Q: How to collect lots of battery packs?

[SnoozlyKitsune]

Hello, guys!

I am currently making lots of crystalariums only to find out that I have already ran out of battery packs, and, hence cannot continue with the production. So how do you guys do it? As far as I know, it is only being sold by the Travelling Merchant randomly. And the rainy weather is not even a guarantee that it will produce lots of thunder that will in turn generate the batt packs through the lightning rod. I crafted rain totems and activated them during the winter; so far, the rain did not become a storm so no battery packs. :(

 

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Spam lots of lightning rods. However, lighting can't happen in winter, apparently they don't do snow thunderstorms in SDV. So you're going to need to wait until at least Spring before you can get more lightning going.

 

[PoppyForPenny]

Other than lots of lightning rods, iridium bats (in skull cavern) drop battery packs, 5% chance.

 

[SnoozlyKitsune]

Thanks for all the replies. :D

 

[Ereo]

Rain totems only produce storms when they're used on stormy days, so save them for an actual storm. There are two guaranteed storms in summer.

How many lightning rods do you have? I usually put around 30 up as soon as I can make them and that gives me more than enough batteries by the time I want crystalariums.

 

[qaija]

There appears to be three types of rainy days. Rainy and Stormy with two types of Stormy - one where there is lots of lightning and most of your lightning rods will get a battery pack and then there is a Stormy day with only a small amount of lightning and only about one tenth of your lightning rods will get a battery pack. I try to put up 30 rods as Ereo does. That gives me plenty of battery packs and makes the limiting factor on my crystalarium production the amount of gold and iridium I can get.

 

[imnvs]

There appears to be three types of rainy days. Rainy and Stormy with two types of Stormy - one where there is lots of lightning and most of your lightning rods will get a battery pack and then there is a Stormy day with only a small amount of lightning and only about one tenth of your lightning rods will get a battery pack.

Okay, this gives an unrealistic view on how lightning rods work. Yes, storms seem to vary in how many lightning strikes you will see, but lightning rods are like prophylactics... they aren't guaranteed to intercept all incidents. Whenever a lightning strike happens, the number of rods you have available determines the chance of one of them intercepting it, and with more rods you have a greater chance one of them will intercept. That's all. You will likely never see all of your rods lit up unless you missed some strikes too, and that means damage to something on your farm.

30 is low for me. I generally make what I call lightning rod arrays. I put a lighting source down (I prefer lamp posts) and then 8 rods around it. Early doors I'll have 4 of those arrays (32 total lightning rods), but I'll always upgrade it to 6 of them eventually giving me 48 total lightning rods. When I unlock solar panels I do an array of those too, for a total of 8 solar panels. With this set up and in year 4 I have 3 big sheds full of crystalariums. Two sheds have 132 crystalariums each pumping out diamonds and the other shed has 132 crystalariums pumping out jade in what I call my "infinite staircase shed".

I'm married to Maru and give her battery packs on the regular too.

 

[qaija]

I never thought putting a lightning source down would attract lightning. I will try that with my next game. Thanks! I'm still amazed at the detail Concerned Ape includes in this game!

 

[Elenna101]

There appears to be three types of rainy days. Rainy and Stormy with two types of Stormy - one where there is lots of lightning and most of your lightning rods will get a battery pack and then there is a Stormy day with only a small amount of lightning and only about one tenth of your lightning rods will get a battery pack. I try to put up 30 rods as Ereo does. That gives me plenty of battery packs and makes the limiting factor on my crystalarium production the amount of gold and iridium I can get.

As far as I know there's no "lots of lightning" vs "little lightning" distinction - it's more like a gradient, if that makes sense? Like, the number of lightning strikes is random (based on various things including luck) but it can be high, low, or anywhere in the middle, not just high or low.

But yes, the game does distinguish between "rainy days" (no lightning) and "stormy days" (with lightning).

Rain totems only produce storms when they're used on stormy days, so save them for an actual storm. There are two guaranteed storms in summer.

Just wanted to emphasize this. Normally rain totems only produce rainy days, not stormy days, so using them for lightning rods doesn't work, as you've discovered. However, if you use a rain totem on a stormy day (in order to get rain the next day as well), the storminess carries over, and the next day is also stormy, not just rainy.
So one you get a stormy (not rainy) day (guaranteed on summer 13 and 26), you can keep using rain totems starting that day and on every following day, to keep getting storms every day. Unfortunately festivals and the 1st of each month cannot be rainy, so those will break the chain. But you can get quite a lot of batteries this way.

 

[Ereo]

I never thought putting a lightning source down would attract lightning. I will try that with my next game. Thanks! I'm still amazed at the detail Concerned Ape includes in this game!

It doesn't attract lightning. It's just something that you can put in the middle where you don't need access.

 

[Lew Zealand]

Just wanted to emphasize this. Normally rain totems only produce rainy days, not stormy days, so using them for lightning rods doesn't work, as you've discovered. However, if you use a rain totem on a stormy day (in order to get rain the next day as well), the storminess carries over, and the next day is also stormy, not just rainy.
So one you get a stormy (not rainy) day (guaranteed on summer 13 and 26), you can keep using rain totems starting that day and on every following day, to keep getting storms every day. Unfortunately festivals and the 1st of each month cannot be rainy, so those will break the chain. But you can get quite a lot of batteries this way.

Thank you thank you for this clarification! I had no idea that Rain Totems could extend a stormy day like this and will use it for Battery Packs.

After I craft some Rain Totems! There's a first time for everything, y'know.

 

[Farrow]

Well if your in 1.5 there's the solar panel to assist this

 

[imnvs]

I never thought putting a lightning source down would attract lightning. I will try that with my next game. Thanks! I'm still amazed at the detail Concerned Ape includes in this game!

Putting down a lightning rod doesn't attract lightning strikes. The number of lightning rods increases the chances that a strike will be intercepted.

 

[Ilune]

lots of solar panels (I usually put in the desert because I need my farm's space), or go to hunt iridium bats, with the burglar ring and maybe the monster musk (be carefull and bring lot of food and a teletratotem for the farm for a fast emergency escape)