Windstad Manor's fish hatchery is actually genius and I've been sleeping on it

[RiftenWanderer]

So I just realized on my current playthrough that the fish hatchery isn't just decoration. You can actually stock it with salmon roe and the hatchery produces more over time. Which means if you're doing alchemy at all, you basically have infinite salmon roe without having to farm it yourself.

I've done like five homesteads across different playthroughs and I always just... ignored the hatchery. Thought it was a decoration that looked cool. But ngl this changes how I feel about Windstad completely. Yeah it's the furthest from everything and the swamp is ugly, but if you're an alchemist it actually solves a real problem.

Has anyone else actually used it and found it worth the effort? Or am I just now discovering something everyone else figured out years ago lol.

 

[NordOfSolitude]

Nah you're not alone - I think a lot of people sleep on it because Hearthfire's features aren't exactly explained well in-game. The hatchery is legit though, especially if you're doing serious alchemy work. Salmon roe is such a pain to farm otherwise, and having it generate passively while you're off doing other stuff is genuinely useful.

That said, I'd still pick Lakeview or Heljarchen over Windstad for most playthroughs just because of the location and the other perks those manors have - Lakeview's closer to civilization and Heljarchen has way better views. But if you're committed to alchemy and don't mind the swamp, Windstad becomes way more appealing. The hatchery basically justifies the inconvenience at that point.