Friday, March 13, 2009

Husbanding your Resources in Rune Factory 2

One of the challenges in Rune Factory 2, long after you have completed the 'story' is to complete your Shipping List. Although your character can have two Refrigerators and two Shelves, the fact that items can be anything from Level 1 to Level 10 make it almost impossible to store everything you need to forge all weapons and accessories and make Cooked Dishes and Medicines. The random quality of mining and Inquisitive Waltz treasure hunts almost guarantees that you will fill your Rucksack far too quickly with items of the same type but different quality levels.

I therefore began to designate some of the items by use in order to be able to clear out my Rucksack quickly without wasting any potentially useful ingredients.

For example, in the early days of the 2nd Generation, I found that I always needed more Silver as many low-level forging and accessory projects require Silver. Now, later in the game, I find that I collect too much Silver and never enough Gold.
I therefore began to hunt for uses for the Silver...

A quick study of Recipe Lists reminded me that upgrades for all Elemental Rings and Pendants use Silver. It is better to use the Silver to upgrade all Elemental Rings and Pendants to Level 10 than to ship the Silver or give it to my father. It is not for profit's sake but for the sake of increasing Skill Levels.

Although a few projects require Scrap Iron, for the most part it IS a fairly useless valueless item and therefore I give all Scrap Iron to my father, who often reciprocates with a gift of ICE CREAM. A Level 1 ICE CREAM has a shipping value of 6780G. Although you need to give him two gifts to obtain one after the very first exchange, it is well worth the effort. ICE CREAM may be the most valuable gift he gives, but the others certainly are worth more than SCRAP IRON.

This little gift-giving option in Rune Factory 2 reminds me of an essential point in the philosophy of Harvest Moon, to the effect that no item in this universe truly is useless. In how many Harvest Moon games has a common WEED been an essential ingredient in a Recipe? The fabled ELLI LEAVES are made from Failed Dishes/Burnt Dishes...

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Could you please tell me what is the use of Youth Grass and Indigo Grass in Rune Factory 2?

And did you know that your Recipe Cookbook Guide is not complete?
It does not mention how to upgrade all basic weapons (broadsword, claymore, spear, etc) which is important at the begining of the 2nd Generation to built up your forging skill.

And Amethyst Ring can be made by yourself too, although you are not teached the recipe!
Amethyst + 2 Gold!

I wonder if there isn't a way to make Neutral Agent myself, instead of purchasing....

Freyashawk said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Freyashawk said...

Anon, actually, both YOUTH GRASS and INDIGO GRASS have effects on your character's stats, although those effects are temporary in the case of YOUTH GRASS.

If you eat a piece of YOUTH GRASS, you will find that it raises Magical Attack, Magical Defence and Intelligence briefly (as long as the 'apple' food icon is displayed).

MGC ATK can be raised by 2 points
INT can be raised by 2 points

INDIGO gives 5 points of health but this may be represented as less depending on your total HP at the time of eating it.

Freyashawk said...

P.S. The basic Weapons upgrades should be included in the Cookbook/Recipe Guide and the General Guide. I think I overwrote the section by accident with an older version in one update but the latest version should be on IGN now.

If you suss out a Recipe for NEUTRAL AGENT, let me know.

I am only one person trying to cover many games. Sometimes I am not able to transfer all the information from my game journals as quickly as I would like. The fact is that I am not paid for this work, but I do try to do justice to these wonderful games.

Anonymous said...

kyle comes back? in rune factory 2? your not kidding right freyer?

Freyashawk said...

Anon, oh yes, he does indeed return, provided that you, as his child, complete all of the goals necessary to bring him back to his loving family. You will not play his character again, however. He will be your father and will give you gifts whenever you give him ANY item, even a Weed or Failed Dish... He will have different dialogues based on season and Festivals. I really think that Rune Factory 2 is one of the greatest games I ever played. It is amazingly detailed and complex. A game with two complete generations that offers richness and depth in BOTH is extraordinary.