Stardew Valley – Top 5 Biggest Blunders for Newbies

Don’t sleep the day away

So you have perhaps overestimated how many crops you can water in a day. You are now three inches from passing out and have barely hit midday. This is not a problem – at least after the 3rd day of Summer. Do the basics, water those babies, and then head up to the spa. Though generally useless (except to canoodle with a certain character who will not be named), in the early game the spa is an asset. Just head on in and float around. Don’t explore, at least if you are going to fight exhaustion, as this stops the warm water from doing its work. Then head into the mine for more slime bashing and get those ores. 
 
 
 

Don’t toss your fibre

There are many resources that seem utterly useless early on. Clay for example… and honestly clay is pretty much worthless except for a few buildings, so keep about 20 squirreled away and sell/toss the rest. Fibre on the other hand will be very handy by the end of the year. Animals are much happier outside, so long as they have grass to munch on. However, they can chew through this very quickly, especially pigs which are extremely high earners. When you are in that awkward stage between finally having the money and resources for buildings and animals, but have not reached the point where you have more money than god and not much to do with it, fibre will be key. Buy the recipe for grass from Pierre, and spend your fibre feeding the hungry masses, instead of buying grass starters every time those beasts get hangry. Then, and this is KEY, have some silos ready for the end of Autumn. On the last day of Autumn, scythe whatever is left over to turn it into hay and you are well on your way to not ever having to pay for feed again. 
 
 
 

Don’t eat your Salmonberries

Now this will be a contentious one, but hear me out. Salmonberries, and later Blackberries, are not much use to sell. They are worth basically nothing, even when turned into jam or wine. Most guides recommend using them for handy snacks in the mines, which is useful too. However, they are just as useful if not more so as jam. Pretty much every villager likes jam as a gift (though maybe throw in a few corn pickles for my boy Harvey), and it is an easy way to steadily increase your relationships before you have the resources to get all of their favourite goodies (or, like me, can’t be bothered to remember everyone’s favourites and just prefer running around handing out jam like a madman). 
 
Remember though, don’t waste pretty gifts on Linus – just pick up the nearest forage and throw it at him, he is an easy man to please and the quickest friend you will make. Another easy one is Clint, just chuck him an omnigeode whenever you are in there cracking them open. Easy. 
 
 
 

Save your crops for a rainy day (raining wine, I mean)

So, you have made it through Spring. Parsnips were grown, fish were caught, you are getting the hang of this thing. Summer is incoming, and you cannot wait to get those sweet blueberry dollars. 
 
But wait! The better approach in the long run is not to sell your crops, at least the ones that are not silver or gold starred. Instead, get yourself a nice box, give it a pretty colour, and pop a good portion of your regular produce in there. By now you should have, or are close to having, a preserves jar. Cut down every tree in the neighbourhood, squash all of those adorable coal sprites, and make a good number of these babies. Then slowly feed your crops into them. Obviously the money comes slower, but you will get more bang for your buck in the long run I promise. You will still get money from your starred produce and all those fish you are catching, and your crops will make you the most money possible. You will probably get a build up, and that is fine – that is what winter is for! With no more crops to add to your pile, you will work through it all and be rolling in riches in no time. 
 
As soon as you can make kegs, transition to making these guys instead. A good rule of thumb to stop you going crazy figuring out whether a crop will be better as a wine or a jam is that fruit is better off as wine, and veggies are better off as jam (or in this case pickles). Fill up a shed with kegs and get boozing. 
 
 
 

Don’t die in the mines

I know this seems obvious, but it is true. When I was first playing I was desperate to get to the bottom of the mines, figuring it was super important. This meant I would go out on a limb for that last level to get to an elevator, and more often than not I would shuffle off this mortal coil. This has several downsides: it will cost you all your hard won ores or gems, or worse, your weapon, it will cost you money, and it is stressful and frustrating as hell. Don’t waste your hard earned items on a risk. Taking another day to get to the bottom of the mines will have almost zero effect in the long run, and you can pretty much get to the bottom by the end of Summer even on a leisurely pace. Even if you don’t, there will be plenty of time during Winter to dive deep, with pretty much nothing else to do. Be cautious, take what you have got, and when it is looking a bit iffy just bail. You will thank me later when you aren’t saving up to get your beloved sword back off Marlon because there were more slimes than you were expecting one level down. 
 

Hope you enjoy the Guide about Stardew Valley – Top 5 Biggest Blunders for Newbies, if you think we should add extra information or forget something, please let us know via comment below, and we will do our best to fix or update as soon as possible!