There are a lot of lost treasures to find hidden throughout the world of Caves Of Qud, but it’s often much more reliable to just buy the things you need from a village or a wandering trader. Unloading your loot to free up inventory space and pay for better gear is also important, as it is in any RPG.
Specialized merchants usually have the most to offer, but you can trade with nearly any NPC you meet if they have something that you want. Here’s everything you need to know about buying and selling in Qud’s water-based economy.
How To Trade With An NPC
In general, if you can chat with an NPC, you can also trade with them. As long as they aren’t hostile and have items in their inventory, they’ll be willing to listen to your offers.
Neither you nor an NPC can trade away items that are currently equipped.
Most NPC dialogues will include a “Let’s Trade” option that will automatically open the trade screen. However, you can always go straight to trading by pressing the Tab key while speaking to someone. If trading is unavailable for any reason, usually because they have nothing to trade, a message box will let you know.
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Buying And Selling
On the trade screen, your inventory is on the right, and the vendor’s inventory is on the left. You can select items from either side to determine what you’d like to offer and get in return. Do this as much as you like, until you’re happy with the deal; the trade isn’t finalized until you click “Trade” at the bottom of the screen or press the O key (for “offer”).
Traders can’t refuse your offer, but they will give you better rates based on your Ego Attribute and how much they like you.
Clicking a stack of items will add or remove the entire quantity; to add or subtract partial amounts, use the arrow keys to highlight the item and + or – keys to change the quantity.
Each item’s value is denoted with a dollar sign, indicating how many drams of fresh water it’s worth. When the time comes to finalize the trade, whichever side is offering the lower value must even the trade by paying the difference, rounded to the nearest dram. Vendors always have enough water to cover this cost, but if you can’t pay, then you can’t make the trade.
Water is heavy when carried in large amounts; try buying trade goods like copper nuggets, which take up less of your carrying capacity for the same value, to keep your money from literally weighing you down.
Trader Services
You can also ask traders to perform services by highlighting an item and pressing the correct hotkey, as follows:
|
Service |
Hotkey |
|---|---|
|
Repair a cracked or broken item. |
R |
|
Recharge a depleted energy cell. |
C |
|
Identify an item. |
I |
These all cost water for each item, so if you have the skills to do it yourself it’s always better to do so.
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