Few games have enjoyed such enduring endearment as Stardew Valley. Of all the skills you can learn, Fishing is among the most useful, but after a while you will be tasked with making a choice. Should you continue down the path of the Fisher, or take a detour down the life of a Trapper? They both have their strengths and weaknesses, and we can help you make a decision in this important milestone.
Is Fisher or Trapper the Better Profession?
No matter which seems better at first glance, you will first have to fish quite a bit regardless. This particular choice isn’t presented to you until you reach Level Five in Fishing anyway. This means you’ll have plenty of time with the fishing minigame to decide if you wanna keep on that particular grind.
Fisher
Should you choose Fisher, your catch will immediately be worth 25% more, and that value extends to creatures you catch in the Crab Pots also. This has the advantage of benefitting your Trapping efforts regardless of choosing the Fisher path.
Fisher Specializations
Admittedly, only one of the Fishing Specializations at Level 10 is pretty good
- Angler:Â Choosing the Angler will have your catches be worth 50% more. Once again, this 50% value bonus extends to Crab Pot marine life as well. Although bear in mind, this is not in addition to the previous 25%, so the bonus doesn’t stack. Either way, this is a solid method for making good money fast.
- Pirate: Choosing the Pirate will double your chances of encountering a Treasure Chest during the fishing minigame. The base chance of this is 15%, so this will double the odds to 30%. Equipping the Treasure Hunter tackle to your rod will boost this to a 40% chance. Personally, I don’t think this path is great considering that, more often than not, I’ve lost fish trying to get a chest. However, this isn’t bad when you’re dealing with a slow-moving fish and you have plenty of time to get both.
Really though, Angler is hands-down the better of the two. Having your catches be worth 50% more makes catching all of those Breams and Carp feel like much less of a waste of time.
Trapper
If you really dislike the fishing minigame, then the Trapper path isn’t that bad. The needed resources to make Crab Pots are drastically reduced. Their base resource requirements are normally 40 wood and 3 Iron Bars. The Trapper profession reduces this to 25 Wood and 2 Copper Bars. This makes for a great advantage early on, but as you get later in the game, Iron becomes plentiful enough for this to not be as much of a concern.
Trapper Specializations
Unlike Fisher, you might have a harder time deciding between the two of these at Level 10, as they’re both good choices.
- Mariner: You won’t catch junk in your Crab Pots ever again. This is a pretty good perk. There’s nothing worse than picking through a couple dozen Crab Pots to find a sizeable amount of junk in them. This makes them a lot more profitable.
- Luremaster: Let’s face it, collecting your hauls from Crab Pots is fun. Having to bait them? Not so much. This puts an end to that particular chore. You will no longer have to bait Crab Pots with this perk. Just grab your catch and move on with your day. While removing the possibility of junk is nice, this specialization really streamlines the process.
As for which is best? This really depends on how you want to go about your grind. On top of maintaining your farm, Crab Pots can really feel like just another chore after a while. Having to collect them daily, regardless of having to bait them or not, can be very time consuming. It is this writer’s opinion that Fisher gives you the better deal overall. That 50% value bonus really adds up, and it benefits the Trapping side of this profession, while the Trapper bonuses don’t have the same benefits that overlap into fishing.
Need more help with Stardew Valley? We got you covered:
- Is Fighter or Scout Better?
- Which Is Better: Rancher or Tiller?
- What’s the Deal With the “Explosion”?
