[Top 10] Stardew Valley Best Combat Rings (And How To Get Them)

Updated:

08 Apr 2023

One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them… I couldn’t resist. Jokes aside, rings play a big role in Stardew Valley. Your choice of rings affects your combat playstyle even more than weapons do. Whether you’re a combat strategist or a hack-and-slash traditionalist (who isn’t?), the game has the right ring for you. Choosing the right one can make your dungeons either a walk in the park or a total nightmare. Luckily, I can help you with your decision.

Once, you could wear only two rings at once in any combination. But with the Ginger Island patch came a Forge that allows you to combine any two rings as long as they are not identical. Thus, you can have up to four ring effects active at one time.

In this article, I’ll walk you through the top 10 Stardew Valley Best Combat Rings. I’ll also tell you how to get them and when to use them. As always, the article will contain spoilers.

I’ll focus on the individual effects of each ring rather than on specific combinations.

10. Vampire Ring (Best for sustain)

The Vampire Ring

The Vampire Ring is one of the easiest ones to get. Although killing 200 bats may seem like a lot, they are one of the most common monsters in the game. They appear in both the Mines and the Skull Cavern.

I find Vampire Ring useful in the early to mid-game when you don’t have a lot of HP and food. At that point, having a Vampire Ring can keep you healthy longer, allowing you to clear extra floors.

The good thing about Vampire Rings is that they stack. If you equip two of them, you’ll get 4 HP back whenever you kill a monster. Late game, this is completely useless as you can simply use food to heal. But till you reach that moment, this ring will carry you through a lot.

What makes Vampire Ring Great:

Decent sustain, especially against mobs of weak enemies.
A great ring for mid-game.
Good with max Defense stats and the Vampiric Weapon Enchantment.
Great for Mr. Qi’s hungry challenge.

How to get Vampire Ring:

You get it from the Adventurer’s Guild after slaying 200 Bats. You can then buy additional ones for 15,000g each.

Vampire Ring details:

You regain 2 HP when you slay a monster.
Multiple Vampire Rings stack.

9. Thorns Ring (Best for a turtle build)

The Thorns Ring

Much like the Vampire Ring, the Thorns Ring is useful in the early to mid-game. This is because you don’t have a strong weapon yet. Thus, every bit of damage counts.

It’s certainly not the best ring in the game, but it works surprisingly well if you stack a lot of defense. Whenever you get hit, the monster takes the same damage it dealt to you.

The Thorns Ring’s damage is calculated before Defense mitigation. If you have over 20 Defense and take 1 damage from a monster, the said monster will receive the full damage its attack would normally deal.

Now, you may be asking if it isn’t just better to dodge the monsters altogether. The answer is yes, positioning is the most effective way of dealing with monsters. However, sometimes you just can’t be bothered with parkouring through the dungeons. Luckily, this ring was tailor-made for lazy people. I use this setup whenever I can’t be bothered with focusing on the game too much.

What makes Thorns Ring Great:

Good if you get hit a lot (we all started somewhere).
Great for max Defense build since it reflects pre-mitigation damage.
One of the easiest Rings to craft.

How to get Thorns Ring:

You can craft it with 50 Bone Fragments, 50 Stones, and 1 Gold Bar. You get the recipe after hitting Combat level 7.

Thorns Ring details:

Makes monsters take damage whenever they hit you.
The damage they take ignores your defense.
The damage they take is lowered by the monster’s specific defense.
Wearing two Thorns Rings DOESN’T amplify the damage.

8. Phoenix Ring (Best for having a safety net)

The Phoenix Ring

This Ring sounds great on paper. But while it’s not the most OP item in Stardew Valley, it has its uses. Whenever you would die, the Phoenix Ring comes to the rescue. With it, you will rise like a phoenix, out of the ashes… you get the reference. It replenishes half of your max HP and works only once a day.

Unlike with most rings, you don’t have to wear the Phoenix Ring all the time. Instead, I equip it whenever my HP is dangerously low. At high HP, you’re better off using other rings on this list.

The ring is simply your lifeline if things get out of control and if you don’t have enough food on you.

What makes Phoenix Ring Great:

A great lifeline to hold in your inventory.
The best ring to equip if you don’t have a lot of food.
Good for learning how some monsters behave due to a lower risk of dying.

How to get Phoenix Ring:

You can find it in chests in the Volcano Dungeon.

Phoenix Ring details:

Prevents dying.
When your HP hits 0, you get 50% of your max HP back.
Works only once per in-game day.

7. Hot Java Ring (Best for farming coffee)

The Hot Java Ring

While I’m not a fan of coffee IRL, I adore it in Stardew Valley. It’s easily the best drink in the game (though it doesn’t really have much competition to begin with). It increases your movement speed by 1, stacking with food buffs. But even if you just use Coffee, you’ll still be quite fast.

Eventually, you’ll be able to afford to buy Coffee in bulk from Gus. But before that happens, the Hot Java Ring will be the best source of this stimulating drink. I don’t like relying on Coffee Plants simply because there are better crops to plant. Not to mention how annoying it is to put the beans into Kegs all the time.

Hot Java Ring’s drop rates are great and it seems multiple rings stack. You can get a lot of Coffee from a single Skull Cavern run while you have it equipped.

What makes Hot Java Ring Great:

An excellent source of coffee.
Makes Coffee Plants obsolete.
Great mid-game when you can’t afford to buy Coffee in bulk.

How to get Hot Java Ring:

You can find it in chests in the Volcano Dungeon.

Hot Java Ring details:

Gives each monster a 25% chance to drop Coffee.
Gives each monster a 10% chance to drop a Triple Shot Espresso if the Coffee roll fails.

6. Napalm Ring (Best for clearing dungeons ASAP)

The Napalm Ring

The Napalm Ring used to be my favorite one, second only to the Burglar Ring. The tiny explosion is great for clearing floors a little faster, especially if you can line up monsters properly.

You can also use it to destroy fallen Mummies by killing another monster near them. While it is hard to pull off, it’s certainly possible.

The main drawback of the Napalm Ring is that it destroys forageable items as well. If you’re on the Wilderness Farm or have activated the Dark Shrine of Night Terrors, do NOT use this ring. You may accidentally blow up your farm. I’ve learned that the hard way.

Killing 250 Serpents is one of the harder quests, but you’ll get there eventually. Both Serpents and Royal Serpents count toward the goal.

What makes Napalm Ring Great:

Great for killing Mummies.
Helps you clear dungeon floors faster.
It’s safer to use than bombs.

How to get Napalm Ring:

You get it from the Adventurer’s Guild after slaying 250 Serpents of any type. You can buy additional Napalm Rings for 30,000g.

Napalm Ring details:

Creates a small explosion whenever you kill a monster.
The explosion destroys nearby fallen mummies, rocks, and forageable items.
You take no damage from the explosion.

5. Iridium Band (Best for combining with other rings)

Iridium Band

The Iridium Band may not be the most interesting ring in the game, but it’s certainly a useful one. It provides two quality-of-life buffs – it glows and increases your magnetism. Once you get used to these buffs, you’ll never want to take this ring off. It also increases your Attack a little, though it’s not that much.

Ever since the Ginger Island patch came out, the Iridium Band has become the base ring to combine with other options. The stats are simply too valuable to miss out on. Iridium Bands stack and I use two of them combined with the Burglar Ring and a Savage Ring most of the time.

As far as crafting is concerned, you don’t have much to worry about. By the time you unlock the recipe, you should have enough resources for your first Iridium Band. Farming extra ones won’t take you much time either.

What makes Iridium Band Great:

Provides extremely useful buffs.
It is the best base Ring to combine with other types.
Relatively easy to craft, even in bulk.

How to get Iridium Band:

You craft it using 5 Iridium Bar, 50 Solar Essence, and 50 Shadow Essence. You get the recipe after hitting Combat level 9.

Iridium Band details:

Illuminates a 10-tile radius around you.
Increases your magnetic radius by two tiles.
Increases your Attack by 10%
Stacks with all rings that affect these stats.

4. Savage Ring (Best for zooming across dungeons)

The Savage Ring

Once, I wouldn’t give this ring a second thought. But recently, I decided to tamper with different builds in Stardew Valley to find what works and what doesn’t. And I immediately fell in love with the Savage Ring.

Whenever you kill a monster, you get a massive speed boost for three seconds. And the best part? It stacks with food and drinks such as Spicy Eel and Coffee. Combined, you can get across each floor of the Volcano Dungeon in seconds. I find it most useful here since the exit is pre-determined and you have to work your way to it.

But the Savage Ring is useful in other dungeons too. When it comes to combat, positioning is the most important element to victory. It’s especially helpful against flying enemies that tend to change the direction of their attacks. With this ring, you’ll rarely ever get hit.

The Savage Ring promotes an active, responsive playstyle. It certainly makes combat in Stardew Valley more engaging.

What makes Savage Ring Great:

Spicy Eel + Coffee + Savage Ring is one of the most broken combinations in Stardew Valley.
Makes you zoom across each dungeon floor.
Allows you to reposition faster (excellent against flying monsters).

How to get Savage Ring:

You get it from the Adventurer’s Guild after slaying 150 Void Spirits. These include Shadow Brutes and Shadow Shamans. You can buy additional Savage Rings for 25,000g.

Savage Ring details:

Grants you 2 extra movement speed for 3 seconds after you kill a monster.
Stacks with other movement speed buffs.

3. Lucky Ring (Best for max luck builds)

The Lucky Ring

The Lucky Ring is the most self-explanatory ring in the game. As the name suggests, it simply increases your luck.

On its own, the ring is quite useless. But combined with Luck food, Ginger Ale, another Lucky Ring, and Daily Luck, it can turn the odds in your favor. Literally. Luck is an important stat in the Skull Cavern and Danger Mines. It affects the spawn rate of ladders, holes, and items you find there.

I keep two Lucky Rings in my Skull Cavern chest so that I can use them whenever I get a solid daily luck bonus. Trust me, it will make your Skull Cavern runs much easier.

What makes Lucky Ring Great:

A must-have for max luck builds.
A great base Ring to combine with others.
The extra luck affects how successful your Skull Cavern runs will be.

How to get Lucky Ring:

Panning (rare, your odds increase with daily luck).
Creates, barrels, and treasure chests in the Skull Cavern (8% chance).

Lucky Ring details:

Increases your luck value by 1.
Multiple Lucky Rings DO stack.

2. Slime Charmer Ring (Best for dealing with Slimes)

The Slime Charmer Ring

Few rings affect the gameplay as much as the Slime Charmer Ring. Once you equip it, you won’t ever have to worry about Slimes as it negates all damage from them.

Slimes plague every dungeon in Stardew Valley, making this ring a godsend. It’s also great for Slime Hutches, where you need to fill the water tray daily to keep your Slimes active. I always combine it with an Iridium Band to get even more useful stats.

The worst part about this ring is getting it. Although Slimes are everywhere, killing 1,000 of them is quite time-consuming. Still, it’s worth the effort. It should be one of your top Monster Eradication Goals to target.

What makes Slime Charmer Ring Great:

Makes Slimes of all types and sizes completely harmless to you.
Great for Slime Hutches.
Works well in all types of dungeons since Slimes spawn everywhere.

How to get Slime Charmer Ring:

You get it from the Adventurer’s Guild after slaying 1,000 Slimes of any type. You can buy additional Slime Charmer Rings for 25,000g.

Slime Charmer Ring details:

Makes you immune to damage from all Slimes

1. Burglar’s Ring (Best for OP loot)

The Burglar's Ring

The Burglar Ring is hands down the best ring in the game. I target it first in all my playthroughs. It makes the later parts of the game much easier thanks to the better monster loot.

I’ve developed such a deep attachment to this ring that it feels wrong when I don’t have it equipped. With it, you can rarer items more often, and in bigger numbers. It’s great for getting the most value from each monster you slay.

Getting it is a bit tough since you need to kill 500 Dust Sprites. But on the bright side, they spawn in big numbers. It shouldn’t take you more than a few in-game days to finish this Monster Eradication Goal.

What makes Burglar’s Ring Great: