Should You Choose Mushrooms or Fruit Bats in Stardew Valley? Answered

One of the things that makes Stardew Valley so loved among players is the ways in which you can customize your farm to suit your interests, needs and desires. One of the ways you can do this is when Demetrius comes to ask if he can conduct a research experiment in the farm’s cave, leaving you to choose between attracting fruit bats or mushrooms, but which is better? Here are the differences between choosing the fruit bats and the mushrooms in Stardew Valley.

How Can You Use the Fruit and Mushrooms From the Cave?

You’re first given the option to choose between fruit bats or growing mushrooms when you reach a total income of 25,000 Gold on your farm. After you speak with Demetrius and make your choice, you can not change your mind and switch between the two. Whether or not to choose the fruit bats or the mushrooms mainly depends on what your long-term goals are for your farm.

Fruit Bats Benefits

Choosing the fruit bats will give you the opportunity to collect fruit-tree fruits earlier on in-game than if you saved enough money to buy fruit trees and waited for them to grow. You can use these fruits for crafting artisan goods, completing the bundles in the Community Center and gifting to villagers. If you choose the fruit bats, there will be a 20% chance to spawn a foraging fruit, a 3.6% chance to spawn a tree fruit and a 2% chance to spawn an apple. You can earn experience points to your foraging level from collecting them, and the fruits can be normal, silver, gold or iridium (with the botanist profession) quality.

All of the various fruits that can be left by the fruit bats can be used in at least one bundle for the community center except for the Salmonberry. They can all be used to make Wine and Jelly, and all of the tree fruits are universally liked by all the villagers. Choosing the fruit bats also serves as a fast way to improve your foraging stat.

Mushrooms Benefits

If you choose the mushrooms, you’ll get an assortment of the Common Mushroom, Chanterelle, Red Mushroom, Purple Mushroom and Morel. You need all of these except the Common Mushroom for crafting the Life Elixir, and they can be used in the Community Center for completing bundles. The mushrooms are grown in 6 boxes that get placed in the cave after you make your choice, and you do not earn foraging experience for harvesting them. The mushrooms also do not come in different qualities like the fruits do.

If mining is one of your main focuses, the mushrooms are a good choice for the cave because they can be used to craft the Life Elixir, which will restore your health to full no matter how low it gets. This means you can have more space in your backpack for resources while not having to worry about passing out in the mines.

Should You Choose the Fruit Bats or the Mushrooms?

When choosing between the fruit bats and the mushrooms for your cave, it really comes down to personal preference. If you plan on growing fruit trees and aren’t worried about filling out the bundles in the Community Center early on, the mushrooms are going to be the better choice. If you want to earn money quickly, gain experience foraging or don’t have room on your farm for fruit trees, the bats are sure to help you out.

Since attracting bats to the cave on the farm is the only way to get some of these fruits early on, I almost always choose them. It makes it easier to craft late-game artisan recipes without having to spend the time and money to plant and harvest fruit trees.

Not to mention that the more mining you do, the more likely you are to randomly come across the mushrooms you need in the caves, especially if the spirits are pleased. You can use the artisan foods you make with your fruit to boost your health while you’re mining as well, making the Life Elixir slightly less valuable.

Regardless of whether you want to boost your profits and experience, restore the Community Center to its former glory or get the upper hand in a fight, the cave can be a great quality-of-life improvement for your farm if you take advantage of it. Those are the main differences between choosing the fruit bats or the mushrooms for the cave in Stardew Valley.