March 26, 2016 - stardew valley, stardew valley, guides

Stardew Valley Combat Guide

Stardew Valley features a relatively basic combat system. While exploring certain areas of the game, you may run into monsters that are capable of hurting you. This guide covers just about everything you need to know about what to expect with combat while playing Stardew Valley.

Combat Information

Swinging a weapon or scythe does not cost energy, but axes and pickaxes do; never use your axe or pickaxe to fight an enemy.

Stats

Weapons and food sometimes have an effect on combat. These stats include weight, speed, critical attack power, defense, and immunity.

Blackout/Death/Knock Out

If you hit points are reduced to zero, you will blackout; a villager will find you and either wake you up or send you to the doctor, Harvey.

Death/blackout is very costly. Whenever you blackout, you have a chance to lose a random number of items in your inventory (including your weapon) and a somewhat random amount of gold. In the mines, you will forget a random amount of levels (normally 5-10 levels), effectively wiping away some progress in the mines.

Combat Areas

Luck has a small impact on combat areas (Lucky Lunch, Pumpkin Soup, Spicy Eel, and Fried Eel); luck provides more ore veins, item drops, and the chance of ladders/holes.

The Mines

The mines are located in the northeast part of Stardew Valley and can be accessed after the 5th day of your first spring. Rocks can be mined for stone and it's possible to find ore of various types while exploring the mines. After reaching the bottom of the mines (level 120), you are rewarded a Skull Key that grants access to the Skull Cavern.

The elevator allows the player to quickly travel to levels in 5 level increments (1, 5, 10, ..., 120). A minecart can be unlocked at the community center that allows fast travel between the mines, town, bus stop, and quarry (also unlocked in the community center).

Skull Cavern

Skull Cavern is located in the northwest part of Calico Desert. Upon the first time of entering it, Mr. Qi offers a reward of 10,000g after reaching level 25. It has more difficult monsters, but offers much better rewards, like iridium ore (the monsters have a chance of dropping iridium bars, too).

Bring lots of food because the monsters hit really hard (cactus fruit found in the desert works well), some bombs to kill mummies, and maybe a warp totem to get back home if it gets too late (or dangerous!).

Skull Cavern does not have an elevator, so the player will need to decend from the first floor every time, but there is a chance of finding a hole that allows the player to drop multiple levels (and does a little bit of damage).

Combat Professions

Stardew Valley has 6 combat related professions. The professions essentially break down to luck vs consistency.

Level Option Option
Level 5 Fighter - All attacks deal 10% more damage. +15 HP Scout - Critical strike chance increased by 50%.
Level 10 Brute - Damage is increased by 15%. Defender - HP is increased by 25. Acrobat - Cooldown on special moves is cut in half. Desperado - Critical hits are deadly.

These professions are largely a coinflip, with the only poor choice being Defender. Fighter > Brute has a slight edge over Scout > Desperado, but both profession choices are fine. Acrobat is good if you use special attacks, but I have found that special attacks are pretty marginal right now.

Weapons

There are three melee weapon choices and one ranged weapon choice in Stardew Valley.  

Swords

Sword are the most common weapon type and the weapon of choice for most people in Stardew Valley. It is strongly suggested that you get down to level 90 in the mines as quickly as possible to get the Obsidian Edge; once you've completed the Mines, you can find Lava Katana's in the Adventurer's Guild.

Swords (and maces) have a sweeping attack that allows you to attack multiple enemies that are anywhere in front of you (up to 180 degrees or shoulder-to-shoulder).

Weapon Damage Stats & Notes Price Value
Rusty Sword 2-5 Given to you when you first enter the mines   50g
Scythe 1-3 Given to you at the beginning of the game; used for farming.    
Wooden Blade 3-7   250g 100g
Steel Smallsword 4-8 +2 SPD, Mines level 20 reward.   100g
Silver Saber 8-15 +1 Defense 750g 150g
Pirate's Sword 8-14 +2 SPD 850g 200g
Cutlass 9-17 +2 SPD 1,500g 200g
Forest Sword 8-18 +2 SPD, +1 Defense; rare drop in the mines   250g
Insect Head 10-20 Reward for killing 125 bugs; rare drop from bugs   300g
Iron Edge 12-25 -2 SPD, +1 Defense, +3 Weight   200g
Rapier 15-25      
Dark Sword 10-30      
Holy Blade 18-24      
Claymore 20-32 -4 SPD, +2 Defense, +3 Weight 2,000g  
Templar's Blade 22-29 +1 Defense 4,000g 300g
Neptune's Glaive 18-35 -1 SPD, +2 Defense, +4 Weight; rare fishing drop   350g
Obsidian Edge 30-45 -1 SPD, +10 CRIT Power   450g
Bone Sword  20-30 +4 SPD, +2 Weight 6,000g 500g
Yeti Tooth 26-42      
Steel Falcion 26-38 +4 SPD, +20 CRIT Power 9,000g  
Lava Katana 55-65 +3 Defense, +25 CRIT Power, +3 Weight 25,000g 750g
Galaxy Sword 60-80 +4 SPD; Bring a Prismatic Shard to the Three Pillars in the The Desert.   1,500g

The sword's special attack is a block.

Note (untested): When you find a Prismatic Shard, it is recommended that you place it in a Crystalarium instead of handing it over to Gunther. Your first copy can be given to Gunther and any additional copies should be saved if you happen to lose your sword.

Daggers

Daggers are fast, low damage weapons that benefit highly from critical strikes. Daggers attack in a jabbing motion in front of you (opposed to a swinging motion like the other two weapons).

Weapon Damage Stats & Notes Price Value
Carving Dagger 1-3     100g
Iron Dirk 2-4     500g
Wind Spire 1-5 +10 CRIT Power, +5 weight   150g
Elf Blade 3-5      
Crystal Dagger 4-10 +50 CRIT Power, +5 weight; Mines level 60 reward   450g
Burglar's Shank 7-12      
Shadow Dagger 10-20      
Broken Trident 15-26 Found in treasure chests while fishing.   550g
Wicked Kris  24-30 Found in crates in Skull Cavern.   1,500g
Tempered Broadsword 29-44      

The dagger's special attack is a quick three strick attack.

Clubs

Clubs are slow, high damage weapons. The wood club and wood mallet can be found in the mines (around levels 40-60) and can make progressing down to level 90 much easier (at that point, you'll want to use the sword, Obsidian Edge).

Weapon Damage Stats & Notes Price Value
Femur 6-11 Found while digging outside the mines.    
Wood Club 9-16     100g
Wood Mallet 15-24 +2 SPD, +3 weight 2,000g 100g
Lead Rod 18-27 -4 SPD   150g
Kudgel 27-40      
The Slammer 40-55 -2 SPD, found below level 40 in Skull Cavern    

The club's special attack is a ground slam that knocks back all enemies.

Slingshots

Slingshots are a rarely used, ranged weapon that uses ammo (rocks or crafted explosive ammo) in Stardew Valley. The Master Slingshot can be used to knock fruit out of trees.

Weapon Damage Stats & Notes Price Value
Slingshot 1-3 Chest at level 40 in the mines    
Master Slingshot 1-3 Chest at level 70 in the mines    

Clothing

Headwear is currently strictly cosmetic, they provide no combat bonuses.

Rings

A player can wear two of the following rings:

Ring Effect Notes Price Value
Small Glow Ring Provides a permanent 5 radius light source around the player. Stacks with other glow effect rings; found while fishing or above level 40 in the mines.   50g
Glow Ring Provides a permanent 10 radius light source around the player. Stakcs with other glow effect rings; found by killing monsters below level 40 in the mines and breaking barrels or boxes in the mines.   100g
Small Magnet Ring Increases the collection radius by one tile around the player. Stacks with other magnet rings; found by completing the adventurer's bundle or from fishing.   50g
Magnet Ring Increases the collection radius by two tiles around the player. Stacks with other magnet rings; found in the mines level 40-80 and from boxes in the mines   100g
Slime Ring Prevents damage from small slimes. Reward from killing 1,000 slimes.    
Warrior Ring Has a chance of giving the Warrior Energy buff after killing an enemy. Crafted with 10 iron bars, 25 coal, and 10 frozen tear.    
Vampire Ring Heals the player for 2 HP after each enemy kill. Reward for killing 200 bats.    
Savage Ring Gives a 2 second +2 SPD buff after killing a monster. Reward for killing 150 void sprites.    
Ring of Yoba Has a chance of providing Yoba's Blessing after being struck by an enemy. Crafted with 5 iron bar, 5 gold bar, and 1 diamond.   750g
Sturdy Ring Cuts the duration of negative status effects in half. Crafted with 10 copper bars, 5 refined quartz, and 10 earth crystal.    
Burglar's Ring Monsters loot table is rolled twice when a monster dies. Reward for killing 500 dust sprites.    
Iridium Band Combines Glow Ring + Magnet Ring + Ruby Ring Fishing or crafting with 5 iridium bars, 50 solar essence, and 50 void essence.   2,000g
Amethyst Ring Increases knockback by 10%.   1,000g  
Topaz Ring Increases weapon precision by 10%.   1,000g  
Aquamarine Ring Increases critical strike chance by 10%   2,500g  
Jade Ring Increases critical strike power by 10%   2,500g  
Emerald Ring Increases weapon speed by 10%.   5,000g  
Ruby Ring Increases attack damage by 10%.   5,000g  

Iridium Band + Burglar's Ring is the best all purpose ring combination of the game; you can swap the Buglar's Ring with another Iridium Band if you'd like.

Stacking two of the same damage rings is not recommended. For example, an emerald ring + ruby ring will provide slightly more damage than ruby ring + ruby ring.

Warrior Energy

Warrior's Energy is an attack buff that provides +10 attack for 5 seconds when you kill an enemy.

Yoba's Blessing

Yoba's Blessing is a defensive buff that provides invincibilty for 5 seconds after getting hit by an enemy.

Footwear

A player can wear one pair of the following footwear:

Footwear Defense Immunity Notes Price Value
Sneakers +1 -   500g 50g
Rubber Boots - +1 Found on green slimes   50g
Leather Boots +1 +1 Reward from level 10 chest   100g
Work Boots +2 -      
Combat Boots +3 -   1,250g 150g
Tundra Boots +2 +1 Reward from level 50 chest   150g
Thermal Boots +1 +2 Random drop from the mines   150g
Cowboy Boots +2 +2      
Dark Boots +4 +2   2,500g  
Firewalker Boots +3 +3 Reward from level 80 chest   300g
Genie Shoes +1 +6 Fishing treasure; random drop in Skull Cavern    
Space Boots +4 +4 Reward from level 110 chest.   400g

Defense provides a slightly higher benefits because not all monsters provide negative status effects. Space Boots are best in slot although sneakers or cowboy boots have a better appearance (for "Fashion Valley").

Monsters

You have a chance of encountering the following monsters while going through the mines and Skull Cavern:

Monster Location Hit Points Damage Notes
Green Slime The Mines (1-40)
Secret Woods

24 5  
Duggy The Mines (1-30) 40 5 Found in sandy areas; basically a whack-a-mole
Bug The Mines (1-30) 1 8 Drops bug meat, handy for crafting bait for fishing.
Bat The Mines (1-40) 24 6  
Rock Crab The Mines (1-30) 30 5 Looks like a rock; drops crabs for the Crab Pot bundle
Grub The Mines (10-30) 20 4 Kill them before they turn into cave flies. 
Cave Fly The Mines (10-30) 22 6  
Stone Golem The Mines (30-40) 45 5  
Frost Jellies The Mines (40-80) 106 7  
Frost Bats The Mines (40-80) 24 6  
Dust Sprite The Mines (40-80) 40 6 Drops coal; travel between levels 55 and 65 to farm these.
Ghost The Mines (55-90) 96 10  
Skeleton The Mines (70-80) 140 10  
Sludge The Mines (90-120) 205 16 AKA Red slimes.
Lava Bat The Mines (80-120)
Skull Cavern
80 15 Flying unit
Lava Crab The Mines (80-120) 120 15 Looks like a rock (but does not cast a shadow); drops bombs and crabs.
Shadow Brute  The Mines (80-120) 160 18 Counts for "Void Spirit" eradication
Void Spirit The Mines (80-120) 80 17 Casts heal (kill them first)
Metal Head The Mines (80-120) 40 15 Resists knockback
Squid Kid The Mines (80-120) 1 18 Shoot fireballs
Armored Bug Skull Cavern ? 8 Cannot be killed; flies in a straight line.
Big Slime Skull Cavern 60 5 Splits into multiple purple slim on death.
Purple Slim Skull Cavern 410 28 Can drop iridium ore.
Mummy Skull Cavern 260 30 Must be destroyed with a bomb after knocking it out.
Serpent Skull Cavern 150 23 Standard flying unit in Skull Cavern

Cute Slimes

All slimes have a chance to spawn as a "cute" slime. Cute slimes have 25% more HP and deal 1 additional damage. They also have a chance to drop a rare item.

Monster Eradication

Gil, inside the Adventurer's Guild, offers rewards for killing certain types of monsters. The majority of the rewards are so-so at best, with Buglar's Ring being the main exception and the Slime Charmer Ring being almost required for slime farming.

Monster Quantity Reward
Slimes 1000 Slime Charmer Ring
Void Spirits 150 Savage Ring
Bats 200 Vampire Ring
Skeletons 50 Skeleton Mask
Cave Insects 150 Insect Head
Duggies 30 Hard Hat
Dust Sprites 500 Burglar's Ring

 

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