Stardew Valley is essentially a game about life. And, just as in real life, making friends in the world of Stardew Valley is vital to success. New players learn quickly that there is much to gain from befriending certain characters in the game. If the player can locate and befriend the correct characters, they will find that they are given access to some surprisingly helpful benefits. Demetrius is one such character.
Demetrius is married to Robin and lives with his daughter Maru and step-son Sebastian at 24 Mountain Road. He is shown to be extremely protective of Maru, in the game during her two-heart event. He is a scientist who studies the local wildlife found in the valley, and can often be found working in his laboratory or outdoors studying the wildlife and taking note of what he sees. Let's take a look at some of the best ways to gain Demitrius' friendship.
Gift Guide
Villagers love to receive gifts, making it the best method of earning their Friendship. It takes close to 30 loved gifts at minimum to reach a villager's 10th and final Friendship Heart. A loved gift on their birthday will bring this down to about 27. A villager can only be given 2 gifts a week, with the sole exception being their birthday, where an additional third one may be given, even if the 2 gift limit has already been reached. Demetrius' birthday is Summer 19th, putting it around the middle of the year.
Demetrius is unique in that his regular schedule is different every season. In Spring, he will be in his house for most of the day, only going outside at 2:30 PM, where he will either be close to his garage or the cliff near his house and will eventually go back home for the remainder of the day. Summer is similar, he leaves his house at 11:00 AM and goes to the fountain near the Community Center, not coming back home until 7:00 PM. Autumn is identical to Summer, just with him going to the lake instead of the fountain. Finally, in Winter and on rainy days in any other season, he never leaves his home, making it easy to track him. He also goes to the Stardrop Saloon with Robin every Friday at 4:00 PM and doesn't leave until 9:00 PM.
Loved Gifts
Demetrius' 4 loved gifts are listed below. They're all very powerful, but the 2 worth paying the most attention to here are Strawberries and Ice Cream, as they make for the best options. The seeds for Strawberries are purchasable at the Egg Festival every 13th of Spring for 100g. Get somewhere between 30-40 seeds, plant them on the farm, and give Demetrius 2 a week for as long as they last.
If Strawberries aren't the desired option, then Ice Cream can be just as effective. Ice Cream can be bought from the Ice Cream Stand located between Clint's shop and the Museum for 250g. It's only open on sunny Summer days that aren't Wednesday from 1 PM to 5 PM. There is no limit to how much Ice Cream can be purchased.
- Bean Hotpot
- Ice Cream
- Rice Pudding
- Strawberry
Liked Gifts
Demetrius has a singular liked gift, that being the Purple Mushroom. This... isn't worth gifting at all. Purple Mushrooms are extremely rare (even if the player picked the mushrooms option for their Farm Cave), and are far more valuable used for restoring Health and Energy when mining or fighting. Just stick to Strawberries and Ice Cream, they're better.
Disliked & Hated Gifts
Thankfully, Demetrius is not in the slightest a picky person to get gifts for, as evident by the fact that his only disliked gift is Quartz, and his only hated gift is Holly. Quartz is a generally useful resource that shouldn't be given away anyway, and Holly is a Winter forgeable that can be sold for a small amount of money.
Quests
Completing quests that are tied to a character is another great way of winning their friendship. Demetrius has 2 non-randomized quests.
- Crop Research: On Summer 20th, Demetrius will send the player a letter asking for a Melon grown on their farm. Yep, that's it. Just a Melon. Completing this simple quest rewards 550g and 1 full Friendship Heart.
- Aquatic Research: Demetrius will send the player a second letter on the Summer the 6th in year 2 asking for a Pufferfish. Another easy-to-finish quest that rewards another full Friendship Heart and 1,000g.
Friendship Perks
At any Friendship level above 0, Demetrius has a chance of sending the player one of the following items in the mail daily. The odds of receiving an item increase as the player's Friendship level with him increases.
- Nautilus Shell: This shell is necessary to complete the Field Research Bundle in the Community Center, and can be sold for 120g.
- Rainbow Shell: This shell is necessary to complete the "The Mysterious Qi" quest, and can be sold for 300g.
- Amethyst: The gem is necessary to complete the "Clint's Attempt" quest, the "Rock Rejuvenation" Special Order, can be sold for 100g, and is a loved gift for Emily, Clint, Dwarf, and Abigail.
- Bream: This fish is necessary to complete the Night Fishing Bundle in the Community Center, can be sold for 45g, or can be eaten to restore 13 Energy and 5 Health.
At 3 Friendship Hearts, Demetrius will send the recipe for Fried Mushroom in the mail. This dish restores 135 Energy and 60 Health when eaten. It will also boost the player's Attack stat by 2 points for 7 minutes. This is the only way to get the Fried Mushroom recipe.
At 6 Friendship Hearts, a Heart Event will be unlocked at Demetrius' house if the player enters when he and Robin are present. The player will walk in on the 2 of them having an argument over Robin being frustrated that Demetrius had come back with tomatoes from the store when Robin asked him to pick up the fruit. He tries to explain this decision by saying that tomatoes are considered a fruit. Demetrius will then ask the player what they consider tomatoes to be. Picking the "fruit" option will award them with 50 free Friendship Points.
At 7 Friendship Hearts, Demetrius will send the recipe for Autumn's Bounty in the mail. This dish restores 220 Energy and 99 Health when eaten. It also boosts the player's Defense and Foraging stats by 2 points each for 7 minutes and 41 seconds. This is the only way to obtain Autumn's Bounty recipe.
Stardew Valley is available for Android, iOS, Linux, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X/S.