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Stardew Valley has a pretty significant "luck" aspect. Many quests and upgrades and completions require you to get lucky enough to acquire certain items during your time in-game. One of many examples is the Wizard's quest to look for ectoplasm. Interestingly, the game's developer, ConcernedApe, actually took this into account.
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It's an aspect of the game that players might overlook in their first year or so in Stardew Valley unless they knew what they were looking for — "Luck" is actually one of your many stats and will vary from day to day! This guide teaches you how to figure out what level of Luck you have and explains what exactly it will affect while you play. This way, you can plan your daily activities accordingly.
Possible Levels of Luck
Your daily luck in Stardew Valley is on a scale from -0.7 to 0.7 and can be checked by watching the "Fortune Teller" channel on your television.
| Image On The TV | Message From The Fortune Teller | Your Luck Score |
|---|---|---|
 |
"The spirits are very happy today! They will do their best to shower everyone with good fortune." |
|
 |
"The spirits are in good humor today. I think you'll have a little extra luck." |
|
 |
"The spirits feel neutral today. The day is in your hands." |
|
|
"This is rare. The spirits feel absolutely neutral today." |
|
 |
"The spirits are somewhat annoyed today. Luck will not be on your side." or "The spirits are somewhat mildly perturbed today. Luck will not be on your side." |
|
 |
"The spirits are very displeased today. They will do their best to make your life difficult." |
|
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Activities That Your Luck Will Affect
Mining
- How much coal you'll get from rocks
- Crate spawn rate
- Odds you'll find a treasure room in the Skull Cavern
- Odds you'll find ladders from rocks
- Geode drop rate (Note: it will not affect the quality of items received when opening geodes)
- How much you'll lose if you die in the mines
- Odds of finding gem nodes/mystic stones
Foraging and Fishing
- How much Wood drops per tree
- Odds you'll get treasure when you're fishing
- Odds of high-quality items and chance of getting a second item from panning
- Odds that garbage cans will yield items, odds that those items won't be trash
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On The Farm
- Odds that crops that can have extra harvests (e.g. Potato, Blueberry, Tomato, etc.) will
- Odds that you'll get Duck Feathers or Rabbit's Foot from your animals
- Odds there will be lightning in stormy weather
Other
- Odds your spouse will become jealous when you give a gift to another bachelor(ette)
- How well you do at the slots at the Casino
Improving Your Luck
Items
There is only one item that can improve your luck — the Lucky Ring. It increases your luck stat by 1, which is a pretty significant upgrade, all things considered.
There are two ways to obtain the Lucky Ring:
- destroying crates and barrels in the Skull Cavern or the Quarry Mine (8 percent chance each time)
- panning in a river (very rare)
Special Charm
The Special Charm is an item that goes in your Wallet and permanently improves your daily Luck by 0.025.
To get the Special Charm, you first need to find Secret Note #20 (depicted above), and solve the puzzle. For help with that, check out our guide about it!
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Recipes
The final way you can improve your luck (temporarily) is by eating certain foods! Here's a detailed list of all the foods that improve your luck:
| Food Item | Recipe Source | Ingredients Required | Can This Food Be Obtained Without Cooking? | Health Restored | Energy Restored | Buff(s) | Buff(s) Duration | Item Sell Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banana Pudding | Island Trader for 30 Bone Fragments |
|
No | +56 | +125 |
|
5 minutes and 1 second | 260g |
| Fried Eel | George via Mail once your Friendship with him has reached three hearts |
|
Yes
|
+33 | +75 |
|
7 minutes | 120g |
| Ginger Ale | Dwarf Shop after the fifth level of the Volcano on Ginger Island for 1,000g |
|
No | +28 | +63 |
|
5 minutes | 200g |
| Lucky Lunch | The Queen of Sauce (television channel) on 28 Spring, Year 2 |
|
Yes
|
+45 | +100 |
|
11 minutes and 11 seconds | 250g |
| Magic Rock Candy | N/A | N/A | Yes, there is no recipe.
|
+225 | +500 |
|
8 minutes and 24 seconds | 5,000g |
| Pumpkin Soup | Robin via Mail once your Friendship with her has reached seven hearts |
|
Yes
|
+90 | +200 |
|
7 minutes and 41 seconds | 300g |
| Shrimp Cocktail | The Queen of Sauce (television channel) on 28 Winter, Year 2 |
|
No | +101 | +225 |
|
10 minutes and 2 seconds | 160g |
| Spicy Eel | George via Mail once your Friendship with him has reached seven hearts |
|
Yes
|
+51 | +115 |
|
7 minutes | 175g |