Way Of The Wind pt. 2

Way Of The Wind pt. 2

Type	Book
Location	Bookseller
Sell Price	10000g

Way Of The Wind pt. 2 finishes the job the first volume starts. It appears on the Bookseller's table only after the first book has been read, and it asks for well over twice what the first one cost, which makes it the most expensive step in a speed build. The reward is another quarter point of walking speed on top of the quarter already banked, bringing the total permanent gain to half a point. That is the ceiling for getting about on foot, and it is paid for once rather than drunk, eaten or worn. Rereading a spare copy sprinkles a little experience into every skill, so a second one that turns up on the stall is never dead weight.

The in-game description reads: You run a little bit faster.

Overview

The gate on this book is unusual. Owning the first volume is not enough: it has to be read, and the power claimed, before the sequel will ever show up in the Bookseller's rotation. Even then his stock is rolled afresh for each of his two visits a season, so the second volume can take several in-game years to appear. Farmers chasing it tend to check the calendar for his balloon and keep the money set aside rather than spending it the moment it arrives.

What the two volumes buy together is a quieter kind of progress than a new tool or a bigger barn. Half a point of speed shortens every crossing of the map, which in turn means more of the day left for the mines, more fishing before the night rain and more of Ginger Island covered in one bus trip. The bonus runs permanently and in every location, so it also helps on the floors of Skull Cavern, where elevators are scarce and the staircase down is often on the far side of the room. Food and drink buffs pile on top of the new base figure instead of replacing it.

The three other movement powers solve different problems and all four sit happily together. Ol' Slitherlegs cuts the drag of walking through grass and standing crops, which is a penalty rather than a speed, and Horse: The Book only counts while mounted. Reading all of them makes a late-game farmer startlingly quick across their own land, which is the main reason players who are going for the Well-Read achievement often leave these three until last: they cost the most and the farm has to be earning well before the stall is worth visiting with a full wallet.

The power sits on the Special Items and Powers tab once taken, and any later copy carries a thumbs-up to show it has been read. Those repeats hand over a modest amount of experience in each skill at once, which is a painless way to top up fishing or combat without going out and doing either. When every skill has already been taken to its limit and the Mastery Cave in Cindersap Forest has opened, the same reading pays out in Mastery points.

Notes

The speed belongs to the reader alone. On a shared farm, each player who wants the full half point has to find and read both volumes themselves, which usually means waiting for separate visits.

As a gift the book pleases Penny most, Elliott mildly, and Alex least of all. Among the dye uses it reads as blue in the pots at Emily and Haley's house on 2 Willow Lane, and as cyan when it goes through the spool of the Sewing Machine with a dyeable 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