About learning manuals

[Carryonnaire]

1. Which order of learning manuals is better? Low attainment first to preserve price of high attainment as much as possible? High attainment first while they cost little? Or is total price of all learnt manuals the same either way?
2. Some manuals in inspiration tree cannot coexist (single choice). But in library they are not marked as such. Does that mean I can gain both? Or does first automatically cancel second even if it is selected in learning queue?

[Savok]

I go low first, I haven't done the math but going by how much it increases in price I'm guessing it's the better option.

And no you can't learn both (you can skip requirements however, making the 'tree' aspect completely pointless). Yes it's maddening.

https://amazing-cultivation-simulator.fandom.com/wiki/Mutually_exclusive_manuals

Use that. The nastiest trick it plays is when making an artifact crafter. You just sort of autopilot all the max qi manuals and that's a trap.

[Donut Steel]

As far as I'm aware, no one has done an assessment of the 'cost:benefit' for each manual when weighed against the attainment. That is what matters.

If we were to assume that every manual has an attainment value that accurately represents the usefulness, then it doesn't matter if you stack loads of low-attainment ones or take a lesser number of high-attainment ones: they cancel out.

Imagine counting in multipliers. 10x10=100, but whether you reach 100 by going 10x10 or 5x20, it's the same outcome.

What matters is getting the most-important manuals, as decided by you, regardless of their individual cost in terms of attainment. As a general rule: if something will not help you in the immediate future, it is not worth even 1 attainment. Do not learn basic talismans unless you are going to make some to equip on disciples right afterwards. Do not learn elixirs until you've got your alchemy workshop ready and some ingredients.