Dates

Dates
(Item)
Weight 1
Bulk 1

Dates are a tasty fruit produced by Date Palm trees.

Sources

Before a Date Palm will produce dates, the tree must first be fertilized by applying 1 Saltpeter. After a while, a number of dates will ripen, which can be harvested.

The menu shown on the Palm Tree is:
Gather Dates

After harvesting the dates, the saltpeter must be re-applied to the tree for further dates to be produced.

Cost

• 1 Saltpeter

Use

• Used in Cooking as an ingredient in meals.
• Used to make the Ambrosia for Ra in the Test of Festivals
• Used to build a Living Land Tower for the Test of Towers.

Date Notes

Date yields are not random. Dates are produced similar to Mandibular Glue in an Ant Colony. The cycle is repeating and the decay or yield is similar to the health of the ants, in that it declines and augments but it doesn't do this at the same rate as an Ant Colony.

There are 3 segments to the grow cycle:

• Low Production = only a few dates
• Medium Production = 5 to 10 dates
• Peak Production = 18 to 29 dates

The production cycle is:

Start Cycle:

1. Low Production A: 1 – 4 days with harvests of 1-4 dates
2. Medium Production: 1 – 2 days with harvests of 5-10 dates
3. Low Production B: 1 – 6 days with harvests of 1-5 dates
4. Peak Production: 1 or 2 harvests of 15-29 dates

End cycle

There are other factors in collecting peak dates. Because date trees are not private anyone can collect from them. If another player hits the lucky day they get a bonanza. But for the majority of days the trees give very little which discourages active date farming.

The best strategy is to continue to collect from the trees noting when you get to the medium production stage (5-10) which is the indicator there will be big harvest soon.

Required By

Test of Festivals, Test of Towers