The "What should I know before I play this game for the first time?" Q&A!

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Real hurthling!: Sep 11, 2001

Foxhound posted:

I can't believe there isn't an entry for Bloodborne on the wiki. Anything I should know for it? I've played Demon's Souls and Dark Souls 1/2 to completion.

there's a learning curve coming from those slower paced games, especially if you aren't good at parry timing, but once you get it the game is much easier for the most part than its predecessors because doing damage after taking a hit heals you and you are lightning fast.

# ? Sep 3, 2015 09:52

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# ? May 19, 2024 00:45

Kaboom Dragoon: May 7, 2010; The greatest of feasts

Foxhound posted:

I can't believe there isn't an entry for Bloodborne on the wiki. Anything I should know for it? I've played Demon's Souls and Dark Souls 1/2 to completion.

Try to unlearn some of what you learned for Dark Souls: DS and DeS reward patience and planned strikes. BB does as well, to a degree, but you'll swiftly find out that charging in like a pissed off lawnmower will reap rewards, as well as restoring your health if you just took damage. Combat is faster and definitely geared towards being on the offensive as much as possible.
Related, there's one shield in the whole game, and the description for it may as well read 'shields are for idiots, why are you even reading this crap'.

More specifically (if vaguely):

Don't give the girl the brooch, you can get a nice item by using it
The chapel is safer
You need one Insight to interact with the doll, but once you do, feel free to spend it
High Insight is always good to have though, and 40+ reaps the very best rewards
Always pay attention to your surroundings

# ? Sep 3, 2015 10:12

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

Kaboom Dragoon posted:

Try to unlearn some of what you learned for Dark Souls: DS and DeS reward patience and planned strikes. BB does as well, to a degree, but you'll swiftly find out that charging in like a pissed off lawnmower will reap rewards, as well as restoring your health if you just took damage. Combat is faster and definitely geared towards being on the offensive as much as possible.
Related, there's one shield in the whole game, and the description for it may as well read 'shields are for idiots, why are you even reading this crap'.

More specifically (if vaguely):

Don't give the girl the brooch, you can get a nice item by using it
The chapel is safer
You need one Insight to interact with the doll, but once you do, feel free to spend it
High Insight is always good to have though, and 40+ reaps the very best rewards
Always pay attention to your surroundings

The man who disbelieves you will go wherever you don't send him.

I've put way too much time into MGSV the last few days, so I'm exorcising some of that in general advice;

Upgrade the Cargo Fulton to max before doing anything that involves eliminating vehicles, especially the side-jobs that aren't repeatable. You can steal them instead for yourself, or for profit. Yes, even a Tank.
Anytime you get a sidequest or even a story mission that says "Eliminate X", tranq and Fulton them instead. They generally have insanely good stats (At least one A+/A++). Their surrounding guard squad usually each have at least a B in something as well.
D-Dog is your best Buddy. He'll point out every enemy in visual range, and once you give him a Sneaking Suit of his own DD can make silent assassinations with a knife. DD is a Good Dog .
You may notice that your guns make mention of accessory slots but can't do anything with them, along with mention of specific stocks/scopes/etc. You can fully customize your weapons by completing the Legendary Gunsmith sidequests.
Get a Support Platform first for Mother Base. It'll tick over periodically to give you free resources.
Learn how to use the tranquilizer's delayed effect if you want to take out guys in a group without them all making GBS threads themselves because one dude fell asleep in front of them. A round of chest shots to all involved will quietly send them all to slumberland near-simultaneously with a bit of patience.
Vehicles cost nothing to deploy, so don't fret about having to bring out D-Horse just to travel around. Fulton yourself a Jeep and you're set.

# ? Sep 3, 2015 13:10

Ainsley McTree: Feb 19, 2004

Neddy Seagoon posted:

[*]D-Dog is your best Buddy. He'll point out every enemy in visual range, and once you give him a Sneaking Suit of his own DD can make silent assassinations with a knife. DD is a Good Dog .

How does that compare in terms of effectiveness with Quiet's ability to mark enemies for you (I haven't unlocked either her or D-Dog yet, but I watched videos prior to release and this seems to be a thing she does).

I like the idea of a sniper buddy, but not as much as I like the idea of knowing where all enemies are at all times, so I'll probably want to use the one that does that the best.

e: Also, when it comes to staffing mother base: does the auto-assign function automatically replace staff on teams when you recruit someone with better stats? For example, I've already filled up my R&D team to max, but they're schlubs, nobody's higher than a C rank. I assume that if I capture a B rank, the game will automatically put him on the team and shuffle out someone with inferior stats?

Ainsley McTree fucked around with this message at 13:59 on Sep 3, 2015

# ? Sep 3, 2015 13:52

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

Ainsley McTree posted:

How does that compare in terms of effectiveness with Quiet's ability to mark enemies for you (I haven't unlocked either her or D-Dog yet, but I watched videos prior to release and this seems to be a thing she does).

I like the idea of a sniper buddy, but not as much as I like the idea of knowing where all enemies are at all times, so I'll probably want to use the one that does that the best.

Quiet's detection isn't as rapid (unless you send her to Scout, and even then it's not perfect), as any she detects are only really from those she sweeps her sniper rifle across from her vantage point's line of sight. D-Dog's a walking constant proximity detector who can detect through walls. Also if you're going shopping for new recruits, give her Guilty Butterfly (the tranq rifle). She can be too helpful and plug the guy you want to capture just because he was the unlucky soul who spotted you. That all said, she can be a fantastic distraction to keep guards away from you, especially with Guilty Butterfly. Just sneak in and Fulton anyone with decent skills after she's put them all to sleep :v:

# ? Sep 3, 2015 13:57

Brightman: Feb 24, 2005; I've seen fun you people wouldn't believe.
Tiki torches on fire off the summit of Kilauea.
I watched disco balls glitter in the dark near the Brandenburg Gate.
All those moments will be lost in time, like crowds in rain.

Time to sleep.

Some more MGSV stuff:

Once you get to the point that you can make multiples of struts at Motherbase it might be for the best to upgrade the Command Center first as it increases the personnel capacity for all the struts.
Guards are fairly adaptable to your bullshit although I think it takes a bit for them to actually adapt, like maybe if you leave the area or complete a side-op or mission. So those tactics that they use which are indicated on the map screen are a result of your actions. Use headshots a lot and they'll get helmets, attack at night a lot and they'll get flashlights, and other things like bullet proof vests, shotguns, machine guns, security cameras (I think, I haven't seen one yet, but that's the icon for stealth deterrence), etc. They'll also start investigating things in pairs if you like to split them up.
So you can either try changing up your tactics OR once you get a Combat division you can eventually send them on OPs to destroy the enemy's supplies (helmets, vests, guns, etc).
If you're gonna want to capture Quiet you're probably gonna want to have a tranquilizer sniper rifle, so prioritizing the development of one once you hear guards mentioning some mystery woman might be in your best interests.
To that end there's an option to re-auto-assign everyone in Motherbase, so if you move a bunch of people around to departments that aren't their specialty to up the levels for development projects, it's easily undone. Although you'll still have to move the direct contract people you've locked down, or at the very least Miller and Ocelot who are direct contracts by default I think.

# ? Sep 3, 2015 16:11

Lunchmeat Larry: Nov 3, 2012

Nah, you can beat Quiet lethally and still recruit her.

# ? Sep 3, 2015 16:46

Zaphod42: Sep 13, 2012; If there's anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now.

Lunchmeat Larry posted:

Nah, you can beat Quiet lethally and still recruit her.

Yeah I was worried lethal would kill her right off but it looked like wearing her down the other way would take forever so I just shot her, then you get the clear option of
"Hey snake go rescue her"
"No snake kill her"
"hey which do you wanna do?"

# ? Sep 3, 2015 16:51

Real hurthling!: Sep 11, 2001

supply drop her on the head twice guys. Free S rank without moving

# ? Sep 3, 2015 17:12

Brightman: Feb 24, 2005; I've seen fun you people wouldn't believe.
Tiki torches on fire off the summit of Kilauea.
I watched disco balls glitter in the dark near the Brandenburg Gate.
All those moments will be lost in time, like crowds in rain.

Time to sleep.

Lunchmeat Larry posted:

Nah, you can beat Quiet lethally and still recruit her.

Well poo poo, there's a decent tip I guess. It's not super hard to get the tranq rifle prior to that fight though if you do a bunch of side-ops and it's useful otherwise.

Zaphod42 posted:

Yeah I was worried lethal would kill her right off but it looked like wearing her down the other way would take forever so I just shot her

3 headshots with the tranq rifle knock her out. Most of the fight was me flanking her. We should probably avoid being any more specific about this kind of stuff, while I agree stuff like getting "spoiled" on what music is in a game is sorta silly, describing boss battles counting as spoilers makes more sense.

Real hurthling! posted:

supply drop her on the head twice guys. Free S rank without moving

Hahaha, holy poo poo, that's amazing.

Brightman fucked around with this message at 17:20 on Sep 3, 2015

# ? Sep 3, 2015 17:16

a glitch: Jun 27, 2008; no wait stop; Soiled Meat

Just about to start playing XCOM Enemy Unknown and it turns out I already have the expansion for it. Should I still play vanilla for my first playthrough or can I go straight to Enemy Within?

# ? Sep 3, 2015 20:31

Bhodi: Dec 9, 2007; Oh, it's just a cat.; Pillbug

Go straight to enemy within. It just adds more options and variation.

# ? Sep 3, 2015 20:36

StoryTime: Feb 26, 2010; Now listen to me children and I'll tell you of the legend of the Ninja

Do Enemy Within. There's just more to do, and the new mission types and objectives incentivise being a bit more aggressive with your soldiers, which makes the tactical game more exciting.

# ? Sep 3, 2015 20:44

Damn Dirty Ape: Jan 23, 2015; I love you Dr. Zaius

a glitch posted:

Just about to start playing XCOM Enemy Unknown and it turns out I already have the expansion for it. Should I still play vanilla for my first playthrough or can I go straight to Enemy Within?

And also, don't do what I did and save scum through the game (I've played unknown but not within). It really makes a huge difference in the enjoyment and tension of the game.

# ? Sep 3, 2015 20:49

im cute: Sep 21, 2009

Kaboom Dragoon posted:

Related, there's one shield in the whole game, and the description for it may as well read 'shields are for idiots, why are you even reading this crap'.

paco650 posted:

Shield is useful in bell invasions because people won't know what the gently caress you're doing and will assume you are a child with downs, giving you the upper hand.

# ? Sep 3, 2015 22:13

Foxhound: Sep 5, 2007

Thanks for Bloodborne tips. Just one more question: Do enemies stop dropping blood vials after you have killed them a couple of times? I had to do Bloodstarved Beast I don't know how many times to learn the tell for the stupid grab, but none of the enemies in Old Yharnam drop any vials anymore.

# ? Sep 3, 2015 23:11

Ainsley McTree: Feb 19, 2004

Another MGS 5 question: I notice that when choosing a uniform, I can choose a naked option for each one. Does choosing that affect your camo ability or your stats at all, or is it purely aesthetic?

I like the idea of being shirtless rambo but not if it'll get me spotted or killed faster. I don't see a tooltip in game saying either way.

# ? Sep 4, 2015 00:29

SLOSifl: Aug 10, 2002

Foxhound posted:

Thanks for Bloodborne tips. Just one more question: Do enemies stop dropping blood vials after you have killed them a couple of times? I had to do Bloodstarved Beast I don't know how many times to learn the tell for the stupid grab, but none of the enemies in Old Yharnam drop any vials anymore.

Buy your blood vials and bullets. It's much faster. Early in the game they're very cheap too, so buy as many as you can.

# ? Sep 4, 2015 00:40

CATTASTIC: Mar 31, 2010; ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

drat Dirty Ape posted:

And also, don't do what I did and save scum through the game (I've played unknown but not within). It really makes a huge difference in the enjoyment and tension of the game.

Turning on Ironman in Advance Settings is a good way to remove the temptation.

Also don't play XCOM on Easy; the game gives you so many advantages that you'll end up not knowing how to play properly.
Normal difficulty is hard enough for a first game.
Classic should be left until your second playthrough, or at least until you're familiar with all aspects of the game.

# ? Sep 4, 2015 01:44

A Real Happy Camper: Dec 11, 2007; These children have taught me how to believe.

Ainsley McTree posted:

Another MGS 5 question: I notice that when choosing a uniform, I can choose a naked option for each one. Does choosing that affect your camo ability or your stats at all, or is it purely aesthetic?

I like the idea of being shirtless rambo but not if it'll get me spotted or killed faster. I don't see a tooltip in game saying either way.

If it acts like MGS3, it probably does reduce both your armour and camo. At some point camo becomes less important than noise so you might just end up using the sneaking suit anyway

# ? Sep 4, 2015 01:47

limp_cheese: Sep 10, 2007; Nothing to see here. Move along.

QUACKTASTIC posted:

Turning on Ironman in Advance Settings is a good way to remove the temptation.

As much as it blocks you from save scumming I wouldn't suggest this. XCOM still has a lot of weird bugs and some of those bugs can completely ruin a game unless you have an older save.

# ? Sep 4, 2015 03:02

al-azad: May 28, 2009

Ainsley McTree posted:

Another MGS 5 question: I notice that when choosing a uniform, I can choose a naked option for each one. Does choosing that affect your camo ability or your stats at all, or is it purely aesthetic?

I like the idea of being shirtless rambo but not if it'll get me spotted or killed faster. I don't see a tooltip in game saying either way.

There's no camo index but yes, your clothing changes how easy you are to spot. But the game overall stresses your profile. Matching camo might give you 5-10m buffer from being noticed but you could be crawling in forest camo on the hot desert sand and you're pretty much safe.

# ? Sep 4, 2015 05:00

Gerblyn: Apr 4, 2007; "TO BATTLE!"; Fun Shoe

QUACKTASTIC posted:

Turning on Ironman in Advance Settings is a good way to remove the temptation.

Ironman is pretty brutal though, especially on the first playthrough. There are certain missions early on that will just wipe your whole team (like the one where you have to pick up the exalt agent). I'd just have a rule like "I only restart a map if I lose more than 2 people, and I won't save mid mission" and try and stick to it.

# ? Sep 4, 2015 07:54

girl dick energy: Sep 30, 2009; You think you have the wherewithal to figure out my puzzle vagina?

Gerblyn posted:

Ironman is pretty brutal though, especially on the first playthrough. There are certain missions early on that will just wipe your whole team (like the one where you have to pick up the exalt agent). I'd just have a rule like "I only restart a map if I lose more than 2 people, and I won't save mid mission" and try and stick to it.

Booo. You realize getting a TPK is still totally surviveable on Normal as long as you spread your missions out among more than one group, right?

# ? Sep 4, 2015 09:14

Gerblyn: Apr 4, 2007; "TO BATTLE!"; Fun Shoe

Poison Mushroom posted:

Booo. You realize getting a TPK is still totally surviveable on Normal as long as you spread your missions out among more than one group, right?

Sure, but I'm big whiny baby who hates seeing his little pixelmans get killed :shobon:

I'm not saying "Don't play ironman", I'm saying "Don't play ironman on your first playthrough, unless you're a masochist". I'm talking about XCOM fans though, so I suppose that qualifier is kind of a given!

# ? Sep 4, 2015 09:17

a whole buncha crows: May 8, 2003; WHEN WE DON'T KNOW WHO TO HATE, WE HATE OURSELVES.-SA USER NATION (AKA ME!)

Just starting the original fallout tactics off gog and well, what should i know?

e: any mods or some such?

a whole buncha crows fucked around with this message at 11:23 on Sep 4, 2015

# ? Sep 4, 2015 11:15

ahobday: Apr 19, 2007

I think the MGS 5: Phantom Pain wiki page might be the fastest we've ever gotten to a page of that size after a game's release.

Also if anyone noticed any funny business with the wiki today, it's because I was updating MediaWiki.

# ? Sep 4, 2015 18:58

Ainsley McTree: Feb 19, 2004

Centipeed posted:

I think the MGS 5: Phantom Pain wiki page might be the fastest we've ever gotten to a page of that size after a game's release.

Also if anyone noticed any funny business with the wiki today, it's because I was updating MediaWiki.

It's a very good game.

(feel free to add that to the wiki)

# ? Sep 4, 2015 19:03

juliuspringle: Jul 7, 2007

Anything I should know for XCOM Enemy Unknown as someone who never even heard of XCOM until that one came out?

# ? Sep 4, 2015 19:19

DiseasedTempest: Oct 9, 2007

Nation posted:

Just starting the original fallout tactics off gog and well, what should i know?

e: any mods or some such?

Don't know anything about mods, but:

Never bother tagging Science or putting any points in it, you get more than enough books to get a main character high enough for the handful of times you need it, and even if you don't you will get a character that has enough. Much like the other games, Tag at least one combat skill.

The encounter rate on the world map is kind of ridiculous if you're running this on a PC made in this decade because it's tuned to CPU time. We're talking encounters every half-step here. High Outdoorsman is 100% necessary here to avoid going insane and Tagging the skill is not a bad idea. At the very least you need a squadmate with a decent amount.

You WILL need a Doctor/somebody with First Aid. Tagging it with your character is good, otherwise you'll be given a decent doc to start with and will pick up more as time goes on. Stimpacks aren't that great anymore and you have to spread them out over a larger squad.

Unlike the first two games you cannot just use Small Guns the entire time, enemies simply become too tanky. Investing in Big Guns or Energy Weapons after you've got Small Guns to a reasonable number will pay off in big ways later in the game. That goes for your squadmates too.

The vendors will pay less and less for items they already have a lot of so selling huge stacks of AK-47s becomes a waste of time quickly. If money becomes an issue there's a glitch with gambling where even if you put nothing up to gamble you will still win if you hit the gamble button enough times. This actually isn't quite as broken as you might think due to how the game is so stingy with top-tier equipment.

# ? Sep 4, 2015 19:21

Fur20: Nov 14, 2007; すご▞い！
君は働か░い
フ▙▓ズなんだね！

juliuspringle posted:

Anything I should know for XCOM Enemy Unknown as someone who never even heard of XCOM until that one came out?

To play on easy on any difficulty, get a couple snipers with Squadsight.

Getting a class is 99% random when a recruit gains their first level. I say 99% because it seems like the game tries to balance the classes you get, at least for your first four.

# ? Sep 4, 2015 19:27

Zaphod42: Sep 13, 2012; If there's anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now.

juliuspringle posted:

Anything I should know for XCOM Enemy Unknown as someone who never even heard of XCOM until that one came out?

DONT savescum too bad, its kinda like cheating and it means you end up playing one battle 20 times instead of 20 battles.

DONT play on hardcore unless you're really really down for that, but do limit yourself somewhat.

DO be prepared to have lots of guys die early on (early xcom is known as "the meat grinder").

DO name your units so its funny when they die in bad ways.

DO pay attention to base management, world nation satisfaction with your performance, and especially research.

DO use overwatch in combat a lot and take full advantage of it.

DO NOT be too overly aggressive, move your squads together so soldiers don't get caught alone, but do spread out some to scout around.

DO use cover whenever you can.

DO pay attention to the size of enemy ships. You may feel confident taking down small ships but then a big ship comes along and completely annihilates your dudes.

I could give you more specific tips but honestly its best if you just go in blind and see what happens. You might mess up, but no biggie, you should have a good time and you can always start over.

There's cool mods like Long War but you shouldn't mess with them right away.

Zaphod42 fucked around with this message at 20:43 on Sep 4, 2015

# ? Sep 4, 2015 20:40

Brightman: Feb 24, 2005; I've seen fun you people wouldn't believe.
Tiki torches on fire off the summit of Kilauea.
I watched disco balls glitter in the dark near the Brandenburg Gate.
All those moments will be lost in time, like crowds in rain.

Time to sleep.

Centipeed posted:

I think the MGS 5: Phantom Pain wiki page might be the fastest we've ever gotten to a page of that size after a game's release.

Also if anyone noticed any funny business with the wiki today, it's because I was updating MediaWiki.

I know a few people including myself have basically mainlined the game and already put in 20 hours or more within the first 48 hours, so that might be why. Another tip might be that the game is addictive and to be careful of that, but probably not, we're probably just weirdos :v:

# ? Sep 4, 2015 20:46

Zaphod42: Sep 13, 2012; If there's anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now.

Brightman posted:

I know a few people including myself have basically mainlined the game and already put in 20 hours or more within the first 48 hours, so that might be why. Another tip might be that the game is addictive and to be careful of that, but probably not, we're probably just weirdos

That'd make sense if this was the "post the game you're really into right now" thread, but since its the "what should I know before I play" thread, that doesn't really explain it.

The real answer: Its a very popular game and also fairly complicated.

Now, the MGS5 thread exploding with pages, sure that's because of poopsockers like you. But this thread? Nah.

# ? Sep 4, 2015 20:54

Eldred: Feb 19, 2004; Weight gain is impossible.

Zaphod42 posted:

DONT savescum too bad, its kinda like cheating and it means you end up playing one battle 20 times instead of 20 battles.

DONT play on hardcore unless you're really really down for that, but do limit yourself somewhat.

DO be prepared to have lots of guys die early on (early xcom is known as "the meat grinder").

DO name your units so its funny when they die in bad ways.

DO pay attention to base management, world nation satisfaction with your performance, and especially research.

DO use overwatch in combat a lot and take full advantage of it.

DO NOT be too overly aggressive, move your squads together so soldiers don't get caught alone, but do spread out some to scout around.

DO use cover whenever you can.

DO pay attention to the size of enemy ships. You may feel confident taking down small ships but then a big ship comes along and completely annihilates your dudes.

I could give you more specific tips but honestly its best if you just go in blind and see what happens. You might mess up, but no biggie, you should have a good time and you can always start over.

There's cool mods like Long War but you shouldn't mess with them right away.

One more thing to keep in mind: when an alien sees you go into Overwatch they will almost always stay put and take a shot rather than risk getting hit.

Also, don't hesitate to use explosives to get rookies experience as long as the enemy isn't unique. IIRC one kill is enough to level up a rookie so that they get a class and aren't as useless.

Eldred fucked around with this message at 21:03 on Sep 4, 2015

# ? Sep 4, 2015 20:56

StealthArcher: Jan 10, 2010

Was gonna ask for MGSV, noticed its a huge rear end page already, good stuff. What about Rune Factory 4 on the other hand, are any of the tips from RF3 useful?

# ? Sep 4, 2015 21:17

Brightman: Feb 24, 2005; I've seen fun you people wouldn't believe.
Tiki torches on fire off the summit of Kilauea.
I watched disco balls glitter in the dark near the Brandenburg Gate.
All those moments will be lost in time, like crowds in rain.

Time to sleep.

Zaphod42 posted:

That'd make sense if this was the "post the game you're really into right now" thread, but since its the "what should I know before I play" thread, that doesn't really explain it.

The real answer: Its a very popular game and also fairly complicated.

Now, the MGS5 thread exploding with pages, sure that's because of poopsockers like you. But this thread? Nah.

I meant that's why there is a lot of info, usually this close to the game's release there isn't that much info because people haven't played enough of the game but okay.

# ? Sep 4, 2015 21:53

juliuspringle: Jul 7, 2007

Does Enemy Unknown ALWAYS shove you at the next mission when you finish a mission?

# ? Sep 4, 2015 23:34

Fur20: Nov 14, 2007; すご▞い！
君は働か░い
フ▙▓ズなんだね！

It shouldn't, but you can always delay a mission by pressing escape at the deployment while you gear up, choose research, level your soldiers, etc. You can even go back to the Geoscape and fast-forward time to skip almost any mission if you want (I don't think you can skip most urgents) at a major, usually global, panic cost.

# ? Sep 4, 2015 23:46

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# ? May 19, 2024 00:45

YggiDee: Sep 12, 2007; WASP CREW

StealthArcher posted:

Was gonna ask for MGSV, noticed its a huge rear end page already, good stuff. What about Rune Factory 4 on the other hand, are any of the tips from RF3 useful?

I haven't played RF3, but everything on the Wiki more or less matches my experience for RF4, except that you shouldn't bother with elephant monsters, get cows and chickens. Milk and eggs are crucial for cooking.

Also, we had a Rune Factory thread, but the last post was July, so here's the noob guide from the OP:

Revol posted:

REVOL'S PAGE 100 RUNE FACTORY 4 HINTS TIPS AND STUFF

FARMING

Outside the Obsidian Mansion, there is a pathway to the left. The giant pine tree will give you a random tree seed every day.

Gigantic/Golden Crop Guide

Crops Leveling: You can get the shops to sell upgraded seeds by shipping either higher level crops or seeds. To reliably upgrade your crops, use the sickle on the crop to harvest its seeds. (Of course, you have a rare chance to get seeds when you harvest normally.) There are two caveats, though:
- It seems that your cheap sickle won't be able to harvest crop levels all the way. I was told by Doug that I need to have a better sickle if I want to complete his "Ship a Level 5 Crop" quest. So, with the first sickle, you can only grow crops up to level 3.
- To unlock the shop's ability to sell upgraded crops, there is a prerequisite quest that asks you to ship a level 2 Turnip. Until you do this quest, the shops will only ever sell level 1 seeds. This quest occurs pretty quickly as long as you stay on your quests. ^{_{- Thanks Speedball!}}

Expanding your farm gives you another screen with another plot of farmland. Something important to note, though: new farmland plots need new barns to have them worked. Your monsters will only work the field that their barn is on. _{^{- Thanks Emalde!}}

Save your crops from a tsunami! You can buy a product from the store, wettable solution, during the storm, and use it on your crops. _{^{- Thanks Lord Ephraim!}}

Fruit Trees:
- They only take up one plot.
- They do need to be watered after maturity, or else they will wilt. This doesn't appear to permanently kill the tree. _{^{- Thanks DoubleDonut!}}
- They give around three fruit every day. _{^{- Thanks Emalde!}}

COMBAT

For anybody who uses magic spells, Leon will level them up if you hand them to him. The early upgrades just require money, but as you get above rank 3 he'll start requesting different gems/minerals. _{^{- Thanks Emalde!}}

Leon's spell leveling costs: _{^{- Thanks Fru Fru!}}
Level 2 - 500g
Level 3 - 3000g
Level 4 - sapphire
Level 5 - platinum
Level 6 - orichalcum
Beyond that I have no idea cause I haven't found any orichalcum yet.

Using Gloves or Dual Blades as a weapon type will negate the bonus of the Shield you're wearing, but if you enhance the shield with a Scale category item, you can then receive 50% of the stats from the shield. _{^{- Thanks Emalde!}}

Having trouble in a new dungeon? Your gear is outdated.

LIVESTOCK/MONSTERS

If you give an item to a monster/animal and no hearts appear, that means your barn is full.

Giving items to your monster also enhances their traits. The example used by the NPC is that if you give a "Rigid Horn" (which inherently raises Crit Rate on equipment in upgrades) to a monster enough times, eventually every attack they execute will critical hit. _{^{- Thanks Emalde!}}

For Eggs/Milk/Wool/Etc, the base type (small/medium/large) is dependent upon the Level of the Monster, while the quality is based on the FP. ^{_{- Thanks Emalde!}}

To get your monsters to plant seeds, they have to be at 8 FP. This doesn't take long with daily brushing and gifting. You have to have pre-tilled the fields, and you'll need to be quick because it's the first activity they'll do in the morning. ^{_{- Thanks Emalde!}}

If you want to move animals to another barn bring them with you to the new barn and tell it to go home. ^{_{- Thanks Vanilla Mint Ice!}}

ITEMS/CRAFTING

Sashimi is a good early-game HP/RP/stat boost. Get yourself the kitchen knife.

Pickled Turnips give 105 RP, making it a good early-game RP heal.

Once you get Oven, you can use Flour/Yam to make Bread>Toast or Sweet Potato. These gives 2k HP and 800/500RP respectively.

An early profitable cooking recipe is, when you get frying pan, Milk + Eggs will produce Omelet which sells for 820G

The telecommunicator the general store furniture section sells is a node for calling the airship. Not all that useful, but its a thing. Slap it in your room and you can board the airship right after teleporting home I guess. _{^{- Thanks Blhue!}}

Raven's inventory is based on you shipping out monster goods and gems/minerals. Ship the rare monster drops, and they'll later appear in her store. _{^{- Thanks Emalde!}}

Pay attention to the items it defaults to when crafting/forging. It tends to use your rarest material first. _{^{- Thanks Lord Ephraim!}}

If you upgrade a farming tool with the magnifying glass, that tool functions like a magnifying glass. For best results, put it on your sickle so that you can see the level of the crop you're thinking about whacking. _{^{- Thanks Dirk the Average!}}

Parallel laser (2nd level water spell) is apparently hidden behind trees that only disappear during a thuderstorm. _{^{- Thanks Dirk the Average!}}

For those wondering where orihalcum is: Leon Karnak. _{^{- Thanks Blhue!}}

A soldier recommends that you upgrade your armor with Green Core, Red Core, Yellow Core and Blue Core in that order. He must know what he's talking about, but we don't know what good it does. ^{_{- Thanks Vanilla Mint Ice!}}

CHARACTERS

Most characters need 3FP to have them follow you. Forte is an exception.

"HELP! Why does _____ tell me they can't join my party right now? They have 3+FP/LP so I'm not sure what the problem is?
Check your "condition of the town" (at your bed save point) and see if there is a quest activated. If so, then you need to complete that quest first before they can join. Don't see a quest? It might be a "pajama party sleepover" invite.. if you are playing as Frey, go talk to Margaret (For Lest, go talk to Doug). She might invite you that night to her house for a PJ sleepover party. If that fails, walk around town in the morning and talk to everyone to see if a sub-event or "mini" sub-event triggers."

Supposedly, cancelling festivals increases the likelihood of a character sub-event happening.

Confessing Love: Starting from LP 7, each marriageable candidate has a chance of accepting your confession. Fogu claims that this is 30% at 7, 60% at 8, 90% at 9, and presumably 100% at 10 or more, but I have no idea where those numbers come from. (This percentage goes down with every successive girlfriend/boyfriend you have. Again, I have no idea how much.) However, it seems like if you confess and are rejected, you're locked out until you get to the next LP level - so if you are rejected at 7, you would have to wait until you reached 8 to have another chance. This means that if you're at LP 9 and are rejected, you're mostly just really unlucky. This also means that if you want to confess as soon as possible, wait until LP 7, then save, then keep confessing and reloading until it works. _{^{- Thanks DoubleDonut!}}

If you want to trigger an event for a particular character: _{^{- Thanks Lord Ephraim!}}
- get them to 7 FP/LP
- invite them to your party
- save on a Monday and cancel any festival that week. (Hilariously, you can cancel Christmas)
- sleep over and over for a week straight, if your party member leaves, an event triggered involving them. If not, reload and try again.

Dates are the only thing that can raise LP reliably past 8. _{^{- Thanks Lord Ephraim!}}

OTHER

L+R+Start+Select = soft reset _{^{- Thanks Dirk the Average!}}

# ? Sep 5, 2015 01:21

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > The "What should I know before I play this game for the first time?" Q&A!

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