Is it worth fixing the bus during your first year? (SOLVED) TLDR Yes.

[Cougar]

I'm currently closing in on winter on my first year, I have basically all the bundle stuff I can have done right now, maybe I will buy large coop and barn before winter. Did you think its worth to dump my money now and repair the bus? or focus on Gold tools and investing in my farm and worry about the desert in year 2 and onward?

[tikiman572]

Well, if you fix up the bus you can have your very first Desert Festival on Year 2. Plus, it does open the way to obtaining new items which will be needed for future turn-ins, more sources of wood, and your go-to source for Iridium.

I'd personally say go for it.

[Clovis Sangrail]

With the bus, you can buy starfruit (a great greenhouse and summer crop) and rhubarb (a good spring crop). And Sandy is an easy 8 stars. She loves crocus, daffodil, and sweet pea, all of which are foraging flowers.

[tikiman572]

All you'd need to make sure is that you have a steady enough stream of income to pay for the 500g tickets on the regular to reach the Desert and harvest its resources. That or have a good supply of Desert Totems on hand since the return trip is free.

[DontMisunderstand]

I find animal products are really really bad investments if you want to make money. Especially compared to how much time it takes. It's really really really hard to beat the ease of making sprinklers that invalidate the only inconvenience to crops, which are already the best income source. For that reason, I like getting to the desert as early as possible to get the galaxy sword to invalidate any concerns about delving into the mines for the materials you need to expand.

[Útost Alronbem]

Greenhouse simplifies passive income from crops significantly. Some cheap sprinklers, some regrowing crops - and you're free to spend your energy literally anywhere else instead of constant tilling, watering and frowning at Pierre's prices.
Minecarts save your time even further after some time spent on developing a habit for incorporating those into your travels.
Everything else can wait.

Bus in particular is more of a first checkpoint towards endgame rather than a real upgrade.
New crops, new challenges... free pre-top tier weapon... but it's all pointless if your skills are low and your income is laughable.

[tikiman572]

The Fall is a good way to get some massive early game income if you're willing to put the time and effort into prepping for it. That means getting Rare Seeds from the Traveling Merchant as much as possible, getting the resources together to make a lot of Quality Sprinklers, and having a TON of cash to get as much Cranberry Seeds as possible.

The first Fall in my current farm, I went absolutely HAM on Cranberries and hoo boy, did it ever pay off.

[Sstavix]

If you are lucky enough to get your hands on a prismatic shard, then yes. Get your butt to the desert ASAP!

[Calico Witch]

Originally posted by Sstavix:

If you are lucky enough to get your hands on a prismatic shard, then yes. Get your butt to the desert ASAP!

Just for the amusement and to see what would happen, I started a new game yesterday and named my character [74][74][74][74] Then after I planted my parsnip seeds I talked to as many folks as I could find. Bought a phone and called Gus a few times... :)

[Útost Alronbem]

Originally posted by Sstavix:

If you are lucky enough to get your hands on a prismatic shard, then yes. Get your butt to the desert ASAP!

*sigh*
Just to be locked to a Sword weapon class, with no health to complement it, no rings and no nothing...
This is not how it works, I'm afraid.
If the player can complete Mines and do a Quarry quickie using weaponry from chests - Desert can wait.
If the player can't - Desert won't help, I'm afraid.

[PepeMilagro]

The greenhouse and the bus are kind of my main objectives for year 01.
Cause no desert means no iridium tools ...

[DontMisunderstand]

Originally posted by DrinkFromTheCup:

Originally posted by Sstavix:

If you are lucky enough to get your hands on a prismatic shard, then yes. Get your butt to the desert ASAP!

*sigh*
Just to be locked to a Sword weapon class, with no health to complement it, no rings and no nothing...
This is not how it works, I'm afraid.
If the player can complete Mines and do a Quarry quickie using weaponry from chests - Desert can wait.
If the player can't - Desert won't help, I'm afraid.

The benefit of the galaxy sword is that it trivializes mine runs for gold and iron. It's not about progress, it's about maximizing the effectiveness of your material gains with minimum input cost. Health doesn't really increase by that meaningful an amount, and the only good rings are your dedicated light slot and one you get for killing a bunch of stuff anyway. It's silly to say that the ability to make combat a non-factor doesn't help.

[Snowy Sprout]

I like an early bus, if you also have an early greenhouse.

I completed the Joja form in Spring, which gave me a greenhouse and access to the desert. But I hadn't even been inside the mines yet, because I got all my money from fishing, to pay for the form. So I couldn't even enter Skull Cavern to get iridium. But I could spend a few days fishing for more cash to go to the desert and buy starfruit seeds to grow in my greenhouse. With their cash and XP I can leapfrog quickly ahead in farming levels and be able to roll it over into buying more seeds etc.

BTW, I didn't farm crops at all in spring, but I did pet my four chickens daily and collect their eggs. (Meadowland farm) And by summer I had four farming levels already, as well as enough ores (from fishing chests or just bought from Clint) to make basic sprinklers. So I get to skip daily watering and do all the other stuff I prefer doing.

So for me, having the bus open early really works out.

[Sstavix]

Originally posted by DontMisunderstand:

Originally posted by DrinkFromTheCup:

*sigh*
Just to be locked to a Sword weapon class, with no health to complement it, no rings and no nothing...
This is not how it works, I'm afraid.
If the player can complete Mines and do a Quarry quickie using weaponry from chests - Desert can wait.
If the player can't - Desert won't help, I'm afraid.

The benefit of the galaxy sword is that it trivializes mine runs for gold and iron. It's not about progress, it's about maximizing the effectiveness of your material gains with minimum input cost. Health doesn't really increase by that meaningful an amount, and the only good rings are your dedicated light slot and one you get for killing a bunch of stuff anyway. It's silly to say that the ability to make combat a non-factor doesn't help.

Exactly why I recommend it. Being able to get metals quickly without having to deal with extended combat makes it easier to make sprinklers and other items that require metal bars. It also makes it easier to get some of the other things that help to unlock the community center (e.g. solar essence, ghostfish).

The Galaxy Sword doesn't just make combat easier. It makes farming and crafting easier, too. That's certainly a win in my book!

The Galaxy Sword will carry the player until they get to Ginger Island. Less worrying about the different weapon stats - just focus on the rings that will help you the most (glowstone ring and magnet ring are always my go-tos) and upgrade your footwear when it pops up.

[NBOX21]

I'd say so, as long as you have reached floor 120 in the mines and obtained the skull key so you can go to the Skull Cavern during Winter. Really allows me to buy the extra time I need farming for as much iridium as I can get while I have no crops to grow.

That iridium watering can is just too good not to acquire during the first Winter!

[Great Sage Equal of Heaven]

I never don't complete the community centre in year 1, so the bus unlock is fairly important to me.