Absolutely LOVE days when it rains or there is a Thunderstorm with rain. The one time I enjoy escaping to the desert is during winter. Sometimes. Sometimes I enjoy the snow.
I love the rain in this game too. Rain IRL is just depressing, but it's actually super calming in Stardew Valley. The rain sound effect is amazing and the sound of thunder is always awesome, IRL or in-game.
Well, I go to Skull Cavern occasionally because I'm trying to get over 400 crystalariums to fill up my quarry with, and I only have 10 as of now. The Statue of Perfection won't cut it. ~1 iridium bar a day and I need over 800. So yeah, that justifies my reason for going to Skull Cavern. People have different priorities in this game. For example, I'm in Fall Year 3 and I haven't even touched a single cask.
Er.... you can get into the Skull Cavern waaaaay before coming anywhere close to meeting Krobus, or before you can get enough iridium for your second sprinkler.
The Joja method or Community Center? It took me a while to properly get to the desert. Through Joja. >_>
The CC takes what again, a good 50k to open the Desert, and that's only after you've turned in other bundles (IIRC, the Vault scroll is unlocked last?). Can't imagine getting Desert Access, AND getting through all 120 floors of the mine, before meeting Krobus. I mean, do you donate nothing to the museum or anything to make that happen? lol. Just hitting random worms with the hoe and donating minerals from geodes/mine, I usually get 60 donations by the end of First Summer, and by the time the end of Winter rolls around, I've got 4 or so iridium sprinklers ready to go for the second Spring, along with several quality sprinklers I made with ore from the mines. And that's with zero Skull Cavern at all. And RE:Guy with the 400 Crystalariums... Oi. I kinda wonder what you need so many crystalariums for, but whatever. *shrug* That's like someone who wants 400 Bee Boxes on their farm complaining about how hard Maple Syrup is to get in large quantities. Yes, you CAN do 400+ Crystalariums, but I'd hardly think it is normal for someone to do so.
I can't imagine not, I was in the desert in the summer of year 2 on my first playthrough not knowing what I was doing. 50k is not that hard to get at all, just fish a lot. And worms just don't show up that often, maybe you are mining with the geode buffs? That sounds like a huge amount of uncanny luck considering how difficult new artifacts are to get once you have 30 or 40 already.
It takes 4 completed bundles to unlock the Vault Bundle and it is, indeed, unlocked last. It costs 42,500g to complete. A normal player will turn in the Spring Crops Bundle, the Summer Crops Bundle, the Fall Crops Bundle, the Spring Foraging Bundle, the Summer Foraging Bundle, the Fall Foraging Bundle, and the Winter Foraging Bundle in Year 1 -- and also the Construction Bundle, the Blacksmith's Bundle, the Geologist's Bundle, and the Adventurer's Bundle. A normal player can get down 5 levels each time they go to the the mine. A normal player will go to the mines once every four days. A normal player will reach the bottom of the mines in Year 1: Winter, especially since normal players tend to go into the mines more in the Winter. A normal player will have more than 42,500g after their Fall harvests. A normal player doesn't hit 60 artifacts by the end of Summer. You need 4 Iridium Sprinklers. sunlite needs 400 Crystalariums. What do you actually get out of playing the game, in general?
I don't know that I'm a "normal player" or not but it's the last week of Fall and I don't have the sewer unlocked yet but I've been to the skull caverns multiple times now. I've gone with very little prep and haven't spent any money on bombs, stones or food. It's fun, I've picked up seven iridium bars already so at this rate - even if I never throw money at the skull caverns - I'll have all of my tool upgrades and sprinklers converted to iridium before the winter is done. If I spend the money I'm saving not buying sprinklers from Krobus on bombs I would be kitted out even faster. I would love more to do there, of course, but the Skull Caverns are worthwhile for me as is.
Like I said, everyone has different priorities in the game. That's why different options are available. And the reason why I want 400 crystalariums....well, no reason at all, other than to have a different way of making money. Just random endgame goals keep me into Stardew Valley. I'm saving up for the gold clock, at about 3.231mil gold so far, and put lots of time into slime breeding.
Not to mention at 750 per diamond, if that's what you are using, 400 crystalariums would yield 300k per harvest. Not a bad chunk of change either.
With my setup, I'll have some room to breed slimes outdoors as well! Finally putting the quarry to good use, feels cheaty though.
It has been reported on another thread that slimes will not breed at the quarry. The post stated they hatch, but vanish as soon as you leave the area-- the game erases them. (Having never tried, I cannot confirm this, only mention it.) Also, it's hard to call anything a 'cheat' (short of directly hacking the game files) when there's no competition between players and no win condition for the game aside from Grampa's evaluation and any goals you set for yourself.
I'd say it's more like your investments are going to pay off. And this is true. Slimes will not stay in the Quarry. I think it has to do with the constantly changing environment. I.e rocks/geodes constantly forming daily.
Oh, thanks for that input! Not a big deal, I'm sure I'll find a good use for the area. Fill with more crystalariums, maybe. Lol
Run a few tests with that, just in case it erases equipment, too. Just leave some worthless stuff there for a couple of weeks and make sure it's still there when you want it.
I've put paths down in anticipation for the crystalariums and none have been destroyed yet. I tested my charcoal kiln there and it was fine, so crystalariums should be fine.
That sounds like it should work, then! If the rock spawning does nothing, then I know you're also guaranteed not to have the equipment molested by townsfolk, as none of the NPC pathing goes anywhere near the Quarry. There's also something satisfyingly ironic in setting up a factory for gems in the Quarry, as if you've upgraded the site-- oh, we've moved on from producing rocks and the occasional ore deposit around here, this Quarry has gone /high tech/.
