You must have noticed the Cave, right? If they haven’t, players new to Stardew Valley will soon notice the empty cave on their farm, which seems to have no purpose. No doubt many will have completely forgotten about this place, that is until they earn themselves 25,000g and get a visitor to their farm. Demetrius is his name, and he’s interested in doing some research on your farm, but it requires you to make a permanent choice: Do you want Mushrooms in your cave, or Fruit Bats? Being permanent, this is actually quite an important choice, so let’s weigh up the options shall we?
Mushroom Cave Explained
Should you decide to pick the Mushroom Cave option, Demetrius will set up 6 boxes in your cave, from which Mushrooms will consistently spawn. There are 5 different types that can spawn here; common mushrooms, morels, chanterelles, red mushrooms and purple mushrooms. This is a great option for those that love indulging in combat and exploration in Stardew, because the mushrooms are involved in some great recipes that restore health and energy, specifically the Life Elixir. These can be difficult to track down outside of your own cave, consistently at least, so if you’re looking for a fast track to health and energy restoration, this is the choice for you. It’s worth noting too that the community centre requires some of these mushrooms, so it can make life easier there too.
Mushroom Cave Pros
- Can spawn all 5 mushroom types.
- Great access to healing items, especially the Life Elixir.
- Can spawn the rare Purple Mushroom.
Mushroom Cave Cons
- Obvious limited amounts of mushrooms can spawn at once.
- The types that spawn is random, so you may not get the one you need.
- You can only ever get normal quality mushrooms here.
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Fruit Bat Cave Explained
As the name suggests, choosing this option will see fruit bats move into your cave. Well, we say fruit bats, but what you essentially get is a cave that gradually fills with fruit as a result of bats, probably. Either way, what you’ll find in here is a random selection of fruits that are pulled from the Spring, Summer and Autumn selection of those that come from either trees or foraging. As you may or may not know, the majority of the villagers enjoy receiving fruit as a gift, so what you have here is a ready made gift box that continues to spawn them! It’s also worth noting that collecting these fruits also raises your Foraging skill, and even takes any bonus skills into account, meaning you can pick up higher quality versions or even double the amount!
Fruit Bat Cave Pros
- Great early game access to fruit from fruit trees without the expense of buying them.
- Good gifts for villagers
- Interacts with the Foraging Skill, including bonuses!
- Fruits can be used for the community centre bundles.
Fruit Bat Cave Cons
- Usefulness tails off as the game goes on as you have access to more gold and once the community centre is completed.
- With access to more skills you will be able to craft/collect loved gifts for villagers, negating the need for as much fruit.
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Choosing Mushrooms or Fruit Bats
Whilst we enjoy switching things up between saves, we generally go for the Fruit Bat Cave. This opens up some great early game opportunities via the community centre, and quickly raising villager friendship points can gain you access to some great things very early on. Mushrooms on the other hand, can be gathered easily elsewhere as you explore, and whilst they can be used to create some very good health and energy restoring items, this can also be achieved with plenty of other recipes.
Like everything in Stardew Valley there really is no right answer. You’re not going to miss out on any rare mushrooms or fruit, just make your life a little easier in one of these directions. Go with what feels best for you in the end and have fun with it!
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