Gold tool mechanics in New Horizons really don't make any sense :(

[kemdi]

I can look past a lot of things in NH except gold tools...Its the one thing about the game that has always bugged me.
I mean, think about it: gold in NH is a rare resource. You don't get it all the time like you do iron, stone, or clay and sometimes you can't even find one gold nugget in a day.
So now, I have to use a rare resource I can't even find everyday to create a tool and...it breaks, just like every other tool? In that case, let me keep my nuggets and just use the regular tools, since they all end up eventually breaking anyway. I can always make furniture with my gold nuggets at least those won't break. And on top of that I can't even repair them with customization kits to keep them fresh before they're gone, like with regular tools. So there's no incentive to create the gold ones, other than the one time Nook mile achievements. I'm not saying it keeps me up at night or anything but just...whyy?

 

[Corrie]

Fully agreed. It's such a waste to me. I haven't bothered getting the golden tools due to this. I just buy regular ones at Nook's.

 

[Clock]

I agree, because of this mechanic, I never bothered crafting any gold tools because it still feels like a waste.

Also I dislike breakable tools because I feel that the game wants us to rely on the crafting system a lot and it was annoying going back to the cranny or the crafting table for the tool to break again.

 

[VanitasFan26]

You know I really don't understand Nintendo's thinking. They made us work so hard to get these Golden Tools only for it to be broken. Why did they think this was a good idea? Here's something you may not know you cannot even customize them. Customizing Regular tools actually restarts the durability so it makes the gold tools more worthless.

 

[azurill]

Yea I will never understand their thinking on gold tools. The gold tools use to feel like an achievement. I don’t mind the other tools breaking . I only made each of the gold ones for the achievement.

 

[-Blue-]

Nintendo took the mechanics from Botw and ran with it for NH. It makes sense in Botw since the weapons have been outside in the elements for a hundred years as the world is left in a war-torn era. So weapons are sometimes described as rusty and the such. There are legendary/ancient weapons that still break, but it takes a while.

In NH it just doesn't make sense. Animal Crossing is supposed to be a chill game. A tool breaking is not a chill mechanic. Harvest Moon doesn't even do this and that game is a bit more serious where the stakes are higher. You have a year or two to turn a rundown farm into a profit (among other goals) Animal Crossing/NH really doesn't have those kind of stakes. You can play the game for years without completing the tutorial and not get a penalty.

Flimsy tools make sense that they break. You craft them from sticks. After that, it shouldn't be a thing. And it should've never happened to gold tools. I haven't crafted a single gold tool. It was simply there way of padding the game's time artificially.

 

[VanitasFan26]

Yea I will never understand their thinking on gold tools. The gold tools use to feel like an achievement. I don’t mind the other tools breaking . I only made each of the gold ones for the achievement.

Yeah they can be useful when given to new Residents (aka users) so they can plenty of Nook Mile's easily to complete the Gold Achievement, but I digress.

 

[Candy83]

I find the golden water can very useful for flowers (black roses) and vegetables (to get three from each seed).

 

[Xara]

agreed 100%. i remember i was so excited to finally obtain all of the golden tool diys because i thought i wouldn’t have to deal with my tools breaking anymore, so finding out that they break as well was super disappointing. i get that nintendo was trying out a lot of new mechanics with new horizons and that the game is focused on crafting, but i really wish they had just left the golden tools alone. aside from the golden watering can being able to water more things at once and being able to produce gold roses, the tools not being indestructible has pretty much made them useless.

having to use a rare material to craft a tool that you’ll only get 100 uses out of kinda sucks, and aside from the watering can perks and the golden tool crafting achievement, there’s not really any point.

 

[DALexecutive]

I find the golden water can very useful for flowers (black roses) and vegetables (to get three from each seed).

Wait, does the golden watering can give you three vegetables from each plant after watering one day?? Or did you mean the golden watering can is more useful because it waters more plants at once? I thought about using the golden can instead because of the larger radius but since you can't customize it to reset the countdown for when it breaks, I decided it wasn't worth the gold.

 

[~Melody~]

Breakable golden tools seem like a downgrade and now it makes no sense to get them. Golden tools never broke before and that was what made them useful. Gold is rare to get and each tool costs 1 golden nugget, so you need 6 golden nuggets to craft all tools when they break. They should have just have kept them unbreakable.

 

[angelcat621]

I buy the pretty tools at Nook's like the Star Net or Colorful Shovel and customize them over and over. Helps to register the different colors in the catalog anyway. I just put the gold tools on display because I don't like wasting my gold nuggets on them. The exception is the gold watering can which I use to create gold roses. Pro-tip: if you water your roses with a regular watering can first, then use the gold can on the same roses, it doesn't count as a use for the gold can. I do this to keep my gold can forever. I think it still works that way.

 

[QueenCobra]

I think it's more of an aesthetic feature, but I agree-- I was so disappointed when my golden fishing rod broke.

 

[Candy83]

Wait, does the golden watering can give you three vegetables from each plant after watering one day?? Or did you mean the golden watering can is more useful because it waters more plants at once? I thought about using the golden can instead because of the larger radius but since you can't customize it to reset the countdown for when it breaks, I decided it wasn't worth the gold.

Use the golden watering can on crops—wheat, sugar cane, pumpkin, carrot, potato, and tomato—at least two consecutive game dates. (You don’t have to replace any seed…unless you are trying to get different pumpkin colors.)

I give each at least three pours. (On my main island, Óhana, with its Dream Address in my signature, I have the crops in specific areas next to my humans’s houses. They are fully grown to three each.)

Repeat this on Day #02.

Now, I don’t do this often…but, on Day #03, they may become fully grown. (If not…Day #04. I think it is Day #03.) And each of them will have produced three.

I learned this without looking this up on the Internet. I was wondering if the golden watering can would be more effective; after all, three each is more efficient and fast with building up your supplies and ingredients for cooking.

 

[DALexecutive]

Use the golden watering can on crops—wheat, sugar cane, pumpkin, carrot, potato, and tomato—at least two consecutive game dates. (You don’t have to replace any seed…unless you are trying to get different pumpkin colors.)

I give each at least three pours. (On my main island, Óhana, with its Dream Address in my signature, I have the crops in specific areas next to my humans’s houses. They are fully grown to three each.)

Repeat this on Day #02.

Now, I don’t do this often…but, on Day #03, they may become fully grown. (If not…Day #04. I think it is Day #03.) And each of them will have produced three.

I learned this without looking this up on the Internet. I was wondering if the golden watering can would be more effective; after all, three each is more efficient and fast with building up your supplies and ingredients for cooking.

You can get three each with the regular cans too. You just need to water them every day until they are ready to harvest (or if it's raining you can let the rain do the work). With the golden cans, you can (pun intended!) pour once and water up to 9 plants whereas with the regular (not flimsy) cans it is only up to 6.

 

[Bilaz]

Yeah the gold tools are totally pointless, I find it very hard to find gold nuggets so I never craft them into tools. Another thing that’s a shame is that the silver and gold tools used to have special powers. But now even the gold tools don’t have powers

 

[Roaldisthebest]

i don't mind how long it takes for normal tools to break, but gold tools rlly shouldn't break at all tbh. especially if you've worked SO hard to obtain them!

 

[LambdaDelta]

I've said this before, but like with how regular tool customization repairs it, they should've let us customize gold tools to repair them at the bare minimum

it'd of been an easy way to have the silver tools in the game too, plus perhaps some new deluxe variants

hell, even if it took gold to customise, it'd still be better than what we got

 

[Newbiemayor]

I never craft or use the golden tools with the only exception being the watering can only on my black roses to get gold ones but I've never made any of the others. I got one of each from a giveaway here for the achievement and I think I still have some of them but I just buy tools from nooks when they break. It's really a shame how useless they are when they'd look so cool to use.

 

[-Blue-]

I know I already said my piece on this topic, but something that always bugged me about the tools breaking is why didn't the terraforming tools break or the vaulting pole/ladder? Granted these would be more of a pain to deal with, but it just doesn't make sense. If you pick and choose what breaks and what doesn't, then there really isn't a pattern.

I remember expecting the ladder and pole to break when I first crafted them and kept waiting for it to break with each use. If they have these set to never break, they could've easily set the gold tools to never break.