Qi Gem
| Qi Gem | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Collection |
| Location | Mr. Qi (Quests) Monsters in dangerous Mines or Skull Cavern |
Qi Gems are the currency of Mr Qi's Walnut Room, and they buy things gold cannot. Taking on the orders pinned up in that room pays out gems, the dangerous versions of the Mines and the Skull Cavern drop them from their monsters, and leftover Golden Walnuts can be exchanged for them once the island parrots have nothing left to sell. The running total sits under the farmer's name on the skills tab, next to the walnut count. What the gems buy is the late game's shortlist of conveniences: Junimo Chests that all share one stash, Hoppers that feed machines on their own, Magic Bait that ignores the weather, sprinkler fittings, Pierre's year-round seed rack, a flute that whistles the horse over and the souls that finish a Galaxy weapon. None of it is necessary, and all of it changes how a day on the farm is spent.
Overview
Most gems come from the Special Orders board on the wall of the Walnut Room. Its challenges are tougher and stranger than the ones in town, and the payouts scale with that: the lightest ask hands over a modest handful, while the long, punishing orders pay several times as much. The board refreshes, so a farmer who checks it regularly collects gems steadily rather than in one lump.
Fighting pays too, once the mines have been made dangerous. Lighting the Shrine of Challenge, or running one of Qi's combat orders, upgrades the monsters underground and makes them pay out gems. Stick Bugs are the standout: every one of them drops a gem when killed and often drops a second, which makes a deep run through the dangerous mines a reliable earner for anyone comfortable down there.
The third route is the simplest. Once every parrot upgrade on Ginger Island has been paid for, the walnuts still buried in the sand lose their purpose, and Qi's counter will take them at two gems apiece. For a farmer who has combed the island, that alone funds most of a shopping list.
The vending machine itself is the reason to care. The automation items come first for most farms: the Hopper loads a machine without supervision, the Deconstructor breaks a crafted item back down into its most valuable ingredient, the Mini-Shipping Bin puts a sale point anywhere on the map, and Junimo Chests all open into the same shared stash no matter where they stand, which effectively abolishes the walk home. The Junimo Chests have a small quirk: the first purchase comes as a pair, and buying more singly means closing the shop window and opening it again.
Farming kit is the next block. Pressure Nozzles widen a sprinkler's reach and Enrichers fertilise the ground it waters, both sold four at a time. The recipes for Hyper Speed-Gro and Deluxe Fertilizer unlock the strongest soil treatments in the game, the Blue Grass Starter recipe covers animal feed, the Heavy Tapper recipe doubles the rate at which trees give up their syrup, and a Mushroom Tree Seed plants a tree that can be tapped for mushrooms.
Fishing and cooking each get one item worth the trip. Magic Bait removes season, weather and time of day from the equation, so any water can produce any of its fish at any hour, and the recipe for it makes that permanent. Qi Seasoning lifts every dish cooked in the farmhouse to gold quality while a stock of it sits in the kitchen.
The rest is comfort and showing off. The Horse Flute summons the horse outdoors, the Key To The Town opens every door in Pelican Town at any hour, Pierre's Missing Stocklist ends the seasonal seed problem, and a Galaxy Soul begins the forging of a weapon's final form. Mr Qi's Hat, the Aquatic Sanctuary, the Exotic Double Bed and the Fireworks are pure decoration. The Golden Egg sits at the bottom of the list and stays greyed out until Perfection has been reached, which makes it the one purchase that cannot be hurried.
Notes
Spending order matters more than total wealth. The items that save real time each day, namely the Hopper, the Junimo Chests and the Mini-Shipping Bin, repay themselves faster than anything decorative, and Magic Bait is worth buying early by anyone still missing legendary fish. The recipes are better value than the finished items, since a recipe keeps producing long after the gems are gone.
Gems are also worth hoarding slightly rather than spending to zero. New orders appear on the board whether or not there is anything in the purse, and having a reserve means a sudden urge for a second Deconstructor or another pack of nozzles does not have to wait for the next challenge to be finished.
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