trust of barn animals faster. It takes less time for sheep to produce wool.

Tiller (Level 5):

Value of crops increased 10%

• Artisan (Tiller: Level 10) – Artisan goods such as beer, wine, and cheese become 50% more valuable. Same applies to virtually all crafted goods.
• Agriculturist (Tiller: Level 10) – a Growth rate of all crops is increased by 10%.

Better option:

Choosing tiller with the Artisan profession offers the best profit boost in Stardew Valley. The obvious reason is that turning garden and animal products into artisan goods improves their value significantly and you have limitless options for making them.

The value boost barn and coop animals get with the coop master option is a lot less. It doesn’t matter if you have a huge animal farm, turning the farm products into artisan goods will profit players much more than selling them at higher prices.

Fishing Professions

Stardew Valley Fisher or Trapper

Fisher (Level 5):

When you opt for the fisher profession, the values of all fishes are increased by 25%. Both reel and crab pot fishing get this boost which is really cool.

• Angler (Fisher: Level 10) – All fishes are worth 50% more.
• Pirate (Fisher: Level 10) – Luck smiles on you more often as the probability of finding treasures is increased by 2 folds.

Trapper (Level 5):

As a trapper, the resources needed to make crab pots get reduced. Instead of 40 kinds of wood and 3 bars of iron, all you will need are 2 bars of copper and 25 kinds of wood. Copper bars are very easy to get meaning you can make as many crab pots as possible.

• Mariner (Trapper: Level 10) – It becomes impossible for your crab pot to catch trash.
• Luremaster (Trapper: Level 10) – No need for baits in crab pots.

Better option:

With just 1500g the Fisher profession with the angler, the option allows you to obtain crab pots.

Quite a bargain right?

Opting for a pirate isn’t a bad idea either since you’d find treasure chests more frequently. A lot of goodies are present in these chests and you might just find some awesome stuff inside such as artifacts that will be useful in the museum. Going for actual money isn’t always a great idea. If crab pots are your thing, then making them work for you is a good way to go.

I will choose mariner over the loremaster any day because I feel always having a precious bonus in the crab pot is a better benefit than not needing a bait. Having trash in the pot will not be an issue if you are a frequent recycling machine user.

Foraging Professions

Started Valley Forester or Gatherer

Forester (Level 5):

The value of wood goes up 50%

• Lumberjack (Forester: Level 10) – Hardwood drops from normal trees occasionally.
• Tapper (Forester Level 10) – The value of syrup goes up 25%.

Gatherer (Level 5):

Improved chance of getting double harvest when foraging.

• Botanist (Gatherer: Level 10) – All foraged items are of gold quality always.
• Tracker (Gatherer: Level 10) – Revealed locations of “forageable” items.

Better Choice:

There isn’t much to gain from both offers. Wood is hardly a valuable item so there is no need to get overly excited due to the increase in its worth. The return on investment is way too little for the energy expended. Tracker is arguably the least helpful here. Gatherer at level 10 is not any better since you wouldn’t quite need gold quality foraged item; you can’t use these items in bundles.

The gatherer profession shouldn’t be ruled as useless and you’d be better off picking Botanist with it. Foraged things are needed for recipes like a mushroom. Having considered the points above, I will personally go for Forester + Lumberjack.

The Lumberjack option is particularly useful because you will need reasonable amounts of hardwood and the fact that you can obtain hardwood from the secret forest doesn’t make Lumberjack useless. This is even a better choice if you went for the mushroom option rather than fruit for the cave.

Mining Professions

Started Valley Miner or Geologist

Miner (Level 5):

Ore veins produce +1 ore.

• Blacksmith (Miner: Level 10) – Value of metal bars is increased by 25%.
• Prospector (Miner: Level 10) – Rate of finding coal is doubled.

Geologist (Level 5):

Increased possibility of gems spawning in pairs.

• Excavator (Geologist: Level 10) – Geode find gets doubled.
• Gemologist (Geologist: Level 10) – Worth of gems is increased by 30%.

Better Option:

Just like foraging, I don’t consider Stardew Valley mining to be a very profitable profession. As a result, gems and metal bar boosting are not appealing to me. A geologist is the better choice if you consider the excavator benefits.

Moreover, you can easily buy ore so why mine?

While obtaining more coal may be helpful, you can easily craft it from the dust sprites in the mines at level 40-80. Excavator is more or less a handy bag that may lead to some vital finds and provide you with sufficient gifts for the wonderful residents of Pelican Town.