Advice wanted for opening SC in my 1st Spring

[Boo1972]

I’m really interested in unlocking skull cavern before summer in year 1. I know a lot of people do this regularly so I’m really hoping to see a variety of strategies. I am trying a fishing and mining run that I kind of messed up early but I figured I’d stick with it and learn as I go. But I do miss farming and foraging and would like a slightly more balanced method. I’m decent at fishing but the most catfish on day 3 I’ve ever managed is 1. my other main weakness is I’m slow in the mines. If day 5 is a decent luck day, I might make it to level 10 but 15 is a stretch

Anyway, I hope to see several perspectives on this. Thanks in advance!

 

[Zen_the_Ogre]

Two options either cheat though rng manip or glitch the earlier build in which you could put a staircase at the end of the minds which would take you to skull caverns.

The most efficient legit method is to go the Joja route. Earn the money while completing the mines.

It is possible but most discussions use manipulation of your save to break the game or to ensure you will always find item x

 

[Honeywell]

Mining and fishing is a good approach so I'd stick to what you're doing. To make your mining more productive don't mine on really bad luck days, go fishing instead. For your rainy day fishing don't try for catfish until your fishing level is high enough to reliably catch them. You'll make more money and skill faster fishing at the lake.

For money and easy farming xp, you can't go wrong with crafting basic sprinklers and buying strawberry seeds. So you could plant your initial parsnips on the 1st for farming level 1. And then on the 6th plant 20 potatoes to reach farming lvl 2 (which you need for basic sprinklers), your free cauliflower seeds from the museum, plus whatever else you want or need for the cc. 40 crops take about an hour to hand water without needing to refill your watering can and don't take that much energy so you'd still have plenty of time to make progress in the mines and fish.

On the 13th, buy as many strawberries as you have the money, sprinklers and/or the time and energy to hand water. 20 basic sprinklers and 80 strawberry seeds seems to be the standard for min/maxing and would be a really solid number to aim for. You have until the 16th to get them in the ground and watered. Plant them on the 15 with sprinklers and you won't need to water them at all. Those strawberries will get you level 6 farming (quality sprinklers) and about 20K gold.

Good luck!

 

[Zen_the_Ogre]

I didn't fill in the money part but yeah Honeywell has it right on the money process for the Joja route

 

[Giant Octopodes]

Personally I always shoot for getting 5 Catfish on day 3. If I get more, great! I rarely get less. On day 2 I'll get to at least 4 fishing skill (fishing in either the ocean or the mountain lake depending on my mood, both work), and get at least 1800 gold (typically much more). On day 3 then I'll buy a Fiberglass Rod, plus bait, and if I'm only at fishing level 4 still I'll grab a trout soup or two, as catching catfish at below 5 fishing is quite difficult.

One thing I've heard people do (but have never done myself) is buy a training rod day 2, and use that to increase their perfect catch rate. I'll readily admit I miss a few perfect catches on that 1st day, so I could probably make it to fishing level 5 more consistently if I took advantage of that, you might find it's beneficial as well.

Note that catching those catfish consistently or not matters quite a bit, not only to the amount of money you're earning on those days, but also to the amount of fishing XP gained. Each cast which reels in a catfish earns you at minimum 28 XP, each cast where one got away earns you 0 XP. If you can't catch them relatively consistently (at least 50% of the time), you're better off not fishing in the river, as each of those casts where they get away may as well be trash, and then even the relatively less valuable fish in the mountain lake are better options.

Hope some of that helps! Fishing is undoubtedly the best source of early income without reliance on RNG manipulation so I don't think your course of action needs major revisions or anything, I'd just practice that low skill fishing some more and you'll be fine.