How Mastery Points work and how to get them in Stardew Valley

With Stardew Valley‘s 1.6 patch, the game has a new series of features, one of which is the Mastery system. You get Mastery after leveling up a skill to the highest level you can reach, and you start to gain more experience points.

You don’t get Mastery simply by playing the game and reaching the highest level in a skill, though. There’s a specific way you have to go about unlocking it to begin using it. For anyone who has worked through Stardew Valley multiple times, it’s a great way to work on your favorite skills and get even more benefits from them.

Where to find Cindersap Forest’s secret room in Stardew Valley

Mastery Points are rewarded to players who reach the maximum skill levels in Farming, Mining, Foraging, Fishing, and Combat, which is rank 10. After you reach rank 10 with all five skills in Stardew Valley, you can redeem your Mastery Points in the secret room. You can find the secret room at Cindersap Forest underneath Leah’s Cottage. You know you found the correct location when you see a door inside a hill.

You can visit this door anytime, but you won’t begin earning Mastery Points until you reach rank 10 with at least one skill. Although you gain Mastery Points, you can’t redeem them until you master all five skills. After you do, the door opens to the secret room, and you can begin spending your Mastery Points. These were added in the 1.6 patch, alongside the Desert Festival.

How to get Mastery Points in Stardew Valley

You get Mastery Points by gaining experience with a skill you have already mastered. The experience points you would have earned with that Stardew Valley skill go in the Mastery bar, which you can see on your character page. When it fills up, you receive a Mastery Point and spend it in the secret room at Cindersap Forest. Thankfully for players, you can still gain Mastery Points even if you have not mastered the five skills, but you can’t spend them until the secret door opens.

The Mastery Points are a good way to continue earning experience points for skills you’ve already completed while playing Stardew Valley. For many players who have reached rank 10 in everything, it’s great motivation to continue replaying the game with your favorite and redeeming those points for various rewards inside the room, such as the Iridium Scythe and the Heavy Furnace.