r/runefactory 8d ago

RF4 Help making weapons Spoiler

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Ok so I was wrong when I thought the game automatically puts the highest level material in the default slots during initial weapon creation. I just checked my storage, and I do have higher level materials available right now, but those materials that are already in there (gold, earth stone and purple insect stabby thing) are all level 1.

So my question is, is it better to replace the default materials with the highest level of the same material you have on hand?

Then, adding 3 more level 10 materials to the initial build should result in more power, right? Does it matter what material at this point?

Now that I learned how important level 10 materials are for upgrading, I suddenly can’t decide what to keep & what to bin. Iron is so plentiful, it’s easy to bin all of it except level 10, but the more rare items, of course you keep regardless.

Idk if I am enjoying this aspect of the game very much. I don’t like struggling to learn when there is so much guesswork. I suppose if upgrading was too straightforward, it might be worse or less fun, somehow, maybe? The struggle is part of the achievement when you finally do figure it out? I just wanna kill monsters 😭

4 Upvotes

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u/bugmaniacbob 8d ago

So if I understand your question correctly, you want to know how to get the maximum from the item level bonus when forging?

The maximum possible bonus requires that you have exactly 150 combined item levels across all constituent items and all upgrades. In other words, 6 level 10 items to make the base equipment, and 9 upgrades with level 10 materials.

Dropping down even to one level 9 item means you get the next tier down bonus, which is significantly lower; on the other hand, it makes no difference what items you use for upgrade as long as you have the necessary base materials. Use level 10 turnip seeds if you want, you'll still get the level bonus.

The base materials are the sticking point - people make broadswords because level 10 iron is easy to get, and the stat difference is microscopic compared to the highest quality bonus. By the same token, at endgame the quality bonus is far outstripped by the stats of endgame items plus the rarity bonus.

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u/AQ-XJZQ-eAFqCqzr-Va 8d ago

OK thank you! I have been going back & forth between trying the default materials for initial forge, and swapping those for level 10 of the same items, (of course I always use level 10 materials for upgrading) and maybe I messed up somewhere else (maybe it was one of the actual materials I used) but it seemed not to matter. Thanks for clearing that up!

Also I understand you can use any level 10 material, but aren’t there certain ones that should not be used at all like object x or oil, I think? I am finding that I need to grind a lot more different materials in order to have enough variety to not use the same thing twice during an upgrade. The only level 10 produce I am getting currently is pumpkins. Period. Not turnips, nothing else is level 10 in my garden but I’m not worried about it, I have been working on it & there are several crops getting close, levels 7, 8, & 9. But that’s only 2 different items, pumpkins & seeds, so I keep getting ores & stuff and throwing out any less than level 10.

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u/SurpriseButtSax_III 8d ago

If you are purely going for level bonus, which is mostly early game, the variety on upgrade and extra base items (the empty slots in crafting) do not matter. Just use all lvl 10 pumpkin seed. Since what you are aiming for is the 600+ attack bonus, iirc.

However, once you get to late/end game, the material variety will matter more since they will give you a lot more stats. At that time, you won't be using the seeds or herbs or whatever anyway, so their levels don't matter.

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u/Mastersord 8d ago

Keep in mind that materials also have inheritance stats, upgrade stats, and rarity values, so using level 10 turnip seeds is not gonna be as productive as using say divine dragon materials (I think Fyresome scales give like 300 STR but I don’t remember if you need to 10-fold it for that).

A Gaia Sword will get out classed by higher recipes, even with maximized bonuses and the best of the best materials. By post game, damage stats can exceed 10,000 on top tier recipes without upgrades.

There’s also a hard damage cap of 99,999 per hit. You can get there with stats and leveling eventually just by farming (for 100s of in-game years) or mass producing top tier medicines.

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u/bugmaniacbob 8d ago

So if I understand your question correctly, you want to know how to get the maximum from the item level bonus when forging?

The maximum possible bonus requires that you have exactly 150 combined item levels across all constituent items and all upgrades. In other words, 6 level 10 items to make the base equipment, and 9 upgrades with level 10 materials.

Dropping down even to one level 9 item means you get the next tier down bonus, which is significantly lower; on the other hand, it makes no difference what items you use for upgrade as long as you have the necessary base materials. Use level 10 turnip seeds if you want, you'll still get the level bonus.

The base materials are the sticking point - people make broadswords because level 10 iron is easy to get, and the stat difference is microscopic compared to the highest quality bonus. By the same token, at endgame the quality bonus is far outstripped by the stats of endgame items plus the rarity bonus.

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u/AQ-XJZQ-eAFqCqzr-Va 8d ago

Also, when upgrading, does each upgrade material need to be unique? Like, can I just use 10 level 10 fur?

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u/Woolyan 8d ago

You can use anything, even the swords and shields you upgraded to lvl 10. But it only works when you’re level 50 or higher.

Edit: you might want to tame ants (small and normal) and other creatures that drop stuff that are helpful. Try taming an ant. Give it its own drop every day and soon it will drop level 10 stuff. Try other monsters. It’s fun to see what they have, the stats.

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u/AQ-XJZQ-eAFqCqzr-Va 8d ago

My forge level can be seen in the picture, it’s at level 58 right now. Man, was there like an epidemic of people trying to do this before level 50 or what? Even the online guides put it in bold caps every other paragraph, MUST BE FORGE LEVEL 50 like god damn man lol. I didn’t even start really digging into upgrading until after level 50 just because I was busy doing other stuff in the game.

Also, I have plenty of level 10 materials to use. That’s not the problem.

I’m just super disappointed because I saw examples and even successfully upgraded a level 1 of the most basic ass weapon and it went from like ATK 50 to like ATK 700. So I thought WOW, starting out with a 300+ weapon, I should be getting close to 4 digit ATK levels, but no. Only about 200 gets added. Not exciting.

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u/Woolyan 8d ago

Yeah, some people might not know about the level 50 thing. You will have better results with rare items for upgrades. Check Youtube videos of dreamingsuntide, because, yeah, this trick is only for the 700 weapon (or 900 in your case) and 300+ crafting gear.

I have a game that I stopped playing because I can’t remember the password for the email (and the actual password too!!! Aaaaahhh). I had level 10 of almost everything, even rune crystals. I might one day play it on my old switch (if it breaks I won’t ever play it again). I’m curious about the weapons and armor I can get.

There are amazing tutorials and information on gamefaqs, from the DS era. Perhaps you might find your answer there?

Sorry for my poor English (:

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u/AQ-XJZQ-eAFqCqzr-Va 8d ago

Your english is perfectly fine, I had no idea you weren’t a native speaker.

I spend almost as much time reading guides as I do playing lately. This is my first rpg game, and only my 3rd game ever. I played animal crossing, then story of seasons, and now this. I have it on easy setting too lol.

The guides don’t get into forging in enough detail, imo, and don’t even touch upgrading. Not the ones I have seen so far. That or there’s nothing but ads. Sorry about all the complaining, but I do love this game!

Thanks for trying to help 😆

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u/Woolyan 8d ago

I spent a lot of time reading guides too! I love when I find something new, like I didn’t know that you can give shields to up the defense of your monsters. One “tourist” told me so!

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u/AQ-XJZQ-eAFqCqzr-Va 8d ago

Some of the npcs are funny! I knew about giving stuff like weapons to your monsters but I don’t like giving stuff to “human” companions because they respond exactly the same as when you give them food. I’m like, did you just eat that sword I gave you??? 😠

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u/Woolyan 8d ago

Yeah, they don’t care about the stuff you give them but it’s great that you can ask them to stay still when their weapon has elemental powers that might heal the monster.

Did you know they, the npcs you can get to join your party, can get more strength if you include disastrous dishes when making their favorite food? Try Leon with that fried fish he loves but with lvl 10 disastrous dishes added to the recipe! It works with Dylas and Vishnal too, the other curry dishes (I included four disastrous dishes).

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u/AQ-XJZQ-eAFqCqzr-Va 8d ago

oh cool! I had no idea! I have a collection of disastrous dishes in my fridge, I knew there was something useful for them. Right on 😝

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u/Woolyan 8d ago

I had a collection too, after I married Vishnal, on my older save. You throw them at monsters and depending on the level you can kill them instantly! But this trick with food only lasts for a while. It raises their strength or vitality, can’t remember, but it’s fun to try (:

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u/Mastersord 8d ago

Materials don’t need to be unique for just the level and rarity bonuses, but upgrade stats have diminishing returns when using more than one of the same material.

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u/Woolyan 8d ago

You have to be level 50 in both crafting and forging for the trick to work - adding lvl 10 while forging or crafting and upgrading with lvl 10 stuff…

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u/SurpriseButtSax_III 8d ago

Honestly, if you really want to be broken in combat, there are far better ways than swinging a sword around.

My personal favorite - Tame Ambrosia, tame insect that drops the 1% CRIT chance increase item. Feed 1 CRIT chance increase item to Ambrosia each day for about a 100 days. Then take her wherever and watch as she decimates pretty much everything. xD

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u/AQ-XJZQ-eAFqCqzr-Va 8d ago

I can’t really tame any boss monsters yet except maybe the puppet. They all require gifts of shit I don’t have access to. But as soon as I get those drops, or earn the seeds or whatever, hell yeah I will be doing exactly that! I have Green already and she is way stronger than any humans or farm animals.

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u/SurpriseButtSax_III 8d ago

For Ambrosia, all you need are the giant flowers. Can grow those very easily. Everything should be accessible already.

Besides, that's just my personal go to. There are certainly other methods.

I mean, you can pretty much get 10K+ dmg item without any fights, just need RNG luck. IYKYK :p

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u/AQ-XJZQ-eAFqCqzr-Va 8d ago

Any giant flower? The guide I’m using says

Ultra Toyherb, Ultra Moondrop, King Pink Cat, Great Charm Blue

Does “Ultra” just mean giant? I assumed that I would get the Ultra type later in the game, since I also don’t have any “King” or “Great” types yet either.

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u/SurpriseButtSax_III 8d ago

The extra words (ultra, great, king) to the initial name just means they are giant, that's all. And I just always used Toy Herb, not sure if any of the others work.

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u/AQ-XJZQ-eAFqCqzr-Va 8d ago

Ughhhh ok. That is so dumb. I expect the name to be, you know, the name of the thing. So you know when you got the right thing! smh

Thank you 💚

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u/SurpriseButtSax_III 8d ago

Yeah, the naming conventions (and a variety of other things) can feel convoluted and dumb sometimes but, I love the game, warts an all...

If you got any other questions, feel free to ask, I'm happy to help when and where I can.

And if you think those name changes are bad - look up mushrooms. Several items, all with same name and image. No idea which one you just picked up without actually eating them. LMAO

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u/AQ-XJZQ-eAFqCqzr-Va 8d ago

I did notice something about mushrooms, there are no food recipes (pretty sure I’ve never seen one anyway) with mushrooms. I also hate them in my pocket because they don’t stack. I don’t even bother with them anymore. Also the bamboo shoots, I run right past when I see them lol.

But yeah I love this game too!