Stardew Valley: Coopmaster or Shepherd

Each time you reach level 5 or 10 in a particular skill in Stardew Valley, you’ll be offered to choose between two professions.

These professions are unlockables that give bonuses to specific fields respective to the skill you unlock them for. Each skill in Stardew Valley has 2 unlockable professions, and your progression at any time can be viewed through its menu next to the inventory.

Today, I’ll be covering the differences, including which is better, between the Coopmaster and Shepherd professions.

The Coopmaster and Shepherd professions are unlocked once you reach Farming level 10. Additionally, you’ll need to have picked Rancher as your level 5 Farming profession to open these. Upon hitting that milestone, you’ll be offered to choose between the two through a level-up pop-up menu the next time you go to sleep.

First, you need to understand what picking each of these professions means before you move on to selecting between the two.

The Coopmaster profession allows you to befriend coop-based animals more quickly. This lets you increase your friendship level with animals such as Chickens, Ducks, and Rabbits (among others) quicker than before.

Additionally, the hatching period for all eggs placed in an incubator will be reduced by 50%. It also somewhat increases the quality of products you receive from coop animals.

The Shepherd profession, on the other hand, lets you befriend barn animals more efficiently. This initial buff is similar to the one provided to you by the coopmaster except for the fact that it affects barn animals such as Cows and Pigs this time around.

It also accelerates the rate at which Sheep produce Wool and increases the overall quality of products received from your barn animals.

You’ll find a complete list of comparisons between different professions and their applications on this official Stardew Valley Wiki!

I’ll now discuss which of these professions you should opt for and why.

Is It Better To Choose Coopmaster Or Shepherd?

Without taking into consideration case-specific factors, Shepherd is the more powerful profession of the two. It allows you to befriend barn animals more effectively, which is a more substantial buff as compared to befriending coop animals quickly. The rest of the buffs in either profession are minimal and not decision-altering.

Alright, I’ve established that Shepherd is the better profession here, but why? Well, the main argument here is the difference in the nature of these professions.

Both of them mainly feature the same improvement. Their occurrence and area of effect are similar as well.

The only difference is the area where this improvement comes. In the case of the Shepherd, this comes under all barn animals. Pigs are the sole reason for which the Shepherd takes this one.

Pigs are barn animals – and the most lucrative one in Stardew Valley for that. They produce Truffles, which, believe it or not, are even better than Diamonds! Pigs can find multiple Truffles in a single day, but that requires you to increase your friendship level with them.

This is a long and arduous procedure, but Shepherd hastens it up. Although Coopmaster is not a bad profession either, and I recommend that you select it if you’re hosting coop animals exclusively, it isn’t as potent as Shepherd.

Thus, in all cases except for when you’re ranching using coop animals, you should go for the Shepherd profession.

Can You Change Between Coopmaster and Shepherd?

The answer is a resounding yes! It’s entirely possible for you to switch between the Coopmaster and Shepherd professions (and vice versa). This can be done by offering 10,000 g to the Statue of Uncertainty located in the Pelican Town Sewer.

In my opinion, this works out exceptionally well for you because you can try out both of them and ultimately choose the one that fits best with your style of play.

Once you donate the 10,000g to the statue, you’ll have to go ahead and pick the skill type that you want to manipulate. Once done, you can head back home and go to bed.

During the night, the level-up menu will appear again, enabling you to select between both of these professions again!

Also, consider checking out this post on whether you should pick Artisan or Agriculturist