Stardew Valley Foraging Professions
The Foraging fork is the one players ask about most, and the level 10 half is the reason: Botanist doubles what your forage is worth, while Tracker only tells you where it is. Botanist reaches further than the one-line description suggests, because the game treats truffles as foraged items. Below are both level 5 picks, all four level 10 picks, and what each one does past what the level-up screen tells you.
How you level it: Gathering forage off the ground, and chopping trees with an axe. Each level also adds one point of axe proficiency, which lowers the energy each swing costs.
If you take Gatherer at level 5
Gatherer
Level 5Chance for double harvest of foraged items.
The chance is 20%.
Then at level 10 you choose between
Botanist
Level 10Foraged items are always highest quality.
Always means iridium, which doubles the base price. It reaches further than it sounds: truffles count as foraged, so every truffle your pigs turn up becomes iridium, and since 1.6 it also covers fruit shaken out of fruit trees. Without it, your chance of even gold quality is your foraging level divided by 30.
Tracker
Level 10Location of forageable items revealed.
Arrows appear at the edges of the screen pointing toward forage and toward the worms that mark an artifact spot. Walk into an area with no arrows and you know there is nothing to pick up.
Which to take: Botanist is the stronger pick for most farms and the one to take if you keep pigs, because truffles counting as foraged turns it into a real income bonus rather than a small one. Tracker is a convenience that pays off while you are still filling the museum, since it points at artifact spots as well as forage. It changes what you can find, never what anything is worth.
Gatherer is a level 5 Foraging profession.If you take Forester at level 5
Forester
Level 5Trees drop 25% more wood.
It applies to trees, stumps and logs.
Then at level 10 you choose between
Lumberjack
Level 10All trees have a chance to drop hardwood.
Tapper
Level 10Syrups worth 25% more.
Syrups are the artisan goods the Artisan profession skips, so this is the only bonus they ever get.
Which to take: Lumberjack answers the hardwood shortage that stumps and the Secret Woods otherwise ration, which matters while you are still crafting casks and kegs. Tapper is the income pick once a stand of tapped trees is already running.
Forester is a level 5 Foraging profession.You can change your mind later
Donate 10,000g and pick one skill. That night you get its level 5 screen again, then its level 10 screen. Your existing bonuses drop the moment you choose a skill to change, and sell-price bonuses will not apply to anything already sitting in the shipping bin that day. The Sewers
Frequently asked questions
Botanist or Tracker: which should I pick?
Botanist for most farms. It makes every foraged item iridium quality, which doubles the base price, and the game counts truffles as foraged, so a barn full of pigs turns into iridium truffles every morning. Since 1.6 it also covers fruit shaken from fruit trees. Tracker only reveals where things are. It never changes what anything sells for.
Is Tracker ever the better pick?
While you are still filling the museum, yes. The arrows point at the wriggling worms that mark artifact spots as well as at forage, so you can walk into an area, see no arrows, and leave without searching it. That is a real time saving during the artifact hunt. Once the museum is done, the arrows have nothing left to find that matters.
Does Botanist affect truffles?
Yes. Truffles count as foraged items, so with Botanist every truffle your pigs dig up arrives at iridium quality. Truffles also benefit from Gatherer, the level 5 profession that leads to Botanist, which gives a 20% chance of a double harvest.
What quality do foraged items reach without Botanist?
Your chance of gold quality is your foraging level divided by 30, so 10/30 at level 10. Iridium quality on forage is not reachable at all without Botanist.
Can I switch from Tracker to Botanist later?
Yes. The Statue of Uncertainty in The Sewers takes 10,000g and lets you redo one skill's professions. You choose the skill, then that night the game shows you its level 5 screen followed by its level 10 screen. Note that your current bonuses stop the moment you pick a skill to change.