Skills are a valuable asset in Stardew Valley, allowing players to focus on the type of gameplay they find the most engaging. Stardew's detailed Skill Tree lets players not only choose professions within their selected skill but also gives a good pace to the overall game.
Each skill in Stardew Valley focuses on a specific area of the game: farming, fishing, mining, foraging, and combat. Within each skill, there are professions that focus on particular perks, enabling the player to further specialize. But which skills should be leveled up first to give players the best advantage?
5 Combat
A player's combat skills are leveled up by engaging in, well, combat; in other words, fighting monsters. The first four levels award players with various crafting recipes, but at level five players get to choose a profession between Fighter and Scout.
While it's a useful skill, it doesn't need to be focused on first. Without money, utilizing monster loot and other things found in the mines would be rather useless. Focusing on skills that prioritize money would be a better choice from the start of the game. However, should combat be made the priority, once players hit level ten, they deal 15% more damage to all enemies. This is the best reward for focusing on combat and it's worth it when reaching the bottom levels of the mines.
4 Fishing
Fishing is an underrated skill in Stardew Valley and leveling it up provides a lot of benefits. Besides an abundance of crafting recipes, acquiring significant fishing skills makes the sport a lot easier, quickly raking in the cash and the fish. Once players reach level five, they get to choose between a Fisher and a Trapper as their profession.
Ultimately, and objectively, the Fisher is the better profession. It makes fish worth 25% more, which is great for money-grubbing players. Once level ten is reached, the skill splits again and lets players choose between a Pirate and an Angler, both of which have great features. Overall, the Angler is a great path to choose because fish become worth 50% more.
While the fishing skill is important and extremely useful, it's not needed first. While the perks do boost the monetary value of each catch, fish aren't worth that much in the first place, at least when compared to other things like crops or animal products.
3 Mining
Mining is a fantastic Winter activity and the skills that come with it can improve other areas as well. It's a win-win. After reaching level ten, the Excavator profession becomes available along with the biggest perk available in the skill – chances to find geodes are doubled.
Geodes, of any kind, can provide ores and valuable gems, so having a higher chance to find them is pure profit. While early mining may not provide a lot of financial value at the start, it does provide ore, which can help farming-focused players make their jobs easier with better tools. Mining is a great skill to have, but since it's mostly done in the Winter season and Stardew Valley starts in Spring, it's not necessarily the best option to focus on first.
2 Farming
The biggest feature of Stardew Valley is farming, so it only makes sense that this would be a very important skill to upgrade, starting early. The game teaches players farming first, so making the most of their main job makes total sense. But with this skill comes some tough choices because the professions provide some amazing perks.
The level five professions are Rancher and Tiller, which makes players choose between focusing on animal products or crops. Both can make money and can be used in crafting, so it's ultimately up to the player. However, once someone reaches level ten, the choice becomes more difficult. It becomes a choice between animal types, crops, or artisan goods. Depending on what the players' focus is, this selection can be loaded.
For example, if players just want to sell their products for some hard cash, then the Artisan profession is the smart decision. Being an artisan means all artisan goods, which already sell for high prices, are worth 40% more. Rake in that money as an Artisan farmer.
1 Foraging
While farming may seem like the ideal skill to level up first, foraging is actually the best bet. Early on in Stardew Valley, there's not much to do as players learn the ropes of the game, but foraging is always available. It's one of the earliest activities players engage in as they explore the town for the first time.
Early on, foraging provides a small but modest income for broke farmers and the skill can be quickly leveled up. Foraging is leveled up by both foraging wild items and by cutting down trees with an axe. While all of the foraging professions are always helpful early on, the most practical profession is the Lumberjack, available at level ten. The Lumberjack profession allows all trees to have a chance to drop hardwood, a coveted item in the game.
While walking around the town picking up wild plants and fruits doesn't seem like a major part of Stardew Valley, it sets the foundation for a great game and helps build all of the other skills.