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One of the most appealing features ofStardew Valleyis the player’s ability to get to know the townspeople of Pelican Town. In turn, if the player gets close enough to some of the eligible bachelors and bachelorettes, they’ll be able to propose to and marry them. Out of thetwelve marriage candidatesinStardew Valley, one of the easiest spouses to get to the altar isShane.
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Understandably, Shane isn’t always the first choice when it comes to dating and marrying a resident of Pelican Town. Much like Haley, Shane will be rather negative and standoffish towards the player character when they first interact with him. This turns some players away, but others will persevere and get to know the person behind the cynical, struggling front that Shane puts up. Luckily for those players, Shane is one of the easiest spouses to marry due to his simple daily schedule andfavorite gifts that can be obtained very early in the game.
Step 1: Give Him Gifts Twice Each Week
As mentioned, Shane’s favorite gifts are rather easy to obtain. Even players that have just started their playthrough ofStardew Valleycan start gathering some of the necessary gifts to win brownie points with Shane.
Shane’s favorite gifts will earn playerseighty friendship points, those being:beer,hot peppers,pepper poppers,pizza, andall universal loves(such as the golden pumpkin, prismatic shards, rabbit’s foot, magic rock candy, and pearl). Beer and pizza can both be purchased from the Stardrop Saloon, meaning players can make a quick pit stop there every so often once they’ve procured some funds to buy two of Shane’s loved gifts.
Shane’s liked gifts will earn playersforty-five friendship points, those being:all eggs(except void eggs, which he dislikes),all fruit(except hot peppers, which he loves), andall universal likes(such as emerald, aquamarine, ruby, amethyst, topaz, jade, diamond, fire quartz, frozen tear, earth crystal, all food recipes, pale ale, mayonnaise, duck mayonnaise, honey, jelly, beer, wine, juice, cheese, goat cheese, cloth, truffle oil, all vegetables and fruits, all flowers, coffee, and maple syrup). Shane’s exception with universal likes arepickles, which he hates.
Shane’s neutral gifts will earn playerstwenty friendship points, those being any kind ofmilk(including goat),fried egg,bread,wheat, andhops.
Shane’s disliked and hated gifts will subtract eithertwenty or forty friendship points, so players need to be careful what objects they’re holding when they interact with Shane. These negatively impactful gifts include: seaweed, foraged items, all fish, all minerals (except gems and minerals mentioned as liked gifts), copper bar, iridium bar, iron bar, gold bar, refined quartz, all ores, coal, wood, stone, clay, hardwood, fiber, battery pack, all fishing bobbers and hooks, all monster loot, all seeds, cave carrot, driftwood, wheat flour, oil, void egg, vinegar, rice, all geodes, oak resin, pine tar, weeds, joja cola, all trash, red mushroom, rotten plants, all bait, magnet, sap, all artifacts, seaweed, all algae, hay, poppy, sea urchin, bug meat, snail, slime, oil of garlic, strange bun, void mayonnaise, and all fertilizers, retaining soils, and speed-gro.
Step 2: Give Shane Gifts On His Birthday
Shane’s birthday is one of the first to come up once players startStardew Valley. His birthday is on Spring 20, which rolls around during thefirst season that players begin. Giving a potential spouse a gift on their birthday will provide a massive boost in friendship points, meaning that doing so could boost players into the territory of being eligible for certain character’s heart events.
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Don’t worry about the weekly gift quota, players will be able to give a gift to a character on their birthday regardless of whether they’ve already given that character two gifts that week. Shane’s loved gifts are ideal for a birthday present, but giving him something off the list of gifts he likes or is neutral towards is also acceptable.
Step 3: Talk To Shane Every Day
While giving gifts isone way to significantly boost friendship points, just going out of the way to talk to a specific character every day is a good habit to get into in order to maintain and slowly raise those friendship points.
Thankfully, Shane’s daily schedule is rather easy to work around. He leaves Marnie’s Ranch at 7:20 AM, making his way through Pelican Town to start his shift at Joja Mart. It takes him until about 9:30 AM to reach Joja Mart and start working, so players have ample time to bustle through town and catch him before his shift starts. Finally, at 5:00 PM Shane leaves Joja Mart and heads for the Stardrop Saloon where he stays until 11:10 PM. If players don’t have time to catch him in the morning, waiting around the saloon for him to show up after work is where he’ll always end up towards the end of the day.
Unlike other characters, Shane’s schedule doesn’t change much on weekends or when it rains, making him a consistently available and easy-to-find NPC.
Step 4: Trigger Shane’s Heart Events
If players aren’t sold on the standoffish personality of the barfly, Shane’s heart events will give players a glimpse of the sincerity and struggles beneath his rough exterior. As players earn friendship points and raise the amount of hearts they’ve gained with Shane, they’ll unlock cutscenes that shed light on the overworked man struggling with depression and alcoholism and allow the player to make dialogue decisions that will further increase their friendship points with Shane. Only after reachingeight heartswith Shane will players be able to buy the bouquet from Pierre that’s needed to initiate a romantic relationship.
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Many of these heart events can be triggered by leaving the farm to go to Pelican Town, Cindersap Forest, orMarnie’s Ranchafter 9:00 AM.
Step 5: Purchase Mermaid Pendant
Once players have given Shane a bouquet (purchased from Pierre’s) and reached ten hearts, they’ll be able to buy a mermaid pendant from the Old Mariner. The mermaid pendant is required in order to propose to any eligible bachelor or bachelorette. Players can only purchase a mermaid pendant while it’s raining (as that’s the only time the Old Mariner will appear), and after they’ve repaired the bridge to the right of Elliot’s Cabin.
After the mermaid pendant is obtained, players can gift it to Shane.Unless the player is cheating on a previous spouseor has an insufficient amount of friendship points and hearts, Shane will accept the player’s marriage proposal.
Stardew Valleyis currently available on PC, macOS, Linux, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and Mobile.
