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Winter Days in Stardew Valley
What sets Stardew Valley from other games is the changing seasons that also come with different events, seasonal activities and collectibles. Stardew Valley has four seasons with Winter as the last one, ending the year with white and chilly days. Winter in Stardew Valley comes after Fall and is followed by Spring. Like any other season in Stardew Valley, Winter also lasts for 28 days.
What to Do in Winter
During the winter, it is a little sad to say that crops do not grow. That’s why it is important to have your winter preparations–filling your Silo with animal feeds. Although it is quite unfortunate, unable to produce farm goods, it would, in turn, give you a lot of time to engage yourself. With other exciting activities that can be done only or best during this season.
One that you should include in your activity list during Winter in Stardew Valley is digging up Artifact Spots. Which are much more common around this season. Aside from finding Artifacts and Lost Books, digging up Artifacts Spots in winter might yield Snow Yams and Winter Roots.
With the significantly reduced time for farming due to the halt in farm production. You can allot greater time to visit and explore venturesome places to gather items. Also, meet and fight monsters, and collect rare drops from them.
Enhance Fighting Skills
Irrefutably, skills are sharpened through various experiences. Winter in Stardew Valley is just the right season for you to hone your in-game combat skills by going to monster-nested places and put your fighting skills to test.
Go to Ginger Island
Ginger Island is a place in Stardew Valley filled with exhilarating quests and puzzles. The island might be deemed as a place for recreation. But, if what you’re looking for is some fighting experience, on the northern part of the island. The Volcano Dungeon is located where unique monsters with unique drops are present.
In Volcano Island, you can fight a Dwarfish Sentry, False Magma Cap, Hot Head, Lava Lurk, Magma Sprite, Magma Sparker, Magma Duggy, and Tiger Slime.
Go to Skull Cavern
If fighting monsters to increase your combat skills is what you are aiming for, then a trip to Skull Cavern should be on your list. Several monsters linger inside the cavern, maybe even enough to increase your combat skill by a level or two. Here, you can encounter an Armored Bug, Big Slime, Purple Slime, Lava Bat, Mummy, Serpent, Iridium Bat, Iridium Crab, Carbon Ghost Pepper Rex, and a Mutant Fly.
Go to Mines
Talk about fighting, the Mines, arguably, should be on the top of your list to explore to improve your combatting level. As you might already know, the Mines is made up of 120 floors or levels and upon proceeding to higher floors. So, you will meet a wider variety of monsters to fight.
Sometimes, a floor could be infested by slimes, bugs, or a mix of monsters and the only way to get through is by eliminating all of them. In that case, you could make significant progress in your combat level.
Forage and Expand Your Farmhouse
Other than enhancing your combat skills, exploring different locations also leaves room for a great foraging experience. Dangerous monsters could possibly drop one of the rarest items. Quests in particular places might also offer special rewards. These items could be necessary for you to upgrade your tools and expand your farmhouse.
Nevertheless, you could also forage items only found during the Winter without going to such troublesome places. For instance, the Nautilus Shell could be found at the Beach, exclusively in the Winter season. By simply tilling solid throughout Stardew Valley, you also have the chance to find a Winter Root and a Snow Yam. Crystal Fruit and Crocus can also be found either by the Railroad, Cindersap Forest, Mountain, Bus Stop, Backwoods, or Pelican Town. While Holly could be foraged upon exploring the same places except for the Railroad; it could also be obtained in the Secret Woods.
Finish Winter Foraging Bundle
While you’re at it, you might also want to slash out completing the Winter in Stardew Valley Foraging Bundle on your list. The Winter Foraging Bundle consists of the Winter Roots, Crocus, Snow Yam, and of Crystal Fruit. Upon finishing collecting the items from the bundle, you will get a reward of 30 Winter Seeds from the Crafts Room in the Community Center.
Plant Winter Seeds
Despite the temporary stoppage of agricultural growth during the Winter, there are still seeds you can plant and would definitely bloom during this agriculturally-challenged season. With the Winter in Stardew Valley items foraged such as the Crocus, Crystal Fruit, Snow Yam, and Winter Root, you could craft Winter Seeds that grow into winter forages, too. Each craft generates 10 Winter Seeds.
In case you do not have enough crops to craft a Winter Seed, it is available for purchase in the Traveling Cart which costs 100 to 1,000 gold. Also, if you happen to have a Seed Maker in hand, you could place Winter Root in it, yielding 1 to 3 Winter Seeds. On Saturdays, the Desert Trader is also offering it in exchange for 2 Spring Seeds.
It takes 7 days for the Winter Seeds to mature. This may sound quite funny but, mind you, winter seeds still require regular watering to grow. To lessen your worries, crows do not attack crops that are grown from Winter Seeds. So, you do not need to put up a scarecrow. If you happen to have a Botanist Profession, it is almost certain that iridium-quality crops would grow from your Winter Seeds.
Fish More
Since there are no crops to make money from, fishing is a worthwhile activity from which you can make a profit. Out of the 28 days of Winter, there might be a day when you don’t feel like fighting and strolling throughout Stardew Valley to look for resources. If such a day comes, you could consider going to the beach to catch some fish. You’ll be surprised by how much gold you could exchange for the fish you caught. Especially if you would spend the whole day fishing.
It is a great opportunity to catch seasonal fish that are only spotted during Winter. Such fish are Tuna, Sardine, Perch, Pike, Red Mullet, Herring, Squid, Sea Cucumber, Sturgeon, Tiger Trout, Lingcod, Albacore, Red Snapper, Halibut, Midnight Carp, and Glacierfish. Also, imagine how fantastic it would be to catch a legendary fish.
For sure, you wouldn’t want to miss the chance to ride the submarine and catch Night Market Fish which can only be caught during Winter in Stardew Valley 15 to 17. It will be such a shame to pass up the opportunity to spend a chilly night, warmed by the excitement to gloat at the peculiar creatures under the sea and catch the Midnight Squid, Spook Fish, or even a Blobfish.
Some of these fish, if not for making money, could be turned into a delish recipe. On top of that, spending more time fish-catching could definitely boost your fishing skills.
Attend Festival Events
Stardew Valley celebrates different kinds of festivals for different seasons. If you’re into interacting with people, watching ornaments, and enjoying festivities. Winter is the best-suited season for you since it holds the greatest number of festivals, with five days.
Festival of Ice
The first festival that would come in Winter is the Festival of Ice which takes place on the 8th day of Winter, held at the Cindersap Forest from 9 am to 2 pm. Festival of Ice, as the name suggests, features different ice works such as ice sculptures, snowmen, and igloos.
There is also an Ice Fishing Contest where you could display the fishing skills you had improved with your fishing adventures. By winning, you could receive a Barbed Hook, Dressed Spinner, a Magnet, and a Sailor’s Cap. But, if you happen to win the contest from the previous Winter, you can get 2,000 gold as your reward.
Night Market
The other 3 days of festival days–or should we say night–is the Night Market which happens on the 15th, 16th, and 17th day of Winter, as mentioned earlier. As it is a night market, several merchants would gather at the docks of the Beach to either offer items or a boat ride.
Some of the attractions which offer goods like the Desert Trader, Decoration Boat, Famous Painter Lupin, Magic Shop Boat, Shrouded Figure, and Traveling Cart are open from 5 pm to 2 am. The Fishing Submarine mentioned earlier which is ridden to catch fish is, on the other hand, available to passengers from 5 pm to 11 pm. While the Mermaid Boat where a mermaid appears and sings for the player is available between 5 pm to 12:30 am.
Feast of the Winter Star
On the latter part of the Winter, on the 25th day of Winter to be exact, a festival that circles around giving gifts take place. This is the last festival of the Winter, in fact of the entire year, since Winter is the last season of the year; and as they say, we save the best for last. This festival might be one of the most exciting events since it is a secret gift-giving event.
On the 18th day of Winter, a week beforehand, you will receive a letter from the mayor telling you to whom you would be giving a present. On the 25th, the event starts at 9 am and ends at 2 pm.
Work on Relationships
Winter, being the season for festivals, is a great opportunity for you to work on your relationships. If you got luck on your side, it might also be a chance for you to find a prospective spouse.
In the secret gift-giving event at the Feast of Winter Star, the number of friendship points will be worth 5x more than the actual point of the selected gift for your recipient. In that case, you need to be very careful in deciding what you should give. So, that you won’t jeopardize your relationship with the one you are giving the gift.
Other than the Feast of the Winter Star, there are other ways for you to make a progress in your relationship with other villagers that did not happen to be your receiver. Winter, alongside Summer, has the most number of birthdays. The celebrators of Winter are Krobus, Linus, Caroline, Sebastian, Harvey, Wizard, Evelyn, Leah, and Clint. So, make sure to pick the best gift for them, and eventually, make a significant leap in your friendship levels.
Visit Clint and Upgrade Farm Equipment
Again, the Winter season does not involve much farming. This is why it is the perfect time for you to visit Clint, the Blacksmith then upgrade your farming equipment so as the Spring comes. Your tools will be as good as new–all ready to hustle farming.
With the mineral ores you gathered from foraging into the mines. Clint could also upgrade your Axe and Pickaxe so the number of hits required to cut trees and remove rocks would be less. With the same material, he can also upgrade your Watering Can and Hoe. By doing so, you could water and till multiple plots of land for single use.
Remember that upgrading your tools will come in very handy. So, could get rid of the repetitive farming actions and therefore reduce the downtime.
Monitor your Artisan Goods
Selling artisanal goods is also an excellent way to make money besides fishing. By making such from the livestock and crops harvested from the previous season. The selling price, when compared to the selling price of the raw produce, multiplies. Because, they become more valuable with the time spent on making them.
That being said, it is an a-must task in winter to ensure that jars and kegs for your preserves are operating. Since most of such goods take some days to finish, it is important to keep monitoring them. So, you could fill them right away with other raw goods to craft.
Raise Slimes
Yes, slimes are enemies. But, who would have known that these slimy creatures could also be a source of income? In winter in Stardew Valley when you have a lot of time to do activities other than farming. Like, raising slime can be a quite peculiar but fun activity.
By obtaining the materials required to build a slime hutch. Also, you could hatch and raise up to 20 slimes in a single hutch. The slime hutch comes with 4 water troughs which are filled with water. After some time, the slimes would then start producing slime balls and petrified slimes. Which could be sold or used as an ingredient for some dishes.
Occasionally, the slimes could also drop Slime Eggs which will hatch into more slimes. Slime eggs can also be created by using 100 slimes in a Slime Egg-Press, coming in different colors. These eggs, if not for raising more slimes, could also be sold
