As an upstart farmer in Stardew Valley, there’s nothing like having someone with an artistic flair around to accompany your rustic taste in home decor, and Leah agrees! The wandering artist makes a wonderful life companion, occasionally crafting beautiful sculptures and even teaching you how to paint – if she likes you enough.
Romancing Leah is a pretty simple task if you spend a lot of time cultivating artisanal goods which can be crafted as easily as foraging blackberries in the wilderness and dropping them into a keg. She happens to love wine, which makes it an easy gift to farm in great quantities and spam her throughout the year until she accepts your marriage proposal, but that’s not the only viable strategy. Since you can give one gift per day, up to two times per week, you should be able to fully romance Leah (this means marrying her and getting all 14 of her hearts) by the end of your first year. Assuming you don’t do any additional quests for her, of course, which will speed things up.
However, it’s important to understand the Friendship Points system as it works in Stardew Valley. Each heart costs 250 points, so it’s good to know which behaviors to follow to get closer to 14 hearts for the romanceable NPC of your choice, within the game’s limitations.
Leah’s Favorite Gifts
When romancing Leah in Stardew Valley, you’re going to want to focus on gifting the items that she loves. Early on, you may struggle to find these items. It’s worth gifting stuff she just “likes,”, but after a certain point, it’s not worth wasting your limited gifts and time with stuff she doesn’t care much about. The general rule in Stardew Valley is higher-quality versions of gifts will multiply the number of friendship points you earn. Silver star, gold star, and iridium (purple) star items should bump your relative points up by +10%, +25%, and +50%, respectively. Liked items give a base value of 45 points, whereas loved items give a base value of 80 points.
Leah’s Loved Gifts
- All Universal Loves – Complete list found here.
- Goat Cheese – Created in the Cheese Press with Goat’s Milk.
- Poppyseed Muffin – Cooked in the kitchen with Poppy, Wheat Flour, and Sugar.
- Salad – Purchased from Gus or cooked with Leek, Dandelion, and Vinegar.
- Stir Fry – Cooked with Cave Carrot, Common Mushroom, Kale, and Oil.
- Truffle – Randomly generated each day near your barn if you own at least one pig.
- Vegetable Medley – Cooked with Tomato and Beet.
- Wine – Fermented in a keg from any fruit (including foraged fruits, like Blackberries and Coconuts).
Leah’s Liked Gifts
- Chanterelle – Grown in mushroom cave or found around Pelican Town in Fall.
- Common Mushroom – Grown in mushroom cave or found around Pelican Town in Fall.
- Daffodil – Found around Pelican Town in Spring.
- Dandelion – Found around Pelican Town in Spring.
- Driftwood – Found in trash or from a failed fishing attempt.
- Ginger – Found around Ginger Island.
- Hazelnut – Found around Pelican Town in Fall.
- Holly – Found around Pelican Town in Winter.
- Leek – Found around Pelican Town in Spring.
- Magma Cap – Found in Volcano Dungeon on Ginger Island.
- Morel – Found around Pelican Town in Spring.
- Purple Mushroom – Grown in mushroom cave or found in mines.
- Snow Yam – Found around Pelican Town in Winter.
- Spring Onion – Found around Pelican Town in Spring.
- Wild Horseradish – Found around Pelican Town in Spring.
- Winter Root – Found around Pelican Town in Winter.
Leah’s Favorite Movies
- Mysterium
Leah’s Favorite Movie Snacks
- Panzanella Salad
- Stardrop Sorbet
Leah’s Daily Schedule
Now for the complicated part: actually finding where Leah is on the map every day. As with any NPC, Leah’s schedule changes depending on which day of the week, and what season it is. Some NPC schedules can also change depending on the weather or during special events. They can even be conditional depending on how many town upgrades you’ve unlocked via the Community Center or purchased from Morris. It’s important to note that Leah’s birthday is on the 23rd day of Winter, and you can only access her cottage in Cindersap Forest between 10:00 AM and 6:00 PM, and only after you’ve earned your first two hearts with her.
Leah’s Spring Schedule
Every Sunny Day Except Friday, Saturday, and Monday
- 9:00 AM – Leah’s cottage.
- 12:00 AM – Riverbank in Cindersap Forest, southwest of her cottage.
- 3:00 PM – On the pier overlooking the Cindersap Forest pond, southwest of your farm entrance.
- 6:30 PM – West side of the Cindersap Forest pond.
- 7:30 PM – Back to Leah’s cottage for the night.
- 12:00 AM – Asleep.
Sunny Mondays
- 9:00 AM – Leah’s cottage.
- 11:00 AM – Pierre’s general store.
- 5:00 PM – Back to Leah’s cottage for the night.
- 12:00 AM – Asleep.
Rainy Days, Any Friday, Any Saturday
- 9:00 AM – Leah’s cottage.
- 4:00 PM – Stardrop Saloon.
- 11:40 PM – Back to Leah’s cottage and straight to sleep.
16th day of the season (no matter the weather or day)
- 9:00 AM – Leah’s cottage.
- 10:30 AM – Harvey’s clinic (immediately to the left of Pierre’s general store).
- 4:00 PM – Stardrop Saloon.
- 11:40 PM – Back to Leah’s cottage and straight to sleep.
Leah’s Summer Schedule
Every Sunny Day Except Friday, Saturday, and Monday (Beach Bridge Unrepaired)
- 9:00 AM – Leah’s cottage.
- 12:00 PM – The beach.
- 7:00 PM – Back to Leah’s cottage.
- 12:00 AM – Asleep.
Every Sunny Day Except Friday, Saturday, and Monday (Beach Bridge Repaired)
- 9:00 AM – Leah’s cottage.
- 12:00 PM – Newly unlocked part of the beach.
- 7:00 PM – Back to Leah’s cottage.
- 12:00 AM – Asleep.
Sunny Mondays
- 9:00 AM – Leah’s cottage.
- 11:00 AM – Pierre’s general store.
- 5:00 PM – Back to Leah’s cottage.
- 12:00 AM – Asleep.
Rainy Days, Any Friday, Any Saturday
- 9:00 AM – Leah’s cottage.
- 4:00 PM – Stardrop Saloon.
- 11:40 PM – Back to Leah’s cottage and straight to sleep.
Leah’s Fall Schedule
Every Overcast Day Except Friday, Saturday, and Monday
- 9:00 AM – Leah’s cottage.
- 12:00 PM – North of Blacksmith, near the riverbank.
- 7:00 PM – Back to Leah’s cottage for the night.
- 12:00 AM – Asleep.
Overcast Mondays
- 9:00 AM – Leah’s cottage.
- 11:00 AM – Pierre’s general store.
- 5:00 PM – Back to Leah’s cottage.
- 12:00 AM – Asleep.
Rainy Days, Any Friday, Any Saturday
- 9:00 AM – Leah’s cottage.
- 4:00 PM – Stardrop Saloon.
- 11:40 PM – Back to Leah’s cottage and straight to sleep.
Leah’s Winter Schedule
Every Day Except Snowy Monday
- 9:00 AM – Leah’s cottage.
- 4:00 PM – Stardrop Saloon.
- 11:40 PM – Back to Leah’s cottage and straight to sleep.
Snowy Monday
- 9:00 AM – Leah’s cottage.
- 11:00 AM – Pierre’s general store.
- 5:00 PM – Back to Leah’s cottage.
- 12:00 AM – Asleep.
15th day of the season (no matter the weather or day)
- 9:00 AM – Leah’s cottage.
- 4:00 PM – Night Market.
- 11:40 PM – Back to Leah’s cottage and straight to sleep.
Leah’s Heart Events
Every so often, you’ll be able to trigger a special event that’s only attainable once you’ve reached a certain number of hearts. Here’s how to trigger each of Leah’s events by heart level.
- Two Heart Event – Enter Leah’s cottage while she’s at home. Select Art Show or Art Website.
- Four Heart Event – Enter Leah’s cottage while she’s at home.
- Six Heart Event I – Leave your house on any non-rainy day before 11:30 AM.
- Six Heart Event II – Enter Cindersap Forest while Leah is there. This is usually during her Spring schedule.
- Eight Heart Event (Art Show) – Leave your house on any day during Spring, Summer, or Fall before 8 AM. The next part of the event triggers the next time you travel near the town square between 3 to 5 PM.
- Eight Heart Event (Art Website) – Enter Leah’s cottage when she’s at home.
- Ten Heart Event – Enter Cindersap Forest between 11 AM and 4 PM on any day during Spring, Summer, or Fall.
- Group Ten Heart Event – Only triggers if you’re not married. Raise every female romanceable NPC’s heart level to 10 (this includes Abigail, Haley, Penny, Maru, Leah, and Emily) and give each one a Bouquet. Enter Haley’s and Emily’s house to trigger the event.
- 14 Heart Event – Exit your house before 8:20 AM on any regular-weather day besides Sunday during Spring, Summer, or Fall. For the second part of this event, venture to the Cindersap Forest between 11:30 AM and 2:00 PM on any regular-weather day.
Friendship Points in Stardew Valley Explained
You will automatically earn a heart each time you gift an item to an NPC, when you complete a quest, or when you speak to an NPC for the first time each day. The former two instances can become components of a good NPC romancing strategy, but as mentioned earlier, you can only give one gift per day, up to a maximum of two per week, which means you’ll want to make the most out of birthdays and the Winter Star event.
Note that giving gifts an NPC loves earns a base 80 friendship points, but birthday gifts can be worth up to eight times the regular number of points you’d earn for an item loved by the NPC recipient of your choosing. That’s 640 points before multipliers related to item quality kick in! The Winter Star event gives you a similar bonus, but only about five times the norm for around equaling 400 points.
Talking to a villager only earns a meager 20 points, but it’s still a good idea to speak to the NPCs you don’t want to lose your standing with. This is because speaking to them will at least stop the points counter from going down at the end of each day. Make sure to do this at a minimum so you don’t lose standing, even if it means interrupting them as you still come out ahead. You also don’t get any points for calling them over the phone, sorry!
Quests are another way to romance NPCs in Stardew Valley.. You get a solid 150 points each time you complete a delivery quest, but it’s unlikely you’ll see a ton of these given out by just one NPC. You may have to wait a bit before you get an opportunity to help Leah with a delivery, so it’s a good idea to stick with gifts most of the time. There are some other things you can do if you have the Movie Theatre unlocked – which becomes available after completing each of the Community Center projects or, alternatively, buying it from Morris for 500,000g if you took the corporate upgrade path. Inviting NPCs to a loved movie awards 200 points, buying a movie snack for your guest,, if loved, awards 50 points.
That should be everything you need to know when attempting to romance Leah in Stardew Valley. Good luck and good tidings to you, greenhorn!
