Farming Tools and Other Secondary Skill Items

Perhaps these tools, especially the farming tool would be a little better if they added a bonus for harvesting, instead of being required to perform it. It would be helpful to lowbies if they could attempt to harvest foods by hand, even if it would not be as effective. Such devices are costly for lowbies, and having to ask complete strangers for help to pick some fruit is a little embarrasing.

"Yes, I plan on being a great and mighty bulwark towards the nation of Tesh, and their legions of evil. But for now, could you gather some berries for me please?"

You can buy food for really cheap at the mill if you don't have farming implements.

True, which is what I do for my nutritional fix. But for quests, certain foods (eg; blackberries) are required. Recently, some skilled farmer planted a decent crop upon the Vale hillside, and I was at a loss to gather them myself; had to ask a passerby for an assist to pick berries.

Now I agree that such implements are of no problem once the funds begin to flow, but until that point, lowbies are somewhat reliant on the patience and charity of others. By allowing secondary skills to be used manually and making the items add to the skill as a bonus, but remove total reliance upon the device, lowbies and others are both able to complete tasks that reflect the RL chores.

It's not too difficult though to raise up farming skill. I usually get from 0 to 15 or even 25 percent on one sweep through campton, vale fields, the goblin/blackberry area, and the cherry trees just south of the blackberries.

The one suggestion I would make though... the limited respawn on plants kinda stinks, particularly for those blackberries. I've only found two spots across all of Aenea with the blackberry bushes, and if both have been picked clean, I gotta wait until the next reset to get at them again unless the previous harvester was kind enough to plant some more. And while the other spot isn't always harvested... it's in past an area that's not entirely lowbie friendly.

They respawn in 24 game hours.

I do not believe I have done any farming with any PC; just harvesting crops for food and quests.

My problem in this is that the mechanics remove immersion. A Fighter/ Rogue in Scale armor with bladed weapons stands by the Inn looking for help to pick berries. He may have to go to a few more bushes to gather enough by hand, but instead must wait until someone with the correct tools is able to help. And by the initial response of the volunteer, this is not always a pleasant experience thinking they must forgo their own quests to gather food.

P.S. Perhaps another way to 'fix' the problem is allow such tools to be added to PC Start Up items, or lower the prices on these commonly needed implements for lowbies.

Hehe, I meant limited respawn as in once a plant/farmable thing has been harvested 2 or 3 times, it won't regrow any more stuff and can't be harvested anymore during that given reset, not the time between the fruit regrows on it

Though I do agree that it's a bit silly and immersion-breaking when your PC is literally unable to pick berries without a special tool, I have to admit it's never really caused me a huge problem. I tend to just do other quests/hunt until I've earned the 200 or so gold required to buy the tool. It generally doesn't take too long.

About 10 short bows "donated" by goblins usually do the trick