My First Farm

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by ShaneLovesChickens, May 19, 2019.

  1. ShaneLovesChickens

    ShaneLovesChickens Tentacle Wrangler

    Hello. I figured I would share with you all my first farm. I showed it in another thread, but I decided to create a separate thread for it. I'm currently in Summer of Year 1.
    [​IMG]
    What should I do to improve my farm?

    @BentFX To continue the discussion on the other thread:
    I'm not sure how to get the fiberglass rod. It doesn't show up for sale.
    I've been eating random stuff like salmon berries, cave carrots, algae, and occasionally ice cream. I once ate a strawberry and I bought a stew that I still haven't eaten.
    The deepest I've gotten in the mines is level 6 or 7.

    I'm realizing now that I am very much a noob.
     
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    • One More Day

      One More Day Cosmic Narwhal

      Looking at the picture, it's a good idea to clear all sticks, stones and weeds away from the area around your crops, otherwise the debris will encroach upon them and destroy them. Trees and tree seeds are ok to leave if you want to, but the debris isn't

      You can buy it from Willy at the Fish Shop on the beach, but he won't have it in stock for you to purchase until you have reached Fishing level 2. For the Fiberglass Rod to make any difference, you need to attach bait; you can either craft it from bug meat (from killing flies in the mines) or you can buy it from the Fish Shop at 5g per piece. Without bait, there's no advantage to the upgraded rod, because the bite rate of the fish will be as slow as you would get with the basic Bamboo Pole

      If you didn't already realise, after reaching floor 5 you can use the elevator to descend, meaning you don't need to fight all the way down from the first floor again. The elevator has stops on every fifth floor, so every time you complete a block of five floors in one visit, that floor remains open to you, via the elevator, for future visits.
       
      • ShneekeyTheLost

        ShneekeyTheLost Master Astronaut

        First off, welcome to the community. This is a great game, and there is really no 'wrong' way to play the game.

        I'm hesitant to offer advise unasked for, because I don't want to accidentally spoil your first experience with the game. While I'm occasionally referred to as 'the guy with the Iridium Calculator' for crunching a bunch of numbers (some of these posts are now out of date as the game has updated since), I'm also a firm believer that you can only play the game for the first time... once, and I don't want to ruin your first experience with the game.

        Having said that, there's a couple of things you may wish to consider:

        • Weeds will grow and spread, and can destroy crops. For this reason, I tend to go on a weed eradication project with my scythe. Weeds will drop fiber, you're going to want to store that in a chest somewhere.
        • Once you get a couple of levels in Foraging, you can use a hoe on the tree seeds and have a chance of obtaining an acorn/maple seed/pinecone from it. Crafting these three makes the healthy Field Snack.
        • Tall Grass has a viable use! No, you can't find monsters to capture and pit against each other in death battles, but once you have a Silo it can be harvested by the Scythe to turn into Hay that can be used to feed your animals. HOWEVER, the important problem is that if you do NOT yet have a Silo, it will simply destroy the tall grass, for no return of Hay, so clearing all the tall grass without a Silo can make it difficult to feed your animals, should you choose to have any.
        And most importantly
        • Have fun and play your way!
        • There are as many ways of playing Stardew Valley as there are players of the game. Trying to compare yourself to someone else is inherently a false comparison. It's easy to see all these beautiful 'show off your farm' pictures or all the powergamer bragging of 'I got 5 million in my first year', and get discouraged. Don't. None of this has any mechanical impact on the game itself. There is no 'game over' condition to the game, so even if it takes you 10 years in game to do what you want... that's okay, you can take that time if you want to.
         
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        • ShaneLovesChickens

          ShaneLovesChickens Tentacle Wrangler

          @One More Day Thank you. I have now cleared all of the surrounding debris. I guess the reason I haven't seen the Fiberglass Rod is because I'm still at fishing level 1. I heard that bug meat can be used for bait, so I've been saving some from the mines. I've noticed the elevator and I've been using it, but mining is not a top priority for me (I only go for about half a day when I have good luck.), so that's probably why I haven't gotten very far. I recently reached level 10 and got the leather boots.

          @ShneekeyTheLost Thanks for the welcome! As I said, I've cleared the weeds, and I've also been storing the fibers in a chest inside the house. I might actually have a field snack with me that I forgot to mention. (I forgot if I ate it already.) I have a silo and I've collected about 150 hay, but I don't have any animals. I'm trying to save up 5000g for a chicken coop though. I guess you're right. There are many ways to play the game. I know this one YouTuber, Dangerously Funny, who is rude to the whole town and has married and divorced almost everyone. Hopefully I'll never play like him!

          Anyways, here are my long-term goals for my save so far:
          1. Get a coop and chickens
          2. Upgrade the house
          3. Marry Shane
           
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          • laura264

            laura264 Aquatic Astronaut

            Your first year farm is looking great! And you're so smart to of put your garden near the pond to easily refill your watering can. It took me a while to figure out that efficiency is the key. I totally agree with the other posters. There's no rush...although the game can pressure you sometimes. Just take your time and make your farm your own. I'm on my fourth year and my farm basically looks like yours, but that's okay. The dirt isn't going anywhere. :coffee:
             
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            • Penny's Love

              Penny's Love Void-Bound Voyager

              Welcome and I like your life goals!
               
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              • BentFX

                BentFX Cosmic Narwhal

                Something to keep in mind, Stardew players broadly fall into two groups; Those who have emotional attachment to their farms/rpg, and those who treat it like a game, just hoping to beat it better next time. I'm part of the second group, but I understand the first group too. Given your current progress, I'd have restarted by now but whichever group you're in I suggest you stick with it. Shane's a good interest. It's easy to figure what gifts he loves and can be gotten to 10 hearts quickly.

                I suggest you practice your fishing at the mountain lake. The fish there seem to have the best balance of ease and experience gained. Pick out a fishing spot - the east end of the fence, by the submerged log is good - and put a chest there. That way you can fish a lot and can sort out your inventory, without having to trash stuff just because you're out of space. If you can get reliable at fishing, financing your coop will happen quickly. Summertime, there are sturgeon in the lake and they'll probably completely frustrate you. They are not level 1 fish, but stick with it.

                I suggest you either, push down to level 20 in the mine, there's a better sword there, or get access to the guild and buy the wooden sword. Then just work on replaying floors 20-30 killing grubs and bugs. Killing 125 gains a decent sword reward from the guild. Also, keep busting chests and attacking the slimes with a golden dangly bit on their heads. They give decent drops. You most want glow and magnet rings and the Forest Sword if you can get it.

                As for farming, stick with it, clear an area, and ramp it up where you can, but it isn't truly necessary to really go big.

                EDIT: west/east... I do the same thing with left/right... give me a break! :D
                 
                  Last edited: May 20, 2019
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                • ShaneLovesChickens

                  ShaneLovesChickens Tentacle Wrangler

                  @BentFX Ahh, that explains a lot. I'm probably the first type, considering I'm an empath and I like playing families in The Sims 4. (Me being an empath was probably also why I chose Shane; I wanted to help the poor guy and ended up getting attached to him.) I recently reached 10 hearts with him, but I don't have the money to marry him yet.

                  I've recently discovered fishing at the mountain lake. I caught 2 carp. It never occurred to me to put a chest by the lake. Thanks to fishing (which is much easier now) and harvesting crops, I've started making about 1000g per day! I'm already halfway to the amount needed for the coop!

                  I bought the wooden sword, then went down to level 11 and had my first "death" to some weird flying insects. Luckily, Linus saved me, and I was even able to go to the Dance of the Moonlit Jellies later in the day. I've also upgraded my watering can.

                  Thanks for the advice!
                   
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                  • UnexpectedParole

                    UnexpectedParole Phantasmal Quasar

                    I'll second BentFX 's reccomendation to fish the mountain lake. I've had very good results in the tip of the eastern island. I put the chest by the tree and fish southwards towards the log though.

                    Carp are very easy to catch. Some don't require any tapping at all. Bullheads are very smooth and a nice step up in difficulty but very catchable. Chubs and largemouth bass are more wild, but they too are pretty easy to catch once you've had enough practice at them.

                    1000 a day is nothing to laugh at when new. Very nice.
                    If you can get enough wood it is a good idea to put a chest in the top of the mines too. :)
                     
                    • laura264

                      laura264 Aquatic Astronaut

                      I never thought about putting a chest near the mines. I can't tell you how many times I didn't make it home in time because I got greedy. Really great advice @UnexpectedParole :mwahaha:
                       
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                      • BentFX

                        BentFX Cosmic Narwhal

                        Hi, I'm replying to you so you get the notice. @ShaneLovesChickens too. Be careful putting chests outside your farm. Stick them somewhere away from the flow of traffic. NPCs will destroy anything left in their path. If it's a chest it will destroy it and everything in it. Anywhere east of the little bridge by the mine entrance is safe. Also the two islands in the lake are safe. If you're at the east end of the fence you can put a chest beside the nearest bush, but not above it. Maru, Sebastian, Demetrius, Linus and Abigail all walk around that part of the lake at different times. It's best to give them their space.

                        EDIT: The wiki has maps of where the villagers walk.
                         
                          Last edited: May 21, 2019
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                        • Samipearl19

                          Samipearl19 Aquatic Astronaut

                          I would strongly suggest making mining a little bit more of a priority. You need the ore to smelt bars in order to craft almost anything. I like to plan out at least one day each week to go mining, especially if there's a rain day so I don't have to spend all that time watering. Be sure to bring something to replenish your energy if you're doing a whole day mining, though. I prefer the salad from the saloon. I've found in the early (i.e. poor) playing stages, it offers the most bang for my buck of purchasable dishes.
                           
                          • Elenna101

                            Elenna101 Scruffy Nerf-Herder

                            Salad is good, for purchasable dishes. But also, Spring 15-18 and Fall 8-11 have berries on all the bushes. They don't sell for much (especially the Spring ones) but they're a great source of energy. Even with no levels in foraging, a couple days spent running around looking for bushes should give you 50ish berries that give 25 energy each. By Fall hopefully you'll have foraging 4, which will let you get two berries instead of one every time you shake a bush.

                            Some numbers:
                            • Salmonberries give 25 energy and sell for 5 gold, so 25/5 = 5 energy per gold lost
                            • Blackberries are 25 energy/20 gold = 1.25 energy per gold lost
                            • Spring onions (found in the dirt patches south of Leah's cottage in spring) are 13 energy/8 gold = 1.625 energy per gold lost
                            • Salads are 113 energy/220 gold = 0.513 energy per gold lost. Note I used the price you buy it for, not the price you could sell it for, because I'm basically looking at the gold you lose by eating it. If you didn't want to eat one you wouldn't sell it, you would just not buy it in the first place.
                            • Parsnips, if you have any left from Spring, are 25 energy/35 gold = 0.714 energy/gold
                            • Pizza from the Saloon is 150 energy/600 gold = 0.25 energy/gold
                            • Chubs are 25 energy/50 gold = 0.5 energy/gold, assuming base quality
                            So basically, salads are better than other things you could buy, such as pizza, but not as good as foraged berries or spring onions. Not that that will necessarily help you much if it's summer, but it's nice to know for future years, or future playthroughs.
                             
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                            • ShaneLovesChickens

                              ShaneLovesChickens Tentacle Wrangler

                              @Samipearl19 I would do that, but I'm scared to go mining again because I passed out last time.
                              @Elenna101 I think it's around Fall 5 in my game right now, so I'll keep an eye out. I used to buy a lot of pizza, but I'd always give it to Shane. I started giving him peppers instead tough.
                               
                              • ShaneLovesChickens

                                ShaneLovesChickens Tentacle Wrangler

                                Update time!
                                [​IMG]
                                 
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                                • Elenna101

                                  Elenna101 Scruffy Nerf-Herder

                                  Nice! Sometime, if you get the money for a barn, pepper poppers are a great way to get a speed buff.
                                   
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                                  • UnexpectedParole

                                    UnexpectedParole Phantasmal Quasar

                                    I strongly suggest giving Shane the cheap peppers instead of pizza. If he loves them the same then why spend more? :) <there might be a reason I'm twice divorced> lol.

                                    To avoid passing out in the mines you do need to take food with you. Put it in an inventory slot and remember the hot key for it. When you start to get low on health, hit the hot key and eat food. Spring onions, salmonberries, parsnips, blackberries, beans, chubs. all the stuff listed above. It's better to take a lot of one thing instead of a few of many for inventory purposes. But if you have a chest at the top you can pop back up when you need to.

                                    Also, more importantly, avoid fighting monsters as much as possible. just run. The more you hit the rocks with the pick the sooner you will go down another level. And you can eat food to replentish the energy -and health- all in the same time. Avoid combat when you can.

                                    If you have not already bought the kitchen upgrade or the barn I would hold off and use those moneys to improve your income a bit more first. The pepper poppers are good, but not that good in my opinion.

                                    Cheers.
                                     
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                                    • Elenna101

                                      Elenna101 Scruffy Nerf-Herder

                                      oh yeah, I'm not saying to rush the house upgrade and barn just to make pepper poppers. I'm more saying, when you do get them, don't forget that you have that recipe. Sorry if that was poorly worded.

                                      (Side note: If your main priority is getting married, you might want to consider when you're getting the house upgrade, since you can only buy the thing that lets you get married a) in the rain and b) after getting the first house upgrade. And it doesn't rain in winter.)
                                       
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                                      • ShaneLovesChickens

                                        ShaneLovesChickens Tentacle Wrangler

                                        @Elenna101 I ate the pepper poppers when my energy was low and was surprised by my speed! I will keep that in mind, but I probably won't get a barn for a while, maybe not until later in Year 2.

                                        I hope to get the house upgrade in the winter and get married in the spring. Do you think that would work? I currently have ~4800g and I'm going to buy the coop and chickens when I can afford them. It is currently Fall 9 of Year 1.
                                         
                                        • Elenna101

                                          Elenna101 Scruffy Nerf-Herder

                                          Yeah, that's fine. Just wanted to let you know that you couldn't buy the thing in winter, if you didn't know :)
                                           

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