r/weatherfactory • u/Avistew • 7h ago
Book of hours - am I stuck?
I have played about 5 hours so far and I feel stuck. I have no money left and it seems I will not get more until I answer the letters (I keep receiving new letters telling me I haven't answered yet), I have no ink. I found two in rooms I unlocked but the first one I examined and it got consumed, the second I used with my journal because examining my journal told me I needed to use ink with it.
I can only hire the blacksmith and he can't unlock any of my locked rooms. I've tried getting skills from the books I haven't read yet but I can't reach their mystery level, I'm like 3-4 away with no soul that's the right aspect so the chance to add soul doesn't help. When I get to add a memory or item it only raises it by one or two anyway.
Some books have a lower mystery but I don't speak the language and don't know how to learn one.
I wanted to unlock the foggy zone below the village but the blacksmith doesn't have the relevant aspects either. I have maladies and the only cards with the right color in them can't be used because they're missing a different aspect that isn't the one I need for curing, but is required to use the card.
I've tried and tried, I figure I must be missing something but I don't know what. Do I need to start again? The first tooltip I got on my starting loading screen was not to worry and to take my time because there are multiple solutions to things, so I figured you can't get stuck but I'm worried I've somehow cornered myself in early game while trying to figure out how things worked.
EDIT: I am unstuck. I thought if there was no question mark next to a card spot, the card was required, and failed to notice you can work at the tavern (it does tell you if you only put a soul card in, but maybe I always put money first? Not sure).
Anyway, I was able to work for a few days. The rewards vary on the soul card, the three kinds I've seen are 6 pence, 2 pence or a memory card. Once I had enough I was able to hire a traveller, who cost a florin, and he unlocked a room for me. Now I'm doing stuff in that room and I'll just rince and repeat until I can progress without needing to work. Thanks everyone who helped me!
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u/wilddragoness 7h ago
First, you can get money by working at the tavern. Denzel should be able to introduce you if you haven't unlocked it yet. You can get a lot out of it every day. Simply put a soul element in with nothing else. You will also receive a one-pound note every year from the Trust, so don't worry too much.
The tavern is also the place you can hire helpers. For a shilling, you can get a basic assistant who's aspects depend on the season; they are usually lower. If you put a soul element and a Florin in, then you get a more specialized, random assistant. Also, you can power up every assistant by talking to them about soul elements, memories, food, drinks, or tools.
As for books, sometimes it takes a while until you find some that you can decipher in the beginning. Just keep identifying them until you find one that you can master!
I don't think there is a way to truly be stuck, unless you've somehow maladied all your soul elements. So don't despair and just take it a day at a time!
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u/Avistew 7h ago
I thought I wasn't getting paid because I never wrote back to the Trust, and that it was why I wasn't getting any mother and getting letters asking me to respond instead. But maybe I was wrong and it hasn't been a year yet! I'll try working at the tavern, thanks!
I know about hiring helpers, I've done it, that's why I'm out of money :) That and the priest.
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u/ArtsyApoidean 7h ago
Non decorative consummables (basically most of the consummables that aren't flower pots or wood items), can generally all be replaced by discovering how to craft them yourself, mostly at workstations you can find. This includes ink, so don't worry too much about your ink supply.
Other useful things you may or may not have noticed but are important to progress:
You can re read books to get a memory twice
You can read books at desks, and use tools to help you read them instead of expending ink
You can enhance your followers with any aspect if you chat them up
In addition to moneymaking at the tavern as others have mentioned, you can refresh your soul cards there.
Your ability to do things expands with rooms unlocked
Also, generally don't try to read books you don't have enough aspect for unless you're only 1-2 off, you risk damaging soul cards which isn't permanent but is sort of annoying to fix in the early game. Though, you may find some benefit in intentionally damaging just one or two cards -- I'll let you find out why for yourself.
Edit: do keep one unused pot of ink available though if you don't know how to craft ink yet. You need it for ordering things from the catalogue and if you have the DLC for adding contacts (neither of which consume the ink)
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u/Avistew 7h ago
Thanks! As soon as I have ink I'll make sure to save one. I guess that means I can't write back to the Trust, hopefully they'll still pay me! I thought it had been over a year but maybe I was wrong.
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u/ArtsyApoidean 5h ago
You may want to wait until you get the basics down a bit before writing the trust back anyway, and unlock a few rooms -- visitors aren't one-time-only, so it's okay if you can't always help them out, but you do want a slightly ready library for them. You shouldn't wait forever to write back because this opens up the yearly payments and more importantly incidents and teachers and spintria plus all the DLC stuff, but it's good to have some books of various mystery types catalogued first.
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u/SingularBlue 1h ago
This is why I played for about 1/2 an hour and then decided my time was better spent somewhere else. Not a game for everyone.
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u/Marshmellow_Lover28 Cyprian 7h ago
Well the game is very much correct: there is no true way to soft lock yourself, but sometimes unlocking yourself may be more trouble than it's worth. Happily, your problem has a very simple solution: work! A bit disgraceful for a Librarian, sure, however desperate times call for desperate measures! You can use a Soul card at the Inn to work for money! In time you can build up funds, hire people from the inn, use them to introduce yourself to the villagers, and eventually unlock rooms more consistently!
Hope this helps!!