Stardew Valley, developed by Eric “ConcernedApe” Barebone, is a role-playing simulation game released last February 2016. There are tons of things to do in Stardew Valley, including farming, mining, foraging, fishing, crafting, and many more! So, you have decided that you need a profession to further your skills in Stardew Valley, and you have probably realized that there are multiple professions available in the game. Here is a guide for Stardew Valley: Forester Or Gatherer
A choice between a Forester or Gather will eventually appear as you level up your Foraging skill. It may be confusing at first, and it will become harder to choose once you know that the profession will branch out to better professions as your level progresses.
What Should You Choose?
It really depends on what you focus on when advancing in the game. You will benefit significantly from the Forester profession when you prefer collecting wood. On the other hand, the Gatherer profession will be the better choice when you spend most of your time hunting for foraged items.
However, the Gatherer profession will be better in the long run because of the skills you will achieve as you progress further into the game. If you want to know more about these skills, continue reading because this guide will further explain all the possible choices for both professions in Stardew Valley.
Forester Profession
You will gain 25% more wood when you chop trees by choosing Forester. This profession is useful for building more facilities around your farm, like fences, barns, coops, and cabins. If you need a lot of wood, then a Forester will be a great choice as a profession.
After leveling up to 10 with the Forester skill, you will have the choice to choose whether to achieve the Lumberjack or Tapper skill.
Lumberjack Skill
If you choose to have the Lumberjack skill, all trees will have the chance to drop a rare resource, hardwood. It is originally obtainable by chopping down mahogany trees, large stumps, and a large log. Hardwood is used to build a stable, upgrade your farmhouse, and craft several recipes like the cask and cheese press.
Tapper Skill
On the other hand, the tapper skill will give you a 25% boost for all the syrup products made using the tool. Maple syrup, oak resin, pine tar, sap, common mushroom, red mushroom, and purple mushroom are all the products you can make using the tapper tool. If you want a more lucrative profession, the tapper skill will be a great choice.
Which Is Better Out of the Two?
The tapper skill can generate insane amounts of money by producing a lot of syrup. However, hardwood, which is used for crafting items and buildings, is an extremely valuable item. That is why the Lumberjack skill is the best choice if you are going with the wood path in the earlier parts of the game
Gatherer Profession
Imagine having the chance to find two horseradishes at the same time. That is what it feels like to be a Gatherer. If you like finding foraged items, this profession will be perfect for you because it will grant you a 20% chance to double harvest. Now you can have additional items for crafting or eating!
If you have reached the last level (10) of the Gatherer profession, you will have the choice to become a Botanist or Tracker.
Botanist Skill
Arguably the best skill out of all the professions in this list. By having the Botanist skill, all the items you harvest will always have the highest quality, and in this way, your inventory will be filled with gold or iridium items!
Quality is an essential aspect in Stardew Valley because you can sell these items for a higher price or eat the food and regenerate an insane amount of health and energy. If you want to get the best food quality and have a lucrative lifestyle by selling items, then the Botanist profession would be perfect for you!
Tracker Skill
Tracker is also a pretty helpful profession. By choosing this skill, arrows will appear on the map that show the locations of forageable items, and it will be useful if you want to find rare food, like the snow yams or more artifacts that you can donate to the museum. If you are having a hard time finding artifact spots, this profession is the best one for you!
Which Is Better Out of the Two?
Some might say that the Tracker profession is a worthless skill, but it is not entirely true. Opting for the Tracker skill will definitely help you find valuable items around Stardew Valley. However, it is highly recommended to choose the Botanist skill because the gold and iridium items that you can produce will be more advantageous in the long run.
As mentioned previously, whether you prefer collecting wood or hunting for foraged items, the profession you will choose should ultimately fall down on your preference. But hear me out, the Botanist skill under the Foraging profession will be more useful in the long run because of the iridium items that it will provide.
I would not go into specifics, but you can always change your profession in the later parts of the game, though! So choose what skill you need the most in the present part of the game.
