Highlights
- Discover new crafting recipes like text signs, furniture catalogues, and artisan equipment in Stardew Valley 1.6 update.
- Enhance your fishing experience with the Sonar Bobber, allowing you to see which fish is on your line before reeling it in.
- Unlock the powerful Iridium Scythe by earning 10,000 Mastery experience points, making harvesting crops a breeze in the game.
The recent 1.6 update for Stardew Valley has fans rushing back to their farms, iridium picks in hand, ready for all the new content developer ConcernedApe has in store for them. The 1.6 changelog offers a lengthy list of changes for players, including a brand-new farm type, new custom NPC dialogue, and various quality of life improvements.
10 Best Quality-of-Life Updates in Stardew Valley 1.6
With over 100 changes in Stardew Valley 1.6, the update brought many quality-of-life improvements, some of which are true game-changers.
Among the exciting changes are nearly forty newly listed items (along with additional secret items) that players can obtain. All the excitement may be a bit overwhelming for some players, especially when the new update has tons to offer. For any players that are wondering where to start with all the new content, here are some of the best new items introduced in the Stardew Valley 1.6 update.
10 Text Signs
How To Obtain: Crafted
Prior to this update, players were restricted to signs that only could display a picture of a holdable item. In this update, players can now properly/more accurately label their farm to their hearts' content with the addition of text signs.
These are simple wooden signs that can be crafted right away and can display up to 60 characters of text. Simply walk in front of the sign and the text will appear above the sign to read without clicking in.
9 New Furniture Catalogues
How To Obtain: Purchased at various sellers
There are a total of five new furniture catalogues included in the 1.6 update. They are all purchased from various merchants, such as Krobus or the Traveling Cart.
In addition to the existing furniture catalogue, are the junimo catalogue, wizard catalogue, retro catalogue, and last but not least, the trash catalogue. They offer a total of 280 brand-new furniture items that players can use to spruce up the new house renovations (the dining room, attic, expanded corner room, and cubby extensions) that were also included in the update!
8 Sonar Bobber
How To Obtain: Purchased at Willy's Fish Shop or crafted
For any Stardew fans that are still trying to find the specific fish they need for a quest or to fill a Community Center Bundle, the Sonar Bobber may just be the perfect solution. Without any attachments or bait, fishing can be a bit tedious and difficult. However, with the Sonar Bobber equipped, it can save players a ton of time.
Stardew Valley Fishing: Every Type Of Lure And Bait
Wondering what that Curiosity Lure does? Need to know how to use Bait? We've got all the answers.
The Sonar Bobber allows players equipped with an iridium rod to see what fish is attached to their line before fully reeling it in, letting players know which catches to see through and keep and which ones to let go. Players can either buy the bobber at the Fish Shop or save some coins by crafting it instead.
7 Animal Catalogue
How To Obtain: Purchased at Marnie's Ranch
The Animal Catalogue is a power book, and like the other books, the Animal Catalogue grants the reader a specific power. Upon purchasing it from Marnie and reading it, they will then have the ability to buy animals or adopt pets from Marnie's Ranch, even when she is not around/working.
Marnie's work schedule is often difficult to keep up with, sometimes leaving players in need of a new animal but with no one to help them with their purchase. This power book gives players easy access to buying animals on a much more flexible schedule.
6 Fish Smoker
How To Obtain: Recipe purchased at Willy's Fish Shop, crafted
The Fish Smoker can be crafted after buying the recipe from Willy at his shop. It is the perfect addition to the farm for any players that specialize in fishing. While there are ways to make artisan goods from cheeses or berries, there wasn't a real way to turn fishing into a more profitable pastime (until now).
Stardew Valley: The Most Profitable Artisan Goods
Artisan goods are among the most profitable items in Stardew Valley, but focusing on these particular ones will make the player especially rich.
The Fish Smoker allows players to smoke their catch of the day, turning it into a delicious artisan good that doubles the price of the original fish. All that is needed to create this smoky artisan delicacy is a fish (including fish caught in crab pots) and a single piece of coal.
5 Dehydrator
How To Obtain: Recipe purchased at Pierre's General Store, crafted
The Dehydrator is another piece of artisan equipment, but this time for mushrooms and fruits. Until the 1.6 update, there was no real way to maximize the profit with mushrooms. However, now with the help of the Dehydrator, mushrooms can now be processed into artisan goods for a better selling price.
After gathering five of the same mushrooms or fruit, they can be inserted into the Dehydrator and turned into a bag of fancy dried mushrooms or dried fruit. This bumps up the profit to 7.5 times the original ingredient's value.
4 Big Chest
How To Obtain: Recipe purchased at Robin's Carpenter Shop, crafted
Although players already had the option of crafting regular chests, it always seemed like having enough space was still an issue.
Instead of crafting tons of regular chests, players can now clear some clutter (and put it elsewhere instead) by crafting the Big Chest. The Big Chest (despite its name) isn't much bigger than the regular chests in terms of model size and takes up the exact same space the regular chest does when put down. It holds up to 70 different items (almost double the regular chest) and can be put down on a regular chest to replace it (with contents inside).
3 Iridum Scythe
How To Obtain: Earn 10,000 Mastery experience, claimed at Farming Totem
While many of the other new items are simply purchased or crafted, the elusive Iridium Scythe is not as easy to get a hold of. The player must find the Mastery Cave in the forest and garner a whopping 10,000 experience points in order to claim it.
10 Stardew Valley Easter Eggs
Stardew Valley is full of exciting adventures and content, and even secrets, like these great Easter Eggs.
Upon earning all needed experience points and entering the Mastery Cave, the player must then choose the Farming Mastery path in order to unlock the Iridium Scythe. The Iridium Scythe can be used the same way a golden scythe can be used, but can also harvest any fully grown crops within its swing range, making harvesting a breeze.
2 Books
How To Obtain: Purchased at The Bookseller
A new merchant that has been added in this update is the Bookseller. The Bookseller will station themselves north of Joja Mart and the player will be notified in the morning if they happen to be in town that day.
Each new book that is read is then erased from the player's inventory, granting them a new power/ability. These new abilities can be viewed at all times in the main menu under the "Special Items & Powers" tab. There are a total of 19 new books that can be read for new abilities. Every read after the first encounter grants the player experience points instead.
1 New Pets
How To Obtain: Adopted at Marnie's Ranch
After reaching max friendship with the player's first pet, they then have the option to adopt once again! Players can now choose from three different cats, three different dogs, and two different varieties of turtle to adopt into their growing family.
These pets will need their own pet bowls (which can be requested for construction at Robin's Carpenter Shop) or they will grow unhappy with their new environment. These adorable new pets can be petted every single day to max their meters and can even be equipped with stylish little hats!
