Within the game world, your character has the opportunity to collect and acquire various resources by utilizing specific skills and items on particular elements within the game. This process is known as Harvesting and within the game world of Requiem, it is quite different than standard UO shards.
Requiem utilizes a unique, custom system to handle some types of harvesting in the game world. This system allows developers to add in a limitless variety of items and resources into the game world by means of harvesting, as opposed to more traditional methods commonly found in UO.
How It Works
It is important to realize that traditional harvesting, in the form of mining mountain faces and chopping “static” trees, is not the preferred method of harvesting in Requiem. Most all resources that can be acquired through the game world are obtained from what are known as “Resource Nodes”. Nodes come in many different forms, can require different skills to “tap”, and provide a wide variety of different resources when “worked”. Harvesting from static resources, such as trees and mountain tiles, will still yield a small amount of basic raw resources, but for more special and rare resources, one must find and utilize a resource node.
Finding Nodes
A player will begin node harvesting by first finding a “node” in the game. As said before, nodes can take many different forms, from the traditional rock that yields veins of iron, to the seasoned tree ready for harvest, to the desiccated corpse prime for dissection. The observant player will be able to identify common nodes in logical places; for example, nodes that provide things such as vegetables and cotton would likely be found in farm plots. Other times, particularly when dealing with nodes that provide uncommon or rare resources, finding the location of a node can require the help of others, clever detective skills, or simple fearlessness in the face of overwhelming danger.
Harvesting Tools
To harvest a node, a player will simply double-click the node item. The character must also have a tool in hand, as defined by the type of node, in order to begin the harvesting process. If a character does not have a tool equipped or has the wrong type of tool equipped, a message will be displayed informing the player of the type of tool or tools that are required to harvest the node.
There are a wide variety of tools to be found, crafted and used in-game. Some nodes require only a basic type of tool or instrumentality in order to be harvested, such as any type of knife or bashing weapon. Other nodes may require a more specific tool, such as a hand trowel, a brush, a scalpel, or even a crowbar.
Once harvesting begins, messages will be sent to the player describing what is going on and what resources they are collecting, which are automatically added to the character’s inventory. During this time, a character must stay within a tile of the node and not attempt any other action, such as healing, hiding or combat, otherwise, harvesting will fail, and the node will be consumed. Once harvesting is complete, the node will become unusable and will automatically delete itself after a period of time.
It is key to note that when using a tool to harvest a node, the tool’s “uses” attribute will be lowered by one. If only one use remains on the tool, it will be consumed. The wise player will continually check the condition of their tool by using the Item Identification skill on the tool to assure enough uses are left on the item before using it. The same mechanic applies to utilizing the appropriate weapon to harvest but, it will lose **two** “uses” attributes instead of one. This is to represent the action of utilizing an object out of its intended realm and therefore, suffers more durability damage than normal.
Harvesting Skills
Once a player double-clicks a node with the appropriate tool in hand, the node will check the skill of the character. Different types of nodes are governed by differing types of harvesting skills. For example, an ore-veined rock that yields ore is governed by the Geology skill, whereas a tree is governed by Horticulture, and etc.
In most cases, harvesting nodes can be “tapped” by a character with any skill level. Skill levels predominantly affect the quickness and efficiency of harvesting a node. However, skill levels also affect numerous other aspects of harvesting, including the following:
Ability to harvest a node: In rare occasions, a node requires a certain amount of skill to even begin a harvesting attempt. While most nodes do not require a predetermined amount of skill to attempt to harvest, rarer and more hard-to-find nodes require anywhere from 5 to 100 skill to begin a harvesting attempt. For this reason, it is a wise decision to maximize at least one harvesting skill to its cap.
Here are some additional points to keep in mind when harvesting:
Time spent physically harvesting: The time it takes to completely finish up the physical process of harvesting a node relies on your character’s skill in the node’s governing skill. Time spent harvesting a node can range anywhere from thirty seconds (at 0 – 20 skill), to fourteen seconds (100 skill).
Chance for additional or special resources: Some resource nodes can provide additional resources, special secondary resources, or rare resources depending on your skill level vs. a random dice roll. For example, at 100% in a harvesting skill, a character has a 20% chance of harvesting a rare resource from a node if it is designated to provide one.
Stamina exertion: Skill level in a harvesting skill can affect how much stamina is exerted with each “strike” of a node. At lower skill levels, five points of stamina are used for each strike. As skill level rises, this exertion gradually is reduced, to the point of one point being used for each strike at 100% skill.
Time spent between harvesting attempts: Harvesting can often be dismissed as manual labor, but do not let such ignorant assumptions fool you; for example, the intricacies of Necropsy take a delicate hand and a steady mind. The Miner must focus soundly on each and every strike of his pickaxe as not to ruin precious metals or gems. There exists a time period that characters experience between each harvesting attempt, based upon their expertise in the appropriate harvesting skill. The time a character must wait to regain their concentration is reduced as their skill rises. For example, at low levels (0 – 20 skill), this time period can be as long as forty-five seconds. At maximum skill, this period can be as short as twenty.
Harvesting Abilities
As part of the Ability System, numerous Abilities exist in the game world that can affect harvesting skills in various ways, from reducing the time spent harvesting a node, to increasing the chances of collecting secondary and rare resources, and more. The wise player will seek out the far corners of Eden to find these special abilities.