Most Powerful/Useful Ring Combinations in Stardew Valley
In Patch 1.5, Stardew Valley introduced ring combinations from the Forge in the Volcano on Ginger Island. The cost is 20 Cinder Shards and combining the two rings consumes both rings but gives you a Combined Ring with the abilities from both rings. One caveat here, rings of the same name cannot be combined -- this means you cannot combine two Iridium Rings; you can however wear a Combined Ring with the Iridium Ring on both hands.
The Best Combinations
You can mix and match these combinations however you want and there might be good reasons to combine them in different ways (e.g. Iridium Band/Napalm Ring instead of what's listed below) but these rings are what I use and like the most.
Iridium Band/Burglar Ring - This is probably my favorite combination of rings in the game, it makes you better at just about everything (does a little more damage, emits some light around you, increases the range you can pick stuff up, and makes it easier to find special drops from monsters). Feel free to replace the Burglar Ring with a Hot Java Ring.
Slime Charmer Ring/Napalm Ring - My second favorite combination of rings in the game as it saves you a ton of time -- it makes you immune to slimes (both damage and condition) and killing monsters breaks rocks.
Read more about how luck works and why I don't like the Lucky Ring.
Niche Combinations
Status Effect Immunity (Immunity Band, with +6 Immunity from other sources, like Mermaid Boots) - This is less of ring combination but something to think about if you have access to Genie Shoes, Mermaid Boots, or even Cinderclown Shoes. Immunity decreases your chance to receive a negative status effect by 10% for each level of Immunity (additively, so +10 Immunity makes you immune to status effects). This means an Immunity Band might be better than the Slime Charmer Ring if you don't raise Slimes in a Slime Hutch.
Leeching Ring (Vampire Ring/Soul Sapper Ring) - Gain 4 energy and 2 health each time you slay a monster. Surprisingly, it didn't seem as effective as I thought it would be and you have to kill a lot of monsters for this ring to be useful but it does come in handy in certain situations where you can't eat or drink (the Nauseated debuff or Qi's Hungry Challenge).
Crit Combination (Aquamarine Ring/Jade Ring) - This is for a niche build using daggers where you combine the Aquamarine Ring and Jade Ring twice and wear this combination on both hands.
How You Should Think About Combinations?
I typically think about rings in a couple different categories:
- Combat (Offensive) - These sorts of rings increase your damage (e.g. Iridium Band, Napalm, Aquamarine/Jade)
- Combat (Defensive) - These sorts of rings increase your defense (e.g. Immunity Ring, Protection Ring)
- Utility - These rings give you random benefits that are useful all the time (e.g. Glowstone Ring, Slime Charmer Ring, even Napalm Ring)
- Gathering - Rings that provides bonuses to item gathering (e.g. Lucky Ring, Burglar's Ring, Hot Java Ring)
Note: The Burglar's Ring does not stack, so there's no need to combine this ring multiple times.
Since I spend a lot of time in The Mines, Skull Cavern, and The Volcano, I typically combine offensive combat rings with utility or gathering rings and you probably don't need two Iridium Bands because an extra source of 10% bonus damage isn't worth it (and it would only be worth it when you're 10% away from one-shotting an enemy).
And my thoughts on the Phoenix Ring? Simple: Don't die.