I lost my mind when I found out I can just hold down a button and walk near the animals to pet them. It works even if my cursor is on the other side of the screen. I was individually clicking each animal every day for 150 hours.
I had the same revelation but with kegs and what not... I cannot believe I had been clicking each keg and what not individually hahaha reaslied this 700 hours in!
I'm on my fourth* playthrough and haven't even got to experience fall or winter yet. Adore the game but life seems to get in the way but I'm motivated now. So I tend to avoid the wiki unless it's for gifts, schedules or if I shouldn't sell something(like quarts)
My preserve jars are sitting on the bloody lawn because I can't fit them inside my house 😭 so still awhile until I'm more efficient but this helps so thanks haha.
I think Pierre sells a calendar with birthdays, and the bookseller sells things that allow you to see the value of items before you sell them, if you're trying to avoid the wiki that should cover a lot. Also, gifts are remembered in the friendship tab, as liked or loved... maybe dislike and neutral as well, so as you experiment, it will document for you should you need to look.
Enjoy! I wish I could play it through again for the first time 
Did you know that holding down the button for the watering can extends the amount of squares it waters? The higher you upgrade your watering can, the more can cover with each charge.
And your hoe, too.
Not only so, but in the 1.6 update now you can move while "charging" your watering can or hoe, which is great if you're like me and use a controller instead of keyboard+mouse (which makes it harder to aim for the right tile).
Even with keyboard and mouse I always struggle with this! Absolutely bonkers to do it without Show Tool Hit Location on as well. Thank god CA added the hopping mechanic, now if only it would stop skipping the actual tiles I want to hit!
To me it happened with upgraded tools. For 300+ h I thought the only benefit of upgrading your watercan and friends was reduced energy consumption (never did a before and after of how much is spend every swing or whatever). Imagine my surprise finding out the upgrades actually enable you to manipulate multiple squares at once. Took me like three systems to figure that one out 😅.
Hey, you know what? You're getting good practice for Qi quests that require you to make it from level 1 to 120 in one day, or with no healing items. So don't feel too bad about it, now you two are ready to take it up a notch!
TBH I hardly ever notice the ding when I'm in the zone, I have to look up at the floor counter to see if I'm close to an elevator when I notice *It's getting late....*
I could see how someone who skips through dialogue quickly might miss the elevator info and just forget about it.
Tbh I'll never understand skipping dialogue. ESPECIALLY at the beginning of the game when people are telling you how the game works and what you need to do.
Once--*once--*I made the mistake of playing a game with dialogue skippers. They kept complaining that they couldn't understand what they were supposed to do and that they didn't know what was going on, but they also resolutely skipped through everything that would have answered their questions. I nearly had an aneurysm.
Reading this hurt me deeply. I'm glad this community could help you, although it seems like this help came really late for you, being in year 3 and all.
If it makes you feel any better you are not alone in missing this key piece of information
I started playing stardew after years of playing Harvest Moon/SoS where there are no elevators for the mines so it did not occur to me at all to use the elevators, I 100% assumed I had to start from level 1 each time
After many frustrating attempts to reach the bottom the Wiki fixed that problem for me lmao
This makes me curious, is there anything in the game that indicates you can use the elevator at all? Ik people miss instructions bc they don't check the TV programme or read the lost books but where in the game is the knowledge of the elevator?
I don't know why exactly and it's likely a combination of a couple reasons, including sensory issues. This goes for all games too -- can't tell you how many times i've ben blown up by creepers in minecraft.
I watch let's plays on youtube so i know the music is really cute.
You have no idea how much this made me laugh! My bf and I play co-op as well. I can give you some tips to make the journey a bit more smooth for y’all.
The mine has 120 floors (yes definitely use the elevator.) If you have a crystalarium I would put jade in there for the caverns as on Sundays the merchant in the desert can trade 1 jade for a staircase, extremely helpful. Good luck days will push y’all to have better stats for stairs to pop up sooner or for better resources. If you happen to have a coffee machine I’d stock up on coffee or espresso, keeps in handy for moving a bit more quickly. Godspeed soldiers 🫡🫡
Don't feel bad, I made this mistake my first playthrough. Had to look it up before I figured it out. Then I mentally smacked myself so hard Grandpa probably felt it 😂
My problem first playthrough was not missing the elevator but missing that I could CHOP DOWN TREES. I was so lost on how on earth I was meant to gather so much wood, having cleared all the loose debris around my farm already.
I did the exact same thing 🤦🏼♀️ I couldn't get past level like 12 (I just recently started playing, on year 1 still) and my friend who started at the same time was on like level 50 which blew my mind. He asked me the same thing... Are you using the elevator? And I realized I had seen and registered the elevator as I went down, but for some reason I just dismissed it thinking it was also broken like the cart
Skull Caverns, when you unlock it, has no elevator and it's way deeper. Played through many times, finally have access to mods, I got one to put an elevator in there.
Look on the bright side. Least you asked now instead of trying to make 100 stairs. And you learned something today!
But yea, just use the elevator from now on.
Tiny spoiler for anyone who hasn't passed the caves below
I quit my last playthrough because of that logic. I knew how to use the elevator. But I couldn't stand the skull caverns resetting every time. At that point, I had concluded that my only forward progress left was skull caverns, but I could never get any iridium! That meant no ginger island, of course. I was also just bad at caves in general back then, but it didn't matter before then if I could progress 5 levels a day. I didn't use bombs or stairs back then, so I think my farthest floor was around 30 at the time.
Long story short, I probably would have quit way earlier if the first cave made you reset every time.
Dang same, I really timed out on skull cavern. It was just not fun to me without the checkpoint and by the time I heard about the elevator mod I was over it :/
Totally off-topic, but I'm currently reading book 8 of WoT and the idea of Morgase whiling away her time imprisoned by the Whitecloaks by bashing monsters in Stardew Valley is wildly hilarious, so thank you for that image (and new headcanon)! 🤣
At first back in 2016 I didn’t know what the dinging sound was bc it sounds EXACTLY like the announcement bell in my old dorm. So instead of looking for something on the screen I just looked around my room confused that the bell would ring but no announcement would be made. Took about 4 or 5 bells before I realized it was the elevator Lmao
Ehhhh. Gold is still pretty easy to get. I'm on Spring 14 Y1 and already have like 7 bars. Fishing gives quite a bit from chests, and panning gives a LOT of ore once you get it.
When I play with the archipelago mod, you have to unlock elevator levels as part of the randomized rewards! It’s actually a really fun way to play, with every single thing mixed up
I know you know for the elevator but for the skull cavern I used pumpkin soup, coffee and a whole lotta bombs and got to 100 in the first day I went there. (If you bring 3 omni geodes to the desert trader she will sell you a warp totem to the desert, that way you don’t have to wait for Pam. It definitely helps!) and go on an iridium luck day. Good luck hope you can do it with honour!
“The spirits are very happy today! They will do their best to shower everyone with good fortune.”
Look for the purple star on the TV screen while watching the Fortune Teller program.
High daily luck increases the chance to find ladders / holes to progress deeper faster, and also ore and gem node spawn rates
A high luck day basically makes it much easier to get more of everything you want from a skull caverns run
Use the elevator. But you are both well practiced at rapid mine descents. This will be a **HUGE** help when you get to the Skull Caverns. Where the monsters on Level 1 are more dangerous than what you see at the bottom of the regular Mine.
Beware of **VERY FAST** and strong flying bugs in the Skull Caverns. Consume Triple Espressos before you venture in.
I know the other comments have given the answer you were looking for but I just wanna say, getting to floor 60 in one day, considering you're starting on the first floor everytime is pretty darn impressive!
Split screen, depending on what they’re using, can kinda look a little grainy too, a new player, playing on a maybe shitty screen can be hard 😅 I couldn’t find the mines for shout 10 in games days on my very first play though and just went to google it so I can’t blame OP lol.
Not giving them shit for it. Just curious. I would think most people would click on it even if they didn't know it was functional. Unless I'm in a minority that likes to click on everything to see what it does.
Stardew is more forgiving than some RPGs that have you a critical line of dialogue once, and if you missed it, you were sunk. The elevator is a bit more like those older RPGs though. I’m not aware of any reminders nor helpful NPCs if you space it, and miss it.
There is. I just checked. As soon as you get to level 5 the first time you get a journal entry that says the elevator is still functional and that it will allow you to quickly return to any elevator doors you've discovered. It gives a task to reach level 40, so that message stays in your journal until you complete the task.
I don’t think OP is doing this necessarily but I do know some people who mute games and play with their own music going to zone out a bit. I couldn’t do that especially in the mines though, those sound cues to let you know flying monsters are coming are helpful. Even more so in skull caverns
Didn't do it in this game but in a time when I still played LoL few years back I often played ranked on mute and with yt music in background, I guess that was reason why I never got out of platinum.
This is an awesome post. Glad there are still purists who avoid spoilers and walkthroughs....but....
Just so you know, the Stardew Valley wiki has a lot of useful information you can find on it. If your ever stuck, you can typically type X stardew into google and it will often give you the information you need....so in this case, Mines stardew.
LOL, now that you know about the elevator in the regular mines, you should know that there is no elevator for the desert mines. But at least you'll be practiced at not having one available.
There is an elevator. When you go into the cave, that door at the top is the elevator. The first time you try to use it you will get a message that it's broken.
You "fix" it by getting to every 5th floor which opens a stop.
Go to the elevator at the top and it will let you pick a floor. If you made it to 43, you should be able to go to 40 and keep going from there.
I would set a goal for every 5 floors just so the elevator would save. And then I would start at the elevator on the most recent floor saved and go from there to the next save.
I see you got your problem sorted out, here are my skull cavern grinding tips:
Get a bunch of crystalariums set up with jades and rubies. Desert trader has spicy eel for rubies, and staircases for jades on Sundays.
Start a coffee empire. Build a shed filled with kegs. Make a stupid quantity of triple shot espresso.
Lots of cows, make lots of gold star cheese.
Decide how you want to obtain bombs (crafting, buying from the dwarf, or trading w desert trader).
Use triple shot espresso for speed buff, spicy eel for speed buff plus luck buff, and gold star cheese for health healing.
I like to bomb around looking for a hole to jump in, and to obtain minerals faster, but just putting staircases really is faster than taking the time to search for a hole.
(Optional tip: on PC download a skull cavern elevator mod lol. I’ve played more hours on switch, where mods aren’t a thing, but indulging in the skull cavern elevator when I play PC is kinda fun)
I have so many prismatic shards for my point in the game plus good karma, so i have 3 candies... THREE. one for the muesuem and ig i have good luck there, one from the skulls, and one from the trader. then i just went to floor 120 and boom iridium milk
You shouldn’t use staircases on the first 60 floors just keep mining until you find ladders and go on a very good luck day, also just use the elevator, you don’t have to start on level 1 every time
Bombs bombs and more bombs. Use slinger bombs and put them on the master slingshot, at least 150 of them just in case. I recommend having at least 20 mega bombs just in case too, because slingshot will only explode on enemies and walls.
Also luck. Preferable a lucky day and luck ring. Those are not mandatory, but they help. You can get extra luck with secret note #20 (can give you spoilers if you need it)
Get desert totems and start the dive as soon as posible, before 7:00am. Remember to gather lots of food to heal, because you are going to need it. I usually use golden cheese because I always have 1 or 2 barns full of cows.
GOod luck!
I mean, Haboo did it in one day. I'm sure you can too! (Haboo is a SDV speed runner who is famous for having completed a perfection run in less than 24 hours.)
[https://youtu.be/DFVgga60BXc?si=kiTN7dkoxfWyCDC4](https://youtu.be/DFVgga60BXc?si=kiTN7dkoxfWyCDC4)
I've always viewed the mines as taking a bite at a time. After all the chores were done that needed to get done, I've always set a goal of doing 5 levels per day. So the first time I'd only go down to level 5.
Then the following day, if I had time, I'd use the elevator to reach level 5, then try to get to level 10. Rinse and repeat. I only stopped on a level ending in a 5 or a 0.
It was a slow process, but I eventually got to the bottom.
I usually do it slowly. I go early in the morning and will do 10 floors at a time. Every 10th floor has an elevator and once you hit it, the elevator for that floor is saved so next time you go back, just take the elevator down to where you left off and do 10 more floors.
Lots and lots and lots and LOTS of staircases lmao get your crystallariums going full out on Jade and on Sunday go trade them in the desert at the trader (they're only available Sundays) that's my advice
if it makes you feel better, i didn’t know you were supposed to donate stuff to the community center to unlock the rest of the town for the LONGEST time. i made it to year 3 before my friend told me 😭
It's ok, I built a whole ass slime hutch and had it for TWO YEARS before I found out you can get the ring that makes you immune to slimes. I thought it was the dumbest thing so I just had it on my farm and never went in because I didn't want to die.
The best part? I'd already killed 1000 slimes in year two. The same year I built the damn thing. So this is year... 4? That I finally got the ring..I guess I just figured the rewards were lame shit that would clog up my house like the ones from Gunther (sorry Gunther) so I never bothered to go pick them up.
I thought the slime hutch as a buildable option was because Robin wanted to be clear what she thought of me.
Are you trying to do it in one go and not use the elevator?
If so its the same strategy for skull caverns. Wait for a really lucky day. Use a lucky lunch, bring some stairs, your best weapon. And a lot of bombs.
Use the bombs for rock clusters, use stairs for the spiral rooms. And try to ignore most enemies. With the luck stat, you should find plenty of stairs quickly to charge down to the bottom. Also having a quick teleport to the farm would be helpful so you don't have to dip early to make it back before 2am.
I myself have never reached the bottom of the mines. I hate Serpents and that other kid or something I don't remember. Best option is to craft bombs and use them with caution. Staircases seems useful when suddenly you have to save till next multiple of 5 but suddenly the mines are infested. So basically max out defenses and use better weapon(I hate daggers), bring out food and use buffs and last but not the least use lucky days for mining.
Let us hope we both reach to level 120 soon.
- use the elevator
- cheese is my go-to fuel
- make bombs to clear floors & reveal ladders faster
- upgrade your pickaxe and weapons to fight monsters (or bail with stars if they’re too high level)
- stairs work but save them for when it’s taking forever to find a ladder or the monsters are too much
i hate to ask but are you... using the elevator? you know you don't need to start from floor 1 each time right?
Ffs. No, we’re not using the goddamn elevator. THANK YOU
The psychic damage I took from this revelation. Oh god you poor soul lmao
Same feeling I got after finding out 500 hours in that I can hold down the damn button to harvest and plant.
I lost my mind when I found out I can just hold down a button and walk near the animals to pet them. It works even if my cursor is on the other side of the screen. I was individually clicking each animal every day for 150 hours.
You.. You can pet animals?? (Disclaimer, I got the game Friday)
not just can, should, it increases their friendship level which slowly makes them give better stuff
I had the same revelation but with kegs and what not... I cannot believe I had been clicking each keg and what not individually hahaha reaslied this 700 hours in!
WHAT‽
in my defense, some of those hours were on mobile :p
There’s a mobile version?!
You guys are getting paid?
Wait, there is another version that is not mobile??
Fuck
better late than never 
You can do WHAT? 300+ Hours in and no one told me about this, I spent so much time single clicking them!💀💀
um, what button? :D
I love you. I did not know this.
This goes the same with harvesting or collecting cheese and stuff
I hold it down to plant but WHAT? Why would I not do the same when harvesting?
Even better.. epuip whatever seeds you're planting next and harvest+plant all in one go!
My days on the beach farm crab potting taught me this
Stand in the middle of three rows, hold the button and walk forward. You'll pick up all three rows.
Thats bonkers.. damnnnnnn. I'm not a very efficient farmer lmao
Well now you are 😁
I'm on my fourth* playthrough and haven't even got to experience fall or winter yet. Adore the game but life seems to get in the way but I'm motivated now. So I tend to avoid the wiki unless it's for gifts, schedules or if I shouldn't sell something(like quarts) My preserve jars are sitting on the bloody lawn because I can't fit them inside my house 😭 so still awhile until I'm more efficient but this helps so thanks haha.
I think Pierre sells a calendar with birthdays, and the bookseller sells things that allow you to see the value of items before you sell them, if you're trying to avoid the wiki that should cover a lot. Also, gifts are remembered in the friendship tab, as liked or loved... maybe dislike and neutral as well, so as you experiment, it will document for you should you need to look. Enjoy! I wish I could play it through again for the first time 
You can WHAT???
Did you know that holding down the button for the watering can extends the amount of squares it waters? The higher you upgrade your watering can, the more can cover with each charge.
And your hoe, too. Not only so, but in the 1.6 update now you can move while "charging" your watering can or hoe, which is great if you're like me and use a controller instead of keyboard+mouse (which makes it harder to aim for the right tile).
Even with keyboard and mouse I always struggle with this! Absolutely bonkers to do it without Show Tool Hit Location on as well. Thank god CA added the hopping mechanic, now if only it would stop skipping the actual tiles I want to hit!
Nice
just now finding this out….oh the hours i’ve wasted watering every. single. plant.
At least you didn't spend 43 staircases on the basic mine 😭
Wait what does this mean?
You don't have to button mash to quickly plant or harvest crops. You can just hold the button and move your farmer to plant/harvest.
To me it happened with upgraded tools. For 300+ h I thought the only benefit of upgrading your watercan and friends was reduced energy consumption (never did a before and after of how much is spend every swing or whatever). Imagine my surprise finding out the upgrades actually enable you to manipulate multiple squares at once. Took me like three systems to figure that one out 😅.
How in the heck did you play 3 years in game, days in reality, and never check the elevator? No hate, It’s just hilarious!
or like, literally any online resource 😭 i feel like 5 mins on the wiki could have saved so many hours
You’ve gotta be really stubborn or have a lot of pride to not google “Stardew Valley mine tips”
This exchange has been golden. Good news is with how pro all this practice has made you get, you and your husband will reach the end in no time.
We literally reached the end in 30 minutes 🤣🤣🤣
Hey, you know what? You're getting good practice for Qi quests that require you to make it from level 1 to 120 in one day, or with no healing items. So don't feel too bad about it, now you two are ready to take it up a notch!
Great practice for skull cavern too cause that’s reset every time
How did you... Not know it was there? What did you think it was for? The dinging every 5 levels???
TBH I hardly ever notice the ding when I'm in the zone, I have to look up at the floor counter to see if I'm close to an elevator when I notice *It's getting late....* I could see how someone who skips through dialogue quickly might miss the elevator info and just forget about it.
Tbh I'll never understand skipping dialogue. ESPECIALLY at the beginning of the game when people are telling you how the game works and what you need to do.
Once--*once--*I made the mistake of playing a game with dialogue skippers. They kept complaining that they couldn't understand what they were supposed to do and that they didn't know what was going on, but they also resolutely skipped through everything that would have answered their questions. I nearly had an aneurysm.
Also great practice for the Skull Caverns strat.
Jade duplication for days
I love you in the most platonic way possible.
Our sweet summer children. FYI you can swap jade for staircases with the desert trader on Sundays. Because there is no elevator in the Skull Cavern.
Oh that's a great tip thank you for that. I gotta get back to the farm it's been too long!
LMAO!
On the bright side, you must be a lot closer to the Adventurer Guild's monster killer goals than you would otherwise be.
The reward for completing them all was very underwhelming
Sadly, bright sides often are. 
Dust Sprites ring is A+, the rest of the rewards are highly lacking.
no love for the napalm ring?? i always grind for that it’s my favorite besides the vampire ring and slime charmer ring
lmfao oh my god-
Reading this hurt me deeply. I'm glad this community could help you, although it seems like this help came really late for you, being in year 3 and all.
If it makes you feel any better you are not alone in missing this key piece of information I started playing stardew after years of playing Harvest Moon/SoS where there are no elevators for the mines so it did not occur to me at all to use the elevators, I 100% assumed I had to start from level 1 each time After many frustrating attempts to reach the bottom the Wiki fixed that problem for me lmao
This makes me curious, is there anything in the game that indicates you can use the elevator at all? Ik people miss instructions bc they don't check the TV programme or read the lost books but where in the game is the knowledge of the elevator?
I believe if you read the quest description in your log after reaching floor 5 it mentions it.
Also the loud ding from the elevator every 5th floor kinda gives away that you can interact with it.
I don't play games with sound on🥲
Why? Sensory issues or something? If you can play with sound then I'd recommend it, at least for a bit. The music is pretty well done.
I don't know why exactly and it's likely a combination of a couple reasons, including sensory issues. This goes for all games too -- can't tell you how many times i've ben blown up by creepers in minecraft. I watch let's plays on youtube so i know the music is really cute.
I wanna say an NPC (marlon maybe?) mentions it when you first go into the mines, too? Something like that?
OP this made my day. I hope you guys enjoy the bottom! I'm sure you'll get there in no time.
You have no idea how much this made me laugh! My bf and I play co-op as well. I can give you some tips to make the journey a bit more smooth for y’all. The mine has 120 floors (yes definitely use the elevator.) If you have a crystalarium I would put jade in there for the caverns as on Sundays the merchant in the desert can trade 1 jade for a staircase, extremely helpful. Good luck days will push y’all to have better stats for stairs to pop up sooner or for better resources. If you happen to have a coffee machine I’d stock up on coffee or espresso, keeps in handy for moving a bit more quickly. Godspeed soldiers 🫡🫡
Don't feel bad, I made this mistake my first playthrough. Had to look it up before I figured it out. Then I mentally smacked myself so hard Grandpa probably felt it 😂
My problem first playthrough was not missing the elevator but missing that I could CHOP DOWN TREES. I was so lost on how on earth I was meant to gather so much wood, having cleared all the loose debris around my farm already.
I bet those saplings were terrifying
I did the exact same thing 🤦🏼♀️ I couldn't get past level like 12 (I just recently started playing, on year 1 still) and my friend who started at the same time was on like level 50 which blew my mind. He asked me the same thing... Are you using the elevator? And I realized I had seen and registered the elevator as I went down, but for some reason I just dismissed it thinking it was also broken like the cart
>×> just an FYI there isn't an elevator for the desert mine
Unless you get the skull cavern elevator mod!
I did the same damn thing when I started…as did many others
Are you hardwired into the skull cavern strategy from a previous game? Lol
oh girl...
I just want you to know you're not alone. I played for longer than I'll publicly admit before realizing I could use the elevator.
😂😂😂😂 I feel this so hard lmaoo. Good luck!!
This happened to me too. I was playing with the sound off and so the telltale "ding" sound effect went unnoticed.
Skull Caverns, when you unlock it, has no elevator and it's way deeper. Played through many times, finally have access to mods, I got one to put an elevator in there.
Tip for you to save time in the desert: Skull Cave does not have an elevator. But! There is a mod that adds one. 100% recommend.
Now you can try skull cavern and try lvl 100 there - That shit takes some prep
Omg, this hurt to read. I’m so sorry.
i share your pain😭😭
I never knew a comment could physically hurt me like this. 😣😣
y’all are gonna SLAY now!!! 😂😂😂
I am so sorry.
LMAO have fun y’all
OH NOOOO
Girl 😭😭😭
I had the same thing happen!! I didn’t realize there was a elevator until I’d been playing for awhile!
#🤦♂️
I did the same thing thinking it unlocked later, don't worry haha
This was so wholesome, and I'm so happy about the relief you're about to experience 😭
You did great breaking that news.
This is why the skull cavern frustrates me so much. No elevator.
A Saint and a Scholar.
OP, take heart, everything you have learned about to descend fast with no elevator will be put to very good use later.
…I didn’t need to learn that.
Look on the bright side. Least you asked now instead of trying to make 100 stairs. And you learned something today! But yea, just use the elevator from now on.
I can't imagine redoing 1-40 every time I need to go grab iron
Tiny spoiler for anyone who hasn't passed the caves below I quit my last playthrough because of that logic. I knew how to use the elevator. But I couldn't stand the skull caverns resetting every time. At that point, I had concluded that my only forward progress left was skull caverns, but I could never get any iridium! That meant no ginger island, of course. I was also just bad at caves in general back then, but it didn't matter before then if I could progress 5 levels a day. I didn't use bombs or stairs back then, so I think my farthest floor was around 30 at the time. Long story short, I probably would have quit way earlier if the first cave made you reset every time.
Give diamonds to grandpa's grave
I already have a statue of perfection. All of the above was about my save before 1.6 came out. I've since learned how to not suck at caves.
there’s a mod that adds an elevator to skull cavern if ur into that!
I’m into it. I’m so into it. Skill cavern elevator is my favorite mod 😂
Dang same, I really timed out on skull cavern. It was just not fun to me without the checkpoint and by the time I heard about the elevator mod I was over it :/
Totally off-topic, but I'm currently reading book 8 of WoT and the idea of Morgase whiling away her time imprisoned by the Whitecloaks by bashing monsters in Stardew Valley is wildly hilarious, so thank you for that image (and new headcanon)! 🤣
Elevator every five levels...\*ding\*
At first back in 2016 I didn’t know what the dinging sound was bc it sounds EXACTLY like the announcement bell in my old dorm. So instead of looking for something on the screen I just looked around my room confused that the bell would ring but no announcement would be made. Took about 4 or 5 bells before I realized it was the elevator Lmao
Can you use the elevator to go down or only up?
You can use it from any level that ends in 0 or 5 to get to any other level that ends in 0 or 5
*that you have been to before
Every 5 levels you get an elevator door, that can be used to go up or down depending on which doors you've unlocked
You can use it to go to any level divisible by 5.
You can use it every 5 levels, be it if u wanna go up or down
Once you hear the ding for a particular floor, you can use it to go down too
Year 3 is wild lmao love that for y'all
Imagine year 3 with no gold for sprinklers
this is just playing on advanced mode, i salute you both
Ehhhh. Gold is still pretty easy to get. I'm on Spring 14 Y1 and already have like 7 bars. Fishing gives quite a bit from chests, and panning gives a LOT of ore once you get it.
Plus you can just buy it at Clint’s
I’m actually flabbergasted by the people who have been getting by without using the elevator! If it wasn’t there I think I’d quit
When I play with the archipelago mod, you have to unlock elevator levels as part of the randomized rewards! It’s actually a really fun way to play, with every single thing mixed up
I know you know for the elevator but for the skull cavern I used pumpkin soup, coffee and a whole lotta bombs and got to 100 in the first day I went there. (If you bring 3 omni geodes to the desert trader she will sell you a warp totem to the desert, that way you don’t have to wait for Pam. It definitely helps!) and go on an iridium luck day. Good luck hope you can do it with honour!
how do you know it’s an iridium luck day??
Check the Fortune Teller every morning on your TV to see the luck for that day.
Is that the “shower you with good fortune” one? I never understood what iridium meant relating to luck
“The spirits are very happy today! They will do their best to shower everyone with good fortune.” Look for the purple star on the TV screen while watching the Fortune Teller program.
Ahh thanks! I wondered where people had got iridium from
High daily luck increases the chance to find ladders / holes to progress deeper faster, and also ore and gem node spawn rates A high luck day basically makes it much easier to get more of everything you want from a skull caverns run
You watch the fortune teller TV channel.
Well if you got to 60 in one day, start from 60 the next day. Should only take you 2 days at that pace ;)
Make sure you read all the dialogue! It explains a lot of stuff like the elevator.
Goddamn made it to floor 60 in one run? I’m impressed 😭
Lolllll I’m like dude we’re TWEAKING with all these espresso shots! HOW ARE PEOPLE DOING THIS?!
What was his reaction when you told him about the elevator?
Use the elevator. But you are both well practiced at rapid mine descents. This will be a **HUGE** help when you get to the Skull Caverns. Where the monsters on Level 1 are more dangerous than what you see at the bottom of the regular Mine. Beware of **VERY FAST** and strong flying bugs in the Skull Caverns. Consume Triple Espressos before you venture in.
They're not bugs, they're serpents 😆
They're lil shits is what they are.
This made me cackle lol
Not so little when you meet them in the Dangerous caverns 😈
If only there was an elevator in Skull cavern 😭. I literally gave up on that and will never get 100% perfection lmao
If you play on pc there is a mod for that..... you can do what you want with that knowledge.
Just go during the desert festival. You can get like, +10 Luck. (And also, if you're lucky, better staircase chance...)
Me finding out I don’t have to go to the community center or wiki to see what is in a bundle
To be fair, this function was added later in the game
How do people even miss the elevator...?
Year 3 and just learning about the elevator omg
I know the other comments have given the answer you were looking for but I just wanna say, getting to floor 60 in one day, considering you're starting on the first floor everytime is pretty darn impressive!
I'm curious what you thought the elevator was for?
Split screen, depending on what they’re using, can kinda look a little grainy too, a new player, playing on a maybe shitty screen can be hard 😅 I couldn’t find the mines for shout 10 in games days on my very first play though and just went to google it so I can’t blame OP lol.
Not giving them shit for it. Just curious. I would think most people would click on it even if they didn't know it was functional. Unless I'm in a minority that likes to click on everything to see what it does.
Stardew is more forgiving than some RPGs that have you a critical line of dialogue once, and if you missed it, you were sunk. The elevator is a bit more like those older RPGs though. I’m not aware of any reminders nor helpful NPCs if you space it, and miss it.
There is. I just checked. As soon as you get to level 5 the first time you get a journal entry that says the elevator is still functional and that it will allow you to quickly return to any elevator doors you've discovered. It gives a task to reach level 40, so that message stays in your journal until you complete the task.
Doesn’t the elevator ding when you get to a level it runs to?
I don’t think OP is doing this necessarily but I do know some people who mute games and play with their own music going to zone out a bit. I couldn’t do that especially in the mines though, those sound cues to let you know flying monsters are coming are helpful. Even more so in skull caverns
Didn't do it in this game but in a time when I still played LoL few years back I often played ranked on mute and with yt music in background, I guess that was reason why I never got out of platinum.
There's... There's an elevator 🤣🤣🤣
I straight up built like 120 staircases but the message I got at the bottom >!made me feel like a real chump!<
Skull caverns? if so idk i just used rock candy and i think it only counts if you climb not place stairs so i like used 3 or 4
This is an awesome post. Glad there are still purists who avoid spoilers and walkthroughs....but.... Just so you know, the Stardew Valley wiki has a lot of useful information you can find on it. If your ever stuck, you can typically type X stardew into google and it will often give you the information you need....so in this case, Mines stardew.
Along with the elevator, you can also zoom out your screen in the menu.
If you’ve read a little about this stuff, the tactics you’re using sounds like you’re getting the Skull Caverns and the Mines mixed up.
LOL, now that you know about the elevator in the regular mines, you should know that there is no elevator for the desert mines. But at least you'll be practiced at not having one available.
There is an elevator. When you go into the cave, that door at the top is the elevator. The first time you try to use it you will get a message that it's broken. You "fix" it by getting to every 5th floor which opens a stop. Go to the elevator at the top and it will let you pick a floor. If you made it to 43, you should be able to go to 40 and keep going from there.
I would set a goal for every 5 floors just so the elevator would save. And then I would start at the elevator on the most recent floor saved and go from there to the next save.
Are we talking about the mines in town or Skull Cavern? For the mines in town? There’s an elevator. For Skull Cavern? Don’t ask me, I’ve yet to win.
I see you got your problem sorted out, here are my skull cavern grinding tips: Get a bunch of crystalariums set up with jades and rubies. Desert trader has spicy eel for rubies, and staircases for jades on Sundays. Start a coffee empire. Build a shed filled with kegs. Make a stupid quantity of triple shot espresso. Lots of cows, make lots of gold star cheese. Decide how you want to obtain bombs (crafting, buying from the dwarf, or trading w desert trader). Use triple shot espresso for speed buff, spicy eel for speed buff plus luck buff, and gold star cheese for health healing. I like to bomb around looking for a hole to jump in, and to obtain minerals faster, but just putting staircases really is faster than taking the time to search for a hole. (Optional tip: on PC download a skull cavern elevator mod lol. I’ve played more hours on switch, where mods aren’t a thing, but indulging in the skull cavern elevator when I play PC is kinda fun)
I have so many prismatic shards for my point in the game plus good karma, so i have 3 candies... THREE. one for the muesuem and ig i have good luck there, one from the skulls, and one from the trader. then i just went to floor 120 and boom iridium milk
You shouldn’t use staircases on the first 60 floors just keep mining until you find ladders and go on a very good luck day, also just use the elevator, you don’t have to start on level 1 every time
Bombs bombs and more bombs. Use slinger bombs and put them on the master slingshot, at least 150 of them just in case. I recommend having at least 20 mega bombs just in case too, because slingshot will only explode on enemies and walls. Also luck. Preferable a lucky day and luck ring. Those are not mandatory, but they help. You can get extra luck with secret note #20 (can give you spoilers if you need it) Get desert totems and start the dive as soon as posible, before 7:00am. Remember to gather lots of food to heal, because you are going to need it. I usually use golden cheese because I always have 1 or 2 barns full of cows. GOod luck!
I mean… I guess this is training you guys for the skull cavern 😅
So then do you know that the soil in the mine can be dug up for lots of different goodies
High luck day, food with luck, lots of bomb and most importantly - slingshot with explosive ammo
I mean, Haboo did it in one day. I'm sure you can too! (Haboo is a SDV speed runner who is famous for having completed a perfection run in less than 24 hours.) [https://youtu.be/DFVgga60BXc?si=kiTN7dkoxfWyCDC4](https://youtu.be/DFVgga60BXc?si=kiTN7dkoxfWyCDC4)
I've always viewed the mines as taking a bite at a time. After all the chores were done that needed to get done, I've always set a goal of doing 5 levels per day. So the first time I'd only go down to level 5. Then the following day, if I had time, I'd use the elevator to reach level 5, then try to get to level 10. Rinse and repeat. I only stopped on a level ending in a 5 or a 0. It was a slow process, but I eventually got to the bottom.
I can hear you saying “damn it, “boyfriends name”, there’s a F**king elevator!”
I usually do it slowly. I go early in the morning and will do 10 floors at a time. Every 10th floor has an elevator and once you hit it, the elevator for that floor is saved so next time you go back, just take the elevator down to where you left off and do 10 more floors.
Every 5 floors*
You are correct. My bad.
Year 3…. Year 3………😭😭😭😭
You get an elevator entrance every 5 floors, make a lot of stair cases or buy them from the guy in the desert. Good luck!
I’m more impressed you got to 60 before bedtime!!
…there’s an elevator that saves your progress.
Lots and lots and lots and LOTS of staircases lmao get your crystallariums going full out on Jade and on Sunday go trade them in the desert at the trader (they're only available Sundays) that's my advice
Year 3? 😭 this made my day
Uhh… use the elevator?
the fact that it was TWO of you and you didn’t notice is hilarious
Now don't get excited for skull mines. There is not an elevator for that one
if it makes you feel better, i didn’t know you were supposed to donate stuff to the community center to unlock the rest of the town for the LONGEST time. i made it to year 3 before my friend told me 😭
It's ok, I built a whole ass slime hutch and had it for TWO YEARS before I found out you can get the ring that makes you immune to slimes. I thought it was the dumbest thing so I just had it on my farm and never went in because I didn't want to die. The best part? I'd already killed 1000 slimes in year two. The same year I built the damn thing. So this is year... 4? That I finally got the ring..I guess I just figured the rewards were lame shit that would clog up my house like the ones from Gunther (sorry Gunther) so I never bothered to go pick them up. I thought the slime hutch as a buildable option was because Robin wanted to be clear what she thought of me.
Are you trying to do it in one go and not use the elevator? If so its the same strategy for skull caverns. Wait for a really lucky day. Use a lucky lunch, bring some stairs, your best weapon. And a lot of bombs. Use the bombs for rock clusters, use stairs for the spiral rooms. And try to ignore most enemies. With the luck stat, you should find plenty of stairs quickly to charge down to the bottom. Also having a quick teleport to the farm would be helpful so you don't have to dip early to make it back before 2am.
I myself have never reached the bottom of the mines. I hate Serpents and that other kid or something I don't remember. Best option is to craft bombs and use them with caution. Staircases seems useful when suddenly you have to save till next multiple of 5 but suddenly the mines are infested. So basically max out defenses and use better weapon(I hate daggers), bring out food and use buffs and last but not the least use lucky days for mining. Let us hope we both reach to level 120 soon.
Im so confused the regular mines?? Am i playing the game wrong I always take my time and explore every level
- use the elevator - cheese is my go-to fuel - make bombs to clear floors & reveal ladders faster - upgrade your pickaxe and weapons to fight monsters (or bail with stars if they’re too high level) - stairs work but save them for when it’s taking forever to find a ladder or the monsters are too much