Repurposing Dowsing Rod

[Audiosmurf]

With the change to wells a while ago, making them buildable anywhere, the dowsing rod seems like it's kind of purposeless currently.

My thought was that rather than being used to locate wells, its purpose could be to give you an idea of the quality of the water in an area. Currently, the only means that I'm aware of to do this is to build a well. In some areas, I've seen this cost upwards of 40 ropes. This seems an excessive cost for something that could just be a total wash.

A crafted dowsing rod could have a number of charges (3-5,) similar to a dose of rustroot, and would would allow you to use a new Adventure ability, Dowse. This would provide you with a readout of the quality of the water below you. With this change, I'd think that the price of a dowsing rod would need to be ticked upward slightly. Though, whether that would be more dreams or a new foragable or something, I'm not sure.

[Colin500]

Or just delete it.

[MrPunchers]

Maybe it would point you into the direction of water closest to it q, ie 30q dowsing rod sends you to 30q water.

[Granger]

Dowsing rod points you toward the cheapest well.
Enabling it to sample water quality on land would just lead to all quality water worldwide being claimed by factions within a week.

[loskierek]

Wells might be buildable anywhere, but there is a slight difference between needing to get 450 taproots or just 30

[ricky]

Dowsing rod points you toward the cheapest well.
Enabling it to sample water quality on land would just lead to all quality water worldwide being claimed by factions within a week.

I suggested basically the same thing OP mentioned a few months back. if all the dowsing rod did was sample the water directly underneath your feet, it would be the same situation we have now with people searching for high Q water.

[Audiosmurf]

Dowsing rod points you toward the cheapest well.
Enabling it to sample water quality on land would just lead to all quality water worldwide being claimed by factions within a week.

That isn't an argument for soil/clay/anything else, there's no reason it should apply to water.

[Granger]

Dowsing rod points you toward the cheapest well.
Enabling it to sample water quality on land would just lead to all quality water worldwide being claimed by factions within a week.

That isn't an argument for soil/clay/anything else, there's no reason it should apply to water.

Quite the opposit, it is an argument. Just regulary dismissed by the usual suspects out of their selfish reasons:

It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!

[Audiosmurf]

Dowsing rod points you toward the cheapest well.
Enabling it to sample water quality on land would just lead to all quality water worldwide being claimed by factions within a week.

That isn't an argument for soil/clay/anything else, there's no reason it should apply to water.

Quite the opposit, it is an argument. Just regulary dismissed by the usual suspects out of their selfish reasons:

It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!

Your answer seems pretentious and arbitrary. What makes sampling water on land any different at all than sampling clay/sand/water from river & lakes/etc?

[loskierek]

wells can have much better q than the water you find in a river, i do believe making it a lucky find is fair.