For a peaceful, relaxing farming simulator, Stardew Valley has a surprising amount of combat. Even if players aren't into the fighting side of the game, chances are they'll need to tackle it in some form to gain necessary materials in the Mine, so it's worth mastering the art of slaying monsters in Stardew Valley.

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Monsters get tougher in deeper layers of the Mine, and sometimes advanced tricks and tips are required to get to the next stage. The strategic use of certain recipes, items, and tactics can make clearing areas much easier. A quick note on spoilers: there are some events that happen later in the game, which we'll talk about briefly, so new players may need to tread carefully.

9 Get Cooking

Utilizing good food recipes won't just help to heal during a long session in the Mine. Decent recipes will give players a boost, depending on what they choose to cook. Going in with buffs from food will make slaying trickier enemies much easier. Good recipes include:

• Crab Cakes: +1 speed, +1 defense, +225 energy, +101 health
• Eggplant Parmesan: +1 mining, +3 defense, +175 energy, +78 health
• Fried Mushroom: +2 attack, +135 energy, +60 health
• Pumpkin Soup: +2 defense, +2 luck, +200 energy, +90 health
• Roots Platter: +3 attack, +125 energy, +56 health

At the start of each season, it's a good idea to plan ahead in terms of which recipes players will need if they want to go deeper into the Mine.

8 Enchanting Weapons

Weapon forging is a powerful tool, but can only be used once players have gained access to Ginger Island. Reaching Level 10 in the Volcano Dungeon will open up the Forge, which can give weapons all sorts of bonuses, including improved knock back, weapon speed, critical hit damage, and more.

As well as forging, players can enchant their weapons for special bonuses. These cost a decent amount (1 Prismatic Shard and 20 Cinder Shards) and there's a catch: the enchantments are randomized, so there's an element of luck involved. Players can pay 1 Prismatic Shard to pick a new enchantment if they don't like the one they pulled out. Try to hold out for Crusader. This adds a whopping 50% more damage to mummies, skeletons, ghosts, and void spirits. Well worth the cost of a shard or two.

7 Get A Warrior Ring

The strategic use of powerful rings in Stardew Valley will make a huge difference to players, especially if they want to tackle harder enemies. The Warrior Ring is an interesting one: it can give the player the Warrior Energy buff. This can be triggered by slaying a monster and can last for up to 5 seconds.

While it won't work every time, it is powerful. Warrior Energy gives the player +10 for attacks, which is pretty good. The crafting recipe for this is unlocked after the player reaches level 4 in combat, making it a decent ring to craft fairly early into the game. In tricky situations, it can make a big difference.

6 Know Your Enemy

There are many monsters in Stardew Valley, from the slimes encountered in the very earliest levels of the mines to mummies, skeletons, and ghosts. Each enemy behaves differently and may require more than just the 'hack-and-slash' method. For example, Grubs will start to flash when they receive critical damage, bursting suddenly into Moths, which are much more of a pain to kill. They need to be dispatched quickly and singled out to avoid the player becoming overwhelmed.

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Mummies, meanwhile, require a whole different strategy. They'll collapse into bandages when knocked down but will get back up again if the player doesn't throw a bomb on them straight away. Unlike Grubs, the player can safely attack a few Mummies at once, as it's more effective to use one bomb to dispatch two or three of them.

5 Get In With The Guild

It's a good idea to help out at The Guild by completing missions. They're usually pretty straightforward (kill 1000 Slimes, defeat 125 Cave Insects, etc.), but they offer excellent rewards, including rings, which are very useful.

Crucially, the shop here offers some excellent weapons and armor, including some very cool and powerful swords. Players will unlock stronger weapons the deeper they go into the mines, so don't forget to check back from time to time to see if the new items are worth buying.

4 Don't Forget To Block

Blocking is really important. While it won't hold the monsters off forever, it will give players the chance to back off if they are entering an area overrun with enemies, and is a good strategy if players want to separate one enemy from the others (for example, if players want to pick off one Grub at a time before they can hatch into Moths).

Blocking not only stops enemies from being able to hurt the player but also deals damage to monsters at the same time. It works with any sword.

3 Critical Hit Chance

Critical Strikes deal extra damage to monsters, and players can work out the chances of this happening depending on the items and weapons they use. Each weapon has a base rate of Critical Hit Chance. Forging using Aquamarine can increase this percentage. Aquamarine Rings (which can be bought from the Adventurer's Guild Shop after players reach level 40 in the mines) add another 10%, and they can be stacked too.

Critical Hits are crucial for more difficult enemies. For example, Iridium Bats have 300 HP and deal 30 damage at a time, so players will need to land some decent strikes to defeat them quickly. It's also useful to get some Critical Hits in if a swarm of monsters appears.

2 Use Items To Clear Areas Quickly

Some items are useful to quickly clear enemies (or at least, pass through areas unscathed). For example, Oil of Garlic gives a buff that stops enemies from spawning in The Mines and stops swarms of enemies from appearing. This is perfect if a player is trying to quickly go deeper in The Mines to unlock better weapons in The Guild Shop, for example.

The other option is to use bombs strategically to clear areas. Bombs can clear an area of rocks, making it easier to navigate, and can deal damage to weaker enemies like Slimes and Bugs. Just make sure to stand well back!

1 Find The Ultimate Weapon

The Galaxy Sword is obtained by bringing a Prismatic Shard to the Three Pillars in the Calico Desert. It deals 60-80 damage and gives a buff of +4 speed. Finding a Prismatic Shard involves a lot of luck. Most players won't get it in their first year, but it can be done on rare occasions. Checking the Fortune Teller on TV will give players an idea of their luck for the next day, and some items give decent luck buffs too.

The Galaxy Sword can be transformed into the even more powerful Infinity Blade. This requires combining the Galaxy Sword with 3 x Galaxy Souls and 60 x Cinder Shards, and it deals an amazing 80-100 damage, with buffs of +4 speed and +2 defense.

Stardew Valley is available on PC, Xbox One, Andriod, iOS, PS4, Switch

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