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Friendship

From Stardew Valley Wiki
Revision as of 21:24, 10 September 2026 by imported>Aquila zyy (Reorganize and rewrite the *huge* #Friendship mechanics section)

The player can befriend Pelican Town's villagers by earning Friendship points with them. High friendship points make villagers respond with friendlier dialogue lines, unlock cut-scenes called heart events, increase the chances of receiving gifts in the mail, and allow romance and marriage with datable villagers.

Friendship Level and Points

Heart and Friendship Points

By default, each villager has a friendship score represented by a ten-heart meter. Each heart represents 250 friendship points. All heart meters can be viewed on the social tab of the game menu, rounded down to the nearest full heart.

Friendship Caps

For non-marriage candidates, friendship meters are capped at 10 hearts. For the bachelors and bachelorettes, the caps are initially 8 hearts. A bouquet is needed to indicate one's romantic interest to the candidate, as well as removing the cap at 8 hearts.

It is possible to give a bouquet to any and all marriage candidates, and raise all their friendship levels to 10 hearts, without damage to your relationships with other romantic partners, so long as you have not yet proposed.

The player's spouse or roommate will have a special 14-heart meter.

Numerical Caps

All friendship caps are set to one points short of earning the next heart. So for non-marriage candidates, the maximum possible friendship points with them is 2749 (one point short of 11 hearts); For candidates who have not been given a bouquet, the maximum is 2249 (one point short of 9 hearts); For spouses and roommates, the maximum is 3749 (one point short of 15 hearts).

Friendship Indicator

When talking to villagers, a circle will appear next to their portrait. Its color will depend on the number of hearts the player has with the villager. Blue denotes 0-1 hearts, green for 2-3, yellow for 4-5, red for 6-7, purple for 8-9, and at 10-14 hearts a purple star will appear. Hovering the mouse over the circle will display the number of hearts out of 10, if not married.

Gaining and Losing Friendship

Friendship points with the villagers can be gained or lost through a variety of interactions. Most of the positive interactions are recurring, though subject to daily or weekly limits.

If a player has read Friendship 101, all friendship gains are increased by 10%.[1]

For the player's spouse, all friendship gains and losses are reduced by 34%.[1]

Daily interactions

Talking to a villager grants +20 friendship per day.

Kissing a spouse grants +10 friendship for the first kiss of each day.

Natural Decay

Not talking to a villager each day will slightly decrease their friendship unless their heart meter is full.[2] The decay never stops with spouses and roommates even if the player is at 14 hearts with them.

Calling a villager using the Telephone does not count as talking to the villager.

Relationship Decay rate When decay stops
Married -20/day Never
Gave bouquet -10/day 10 hearts
Pre-bouquet -2/day 8 hearts
Not romanceable -2/day 10 hearts

Gifting

Giving loved, liked, or neutral gifts to the villagers earns the player some friendship points, while giving them disliked or hated gifts costs some points.

The amount of points earned or cost depends on how the villager feels about the gift and its quality. See Gift Mechanics below.

Quests

Main article: Quests

The game-opening Introductions quest, when completed, increases by 100 the player's friendship points with each of the 28 starting townspeople. (The Wizard is not included among these villagers.)

Completing an item delivery quest awards +150 friendships with the villager issuing the quest.

Some Story Quests and Special Order Quests will raise friendship with certain villagers.

Movie Theater

Inviting a villager to the Movie Theater awards +200 friendship points if they love the movie, or +100 points if they like it.

Buying a snack for the villager at the concessions counter awards an additional +50 points if they love it, or +25 points if they like it.

Disliked movies or snacks neither earn or cost friendship points.

Heart events

Some dialogue choices during certain heart events can increase or decrease friendship. The amount varies by event and choice.

Festivals

Main article: Festivals

Three festivals can have special effects on friendship points with villagers:

  • The Flower Dance increases friendship by 250 points (one heart) with the player's dance partner.
  • The Luau can increase or decrease friendship points with all villagers except Sandy, the Wizard, Krobus, and the Dwarf. This depends on the ingredient that was added to the soup.
  • The player's gift to their secret friend at the Feast of the Winter Star is worth 5x the normal amount of friendship points.

Talking to villagers at festivals earns the player 20 friendship points, the same as any non-festival day.

Completing the Bulletin Board Bundles

Main article: Bundles

Completing all Bulletin Board bundles improves the player's friendship rating with non-datable villagers by two hearts (500 points). This does not apply to villagers whom the player has never met in person (shown as ??? in the Social Tab).

The player does not have to understand Dwarvish for the Dwarf to receive 500 points. In contrast, they do have to understand Dwarvish for gifts to affect friendship with the Dwarf.

The day after completing the Bulletin Board, the player will receive a letter from Lewis in the mail. The bonus is applied upon opening this letter.

Other Negative Actions

Hitting a villager with a slingshot reduces their friendship points by -30.

Rummaging though a Garbage Can when a villager is within 7 tiles of the player removes -25 points of friendship with them, except for Linus, with whom the player gains +5 points instead.

Fiancé/spouse/roommate becoming jealous will reduce their friendship points by -30.

Breaking up with a villager instantly lowers their friendship meter to 5 hearts.

Dating all bachelors or bachelorettes may result in a Group Ten Heart event, which does not affect friendship, but may prevent the player from giving gifts to them for one week afterwards.

Proposing marriage reverts the heart meters of all other marriage candidates to their pre-engagement behavior. However, their entries in the social tab still show whether they have previously been given a bouquet. In addition, after marriage, romantic heart events can still be triggered with other marriage candidates if they have previously been given a bouquet.

Friendship Benefits

Bedroom Access

The player may enter a villager's bedroom only after reaching 2 hearts with them. This improves the accessibility to the villager for talking and item delivery. Once opened, the room is permanently unlocked even if the heart meter goes below 2 hearts.

If a bedroom is shared by multiple villagers, such as Evelyn and George's or Jodi and Kent's, reaching 2 hearts with any of them unlocks the room. [3]

Special Dialogues

Villagers may use special dialogues when their friendship with the players is high enough. The dialogues generally become friendlier and reveal more stories about the villagers.

If the villagers have at least one heart with the player, they may hint at their friends' or families' gift preferences.

Villager May display dialogue for: 
Family Non-family

Abigail

Caroline

Pierre

Alex

Evelyn

George

Caroline

Abigail

Pierre

Clint

Emily

Demetrius

Robin

Maru

Elliott

Willy

Emily

Haley

Evelyn

Alex

George

George

Alex

Evelyn

Gus

Pam

Haley

Emily

Jas

Vincent

Jodi

Kent

Sam

Vincent

Kent

Jodi

Sam

Vincent

Lewis

Marnie

Marnie

Jas

Shane

Lewis

Maru

Demetrius

Robin

Sebastian

Pam

Penny

Gus

Penny

Pam

(Note that Penny will never suggest Beer, Mead, Pale Ale, or Wine)

Pierre

Abigail

Caroline

Robin

Demetrius

Maru

Sebastian

Sam

Jodi

Kent

Vincent

Sebastian

Sandy

Emily

Sebastian

Maru

Robin

Sam

Shane

Marnie

Vincent

Jas

Willy

Elliott

Note that stone may be included in a gift preference dialogue, despite the fact that it is disliked, not hated.

Mailed Gifts from Villagers

Villagers may send items to the player via the Mail if the player has high friendship with them. The likelihood of this happening increases with the friendship level.

Heart Events

Gaining friendship with each villager will unlock unique cut-scenes called Heart Events at various number of hearts. Triggering these events usually requires entering a specific map under certain weather or time conditions.

Most heart events will not expire and can be viewed at any time or out of order. Though, some events may be permanently missed if other conditions are met before the player triggers them.

Some heart events will contain dialogue choices that can increase or decrease friendship with certain villagers involved. The maximum possible friendship points that can be earned in one single heart event is +250 from Linus' 8 heart event, and the maximum possible friendship points that can be lost is -1500 from Penny's 8 heart and 10 heart events. Skipping the cut-scene will not increase nor decrease friendship.

Romance

Main article: Marriage

Some villagers can be romanced by the player (see marriage candidates). Once the player has reached eight hearts with an eligible villager, the player can give them a bouquet to unlock the ninth and tenth hearts. Once the player has reached ten hearts with an eligible villager, the player can give them a Mermaid's Pendant to propose marriage, which the villager will always accept unless the player hasn't upgraded the farmhouse to at least Level 2. Alternatively, at 10 hearts, the player can give Krobus a Void Ghost Pendant to indicate they'd like to move in together as roommates, which Krobus will always accept unless the player hasn't upgraded the farmhouse to at least Level 2.

After becoming the player's spouse or roommate, the villager moves into the player's house and their friendship meter expands to fourteen hearts. After reaching 12.5 hearts (3125 points), the villager will give the player a Stardrop if the player has not received a Stardrop in this manner previously.

Gift Mechanics

Gifting is the main method of gaining friendship with the villagers.

Daily and Weekly Limits

The player can give each villager one gift per day, up to two gifts per week. The checkboxes in the Social Tab keep track of the number of gifts given to each villager this week. The weekly limit of gifting resets on Sunday. If a villager has received at least two gifts in the past week (reached their weekly gifting limit), the player will earn an additional +10 friendship points with them on Sunday morning.

Birthday gifts can always be given, the villager's weekly gifting limit has been reached.

Spouses and roommates may be gifted once everyday without the weekly limit, but any friendship gain or loss is halved.[4]

Friendship Point Multiplier

Giving out gifts under special circumstances may earn (or cost) the player extra friendship points.

Giving a birthday gift to a villager multiplies the friendship value by ×8.

Gifts given to the secret recipient during the Feast of the Winter Star special event have ×5 value multipliers.

Gift Preferences

Each villager has individual likes and dislikes, which affects how many friendship points are gained or lost when you give them a gift. Villagers' gift preferences can be reviewed in the Gift Log by clicking their respective rows in the Social Tab. This log keeps track of gifts given, and gift preferences learned via Secret Notes and dialogues with their family and friends. Any previously-given gifts that are currently in inventory will have a blue backpack icon in the lower right.

Gift Taste Normal (x1.1) Winter Star (×5) (x1.1) Birthday (×8) (x1.1)
Love +80 +88 +400 +440 +640 +704
Like +45 +49 +225 +247 +360 +396
Neutral +20 +22 +100 +110 +160 +176
Dislike -20 -20 -100 -100 -160 -160
Hate -40 -40 -200 -200 -320 -320

If a gift is liked or loved, the points gained will be further affected by the quality of the item:

Quality Multiplier Effect
Normal ×1 +0%
Silver ×1.1 +10%
Gold ×1.25 +25%
Iridium ×1.5 +50%

Item quality has no effect for neutral, disliked, and hated gifts.

The highest friendship points possible from a single gift would be to gift someone an iridium-quality loved gift on their birthday, which would yield 960 points, just short of 4 hearts. If the player has read Friendship 101, the highest friendship points would be (960 * 1.1) 1056 points, just over 4 hearts.

Universal Gifts

See also: List of All Gifts

Below are lists of items that are universally loved, liked, considered neutral, disliked, or hated. Note that there are some exceptions and that individual villager tastes override any universal tastes.
Preferences for Eggs, Milk, Fruit, and most Foraged Items vary by villager, and are generally not listed here.

Note that Dinosaur Eggs are considered Artifacts and not Eggs for gifting purposes.

Universal Loves

This is a list of items that almost every villager loves to receive as a gift. These items are guaranteed to give the most points (80) towards your relationship, but may be difficult to obtain.

When given a loved gift, villagers usually respond with a heart dialogue bubble.

Note: Stardrop Tea grants 250 friendship points (equal to one full heart) when given to any villager, and is not subjected to the weekly gift limit. If given on a villager's birthday or at the Feast of the Winter Star, it gives 750 points (3 hearts). It does not count for the "Qi's Kindness" Special Order.

Universal Loves exceptions

Universal Likes

Though worth fewer friendship points than a loved gift, a liked gift increases friendship by 45 points (just over half that of a loved gift) and is often much easier to obtain.

Universal Likes exceptions

Below is an Expandable table of all Universal Likes exceptions, listed by Villager. (See also: List of All Gifts)

Villager Loves Likes Neutrals Dislikes Hates 

Abigail

Gems: Amethyst
Cooking: Banana Pudding, Blackberry Cobbler, Chocolate Cake, Spicy Eel
Vegetables: Pumpkin
All Vegetables except Pumpkin (specifically loved)

Alex

Cooking: Complete Breakfast, Salmon Dinner

Caroline

Artisan Goods: Green Tea
Cooking: Fish Taco, Tropical Curry
Flowers: Summer Spangle
Vegetables: Tea Leaves Artisan Goods: Duck Mayonnaise, Mayonnaise
Vegetables: Amaranth

Clint

All Gems except Diamond (universally liked)
Cooking: Artichoke Dip, Fiddlehead Risotto
All Flowers (except Poppy, universally hated)

Demetrius

Cooking: Bean Hotpot, Ice Cream, Rice Pudding

Dwarf

All Gems except Diamond (universally liked)

Elliott

Cooking: Crab Cakes, Tom Kha Soup
Fruit Tree Fruit: Pomegranate
Rainbow Shell Cooking: Pizza Vegetables: Amaranth

Emily

Artisan Goods: Cloth
Cooking: Survival Burger
All Gems except Diamond (universally liked)
Cooking: Fried Eel, Ice Cream, Rice Pudding, Spicy Eel Cooking: Fish Taco, Maki Roll, Salmon Dinner, Sashimi

Evelyn

Artisan Goods: Raisins
Cooking: Chocolate Cake, Stuffing
Flowers: Fairy Rose, Tulip
Gems: Diamond
Vegetables: Beet
Cooking: Fried Eel, Maki Roll, Sashimi, Spicy Eel, Trout Soup
Vegetables: Garlic

George

Cooking: Fried Mushroom All Flowers (except Poppy, universally hated)

Gus

Cooking: Escargot, Fish Taco, Tropical Curry
Fruit Tree Fruit: Orange
Gems: Diamond
Cooking: Coleslaw

Haley

Cooking: Fruit Salad, Pink Cake
Flowers: Sunflower
All Vegetables (except Hops & Wheat, universally neutral)

Harvey

Artisan Goods: Coffee, Pickles, Truffle Oil, Wine
Cooking: Super Meal
Artisan Goods: Cheese, Goat Cheese
Cooking: Blueberry Tart, Chocolate Cake, Cookie, Cranberry Sauce, Fried Mushroom, Glazed Yams, Hashbrowns, Ice Cream, Pancakes, Pink Cake, Pizza, Rhubarb Pie, Rice Pudding
Rainbow Shell

Jas

Cooking: Pink Cake, Plum Pudding
Flowers: Fairy Rose
All Vegetables (except Hops & Wheat, universally neutral) Piña Colada
All Artisan Goods (except Honey, Jelly, universally liked; and Oil, universally disliked)
Cooking: Triple Shot Espresso

Jodi

Cooking: Chocolate Cake, Crispy Bass, Eggplant Parmesan, Fried Eel, Pancakes, Rhubarb Pie, Vegetable Medley
Gems: Diamond
Vegetables: Garlic

Kent

Cooking: Fiddlehead Risotto, Roasted Hazelnuts Piña Colada Cooking: Algae Soup, Sashimi, Tortilla

Krobus

Gems: Diamond
Vegetables: Pumpkin
Cooking: Seafoam Pudding All Cooking except Bread, Fried Egg, universally neutral; and Strange Bun, & Seafoam Pudding universally hated
Misc: Life Elixir

Leah

Artisan Goods: Goat Cheese, Wine
Cooking: Poppyseed Muffin, Salad, Stir Fry, Vegetable Medley
All Foraged Minerals except Earth Crystal (universally liked)
All Gems except Diamond (universally liked) & Prismatic Shard (universally loved)
Cooking: Carp Surprise, Cookie, Ice Cream, Pink Cake, Rice Pudding, Survival Burger, Tortilla
Cooking: Hashbrowns, Pancakes, Pizza

Leo

Cooking: Poi Artisan Goods: Coffee Artisan Goods: Pickles
All Cooking except Bread, Fried Egg, Poi, Mango Sticky Rice, Strange Bun, Seafoam Pudding, & Triple Shot Espresso
Misc: Life Elixir
Piña Colada
Artisan Goods: Beer, Mead, Pale Ale, Wine
Cooking: Triple Shot Espresso

Lewis

Artisan Goods: Green Tea
Cooking: Autumn's Bounty, Glazed Yams, Vegetable Medley

Linus

Cooking: Blueberry Tart, Dish O' The Sea
Vegetables: Yam
Treasure Chest
All Foraged Minerals
All Gems except Diamond & Prismatic Shard

Marnie

Cooking: Farmer's Lunch, Pink Cake, Pumpkin Pie
Gems: Diamond

Maru

Cooking: Cheese Cauliflower, Miner's Treat, Pepper Poppers, Rhubarb Pie
Gems: Diamond
Vegetables: Cauliflower
Misc: Maple Syrup Artisan Goods: Honey, Pickles

Pam

Piña Colada
Artisan Goods: Beer, Mead, Pale Ale
Cooking: Glazed Yams, Parsnip Soup
Vegetables: Parsnip

Penny

Cooking: Poppyseed Muffin, Red Plate, Roots Platter, Tom Kha Soup
Gems: Diamond, Emerald
Cooking: Algae Soup, Pale Broth Piña Colada
Artisan Goods: Beer, Mead, Pale Ale, Wine

Pierre

Cooking: Fried Calamari All Foraged Minerals
All Gems except Diamond (universally liked) & Prismatic Shard (universally loved)
Cooking: Parsnip Soup, Tortilla
Vegetables: Corn, Garlic

Robin

Artisan Goods: Goat Cheese
Cooking: Spaghetti
Fruit Tree Fruit: Peach

Sam

Cooking: Maple Bar, Pizza All Vegetables (except Hops & Wheat, universally neutral) Artisan Goods: Duck Mayonnaise, Mayonnaise, Pickles

Sandy

Cooking: Mango Sticky Rice
Flowers: Crocus, Sweet Pea

Sebastian

Cooking: Pumpkin Soup, Sashimi
Foraged Mineral: Frozen Tear
All Flowers (except Poppy, universally hated) Piña Colada
All Artisan Goods (except Coffee, Green Tea, universally liked; and Oil, universally disliked)
Cooking: Complete Breakfast, Farmer's Lunch, Omelet

Shane

Artisan Goods: Beer
Cooking: Pepper Poppers, Pizza
Artisan Goods: Pickles

Vincent

Cooking: Cranberry Candy, Ginger Ale, Pink Cake All Vegetables (except Hops & Wheat, universally neutral) Piña Colada
All Artisan Goods (except Honey, Jelly, universally liked; and Oil, universally disliked)
Cooking: Triple Shot Espresso

Willy

Artisan Goods: Mead
Gems: Diamond
Vegetables: Pumpkin
Cooking: Seafoam Pudding (universally hated) Cooking: Dish O' The Sea, Maki Roll, & Sashimi All Cooking except for Dish O' The Sea, Maki Roll, & Sashimi as specifically neutral, and the following dishes he likes: Baked Fish, Carp Surprise, Chowder, Crab Cakes, Crispy Bass, Escargot, Fish Stew, Fish Taco, Fried Calamari, Fried Eel, Lobster Bisque, Salmon Dinner, Trout Soup & Seafoam Pudding
Misc: Life Elixir

Universal Neutrals

This is a list of items that will elicit a neutral response from the villagers, and give 20 points toward friendship. There are some exceptions.

Universal Neutrals exceptions

Universal Dislikes

This is a list of items that will decrease friendship by 20 points when given as gifts.

Universal Dislikes exceptions

Universal Hates

This is a list of items that will decrease friendship by 40 points when given as gifts.

When given a hated gift, villagers usually respond with a hate dialogue bubble.

Universal Hates exceptions

Achievements

There are 6 Achievements related to Friendship:

  • A New Friend (Reach a 5-heart friend level with someone)
  • Best Friends (Reach a 10-heart friend level with someone)
  • The Beloved Farmer (Reach a 10-heart friend level with 8 people)
  • Cliques (Reach a 5-heart friend level with 4 people)
  • Networking (Reach a 5-heart friend level with 10 people)
  • Popular (Reach a 5-heart friend level with 20 people)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 See Farmer::changeFriendship in the game code.
  2. ↑ See Farmer::resetFriendshipsForNewDay in the game code.
  3. ↑ See GameLocation::performAction in the game code.
  4. ↑ See NPC::receiveGift in the game code.

History

  • 1.07: Decay will now stop if a villager is at max hearts (except when married).
  • 1.3.27: The Golden Pumpkin is now a universal love instead of a universal hate. Added new item, the Pearl, as a universal love.
  • 1.4: Friendship can now be increased by talking with NPCs at Festivals. Removed glitch where a birthday gift would remove a checkbox on the social tab. Removed bugs where cooking recipes would be sent at the wrong friendship level, and where 10 heart-events were unlockable without a bouquet. Removed the 50% friendship penalty when talking to busy NPCs. Added Gift Logs, accessed by clicking on the villager in the Social tab. Changed jealousy of player's spouse to only apply to marriage candidates who have received a bouquet. Harvey now dislikes many cooked dishes. Willy is neutral towards Maki Roll, Sashimi, and Dish O' The Sea. Vincent loves Snails. Dwarf likes Cave Carrot. Vincent & Jas like Honey and Jelly. Sebastian hates Mead.
  • 1.4.4: Mermaid's Pendant and Void Ghost Pendant can no longer be given as gifts at the Feast of the Winter Star. Jas & Vincent now hate Triple Shot Espresso. Dwarf now loves Lemon Stone.
  • 1.5: Penny and Dwarf now like all artifacts. Artifacts changed from Universal Hate to Universal Dislike for all other NPCs. Fixed bug where the friendship boost for giving a villager two gifts would not apply if they were given a third gift on their birthday.
  • 1.6: Rainbow Shell and Treasure Chest are now universally liked. Added Stardrop Tea, which gives 250 friendship points when given to any villager. Clam is now considered a Fish for gifting, so it is universally disliked. Many individual gift tastes changed. Some items now trigger unique dialogue when gifted to a certain villager. Reading Friendship 101 will permanently increase friendship gain. Friendship gain and loss is reduced by 34% for spouses.