One of the most asked questions in the Stardew Valley community is who is the best NPC to marry? Well, unfortunately, there isn’t any simple answer to this question.
If you spend enough time on forums, you might notice that all of the opinions will be different. Everyone has a different marriage candidate chosen as the best NPC to marry.
Recommended Read: Best Ways to Make Money in Stardew Valley
Still, in this guide, we will look objectively at what these NPCs have to offer and will tell you which ones provide the most useful benefits in your struggle to become a millionaire.
If we were to choose the best NPC to marry based on the items they give you during marriage and how easy it would be to marry them, then Abigail, Alex, Elliot, Haley, Harvey, and Maru would be the best marriage candidates.
Table of Contents
- Who Can You Marry in Stardew Valley?
- Does it Matter Who You Marry in Stardew Valley?
- Who is the Best NPC to Marry in Stardew Valley?
Who Can You Marry in Stardew Valley?
There are 12 NPCs that you can marry in Stardew Valley. Six of them are male, and six are female. There is also an NPC that can become your roommate, which works relatively the same as marriage.
The Bachelors
Here are the male NPCs that you can marry in Stardew Valley:
- Alex
- Elliott
- Harvey
- Sam
- Sebastian
- Shane
The Bachelorettes
Here are the female NPCs that you can marry in Stardew Valley:
- Abigail
- Emily
- Haley
- Leah
- Maru
- Penny
Roommates
The only NPC that you can get as a roommate in Stardew Valley is Krobus. In general, this will work the same way a normal marriage would, without any ceremony.
Does it Matter Who You Marry in Stardew Valley?
In theory, it does not matter who you choose to marry in Stardew Valley. All marriage candidates do the same things to help you on the farm, and they are basically reskins if you were to ignore all of their dates and backstory.
However, one thing that makes them different is the gifts that they give you on days when they stay at home. During those days, all of them will have a special range of gifts that they can give you, and some are more useful than others.
Unfortunately, most players are already millionaires by the time they get married, so most items they receive from their significant other are relatively useless.
Still, the best things that you can get are food that gives a lot of Energy and buffs. This is why we have selected those marriage candidates as the best NPCs to marry in Stardew Valley.
They offer a large range of food items that give both Energy and buffs very often. Though the other candidates also give a few food items that give buffs, those are irregular.
Another factor that is important when deciding which NPCs are the best to marry is how easy it is to find them and how easy it is to get their loved gifts.
We have not considered their story, events, or cutscene for this guide, as that is all about personal preference. Some might consider Shane, for example, an alcoholic slob, while others love his redemption story and wish to be there with him all the way.
So, here are all the best NPCs to marry in Stardew Valley, in order of quality, and why they have gotten this achievement:
Who is the Best NPC to Marry in Stardew Valley?
These are the best NPCs to marry in Stardew Valley:
- Maru
- Harvey
- Haley
- Elliott
- Abigail
- Alex
You can find more information on each of them below.
Maru
Many players tend to dislike Maru since she might be considered boring. She likes to dump all sorts of information on the player and not many people appreciate that.
However, she will give you the best gifts out of all the marriage candidates by far. There are three situations when she might give you a gift, on rainy mornings, on rainy nights, and on days when she doesn’t leave the house.
On rainy mornings, she can give you a Warp Totem: Farm, Quality Fertilizer, Refined Quartz, a Gate, or a Bomb. On rainy nights, she can give you a Rice Pudding, Blueberry Tart, Cookies, or Chocolate Cake.
On the days she spends indoors, she can give you a Cherry Bomb, a Bomb, a Fried Mushroom, or Crab Cakes.
As you can see, she either gives really good food items, a Warp Totem, or Bombs. All of the gifts that Maru gives are incredibly useful and you will gladly accept them, even in the late game, as Bombs will always be useful.
When it comes to gifts that you can give her, she loves Cauliflower and Strawberries. So, if you properly mobilize during the first Spring, you should have enough Cauliflower to give her until she marries you. Her birthday is also Summer 10, so you can quickly max out her hearts.
Her schedule is also really simple to follow, as she either works at the Clinic, sits on a bench south of the Saloon, or sits on a bench east of the Community Center.
Harvey
Harvey is another character that players might not like since many consider him to be “too old,” however, he is probably the second-best marriage candidate in Stardew Valley when it comes to objective benefits.
Though he won’t offer you any bombs, Harvey will give you the best breakfast package possible. Every morning when he stays indoors, he will offer you a Complete Breakfast, which increases your maximum Energy by 50 and Farming by 2 for 7 minutes.
On rainy nights, Harvey can give you a Salmon Dinner, Crispy Bass, Fried Eel, Carp Surprise, or Vegetable Medley.
Harvey is also incredibly easy to romance, as he loves Wine. Since you probably want to make a lot of money in Stardew Valley, you probably have a shed full of Kegs, ready to make a lot of Wine.
It is also extremely easy to find Harvey, as he spends most of his time at the Clinic. Just head over and check the counter. He should be there almost every day.
Haley
Haley tends to get very extreme opinions from the fandom. Either you hate her since she can be really mean, or you love her. Either way, she is easy to romance, has a simple schedule, and will give you a lot of buff foods as presents.
During rainy mornings, Haley can give you a Cookie, Blueberry Tart, Pancakes, Poppyseed Muffin, or Maple Bar. During rainy nights, she can give you a Chowder, Eggplant Parmesan, Bean Hotpot, or Parsnip Soup.
Also, on days when she doesn’t leave the house, she can give you a Fried Egg, Omelet, Hashbrowns, Pancakes, or Bread for breakfast.
To romance Haley in Stardew Valley, your best gift options are Sunflowers and Coconuts. If you manage to quickly repair the Bus, you can get enough Coconuts to romance her in a season. Otherwise, you can wait until Summer and plant some Sunflowers to marry her.
As to her schedule, she spends most of her days next to the fountain at the Community Center. If she isn’t there, she is south of Marnie’s Ranch taking pictures.
Elliott
Elliott can be harder to romance in Stardew Valley since his schedule mainly revolves around him spending time inside his house. However, he loves gifts that aren’t that hard to procure. He also offers good food as gifts.
On mornings when he doesn’t leave the house, including rainy mornings, Elliott will give you Coffee. Coffee is a really good food item since it will increase your Speed for 1 minute and a half. On rainy nights, Elliott can gift you a Baked Fish, Fried Calamari, Chowder, or Fish Stew.
There are three types of items that you can use to romance Elliott quickly: Duck Feather, Lobster, or Pomegranate. You can get Duck Feathers by just raising Ducks and increasing their friendship hearts.
The Lobster can be obtained from Crab Pots and Pomegranate from Pomegranate Trees. Though Pomegranate Trees can only be grown during Fall, you can also plant them in your Greenhouse.
He spends most of his days at home and leaves at around 12 PM. That is the best moment to catch up with him and give him whatever gift you decide would work best.
Abigail
Abigail is one of the most popular romance options in Stardew Valley. There are many reasons why people like Abigail, but one reason we consider her to be one of the best NPCs to marry in Stardew Valley is the great gifts she will give you once you are engaged.
On rainy mornings, Abigail can offer you a Solar Essence, Bat Wing, Void Essence, Amethyst, or Fire Quartz. On rainy nights, she will give you Parsnip Soup, Tom Kha Soup, Trout Soup, Chowder, or Lobster Bisque.
However, the best things that she can give you come when she doesn’t leave the house: Cherry Bomb, a Bomb, Fried Mushroom, or Crab Cakes. She gives you one of these items to help you with your adventures.
Well, the gifts that she gives on normal days when she doesn’t leave the house are some of the best you can get from a spouse.
There are two gifts that Abigail loves that you can give her in the first two seasons: Pufferfish and Amethyst. The Amethyst is relatively easy to get if you spend time in the Mines. In the Summer, you can catch Pufferfish at the Beach.
When it comes to her schedule, she spends most of her days next to JojaMart. However, you can usually find her at her house in the kitchen.
Alex
Alex is a really good marriage candidate but requires the worst possible loved gifts. Luckily, he spends most of his time in one spot. Unfortunately, the spot changes each season.
On mornings when he doesn’t leave the house, inducing rainy mornings, Alex can give you an Omelet, Hashbrowns, or Pancakes. On rainy nights, he can give you a Survival Burger, Dish O’ The Sea, Fried Eel, Crispy Bass, or Baked Fish.
Unfortunately, the only gifts that Alex loves are Complete Breakfast and Salmon Dinner. Both of these dishes require a lot of effort to make. This is one of the reasons why Alex is at the bottom of this list. Though the food he provides is good, it will take a long time to get to marry him.
When it comes to his schedule, during Spring and Fall, he usually just stays outside his house. During the Summer, you can find him on the Beach in the morning and at the Ice Cream Stand in the afternoon. During Winter, he will be at the Spa.
That’s everything you need to know about the best NPC to marry in Stardew Valley!
Have any input or suggestions for this guide? Let us know in the comment section below.
