Welcome to my Rune Factory 3 Site

Although HarvestMoonForever remains my primary site, you will find all my posts and Guides for Rune Factory 3 on this site. I created a site for Grand Bazaar in this manner and it has proven quite useful. The actual Guides as always will be published by IGN as well.

Monday, January 31, 2011

Simple Requests and Date Events and Rare Items

My ambition is to include the text of all Events in my Characters Guide and to include basic information about all Requests in the Requests Guide.

While reloading Requests to see if they varied, I discovered that Simple Requests not only can be completed again and again but can give different Rewards and even consist of different dialogues.

As indicated in my Guides, there are three basic types of Requests in Rune Factory 3: Ordinary Requests, Simple Requests and Battle Requests. Ordinary Requests are the Requests that can be completed only once, that often depend on Friendship or Heart Level and/or having completed prior Requests in a specific sequence. They can be Courtship or Date Events or can disclose details about a Character's likes and dislikes or personal history.

Simple Requests can be an opportunity to obtain rare Items or are a method by which your Character is tested on his abilities to cook or find specific War Trophies. Simple Requests disclose personal information about the Character who initiates them or can be a method by which information about the village or other Characters is given.

Battle Requests are familiar to players of all Rune Factory games. In Rune Factory 3, they are initiated usually by Wells or Shino. They are an opportunity to raise combat skills as well as making the player familiar with the screens where specific Monsters are to be found.

Players who are looking for rare items should try to accept Simple Requests. For example, a Simple Request by Daria for Dried Sardines (her Most Favourite Gift) can result in a reward of any of the Gold Crop Seeds, although results are random. If you are patient, you can reload until you receive the Seeds you need.

The items sold by Yue, as well as those that appear as 'Special Deals' at the Smithy or the Crops that are sold at the General Store are based on the Items your Character has shipped for the most part. You will not be able to find Weapons or Accessories that are far superior to those that could be created or used by your Character at his present Skills Levels. In like fashion, Cooked Dishes sold by Yue are those that your own Character COULD prepare.

Incidentally, it appears that Yue is more akin to subsidiary Characters in RF3 than to the Main Characters. She does not appear in the Relationship Menu

The Date Events that occur at 7 Hearts in Rune Factory 3 can be initiated by using the 'Invite' option with any Eligible Girl who has attained 7 Hearts. In some cases, there is more than one Date Event for a specific Eligible Girl although the questions that are asked usually will not vary. You can experience a Date Event at 7 Hearts with a specific Girl only once each day but you can experience it more than once on different days. It is probable that you will gain points only when you experience the Date Event for the first time, however.

Monday, January 10, 2011

My Rune Factory 3 Goals and Guides

I owe players an apology because I have had various computer problems that have made it almost impossible for me to update my files in an organised fashion during the course of the past month. I am working my way through various solutions and hope to have all the Guides updated within the next couple of days.

I have made a few discoveries as usual by beginning a new game and have been obliged to revise some of the information in the Guides accordingly. I always suspected that the numbers that appeared next to a Recipient did not have anything to do with FP, but allowed myself to be persuaded initially that they did. They are Energy values, pure and simple, and the reason why this matters in RF3 is because Characters can join your 'party' to fight with you as companions and allies in the Dungeons once you attain Level 3 Friendship with them. Like Monster companions, edible Items restore their Energy levels. A Spell will work both on your Energy Levels and on those of any Monster or non-Monster* Companion. (I would have written 'Human' Companion, but with Elves, half-Elves, Univir, Dwarves and Half-Monsters in the mix, non-Monster seemed to be more accurate.)

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Small but wonderful improvement in RF3

In Rune Factory 3, your Character will be able to open any doors, including the Refrigerator and Storage Box, as well as savhing his Game at any save point while holding an Item in his hands! Huzzah! In previous Rune Factory and Harvest Moon games, one usually could not do this. For example, in Rune Factory 2, one could not take the boat from the island while holding an item without losing the Item in question. Items held in the hands automatically would be tossed if your Character attempted to open a door, save his game or otherwise interact with objects. It is a minor detail but a welcome improvement in terms of controls.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

My Personal Early Choices in RF3

Players often ask for my advice in terms of Arms and Equipment as well as Monster
Companions. The items and companions I choose tend to remain constant in all Rune Factory games. In Rune Factory 3, I would recommend the following:

For Weapon: A short sword and shield. The first decent Shortsword that usually can be found in Special Deals even early in Spring is the Steel Sword +. You then can find the Aquasword... When you are able to do so, make or buy Defender, then Durandel. Good shields can be made early in the game but make certain always to equip one. When you can make or obtain it, the Chaos Shield is excellent protection.

For Accessories: Even the Handknit Hat offers decent protection early in Spring. When you are able to make or purchase a Fancy Hat, that is superior headgear. ANY footwear is recommended, but Water Shoes are useful in the Vale Dungeon. Strider Boots and Sneakers become available fairly early and can be upgraded to become decent in terms of both types of Attack and Defence.

The nature of upgrading Weapons and Accessories in Rune Factory 3 means that almost any item can be modified to become whatever you wish it to be. I prefer a well-balanced Weapon and Equipment in terms of Attack and Defence, so I tend to upgrade equally across the board in terms of physical Attack, magic Attack, physical Defence and Magical Defence. I have been wearing an upgraded Happy Ring as it is supposed to increase the probability of obtaining War Trophies from Monsters but I do not know how effective it is in this respect. With the upgrades I made, the Level 10 Happy Ring has the following stats:

Happy Ring, Level 10: ATK +13, DEF +15, MGC ATK +16, MGC DEF +18, INT +2.

Not bad for an Accessory with NO Attack or Defence at Level 1!

The Fancy Hat begins at Level 1 with DEF +45, MGC DEF +45
In upgrading it, therefore, I added Attack and Magic Attack.

Secret Shoes were my earliest footgear with:

Secret Shoes: DEF +20

As soon as the Strider Boots became available, however, I made certain to obtain those. What I like about them is their balance in terms of all necessary attributes:

Strider Boots at Level 1: ATK +25, DEF +25, MGC ATK +25, MGC DEF +25

Sneakers are higher in ATK, but have no other attributes. Sneakers at Level 1 have: DEF +32

Bone Boots have higher protection with: DEF +68

Like the Sneakers, however, that is ALL they offer. I personally preferred to upgrade my Sneakers by adding more ATK, MGC ATK, DEF and MGC DEF.

The Chaos Shield has: DEF +18, MGC DEF +50

Where Weapons are concerned, I always favour a Shortsword mainly for its speed and the fact that it can be used in conjunction with a Shield. The Dual Blades may look cool but, if you compare their potential with that of any Shortsword, you will see that they are inferior Weapons. Hammers and Axes are very powerful but slow in the extreme. A Spear offers a longer reach and is good for defence as it keeps foes at a distance, but again, it is far slower than a Shortsword and you can gain your Defence by carrying a good Shield.

Compare the first Dual Blade, the Short Dagger with a simple Broadsword:

Broadword: ATK +5

Short Dagger: ATK +6

The first Shield is the Small Shield, which provides DEF +6 at Level 1. A Broadsword with a Small Shield therefore is: ATK +5, DEF +6, which is far superior to the Short Dagger with only one more ATK point and NO Defence.

The Steel Sword usually can be obtained almost at the start of the first Spring and it doubles the Attack points with +10 ATK. I always opt for the Steel Sword with the best Shield I can obtain until I am able to find the Elemental Swords such as the Aquasword and the Windsword. In RF2, you only could obtain an augmented Steel Sword in the form of the Steel Sword + by trading with another player. In RF3, it should appear in Special Deals in the first week in Spring. It is a very potent blade for a beginner:

Steel Sword +: ATK +21, MGC ATK +5

When it appears, I snap up the Defender which has ATK +63, DEF +15, but in all honesty, it is not as important in RF3 as it was in previous games, as you should have your own Forge by the time the Defender appears and should be able to make better Weapons, either by upgrading a simple Shortsword like the Steel Sword + to Level 10 or by making more advanced Shortswords.

Interestingly enough, the Backscratcher, which was a Request Reward in RF2, is available at the Smithy quite early in Special Deals, and one should not sneer at the humble tool as it falls into the category of a Shortsword and its stats are amazing.

Backscratcher: ATK +27, MGC ATK +48

Remember that these are nothing more than very early recommendations for a beginner. When the game progresses, I favour different Weapons and Equipment, but always a Shortsword and Shield, even when my Character graduates to the best items.

As far as taming Monsters is concerned, remember that the War Trophies that a Monster drops in the dungeons usually is its Most Favourite Gifts and one can tame a Monster quickly by returning a War Trophy to it. The first Monsters to tame when your own Skill Levels are high enough probably should be a Cluckadoodle and a Buffamoo, for the sake of the Eggs and Milk that they leave in the barn as offerings each day. With a Steamer, you can make Pudding from any Egg:

Pudding: HP Rec +40%, RP Rec +80%, HP Max -20%, VIT +10, INT +8%

Note that Maximum HP will decrease by 20% when you consume Pudding, but it does a good job of restoring Energy apart from this.

With one Yellow Grass and any size of Milk in a Mixer, you can make Medium Cheese, which is amazingly useful as it will restore your RP by 75% at Level 1:

Medium Cheese: RP Rec +75%

If you have a Pot, you can make Hot Milk with any size of Milk:

Hot Milk: HP Rec +120, RP Rec +25%, HP Max +30, VIT +2

Remember that any food you consume has a time limit in terms of its effects. All of the items mentioned here have a short duration of 3 Hours but there are other food items that last 6 or even 12 hours. The items that last 12 Hours tend to require multiple ingredients, such as Pizza and Doria. They are among the most valuable food items in terms of shipping value, so you may wish to ship those and use less valuable, simpler items for Energy Recovery.

For HP Recovery, you should purchase the Cure Tome and then the Cure All Tome. When they appear, Medipoison, Mediparalyse and Mediseal are far more useful than any Medicines or Food for curing any status ailments as they take no space in your Rucksack and use very little RP.

With a Pharmacy, you can make Recovery Potion and Healing Potion to restore HP as well as other potions to cure Status Ailments, but frankly, the Magic Spells are more practical as all potions take space in the rucksack. The Pharmacy is most useful for making the spices and herbs used in cooking such as Sour Drop, Heavy Spice and Mixed Herbs. This is not the concern of a beginner, however.

The next Monster to tame should be one that can be used as Transport as well as providing good battle support in combat. I always favour the Silver Wolf. The Hunter Wolf is more powerful but the Silver Wolf can be tamed at lower skill levels. The Silver Wolf leaves the gift of a Wolf Fang in the Barn each morning, and this is an excellent material for upgrades as it adds ATK +4, MGC ATK +4 to any Weapon or Accessory.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Taming Monsters in RF3: Monster Most Favourites

A couple of players suggested that I include each Monster's Most Favourites in my Bestiary and Dungeons Guide, but after doing a little research, I believe that you will find all the information you need in the War Trophies that each Monster drops. It is very easy to tame a Monster by giving it any War Trophy item that it dropped. For example, I was able to tame a Blackbird instantly by giving it one Branch. The same held true with respect to various Orcs. I will continue to perform tests, but I am fairly certain that you will find it easiest to tame any Monster by giving it an Item that it drops as a War Trophy.

Here is another example of the use of a War Trophy dropped by a Monster as the Gift by which to tame him: At Level 42, Freyr was able to tame a Hunter Wolf with 4 Wolf Fangs given by his tame Silver Wolf. The Wolf Fang is a War Trophy common to both Wolf types in Rune Factory 3. When Freyr attempted to tame the same Hunter Wolf using food items such as Ice Cream and Dumplings as well as a random Fire Crystal from a smashed generator, it was a far more difficult and time-consuming task.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

The Nature of Simple Requests in Rune Factory 3

Very often, it is only by replaying a game that one can discover the true nature of options and events. Initially, i assumed that Rewards for Requests were set as they were in other Rune Factory games. This is the case for the most part where ordinary Requests are concerned, but not in the case of the Simple Requests. Having replayed a number of Simple Requests, it is clear that the Quest itself can change as can the actual Reward.

In my guides, I wrote about Raven's Simple Request to take any or all of 6 Items on the floor of the Smithy. Those items will change each time you reload. Furthermore, as with any Simple Request, it may appear on the Board again, even after you have completed it previously.

With request to Sakuya's 'Souvenir' Request, it is only the type of Item associated with each Choice that remains constant. For example, she will ask for a Monster War Trophy and then offer you a choice between the following:

Quiet Box
Rustling Box
Smacking Box

The Quiet Box contains two plants such as Grasses. The Rustling Box contains two Accessories and the Smacking Box contains two Cooked Dishes. The actual Items you receive may change each time you reload.

In Carmen's 'Celebrate' Simple Request, she will ask you to defeat a number of Monsters in Oddward Valley. The Monster type and the number of Monsters you need to defeat may change each time you reload. The actual Reward will be a Fish, but the identity of the Fish may change as well.

I will have to modify my Requests Guide accordingly where specific Rewards were given for Simple Requests.