Most profitable professions?

estewanini

Sodbuster
EDIT: Thanks everyone for the advices! I came up with a strategy to follow for now :junicheer:

I'm asking for advice on which profession I should choose for each of the skills that would be most profitable, because I'm currently trying to compile enough money to buy the Return Scepter, Obelisks, and etc. My farm is the riverland farm and I have most of the space occupied by fish ponds and barns (link), not so much crop space.

Right now my stats are:
Farming = Rancher & Coopmaster (I'm currently hatching up a lot of dinos for a coop, I do wanna change it to Artisan)
Mining = Geologist & Excavator
Foraging = Forester & Lumberjack
Fishing = Trapper & Luremaster
 
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imnvs

Local Legend
My goto's:

Rancher>Shepherd : If we're talking profit, getting double the wool I would otherwise doubles the value of that wool, and shepherd also increases the quality of the wool, so that puts shepherd above coopmaster. Early, artisan would make a lot of things sell for more, but then the speed-up on my wool gathering is resources increase, instead of cash increase... and later, cash stops being a limiter, so I would suggest that anyone that is still an artisan in late game is wasting a profession.

Miner>Prospector : Again, this may seem counterintuitive as gems are worth more, but this let's me get the resources I need to upgrade my tools faster and build the artisan machinery I need to get more money from the things I process on the farm. (You need so much ore/bars to make so many things.)

Gatherer>Botanist : Iridium quality forage. You can get hardwood no matter your profession here, but you can NOT get iridium quality forage any other way. It's also the only way to get to the best grange display you could ever put together. (You need an iridium quality fiddlehead fern to achieve this.) And when it comes to profits? Imagine eating some good forage food so that you get 4 berries off each bush during one of the berry seasons, and actually going around to collect all those berries (I've found almost 200 in one day on a good day)... that will all be iridium quality, doubling their value. Late game, though, of course, you'll be turning this all into preserves anyway, but you can save yourself the trouble of making hundreds of preserves jars and just sell them too.

Trapmaster>Mariner : Save yourself the bait? No, save yourself from collecting trash AND have a MUCH greater chance of getting the expensive trap-fish down at the beach. Your chance of catching lobster is just terrible, unless you go mariner.

Edit on 01Apr2021: As I just got a like, I figured I should update this...

Rancher>Shepherd? In my most recent saves, I've skipped sheep entirely, and stick to Tiller>Agriculturalist for all the ingredients I need.
 
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estewanini

Sodbuster
Rancher>Shepherd : If we're talking profit, getting double the wool I would otherwise doubles the value of that wool, and shepherd also increases the quality of the wool, so that puts shepherd above coopmaster. Early, artisan would make a lot of things sell for more, but then the speed-up on my wool gathering is resources increase, instead of cash increase... and later, cash stops being a limiter, so I would suggest that anyone that is still an artisan in late game is wasting a profession.
I haven't checked the stats in the wiki, but is iridium quality wool more expensive than cloth? I'm in the mid-game (year 5), what else would you use the wool for as a resource?

Miner>Prospector : Again, this may seem counterintuitive as gems are worth more, but this let's me get the resources I need to upgrade my tools faster and build the artisan machinery I need to get more money from the things I process on the farm. (You need so much ore/bars to make so many things.)
Counterintuitive indeed, I'm still trying to get my head around this and the Shepherd perk hahaha. Is this still useful in the mid-late game? I'm a bit of a hoarder and have quite a stash of ores/bars already, I also have all my tools upgraded to iridium so I really am just looking for profit, unless you're encouraging the making of even more artisan machinery than I already have. @BlaDe mentioned selling iridium bars, do you think this balances the cost of making it with the ores+coal? Especially with the Prospector perk and the statue of perfection?

Gatherer>Botanist : Iridium quality forage. You can get hardwood no matter your profession here, but you can NOT get iridium quality forage any other way. It's also the only way to get to the best grange display you could ever put together. (You need an iridium quality fiddlehead fern to achieve this.) And when it comes to profits? Imagine eating some good forage food so that you get 4 berries off each bush during one of the berry seasons, and actually going around to collect all those berries (I've found almost 200 in one day on a good day)... that will all be iridium quality, doubling their value. Late game, though, of course, you'll be turning this all into preserves anyway, but you can save yourself the trouble of making hundreds of preserves jars and just sell them too.
Yeah my Lumberjack perk is definitely one of my more regrettable decisions in the game, you're spot on with this one, I didn't think berries harvested from the bushes would be counted as iridium quality forage as well. Shed of preserve jars and kegs there will later be.

Trapmaster>Mariner : Save yourself the bait? No, save yourself from collecting trash AND have a MUCH greater chance of getting the expensive trap-fish down at the beach. Your chance of catching lobster is just terrible, unless you go mariner.
Luremaster was nice at first since I fished a lot and was busy trying to catch the legendary fishes, so I usually saved them for those occasions and it's not half bad if you have enough recycling machines. But you're right, later in game baits are just a non-issue with the self-making bait machines and lobsters make a great moolah.

Thanks so much for your input! I really value them.
 

imnvs

Local Legend
I haven't checked the stats in the wiki, but is iridium quality wool more expensive than cloth? I'm in the mid-game (year 5), what else would you use the wool for as a resource?
Yes, iridium quality wool is worth more than cloth. Gold is too, unless you have Artisan. Remember also that Rancher boosts cloth price, just as it does the wool price.
Counterintuitive indeed, I'm still trying to get my head around this and the Shepherd perk hahaha. Is this still useful in the mid-late game? I'm a bit of a hoarder and have quite a stash of ores/bars already, I also have all my tools upgraded to iridium so I really am just looking for profit, unless you're encouraging the making of even more artisan machinery than I already have. @BlaDe mentioned selling iridium bars, do you think this balances the cost of making it with the ores+coal? Especially with the Prospector perk and the statue of perfection?
That late game, yeah, you don't need the ore for upgrades any more. What I would do is use the iridium you've got is to make crystallariums and put diamonds in them (I've got 1/2 a shed full right now), and go with Gemologist to boost the sale price of those and any other gems sold. If you run out of iridium or gold making crystallariums, though, maybe Prospector is the way to go still?
Yeah my Lumberjack perk is definitely one of my more regrettable decisions in the game, you're spot on with this one, I didn't think berries harvested from the bushes would be counted as iridium quality forage as well. Shed of preserve jars and kegs there will later be.
I didn't think that about the berries either until in the wife and my MP save, where she went Botanist. I was impressed.
Luremaster was nice at first since I fished a lot and was busy trying to catch the legendary fishes, so I usually saved them for those occasions and it's not half bad if you have enough recycling machines. But you're right, later in game baits are just a non-issue with the self-making bait machines and lobsters make a great moolah.
Yeah, I've sold bait just because I didn't want to hold on to over 999 of it and have it take up 2 stacks. 5 worm bins, which I needed early on, produce more bait than I could ever use.
Thanks so much for your input! I really value them.
You're quite welcome. 😊
 
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I'm not sure about every skill set, but botanist is a big money maker. Not just regular forage, beach forage, and berries, also all your truffles, cave fruit, and wild seeds crops are iridium quality. I make so much gold off my winter wild seeds crops!
 

Lew Zealand

Helper
I'm not sure about every skill set, but botanist is a big money maker. Not just regular forage, beach forage, and berries, also all your truffles, cave fruit, and wild seeds crops are iridium quality. I make so much gold off my winter wild seeds crops!
IMO Botanist and Artisan are the most useful in mid game as it makes Winter more profitable than the useless season it could be. I turn my Truffles (Botanist) into Truffle Oil (Artisan) all year, but still accumulate excess Truffles which get Oiled over Winter keeping the gold flowing in. And I went nuts with planting ~400 Winter Seeds so with 4 Iridium crops (Botanist) I ended up selling for a total of 250K gold. Not a huge amount compared to ~45 Kegs and ~45 Preserves Jars of Ancient Fruit (Artisan) but earlier in the game that Winter Crop sets you up very nicely to get a lot of Cauli or Rhubarb seeds for Spring to make real money.

I find Excavator to be essential for getting minerals for Fish Pond demands and attempting to complete the Museum Collection. Money comes from the above professions, so I use Excavator for different purposes in-game.

I like Pirate as it's simply more fun and I end up getting enough Wild Bait to make it pretty useful. The extra Geodes are also welcome again for the Fish Ponds and Museum Collection. Like Mining, Fishing is eclipsed by Farming mid-game for money, so my Fishing profession serves a different in-game purpose. However imnvs' point about Mariner Crab Pots giving only quality items instead of Trash, especially for the quality Beach items, is very compelling. I'll do this on another save. Edit: the heck with that, "To the Statue of Uncertainty, Batman!"

Combat is my least-analyzed profession as I may not have Level 10 Combat in any save. I'd probably use Defender the most as I get flustered in Combat on occasion and get wrecked by multiple monsters. This may be the most personal of any of the choices here as it's very dependent on Combat style, or in my case, inability.
 
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__Fishy__

Planter
If your goal was pure profit I would go:
Tiller and Artisan for farming
Geologist and Gemologist for mining
Gather and Botanist for foraging (this is technically where truffles fall so they are affected by both skills)
Fisher and Angler for fishing

For the most part, this is what I run on my playthroughs but occasionally will change it depending on my need
 

estewanini

Sodbuster
What I would do is use the iridium you've got is to make crystallariums and put diamonds in them (I've got 1/2 a shed full right now), and go with Gemologist to boost the sale price of those and any other gems sold. If you run out of iridium or gold making crystallariums, though, maybe Prospector is the way to go still?
After seeing your farm and how efficient it looks, I'm definitely going Prospector for the time being (I only have a measly 8 crystallariums compared to your 1/2 a shed, by GOD). And I just recently figured out I could get rid of the bushes next to the greenhouse with the iridium axe! I tried so hard early game to destroy them, so I honestly thought they were just permanent. Gonna use the space for sheds now and make mini factories (+_+)


I'm not sure about every skill set, but botanist is a big money maker. Not just regular forage, beach forage, and berries, also all your truffles, cave fruit, and wild seeds crops are iridium quality. I make so much gold off my winter wild seeds crops!
I saw a reddit post from one of the links in the pinned topic that talked about it, can't wait for winter to test it out!


I turn my Truffles (Botanist) into Truffle Oil (Artisan) all year, but still accumulate excess Truffles which get Oiled over Winter keeping the gold flowing in.
Whew are those excess truffles from the Botanist perk or did you get yourself a lot of pigs too?

And I went nuts with planting ~400 Winter Seeds so with 4 Iridium crops (Botanist) I ended up selling for a total of 250K gold. Not a huge amount compared to ~45 Kegs and ~45 Preserves Jars of Ancient Fruit (Artisan) but earlier in the game that Winter Crop sets you up very nicely to get a lot of Cauli or Rhubarb seeds for Spring to make real money.
I mean until I have enough supplies to get at least 45 of kegs and jars each this strategy seems well worth it. Also, assuming that you keep Ancient Fruit in your greenhouse, how many tills did you use for them?

I find Excavator to be essential for getting minerals for Fish Pond demands and attempting to complete the Museum Collection. Money comes from the above professions, so I use Excavator for different purposes in-game.

I like Pirate as it's simply more fun and I end up getting enough Wild Bait to make it pretty useful. The extra Geodes are also welcome again for the Fish Ponds and Museum Collection. Like Mining, Fishing is eclipsed by Farming mid-game for money, so my Fishing profession serves a different in-game purpose. However imnvs' point about Mariner Crab Pots giving only quality items instead of Trash, especially for the quality Beach items, is very compelling. I'll do this on another save. Edit: the heck with that, "To the Statue of Uncertainty, Batman!"
Indeed I've come to realize this, I do only have 1 more artifact to complete the collection, but I figured I shouldn't stress it after 5 years of excavation lol (I also gave up trying to find 1 measly freaking sandstone for my midnight carps). I think Pirate makes for a nice encouragement to keep fishing in the late game, I like the surprise of finding a trident and pearl(s) from a chest, but I'm already invested in my hordes of crab pots so... :wink:
I've visited that doggo statue so many times in the past week, I hear its bark in my dreams now, may it blesses yours too.

Combat is my least-analyzed profession as I may not have Level 10 Combat in any save. I'd probably use Defender the most as I get flustered in Combat on occasion and get wrecked by multiple monsters. This may be the most personal of any of the choices here as it's very dependent on Combat style, or in my case, inability.
It's not straight profit-related so I didn't include combat, and yes it's 100% relative to how you play the game. Crab cakes or pumpkin soup give nice buffs if you're struggling with defending yourself. If you don't have the supply to make Life Elixirs, consider making fruit salads or other above +200 non-buffing dishes for optimal health regen without messing up your current buffs.
 

Lew Zealand

Helper
Whew are those excess truffles from the Botanist perk or did you get yourself a lot of pigs too?
I have 11 Pigs and 4 Oil Makers. If I keep the Pigs happy with Pets every 3rd day and grazing for 3/4 of the year, they produce more a few more Truffles than I can Oil in a day, so I accumulate enough in 3 seasons to Oil for 2-3 weeks in Winter. It's nice when they run out though as that's one more thing I don't feel compelled to do.

I mean until I have enough supplies to get at least 45 of kegs and jars each this strategy seems well worth it. Also, assuming that you keep Ancient Fruit in your greenhouse, how many tills did you use for them?
I have all 116 spaces in the Greenhouse full with Ancient Fruit. Previously I had a few spots in there dedicated to Starfruit, Strawberries, Coffee, and an Eggplant which snuck in there at some point (???). Coffee is now in the House in pots and those others have been replaced with Ancient Fruit only. Pick them once a week (Thursdays), otherwise ignore them. Real easy.

Indeed I've come to realize this, I do only have 1 more artifact to complete the collection, but I figured I shouldn't stress it after 5 years of excavation lol (I also gave up trying to find 1 measly freaking sandstone for my midnight carps). I think Pirate makes for a nice encouragement to keep fishing in the late game, I like the surprise of finding a trident and pearl(s) from a chest, but I'm already invested in my hordes of crab pots so... :wink:
I've visited that doggo statue so many times in the past week, I hear its bark in my dreams now, may it blesses yours too.
I still have quite a bit to go in the Collection, but I did get my first Pearl in a Treasure Chest yesterday, that was great! I did visit the doggo today and am now doing the Crab Pot thing, but I'll be back to Pirateing soon, matey!

It's not straight profit-related so I didn't include combat, and yes it's 100% relative to how you play the game. Crab cakes or pumpkin soup give nice buffs if you're struggling with defending yourself. If you don't have the supply to make Life Elixirs, consider making fruit salads or other above +200 non-buffing dishes for optimal health regen without messing up your current buffs.
And as much as I'm getting into using Seafoam Pudding to help with Fishing the Legendarys, I completely forgot to look for Combat buffs. Thanks for the reminder and in fact just before leaving this save more than a year ago, I now remember that I was gearing up for Fruit Salads. I think I was also planning on Crab Cakes as Fall and Pumpkins are half a year away right now. Time to try that out as its down to Level 100 in Skull Cavern next!
 

estewanini

Sodbuster
Previously I had a few spots in there dedicated to Starfruit, Strawberries, Coffee, and an Eggplant which snuck in there at some point (???).
The unseen eggplant is the deadliest 🍆💀🍆

Sorry, I just found that hilarious, and eggplants are my fave veg. Thanks for elucidating!

Treasure chests are great, makes me want to play on my other save file ya'harrr. Before you reach the Night Markets during your crab pot playthrough, don't forget to re-locate them somewhere outside of the beach. Even if you place them out of the way of the docks they'll disappear for the whole 3 days (they won't be lost though, as they'll appear again after the event, just a lost of fishes during the time). Have fun with the pots, and also good luck catching the legendaries and Skull Cavern in your save!
 

imnvs

Local Legend
My greenhouse has 5 coffee, 5 blueberries, 5 strawberries, 5 cranberries and 4 hops... and I'm considering taking them out. I liked the constant trickle of berries, coffee and pale ale, but at this point I can be reasonably confident that I would do better replacing that with ancient fruit. The one I'm loathe to pull out is the coffee, though... I mean... I drink so much triple espresso. It's like liquid speed. I think I may just cut down the space I use for starfruit and "when I need to grow something out of season" with the 5 coffee, having only 19 tiles instead of 24. I think having an additional 24 ancient fruit, still having coffee, and still getting starfruit will work out.

...and yes, I always forget about my crabpots at the beach until the Night Market has begun and I lose access to them for 3 whole days.
 

estewanini

Sodbuster
The one I'm loathe to pull out is the coffee, though... I mean... I drink so much triple espresso. It's like liquid speed.
Omg yea triple shot espresso gets me zoomin' through the farm like a madlass, they last so quick though so now I started eating pepper poppers in the mornings then the espresso when it runs out at ~2pm. Think it's possible to pot the coffees next to the trees on the side where the sprinklers are so you'll have more space to plant for non-seasonal plants or ancient fruits. (With that idea in mind, we could even place more sprinklers to water pots on the other sides too, though it'd be hard to tell with the trees 🤔 except maybe for the north wall since there's less space for it?).

Remember, remember, the 15th of november winter...
 

imnvs

Local Legend
so now I started eating pepper poppers in the mornings then the espresso when it runs out at ~2pm.
Um... see... I do both. (Food buffs overwrite other food buffs, and drink buffs overwrite drink buffs... but both together? That works.) It makes me feel like the Flash. (Srsly, the wife has often heard me quoting Sheldon from Big Bang Theory as the Flash: "Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! Zoom!")

Sadly, sprinklers can not water garden pots, so wherever you put them, if they're not in the tillable space, it's extra watering you have to do. And, for how much I seem to put into my farm (from my showcase thread), the efficiency is the key. I try to minimize work as much as possible. 😉😁
 

estewanini

Sodbuster
Um... see... I do both. (Food buffs overwrite other food buffs, and drink buffs overwrite drink buffs... but both together? That works.)
Wait really???? I have much to learn still 😫
There should be a zoomer perk i s2g...

Sadly, sprinklers can not water garden pots
Ahhhh shoot, there goes my master greenhouse plan (oh the despaaaaaaiir). I see you didn't plant trees on the northern side, can I ask how come?
 

imnvs

Local Legend
I see you didn't plant trees on the northern side, can I ask how come?
I'm waiting for bananas, to see where they fit in. I'll have at least 2, but the other trees I'm going to put across the north side depend on how expensive bananas are.

...and then there was a vague hint that a second new tree may be available, and if that is the case, I need room in there for that too.

Basically, it's planning ahead. I do not plan on setting this save aside until I've accomplished everything... and it'll be in prime position for exploring the new late game content when 1.5 comes out, and I have my next solo farm planned for when 1.5 comes out to explore the new early game content.
 
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Drullo321

Sodbuster
I just read through the thread and there seem to be some misunderstanding about wool and cloth.
Wool

You seem to be unaware that , depending on the wool quality, there is a certain chance to produce two cloth, as stated in thr wiki:
Placing quality Wool into a Loom gives a higher chance to produce 2 Cloth. Silver gives a 10% chance, gold gives a 25% chance, and iridium gives a 50% chance.
So with artisan you would net an average of 1,5*658=987g as artisan and 1,5*564=846 as rancher. compared to the iridium quality wool price you will still benefit. However I would say Artisan is the best farming profession regardless of what you do because every artisan good is boosted, not specific ones. Usually you have a greenhouse too and with the new 1.5.0 mechanics and items you can build greenhouse-like sheds which are fare more profitable then a barn of 12 sheeps can ever be.
 

imnvs

Local Legend
Now you're talking late game stuff. We're talking about getting to that point, first of all, and I'm not talking about having a barn full of sheep. Early on, cloth is a decent side income trickle, and doubling the amount of wool you get doubles that. We're talking about getting started. Shepherd also allows you to make extra income in a way that is good for getting started, because most people have to get some animals for the bundles, and making friends with your barn animals fast is good for that.
 

Akemisora

Planter
Farming: Artisan, it's the best all-rounder.

Foraging: Botanist, and it will boost your economy if you have pigs and replant your wild seeds (especially in winter). If you really need wood, just plant all your seed everywhere (train station, quarry, beach, etc.)

Fishing: Pirate, while fishing is good moneymaker at the beginning, your farm will be better at it as the game goes on. Those random item from treasure chests can definitely help you completing bundle, museum etc. Crab pots are expensive and require daily maintenance.

Mining: This is depend on what you really want to do. Prospector if you need lots of ore and coal, this is the best if you're focus on artisan machines. Excavator doubles geode droprate, this is good if you need to complete collections and you like random items. Gemologist when you're into crystalarium factory. Blacksmith... If you like mining and don't know what to do with those bars. Someone did find it useful though, can't complain, but I don't.

Combat: Brute, the best defense is great offense. Defender is useless if you don't forget to eat. Acrobat may be useful with dagger / hammer. I don't know why Desperado got nerfed, I don't think it's overpowered, maybe it is when you use dagger + 3 aquamarine + 2 aquamarine rings. I don't know.
 
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