Skill Choices: Tips'N'Tricks

[aleksds1]

As everyone knows, when you level your skills to certain level (5 and 10), you can choose between some interesting and valuable sometimes variants. So, which variant is good for? In what situations? When and where? Write your thoughts, questions and advices in this topic.

[Someone else]

I think that you should go first. What's your opinion?

[Paul Caruso]

Always the ones that give you more money because at the end of the day that's all that really matters in this game.

[Klumpatsch]

I think perks aren't very important in this game - if you chose the wrong perk on accident or due to a lack of knowledge, it's no reason to start all over again (I just saw many people who wanted to do that). Some of the perks are helpful (for example the one that drops hardwood from regular trees), but on the other hand I had already collected at least 400 hardwood from the forest before I got foresting to level 10...

One of the more important choices would be the one between +10% for crops or for animal products - at this point you should have considered what direction your farm is going to take. I decided for rancher because I wanted to have lots of animals.

[Ansalem1]

Originally posted by Ol' Farmer Fryman:

Always the ones that give you more money because at the end of the day that's all that really matters in this game.

I don't know about that. For example the fishing one might be worth going either with the more price for fish or the traps branch if you end up not fishing so much later on and the traps end up just being free money. Tracker is nice for foraging because it points to the worms in the ground, but always getting a gold star is also really nice.

Not all of them are so obvious.

[Elegant Caveman]

My take on the skills[stardewvalleywiki.com]:

FARMING

• LV5 - Rancher vs. Tiller: animals suck, so this is an easy choice; Tiller all the way.
  
  
• LV10 Rancher - Coopmaster vs. Shepherd: Coopmaster seems the better choice, for void chickens and dinosaurs.
  
  
• LV10 Tiller - Artisan vs. Agriculturist: The 50% value boost to artisan goods seems like a clear winner to me.

MINING

• LV5 - Miner vs. Geologist: Double diamonds? Yes please. Ore is plentiful enough that Miner doesn't seem worth it. Extra ore could be good for those rare iridium nodes, though, but...
  
  
• LV10 Miner - Blacksmith vs. Prospector: Neither is really good, but I guess getting a bit more value out of your bars is slightly better than more coal.
  
  
• LV10 Geologist - Excavator vs. Gemologist: Sell your double diamonds for a bit more, or want more geodes? Geodes can give you iridium (omni & magma), so Excavator is my choice for best in show.

FORAGING

• LV5 - Forester vs. Gatherer: Who sells wood? Pick Gatherer.
  
  
• LV10 Forester - Lumberjack vs. Tapper: Well, if you picked Forester... I guess Lumberjack? Hardwood's easy enough to get in the secret forest, though. Tapper might be good if you want to make a gigantic maple farm, I guess...
  
  
• LV10 Gatherer - Botanist vs. Tracker: These both seem decent, but I'm leaning towards Tracker; what's the point of gold-star items if you can't find them? Some will be gold anyway, and you can make up for it with quantity.

FISHING

• LV5 - Fisher vs. Trapper: If you hate fishing and never intend to do it, go for Trapper, otherwise go for Fisher.
  
  
• LV10 Fisher - Angler vs. Pirate: Angler might seem tempting, but know that you can get iridium from treasure (ores & indirectly from geodes... maybe bars? I haven't seen bars yet, though). I vote Pirate.
  
  
• LV10 Trapper - Mariner vs. Luremaster: Really, you picked Trapper? Fine. I guess Luremaster. Not having to worry about bait is kind of nice, and trash isn't trash. But whatever, pick Mariner if you hate trash.

COMBAT

• LV5 - Fighter vs. Scout: This is the one I'm least sure of. 50% more crit chance sounds good, but that's not a flat 50%; it's 50% more than whatever chance you already have, so you won't be getting crits on every other hit. I guess I'd say pick Fighter if you're not very good at combat and/or want to play it safe, pick Scout otherwise (I picked Scout and regret it... I suck at combat and wish I went with Fighter).
  
  
• LV10 Fighter - Brute vs. Defender: Brute stacks with Fighter, apparently, for a net 25% damage increase. That sounds way better to me than an extra 25 HP. Pick Fighter and bring food with you, problem solved.
  
  
• LV10 Scout - Acrobat vs. Desperado: Do you use the right-click special move a lot? Consider Acrobat. Do you have weapons/items with crit-chance boosts? Go for Desperado.

TL;DR

• FARMING: Tiller -> Artisan
  
• MINING: Geologist -> Excavator
  
• FORAGING: Gatherer -> Tracker
  
• FISHING: Fisher -> Pirate
  
• COMBAT: Fighter -> Brute

[aleksds1]

Originally posted by Elegant Caveman:

My take on the skills[stardewvalleywiki.com]:

FARMING

• LV5 - Rancher vs. Tiller: animals suck, so this is an easy choice; Tiller all the way.
  
  
• LV10 Rancher - Coopmaster vs. Shepherd: Coopmaster seems the better choice, for void chickens and dinosaurs.
  
  
• LV10 Tiller - Artisan vs. Agriculturist: The 50% value boost to artisan goods seems like a clear winner to me.

MINING

• LV5 - Miner vs. Geologist: Double diamonds? Yes please. Ore is plentiful enough that Miner doesn't seem worth it. Extra ore could be good for those rare iridium nodes, though, but...
  
  
• LV10 Miner - Blacksmith vs. Prospector: Neither is really good, but I guess getting a bit more value out of your bars is slightly better than more coal.
  
  
• LV10 Geologist - Excavator vs. Gemologist: Sell your double diamonds for a bit more, or want more geodes? Geodes can give you iridium (omni & magma), so Excavator is my choice for best in show.

FORAGING

• LV5 - Forester vs. Gatherer: Who sells wood? Pick Gatherer.
  
  
• LV10 Forester - Lumberjack vs. Tapper: Well, if you picked Forester... I guess Lumberjack? Hardwood's easy enough to get in the secret forest, though. Tapper might be good if you want to make a gigantic maple farm, I guess...
  
  
• LV10 Gatherer - Botanist vs. Tracker: These both seem decent, but I'm leaning towards Tracker; what's the point of gold-star items if you can't find them? Some will be gold anyway, and you can make up for it with quantity.

FISHING

• LV5 - Fisher vs. Trapper: If you hate fishing and never intend to do it, go for Trapper, otherwise go for Fisher.
  
  
• LV10 Fisher - Angler vs. Pirate: Angler might seem tempting, but know that you can get iridium from treasure (ores & indirectly from geodes... maybe bars? I haven't seen bars yet, though). I vote Pirate.
  
  
• LV10 Trapper - Mariner vs. Luremaster: Really, you picked Trapper? Fine. I guess Luremaster. Not having to worry about bait is kind of nice, and trash isn't trash. But whatever, pick Mariner if you hate trash.

COMBAT

• LV5 - Fighter vs. Scout: This is the one I'm least sure of. 50% more crit chance sounds good, but that's not a flat 50%; it's 50% more than whatever chance you already have, so you won't be getting crits on every other hit. I guess I'd say pick Fighter if you're not very good at combat and/or want to play it safe, pick Scout otherwise (I picked Scout and regret it... I suck at combat and wish I went with Fighter).
  
  
• LV10 Fighter - Brute vs. Defender: Brute stacks with Fighter, apparently, for a net 25% damage increase. That sounds way better to me than an extra 25 HP. Pick Fighter and bring food with you, problem solved.
  
  
• LV10 Scout - Acrobat vs. Desperado: Do you use the right-click special move a lot? Consider Acrobat. Do you have weapons/items with crit-chance boosts? Go for Desperado.

TL;DR

• FARMING: Tiller -> Artisan
  
• MINING: Geologist -> Excavator
  
• FORAGING: Gatherer -> Tracker
  
• FISHING: Fisher -> Pirate
  
• COMBAT: Fighter -> Brute

Dude, your post is awesome :D Could you make a guide to all of this? (With all the details about skills of course) It's like a strategy overhaul to this game)))

[Elegant Caveman]

Haha, thanks. I'll think about it. ;)

Well, there isn't much to add. I guess I could clarify things a bit more. And it's just my opinion, of course. Doesn't mean that those are the objectively-best choices.

[aleksds1]

Originally posted by Elegant Caveman:

Haha, thanks. I'll think about it. ;)

Well, there isn't much to add. I guess I could clarify things a bit more. And it's just my opinion, of course. Doesn't mean that those are the objectively-best choices.

I mean, about adding, what you can possibly add more scenarios, when some, your not chosen variants, can be good, because someone could ask that question: "What, if I do so? How can I become rich and successful that way?"

[Elegant Caveman]

Yeah, I'd try to be more objective if I made it into a guide.

Which means more work. Which is why I'm hesitating, since I'm lazy. lol

[aleksds1]

Originally posted by Elegant Caveman:

Yeah, I'd try to be more objective if I made it into a guide.

Which means more work. Which is why I'm hesitating, since I'm lazy. lol

But you can do a good thing to the society! :D

[OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO]

I jammed more than 500 trees onto my property and tapped all of them. 50% artisan sale boost nets me around 187,500 gold every 7 days.

So, yeah. Tapped and Artisan are my favorite perks.


My property looks worse than the day I found it though.

[Elegant Caveman]

Originally posted by MNI aleksds1:

But you can do a good thing to the society! :D

I checked the guides, and didn't see any about skills... so I guess you're right. lol

Originally posted by OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO:

I jammed more than 500 trees onto my property and tapped all of them. 50% artisan sale boost nets me around 150,000 gold every 7 days.

So, yeah. Tapped and Artisan are my favorite perks.


My property looks worse than the day I found it though.

Hahaha, oh man... that's amazing. :D

I hadn't considered that those two would stack. That's an excellent point.

How much can you sell maple syrup for? 350 or 375?

[OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO]

Originally posted by Elegant Caveman:

Hahaha, oh man... that's amazing. :D

I hadn't considered that those two would stack. That's an excellent point.

How much can you sell maple syrup for? 350 or 375?

The tapper perk makes them flat worth 25% more, which sets the new baseline at 250. Artisan applies the bonus to the sale value of the item, which puts it at 375 per unit.It's not as profitable as the beehive/poppy flower combination. But, it makes up for it with being able to fit more densely packed trees into your property.

However, honey is much easier to gather x.x;

I usually take 2 days to gather all the syrup. I cannot gather it all in a single day lol

[Elegant Caveman]

Thanks, that's what I wanted to know; if they were applied separately, or if you had a flat 75% increase.

[Fishbones]

for a comparison, artisan + 716 ancient fruit can get u a bit more than 7.8m a year.
averages out to about 490k a week.

116 in greenhouse
600 outdoors.

166 permanant kegs
+600 kegs on the farmland during winter.

8 deluxe sprinklers
29 iridium sprinklers

unlikely to be possible before year 3 or 4 though.