Fallen Earth: QotW #19: How Important is Scavenging?

Q: How important is the role of the Scavenging tradeskill? Will players find better loot scavenging with higher skill?

Q: Will they be able locate nodes more easily?

Q: Will scavenging nodes be generated dynamically, or set at static locations?

Players have several ways to harvest resources in Fallen Earth. Scavenging is the most common and the the first method a player learns. Harvesting nodes spawn dynamically in the game, and these nodes spawn in appropriate areas. For example, you are more likely to find ore nodes in mines or mountain regions, while you are more likely to find Scavenging nodes in junkyards and around abandoned ruins. While players can use Scavenging without needing special tools or training, players can only harvest other types of nodes for which they have sufficient skills, tools, and knowledges. Harvesting the acid-producing Burning Cactus can be quite dangerous for the unprepared. Generally speaking, harvesting a single node takes a very short time.

Harvesting nodes come in a wide variety of forms, everything from short cacti to junked dump trucks, so keep your eyes open. They can also be spotted on your tactical map, which is really helpful considering how dark it gets at night. Each time you successfully harvest a level-appropriate node, the harvesting skill used increases by 1 and you gain some experience points. This, combined with the experience point gain from crafting, means it is quite possible to level from harvesting and crafting alone. However, considering many harvesting nodes are in areas claimed by unfriendly inhabitants, many harvesters will have to smack a few heads around to get to nodes.

Each of the harvesting methods works as follows:

Scavenging:

Scavenging involves examining piles of garbage, junkyards, freshly dug graves, old cars, junked pieces of technology, or unburied corpses looking for useful items. Scavenging can turn up a vast array of items since Scavenging something like a car can produce anything from Scrap Steel to Ragged Leather. Scavenging is also the only form of harvesting that will turn up finished goods in addition to raw components. Thus with Scavenging, you have only a vague idea of what you will get out of a node. If you are very skilled at Scavenging, you have a chance of getting a higher quality item from the node. Scavenging is the most important harvesting skill players have: there are more Scavenging nodes than other type of node; Scavenging has a better chance of producing high level components; and Scavenging is the only way to harvest finished goods. While players do not need to use Scavenging to survive, they will be missing out on a lot of free items and experience points by doing so.

Harvesting Animals:

You can harvest creatures you kill for useful components like meat, bone, or leather. Some creatures, like giant spiders or snakes, can produce more unusual components like silk or poison. Each animal has a fairly limited selection of available components. This means you have a reasonable chance of getting what you're looking for if you hunt an appropriate kind of creature. Mutant creatures can produce all manner of strange components. Harvesting animals requires the Nature tradeskill.

Harvesting Ore:

Coal and various ores can be mined in the more mineral rich areas of the Grand Canyon Province. Mining nodes are specific to the type of ore they produce and occur in consistent areas, so you can go to specific mine to look for copper or iron, for example. Mining nodes occasionally turn up other components, such as geologic chemicals. Harvesting ore requires the Geology tradeskill.

Harvesting Plants/Timber:

Wood, vegetables, botanic chemicals, and other components can be harvested from the local flora. For example, you might harvest Blood Seeds from the vicious hydra weeds near Boneclaw. In addition to relatively normal trees and plants of the Grand Canyon Province, there are a number of mutant plants that produce unusual components. Some areas also have unusually rich soil thought to be left over from a GlobalTech terraforming experiment. Plants such as grains and cotton, which are not native the region, flourish in these places. Each plant only produces a limited variety of components, so you have a pretty good idea of what you'll find when harvesting a plant. Harvesting plants and timber requires the Nature tradeskill.

-Article by Cynagin