How To Befriend & Romance Sebastian in Stardew Valley (2024)

Stardew Valley is a well-loved entry to the simulation genre. Its ongoing success is partly due to the game’s sheer scale and attention to detail. Players can pursue an impressive number of quests and open-ended goals. Stardew Valley contains many RPG elements, including fostering relationships with the village's citizens and abutting the player’s farm in Pelican Town. There are 45 characters across Stardew Valley, and players can give gifts to 34 of them to raise their friendship levels. However, only 12 are romanceable characters. Among these candidates is Sebastian, a freelance computer programmer who enjoys frogs, RPGs, and motorcycles.

Befriending Sebastian would require tapping into his interests and giving him a series of specific gifts to raise his friendship level. Friendship levels determine many factors in Stardew Valley, including exclusive cut-scenes, friendlier dialogue, and in some cases, marriage potential.

Updated on August 5th, 2024, by Andrea Sandoval: With the Stardew Valley 1.6 update, players are going back to the game and trying to romance their favorite characters, especially the game's motorcycle-riding loner, Sebastian. We updated this article to update the information to the latest update and to comply with CBR's formatting style.

How Does Friendship/Romance Work in Stardew?

Friendship Points Earned For Each Type of Gift:

• Love: +80 points
• Liked: +45 points
• Neutral: +20 points
• Disliked: - 20 points
• Hate: - 40 points

Every applicable Stardew NPC has ten “hearts” that players can fill over the course of their friendship. Hearts are worth 250 “friendship points” each and are filled through various means. Daily chats, gift-giving, and certain dialogue choices all increase hearts. Hearts can also decay if players ignore the NPC, give them hated gifts, or choose the wrong dialogue. Unique events will occur when heart thresholds are passed, shedding light on a villager’s personal life and feelings.

Friendship and romance in Stardew Valley operate very similarly. Once players have reached a respectable eight-hearts of friendship, they may present a Bouquet to marriage candidates (which can be purchased at Pierre’s for 200g). This will unlock an additional two hearts.

Once the player reaches ten hearts with an NPC and the farmhouse has been upgraded at least one time, players can present their sweetheart with a Mermaid Pendant. This mysterious charm can only be purchased in the Tide Pool area of the beach from the Old Mariner for 5,000g when it is raining out. When presented with the Mermaid Pendant, the farmer and their chosen spouse will hold a wedding ceremony three days later, and they will move into the Farmhouse. The farmer and their spouse can also have up to two children together once they get married.

Earning Sebastian's Affection In Stardew Valley Requires Thoughtful Attention to His Likes and Dislikes

Wooing Sebastian Is No Easy Task, But It's Absolutely Worth It for Players Seeking a Devoted Spouse

Among the multitude of giftable items in Stardew Valley, each NPC has favorites. Characters can either "Love," "Like," "Dislike," "Hate" or feel "Neutral" towards an item, and each tier corresponds to Friendship Points that will amount to hearts with a certain villager. All of Sebastian's loved items represent his alternative and "loner" personality.

Additionally, there are "Universal" items that all NPCs (including Sebastian) react to in the same way. This can make it easier to farm Friendship Points instead of seeking out rare items specific to him. Luckily, however, Sebastian's most loved items are relatively easy to acquire. Finally, Sebastian's birthday is 10 Winter and all gifts given to him provide an 8x boost on that day only, so players need to keep an out for this special date.

Sebastian's Loved Gifts

Building a friendship with Sebastian quickly is a lot easier if the player can get their hands on some of his favorite items. Giving him a loved gift twice a week while building a friendship with him can speed up the process significantly, especially considering that, as a shy loner, he's one of the more difficult NPCs to establish a relationship with. He spends a significant amount of time working in his room, so checking his daily schedule for each season will help the player plan out the best times to catch him outdoors at the pier or railroad tracks, or on the way to the kitchen in his family's home in the mountains.

• Sebastian's Response: “I really love this. How did you know?”
• Sebastian's Birthday Response: “You remembered my birthday? I'm impressed. Thanks.”

Universal Loves Are An Easy Way to Make An Impression

Gifts That Sebastian Likes:

Liked items are a little easier to come by early in the game through exploration and basic tasks like farming, fishing, mining, and foraging, which makes them an easy way to start getting to know Sebastian before happening upon some of his loved gifts. The only drawback is that it will take a little longer to rack up heart points. Keeping dialogue open daily, and making sure to give him two gifts he at least likes each week is a way to start a relationship with him.

• Sebastian's Response: "Thanks, I like this."
• Birthday Response: “You remembered my birthday? I'm impressed. Thanks.”

Universal Likes Come In Handy In a Pinch

Sebastian's Neutral Gifts:

Neutral gifts may not elicit much enthusiasm from the receiver, but they do increase friendship points by a small amount. If neutral gifts are all the player has in their backpack, and they're working to either improve or advance their standing with Sebastian, these will at least keep any progress already made from backsliding into the negative. Consider neutral gifts a last-ditch effort when there's nothing more compelling to give him.

• Sebastian's Response: "...thanks."
• Birthday Response: “For my birthday? Thanks.”

Universal Neutrals Only Offer a Small Number of Friendship Points

Sebastian's Dislikes:

The second-easiest way to make Sebastian dislike the player character is to start bombarding him with gifts he doesn't like. First-time players can find this process somewhat experimental, as they wander through the valley making friends (and enemies) through gifting. As an NPC, Sebastian's responses can be withering to someone he's not fond of, so carefully consider any gifts planned for him, and make sure they're not listed among his dislikes.

• Sebastian's Response: "...?"
• Birthday Response: “It's my birthday and you give me this? Is this some kind of joke?”

Universal Dislikes Tend to be a Turn-Off for Everyone

Sebastian's Hated Gifts:

There's nothing more discouraging than getting a hated gift, and in Stardew Valley the NPCs don't pull any punches when they hate something. As a somewhat socially awkward loner, Sebastian is surprisingly not afraid to tell the player character how much he hates a gift--especially on his birthday. Pay close attention to any recommendations, especially those found in special notes or offered by other villagers, when it comes to things people in the Valley love and hate.

• Sebastian's Response: "...I hate this"
• Birthday Response: “It's my birthday and you give me this? Is this some kind of joke?”

Fortunately, even a relationship that starts out rocky can be rebuilt and salvaged over time by restarting the process. Communicating, giving gifts they actually like or love, and showing up for heart events when they unlock is a surefire way to start earning respect and friendship points.

Universal Hates Will Cause Tension With Just About Everyone in Stardew Valley

Sebastian's Day-to-Day Routine in Stardew Valley

Getting Sebastian's two loved gifts every week is the best way to establish a relationship with the bachelor. Talking to him every day will also add 20 or 10 points to the relationship, which can only speed up the process. However, to do either of these things, players need to find Sebastian first. Since he's a loner, it can be a tad challenging, especially at first. Still, as players get to know the NPC, it becomes easier to locate him around Pelican Town — especially in his room, working.

Players can't access people's rooms until they achieve two hearts with him. Since Sebastian likes spending a lot of time alone in his room (his parents' basem*nt in the mountains), the first two hearts are the hardest to achieve. But fear not, Sebastian has some spaces he likes visiting constantly where players can find him from time to time. Of course, these routines don't apply to special events or holidays, when Sebastian might change his regular plans.

Easiest Places To Find Sebastian In Every Season

• Sebastian spends most mornings in his bedroom, so this is the easiest place to find him if players already have two friendship hearts with him.
• On rainy days, Sebastian might either go to the beach from 10:30 am to 5:00 pm or go to The Stardrop Saloon from 3:00 pm to 5:20 pm.
• On Thursdays, Sebastian spends the afternoon on the Railroad, from 3:00 pm to 9:30 pm.
• On Fridays, Sebastian plays pool with Sam at The Stardrop Saloon from 5:20 pm to 9:10 pm.
• Most days, Sebastian spends time smoking around the Mountain Lake from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm. During the Fall, he changes the time from 12:00 pm to 3:30 pm and then goes to his kitchen until 5:30 pm.

How To Trigger Sebastian's Heart Cutscenes

Once players have accrued the correct number of hearts, they can trigger unique cutscenes with Sebastian. As with all marriage candidates, there are special ten-heart and fourteen-heart events that cement the relationship. The ten-heart event can only occur after the player and Sebastian begin dating, and the latter is only available after the wedding has happened.

Sebastian's heart events give players insight into his motivations and desires. In these cutscenes, players will find out about Sebastian's tense relationship with his family, his job, his hobbies, and his love for his small circle of friends. Sebastian is also a sympathetic character who feels strongly about all living things, especially his beloved frogs. Sebastian starts as a hostile character, but it is only because he's trying to protect his heart. Getting to know him is a rewarding experience in the end.

Sebastian's Unique Dialogue Choices

As with most Stardew Valley NPCs, Sebastian will pose questions throughout his friendship/relationship with the player. These are important from a role-playing point of view, and they often give or take away Friendship Points or trigger interesting reactions from Sebastian. As long as players respond within Sebastian's own interests, they will be rewarded with an easy 30 Friendship Points. Other dialogue choices than the ones reflected below don't affect the relationship between Sebastian and the farmer, so players can reply in any way, but they can, of course, get negative interaction.

Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley isan open-ended country-life RPG.You've inherited your grandfather's old farm plot in Stardew Valley. Armed with hand-me-down tools and a few coins, you set out to begin your new life. Can you learn to live off the land and turn these overgrown fields into a thriving home?

RPG

Simulation

Platform(s)

PC , Xbox One , Android , iOS , PS4 , Switch

Released

February 26, 2016

Developer(s)

ConcernedApe

Publisher(s)

ConcernedApe

Multiplayer

Local Multiplayer , Online Multiplayer

ESRB

E for Everyone (Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Simulated Gambling, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco)

How Long To Beat

53 Hours