Events of Spring, 1st Year

22 Spring:  As I have not received the Switch game yet, I am continuing in a desultory fashion with the 3DS version.

I once was an obsessive player who had to win ALL the festivals in the first year, but now I wonder if it really matters.  I reloaded a number of times for the Wooly Defluffing Festival.  When I won, I got more items, but when I took the time to collect the items dropped by the Wooly, I did better in terms of monetary and other value.  So ultimately I saved the best result, where I came in second, instead of first, but got a backpack filled with all three sizes of Fur and the Wooly Furballs.  They are quite valuable.

Barrel of Fun Event initiated by speaking to Porcoline outside the Crop Shop.
Participants:  Porcoline, Margaret, Vishnal, Kiel, Arthur, Forte, Xiao Pai

Was told today that tomorrow is Illuminata's birthday.  I recall she likes flowers and sweets.  Will try to give her a Toy Herb.

Porcoline told me to deliver a message to Vishnal passionately that he had a bucket for him.

Meanwhile, I have all the Cooking Tools, apart from the Oven.  I have a Forge, Crafting Station, Chemistry Set... all I lack is the Oven.  My room is very cramped. now.  You could not swing the proverbial cat here.

Polished off the Water Ruins a couple of days ago.  The problem is that I do not know how I lost a day... possibly fell asleep in reality while the game went on, and saved without realising it.  So I lost a day and went out to find everything slightly different from what I had seen the last time I went to my field.  It does not really signify I suppose.  This is the old game, still waiting for the Switch version.

I keep forgetting that time passes even in your room... very vexing.

Had to go to the Clinic to be told by Nancy that my 'monster man' woke up.  He is quite rude.  I love his hair, but never liked his eyebrows.  Now he simply walked out, leaving us bemused and hurt.

Porcoline then showed up and Dylas was back for a dialogue with him to offer a room at his palace.  Despite his hauteur, he will be a lowly waiter.

Midsummer:  Not a festival.  The closest I suppose is the Firefly Festival.  You have to be dating a bachelor or eligible girl, having at least 7 hearts, to even get the option.  I was at six.  One of the nicer changes was that I knew I could keep Doug in the village if I raised his heart level before the conflict in Yokmir Forest... So I held back until I had him at four or five before I 'found' the Chipsqueek in its final location in the clearing.  He never left, and I was able to place the Rune Stone at Obsidian Mansion without losing him.  He told me he was muddled but would trust me.  Now every one is off to find out how to get past the giant Gate so I can rescue Leon.

Metals really are the key to better tools, weapons and equipment.

With the Lava, you get access to Silver.  If you have the gem merchant, you can buy as much as you wish after shipping one.

Among others:

Chaos Shield:
  Lv. 25
  Ingredients:  Silver, Pretty Carapace
  DEF +40, M. DEF. +38
  Psn Res 80%, Seal Res 80%, Par Res 80%

This is a very useful piece of equipment, especially when you fight the Rafflesia who can load you down with status ailments, even when you are ultimately victorious!

You can run to the Clinic to be cured of all of them.  Having a bath will not do the trick.

Bring your Psn Res to 95% with a simple Insect Carapace, and bring Seal Res to 100% with a Ghost Hood.

With Silver, you can improve all of your Farm Tools, going to the next level.  I still love the Invisiblade from almost the very start of your forging ability, but you will have other options as well with Silver.

Silver Hammer:
  Ingredients:  Silver, Wood

Lion Waterpot:
  Ingredients:  Silver, Cloths and Skins

I am afraid I do not much like weapons apart from the Shortsword.  I like having a shield, and it really makes matters so much easier throughout the game, especially when you are able to forge a Chaos Shield.

Rune Factory 4 Switch Guide

(Screenshot from a search... it does look like it may be the Switch though)

Saturday, 29 February:  Welcome to my new Rune Factory 4 Journal and Guide.  It happens to be a leap year, so I have a little question for Seaside players... what if you start a new farm today?  Will you only have a 'Farm Birthday' every four years?  This is not a Family Farm Seaside Guide. however.  You can find THAT on my Family Farm Seaside site.

All that having been said, it is a little frustrating not to have the actual Switch version of RF4 yet, but I am trying to give tips based on the old game.

First of all, do not buy the Magnifying Glass or the Clippers.  Clippers are a Trophy from Woolies, and can be shipped for a fair amount as well as keeping one for the future.  Likewise, you can equip yourself from Chests in terms of Small Shield, Boots and even a Cheap Bracelet from Chests found in the Forest.  So do not buy any of this stuff.

On the first day, you will not be allowed to go anywhere.  I do not know why both Harvest Moon and Rune Factory do this, but it is an old tradition.  You will be forced onto your field, and given only a Hoe and Watering Can.  Nevertheless, clear the entire field of branches, stones and weeds, and do not ship more than one of any of these.  Stash them for the future.  Then use your Hoe to till every square of unoccupied soil.  This will prove useful tomorrow.  You will be given seeds.  Sow them and water them, and then go inside.

You will be sent to bed...

Day 2:  Now you can begin life in earnest.  First, go throughout the village and explore every spot that has a lit indicator.  You can find some valuable stuff.  Ship it or store it.  That's up to you.  I can't recall, but I believe it includes Rice and Chocolate.  If you find any Bamboo Shoots on your field, cut them with your sword and stash at least one for the Cooking Contest on the 6th.  One of your first acts as Prince or Princess should be to order that Contest.

Okay, I now actually have the Switch version of the game.  I found a Small Shield in the Forest, and some Leather Boots.  Thus equipped, and with Forte, who was rather useless here, I fought Ambrosia and defeated her.  No trophy the first time, but I was able then to go back on the 3rd to fight her again and obtain Ambrosia's Thorns for shipping.

You HAVE Escape but you must equip it or it will stay uselessly in the menu.  I was a little bemused about that on the second day when I was able to move about.

Go to the Inn and get the Simple Cooking furniture and take it home with you.  There are a few dishes you can make for the Cooking Contest I believe, unless the new version is vastly different.  For a start, you will have Turnips and can make Pickles.  You do not need Recipe Bread theoretically, just the Recipes, although it will take a lot of your energy that way.   I believe my old guide does give the Recipes.  If not, I will find in my files and copy here.

Pickled Turnips are simply Turnips.  You should be able to combine Rice with a Bamboo Shoot for Bamboo Rice and if you use Rice, you can make Onigiri.  I do not know if the new version features Simple Dishes the first year or not.

I personally like to grow a dozen Turnips, but then turn my gaze towards the forest, and go from screen to screen to gather trophies and open chests.  Go back and forth from one screen to another and you often will find a chest.  I do not know if this is true in the new version, but you will destroy a Chest and its contents if you slash at it with a weapon.  Just use the A button to open it.  I have destroyed many a chest accidentally by using B.

Tools and Crafting Stations:  You will receive most of the tools free if you wait and simply complete requests, but I am impatient always and buy the Fishing Rod and the Hammer.  The axe given in the first couple of days so wait for that, but the other two take longer to receive, and if you have them, you can begin fishing, collecting Material Stone and Ores like Iron, Scrap, Amethyst, and the rare Invisible Stone.  The first Invisible Stone I got I threw at Forte by mistake and she did not even appreciate it.  I find it most often in the chamber with the Save point before you fight the Butterfly Amber.   The Round Stone can be caught when fishing if you stand on the bridge and fish straight down.

The Refrigerator showed up at the Inn on Day 5, so I bought that, after making certain I had 30 Lumber.  Very useful, as it freed my backpack a little.

Day 6, Cooking Contest.  I was able to win it with a Bamboo Rice to which I added Green Grass, Purple Grass and the Medicinal Herb, giving it 175 points I believe.  Cost in RP a lot higher than a plain Bamboo Rice.  Had to reload a few times to win 1st Place.  In other instances, won 3rd place more often, but nothing at all once.  So it is up to you, but it can be done!  Now certain if it is the same for the Switch version, however.

Had a terrible time collecting enough Lumber for ANYTHING, to be honest.  It is random though, whatever lands on your farm, so if you are willing to reload again and again, you probably could obtain enough Lumber for the initial items and Requests.  I anticipated the Fishing Rod and Hammer by two days by simply buying them before the Requests were made, as I wanted to begin collecting Material Stone and fish and always need money.  I am not certain what triggers the option to purchase a Forge, but I got it earlier than I ever had before.

You have to make an Order for the Cooking Contest and one for the Bean Throwing Contest as well or they will not occur.  I personally hate the bean throwing but all of these are important.

When you are awakened in the night by Venti's moaning, go see her in the morning to unlock the Water Ruins.  Volkanon will break the barrier, so you can take the path.  You will find new Monsters now that will make it worth your while to build a Monster Barn and possibly buy the Brush.  These are the Monsters that give Milk and Eggs respectively.  You need to actually enter the Water Ruins to obtain a Fireball from Doug.  Veni gives you her feather charm when she tells you about the Water Ruins.  You can find a Shirt in the Hut, by the way, and a Spear in a Chest with another item I cannot recall... possibly the better Shield.

I foolishly acquired the Licence for the Forge and bought it because I wanted to forge better tools.  You can certainly gain experience and raise your levels as early as the second Week of Spring.  Making Broadswords with a single piece of Iron is useful, as it only uses 10 RP.  Remember that the Recipes often will show more than one material.  You can choose between them.  For example, for the Broadsword, it is Iron/Bronze, so use Iron, as you will be fortunate if you have a single Bronze at this stage.

So to start:

I bought the Cooking Tool from Porcoline to make Simple Dishes, and made a Bamboo Rice using Rice I found and a Bamboo Shoot from my field, adding three different grasses to raise its value points, and I was able to win the Cooking Festival.  I make most of my Turnips into Pickled Turnips and sell them or use them to replenish my HP and RP.

I focused on the Forge next to be able to make better Weapons and Tools as quickly as possible.  Start by making Broadswords again and again.

Forging Tip:
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Remember you can ADD any materials to the basic 'recipe' to improve the quality and attributes.  You need to watch the effect on the amount of RP that will be required when an extra material is added, however.  For example, make a Broadsword with one Iron.  ATK +5 DIZ +6

Add more ingredients and you can get, even at the start of the game:  ATK +8, DEF +1, M DEF +1, DIZ +6, as an example, just by using materials like Amethyst, Cheap Cloth, Stick and so on.  Look at the attributes of the items you collect.  You will not be able to use a really great item like Ambrosia's Thorns because the Difficulty Level is 30.  You basically can use, I seem to remember items that are up to 10 ABOVE your Level in any situation.  In other words, to use Ambrosia's Thorns as am additional material, your level at the Forge or Craft Station would have to be 20 at least.

12 Spring:
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Clorica's Birthday.  If you do not have the Mixer, give her an Apple.  You should have plenty of those from trophies from the Pomme Pomme Monsters.

Take the Request to build a Monster Barn.  When you accept the Request, you will be given 100 Lumber and 80 Material Stone, so you need not even collect the Materials.  When you make the Order, and speak to Eliza again,  you will receive a Brush.

Second Field
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I basically have avoided the Boss Fight in Water Ruins so far.  I did pull the switch that allowed access through the first red pillar, and I fought the four Minotaurs, but that is as far as I went to date.  I was unable to access the Summer Field because there was a boulder in the path.  Now I have access.  I believe the access is linked to the switch in the Water Ruins or to something I did there.  Would like confirmation, however.

13 Spring:
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It was only after I completed the requests for the Fertiliser Bin and the one to Mine Ore that Eliza told me that I would be able to complete 3 instead of 2 the next day and the two requests for Princess Point rewards (shipping Turnips, shipping Fish, defeating X number of Monsters, making a Delivery and so on) appeared on the Board, but it would have to wait until tomorrow.  Also a Request to raise all Friendship Levels to 1, and a little chat with Eliza.

Barrett showed up today in Venti's chamber.  I was reminded I could improve the levels of all of my gear and weapons.  Need a Crafting Table for the Accessories, and I think I might use Lumber and Material Stone on more Cooking implements first.  I have the Order for the Professional Cooking items now.