This little video shows where you can find Silk Cloth in Rune Factory 2 as well as providing a tip on how to obtain large quantities of ore for projects:
A Website for all Harvest Moon fans providing Links to all Guides by Freyashawk: Actual Links on Right Side of Webpage
Showing posts with label Forge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Forge. Show all posts
Friday, January 9, 2009
Thursday, December 11, 2008
When your Heart is set on an Item in Rune Factory 2
I probably should add this as a postcript to an existing post about Weapons and Accessories but for those who like posts that deal only with ONE topic, I will keep it separate.
If your heart is set on a specific Weapon or Accessory in Rune Factory 2, but it is not sold by Tanya and you haven't the skill to make it yet, you have two options:
1. Make Weapons/Accessories that require LESS skill until you raise your experience level to the point where you do have sufficient skill to make the desired item; or...
2. Stubbornly attempt the project at your Forge or Workbench again and again until it is successful.
The first option is the obvious one, but the second actually is a possible choice. You may see a '0% success rate' when you first begin to attempt the project but that WILL change. Depending on your current Skill Level and the Skill Level required to create the item successfully, it may appear to take FOREVER before your attempts meet with success but success WILL occur at some point.
Remember that the Success Rate percentage displayed in the Forge or Workbench box when it reaches 100% is that required to gurantee success. At any lower percentage, that simply represents your chances of success when you attempt the project. At 0% success, you have NO chance of succeeding, but each attempt will increase your Skill levels.
Although the next percentage level from zero is only 1% success rate, the level after 1% is 10%, a significant increase. I have made many Weapons and Accessories successfully with nothing more than 10% success rate in the box.
It is a very tedious option, however, and I would recommend that players raise their skill levels by making items that have good success rate percentages, then upgrading them to Level 10 at the Forge or Workbench as advised in my General Guide. Using those upgraded items as ingredients to create better items will result in a new item with a higher Level than Level 1, so your labours will not have been wasted.
The only reason I have attempted Weapons or Accessories when I still had only a zero or 1% chance of succeeding was to use rare ingredients that I did not wish to store any longer. Storage space ALWAYS is a problem for me in Harvest Moon. It can be even more of a problem in a game like Rune Factory or Rune Factory 2, where War Trophies are not always Level 1 and therefore may not be stackable, even when they are the same generic types. That can be a problem both on the field of battle and at home. The Skill Seals that you obtain from Barrett in the 2nd Generation quickly can fill your Rucksack and leave your character with few empty slots when he/she goes out to fight. When you then obtain three items that are the same type but all at different levels, that makes your life even more difficult. Other players may not have a psychological problem where tossing out items is concerned, but I do. Trained by other Harvest Moon games NEVER to litter, it is difficult for me to toss out a Level 1 War Trophy or a piece of ore when there is no slot for it in my Rucksack. My packrat instincts further limit my choices.
In any event, the reason for this post is to assure players that, if they actually salivate at the prospect of obtaining a specific Weapon or Accessory when their Skill levels remain insufficient to create it, provided always that they have a supply of Rune Points in their field to restore energy levels lost a the Forge or the Workbench, they can attempt the ambitious project again and again and again, ad nauseum, until they emerge with the item of their dreams!
If your heart is set on a specific Weapon or Accessory in Rune Factory 2, but it is not sold by Tanya and you haven't the skill to make it yet, you have two options:
1. Make Weapons/Accessories that require LESS skill until you raise your experience level to the point where you do have sufficient skill to make the desired item; or...
2. Stubbornly attempt the project at your Forge or Workbench again and again until it is successful.
The first option is the obvious one, but the second actually is a possible choice. You may see a '0% success rate' when you first begin to attempt the project but that WILL change. Depending on your current Skill Level and the Skill Level required to create the item successfully, it may appear to take FOREVER before your attempts meet with success but success WILL occur at some point.
Remember that the Success Rate percentage displayed in the Forge or Workbench box when it reaches 100% is that required to gurantee success. At any lower percentage, that simply represents your chances of success when you attempt the project. At 0% success, you have NO chance of succeeding, but each attempt will increase your Skill levels.
Although the next percentage level from zero is only 1% success rate, the level after 1% is 10%, a significant increase. I have made many Weapons and Accessories successfully with nothing more than 10% success rate in the box.
It is a very tedious option, however, and I would recommend that players raise their skill levels by making items that have good success rate percentages, then upgrading them to Level 10 at the Forge or Workbench as advised in my General Guide. Using those upgraded items as ingredients to create better items will result in a new item with a higher Level than Level 1, so your labours will not have been wasted.
The only reason I have attempted Weapons or Accessories when I still had only a zero or 1% chance of succeeding was to use rare ingredients that I did not wish to store any longer. Storage space ALWAYS is a problem for me in Harvest Moon. It can be even more of a problem in a game like Rune Factory or Rune Factory 2, where War Trophies are not always Level 1 and therefore may not be stackable, even when they are the same generic types. That can be a problem both on the field of battle and at home. The Skill Seals that you obtain from Barrett in the 2nd Generation quickly can fill your Rucksack and leave your character with few empty slots when he/she goes out to fight. When you then obtain three items that are the same type but all at different levels, that makes your life even more difficult. Other players may not have a psychological problem where tossing out items is concerned, but I do. Trained by other Harvest Moon games NEVER to litter, it is difficult for me to toss out a Level 1 War Trophy or a piece of ore when there is no slot for it in my Rucksack. My packrat instincts further limit my choices.
In any event, the reason for this post is to assure players that, if they actually salivate at the prospect of obtaining a specific Weapon or Accessory when their Skill levels remain insufficient to create it, provided always that they have a supply of Rune Points in their field to restore energy levels lost a the Forge or the Workbench, they can attempt the ambitious project again and again and again, ad nauseum, until they emerge with the item of their dreams!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Easy Accessory Projects in Rune Factory 2
I believe I have discussed this in another post that deals with Lessons in the 2nd Generation of Rune Factory, but it may be useful, especially for Harvest Moon players with little experience in playing traditional RPG games, to continue this topic.
Rune Factory 2 includes all basic aspects of any Harvest Moon game such as farming, ranching, fishing, and mining as well as that of collecting items. The combat option, however, adds a new dimension to the 'collecting' aspect of the game.
Monsters who drop 'War Trophies' must be defeated in order to yield an item. They do not drop a Chest containing an item every time you defeat them, but it is a result that will occur periodically. Taking a Monster Ally with you into combat appears to increase your chances of obtaining War Trophies somewhat. It depends somewhat on the type of Monster as each has his/her own distinctive method of fighting. I have found the Wolves, both the Silver and Hunter varieties to be wonderful procurers of War Trophies in the Caves.
The purpose of this post, however, is to discuss Accessories rather than War Trophies.
A player with little experience of RPG games may underestimate the important of choosing the right weapon and equipment for combat in any given situation. He/she further may underestimate the need to raise experience and Skill Levels for the purpose of defeating Monsters (or taming them!)
Increasing skills in forging and creating Accessories are the key to obtaining the best weapons and equipment in Rune Factory 2. Although some weapons and accessories can be obtained by completing Requests, they are not the best that will become available to you provided you have sufficient skill levels to make them yourself.
A traditional Harvest Moon player with no RPG experience must learn how to interpret the descriptions of Weapons and Equipment in order to maximise success and minimise pain and loss.
For example, if you go to the Blacksmith to buy an Accessory, you may find the Field Gloves a little lacking in value if you do not pay close attention to your Statistics. After all, the item has zero Defence capability.
Field Gloves: Level 1, Defence 0
Protect your hands from blisters and calluses. No farmer should be without a pair.
STR up, BODY up
Is there any point in buying them, apart from their potential use as an ingredient in a Recipe to create something better?
In fact, by 'upgrading' the Field Gloves at your Workbench, you can make them into a rather marvelous Accessory in the early stages of the 2nd Generation.
You will find that there is an option to ‘upgrade’ basic items in the 2nd Generation. You can do this at the Forge or Workbench or you can trade over wi-fi with another player to increase the levels of your items. It is better to do it at your own Forge or Workbench for one simple but important reason: doing so will increase your own Skill Levels.
You will use materials each time you upgrade an item but the advantage in terms of increasing both Skill Levels and the power of the item itself are significant.
As the Field Gloves increases both Strength and Body, you will find the following effects with Level 7 Field Gloves. All it takes to upgrade the Field Gloves, by the way, is a single piece of CHEAP CLOTH.
Field Gloves: Level 7, Defence 6
Protect your hands from blisters and calluses. No farmer should be without a pair.
Increases STR and BODY: +5 STR +5 ATK +1 DEF +1 VIT
Another example of an easy upgrade is the ‘Cheap Bracelet’.
A Level 1 basic Cheap Bracelet has the following values:
Cheap Bracelet: 740G
Level 1; Defence: 1
Selling Price: 370G
Cheap Bracelet: Level 10, Defence 11
Each time you upgrade it at your Workbench, you will raise ALL values, including the Selling Price. You only need two pieces of Iron to perform an upgrade to this Bracelet. It is worth doing for the increase in your own Skill Levels if not for its own sake, although three upgrades to the Cheap Bracelet will increase its Defence point value to 4 and at the maximum level of upgrade, Level 10, as shown, it will give you 11 Defence Points!
When your Skill Levels increase a little, you should make upgrades to your Leather Boots. Only one piece of Bronze is required for each upgrade to the Leather Boots and each will raise your Defence by 1 Point.
Again, another reason for performing the Upgrades is to increase your Skills at the Workbench. Otherwise, you never will be able to make a ‘better’ class of Accessories.
Granted, a Silver or Gold Bracelet is superior to the Cheap Bracelet even before these superior Bracelets have been upgraded. It does require a far higher level of skill at the Workbench to create either, however, not to mention all the Gold and Silver in each.
Make maximum upgrades to the most basic low-level Weapons and Accessories to increase your Skill Levels as well as improving the only Weapons and Accessories available to you in the early stages of the 2nd Generation. As time passes, you will raise your Skill Levels to the point where you can create better items.
Meanwhile, Accessories with Defence Points really can make a big difference in combat. This may appear obvious to some, but all the emails I have received both with respect to the original Rune Factory and Rune Factory 2 have made it clear to me that a large percentage of players really are oblivious to the fundamental rules of an RPG game. They go into the Caves with a bsic weapon, no shield, and no Accessories and then wonder why their HP is reduced to zero before they can make any progress against their targets. Defence is as important in any RPG as your character's ability to Attack. Rune Factory and Rune Factory 2 may be 'Fantasy Harvest Moon' games with all the best elements of ANY Harvest Moon game, but they are RPGs as well.
Rune Factory 2 includes all basic aspects of any Harvest Moon game such as farming, ranching, fishing, and mining as well as that of collecting items. The combat option, however, adds a new dimension to the 'collecting' aspect of the game.
Monsters who drop 'War Trophies' must be defeated in order to yield an item. They do not drop a Chest containing an item every time you defeat them, but it is a result that will occur periodically. Taking a Monster Ally with you into combat appears to increase your chances of obtaining War Trophies somewhat. It depends somewhat on the type of Monster as each has his/her own distinctive method of fighting. I have found the Wolves, both the Silver and Hunter varieties to be wonderful procurers of War Trophies in the Caves.
The purpose of this post, however, is to discuss Accessories rather than War Trophies.
A player with little experience of RPG games may underestimate the important of choosing the right weapon and equipment for combat in any given situation. He/she further may underestimate the need to raise experience and Skill Levels for the purpose of defeating Monsters (or taming them!)
Increasing skills in forging and creating Accessories are the key to obtaining the best weapons and equipment in Rune Factory 2. Although some weapons and accessories can be obtained by completing Requests, they are not the best that will become available to you provided you have sufficient skill levels to make them yourself.
A traditional Harvest Moon player with no RPG experience must learn how to interpret the descriptions of Weapons and Equipment in order to maximise success and minimise pain and loss.
For example, if you go to the Blacksmith to buy an Accessory, you may find the Field Gloves a little lacking in value if you do not pay close attention to your Statistics. After all, the item has zero Defence capability.
Field Gloves: Level 1, Defence 0
Protect your hands from blisters and calluses. No farmer should be without a pair.
STR up, BODY up
Is there any point in buying them, apart from their potential use as an ingredient in a Recipe to create something better?
In fact, by 'upgrading' the Field Gloves at your Workbench, you can make them into a rather marvelous Accessory in the early stages of the 2nd Generation.
You will find that there is an option to ‘upgrade’ basic items in the 2nd Generation. You can do this at the Forge or Workbench or you can trade over wi-fi with another player to increase the levels of your items. It is better to do it at your own Forge or Workbench for one simple but important reason: doing so will increase your own Skill Levels.
You will use materials each time you upgrade an item but the advantage in terms of increasing both Skill Levels and the power of the item itself are significant.
As the Field Gloves increases both Strength and Body, you will find the following effects with Level 7 Field Gloves. All it takes to upgrade the Field Gloves, by the way, is a single piece of CHEAP CLOTH.
Field Gloves: Level 7, Defence 6
Protect your hands from blisters and calluses. No farmer should be without a pair.
Increases STR and BODY: +5 STR +5 ATK +1 DEF +1 VIT
Another example of an easy upgrade is the ‘Cheap Bracelet’.
A Level 1 basic Cheap Bracelet has the following values:
Cheap Bracelet: 740G
Level 1; Defence: 1
Selling Price: 370G
Cheap Bracelet: Level 10, Defence 11
Each time you upgrade it at your Workbench, you will raise ALL values, including the Selling Price. You only need two pieces of Iron to perform an upgrade to this Bracelet. It is worth doing for the increase in your own Skill Levels if not for its own sake, although three upgrades to the Cheap Bracelet will increase its Defence point value to 4 and at the maximum level of upgrade, Level 10, as shown, it will give you 11 Defence Points!
When your Skill Levels increase a little, you should make upgrades to your Leather Boots. Only one piece of Bronze is required for each upgrade to the Leather Boots and each will raise your Defence by 1 Point.
Again, another reason for performing the Upgrades is to increase your Skills at the Workbench. Otherwise, you never will be able to make a ‘better’ class of Accessories.
Granted, a Silver or Gold Bracelet is superior to the Cheap Bracelet even before these superior Bracelets have been upgraded. It does require a far higher level of skill at the Workbench to create either, however, not to mention all the Gold and Silver in each.
Make maximum upgrades to the most basic low-level Weapons and Accessories to increase your Skill Levels as well as improving the only Weapons and Accessories available to you in the early stages of the 2nd Generation. As time passes, you will raise your Skill Levels to the point where you can create better items.
Meanwhile, Accessories with Defence Points really can make a big difference in combat. This may appear obvious to some, but all the emails I have received both with respect to the original Rune Factory and Rune Factory 2 have made it clear to me that a large percentage of players really are oblivious to the fundamental rules of an RPG game. They go into the Caves with a bsic weapon, no shield, and no Accessories and then wonder why their HP is reduced to zero before they can make any progress against their targets. Defence is as important in any RPG as your character's ability to Attack. Rune Factory and Rune Factory 2 may be 'Fantasy Harvest Moon' games with all the best elements of ANY Harvest Moon game, but they are RPGs as well.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Yue Holds the Key to a Better Life in the 2nd Generation
In Rune Factory 2, although you need to order all building expansions from Byron, it actually is Yue who offers the items that allow you to take advantage of the upgrades.
A new option will appear in Yue's Menu in the 2nd Generation, offering 'Bargains' to your character. Bargains are available only on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. If you ask for a Bargain on any other day, Yue will declare that she has 'sold out' of all Bargains. Furthermore, if you do not have a Workshop, you will not be able to access the choices in the Bargain Menu. If you do not own a Kitchen, you will not be able to access the Cookware Bargains on Friday.
It is Yue who will sell the Small and Large Kitchens needed if you wish to cook the Recipes learned in your Lessons at School. It is she who sells the actual Forge and Pharmacy bench. Yue offers additional storage space in the form of a new Refrigerator and Shelves that can be purchased from her on Wednesday. Finally, Yue sells all the Cookware in the form of the old Harvest Moon 'Utensils' and moreover, sells all six Makers as a set.
Without Yue's Bargains, you will find that your new Workshop is nothing more than a big empty Room!
All this information is included in my General Guide now but here is a little video tutorial about Yue's Bargains:
A new option will appear in Yue's Menu in the 2nd Generation, offering 'Bargains' to your character. Bargains are available only on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. If you ask for a Bargain on any other day, Yue will declare that she has 'sold out' of all Bargains. Furthermore, if you do not have a Workshop, you will not be able to access the choices in the Bargain Menu. If you do not own a Kitchen, you will not be able to access the Cookware Bargains on Friday.
It is Yue who will sell the Small and Large Kitchens needed if you wish to cook the Recipes learned in your Lessons at School. It is she who sells the actual Forge and Pharmacy bench. Yue offers additional storage space in the form of a new Refrigerator and Shelves that can be purchased from her on Wednesday. Finally, Yue sells all the Cookware in the form of the old Harvest Moon 'Utensils' and moreover, sells all six Makers as a set.
Without Yue's Bargains, you will find that your new Workshop is nothing more than a big empty Room!
All this information is included in my General Guide now but here is a little video tutorial about Yue's Bargains:
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Rune Factory and My Birthday
As it is my birthday today and there is nothing planned in terms of social events, I decided to devote the day to the creation of my most useful reference guide for Rune Factory, an Item List Guide. I mention this for two reasons. The first is that any one who is involved in Rune Factory may find the guide useful as it will provide all information with respect to the acquisition of any item in the game as well as the value of the item. The second reason is because, rather to my surprise, I realised that spending the day with Rune Factory, even if I am involved in the rather tedious drudgery of copying out 'Recipes' for items, is not a bad way to celebrate!
I always wanted to learn how to forge real blades and weapons. Unfortunately, when I had the money for it, I didn't have the time and when I finally had the free time, I didn't have the money. Creating and maintaining a proper forge is expensive and lessons in blade-making cost money as well. The days when an artist was willing to take on an apprentice for nothing more than the love of the art are gone for the most part. It has become a 'niche business' like any other.
There are some renowned contemporary female knifemakers, but I never became one of them, despite my great admiration for the art. Now, however, in Rune Factory, I can combine my Harvest Moon skills with the fine art of forging weapons and equipment. It is incredibly satisfying to forge a new magical weapon or to create a beautiful and powerful accessory, even if these items cannot be transferred to THIS world.
Rune Factory is more complicated than most other Harvest Moon games where 'cooking' and 'creating' items is concerned. You not only need the proper space and equipment in order to embark upon any new venture, but you need both the right ingredients and a certain level of skill. This makes Rune Factory particularly challenging.
In some ways, it reminds me of another favourite game of mine, Valkyrie Profile. In Valkyrie Profile, acquiring the right 'war trophies' did not in itself guarantee acquisition of a new weapon or piece of equipment. There were other requirements as well.
This is just a brief note en passant. I now intend to return to the forge, where I finally have amassed enough experience and skill to create a blade of surpassing beauty and power.
I always wanted to learn how to forge real blades and weapons. Unfortunately, when I had the money for it, I didn't have the time and when I finally had the free time, I didn't have the money. Creating and maintaining a proper forge is expensive and lessons in blade-making cost money as well. The days when an artist was willing to take on an apprentice for nothing more than the love of the art are gone for the most part. It has become a 'niche business' like any other.
There are some renowned contemporary female knifemakers, but I never became one of them, despite my great admiration for the art. Now, however, in Rune Factory, I can combine my Harvest Moon skills with the fine art of forging weapons and equipment. It is incredibly satisfying to forge a new magical weapon or to create a beautiful and powerful accessory, even if these items cannot be transferred to THIS world.
Rune Factory is more complicated than most other Harvest Moon games where 'cooking' and 'creating' items is concerned. You not only need the proper space and equipment in order to embark upon any new venture, but you need both the right ingredients and a certain level of skill. This makes Rune Factory particularly challenging.
In some ways, it reminds me of another favourite game of mine, Valkyrie Profile. In Valkyrie Profile, acquiring the right 'war trophies' did not in itself guarantee acquisition of a new weapon or piece of equipment. There were other requirements as well.
This is just a brief note en passant. I now intend to return to the forge, where I finally have amassed enough experience and skill to create a blade of surpassing beauty and power.
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