Combat Quarterly
| Combat Quarterly | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Book |
| Location | Bookseller; Traveling Cart; Fishing Treasure Chests; Mayor's Manor; Mystery Boxes; Golden Mystery Boxes; Monsters; Crates and Barrels; Trees; Artifact Spots |
| Sell Price | 500g |
Combat Quarterly is the skill book for fighting, and the irony of it is that monsters are one of the places it comes from. Every reading pushes a solid block of experience into the combat skill, and combat is a skill where levels are felt immediately: each one raises maximum health, so a farmer who reads a few of these survives deeper floors than one who does not. The book can be read as often as copies can be found, which separates it from the power books that burn out after one use. Iridium Golems in Skull Cavern drop it far more often than anything else that dies, and crates in the Volcano Dungeon give it up as well. The Bookseller will also trade a copy for a Monster Musk, which is a neat swap for a farmer who wants more monsters to kill rather than more experience for killing them.
The in-game description reads: Read this to gain some combat experience.
Overview
Combat levels arrive the slow way, by fighting, and the skill unlocks itself the moment the mine shaft in the Mountain opens. Each level adds a few points of maximum health, and that compounds with the crafting recipes along the way, the Sturdy Ring early on and the Life Elixir soon after. Levels five and ten force a choice of profession, between dealing more damage and carrying more health, and a stack of these books read in one evening can decide that choice a season or two before it would otherwise arrive.
The sources read like a tour of the valley's dangerous places. Iridium Golems are the best single chance, far ahead of ordinary monsters, which give the book up only very rarely. Crates and barrels broken open in the Mines, Skull Cavern and the Volcano Dungeon can hold one. So can an Artifact Spot turned over with a hoe, a tree shaken for seeds or chopped down, and a Treasure Chest hooked while fishing, with the golden chests being the richer of the two. Mystery Boxes, taken to Clint at the Blacksmith to be opened, are another route, and the Prize Machine in the Mayor's Manor offers it as a possible prize once a run of tickets has been cashed in. The Traveling Cart stocks it occasionally at a steep price, and the Bookseller sells it at the cheap end of his table.
Copies are worth hoarding rather than reading one at a time. Combat experience is wasted if it arrives while the skill is already at its limit, unless the Mastery Cave has been opened, and then every reading pays out in Mastery points instead. That makes the skill books the only part of the Bookseller's stock that never stops being useful: a farmer chasing perfection buys every copy he offers and reads them on the spot.
Keeping one back is also worth considering. Handing the book over the Bookseller's counter brings back a Monster Musk, the consumable that doubles how often monsters appear in the Mines and Skull Cavern for ten minutes. That is a serious help for anyone grinding towards the thousand kills the Adventurer's Guild back room asks for, or working through the eradication goals Gil posts by the fireplace.
Notes
The gift list suits the subject. Abigail, who has a knack for adventure and is forever talking about getting out of her parents' shop, likes being handed it, and so does Sebastian. Elliott takes it kindly, Penny loves it as she loves every book, and Alex dislikes it.
In the dye pots at Emily and Haley's house on 2 Willow Lane the book counts as red, and the spool of the Sewing Machine gives the same colour to a garment in the feed.
All Books
Every entry in this group, with its key details.
| Name | Image | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Animal Catalogue | 
|
2000g |
| Bait And Bobber | 
|
500g |
| Book Of Stars | 
|
2500g |
| Book of Mysteries | 
|
3000g |
| Combat Quarterly | 
|
500g |
| Dwarvish Safety Manual | 
|
1000g |
| Friendship 101 | 
|
3000g |
| Horse: The Book | 
|
1000g |
| Jack Be Nimble, Jack Be Thick | 
|
500g |
| Jewels Of The Sea | 
|
800g |
| Mapping Cave Systems | 
|
4000g |
| Mining Monthly | 
|
500g |
| Monster Compendium | 
|
2000g |
| Ol' Slitherlegs | 
|
1000g |
| Price Catalogue | 
|
1000g |
| Queen Of Sauce Cookbook | 
|
10000g |
| Raccoon Journal | 
|
1000g |
| Stardew Valley Almanac | 
|
500g |
| The Alleyway Buffet | 
|
3000g |
| The Art O' Crabbing | 
|
1000g |
| The Diamond Hunter | 
|
1000g |
| Treasure Appraisal Guide | 
|
500g |
| Way Of The Wind pt. 1 | 
|
5000g |
| Way Of The Wind pt. 2 | 
|
10000g |
| Woodcutter's Weekly | 
|
500g |
| Woody's Secret | 
|
500g |