With Stardew Valley having a host of interesting characters, befriending them can lead to unique rewards. Achievable by selecting the correct dialogue in heart events or by giving gifts, building a friendship with characters is an easy but time-consuming process.

One of those interesting characters players will want to increase their friendship with is Willy. The owner of the Fish Shop located on the beach, reaching a nine heart friendship with Willy will grant you the Lobster Bisque, a recipe with huge buff bonuses. Once you're able to befriend Willy, you'll be on your way to making tasty dishes in no time.

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How to Earn Willy's Friendship

Stardew Valley Willy Gift

To reach the nine heart event with Willy, the player must continually gift him things. Willy enjoys receiving fish, particularly Catfish, Octopus and Sea Cucumbers. Gifting him Diamonds, Pumpkins and Mead will also fast-track the player's friendship with him. Avoid gifting Willy anything foragable such as flowers, mushrooms or vegetables. He also dislikes most cooked dishes that don't involve fish, so it's better to gift him the raw fish than to worry about cooking them for him.

Willy will occasionally post on the Help Wanted board, and completing these tasks earns the player 150 friendship points. He will also directly mail the player sometimes, such as on the 2nd of Winter, asking them to Catch a Squid, earning a full friendship heart. Any requests for items by mail from Willy will correspond to the time of year he asks for them, so the quests can be completed relatively quickly.

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Compared to other characters, there are no cutscenes involving Willy that the player needs to select dialogue that could alter the friendship. There is an interesting cutscene during the six heart event where he sells his crabs to Gus for the Saloon to make Crab Cakes, but this has no friendship effect.

How to Make Willy's Lobster Bisque

A player shopping at Willy's Fish Shop in Stardew Valley.

It's no surprise that making all the recipes Willy sends you involves catching fish. To create the Lobster Bisque, the player will need a single Lobster and some Milk. Lobsters are caught using a Crab Pot, which can be crafted at Fishing Level 3 or bought for 1500g at Willy's Fish Shop. Placing these in the ocean will catch Lobsters over time. If you're needing a lot of lobsters, lobsters can be placed in a Fish Pond, where they will reproduce every three days. Milk is obtainable by purchasing cows or goats from Marnie and keeping them well fed. The player will then use a Milk Pail to obtain the milk, purchasable from Marnie for 1000g. For the recipe, it doesn't matter what size or type of milk is used. To cook the Lobster Bisque, the player can do it in the upgraded farmhouse or Cookout Kit, craftable at Foraging Level 9.

Once consumed, the Lobster Bisque grants high buffs and healing bonuses. The buffs last 16m 47s and will increase Fishing proficiency by 3 points, meaning that players can fish for more catches before their energy drains. The Bisque also increases Max Energy by 50 points, meaning that players can do other tasks for longer such as chopping trees or mining. Bisques are also great items to keep handy for mining as they refill Energy by 225 points and Health by 101 points. Other characters like receiving Bisques as gifts (except Krobus and Leo), so if the player has a lot of spare lobsters, they can be used to build friendships.

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