Do the books that I've been randomly looting off bookshelves serve any purpose other then reading for the lore and then selling? How about random invoices, tattered documents, letters, etc?
Do books serve any purpose
kingdoms-amalur-reckoning
Related Solutions
Yes, they do grow back. I don't know specifically how long it takes, but here's an idea: I got a house (Gossamer End) in Canneroc, Webwood, and upgraded it to grow some plants in the basement. I return to this house after each quest and by that time any plants that I had picked on my way out have often grown back. I can say that some plants (*seem to) take longer to grow than others, but for the most part, they don't take long. Maybe a day or two in game.
Unrelated: I just wanted to add this... Do the forests in this game conjure thoughts of James Cameron's Avatar? They do for me. Okay, time to stop talking and getting back to playing.
I think you're asking the wrong question.
Destructibles have two main purposes in KoA.
First, like so many Zelda games before it, it's always worthwhile to run around smashing pots, barrels, and everything else because someone stashed money in them. There's no reason to not take this free money, especially since gold doesn't take up any inventory space.
The second, is that destructibles have a tendency to hide chests and other interactable objects. In this case, the piddling amounts of gold you might glean from the destruction isn't the focus - the phat loots in the chests are. If you're unwilling to hunt down these boxes, you risk missing out on something much better, especially if you've got Detect Hidden (which gives greater chance for gold from destroyed objects)
The problem that you're running into, is that it's tedious to run around and make sure that every crate is smashed. So my solution? Stop running around smashing barrels. If you're investing into Archery, use your bow. It'll auto-target the destructibles and it shoots much faster than you can swing your melee weapons.
I thought the bow was the go-to choice to fight the barrel infestation. And then I found these bad boys.
Chakram's are ranged AoE weapons of awesome. All you have to do is get marginally close to your target, then tap a button and they all break.
Before:
After: Elapsed time: 1 click.
The charged moves are especially useful, and even investing only a single point will net you enough AoE to clear entire rooms (of barrels and enemies) with ease.
Best Answer
The Bookworm achievement requires you to read 50 books throughout the world.
Additionally, there are certain books scattered throughout the world that give permanent skill bonuses (e.g. Lockpicking, Stealth, Blacksmithing, etc). These books, however, are generally labeled appropriately, such as Skill Book: Lockpicking.
Lastly, there is at least one (if not multiple) collection quest(s) that require you to get books as part of the collection.