Stardew Valley has a lot of different skills that affect your experience in Pelican Town. From Combat to Mining, there are many things that you can do to make money and have fun in this farming simulator.
As you progress to a higher level in each one of the skills, you will have to choose between different professions that give you bonuses. Some of them will make your experience a million times better, while some of them won’t really affect your playthrough.
Recommended Read: What Is the Best Place to Fish in Stardew Valley?
In theory, all professions are useful and will allow you to make more money playing the way you like to play Stardew Valley. But, without realizing it, ConcernedApe made some of the professions a lot better than others.
Here is a list of the best professions you can choose for each skill (Farming, Mining, Foraging, Fishing, and Combat) in Stardew Valley.
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Best Profession for Each Skill in Stardew Valley
There are several professions to choose from for each skill in Stardew Valley. Here are the best ones to choose in each one:
Best Farming Profession
The first Farming professions you can choose from at level 5 are:
- Rancher
- Tiller
The Rancher profession will increase the sell price of animal products by 20%. Though this might sound good if you love raising animals, it isn’t as useful as the second profession.
Tiller will increase the sell price of crops by 10%. Considering how many crops you can actually grow and how good the level 10 professions after Tiller are, this choice is a no-brainer.
Once you get to level 10 Farming, you will either have to choose:
- Coopmaster / Shepherd (Rancher)
- Artisan / Agriculturist (Tiller)
The Coopmaster profession will allow you to befriend Coop animals faster and will lower the incubation time for eggs by half.
The Shepherd profession will let you befriend Barn animals quicker and will make Sheep produce Wool twice as fast.
Artisan is probably one of the best professions in Stardew Valley, as it increases the sell price of artisan goods by 40%.
The Agriculturist profession will only make crops grow 10% faster than normal.
The best Farming professions in Stardew Valley are Tiller and Artisan. Tiller isn’t necessarily an amazing profession, but it allows you to get Artisan. The 40% increase in sell price for items such as Truffle Oil, Wine, Juice, Ale, Mead, Cheese, Honey, and Mayonnaise.
This huge increase in price will allow you to make a huge amount of money easily. The Artisan profession is by far the most useful profession in Stardew Valley.
If you chose the Rancher profession, then Shepherd might be the best final choice for Farming. Barn animals are much better than Coop animals since they produce much more expensive goods.
Best Mining Profession
The first Mining professions you can choose from at level 5 are:
- Miner
- Geologist
The Miner profession will give you one extra ore per mining vein. Since most items in Stardew Valley require metal bars to craft, ores are actually probably the most important resource in the game.
To make items such as Sprinklers, you will need a lot of ores. So, Miner is up there as one of the best professions in Stardew Valley.
Geologist will give you a 50% chance to get gems in pairs when mining gem nodes. Though this might sound nice, it isn’t even close to how good the Miner profession is.
Once you get to level 10 Mining, you will either have to choose:
- Blacksmith / Prospector (Miner)
- Excavator / Gemologist (Geologist)
The Blacksmith profession will increase the sell price of metal bars by 50%. Though this would allow you to make a lot of money, most players don’t actually sell metal bars.
They usually use them to craft or upgrade things, making this profession subpar.
The Prospector profession will increase the chance to find Coal by 100%. This is going to be very useful, as you need Coal for absolutely everything. Want to make metal bars? Coal. Want a Seed Maker or a Bee House? Coal.
Excavator doubles the chance of finding Geodes. Since you have to choose Miner to feel good about your time invested in Mining, this profession isn’t really that interesting.
The Gemologist profession will increase the value of Gems by 30%. If you like the Geologist profession and want to continue onward on the same path, then this is the right profession for you.
The best Mining professions in Stardew Valley are Miner and Prospector. These two professions go very well together, allowing you to get the most out of mining.
Best Foraging Profession
The first Foraging professions you can choose from at level 5 are:
- Forester
- Gatherer
The Forester profession will give you extra 25% Wood each time you cut down a tree. Wood is extremely easy to get and you can usually buy it in the late game. Also, both of the professions for a Forester at level 10 are horrible.
Gatherer will give you a 20% chance of getting double the amount of a foraged item. By itself, the Gatherer profession sounds horrible. However, once you see what you can get at level 10, you will always choose it.
Once you get to level 10 Foraging, you will either have to choose:
- Lumberjack / Tapper (Forester)
- Botanist / Tracker (Gatherer)
The Lumberjack profession will give you a chance to get Hardwood for every type of tree that you cut down. Unfortunately, Hardwood is one of the most useless resources in Stardew Valley.
The Tapper profession will increase the sell price of Syrups by 25%. Though that might sound nice to some, Syrups aren’t anyone’s main source of income.
Botanist is up there as one of the best professions in Stardew Valley, as it will assure that all of the foraged items that you pick up are always of the highest possible quality. This also applies to Truffles.
The Tracker profession will allow you to see where all forageable items are around you.
The best Foraging professions in Stardew Valley are Gatherer and Botanist. If you combine these two professions, you can make millions out of Pigs.
With the Gatherer profession, you will have a chance to get two Truffles when you pick up one, and the Botanist will make sure that all of them are iridium quality.
With the Artisan profession as well, you can easily get the Perfection ending.
Best Fishing Profession
The first Fishing professions you can choose from at level 5 are:
- Fisher
- Trapper
The Fisher profession will increase the sell price of fish by 25%. This can be a really good choice if you are someone that likes fishing and catching a lot of fish.
Trapper will allow you to craft Crab Pots for a lot fewer resources than you normally would. If you are someone that prefers fishing passively, then this is the right profession for you.
Once you get to level 10 Fishing, you will either have to choose:
- Angler / Pirate (Fisher)
- Mariner / Luremaster (Trapper)
The Angler profession increases the price of fish by 50% (does not add up with the 25% from Fisher). Again, if you are someone that enjoys fishing, then this profession will make you a lot of money.
The Pirate profession will double the chance of finding treasure while fishing. This is an amazing choice that will allow you to get some of the best equipment in the game very early in Stardew Valley.
Mariner will make sure that you don’t get trash from the Crab Pots anymore. With this profession, you will have enough fish for sashimi for days.
The Luremaster profession will allow you to use Crab Pots without bait.
The best Fishing professions in Stardew Valley are Fisher and Angler. Fish themselves are a gold mine if you actually like spending time with the fishing minigame.
However, this is the only moment where we can’t say for sure that those are the best professions. All of the Fishing professions are actually really good. It mostly depends on your type of gameplay.
If you like fishing, then Angler is the way to go. If you don’t care about Fishing that much, then Luremaster is the perfect choice.
Best Combat Profession
The first Combat professions you can choose from at level 5 are:
- Fighter
- Scout
The Fighter profession will increase the damage you deal by 10% and give you +15 extra HP.
Fighting is probably one of the worst aspects of Stardew Valley, so the Fighter profession might just be one of the best choices, as it keeps things simple.
Scout will increase critical chance by 50%. Though you might think that sounds good, it is extremely horrible. Since most weapons have around a 2% critical chance, it means that this profession will get that up to 3%. So, never pick this profession unless you want Acrobat.
Once you get to level 10 Combat, you will either have to choose:
- Brute / Defender (Fighter)
- Acrobat / Desperado (Scout)
The Brute profession increases the damage you deal by another 15%, stacking with the 10% from Fighter. Again, if you want things to be simple when it comes to Combat, choose this.
The Defender profession will give you +25 HP. This is the worst profession in all of Stardew Valley. You do not need the extra health.
Acrobat will cut the cooldown of special moves in half. This is a very interesting and fun profession that could be worth it if you didn’t have to get Scout first.
The Desperado profession will make critical strikes stronger. Absolutely horrible profession.
The best Combat professions in Stardew Valley are Fighter and Brute. The whole point of Combat is to just finish the enemies off so you can get to mining. So, choose the professions that make the process faster.
That’s everything you need to know about the best profession for each skill in Stardew Valley!
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