Foraging is the Best Mastery in Stardew Valley

[@crowshroud]

The way I was taking a break from savage prog melting my brain in FFXIV by watching Stardew videos... Then immediately getting jumpscared by TOP footage. You can't do this to me... 🏃‍♂

[@raex6541]

I literally had to pause the moment TOP came up and recheck the video title thinking "wait wasn't this a Stardew video?" This is when you know you've been raiding on ffxiv too much xD

[@WeskAlber]

Definitely shocking to see.... Ohey its Rinon

[@DoctorAutopsy]

I was not expecting a Salmence/MBMBaM crossover today!

[@IroncladPen]

My husband follows the McElboys pretty closely and has commented a few times on how much Travis is into Stardew. It's pretty neat.

[@bloker86]

Trav Nation is in our hearts

[@salmence100]

I straight geeked when he told me he's been using my videos, I love those boys lol

[@IroncladPen]

@@salmence100 Aw, that's so cool!

[@ArgonMatrix]

Another noteworthy thing about Mystic Syrup is that it's exceptional as a healing item, restoring 500 Energy and 225 Health. By the time you can get Mystic Syrup you'll probably have your food situation sorted anyway, but for something you can collect passively, it's pretty nice!

[@rachedenO]

I love mystic tree syrups cuz I can use them to trade for fairy dust. Being able to use 118 fairy dust on my gold star wine every month is so satisfying.

[@zachdanielsgaming]

If the difference between gold and iridium wine is less than the sell price of a mystic syrup ($1000) then you're losing out on that deal. Edit: I just checked. Starfruit & Ancient Fruit Wines are the only wine that jump over $1,000 more from gold to iridium, so hopefully you're only using the mystic syrup tradeded fairy dust in those. :-)

[@ArdentMoogle]

@@zachdanielsgaming And if you're swapping to tapper when you sell your sap, only Starfruit is profitable. That being said, you have to sell 223 at least to break even from a swap, vs. using it on Ancient Fruit.

[@rachedenO]

@@zachdanielsgaming yeah I'm brewing ancient fruit wine only. But honestly even if I'm losing money it's just too much fun to sprinkle magic dust around

[@nathanwheeler6725]

At 3:50, those "percentages" are likely weights, as you notice how they don't add up to 100%. To get the actual percentage, I believe you just normalize (add up all the weights and divide by their sum). so 100% omni Geode is more like 60%

[@blisteryurt]

thanks for explaining lol that confused me

[@ArdentMoogle]

It may actually be that a spot can drop multiple geodes, and it averages to 100%. At 4:12 Salmence tills 4 spots and gets 10 geodes.

[@yimyom]

I used the treasure totems for digging spots for Qi beans because you mentioned them in your older video! Many thanks for that tip to be transferred over! .... I ran out of time and sat on 400 beans but let's ignore that.

[@Storm-li1re]

I think you didn't mention that golden mystery boxen can contain an autopetter while regular mystery boxes can't. It only scrolls by quickly in the visuals.

[@OneEyedOneHornedGian]

Thank you Travis! That's a great idea for that Mr. Qi quest!

[@Big_Man_Enjoyer]

Travis McElroy Jumpscare (affectionate)

[@smrodan]

I so clearly remember the first time he played Stardew Valley was in a stream with his brothers and Dad on KZbin as part of that year's MaxFunDrive and he was struggling so much! Now he's generating bleeding edge tips? Now that's what I call special interest!

[@ArdentMoogle]

Another trick for Mahogany Seeds is the Dangerous mines. Go to floor 45, check for Mahogany Trees, chop them down and reset. I was getting 45 or so seeds a day from this. Maple and Oak seeds end up being the real bottlenecks if you do this, plus you get tons of Hardwood for Heavy Tappers.

[@vocalvixen8]

Thanks for this! Still waiting for the dang quest to show up, but I look forward to yet another good reason to dive in.

[@Innangard]

Foraging was my first pick just because I like the trees, seems like I lucked out lol

[@orangejuice782]

note, you can also get mahogany seeds from the ginger island trader in exchange for one stingray!

[@startwovalley]

Always loved foraging even before the update. So it’s really satisfying to see how you can take even more advantage of it now. 🎉😊

[@_yaseen]

I always watch your videos as soon as they appear on my feed. Your videos are super high quality - informative and to the point. Thanks for making these!

[@pheona1164]

1:09 Reporting my outcome after watching this, I put 6 stumps near 1 fully grown mystic tree and 1 seedling I planted the day before. Today, I got 4 purple mushrooms and 2 red capped. I am at 5 level mastery and my farm is almost 67 yrs old. I took a screenshot of the mushrooms and it's sooo pretty to see that many. Forgot to mention that I'm dehydrating the mushrooms for a nice amount. Thanks!

[@pixel1858]

funny you put foraging as S tier- i saved it for last because I didn't really understand all the ways these items could be useful. Now im excited to go try them out!

[@BlueHospitality]

Treasure totem gave me two snake vertebrae in one go. Such a relief.

[@Number1YankeeFan]

Loving the intros quickly showing how the thumbnail comes together. Know you spend so much time on the thumbnails, and they always look so good

[@paulbrown5937]

Used like 40 of these totems to FINALLY get the last artifact elvish necklace or whatever. I cant imagine finding that thing without these totems!

[@exantiuse497]

The museum was an absolute nightmare before 1.6 and even worse before 1.4. Before 1.4 there were a lot of artefacts that could only be found in artefact spots in specific locations. In 1.4 we got artefact troves and some Ginger island stuff that helped with some artefacts, and now with treasure totems it is not a big deal at all, but believe me it was rough. I played my first farm (pre-1.4) halfway through year 4 before obtaining the museum collection becuse I lacked a couple of artefacts that could only be found in the backwoods of Cindersap forest. Painful memories

[@ArdentMoogle]

Personally the Rusty Spur is always the bane of my existence.

[@essneyallen6777]

​​@@ArdentMoogle the flute was the bane of *my* existence on two consecutive files.

[@allenbuddy3101]

Personally I always end up finding elvish jewelry (and a lot of others) in fishing treasure chests but ik not everyone goes wild when fishing like I do lol

[@Pehmokettu]

I was missing only the Golden Relic when I finally unlocked the Treasure Totem. And I got it after just using one Treasure Totem. So I have not crafted more of them.

[@GeraltofRivia22]

Farming is by far the best because Iridium Scythe. Harvesting crops is such a chore after the first couple of seasons.

[@zacharyhicks6237]

Taking farming for the scythe also speeds up exp gain. Just fill up your farm with crops and you'll have all the mastery points you need by a season or two.

[@emcolvin]

something i noticed while testing other things was that seed spots (carrots, squash ect) seem to have a chance to revert back to artifact spots if you leave them untilled (mine was over one night) and i thought of your 1.6 hot takes video

[@rytrongaming]

Treasure totems got me down to literally one last mineral

[@ninjakirby777]

This is great news for me as foraging always ends up being my highest skill when I play.

[@Megatron113]

Thanks for your content. I get so much new information from you than most other channels.

[@ParkerRat]

I'm going to focus foraging mastery during my next playthrough simply for the fairy dust trade. On my current farm, I have about 66 mystic trees with heavy tappers on them. It nets me around 130 sap and, as such, ~130 fairy dust each week. It's amazing for skipping cask aging times, among other things.

[@sylasfps]

i just started stardew this week for the first time, i’m in year one mid winter and already finished CC, volcano, floor 100 skull caverns and ur guides have to be the only reason, i’m getting carried

[@YourPalRal]

Nice use of the Makna Forest theme from Xenoblade Chronicles. Please finish 3 so I have another person to talk about it with.

[@erratiicism]

wake up babe a new sal video with a mcelroy cameo just dropped‼️‼️

[@ctcstan1406]

I'm too busy liking all the Travis comments to concentrate on the info

[@chexbro]

Guess Salmence is part of TravNation Woof Woof

[@AwkwardBirb]

I love the perks of foraging mastery, but that iridium scythe for farming mastery will be number one in my heart now and forever 😂

[@juliakrystosek8003]

Treasure totems saved my butt trying to get the last few artifacts for the museum

[@Adder6112]

This mastery is the only reason I finished the museum recently plus I got an auto petter from a golden mystery box

[@dennislit628]

Love that you compared it to one of my favorite final fantasy games. Love to see any mentions of ff14.

[@Katiedid2040]

The question this video brings up for me is which mastery you think should be taken first? Foraging is good for cleaning up some scraps but it definitely wouldn't be my first pick. You don't play a support class without teammates to support, yknow? I personally think it's combat because of how convenient trinkets are, parrots are one of the best ways to make money in the game now and the fairy makes going on mining runs significantly more casual and less resource-intensive, but I could definitely see an argument for the convenience farming offers with the iridium scythe and the value heavy furnaces and the dwarf statue brings with mining. Also, if you're looking to farm mahogany seeds, your best bet is the jungle floors of the dangerous mines. You'll get tons of hardwood and seeds in no time.

[@Codraroll]

I've gone through the Mastery route in two playthroughs now, and both times I've ended up doing Farming -> Mining -> Combat -> Fishing -> Foraging. The Iridium Scythe really is a godsend, and the mining statue gives such nice buffs, so these go first. Fishing is great if you are doing fishing, but I don't find myself fishing a lot at that stage of the game, so I value combat over it. There is potential for some spectacular cheesing with the Qi's Extended Family quest, though. And foraging goes dead last, because there's nothing there you really *need*. There's little value in artifact spots when you're swimming in Omni Geodes from your mining excursions, the Mystic Tree really just benefits a Mushroom Log setup (which is not likely to be your best way to make money that late in the game), and the stuff you find in Golden Mystery Boxes tends to be available through other means anyway. Foraging Mastery might be a great way to catch up on collections if you've neglected that for your entire playthrough, but most of the benefits it brings are marginally easier access to things you've already got loads of.

[@salmence100]

I think I'm going to make a full video on that topic, although I would absolutely say it's up to the individual person. I was super excited to try out the fishing stuff, so it's what I chose first, and I don't regret it. Farming is definitely a contender for first, from the iridium scythe alone.

[@vocalvixen8]

I think it depends upon how you play. I did foraging first because I REALLY wanted the golden mystery boxes. I use MouseyPounds predictor, and there was good reason for me to want those first on this playthrough. For the same reason I ended up with farming last, because there were things I wanted that I couldn't get anytime soon once I had farming mastery, because the contents of the golden boxes change. After this playthrough and getting some experience with them all, I think I'll probably take combat first if I don't run into the same issue on my next playthrough. The parrot egg is just too dang useful, especially if you spend an entire day fighting slime infested floors on repeat. Fishing is going to be my second fave every time, as the golden treasure chests and perks are handy. Foraging will always be near the top. By the time I got mining I didn't really feel like I needed the heavy furnace as much, though it's lovely, so it's low on my list. Farming is useful, but not as nice as foraging and fishing. Double productivity lava eels is nice, though.

[@silverjetplane]

The artifact totem has been saving my ass on ginger island trying to find the snake vertebrae lol

[@allenbuddy3101]

Thank you Travis McElroy for the artifact spot tip

[@dexchampion8066]

The Xenoblade music threw me for a loop. In a good way. Love that series.

[@Total2Gamerz]

it legit took me an entire season to get the skeletal hand, which was the last artifact i needed to donate, not because of mystic syrup but because i was out of moss to make the treasure totems and also in the beackwoods you get less than half the effect since there aren t many tillable tiles

[@yadaplayz1654]

They're easily obtained in the quarry mines, from the haunted skulls!

[@Total2Gamerz]

@@yadaplayz1654 did like 4 full clears of the quarry mines with burglar ring and buffs and i didn t get any so i thought maybe that it was changed in 1.6, but i guess i just got unlucky

[@d4r4butler74]

I need the Arrowhead and it isn't in that list in the video! I have had worlds with multiple of all the easy to get ones before and had lots of Arrowheads. This world I can not find one anywhere. lol

[@crabby6730]

I love foraging, i always joke with a friend saying that foraging is the mage class of stardew since once i have the tree fertilizer recipee i control nature like a druid, now with the New tree seems like i was right, it IS the mage class.

[@LiIBeary]

Sal, did you see the new easter egg Back then, when you press the concerned ape logo on the loading screen it takes off the sunglasses Now there's a chance for it to become junimos if you click the opening screen

[@matthewcleary717]

What's up Trav Nation?!

[@allisonmiller7085]

woof woof!

[@Corvus-fw2hr]

Woof woof

[@sm00thcaramel]

i wish i watched this before attempting the qi crop challenge earlier today. but i still completed it for the first time! also love the mystic trees, ive got the perfect area for them and mushroom logs. i love that its pretty and it’s passive money!! this is also my first save im abt to reach perfection in (98%) hehe :)

[@EdgeKisaragi]

I never thought I’d see Omega in a Sal video 😅 Pantokrator flashbacks 💥💥💥

[@blanksorry]

Also can get mahogany seeds from the Ginger Island Trader for 5 Stingrays.

[@3rduck735]

I was not expecting Xenoblade Chronicles music here, but Frontier Village really fits.

[@Autism_Forever]

This is such a pretty graphic you made as thumbnail ♥

[@kelcesar]

My first mastery was farming, because back then it was way more easier to get the xp from farming. but the foraging mastery was my second and I regret nothing. Using that totem on ginger island is like Christmas 😂

[@AstorEzequiel]

*TRAVIS MCELROY!?!?* That was a lovely surprise, I love the McElroy's content xDDD

[@andyl8055]

I’ve had lots and lots of golden boxes drop in the mines; combat is definitely the best way to get them.

[@XzoahX]

So I also want to point out that you can drink the mystic sap and it's almost a complete recovery item. And after a while, you'll be swimming in it.

[@LordEgilYGO]

Salmence busting out the Xenoblade OST? Whew, that is a deep cut, I'm impressed!

[@RevvieStarlight]

As someone that has been heavily getting into FFXIV that footage was a jumpscare LOL

[@appleschloss]

Well now im regretting not grabbing foraging yet!! I havw two skills unlocked so far and i did farming and mining. Foraging didnt seem so neat but now!

[@Dark_Link09]

New Sal vid! Yippie!

[@WyrmTimeBaby]

Travis McElroy casual mention?!

[@sarahadams7463]

I noticed that I tend to get a lot of mystery boxes (both kinds) when cutting down trees and I checked the wiki and it turns out that there’s a small drop chance for when you shake trees (3%) and when you hit trees with an axe (.5% per axe hit) . It’s not influenced by luck , so if you need mystery boxes on a bad luck day there you go. (Also panning gives you a 5% chance regardless of luck )

[@jeffreyblack666]

The chances listed are incorrect. They proceed through in a particular order, first the first set of 3 with those chances, and then separately the rest, with those chances but if it succeeds it stops. So it isnt' a 100% chance for the omnigeode. Instead it is a 100% chance for it if everything else fails. So I think it would be (but need to check order) 10% for golden coconut, 29.7% for taro tuber, 10% for artifact trove; then separate to that it would be 5% for a golden coconut, a 4.75% chance for mahogany seed, a 0.09% chance for wild bait, and then a 81.225% chance for an omnigeode.

[@tizio5669]

The absolute whiplash i got from seeing TOP holy shit

[@kanelovec4315]

I can now get the prismatic hat the desert trader sells. Could never get all the geodes.

[@crystal15686]

This was a great video !!

[@gaberobison680]

Mystic Trees need a major buff, my very first playthrough i had 2 mastery before year 3. I'm already basically done besides Ginger Island so the trees are too slow and not profitable enough or useful in crafting. Maybe remove Qi seasoning and make mystic syrup do what it does and make it available every 3 days

[@zachdanielsgaming]

Stingray trades for Mahogany seed at the Island Trader as well.

[@theclassygoose6384]

Salmence sounds exactly like mah dry bread

[@melimsah]

4:44 -- Okay, who told him real people watch these videos?? I'M definitely not real.

[@slwrabbits]

shhhh. I'm a rabbit. Not a real human.

[@complainer406]

Maybe the omni geode is 100% because one spot can drop multiples and so on average you get 1 omni geode each?

[@zing_zippers]

Yo, I choose foraging first, but mostly for the treasure totem. I need ancient fruit and other treasures

[@BRACE_The_Ace]

Can't wait to get this update on switch

[@Maurens1]

Did you mention the blue grass in another video? I'd like to know if it's worth using it

[@exantiuse497]

There is (or was, IDK if it has been patched) a trick that if you plant grass starters on the last day of winter it will spread like crazy when the season changes. That's a way to fill your fields with blue grass. Also if you use the new meadow farm it spawns blue grass naturally. Other than that i don't think it's worthwhile, the starter is really expensive and the animals will eat it before it spreads since it spreads slower than normal grass

[@Deudalaphon]

i had to double check i was watching a stardew video when the TOP footage came up... FFXIV jumpscare...

[@MegaMacX]

Hm... just noticed a notification about "Largemouth Bass Madness in the Mountain has begun" (i translated it from german like this) Cant find anything about that in the wiki(s), mentioned by any kind of KZbinr or the patchnotes for 1.6 It totally seems new to me. But when i arrived in the mountains, nothing really happens... the only Bass i was able to catch had a treasure though... likelyhood for largemouth bass didnt seemed to be improved, got mostly carp, like usual :D (It was Year 1 Spring 8th and it was raining)

[@evemeirelles]

white mage mentioned 👍

[@NoraNoita]

Forging Mastery. Master Forger.

[@Pehmokettu]

I had only one artifact missing when I finally unlocked the Treasure Totem and I got the missing item by just using 1 Totem. So I have not crafted more of them.

[@alias8378]

you can´t wear two lucky rings and the burglar ring. but combining one lucky ring with the burglar ring sounds interesting.

[@salmence100]

You can combine rings at the forge

[@Rais-Codex]

How about GMB Farming on the desert festival to also get that unique luck buff. I think that things may get silly reaaaal quick with that.

[@Ragetiger1]

Love using the treasure totem at Ginger Isle cause it gets that snake vertebrae out of the way quickly.

[@smoothwalrus9354]

Often on ginger Island I will get multiple omni geodes so maybe om average it's 1/artifact spot?

[@Happyworldshark]

Hello! I just gotta ask, is the next eisode of the STV expanded play-through coming back?

[@UserName-ei7dk]

I am a real people and I love your videos thank you.

[@erikabecerra5770]

Love this ❤ thank youuuuuu

[@qovro]

For hoeing artifact spots, is generous or archaeologist the better enchant?

[@Adeleclarkace]

Love the video!

[@MissRora]

The best? I mean, the mystic syrup is great for blue grass starter (recipe from Qi), but I wouldn't say it beats the Advanced Iridium Rod or fairy trinket. Especially true with the fish smoker being a thing.

[@88porpoise]

Those are going to depend on what you are doing at that point in the game. I would say that Farming is a clear top option in most cases. The Iridium Scythe and Animal Crackers are so good to have. Unless you are doing a very specific challenge run it is always going to be great to have. Mining, Fishing, and Combat are all going to be very good, arguably the best, in the right situation. But they could all also be at the bottom in other situations. Foraging is, in contrast, generally not going to be the top choice, but it is going to be a really good choice in the vast majority of cases.

[@EarthOnMars]

Sal, ik you're probably very busy but could you please consider posting some lp content? I've watched your LP from 3 years ago 3 times and am busy watching it for the fourth time 😶 (I watch at least 2 eps p/day)

[@KittyKitty701]

The way I hoard Magic rock candy

[@acrylicowo8866]

TRAV NATION

[@benrichetti1360]

With the treasure totem coating moss - is there a good way to get moss other than “go out on green rain day”? I’m flush with mystic syrup and hardwood, but have like 13 moss left as winter is starting.

[@88porpoise]

Plant a bunch of trees around moss trees? My Oak Resin farm provides a useful supply of moss with the few trees that got turned into moss trees.

[@the_rabidsquirel]

I'm a little confused by what the wiki says. On the moss page it says, "trees will have a 50% chance to receive a 10% boost to their moss growth chance if one of the following conditions are met:" the conditions being the tree is a green rain tree or has a green rain tree with moss on it within a 5x5. A green rain tree being one grown with a mossy seed, but excluding the fiddlehead fern variant. So from that it seems like the best moss farm is to just have a field of non-fiddlehead fern green rain trees then, right? Except the mossy seed page says, "for best results obtaining Moss, plant mossy seeds near one or more other wild trees." If the moss page is correct, then with nothing but green rain trees you can harvest all of their moss and still have the maximum growth boost. If the mossy seed page is correct, you have to have regular trees planted around green rain trees, and you have to leave the moss on the green rain trees. Either way, if you have a large tree tap farm, those will get mossy over time. While I haven't started my new playthrough yet, in an older save with some friends we occasionally play we've just had moss grow on all of our tree tap trees at once, and we finally got some moss in early spring year 3. About 80 moss from 60 total oak/maple/pine trees.

[@88porpoise]

@@the_rabidsquirel First, never trust a wiki with recent technical details, and take onler more technical details with a grain of salt. The broad strokes are probably right, but the nature of wikis lead to errors in specific details and can also cause poor communication of details. But it definitely seems that green rain trees spread moss faster and since it takes a long time to amass many green rain tree seeds, just sprinkle a few in with any stand of trees you intend to leave around (namely your tappers).

[@the_rabidsquirel]

@@88porpoise It definitely varies based on the wiki. The Stardew wiki I find is actually one of the better ones out there. However like you said it is still a recent update, so I don't expect everything there to be 100% accurate after only two months. Which... is precisely why I brought it up here. I was hoping someone could shine some light on what is correct.

[@TaylerBootz]

The treasure totem was useless by the time I got it. (Other than ginger island.)

[@Goddess_Aleu_White_Wolf]

Were you playing music from the original pokemon snap in the background???

[@things59]

Auto petter also from golden boxes

[@spam-el3ee]

Wait a minute... 4:15. Isn't it more profitable to simply sell the contents of Omni Geodes rather than trading them for Treasure Troves??

[@gamecavalier3230]

I'm trying to get a bunch of mystic trees for a huge mushroom log grove, and I'm actually more hung up on Acorns and Maple seeds than Mahoney Seeds. Does anyone have any tips for getting those in mass?

[@hueraiser]

Grow a grove of them on your farm and hoe up any seeds that appear every day. The regular trees only propagate on the farm, not in any other areas. Keep at it until you have enough. You could also have Woodskip ponds which has a chance to drop all of the regular tree seeds

[@Dog_843]

Hey is it normal to be in the regular mines then to get teleported to the quarry when you go down a ladder? It just happened to me

[@strawberrycoww]

2:45 for artifact spot spawn guide

[@ghostface477]

use a rabbits foot on what?? haha this game

[@Emmarstockwell]

I reached level 10 in foraging which I'm pretty sure is mastery it even gave me the option for the "powers" (I chose tracker) but I didn't get either of the recipes also I haven't found/seen a golden chest granted I don't fish much... lol do you have any idea why this is happening??

[@zinnialynn9757]

You need level 10 in all skills to start the Mastery process for any of them.

[@DevilinPink13]

I also already realized the % for artifacts from the wiki does not work In desert for example the golden mask is insanely common but the golden relic (that seems to be twice as common according to the wiki) is very rare

[@luminechan9066]

Is it worth to trade magic syrun to fairy dust the use it to make instant iridium Wines?

[@hanjibear]

I've been doing that a lot now I have an excess of syrup from my mystic trees, since I planted a bunch on ginger island 😊

[@marmotagamer09marmotagamer82]

Can you give any tip tô get more tree seeds?

[@Zaido714]

Guys how do I get the thing to play the music for the mermaid in ginger island