Specialization is the key to a healthy economy and community, and Sunflower Land is no different. There are so many activities available to players, from farming to animal rearing, to fishing and cooking, that it can be overwhelming to think you have to do it all. But because of the marketplace and skills, you don't. In fact, you will probably benefit more from picking one thing and leaning into it than trying to be a generalist.
Skills are accessible from your Bumpkin's portrait menu, under the Skills tab. You will earn 1 Skill Point for every level of experience, so start those kitchens cooking to climb to the top!
There are six categories of skills you have access to at the beginning of the game, and five more that unlock at the Petal Paradise and Desert Islands.
Every group of skills is broken up into three Tiers, like so many other things in the game. All of the skills in Tier 1 cost 1 point to unlock. Those in Tier 2 cost 2 points, but you must have unlocked a certain amount of points in the lower Tier to be able to take any at all. The requirements differ by category, so check in-game to see the current numbers. Tier 3 skills cost 3 points each and also require prior skills to be unlocked.
You can see a full list of every skill in the game and their uses at https://sfl.world/info/skills. There is also a skill trainer that will load your farm's data and let you pick and choose skills freely with your available points, and even increase the amount of points to plan your next levels.
This guide will not attempt to explain every single skill, as they are described in sufficient detail through the above resources, and are subject to change for balancing purposes. Instead, an overview of each category and some strategies and synergies will be discussed.
Most skills provide boosts in the form of resource output or time deductions, but some provide actions that you take at specific times. These are known as Power Skills, and will be labeled as such in the window. After you claim one, you can access it with the Power Skills button in your Bumpkin portrait menu.
The fertilizer Power Skills can be used as often as you need, but the others have cooldowns that require you to wait several days between uses. The benefits of each are usually well worth the wait, though.
The most straightforward category, and the one you will likely take the most points in right away. Crops are one of the basic components of the game, and should not be neglected. Some of the most useful skills include the three scarecrow boosters, as you will outgrow a 3x3 area very quickly.
The Acre and Hectare Farm skills are also worth considering, especially when planning an overall strategy. For example, if you plan on raising animals, Acre Farm is a good choice, since all three crops required for animal feed are Advanced.
One of the smallest categories, these skills boost growth time, output, and help make Axes more affordable through cost reduction and stock increase. Tough Tree is a very valuable skill, as it can multiply your wood output substantially. It's possible to get up to 4 units of wood per tree with this skill.
There are no tree skills that provide benefits at the cost of something else, but increased wood output is very useful if you plan on leaning into either of the next two categories.
Fish are not directly valuable, as you cannot sell them except for the Limited listings on the marketplace, but they are crucial for cooking. Corale's Fishy Fortune skill doubles the amount of coins you earn from her deliveries, which can be very beneficial. Many of the other skills increase your daily limit for fishing, which unless you have a steady output of wood and stone, you may not be able to keep up with.
The three Fishy skills (Chance, Roll, Gamble) increase your chances of getting +1 fish for the respective tiers. By coupling that with Frenzied Fish and waiting for a Fish Frenzy day, you can potentially get 5 fish with a single catch (+1 Fishy skill, +1 Fish Frenzy base, +1 Frenzied skill base, 50% additional chance of +1), which will leave you with more fish than you know what to do with.
More With Less is useful since the -1 Worm output can be easily canceled out with the Composting skill Wormy Treat.
Mining is a very lucrative trade, as all of the minerals you dig up can be sold on the marketplace directly. Most of the skills in this category just boost output or recovery time, but some allow you to lean into a specific mineral. Rocky Favor increases Stone by +1 at the cost of -0.5 Iron, while Ferrous Favor does the opposite. Stone is slightly more versatile if you plan on doing a lot of fishing or digging, while Iron is the way to go if you are drilling for oil or continuing on the chain for gold.
For any mining operation, consider taking as many wood-boosting Trees skills as you can, since wood is required for every kind of pickaxe.
More food means more experience, which means more levels and more skill points! Cooking is always a valuable endeavor, as food will always be in demand for deliveries, chores, the faction pet, and the upcoming personal pets too. Most of the skills in this category increase experience from eaten foods or decrease cooking time, so you can take them all safely.
The only cooking skill that has a detriment, if you could call it that, is Double Nom, which effectively cooks two recipes simultaneously. You will need to provide twice as many ingredients per cooking action, but you will get two dishes instead of one upon completion. Once you have a large amount of resources as your disposal, this will expedite your food production substantially.
Composters are so useful they have a category unto themselves. Most of these skills boost the fertilizer output for a specific unit or decrease their processing time, and the Power Skills are worth considering because of their lack of cooldown.
Feathery Business is worth considering if you plan on specializing in Chickens, as you will have many extra Feathers.
Composting Overhaul is perfect for fish specialists, as you will need many worms for your great catches.
The first category to provide real specialization choices, the Tier 3 skills allow you to choose two fruits to focus on and either decrease growing time or boost output, at the cost of penalizing the others.
Choosing Short Pickings will make spring your time to shine, as Blueberries and Oranges will be ready twice as often.
Or, make autumn your oyster with Long Pickings, when the normally ponderous Apples and Bananas will mature at double speed.
You could also ensure a year-round harvest with Zesty Vibes and Crime Fruit, as one of the two acidy fruits are viable in every season. If you choose to focus on Lemons and Tomatoes, also consider the Trees skill No Axe No Worries, as you will be clearing your fruit patches out more frequently than ever.
Animal raising has a very high amount of specialization, and seems designed from the start to encourage players to pick one animal and focus on them. Milk and Leather are definitely the top sellers, but with the introduction of doll crafting, Wool is more important than ever, and Eggs are in high demand for cooking and deliveries.
The Featherweight, Merino Whisperer, and Leathercraft Mastery skills boost the output of those three secondary animal products, at the cost of reducing the others. Some detrimental skills can be canceled out by taking another, but not these. Claiming all three would actually result in a net loss, with -0.45 penalty to every product and a waste of skill points.
Clucky Grazing, Sheepwise Diet, and Cow-Smart Nutrition all decrease the feed required for their respective animals, while increasing the cost for the other two. Taking two of these would mean a 25% increase to both animals, and no benefit. The cost of feed will make or break any animal operation, so this is one of the most important things to consider when planning.
As mentioned above, Acre Farm is an excellent choice for animal enthusiasts, as any feed you grow yourself is feed you don't have to buy.
The only real specialization you can choose with flowers is Flowery Abode, which boosts your honey output by a large amount, in exchange for a longer flower growing time. Since flowers already take a very long time to grow, and you can reduce the penalty to only 20% through two other skills, this is a possible contender for an apiarist specialization.
Another important synergy to consider is Buzzworthy Treats, which boosts the experience earned for foods made with Honey. Couple that with the Cooking skill Drive-Through Deli, and the Honey Cheddar is suddenly worth 25% more.
There are two main paths you can take with the Greenhouse. You can choose Seeded Bounty to increase produce by +0.5, at the cost of using two seeds per planting. Since Greenhouse seeds are expensive, even with the Seedy Business skill that decreases seed cost by 15%, this is a hard one to justify.
Or, you can pick Greasy Plants, which will increase produce by +1, at the cost of double the Oil consumption for every plot. It's important to note that picking Slick Saver will decrease the doubled amount by -1, resulting in costs of 5 (Grape), 7 (Rice) and 11 (Olive).
There are many useful skills here once you reach the Desert Island, most of them involving the Crop Machine, but some that boost Oil extraction, which in turn helps the Greenhouse and even Cooking.
The Tier 2 skill Rapid Rig decreases growth time in the Crop Machine by 20%, while increasing Oil consumption by 40%. The skills Oil Gadget and Efficiency Extension Module will cancel that penalty out altogether.
Oil Rig is an important skill to consider if you are a Sheep specialist, as it will allow you to craft Oil Drills with the Wool that you will have in abundance.
If you dream of a day when you reach the level cap of 150 and can freely take any and all skills that you please, you will be disappointed. Currently it isn't possible to take every skill in the game, even at the highest level. Specialization is therefore not only encouraged, but required.
If you decide that your current build just isn't working for you, there is a way to re-spec your Bumpkin and try something different. The first time you choose to reset your skills, you will pay nothing, getting all of your points back at once and losing any boosts you may have had. You will be able to reset again for free in six months, and can check the time remaining at the link at the bottom of the skills screen.
Did you make an error and you're using up too much oil? You can reset again ahead of time, but it will cost you. The full list of withering penalties is available here: https://sfl.world/info/const/#SKILL_RESET_COST
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