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The first time you do anything is always the trickiest, and that’s doubly true in games likeStardew Valley, where you start out with next to no stamina, skills, or know-how and gradually improve.We’ve already written about the first year in the game, but what do you do once Spring rolls around yet again?
Our guide to year two in Stardew Valley will help you make the most of your second year in Pelican Town. Whether you’d like to make new friends, grow new crops, travel to far-away places, or just earn more cash, we’ve got some ideas below.
Make Year Two Goals Based On What You Accomplished In Year One
It sounds pretty obvious, and thenon-linearityand lack of urgency are some of people’s favorite things about Stardew Valley, but sincethere’s no concrete pace or pathyou need to follow to progress through the game, it’s tough to plan specific second-year goals without firstconsidering what you did in the first year.
For instance, as we mentioned above, you can technicallyfinish the Community Centerin the first year of the game with altered settings toremix the bundlesor some good luck when the Traveling Cart is in town, but if not, you likely won’t be completing it untilPierre starts selling new seeds in year two. If you found the Red Cabbage seed in year one, though, you won’t need to worry about it in year two.
Every player will enter the second year of Stardew Valley on the same day, sure, buteveryone plays at their own pace. If you haven’t finished something, there’s always time to do it this year!
In this guide, we’ll be offering tips and tricks to keep the game fresh in the second year, but you may already have accomplished what we suggest - and that’s fine! There’s plenty to do in each season of the second year as you progress into the late-game, no matter when you get there or what you’ve already finished.
What’s New In The Valley?
As you walk out your front door on Spring 1 of year two, you’ll be met with a cutscene featuring a character that, if this is your first playthrough, you’ve never met.This isKent- he’s Jodi’s husband, Sam and Vincent’s father, and he’s just returned from atour in the militarythat had him away for the entirety of the first year.
Now that he’s back from duty, you’ll findKentby the rivermost mornings, inhis backyardin the afternoons, and fairly oftenin the Saloonat night. He goes to church withJodion Sunday mornings, and he’ll typically mill aboutin Pierre’s shopfor a few hours after.
And speaking ofPierre, hisgeneral store begins selling new seedsin year two, withone new seed for each season. These will be:
These crops count for the collections tab and also feature in a few cooking recipes, so it’s a good idea to grow at least a few now that you’re able!
If you’re shopping at Joja instead of at Pierre’s, just be aware thatJoja will not sell the new seeds, so you’ll need to swing into Pierre’s for them at some point.
Work On Your Relationships
We get it -the villagers in Stardew Valleyreally like some pretty expensive stuff. Some of them have favorite gifts with four-digit price tags, and when you need money in the first year of the game, it’s tough to part with stuff that’s so valuable. But once you reach a point where you’reless strapped for cashthan you were last year, you’ll find yourself less torn about parting with these high-value gifts.
Because of this, you should spend year twogiving out gifts and making an effort to befriend the localsin Pelican Town (and beyond, but we’ll get there!). Even if you’re just giving someone one ofthe universal likesinstead ofsomething they specifically enjoy, the effort pays off in a noticeable way as your heart levels increase. Heck, justtalking to them once a daywhen you see them in town helps.
The 200g you’d earn for a piece ofAmethystis but a drop in the bucket once your pocket cash reaches five and six digits, butAbigailreallyadores them.If you can part with the money you’d earn, you’re better off using your value items for gifts.
And though you technically can do it in the first year if you’re quick enough withyour romance optionof choice, it’s likely that you won’tget marrieduntil year two in Stardew Valley, especially if you weren’t focused on relationship-building in year one.
Once your spouse moves in andyour farmhouse has been expanded, you and your dearly beloved can considerbeginning a family. Your spouse will ask if you’reinterested in becoming parents, asking to have a child if biologically possible and asking about adoption if not.
Kids are mostly objects in Stardew Valley and don’t require an awful lot of actual care - your animals arguably need more attention than your human children - but still, if you’re in a good spot with your husband or wife, it never hurts to have them!
And if it does, you could always just get rid of your children, too.
Unlock New Recipes
This point is partially tied in with the previous one about making friends in Stardew Valley, sinceseveral new mealandnew crafting recipesare tied to your friendship progression with the villagers. If you’re aiming to make everything in the game, or you just want more cooking or decorative options, making friends is a pretty surefire way to do it.
That said, you likely began watchingthe Queen of Sauce TV programthat airsevery Sundayback in year one, and you know she’s gotnew recipes every week, but does that woman ever stop cooking?
Yes, but not for a while.The Queen of Sauce broadcasts new cooking recipes every Sunday through the end of year twoin Stardew Valley, concluding her new recipes withShrimp CocktailonWinter 28 of year two.
After this, she’ll begin airing reruns, but you can also buy the Queen of Sauce Cookbookfrom the Book Sellerif you’re playing in version 1.6 to automatically learn every recipe you missed, instead of hoping she’ll show the rerun you needed.
But it’s not just cooking recipes - there are plenty of crafting recipes as well that’ll take a while to earn. Plenty of those will be coming from thespecial orders board, which areweek-long tasksasking formuch more involved items than the Help Wanted board, like crops in bulk,newly-slain monsters, rare goods, and more. Check the Special Orders board every Mondayfor a new request to take on.
Get More Iridium
Your Best Bet Is In The Skull Cavern
If you’ve been diligent inthe Pelican Town minesduring your first year in Stardew Valley, it’s entirely likely that you’vereached floor 120 of the minesand found themysterious Skull Keyin the treasure chest there. If you haven’tfixed the bus tothe Calico Desertyet bycompleting theVault Bundle, now’s a good time to lock in that upgrade.
There area few things to check outin the desert, but in thetop left cornernear the pond is a cave entrance.Bring theSkull Keyto this cave, and you’ll unlock access tothe Skull Cavern. If you’ve already gotten here in year one, we’d bet you probably didn’t make it too far down - the monsters here aretough.
You’ll needplenty of powerful tool upgradesto make quick work of mining the ores and gems you’ll find in theinfinite floorsof Skull Cavern (well, there are technically a little over two million floors according to the game’s code, butgood luck ever getting there). Unlike the mines, though,there’s no elevator here, meaning you’llalways start from floor one.
The morebombs and staircasesyou have, the quicker you canreach the lower levels of the Skull Cavern.
There are plenty of reasons to brave the dangers in the Skull Cavern, though, since it’s your best bet at findingIridium OreNodes, whichspawn more frequently the lower you goin the Cavern. Since most of your end-game upgrades and perks are tied to Iridium, it’s wise togather as much Iridium as you can, especially if you hadn’t found any by the end of year one.
Iridium is required for plenty of late-game goods like your final tool upgrades, the best sprinklers in the game, and more, so be sure to stock up whenever possible! If you havegood luck for the day, it’s wise to head down into Skull Cavern to see how much you may get.
Iridium can also be found in Geodes and in the Quarryin Mystic Nodes, but the Skull Cavern is your best bet.
Finish The Community Center
Though it’s technically possible during your first year if you’ve opted to play Stardew Valley with the remixed bundles instead (or if you happened to have good luck with the traveling cart), it’s likely that you won’t have finished the Community Center in year one.
One of the biggest things that keeps people from finishing all the bundles at the Community Center is theRed Cabbagein the Dye Bundle, Emily’s post on theBulletin Board. Even if you’ve had everything else, that pesky cabbage was likely a thorn in your side. Now that Pierre sells it in year two, though, you’re good to go as soon as summer hits!
But if it wasn’t the Red Cabbage keeping you from finishing the Communtiy Center, then it must have been something else. Maybe you accidentally sold yourgold-quality cropslooking to make some cash, or one of the foraging items slipped through the cracks.Now that you know what you need, you can hone in on it in season two.
As enjoyable as it is to have so much to do with the Community Center, narrowing down what you have left allows you to more specifically focus on that. It probably isn’t much, if you’ve been diligent about it in year one, butuse your hindsight in year two to clean up anything left behindand knock out the Community Center.
Some people consider thisthe “end” of Stardew Valley, but it’s far from! There’s plenty to do after finishing the Community Center, like…
Explore Ginger Island
How To Get To Ginger Island
After you’vefinished the Community Center(or Joja Warehouse, if you wentthe Joja route instead), you’llreceive word fromWillyasking you to come to the fishing shop down at the beach. There, you’ll go into the back room, whereWillyshows youa busted boat he thinks he can fix. To do so, you’ll just need to provide:
Once you’ve installed the final piece of what you needed, you’ll see a cutscene overnight of the boat being repaired. After this,the fishing shop is open at 8AMevery day now, which allows you a sooner start to your day when youspend 1,000g to take the boatto Ginger Island.
What Can You Do On Ginger Island?
Added in the 1.5 update, Ginger Island is avast new offshore landwhere you’ll find plenty to do as you soak up thealmost infinite sunshine. As soon as you arrive, you’ll see ayoung boyon the beach who runs away when he sees you -follow him. On the next screen,grab theGolden Walnutfrom the plantbefore youclimb into the tree house.
You need togive the Walnut to the parrot, who offers a brief introduction to this boy,Leo. Like Kent back home in Pelican Town,Leo is a new friendyou can make, who starts at zero hearts like everyone else. Except, once you get close to Leo, you canconvince him to move to Pelican Town.
That’s a way off, though. For now, once yougo back to the beach, you’ll see anorange flame spriteon the beach. Again,follow the sprite, who leads you all the way north up tothe Volcano Dungeon, a ten-floor dungeon on Ginger Island with aforge at the topthat allows you topower up your weapons.
On your way there, you may have seen a broken bridge. That’s thedig site, and you’ll need tofree Professor Snailfrom behind a fallen rockbefore he returns to histent by the bridge, where hecollects fossils from Ginger Islandin exchange formore Golden Walnuts.
Heading back to the beach, you no doubt noticed all the rubble just by the dock. This is the remains ofthe Island Resort, which you may repair with Golden Walnuts and open as aday-trip for the residents of Pelican Town, who come to soak up the sun (and enjoy thenew menu itemsserved there).
You can’t open the resort, though, until you’veunlockedthe Island Farm, which isblocked by a turtlewhen you first arrive. Past it, you’ll find not only asecond farmthat allows you togrow crops year-roundregardless of season, but the farthest corner is also home to theWalnut Room.
Here, you’ll findMr. Qi, who offers aspecial request boardthat changes every Monday like the one in town. Mr. Qi’s requests are much tougher, though, but theyreward you withQi Gems, a currency used in hisshop in the Walnut Roomto purchase plenty of powerful late-game upgrades.
Cash In On Your Cash Crops
One of the most frustrating parts of starting a new save in Stardew Valley is knowinghow valuableStrawberryplantsare, but not being able to accessStrawberry Seedsuntil youbuy them from Pierreat his stallduring the Egg Festival. Sincethis annual eventisn’t untilSpring 13, that’s half the season gone before you canplant your money crops.
Without any Speed-Gro Fertilizers, you’d have gotten two harvests if you planted your crops the day after the Egg Festival. However, if youmake Strawberry Seeds out of your normal-quality Strawberriesduring year one, you’ll be able tostart year two with Strawberry Seeds on Spring 1, doubling your harvest time throughout the season!
By now, though, you’re no stranger tomulti-harvest crops, and some of those are themost lucrative crops of the seasondue to how easy it is togrow these crops to use inKegs and Preserves Jars. Store them in a chest nearby and you’ll practically never run out ofvaluable artisan goods fodder.
Year two is a great time todouble down on Preserves Jars and Kegs, now that you’re more secure in your resource collection.
One of these regrowing crops is likely to be at leasta coupleAncient Fruit, if you found the Ancient Fruit Seed artifact and handed it over to Guntherat the Museum. The Ancient Fruit takesa whole season to grow, but itregrows constantlyuntil Winter One(unless planted in the Greenhouse or over on Ginger Island, where it will grow indefinitely).
Ancient Fruit Wineis one of the highest-value items you can sell, so if you’re intent on making a small fortune (which you’ll need to do for our final stretch goal below),plant plenty of Ancient Fruit on Spring 1and spend the remainder of the second year harvesting until the snow starts to fall.
