Stardew Valley: How The Friendship Point System Works

Stardew Valley Friendship Guide: Maximizing Your Relationships

Building strong relationships is key to thriving in Stardew Valley's charming Pelican Town. This guide details how to boost your friendship levels with villagers, covering everything from daily interactions to special events. While the core mechanics remain the same after the 1.6 update, a few additions are noted below.

The Heart System

Access your relationship status with each NPC via the in-game menu's heart tab. Each heart represents 250 friendship points. Reaching heart milestones unlocks special events, mail, and dialogue options. However, the heart meter only tells part of the story.

Earning Friendship Points

Gaining a single heart requires accumulating 250 friendship points. Several actions influence your friendship levels:

Daily Interactions

• Talking: A simple conversation usually earns +20 points. If the villager is busy, you'll get +10. Daily interaction prevents friendship decay (-2 points per day). Giving a bouquet increases the decay to -10 points per day; neglecting a spouse results in a -20 point decrease.
• Bulletin Board Deliveries: Completing a delivery adds +150 points with the recipient.

Gifting

Gift preferences vary, but point values are consistent:

• Loved: +80 points
• Liked: +45 points
• Neutral: +20 points
• Disliked: -20 points
• Hated: -40 points

Gifts given on the Feast of the Winter Star are worth 5x the points, while birthday gifts are worth 8x.

Special Gifts

Stardrop Tea is a game-changer. It grants a massive +250 points (one heart) per gift. On birthdays and the Feast of the Winter Star, this triples to three hearts. You can even give it after reaching the usual gift limits (two per week, one per day). Find it via the Prize Machine, Golden Fishing Chests, the Helper's Bundle, or from the raccoon for completing advanced requests.

Movie Nights

The movie theater offers another avenue for friendship building. Present a movie ticket (+200 points for a loved movie, +100 for a liked movie, 0 for a disliked movie) and concessions (+50 points for a loved snack, +25 for a liked snack, 0 for a disliked snack).

Conversations and Dialogue Choices

Conversations offer opportunities to gain (+10 to +50 points) or lose friendship points. Heart Events can significantly impact friendship (+/- 200 points). Choose responses carefully.

Boosting Friendship Gain

Acquire the Friendship 101 book (Prize Machine, Year 3 Bookseller, 20,000g). This grants a permanent 10% bonus to all friendship-increasing interactions.

Festivals and Events

• Flower Dance: Dancing with an NPC (4 hearts or higher) grants +250 points.
• Luau: Contribute to the community soup for friendship gains or losses based on the soup's quality.
• Community Center (Bulletin Board Bundles): Completing these bundles awards +500 points (two hearts) with each non-dateable villager.

By following these strategies, you'll be well on your way to forming meaningful relationships in Stardew Valley. Remember that consistent effort and thoughtful actions are key to unlocking the full potential of your friendships.