Monster Rancher Helpdesk

[RPGD]

Lo, persons.

With the recent spread of MR throughout the community, I have taken it upon myself to answer any Monster Rancher-related questions as well as provide breeding advice to help you get the most out of your battle-thirsty companions, including helping you choose which breed is right for you.

If anyone feels like they're in need of help in any matter, don't hesitate to ask, no matter which MR game you may own.

Happy Ranching!

[d2king10]

Hmm, whenever i go exploring on season changes, i hardly EVER find anything good that raises my stats. Is it because im still in the first area? Also, how can i increase my monsters rate of blocking attacks? Thanks.

[Caciss]

How do I get new areas?

How long does a monster generally live.

Some tips?

[hitogoroshi]

Note: All advice pertains to Monster Rancher 4. I've never played MR3.
How do I get new areas?

Raising your breeder rank. You get it to C by beating King Shiden in Togle Caves. Then you will be able to go to a new town and, after several return trips and an herb picking trip in Togle caves you will earn Kalaragi Jungle.
Just follow the story.

How long does a monster generally live.

3 and a half years-ish. You will be told when your monster is getting too old to fight.

Some tips?

Never raise two monster the same rank. Meaning, when you get an E class monster, don't raise another E class mosnter until your first one gets to D class. Idealy, it should only take 1-2 Offical tournaments to rank up.

[Chuck]

I still haven't figured out how to learn new skills in either MR3 or 4. Well, I've only had 4 for a couple hours now lol.

[d2king10]

Well i figured out how on MR3...when you are exploring, find a crystal peice, and then find the ancient monster, and he will teach you a new skill if you give him the crystal. :D

[RPGD]

Hitogoroshi: What the blooming hell are you doing? This isn't your help topic!

Okay, Caciss, to gain access to the other regions in MR3, you simply have to gain popularity in those regions by competing in tourneys. It won't take too long. The easiest to gain access to is Kalaragi (jungle) and the hardest is Goat (ocean). You should be able to gain access to all the regions by the end of your first monster's lifetime or so.

In MR3, Monsters generally live for 3-5 years. The lifespans differ from breed to breed, though. Battles reduce lifespan marginally, and tiredness and stress can reduce lifespan as well if not managed properly. For reference, the longest-living monster is Plant.

As a monster ages, it goes through a few growth stages in which your monster increases in size and/or improves in performance. The first is the transition from infancy to childhood. You'll notice a large increase in stat boosts from training. The second growth spurt leads to adulthood, which is the most important time of your monster's life by far, as training is most effective during this period. Finally, it goes into the elder stage, in which stat boosts from training taper gradually until they reach infancy levels. Your monster should have a year or less of life left when it reaches this stage. After that, your monster passes on to the great beyond. Keep a hanky handy.

For tips, at this stage I recommend you train your monster in the stats it's good at early in it's life, and raising the stats it's not too good at during prime, in which stat boosts peak, memorize the locations of the attack-training "Noisy Halls" because they're always in the same place, and balance likes and nutrition at feeding time to keep a monster's stress low.


D2king: The special items you find in ventures which boost stats pretty much varies. Sometimes you can find a good ammount, sometimes you cannot. The real thing to focus on during ventures, besides getting nice stuff, is to find bits to learn new techs and train them via the Noisy Halls. There are 4 bits, each one corresponding to a certain region. In Morx, you can find all four types, but in the other regions you'll always find a certain type of bit.

There're certain places in which Fleria will say she has a bad feeling. If you search there, you may find a bit, saucer stone pieces which can generate monsters if you lack CDs, or a battle. If your monster is of a high enough rank, you just might be able to battle a secret monster. If you beat the secret monster, you'll get an Orb, which yeilds the best techniques your monster can learn.

Once your monster gets stronger, look out for the Free-For-All tourneys; they have stones as prizes which can be used to teach far more powerful techs than the bits, but more costly Guts-wise than the Orbs.

Just remember that you can carry only one bit/orb/stone at a time. Go to the Lord monster of the region during ventures (he'll always be in the same place) to teach them to your monster.

Also, the blocking is influenced by the Speed stat. The higher your speed, the more often you block. It's identical to dodging attacks.

Pandemonium: You gain new techs in MR4 by going on ventures and leveling up. You'll get a full tutorial on that once you gain access to ventures.

[Chuck]

There're certain places in which Fleria will say she has a bad feeling. If you search there, you may find a bit, saucer stone pieces which can generate monsters if you lack CDs, or a battle.No wonder I never found any, I always didn't search when she said that. Figured it'd be something super bombad.

Also, is there not a way to combine monsters in MR3? Gamestop didn't have the manual so I don't know much about the game.

[RPGD]

You cannot combine monsters in this game, as technology hadn't reached that level during the Tochikan era. However, there are other means of getting stronger monsters and new monster subtypes without using disks.

You should be able to find out by the end of your monster's lifetime, but if you're curious, check if your monster is native to Morx (forest), and if it isn't, feed it the local Morx food regularly (every region has one unique food item).

[TheHonorableRyu]

Dr. Prog,

What's your favorite MR monster?

[RPGD]

That would be Suezo.

http://www.tecmo.co.jp/product/monster/jpg/suezo.jpg

Would you like an elaboration?

[TheHonorableRyu]

Sure! You can tell me what's good about him.

[RPGD]

Suezo, former mascot of the series, is an odd breed of monster that has been around since the very begining. It is regarded as one of the series' most popular monsters due to it's amusing human-like expressions.

Suezo's greatest assets would be it's sky high intelligence and excellent accuracy. However, Suezo isn't primarily a powerhouse. Rather, it's forte is to lower the opponent's guts to rock bottom and keep it there. It has a number of effective guts-draining moves which consist of psychic power, licking and the like, but it also has some very powerful Int moves for great damage when necessary. In addition, it has a nice array of Pow. moves which are quite effective as well.

While it's forte may be withering, it's a very versatile monster, especially in the latter two games. It can be a tank-like monster to weigh the opposition down, a physical/special sweeper to knock out monsters before they know what hit them, a combo king which can pull of a number of moves consecutively without giving the opponent a chance to strike, plenty of applications. Choose whichever you wish.

However, Suezo is a rather difficult monster. It tends to be lazy, mischevious, undiciplined and hard to raise, therefore unrecommended for first-timers. If you want to get the most out of Suezo, you have to be very firm so as to keep it in line.

If you can handle it, though, Suezo is a great monster to use.

[Chuck]

How come all my monsters are always chubby?

I am loving both MR3 and 4 but I like 4 more. It feels more active to me, 3 starts to feel like you're doing the same thing over and over, which of course you are in both but the extras in 4 (Ventures, customizing your ranch, more characters popping in for a visit, etc.) add a lot of variety.

[RPGD]

Have you been moving abouts the regions in MR3? Each one has a storyline. What Rank are you at?

Also, monsters get chubby if they don't battle much and you feed them rather filling foods often. It's not really a bad trait. It lowers damage done somewhat, yet slightly decreases the chances of avoiding attacks.

[Chuck]

I haven't gotten out of Morx yet on MR3, I have more trouble with the battles on that one. I haven't gotten out of the first area on MR4 either but I haven't had it for long but it still feels like I've done a lot more stuff.

And yeah I always feed my monster the food with the highest nutrition, I thought that was what you were supposed to do lol. But it's good to know that having a chubby monster isn't a big problem. Does it shorten its life span at all?

[RPGD]

Oh, not at all, really.

Also, I feel I must note that MR3 is the only game in which you can train in multiple locales, as there weren't actual ranches back then. In all the other games, your ranch is permanent. However, you are able to expand it to accomodate bigger monsters and, in the case of MR4, more monsters.

[Vonwert]

I popped in my Tenchi ps1 game and got me a Suezo with the pony tail and spoiled attitude.

Doing pretty good.

[RPGD]

Ooh, Sueiko. I never raised that one!

[Valkysas]

Using MR3, Misadventures of Tron Bonne spawned something for which there was "no information on", and thus the guy would not regenerate it. what do I need to do in order to be able to use it?

[RPGD]

Hold onto that one. It regenerates an extremely powerful secret breed.

In order to unlock that breed, you must complete the Brilla (arctic) storyline once you gain access to the region (To get into Brilla, you must compete in as many Brilla tournaments as possible).

[Nixon]

I used a stooges DVD and got the octopus thing. I like how it looks, especially when it flies around the viewing area.

I won the local tournament, eventually. When should I move up to another tournament/move to a new locale? Are there any benefits to staying put? Can I train more than one monster at a time?

[RPGD]

'Bout time!

In MR, there are specific monster ranks; E, D, C, B, A and S, from lowest to highest. These are an indication of a monster's battling level. Depending on your monster's rank, you can compete in equivalent Official and Unofficial tournaments.

All monsters start out at rank E. In order to increase a monster's rank, you must compete in the Official Tournament (Tochikan Festa in MR3), which takes place every three months. There's one for each rank. If you win, your monster's rank goes up, allowing you to compete in higher-ranking tourneys. The higher ranks have much tougher opponents, especialy after rank B.

Once you beat the Official Rank S, your monster is eligible to compete in the Major 4; The champion tournaments. In MR3, there's the Great 5; region-specific tourneys even tougher than the Official Rank S. When you beat one, your monster becomes the champ of that region.

Beat them all and, well, you'll see.

Also, some species, like Durahan, cannot be unlocked until you've raised a monster to a certain rank.

Just remember; when your monster goes up in rank, you cannot enter it in the lower-ranking tourneys anymore. So make sure your monster is strong enough so as not to be overwhelmed by the new rank. I learned it the hard way many, many times.

As for the locales, each one has different training facilities. Some cater better to certain species of monsters than others. Also, every region has a different set of rivals and a special storyline which may or may not unlock certain secret breeds.

If your monster isn't native to the region, feeding it the local foods may cause it to adapt to it, changing it's subtype. Unlike the other games, Tochika didn't have the technology to combine monsters, so monsters are classified by region (i.e: Hengar: Hengar/Takrama and Metanix: Hengar/Brilla).

Also, as I mentioned earlier, you can get different tech bits and orbs depending on the region you're in.

You don't have to worry about commitment to a certain region, either. You can change on the fly anytime.

Regarding raising multiple monsters at once, it isn't possible in MR3. However, you can freeze a monster you're currently raising and use a different one until you wanna get back to your previous beastie.

In MR4, though, you can raise up to five monsters at a time.

[Chuck]

Do the monsters have gender? Is it individual or species specific, for instance there doesn't seem to be such a thing as a male Pixie or female Golem but some species like Rabbit seem to have males and females. And if there is gender is there any way to tell which a monster is before you name it?

[RPGD]

Actually, there are no specific genders for the monsters at all. However, some male-looking monsters may have feminine characteristics If they have a female-y monster's subtype. If it looks female, by gravy, give it a female name. And vice-versa.

[Nixon]

Why do those jelly/pudding monsters always kick so much ass? I really loathe those types of monsters, since they always seem to win.

How can I avoid fighting monsters while looking for earthlight? Sometimes I can beat them but it takes all the ran ran and you get absolutely nothing for winning. Seems like a waste of time.

[Chuck]

I love puddingel in MR4 just for the fan dance he does when he's happy and that he turns into a motorcycle during adventures. Does he eventually get the ride ability or is it just for looks?

[RPGD]

Well, now, Jell's a pretty cool monster. However, it's not one of those cheap types. Though it is a fun monster to raise and has a cult following. I'd say you're probably unlucky when it comes to Jells.

:wily

Seriously, though... It's Int. attacks are pretty powerful, and it's Def is quite high, so you should try to mow it down as quickly as possible by striking with soft, accurate attacks with a big attack thrown in somewhere. And steer clear of it's Jell Cannon.

Regarding the Venture battles, yes, they aren't very beneficial. Except, of course, when fighting a monster at a bad feeling spot when your monster is Rank C or above (Or has a high enough battle sense), since those monsters drop tech orbs if you beat them.

The only way you can avoid dealing with the Venture battles would be by saving beforehand and resetting/reloading should you get into an encounter, or simply by spending most of your Ran Ran with the Noisy Halls and bad feeling spots, searching other areas sporadically to decrease the chance of your getting into a fight.

As a note, the Noisy Halls, bad feeling spots and Lord monster locations are the same each time. For maps, head for http://www.legendcup.com

In the case of MR4, yes, Jell does gain a riding ability.

[Chuck]

I spent the last couple days taking all my CDs and DVDs to the MR4 shrine. I don't have a very big collection but I've unlocked 59 monsters. I love that the MR4 book tells you how many you've gotten out of the total. I gotta catch 'em all. I have a couple questions. It seems like every CD-rom gives me MushTan. Is that true for all? And what's the deal with the ones where he said the monster couldn't be created because something was bothering me?

[RPGD]

Mushtan, a fine monster in it's own right, is a monster that is generated if the game cannot read a disk for whatever reason. Are the CDs you used PC disks? If so, that may be the problem, as MR3 & 4 tend not to read those without the aid of an old PS2 USB mod device called the "S-Box". If you can find that, you can regenerate monsters from PC CDs.

As for the monster that cannot be unlocked because of your psychological state, have you noticed any monsters from previous MR games that haven't turned up? That monster would happen to be Mocchi.

Why? Take another look at Mocchi's description in the instructions booklet; the last line says "Unfortunately, Phayne dosen't get along with them".

You'll unlock it as the story progresses.

[hitogoroshi]

Hey, I haven't got Evo yet, but I have a question: Can you raise more then one at a time, like in MR4? I find it fun to roll out a new rank E when I get my other to rank C or so...can it be done?

[Valkysas]

when I put MMX7 in MR4, it told me something was wrong with my brain (or something like that), and to try again later. Was the game calling me retarded like I suspect?

[HolyPhoenix]

This game just keeps getting better. First your monsters grow old and die. Now it can call people retarded.

Anyway for my question. How does the two player work on evo? Is that just where you can fight a friends monsters?

[RPGD]

In MREvo, there are no ranked tournaments. Tourneys are more in lieu of plot devices in this game. The emphasis is on Showtime, adventures and the Guild, where you take on missions.

However, you can indeed raise up to five monsters at a time. You're the monster supervisor, so while you only get one personal monster, you can assign monsters to the other staff members and tell them how to raise them. Basically, it's no different than MR4 in that respect.

Regarding MR4 calling you retarded, it's because the disk gives you a Mocchi. And your character doesn't get along with Mocchis very well because of something odd that happened in the past. So while Phayne is knowledgable enough in his studies at the academy to unlock even Dragon and Joker, he can't unlock Mocchis. It'll take a little while before you get un-retarded.

And yeah, Vs. Mode in MREvo is 1P Vs. 2P. There isn't a CPU option because of the more strategy-oriented battles (You're controlling three monsters at exactly the same time).

[Chuck]

Alls I know is MREvo means I don't have to go out and buy a rythm game now because I can get all my "Dang these slow fingers!!!" fun from it. Practically every disc I put in (okay actually like 2 out of the 4 I've tried so far) that Nayuta chick said she can't use it yet. Is it like MR4 where it's a monster I can't get until after some part of the story or are there just a bunch of monsters that are blocked off since it's so early on?

[RPGD]

It's a story thing. Nayuta isn't experienced enough to unlock everything yet, so you have to wait for key story points before she can shrine certain breeds.

With the exception of Hengar. You find a deactivated Hengar's head in the factory dungeon in the second chapter. It's not hard to miss, so pay attention.

The locked breeds in MREvo are Maya, Hengar, Durahan and Joker.

[hitogoroshi]

Well, I'm doing fairly well at chapter two. Besides Tico's Maya, I have a main raiden/sub durahan, a main dragon/sub ? with "I <3 OPM" on his chest, and a main golem/sub raiden.
I miss offical tournaments, though.

[Riotsword]

I haven't played much of MR4, but I'm still puzzled as to how I can create new monsters. Every time I go to the shrine and select "Create", the old man says "You are training a monster right now" or something like that. I seem to remember being able to create right off the bat in MR3.

Do I have to wait until after a certain story part happens? And, is that the same with adventuring, buying items, etc. etc.?

[RPGD]

Your ranch can currently hold only one monster, that being the Garu they shrined for you. When your ranch is at capacity, you can't shrine any more monsters until you have space.

You'll get an expansion after winning the Official E tournament, which will allow you to train up to three monsters at a time, and increase the number of training gadgets you can have on your ranch.

Alternatively, you can go to the Association once it's open (This will happen very shortly) to retire your Garu so you can shrine monsters. Keep in mind that unlike previous games, frozen monsters can not be unfrozen.

Since MR4 is more story-driven than the previous entries, a number of game elements will be available to you as the story progresses, accompanied by tutorials. You'll know when you'll be able to do what evetually.

[Riotsword]

Keep in mind that unlike previous games, frozen monsters can not be unfrozen.
So why freeze them in the first place? For combining them?

[RPGD]

Precisely. Also, you can actually choose which monster you want out of the combination, instead of MR1 and 2's random element.

[Vonwert]

Alrighty, I got a question for someone who is going to start playing Evo.

I want a CD monster. Now I would like a Hengar, but I read that you can't start with one. What is a good monster to start with until I get that Hengar's head you talked about?

[RPGD]

The Piroro you start with is a nice monster. Golems, Garus, Raidens, Mews and Plants are good starting monsters, too.

Or, if you can find one, and are willing to take the risk of raising a somewhat advanced monster, a Zan.

[hitogoroshi]

So, I'm in Grabad, got the Henger head and all that jazz. Anywho, I assembled this really awesome gadget, the red egg type. But, I can't assign it to anyone. What am I doing wrong, exactly?

[RPGD]

Not all monsters can use all gadgets. In your monsters' stats screen, you can see what they can and cannot use. In a nutshell, it seems that none of your monsters are compatible with that gadget.

[hitogoroshi]

Wow, that was kinda a stupid mistake on my part. Thanks, RPGD.

Anywho, is this also the MREvo talking about thread? As many people are getting it, and Monster Rancher games are fun to discuss, there should be one: if this isn't, I'll edit this next part away.

[RPGD]

There's an MREvo topic in the Video Games forum. You can post your anecdotes there.

[hitogoroshi]

So noted.
Whats your advice for training in new monsters? I mean, I just got Lambert to join, but I don't know how to make his monster not useless in comparison to my first generation monsters. How would you advise training all 5 your mosnters well?

[RPGD]

Your other monsters are much older, granted, but by this part of the game you can get some very nifty gadgets that your younger monsters couldn't take advantage of. Just keep training them the same way you'd train the others; boosting their motivation and having them perform, whilst going on adventures ever so often. It'll be useful once the other monsters get old, since you'll be able to adventure and make plenty of cash still.

Because the training in MREvo is so hands-off, that's the best way to go with it.

[Red Dragon]

I still hate that about EVO, that it is hands off, I was sooo confused when I started playing.