I think there are two legitimate ways to interpret the initial post and nature of this thread. 1. Is advice for a new player to get better and make more progress in the game. 2. To give strategy advice as to how to make more money, be it via economy manipulation or more hidden concepts. I think advice on buying the trout soup on spring 2 <for help catching fish to get to level 1) falls under #1 and trout soup for levels 3-5 (to get more gold fish) falls under category 2. both legitimate answers / advice, just on different agendas. When do you typically buy or advise buying the iridium rod ?
Around the second summer to catch them rare fishies. I'll admit I absolutely loathe the fishing minigame and multi-player will be an absolute chore in that regard since I usually use mods to make it easier, but that is what I did in my vanilla play.
Above all else, this^ ***************************************** That said, fishing is absolutely unquestionably the fastest route to early money. A fishing cast costs you 8E, and an average regular quality lake fish in spring is almost pure profit, worth (100+75+50+30)/4 = ~63g, or 7.87g/E. If you're using bait, it's ~58g, or 7.25g/E That 8E is the same as it costs you to water a parsnip, but a parsnip only nets you a profit of 35-20=15g, or 1.88g/E A potato costs 12E, netting you a profit of 80-50=30g, or 2.5g/E Kale costs 12E, profit is 110-70=40g, or 3.33g/E A Cauliflower costs 24E, profit is 175-80=95g, or just under 4g/E A bean costs 50E to water for 25 days for six harvests, profit is 240-60=180g, or 3.6g/E For crops I have ignored the 2E cost of hoeing, and for fishing I have ignored the occasional loss of Energy from catching trash, and ignored green algae because it's basically a free return of energy. I have also ignored the incremental drops in energy costs as you level up and the energy saving from rain. I have ignored that all fish aren't quite equally likely, and I have also ignored product quality, assuming regular quality everywhere. Finally, for fishing, I have ignored the cost of the fiberglass rod, because the cost of that can be very quickly amortised. I suspect these simplifications will probably still favour crops far more than they favour fish, but even despite that, in terms of return on Energy, fishing is already beating the crap out of farming. But in reality, fishing is exponentially further ahead. Here's why you get the fish immediately, and you can sell it, or eat it if necessary, right now. The crop takes 4, 6 10 or even 12 days to arrive. it's really quick to get mostly silver quality fish and an instant 25% boost. That 7.25g/E becomes 9g/E. But with crops, even if you have fertilizer, at the start of spring the overwhelming majority of your crops will still be regular quality it's almost as quick to start getting gold quality fish, and bam, all of a sudden you're getting an average of 10.8g/E the XP system is hugely unbalanced in favour of Fishing. Silver and gold quality fish earn more XP than their regular counterparts, but crops earn the same XP regardless of quality. Furthermore, a perfect catch more than doubles your XP for that catch. For instance, a perfect on a gold bullhead, not really that tricky, is worth 57XP, the same as more than 4 potatoes. This means that you can reach Fishing 5 much faster than you can reach Farming 5 the Fisher perk is worth an extra 25%, whereas the Tiller perk is only worth an extra 10% All of that adds up so fast that, if you are decent, then by 9am on day 4 you can be selling gold catfish to Willy for almost 50g/E, many times more than any of the spring crops, and on top of that, it's almost instant cash. I've personally had over 40k worth of fish by the end of day 7 before, and there are plenty of better fishers than me out there, so I doubt I'm close to the record. Granted I did absolutely nothing else but fish for six days in that farm, but even if you balanced it a bit, there is absolutely no other way than fishing to generate that kind of money that quickly. Of course you can fund everything another way if you don't like fishing. It will just take so much longer. It costs 7,500g, so I'd say only buy it when money becomes no object. For some that might be three weeks, for others it might be three years. It's absolutely 100% a vanity purchase, for no other reason than to catch the hardest fish and complete the achievement, but unlike the fiberglass rod, there's never a point where it will "pay for itself" in any sense of a strategy or build order.
For me, it's before the end of the first summer, but after I've got my barn and coop maxed out. Barn and coop are the first priority, but I also want to get the pole before I chase after the Crimson Fish or Octopus, later in the month. For summertime money fish, I usually target sturgeon during the day and super cucumbers after 7pm. They're a bit sketchy for me to land reliably, with the fiberglass rod, at fishing level 7-8, which is where I normally finish the spring at, but I don't think I lose enough of them to prioritize the pole before the infrastructure. EDIT: My general strategy, (The game I like to play) is focused on completing the community center during the third week of Fall, and I like to get all fish, except the Legend, during the first year. I've also played more fishing focused challenges (chasing level 10 fishing early, completing Joja during the first Spring by just fishing, or all fish in one year) which all kinda require getting the iridium rod in the spring. But generally, for me, it's after the deluxe coop and barn, but before the horse.
Basically what @BentFX said, I usually go for all fish but the Legend in the first year, just because why not, I like fishing. But the iridium rod's main value is that you can catch particularly hard fish with a trap bobber in order to get all the fish; it's not really a good investment money wise. (Dressed spinners are nice, I guess? I'd have to do the math to see if they really pay for themselves, and I don't have time now.) Just get it when you have the cash and feel like it, I guess. I guess there's also a group of players who can catch the harder CC fish (sturgeon, pufferfish, catfish) but only with a bobber, so in that case you might want to buy it earlier?
I started my farm foraging and crafting seed packets to sell from the foragables I collected - they're worth tons of money. Not as much as fishing but it sets you up for almost unlimited energy to mine with (salmon berry season) and crafting materials for preserve jars. It's a very relaxed and enjoyable start and the money starts rolling in soon enough. https://www.youtube.com/user/mtsHoneywell My let's play of Honeydale Farm is a couple of years old now but if you watch them and are curious you can see what a foraging start looks like.
I upgrade to the iridium rod just about as soon as I can afford it. Normally a few days after the egg festival once I have bought all the strawberry seeds I need.
Oh wow, thanks guys! I do love the fishing machanics in the game, only because usually I'm good at fishing in general. xD I gotten used to it, and I normally sell my extra fish, so I have a good amount of money. Also at @Honeywell I actually watched your youtube videos before!
It's a small world! lol Happy to hear you've sorted out your money issues -- fishing is really the way to go for fast beginning cash. G'luck picking your spouse now too!
if your phone is an android there may still be hope for harvey yet; https://community.playstarbound.com/threads/sdv-mobile-mods.154371/
I looked at that page, @Zosa Seems a little complicated. I wish I could get some mods that have money and resources, but I do believe that it can ruin the fun out of it for me. xD
But, I do appreciate it Zosa! I started a new game,I felt off getting my silo in the middle of summer, nah.
