Stardew Valley: Fector’s Challenge “Easy” Mode

This is a TOUGH little mini-game inside of a very calm and entertaining farming sim. That said, parts of it can be trivialized for those of you who hunger for that 100% achievement rating. This guide will be made under the assumption that you have ALREADY BEATEN JOURNEY OF THE PRAIRIE KING and have the game to play in your house, but can also be used as a guideline to beat the game normally in the Stardrop Saloon.

As I mentioned, this strategy is made to beat the game deathless, and will be done on the JotPK game station you get after beating the game. With our method, it will take 13 in game days to get the achievement. The game will auto save at the start of each level, and AFTER EACH DEATH. To avoid this, we’re going to play the game first thing in the morning, and do 1 stage deathless, then go about your day. If you die on a stage, quit out of Stardew Valley, and restart the day. If you don’t get enough money each stage, you can simply exit the arcade game and restart your auto save. This will mitigate the risk of death and let you enjoy Stardew as well.

Stage 1-2 will be your first shop. With some good rng during restarts, you’re going to want to grab your first damage upgrade for 15G.
Stage 1-4, before the first boss, you’re going to need 10G for the attack speed upgrade. If you’re really lucky, and manage to get the 30G for the next damage upgrade, you can buy that instead, but it isn’t really necessary yet.

At the end of 2-1, another shop will open up. Make sure you collect the 20G for attack speed 2, or alternatively the 30G for damage 2, whichever you don’t have.
We’ll get another shop before the next boss on 2-3. You’re going to need 30G for level 2 damage if you haven’t yet collected it, as this is your last chance before we tackle the graveyard. If you already have level 2 damage and level 1 attack speed, you may pick the boots if you’re feeling a bit too slow.

Level 2 damage is necessary to one shot the imps that spawn on these levels, but once you’ve gotten level 2 damage and attack speed, you’re free to choose whatever you like, though I would recommend level 3 damage and/or attack speed before you face the final boss.

Power ups fall into 3 categories in this guide; Spacebar items, walkover items, and Avoid items.

Spacebar items should be kept on your spacebar slot as a means to clear out enemies when it gets too crowded, or there’s money far away that you cannot safely grab in time. Remember that power-ups drop somewhat often and are useless if you don’t use them.

Walkover items are items that you shouldn’t keep on your spacebar slot, but are fine to use. They aren’t super benificial in my opinion, for reasons I’ll explain below.

Avoid items are as the name suggests. Do not take these. They are too risky to take, and should be left alone to despawn on the floor.

• Wagon Wheel is probably the strongest power up in the game for keeping the run alive. Shooting in 8 directions will kill basically anything coming at you and any stray shots are likely to hit something further away, resulting in more kills. Super high on the grab list, and should always be your spacebar item if you get one.
• Sheriff Badge is second on my list. While it does give you the shotgun effect AND the Machine gun effect, it’s still one directional. You can shoot this one in circles however to make up for this, but my arthritis prefers wagon wheel.
• Shotgun is a great spacebar item if you can’t get either of the other ones. It only shoots 3 shots in one direction, as opposed to wagon wheel, and uses your base rate of fire, unlike Sheriff Badge, but if you get unlucky and can’t get a hold of the other two, this is a great choice for clearing some enemies.

It’s important to SAVE THESE ITEMS until you need them, either to get out of a jam, or to secure some coins. If you have one power-up on reserve and another one spawns, then you should grab it.

• If the Machine Gun spawns, go ahead and take it and use it. It just doesn’t crowd control enough to be worth saving a spacebar slot for, but it can be useful as a means of saving your more powerful power-ups.
• The Nuke falls into the same category. It might seem like a good idea to hold onto it as a “panic button” but from my experience, enemies don’t seem to drop ANYTHING when nuked, and we’re trying to farm money like mad. I typically just use them to get rid of them.
• Coffee will increase your movement speed significantly. From my experience, if you’re in a tight spot and walled in by enemies, moving faster can be detrimental, however if your target priority is good and the map is pretty clear, this can give you a bit more momentum to kill enemies faster.

• Tombstone is our first item to stay away from. Yes you become invincible and inta-kill enemies on contact, but the enemies tend to group up as they run away from you, creating a wall. It also turns off with only a sound warning and enemies will IMMEDIATELY turn around and chase you again, making this a dangerous pickup.
• Smoke is also a bad item in my opinion, as it will randomly teleport you and freeze enemies for a time. Ideally, you will have a bubble of safe space around you, so using this item will likely just pop you next to a group of enemies. It’s unnecessarily dangerous, just let it despawn.

Our number 1 goal here is money. We will need 25G before the first boss to collect the first two upgrades, and another 50G for the last level, so rng is going to define our runs. Our spacebar items are going to be saved to collect ANY 5G coins and to collect any 1G coins you think are in unsafe locations. KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED. Money can be hard to see, especially if you’re killing enemies right as they spawn in on the far edges of the map.

The first stage is very simple. On this level, just focus on keeping down any big waves.

Our money goal for this stage is at least 7G.

Time for some obstacles and a new enemy. Stay in the central square and prioritize any spikey guys that come at you. They will take 2 shots to kill while moving, and 7 to kill when they transform, so don’t let them transform near you.

Collect at least another 8G for a minimum of 15. Buy the damage boost.

With our extra damage, one bullet will kill 2 lizards and will one shot the spikey guys while they’re moving. This will help greatly to keep the horde thinned. The map is a bit more open here, so make use of it.

Collect at least 7 more gold this stage for a minimum total of 7G.

This stage can be tricky, but if you pick a corner outside the fence area, many mobs will get stuck inside and will make this much easier as you’ll only have to defend 2 sides. Be sure to switch corners as power-ups and coins spawn.

Collect at least 8 gold this level for a minimum of 15G. Buy the attack speed upgrade.

Patience is key. The cowboy here and on the second level have the same attacks.

1. A tracking attack where the cowboy will follow you and shoot tracking shots at your character. During this attack, just stand in the middle and let the boss shoot away, no need to be greedy.
2. A strafing attack where the boss goes slowly from one side to the other shooting randomly up, then pausing for a breather. This is our damage opportunity. We want to go the opposite direction of the boss during this to ensure safety, and shoot him at a diagonal as he stands still.

After a few strafing attacks, the boss will go down, super easy.

This level introduces the mushrooms which are super fast, and our NUMBER ONE PRIORITY to kill. Expect to do a couple restarts on this level. Luckily, 5G coins start to drop more frequently here, and we can rack up a good bit of cash if we’re lucky.

Collect at least 15G for a minimum of 20G. Buy the attack speed upgrade. If you have more and can buy the damage upgrade, do that.

Use the plants on the right as a wall to trickle feed in enemies from the right while directing your focus on the other three directions. If you have extra damage, you’ll start one shotting the slow moving ogres, which can be handy. Same as before, kill all mushrooms ASAP.

Collect at least 15G for a minimum total of 20G.

This level is pretty hard. My best strategy to stay in the middle section, just in between two of the bridges. This will cause many mushrooms to run straight at the river wall and get stuck there. Focus on clearing your left and right sides, and always try to use a power-up if you have to go up or down for money or other power-ups. Clear out any mushroom blobs whenever you get the chance, and you should make it through this level.

Collect at least 15G for a minimum of 35G. Buy the damage boost if you don’t already have it. Otherwise go attack speed or boots at your preference.

Play this boss EXACTLY THE SAME as you did in level 1.

Welcome to the last level. Level 2 damage upgrade is a must, and level 3 damage, funny enough, has less impact than level 2 or 3 attack speed. Imps are the new mushrooms on this level and are your high priority targets. Kill all incoming imps before focusing on the slow moving mummies. There’s no great spots to stand on this stage, but try to stay away from the edges as the imps can spawn along the entire perimeter, potentially spawning and killing you within a second.

Collect enough money to have at least 30G for the final attack speed upgrade, or, if you bought boots earlier, 20G for the second attack speed upgrade.

This stage is pretty much the same as the last, but with annoying gravestones close to center. Stay away from the edges again as much as possible and you’ll be alright with good shooting.

VERY IMPORTANT
Make sure to end this level with either the Machine Gun or Sheriff Badge on your spacebar. You will use it on the final boss.

The final level before we face the boss, and it’s full of imps. Imps spawn much more frequently here, but we also get more space to move around, and the mummies are limited to 2 spawn points. Take out the imps while letting the mummies cluster, then thin down the mummies second.

You should have all the upgrades you need by this point, but buy attack speed 3 or damage 3 if you have enough.

If you’ve made it this far, congratulations, the run is as good as won. Upon spawning into the room, move left slightly so that you can shoot straight down and hit the left edge of the boss, then STAY THERE AND DO NOT MOVE. Be sure to get into position before he starts shooting, or he will correctly start tracking you. Use your Machine Gun or Sheriff Badge, and shoot straight down. His tracking shot will assume you are still in the location you spawn in and shoot just to your right while you’re pelting him with rapid fire. He’ll then move to the middle to use his octagonal shot. Keep still and keep shooting down. If you haven’t killed him before he moves to the middle, you should finish him very shortly after he starts shooting.

Assuming you didn’t die along the way without realizing, you should get the achievement to pop after the ending cutscene plays. Congratulations!