There are a lot of villagers inStardew Valley, with some giving valuable gifts at higher friendship levels. Overall, it’s a good idea to befriend every single resident of the valley, but some are best to have as a friend earlier in the game, especially if you are still getting settled.
Here, we are going to take a look at the best villagers to befriend first. This will include what the benefits of friendship are, as well as some key gifts that you can give to the NPC in order to actually increase your friendship. Remember, you can only give an NPC two gives a week, so make them count!
Updated June 10, 2025 by Jacqueline Zalace:Still looking for the best people to be friends with in Stardew Valley? We’ve updated this list with more information on all the highlighted NPCs, as well as added two more people for you to get friendly with.
Around his tent/the mountain lake
Best Gifts To Give:
First up, we have Linus. This misunderstood resident of the valley is very easy to give gifts to, as he loves all Universal Loves in addition to the five gifts listed above. If you develop a friendship with Linus, he will provide you withvarious fish-based dishesas well as the Sashimi recipe.
Once you reach a four-heart friendship with Linus, he will send you the recipe for Wild Bait. This is a unique bait that gives you a chance to catch two fish at the same time. It goes without saying that this is a very good recipe to learn.
9Caroline
Most Common Location To Find (Spring Year One)
Inside home (at Pierre’s General Store) or standing in the plaza
Looking togrow your tea empire? Look no further than Caroline, who provides the recipe for tea saplings once you reach two hearts with her. The ingredients used to make this are incredibly simple; you just need five fiber and five wood.
With the tea sapling learned, you can grow tea bushes on your farm, adding a new money-making method. Like most other NPCs in Stardew Valley, she can also mail recipes to you at higher friendship levels.
Best Gifts To Give
The Dwarf is an interesting NPC, as you won’t be able to meet them right away. Instead, you will first need to break a rock leading to the right-hand side of the Mines. After that, you will still need to obtain four Dwarvish Scrolls in exchange for the Dwarvish Translation Guide. With this, you canfinally speak and give gifts to the Dwarf.
While befriending the Dwarf isn’t essential to purchasing items from them, we strongly suggest breaking the rock and seeking out the scrolls. This unlocks their shop, where you may buy important items like bombs, the Dwarvish Safety Manual, and the Big Stone Chest recipe.
Always in Tower!
The Wizard only has two tiers of friendship rewards. If you have any friendship greater than zero, then he can send Fire Quartz, Frozen Tears, Jade, or Purple Mushrooms. These are all valuable, but the real star of the show is access to the Wizard’s basement.
Once you reach a four-heart friendship, you can enter his basement and use the Shrine of Illusions. This allows you tochange your appearance for just 500g. If you are unhappy with your appearance, or just like to change looks based on the season, be sure to befriend the Wizard.
At home, behind the counter
At General Store on Mondays and Tuesdays
Best Gives To Give:
Marnie owns the ranch directly south of the farm, and sells some important items. Unfortunately, it seems like every time you seek her out, she’s gone! Thankfully, with a friendship greater than zero, Marnie has a chance to send you 30 Hay in the mail.
This comes in handy if you raise a lot of animals on your farm and don’t have your silo stocked up yet. With a higher friendship, the chances of her sending Hay increase.
Inside or outside the Fish Shop
Willy is a simple man; he loves fishing and that’s pretty much all. While his friendship-based gifts may not be the most valuable, he does provide you with four recipes, which isessential to getting 100 percent completion.
With nine hearts of friendship, you may obtain the recipes for Lobster Bisque, Fish Stew, Escargot, and Chowder. Obviously, all four of these recipes are fish-based!
Behind counter of General Store
If only there was a villager that sent you money. Wait, there is! With a friendship greater than zero, Pierre will have a chance to send you 250g or more. The chances of this occurring increase with higher friendship, giving you a very good reason to make friends with this shop owner.
Aside from that, Pierre can also send you the recipe for Blueberry Tarts at a three-heart friendship. This isn’t too extraordinary, but the main appeal of befriending Pierre is the free money.
At the museum on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays
Standing next to the tree west of Marnie’s Ranch
In the town square
These two NPCs are bundled together because you need to befriend each to get Spring Onion Mastery. With both Jas and Vincent at an eight-heart friendship, you can trigger a cutscene in the Cindersap Forest that provides the mastery.
With it, the selling price of Spring Onions will increase five times. This means that a base-quality onion will sell for 40g rather than the measly 8g price it originally went for. While 40g isn’t too great, you may get up to 80g if you sell Iridium-quality Spring Onions.
At home
In Saloon (working at nights)
If you want to become a fashion icon in Stardew Valley, then Emily is the NPC to befriend! While you don’t need to have high friendship in order to use her sewing machine, she does give related gifts.
With a friendship higher than zero (which is easy to reach!), Emily can gift you cloth and wool. Early into the game, you may struggle to get your hands on these items. Additionally, Emily provides the recipe for Salad at friendship level three, which is liked by everyone except Willy, Leo, and Krobus. This meal is relatively simple to make, so it’s a great gift to give to others.
In Saloon (every night)
Last but not least, we have Shane. Overall, Shane has a complex personality that many are drawn too. His friendship cutscenes allow you to experience his character development, which is quite heartwarming.
This alone is a great reason to befriend Shane, but he also sends you things like Pizza and Pepper Poppers in the mail. With friendship level three, he’ll also teach you the recipe for Pepper Poppers, which is a great meal that provides a farming and speed buff.
