_____ ______ _ ____
| __ \ | ____| | | |___ \
| |__) | _ _ __ ___ | |__ __ _ ___| |_ ___ _ __ _ _ __) |
| _ / | | | '_ \ / _ \ | __/ _` |/ __| __/ _ \| '__| | | | |__ <
| | \ \ |_| | | | | __/ | | | (_| | (__| || (_) | | | |_| | ___) |
|_| \_\__,_|_| |_|\___| |_| \__,_|\___|\__\___/|_| \__, | |____/
__/ |
|___/
__ __ ___ _
( _/_ _ _ __ ( // _ _ _ _// _ /__)(_ /_| / /|/| _ _ '_ / '_ _
__)/(/\/(-_) |/|//)(-/ (- //)(- / ( /__( |(__ / |(/(//( (__/(-_)
_/
{}TABLE OF CONTENTS{}
_____________________
I. Legalities and such
II. Introduction
III. Overlaying Effects
IV. Elements
V. Transformers
VI. The Totally Useless Items
VII. Acquiring These Priceless Catalysts
A. The Easiest Ones
B. The Hardest ones
C. Short-cut: Hidden Island
D. Finding the Behemoths
VIII. Acknowledgements
IX. Contact Info
{}LEGALITIES AND SUCH{}
_______________________
I do not own any of the rights to any of the names of the characters, places,
items, and such that are included in this guide except for the names of the
staff-inherent spells which I came up with entirely by myself. The rest of
the names are trademarked by Natsume and Nintendo. This FAQ is the property of
Ben Showler ("Suffurix" on Gamefaqs, but either "Lethe Albion" or "Leithe
Albion" on most other sites) and may not be reproduced without my permission.
If you would like to post this FAQ on another website, please contact me first
and let me know. Please feel free to quote from it, but don't take credit for
it. And I don't expect you to fully remember my name and all my usernames and
use them whenever you quote an official quote and yadda yadda yadda, but I DO
expect you to clarify that you DID find the information from someone else's
FAQ, and you did not come up with it on your own. As for the afore-mentioned
staff-inherent spells, those are just nicknames for ease of speaking. They
aren't copy-righted or anything so whatever.
{}INTRODUCTION{}
________________
NOTE: Becoming an Arcane Smith should not be a decision you make until you
are at or have beaten the fifth and final dungeon of the game, since you will
need to do quite a bit of running around looking for items from dangerous
enemies and bosses.
Staves are perhaps the most powerful and versatile weapons in Rune Factory 3.
While not providing much physical power, they phenomenally boost your magical
Prowess when using spells and tomes. But what most people don't realize is
that the true power of magical staves lies within the staves themselves. Or
more realistically, the true power of magic lies within the inner energies of
the world's comuponents. Namely, materials you can use to upgrade weapons.
Staves are incredibly different than other weapons in several ways. Number 1:
They give high magic attack rather than normal attack. Number 2: Starting at
level 3, they have three charge levels. And number 3: The attacks released by
charging them are different depending on what items you use to upgrade them.
This third point is the crux of the true power behind the magic in Rune
Factory 3. For instance: take someone who just picked up this game, and has
played the two previous games. He knows that axes and hammers deal the most
damage out of any weapons, so at the end of the game, when his forging level
is incredibly high and he has access to a wide range of items and materials,
he crafts the Saint Axe and upgrades it with 9 Red Dragon fangs, giving an
extra hundred or two attack. Now he feels prepared to fight his way to the
bottom of the Sharance Tree's dungeons. But when he gets there, he finds
himself quite hard pressed at the lower levels due to the incredibly slow
attacks of his axe. Now take YOU, who are reading this FAQ right now: at the
end of the game when your forging level is ALSO very high and you have access
to a wide range of items and materials, you craft the Magic Broom. Then you
upgrade it with 7 Fire Dragon Scales, giving it an extra 144 magic attack,
and a Water Crystal and Dragon Fin. Now what you have is a staff with
incredibly high magic attack and the ability to fire a short ranged, sweeping
water laser, a wider ranged and larger sweeping water laser, or summon two
little water elementals that follow you around and fire powerful lasers at
enemies. Now that you face the Sharance Tree's dungeons, you are infinitely
more prepared than the person who tried to go it alone using a Saint Axe. The
possibilitis with what you could do with the magic of staves in this game are
nearly limitless. But just so you don't get a headache, here's how things work:
{}OVERLAYING EFFECTS{}
______________________
The cardinal rule of staff magic is that effects do not stack. They replace
each other. So if you have a fire elemental staff that at all three charge
levels shoots differing amounts of fireballs and you upgrade it using a Bird
Wing, you will now have a fire elemental staff that shoots fireballs at the
first two charge levels, and a gust of wind at the third level (and it charges
these levels about twice as fast as normal). But if you took the same staff
and used a Bird Wing and THEN a Fire Crystal, the Fire Crystal would wipe over
the Air Gust spell and the speed boost enchantment and leave it just like it
was with only a few extra stat boosts from the two upgrades. So, with this
knowledge, it is incredibly important what order you upgrade in. It would be
a shame to use a Dragon Fin, think you're all finished, and then find a Small
Crystal and decide to just give it some extra magic attack, thus replacing
your Summon: Guardian Fins spell with a dinky Sealing Cloud spell. Now, onto
a practical application:
{}ELEMENTS{}
____________
When I say elements, I don't actually mean elemental affinities in the same
way the game does, where using Fire abilities on a Water type enemy will
deal more damage than usual. I use the term element simply as a categorizing
tool. Because obviously there are no weapons in the game that deal Pirate
elemental damage. Please note as well that Arrow and Leaf elements have the
"fast" trait, which means they charge twice as fast as usual.
Fire >>>>>>> 1: |Fireball| = Shoots two splitter fireballs
2: |Improved Fireball| = shoots three splitter fireballs
3: |Greater Fireball| = Shoots four splitter fireballs
Water >>>>>> 1: |Aqua Beam| = Shoots water laser in small arc close in front
of you
2: |Improved Aqua Beam| = Shoots water laser in medium arc
further away from you
3: |Greater Aqua Beam| = Shoots water laser in giant arc far
away from you
Wind >>>>>>> 1: |Air Cutter| = Throws two curving wind blades
2: |Improved Air Cutter| = Throws four curving wind blades
3: |Greater Air Cutter| = Throws six curving wind blades
Earth >>>>>> 1: |Rockwave| = Makes earth spikes rise up in straight line a
short distance away from you
2: |Improved Rockwave| = Makes earth spikes rise up in wider
range a medium distance away from you
3: |Greater Rock Wave| = Makes earth spikes rise up in very wide
range a long distance away from you
Dark >>>>>>> 1: |Death Leech| = Produces a darkness ball a short distance in
front of you that floats slowly counter-
clockwise for a few seconds
2: |Improved Death Leech| = Produces a darkness ball a medium
distance in front of you that floats
slowly counter-clockwise for a few
seconds
3: |Greater Death Leech| = Produces a darkness ball a large
distance in front of you that floats
slowly counter-clockwise for several
seconds
Light >>>>>> 1: |Radiant Shell| = Makes two light balls appear around you and
quickly spiral outwards
2: |Improved Radiant Shell| = Makes four light balls appear
around you and quickly spiral
outwards
3: |Greater Radiant Shell| = makes six light balls appear around
you and quickly spiral outwards
Pirate >>>>> 1: |Summon: Explosive| = rolls exploding barrel
2: |Summon: Improved Explosives| = rolls three exploding barrels
3: |Summon: Steel Urchin| = tosses a spikeball that sits on the
field for several seconds
Energy >>>>> 1: |Blast Wave| = Fires energy wave
2: |Improved Blast Wave| = Fires three energy waves
3: |Greater Blast Wave| = Fires eight energy waves all around
Tree >>>>>>> 1: |Strangling Root| = Cracks the ground beneath an enemy and
shoots a root out of the ground underneath
them
2: |Crimson Circle| = Makes a ring of several apples that circle
quickly around you and hit any enemies they
collide with before dissapearing
3: |Crimson Volley| = Calls down large apples that fall in a row
across the screen and then back the other
way
Arrow >>>>>> 1: |Summon: Projectile| = launches one arrow
(fast) 2: |Summon: Improved Projectiles| = Launches two splitter arrows
3: |Summon: Greater Projectiles| = Launches three splitter arrows
Ice >>>>>>>> 1: |Spiral Shards| = Summons four ice shards that slowly spin
counter-clockwise inwards around you, then
spiral outwards quickly
(slow) 2: |Homing Shards| = Summons eight ice shards that slowly spin
around the closest enemy before rushing
inwards on them
3: |Massive Shard| = Summons a giant ice shard in front of you,
and after one second, flies off in the
direction you were facing
Castle >>>>> 1: |Golem Finger| = Launches a spinning rock structure from
above your current position that homes in on
enemies and drills into them
(Slow) 2: |Improved Golem Finger|= Launches a spinning rock structure
straight out that homes in on enemies
and drills into them
3: |Inferno| = Fires a spray of powerful but small fireballs in
a wide arc
Bane >>>>>>> 1: |Spark Mine| = Creates a lightning sphere that slowly follows
enemies around electrocuting them
(very slow) 2: |Acrid Vapor| = Shoots a ball of poison that splashes apart
after a certain distance and sits on the
battle field for a short while
3: |Summon: Storm Spirit| = Summons a ball of lightning that
expands to a massive size and weaves
back and forth across the screen
Tempest >>>> 1: |Lightning Strike| = Calls down multiple strikes of lightning
on one enemy
(slow) 2: |Wrath of the Earth| = Summons Rock spikes around you in a
circle, getting bigger each time, and
traveling in a bigger circle each time
3: |Armageddon| = Calls down several giant meteors in a general
radius around you
Blaze >>>>>> 1: |Massive Flame| = launches a large fireball that expands to a
massive size
(slow) 2: |Blaze Vacuum| = Draws enemies inwards toward you while
incinerating them with fireballs
3: |Vulcan's Rage| = Summons a column of flames, then four more
surrounding you, then more and more in a
further expanding square
Dragon >>>>> 1: |Summon: Water Fins| = Fires four water fins behind you that
fly around, colliding with enemies
before disappearing
(slow) 2: |Summon: Seeker Fins| = Fires four water fins behind you that
^^^ but fire a laser at enemies before
disappearing
3: |Summon: Guardian Fins|= Fires two water fins behind you that
follow behind you, occasionally
firing lasers at enemies and damaging
any colliding enemies
{}TRANSFORMERS{}
________________
::BASIC STAFF:: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Charge 1: Base element
Charge 2: Base element ^2
Charge 3: Base element ^3
------------------------------------
Poison Powder >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Charge 1: Base element
charge 2: Base element ^2
Charge 3: |Poison Cloud| = Green surrounding gas clouds (Add: Poison)
Melee attacks Add: Poison
------------------------------------
Dragon Tooth >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Charge 1: Base element
Charge 2: Base element ^2
Charge 3: |Fiery Breath| = emits a close-ranged fire blast that lasts for a
few seconds
------------------------------------
Strong Vine >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Charge 1: Base element
Charge 2: Base element ^2
Charge 3: |Ice PetalS| = Shoots off five bluish flower petals in an arc
------------------------------------
Plant Stem >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Charge 1: Base element
Charge 2: Base element ^2
Charge 3: |Forest Petals| = Two green petals shoot out and weave back and
forth as they move away
------------------------------------
Panther Claw >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Charge 1: Base element
Charge 2: Base element ^2
Charge 3: |Panther Flash| = Three clawed flash rushes forward for multiple
attacks (Add: Paralyze) [Acts as a physical attack]
------------------------------------
Fairy Dust >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Charge 1: Base element
Charge 2: Base element ^2
Charge 3: |Sleeping Cloud| = White surrounding smoke clouds (Add: Sleep)
------------------------------------
Bird Wing >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Charge 1: Base element
Charge 2: Base element ^2
Charge 3: |Air Gust| = Pushing gust of wind
FAST charge rate
------------------------------------
Spore >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Charge 1: Base element
Charge 2: Base element ^2
Charge 3: |Spore Cloud| = Green-blue surrounding gas clouds (Add: Paralyze)
------------------------------------
Gunpowder >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Charge 1: Base element
Charge 2: |Ignite| = Creates a column of fire directly in front of you that
sits for a few seconds
Charge 3: |Burning Pillar| = Creates a gigantic column of fire that rushes
forward
------------------------------------
Proof of Warrior >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Charge 1: Base element
Charge 2: Base element ^2
Charge 3: |Summon: Flying Axe| = Throws an axe forward
------------------------------------
Small Crystal >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Charge 1: Base element
Charge 2: Base element ^2
Charge 3: |Sealing Cloud| = Black surrounding smoke clouds (Add: Seal)
------------------------------------
Chimera Tail >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Charge 1: Base element
Charge 2: Base element ^2
Charge 3: |Avalanche| = Spews a dozen or so giant bubbles
SLOW charge speed
Melee attacks randomly inflict Poison or Paralyze
------------------------------------
Blue Lion Fur >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Charge 1: Base element
Charge 2: |Hurricane Shield| = Creates four tornadoes around you that slowly
spread out
Charge 3: |Hurricane Barrage| = Creates three tornadoes in front of you that
rapidly fly outwards
------------------------------------
Red Lion Fur >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Charge 1: Base element
Charge 2: Base element ^2
Charge 3: |Sonic Wave| = Fires a sonic blast outwards
------------------------------------
Grimoire Scale >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Charge 1: Base element
Charge 2: |Maelstrom| = Issues a wide blast of pushing wind and random
boulders fly by
Charge 3: |Great Tornado| = Creates a giant green tornado that slowly moves
forward and stops moving for a few seconds after
it has traveled a certain amount
SLOW charge rate
------------------------------------
Dragon Bones >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Charge 1: Base element
Charge 2: Base element ^2
Charge 3: |Thunder Chain| = Creates a ball of lightning attached to a
lighning chain that seeks out nearest enemies.
Lasts for several seconds
SLOW charge rate
------------------------------------
Ice Nose >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Charge 1: Base element
Charge 2: Base element ^2
Charge 3: |Deadly Tundra| = Summons a field of ice spikes all around you in a
huge area.
SLOW charge rate
------------------------------------
Song Bottle >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Charge 1: Base element
Charge 2: |Quadra Beam| = fires four water lasers out in front of you
Charge 3: |Siren's Song| = Emits multiple various musical notes that damage
enemies and inflict random status effects
(sometimes will steal health, too. I have not yet
determined the pattern to this effect. It may just
be from having a Legendary Scale on the item)
SLOW charge rate
Melee attacks randomly inflict Cold
------------------------------------
Fire Crystal >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Add: =Fire= element
------------------------------------
Water Crystal >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Add: =Water= element
------------------------------------
Earth Crystal >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Add: =Earth= element
------------------------------------
Wind Crystal >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Add: =Wind= element
------------------------------------
Light Crystal >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Add: =light= element
------------------------------------
Dark Crystal >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Add: =Dark= element
------------------------------------
Raccoon Leaf >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Add: =Leaf= element
------------------------------------
Moving Branch >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Add: =Tree= element
------------------------------------
Dragon Fin >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Add: =Dragon= element
SLOW charge rate
------------------------------------
Ice Shard >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Add: =Ice= element
SLOW charge rate
------------------------------------
Ammonite >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Add: =Pirate= element
------------------------------------
Chest Hair >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Add: =Energy= element
------------------------------------
Golem Slate >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Add: =Castle= element
SLOW charge rate
------------------------------------
Electric Crystal >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Add: =Bane= element
SLOW charge rate
------------------------------------
Earth Dragon Scale >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Add: =Tempest= element
SLOW charge rate
------------------------------------
Fire Dragon Scale >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Add: =Blaze= element
------------------------------------
Arrowhead >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
____________________________________
Add: =Arrow= element
FAST charge rate
------------------------------------
{}THE TOTALLY USELESS ITEMS{}
_____________________________
Though a great variety of components can be used to imbue your staves with
wondrous powers, there are some that will only ever give them some extra stat
boosts, status effects, status resistances, or are just plain crap. So here's
the list of stuff that you will never have to worry about when becoming an
Arcane Smith:
Fleece
Silk Cloth
Strong String
Quality Fur
Hard Horn
Tortoise Shell
Hammer Piece
Devil Horn
Love Crystal
Root
Broken Hilt
Scorpion Tail
Insect Skin
Magic Crystal
Magic Powder
Broken Box
Hood
Speckled Skin
Devil Blood
Insect Jaw
Giant Fingernail
Skull
Legendary Scale
Quality Cloth
Wolf Fang
Shoulder Piece
Cheap Bandage
Cheap Cloth
Sparkle String
Glue
Giant's Glove
Scorpion Pincer
Wooly Furball
Bull Horn
Emeral
Amethyst
Sapphire
Aquamarine
Ruby
Diamond
Scrap Iron
Iron
Bronze
Silver
Gold
Platinum
Although, certain items like the Magic Crystal and Magic Powder DO boost the
weapon's Magic Attack, so you may want to keep an eye out for them
{}ACQUIRING THESE PRICELESS CATALYSTS{}
_______________________________________
Well so far, it seems as if crafting a god-like wizarding weapon is as easy as
beating a blind-man at throwing darts. But this is not so, my good friend.
You see, some of these rare artifacts are not so easy to come by. And even
with the proper ingredients, you will also have to have a high enough forging
skill to be able to properly imbue the materials.
First of all, as for forging: It really doesn't matter that you know the exact
formula of how much skill you have divided by the forging level of the item
plus the square root of pi times the forging level of the weapon and blah-dee
blah-dee blah. It's simple: you go to the forge, put the weapon in the slot,
put the component in the other slot. It'll then show you your chance of
completing the enchantment. If it's anywhere below 20%, then make a cheap
weapon and keep upgrading it with silver or gold, or at least some item that
it has below a 60% chance of completeing, until you level up you forging skill
enough to imbue your staff. The moment the chance gets to 20 or above, just go
for it and keep hammering away 'til ya get it. But make sure to watch your RP
and HP, since it's pretty easy to get distracted from pressing that A button
so often. And if you're anywhere near the same point in your medical expenses
as I am, then you should be greatly afraid of accidentally feinting. If you
went through the game constantly forging better weapons for yourself along the
way, then your forging skill should easily be high enough at this point. Now
onto the meat of the process:
The easiest transformers to obtain are as follows: *[The Easiest Ones]
--------------------------------------------------
Poison Powder
Dragon Tooth
Strong Vine
Plant Stem
Panther Claw
Bird Wing
Fairy Dust
Spore
Gunpowder
Proof of Warrior
Small Crystal
Fire Crystal
Water Crystal
Wind Crystal
Earth Crystal
Dark Crystal
Light Crystal
Arrowhead
The reason for this list is due to the fact that all of these items can be
found primarily by slaying a certain type of enemy. Or doing it the easier way
by using a Beanling Magic Seed that turns enemies into items that they usually
drop. The Dragon Tooth can be a little tricky, though, because the big green
dragons that drop them are pretty tough cookies. But don't worry about that.
You're already at the end of the game, remember? You ARE at the end of the
game, aren't you.......???
As for the specifics of where to find such dainty trinkets, I have made yet
another list:
Poison Powder ))))))))))))))))
______________________________
Dropped from Big Mushroom (Privera Forest) and Tricky Mushroom (Sol Terrano
Desert)
------------------------------
Dragon Tooth )))))))))))))))))
______________________________
Droppedfrom Claw Dragon (Dragon Cave)
Strong Vine ))))))))))))))))))
______________________________
Dropped from Leafball (Privera Forest), Flower Lion (Sol Terrano Desert),
Planchoa (Oddward Valley), and Flower Crystal (Vale River)
------------------------------
Plant Stem )))))))))))))))))))
______________________________
Dropped from Flower Blossom and Leafball (Privera Forest), Flower Lion and
Tricky Mushroom (Sol Terrano Desert), Planchoa (Oddward Valley), and Flower
Crystal (Vale River)
------------------------------
Panther Claw )))))))))))))))))
______________________________
Dropped from Shadow Panther (Sol Terrano Desert), and Blood Panther (Dragon
Cave)
------------------------------
Bird Wing ))))))))))))))))))))
______________________________
Dropped from Duck, Weegull, and Big Duck (Sol Terrano Desert), Cluckadoodle
and Blackbird (Oddward Valley), and Penguin (Vale River)
------------------------------
Fairy Dust )))))))))))))))))))
______________________________
Dropped from Faerie (Oddward Valley) and Death Faerie (Dragon Cave)
------------------------------
Spore ))))))))))))))))))))))))
______________________________
Dropped from Big Mushroom (Privera Forest), Tricky Mushroom (Sol Terrano
Desert), and Death Fungus (Oddward Valley)
------------------------------
Gunpowder ))))))))))))))))))))
______________________________
Dropped from Orc Hunter and Orc Archer (Privera Forest), Goblin Sniper and
Goblin Archer (Sol Terrano Desert)
------------------------------
Proof of Warrior )))))))))))))
______________________________
Dropped from Orc Rider (Privera Forest), Goblin and Hobgoblin (Sol Terrano
Desert)
------------------------------
Small Crystal ))))))))))))))))
______________________________
Dropped from Slimes (Sol Terrano), Dark Slimes (Vale River), Little Wizards
(Vale River), Little Mages and Little Emperors (Dragon Cave) [The Little
Emperors are pretty deep down in the cave, so it'll take some time to get all
the way there]
------------------------------
Fire Crystal )))))))))))))))))
______________________________
Dropped from defeating a Fire enemy portal (It's pretty deep red. It's NOT
the slightly pinkish one, though. Those drop Love Crystals)
Can be mined from rocks in Sol Terrano Desert (use a Silver Hammer or above
for maximum efficiency)
------------------------------
Water Crystal ))))))))))))))))
______________________________
Dropped from defeating a Water enemy portal (I THINK it's the one that's sort
of bluish-green)
Can be mined from rocks in Vale River (use a Silver Hammer or above for
maximum efficiency)
------------------------------
Wind Crystal )))))))))))))))))
______________________________
Dropped from defeating a Wind enemy portal (It'll look very green)
Can be mined from rocks in Oddward Valley (use a Silver Hammer or above for
maximum efficiency)
------------------------------
Earth Crystal ))))))))))))))))
______________________________
Dropped from defeating a Dark enemy portal (It'll look kind of brownish and
yellow, and darker than the Light portal)
Can be mined from rocks in Privera Forest (use a Silver Hammer or above for
maximum efficiency)
------------------------------
Dark Crystal )))))))))))))))))
______________________________
Dropped from defeating a Dark enemy portal (It'll look dark and murky colored,
and kinda purple)
------------------------------
Light Crystal ))))))))))))))))
______________________________
Dropped from defeating a Light enemy portal (It'll look bright white with a
yellowish tint to it)
------------------------------
Arrowhead ))))))))))))))))))))
______________________________
Dropped from Orc Archer & Orc Hunter in Privera Forest [Stoneway/The Eye]
------------------------------
NOTE: These monsters will also randomly appear in the Sharance Tree's Dungeons.
Now you know how to find some of the easier transformers. But per usual, the
easier ones are never as good as the harder ones. Now we get into the slightly
tricky part. All of the other transformers I haven't mentioned so far come
from defeating bosses. And there is one for every single boss in this game.
Which means you're going to have beat them. All of them. So get ready:
The hardest transformers to obtain are as follows: *[The Hardest Ones]
--------------------------------------------------
Chimera Tail <> Chimera
Blue Lion Fur <> Amaranthine
Red Lion Fur <> Crimsone
Grimoire Scale <> Grimoire
Dragon Bones <> Skelefang
Ice Nose <> Crystal Mammoth
Raccoon Leaf <> Raccoon
Moving Branch <> Terror Tree
Dragon Fin <> Aquaticus
Ice Shard <> Death Wall
Ammonite <> Octopirate
Chest Hair <> Greater Demon
Song Bottle <> Siren
Golem Slate <> Golem
Electric Crystal <> Bane Dragon
Fire Dragon Scale <> Fiersome
Earth Dragon Scale <> Terrable
Each one of those items is dropped by defeating it's cooridinating boss. Be
warned, though. They do not always drop it. So you may end wasting quite a bit
of your time if you don't save before fighting them. But rest assured, 'cause
they drop them about 75% of the time, so you should be fine.
Now please realize, that this list is actually sort of a rule of thumb. Yes,
in GENERAL, farming items from a boss of all things is going to be harder than
farming it from a normal enemy. But if you heeded my admonition to be very near
the end of the game before starting a hobby like this, then you already know
that beating the Raccoon from Privera Forest at this point is probably easier
than beating some of the normal enemies from Vale River or the Dragon Cave.
With that being said, you may want to scratch these two from the list:
Greater Demon
Raccoon
And depending on what level you're at, and if you did any power-leveling, you
could even scratch these as well:
Amaranthine
Crimsone
Octopirate
Skelefang
Death Wall
These bosses are much easier to beat than most other bosses, IF you are at
about level 70 or higher, and as such, you shouldn't worry too much about
getting your hands on their items. The Death Wall might take a bit higher
level though, and perhaps the Octopirate as well, if you have the proper
equipment that is. The REST of the bosses are going to take some serious
investment though. For now, let's review how to find the many lairs in which
these lumbering behemoths reside...
Actually, hold off for a minute. Detour Time *[Short-cut: Hidden Island]
--------------------------------------------
Instead of actually chasing down the Greater Demon, Octopirate, Chimera,
Grimoire, and Crystal Mammoth, there's an easier way to find them. Go to
Privera Forest, and bring a Lily Pad Magic Seed. Go to a place called Stoneway,
and there should be a little opening into the lake. Get on your Lily Pad and
ride it out over the lake and to the big island on the right. This is called
Hidden Island. Now, the first thing you should notice upon seeing this island
is that there's some kind of giant creature on it, namely one of the five
mentioned above. Now don't be too scared, since these versions are
pathetically weaker than their original counterparts. I think the Greater
Demon has around 3000 Hp or something like that, if that's any indicator of
what I'm saying. At this point, it becomes very simple: Go in and out of that
one screen 'til the boss you want to fight shows up, and then spank it hard
'til it cries. Then, reap your reward. Now if only the rest of the bosses
showed up on this nifty little island. *Sigh*......that would be the
day.......oh well. Moving on:
How to find all the bosses *[Finding the Behemoths]
--------------------------
Now for one of hardest quests you'll ever have to go through: The Sharance
Tree. That's right folks. The secret to ultimate magical might lies right
beneath your very floor-boards. But that's besides the point. On to the
details: Inside your house there are two ladders, one to the right and one to
the left. The left one leads down to the farm, and the right one to a sort of
trophy room. Inside the trophy room there are two doors. The one on the left
is the one you want. It will prompt you to pick either solo or multiplayer
once you press A next to it. I HIGHLY suggest choosing multiplayer, and here's
why: You can still choose multiplayer and play by yourself, so don't worry,
'cause you CAN do it. But you SHOULD do it because if you die in this mode,
you will NOT be brought back to the apothecary and have to pay billions of
gold for being resuscitated. You will simply be brought back to the menu for
this mode. Going solo however WILL wind you up in a group home with no job.
The only annoying part about this is that you can't press start during the
whole ordeal, and the game is not paused while switching equipment, so battles
tend to get pretty dicey. But silly me, you're still in the dark here. Or not,
if you really are at the end of the game, which you SHOULD be......but anyways.
This mode allows you to choose one of several levels made up of a series of
interconnected rooms that you pass through by defeating all the enemies in
each room until you make it to either the portal to the next layer of the
level, or the boss of the level. Each one has a level suggesiton on it, being
15, 30, 45, 60, 80, 100, 120, 140, and 220. This is basically an indicator of
how hard each level is in general. The one you're looking for here is 140,
being the 8th level (Dragon Ruins). This one contains six different bosses,
each incredibly difficult, and each yielding one of the rarest magical
components in the game. Now, the one catch here is that to access each level,
you must have beaten the level before it. That and the order in which you have
to fight the bosses is always the same. So if you lose to just one of 'em,
then it's back to the beginning with ya. Now, I heard somewhere that it's best
to be at least ten levels higher than the suggested level before attempting a
level. I think this is generally a good rule, but then again, you can never be
TOO safe. That being said, it is VERY important that you are as prepared as
you can possibly be before attempting each level. And the reason is not
because there's a huge penalty if you fail. It's because they're frickin'
hard and you will NOT be able to make it to the Dragon Ruins without being
almost OCD about your preparation. Unless you're like fifty levels above the
suggested limit, you're gonna want to make sure you know EXACTLY what you're
doing before entering a level in this place.
Few key pointers:
=================
NEVER use a long ranged lunging attack like Axel Disaster to
propel yourself into a room. Here's why: because every so often, you'll come
across a room with a bunch of treasure chests in it, either brown and/or blue
ones. If you attack them, they become animate and will attack. Or will
instantly die. THAT is a bad thing, since these treasure chests are easily
going to be what keep you alive during the boss fights. By walking up to one
and pressing A, it pops open and literally spews almost completely random
stuff out. But there is a pattern to what it will give you. The Brown Chests
usually give out either trash like cans and boots, ingredients like Dumpling
Powder, crops like Cabbage, or meals, like Lampsquid Sashimi. THESE you are
going to want to hold onto. Almost all of the cooked meals you'll find in
these chests are INCREDIBLE. They heal a HUGE amount of HP and RP, and give
large stat boosts. Now the Blue Chests are not really as good, in my opinion,
even though they usually give you really rare equipment, such as the Gungnir
that I got out of one once (which happens to be the best spear in the game).
But you're not here to get free loot. Remember that.
'Nother pointer:
================
Come with your POCKETS FREE. Have plenty of space for food
that you'll pick up along the way, because trust me, you are going to need all
of it. And don't be frugal when you find those chests either. TAKE IT ALL.
Final Pointer:
==============
For equipment, you should never rely only on what you can forge
by yourself, unless your skill is already maxed out. The best items in the
game can all be found in the Sharance Tree dungeons. These would be found in
the blue treasure chests I mentioned earlier that are found in the same rooms
as the brown chests. Just spend some time in whichever dungeon your level is
at or just below and look around for these rooms. For instance, from using
this strategy, I first attempted the Dragon Ruins at around level 90 with a
Magic Broom, Kalivarn, Magical Shield, Fairy Boots, Witch's Earing, and a
Wind Ring. Needless to say, I was pretty well prepared, if at least at a
basic level.
Now, I could go into a great amount of detail of exactly how to beat each boss
and what to use on them and whatnot, but you can easily ask a friend or use
one of the general FAQs for that. I will give you a few hints, though:
General Combat Tips:
====================
As soon as you realize you've entered the boss room, use Steel Heart (Actualy,
make sure you BRING it in the first place). This will make you immune to
flinching from taking damage. Essentially, you'll still take damage from
everything the boss throws at you, but you won't be interrupted while charging
a Staff Spell, eating some fancy-schmancy food, or using a Rune Ability. And
it lasts for a WHILE. Not exactly sure how long, but you'll probably only need
to use it once per battle, MAYBE a second time. But no more than that, unless
you die or switch your weapon. Another thing to remember is that an incredibly
useful tool is the Thunder Chain spell, imbued by the Dragon Bones. Combined
with Steel Heart, you'll be able to charge it up, release it, and stand far
away from the Boss while still racking up the damage, and charging another
chain in the meantime. Please realize that certain bosses are very resistant
to magic, so don't bring ONLY that one staff. The Grimoire, for example, is
nearly immune to most magic (except, perhaps, to Earth magic). In this case,
I find it useful to use a Longsword, and the Double Sword ability Rail Strike,
or the Spear ability Axel Disaster. They both deal tons of hits, and they move
you around the field somewhat (ESPECIALLY Axel Disaster).
As long as you follow these guidelines and level like crazy, you should soon
have your hands on the allmighty powers of the bosses of Rune Factory 3
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Well, the rest is up to you. You are now officially qualified to ATTEMPT to
become an Arcane Smith. The choice is up to you what you do with your new
magical knowledge. Should you use a Dragon Fin and then an Ice Nose so you can
shoot off tons of Water Fins and also call upon a gigantic ice field? Or use a
Dragon Fin and then a Bird Wing so you can charge up those Water Fins
ridiculously fast, quite literally filling the screen with fluttering blue
chaos machines? The combinations, again, are nearly endless. But choose wisely,
and save often, since there is no way to UN-imbue an item. Once it's done,
it's done. So have fun, and be creative, ya'll.
{}ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS{}
____________________
Well......I didn't really use too many outside sources to make this guide,
since I did it all by experimentation. But as for those who I did learn from:
Freyashawk >>>>>>> For their FAQ on Dungeons and a Bestiary, and the names
and locations of the enemies that you get the items from
Zoel Giradel >>>>> For their General FAQ, which is how I found out in the
first place that the super bosses could be found in the
Sharance Tree dungeons.
My Bro, Jordan >>> For assisting me with his higher-level character in making
it through the Dragon Ruins at such a low level and nabbing
those pricey items.
==============================================================================
==============================================================================
{}CONTACT INFO{}
________________
If you have any questions, suggestions, complaints, or anything else you'd
like to say, just shoot an e-mail over to "Leithealbion@gmail.com"
Don't be confused by the spelling. Everyone does that. I WILL try to respond
to every e-mail that I get, including hate-mail, unless this really becomes
pretty popular, in which case I'd have to sort through the important e-mails
to choose which ones to answer. But that'll probably never happen anyways.
And you get bonus points if you know the reference within my email name. Hehe.
(If you DO know, then don't be confused by the spelling, again. That "i" is
not used in the original spelling. Someone else took the name I WAS going to
use, so I had to improvise)
