Monster Rancher Advance (GBA) version 0.5 FAQ by Greg Colombo (GJ) (cubbies984@activatormail.com, cubbies984@yahoo.com) Last updated 6/30/03 Copyright Greg Colombo, 2002-2003. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction & Version History II. The Beginning III. Daily Life - Progression of Time - The Main Menu - Events IV. Training V. Battling - Tournament Types - Overview of Combat - Overview of Preparation - Strategies VI. Winning Ridiculously Quickly -- A Walkthrough to S-Class VII. Compendium a. Compendium of Monsters and Passwords b. Compendium of Skills c. Compendium of Items d. Compendium of Characteristics e. Compendium of Opponents f. Calendar VIII. Miscellaneous Notes and Strategies IX. Cheats X. Closing ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I. INTRODUCTION I needn't introduce you to Monster Rancher Advance because I don't doubt that you have some means, legal or not, of playing it and have looked at it and sort of understand what's going on. This FAQ is an attempt to be comprehensive about the game and different ways of playing it. Before you read it, it is important to understand the following: 1) I have no immediate means of PvP battles, so I have no idea what strategy goes into them, 2) This is going to be horribly incomplete for a long, long time, and 3) I am not really sure about some of my information because I haven't been very scientific in collecting it. But you should take it as gospel anyway because a) I have a good memory, and b) I'm a pretty good guesser, as my standardized test scores show. With 440 monsters in 20 different categories there will be lots of things to list in the Compendium, and it will take a while to assemble. But you can help. If you have information about an item or battle that I seem to be missing, e-mail it to me at cubbies984@activatormail.com. (You can also do this to confirm or question other submissions.) You will, of course, get full credit and my undying gratitude. (Yes, that's a new account. You may still contact me at my Yahoo! account but you stand a strong chance of being lost in the wave of spam. Activatormail is very good at keeping spam out of my 'box, so e-mail me there if you can. Thanks.) NEW RULE about Submissions to the Monster Compendium: A number of you have sent me passwords. You are wonderful people. I love you all. HOWEVER, it would be GREAT if you could ALSO send me the parentage and the number of each password you send, so I don't have to look it up myself (because I basically have to duplicate your work to get everything working properly.) Thanks again. Note that this FAQ is copyright Greg Colombo (that's me), 2002-2003. It was intended as a work for individual noncommercial use (so you can't go off and start selling it). Furthermore, for the time being, I have chosen to place restrictions on the distribution of this FAQ. As of version 0.1, ONLY http://www.gamefaqs.com/ is allowed to distribute the FAQ, as I do not currently have a website to put it on. You may request permission to use the FAQ but until it is more complete I doubt that anyone else will receive it. Your cooperation with these terms is greatly appreciated. =============== VERSION HISTORY =============== version 0.1 (Not published) - Beginning of the FAQ with almost no information at all. Some training techniques, but not much else; still playing the game and writing down everything I discover. version 0.2 (Hopefully published - if you're reading it, clearly it is) - Beginning of the Compendium, which will hopefully become very complete in a few months, weeks, years, whatever. I considered this a separate version because I thought about just uploading the training stuff and leaving a placeholder for the Compendium...but waited a version and put in the foundation instead. version 0.25 (Not published) - A couple of mistakes fixed - talked about feeding, which I didn't do after promising to do it, and added a small point on monster loyalty to the Battles section. version 0.30 (Published) - Saw some slight improvement to the monster section of the Compendium. My current goal is to plug in combinations until I find at least one password for every monster. I will take my inspiration from whatever is convenient to me at the time. Then I'm going to have to go back and quantify it all and index it by type...*shudder* Hopefully this will get us much closer to version 1 or 2. (It's also going to keep me sane - I'll be having a LOT of fun filling out this section...) Also using this data to try to flesh out some of the Characteristics. BONUS UPDATE to the Skills section. version 0.35 (Published after some delay) - After distracting myself with exams and some old games (FAQs for Mordor: The Depths of Dejenol and Amulets & Armor coming soon!) I decided to dust this FAQ off, because you all need it. Added information to the Compendium (again, and again, and again) and updated a couple of things about random events. THANK YOU to my current contributors. version 0.36-0.37 (Published shortly after version 0.35) - Mordor for the first half of the afternoon, MRA for the second half. Fixed various things and added to the Compendium some more with a couple dozen new monster entries. The going is slow, but...you do what you can. Reference Jimeous' FAQ if you are desperate for monster codes. (These versions were continuously created as I kept going from version to version without posting as I added more codes. Current project is to understand more about combination and characteristics and release this information in a version 0.5; to do that, I'll have to start over again, but them's the breaks...fortunately my brother is generous with his game for this project...) version 0.40 (Not published) - Found the raw in-game memory addresses (with the help of an emulator) for certain things such as active monster statistics, active monster loyalty, and money in the bank. As soon as I convert these to Gameshark/Codebreaker codes they will be useful to you, but until then you'll have to fend for yourselves...I have put said addresses and values in the new Cheats section in case anyone wants to use them. Also did some updating to the Compendium again... version 0.41 (not published) - After six or seven months off I decided it might be time to get more of this FAQ done so I don't have to feel guilty about leaving an unfinished product. Starting from scratch to attempt to bring you some new insight and information. This version includes a new section that details how I reached S-Class with an hour of free time and some luck - Suezo + INT + Suezo Beam = quick wins, more or less. There are also a few additional pieces of information, a few miscellaneous edits, and a couple of new entries in the password compendium. version 0.5 (published) - Wanted so badly to work on another FAQ that I decided it was about time I finished this one. Finished the item and characteristic compendiums, and added some skills data. I decided to cancel the compendium of opponents, since your ultimate goal is to achieve a form of immortality anyway, and at some point it shouldn't really matter who you're stacked up against. ========================= CURRENT COMPENDIUM STATUS ========================= Version 0.5 -Monsters & Passwords: 15.6% complete (more than 1/10 of the way there!) -Skills: 20% complete -Items: 100% complete! -Characteristics: 100% complete! -Calendar: 100% complete! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- II. THE BEGINNING: How to Start a New Game I'm very good at this because I've done it a few times :-P When you start a new game and get past all of the opening fluff you'll have to use Tablet Regeneration (see Section VI[a]) to create your first monster. As I understand it a commonly asked question is "So what should I create?" Well... Early in the game your goal is clearly to win tournaments. You win tournaments by winning battles, and you win battles by taking off more HP than your opponent takes from you. I feel that starting out in Monster Rancher - for the inexperienced, anyway - is a lot like starting out in chess: adopt an aggressive, attacking style and play the game from there. With this in mind I would suggest a member of the Golem or Suezo family; in my most recent start the simple tablet code "61" got me a Golem that ended up beating S-class before being retired into coaching. Both of these families have an inherently high 'attack' statistic - Golems have POW, Suezos INT - and reasonable attacks to use with them. So the codes '61' or '67' would be decent starting choices. Matthew Wheatley suggests "Pabs" as a starting code as this gets you a special White Moch monster (Mocchi * Special). I tried this once and didn't like it; Mocchi don't tend to have superior combat abilities (but they can take a LOT of hits), as far as I can tell. You might want to try it if you want something fresh. Now you need to know how to train the thing to be good in a fight...you should definitely continue to the next couple of sections. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- III. DAILY LIFE A standard week at the ranch progresses like this: 1) The week begins, possibly with some sort of EVENT, such as you getting a piece of mail, a stray monster fight, or Ayase bringing you an advertisement for a discount at the AGIMA training center. If nothing happens, nothing is wrong - continue to Step 2. 1a) If it is the first week of the month, you must decide what you will feed your monster that month. Feeding is discussed below. 2) Aroma reports on the current tiredness of your monster. There are eight levels of tiredness, discussed below. Also, if your monster is having a stress problem, it will be reported to you. 3) The main menu appears and you may choose to do any of a number of things with it, each of which will be outlined below. 4) Your selection in Step 3 is carried out, such as training or entry into a tournament. 5) The week ends and the game checks to see if it needs to deal out an event...return to step 1. ***** At some point you will be faced with the big scary Main Menu, which affords you six options. OPTION 1: TRAINING - Choosing this option will allow you to train your monster, thus increasing its vital statistics and capabilities. There are two kinds of training, light and heavy. LIGHT training, which occupies the first page, trains one specific attribute and tires your monster by one 'level' (see REST, below). HEAVY training occupies the other two pages; it trains one attribute a lot (as much as a light drill), one attribute a little, and takes a little away from a third. Heavy training tires your monster by two levels. Training can have any one of three results: 1) Failure - Your monster did not complete the training, either because it was old, inexperienced, or unlucky (or maybe all three...) It gains no stat points, and you have the option of scolding it, which you should do whenever it fails. 2) Success - Your monster completed the training 'normally' and gains stat points 'normally' as well. 3) Great!! - Your monster did exceptionally well in the training and gains extra stat points. You have the option of praising it, but I recommend against it - you don't want to spoil the little bugger. The amount of effect you get from training appears to be a function of your monster's age, its diet, the type of monster you have, and the skill of the monster doing the training. Training takes one week. OPTION 2: REST - Your monster shuts up and rests for the week. He gains no statistics, but becomes less tired, thus improving his performance. Tiredness is measured in 'fatigue levels' - nine of these exist and they progress as follows: 1) Really energetic 2) Pretty lively 3) In good shape 4) Kinda sleepy 5) Tired 6) Really worn out 7) Exhausted 8) Exhausted w/warning 9) About to collapse Rest your monsters frequently! At 'Tired' or below they lose statistics when they go into battle. Furthermore, the less rest your monster gets, the shorter its effective lifespan will be. I am not exactly sure about all the factors that detract from your monster's energy pool. This is what I know: -Light training: -1/-2 (it appears that training many times in succession causes training to be successively more draining) -Heavy training: -2 -Battle in tournament: -2/-3 (I recall seeing both - it may be a function of your monster's performance) -Special training: -3 -Rest: +4 If your monster particuarly likes Sleep, then Resting will increase its Loyalty. I think. Resting takes one week. OPTION 3: SPECIAL - Go to AGIMA for special training. There are five kinds of training. Each one raises a specific statistic a lot; all of them give a small boost to Life. Training is done by fighting another monster whose strengths are tailored to your monster's overall abilities and the type of training you are doing. As said above, there are five kinds of training, each for a different attribute, and each having a different 'theme' that you must fight within: 1) Power - Use Pow-type moves on the teacher. 2) Sense - Use Int-type moves on the teacher. 3) Technic - Use accurate moves on the teacher, i.e. have a high hit percentage at the end of the fight. 4) Speed - Spare hitting the teacher in favor of dodging his attacks. 5) Tough - Withstand the accurate onslaught of your teacher. Special training can give you a new move; the attendant reports on your chances of acquiring one before you begin the training. Typically, training your lower/lowest statistic(s) is more likely to get you new moves than training something you're already good at. (It's thought that you have to hit your trainer at least once to get a new skill, but as yet nobody has confirmed this, and there is evidence to deny it for all time.) Winning your fight is not necessary to gain statistics; indeed, you DO gain more of them when you win, and you seem to be more likely to gain a new skill if you win...but winning does not preclude statistical gain. Special training typically costs 3000 G. However, Ayase can randomly bring you an advertisement that lowers the cost to 1000 G for a certain length of time - it appears to be for about one month. Special training takes one month to complete - the week you sign up, plus the next three weeks. If special training will interfere with your tournament schedule (you will miss an Official match, or an unofficial match that you signed up for) Aroma will kindly warn you. OPTION 4: BATTLE - Brings up the Calendar of Events. The calendar is arranged as a 5x4 grid; each row corresponds to a specific class, each column to a different week. Use L1 and R1 to change months. The highlighted row is the current class of your monster; you may ONLY sign up for events in this class (you may not 'play down'). When you select an event, Aroma confirms your registration, and she will remind you a week before the event that you have chosen to register for it. While you may pre-register for any event on the calendar, you may only pre-register for one event at a time. Registration in advance is not binding, and you may choose to skip a tournament if you wish. I haven't seen any penalties for doing this. Note that there are two kinds of events, Officials and unofficials. Officials are the "AGIMA Official [Class]" events; winning one of these causes you to move up a class (see Part V). Aroma will remind you of these events a week before they occur regardless of whether you have registered for one; likewise, she will report interference with an Official if your special training overlaps one. The Battle screen also conveniently reports your monster loyalty in the lower-left corner. There is no time penalty for looking at the calendar, but participating in a tournament (see Part V) takes one week. OPTION 5: ITEM - Allows you to Use an item that you have in your inventory or visit Crow's shop to purchase an item. More information about items can be had in the Compendium. Visiting the item shop or using items incurs no time penalty. OPTION 6: TOWN - Takes you to town, where you have more options... TOWN / SHRINE: Visit the Regeneration Shrine. Here you may input a code from a Tablet (or the Compendium :) to create a monster. Alternatively, you may recreate an exact monster from your Book. If you have created a monster that you have never seen before, it gets added to your Book. If you create a monster that you have in your Book as a tablet entry, you may choose to overwrite that entry with the new one. I need to confirm this, but I am pretty sure that you are not allowed to regenerate a monster that you currently have in your possession (either with you or in hibernation - see below). UPDATE: I was informed by Goh Dong Shiun that you can recreate a monster (for sure) that is already in your book. However, this doesn't clear up whether you can create a monster that is currently in your POSSESSION; i.e., if you create a Suezo and freeze it, can you then make another Suezo and have 2 Suezos alive at the same time, regardless of book entries? UPDATE 2: I now believe that you can, in fact, freeze a monster, then regenerate one of the same type and keep that monster around too. Kind of stumbled on this one, but I'm pretty sure it's right. TOWN / AGIMA: You may Retire a monster here, sending it off to where it will never do anything again. Alternatively, you may turn a monster into a Coach (see Training, above, for a little more detail on coaches). A monster must be at least Class B before it can become a Coach. Selecting this option will allow you to replace a current Coach with a new one; it will then conduct training sessions for you. If the Coach that you are trying to replace was there at the beginning of the game and was thus supplied by Agima, replacing it will retire the old Coach. Coaches do not count as part of the pool of monsters you have 'in your possession'; therefore, you may regenerate a second monster that is the same type as one of your coaches. (Coaches DO count towards your PvP availability.) While I have little experience combining, I am generally of the opinion that it is much better to keep most monsters for combination later instead of simply letting them retire and go off to the Big Monster Ranch in the Sky. TOWN / STUDIO: Here you may Freeze/Revive and Combine monsters. Freezing a monster puts it into a state of suspended animation. It is no longer traveling with you and it cannot fight, but it does not age or lose statistics. Reviving a monster removes it from this state, and choosing to Delete a monster removes it from hibernation as if you had Retired it. Combining two monsters is rather like breeding in the other monster collection games. The two parents contribute their statistics to the baby, so stronger parents result in stronger offspring. Furthermore, each parent contributes traits; the main parent ('pedigree', to borrow a term from Dragon Warrior Monsters) contributes its first, third, and fifth traits, and the sub-parent contributes its second, fourth, and sixth traits. (Some traits will combine into super-traits - see the Compendium.) More information about combining as I become experienced with it... If a Combination results in a monster that is not currently in your Book, you can save it there and regenerate it freely at the Shrine with the attributes that it was given from its parents. (Sweet deal.) ALL of these functions take NO TIME AT ALL. They are also free, except for Combination, which costs a rather paltry sum to perform. ***** At the beginning of each week there is a possibility that a special event will occur. I have a very incomplete list of the important ones; sometimes you will just get random story fluff. -Ayase can bring you one of those discount advertisements that you'll grow to love. -Your monster can bring you some kind of item; I'm pretty sure he does this on Father's/Mother's Day at least once. I also received a Silver Cup in about my fifth or sixth year...see the Item Compendium. -You can fight a stray monster in an easy fight. -At one point Ayase came by and said that Lake Ira had some dragon take up shack there, and if I beat it, I would get 20,000 G. Sounds like a good deal, but it whooped me :-P Anyone know if this is a fixed event? UPDATE: This event appears to be random. The dragon is beatable, but you only get 200g for doing it (stupid Ayase...misreading that ad...) Thanks to contributors who let me know about this one. UPDATE 2: I think this only appears once you hit S-class, and it doesn't necessarily happen at a certain time of year. I confirm reader submissions: beating it means that you get royally gypped and only get 200g. However, you *do* receive a tablet to regenerate your own Irassie. (Not that you needed it, since that entry is in the compendium...) -There are a number of 'funny' events that do not appear to have much of an effect on the game itself; one of them has to do with whether Mardoc owns a toupee :) (This sub-section incomplete.) ***** And at the beginning of each month, you must choose what to feed your monster. Each food has three basic attributes: 1) Its cost. You pay the cost as a flat fee at the beginning of the month. This is constant for each food; Nutrient will always cost 180G regardless of how many times you purchase it. 2) Its nutrient value. Depending on what you have previously fed your monster, different foods will have different nutrient values. Naturally, this fluctuates, except for the Nutrient food item, which ALWAYS provides 4 nutrient points. 3) How much your monster likes the food. This is represented with the orange bar - your monster will usually have particular tastes which won't fluctuate very much, if it all. You should take care to feed your monster foods that have a full nutrient bar, all the time, regardless of cost - and they should have at least two Like points to build up loyalty. (This is important for training and battling, our next two sections...) Not once have I seen a situation where buying a food that met this criteria was impossible. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. TRAINING Each monster has six vital attributes that determine how it performs in combat. Pow: Your monster's physical attacking strength. Pow-type moves base their damage on this stat. Int: Cousin to Pow, but it works for Int-type moves. Acc: Your monster's accuracy. This stat does battle with your opponent's Speed to figure out what your chance of hitting it is. (The characteristic Act. View does not directly influence accuracy but makes you more likely to hit your opponent.) Spd: Your monster's combat agility. The higher this is, the better your chances of making the enemy whiff when he attacks. Def: Your monster's overall toughness and resilience. If you're hit by an attack of either type, this number is what softens the blow. Lif: Your monster's life force. This is exactly like HP in any other RPG. ...and in general, there are three ways of raising these statistics: 1) Training, which was discussed above, 2) Special training, which was also discussed above, and 3) Combat experience. When you win a tournament (and maybe a fight against a stray monster - not sure) your monster gains combat experience and has a large gain in one stat and a more modest gain in another. It's also important to note the factors that affect how much of a statistic you gain. 1) Monster age. Monsters follow a bell-shaped curve in their growth. When they are very young, they don't benefit very much from training. Eventually Aroma will give you a warning that your monster is at a time when it "grows in body and spirit"; this is the start of Monster Puberty (if you will), a period where growth is much faster. As your monster continues to age, its growth slows down and eventually stops, at which time it must be combined, deleted, or brought into coaching. 2) Monster diet - to a lesser degree than monster age. Underfed monsters don't perform as well in combat and don't gain as much from training. 3) Type of monster. Different kinds of monsters have different 'curves' that make it easier for them to develop their abilities in certain statistics. Typically you can deduce these curves just by looking at the starting stats for a monster; for example, Golems are clearly going to be good at building their strength, while Suezo are likely to have good intelligence. 4) Coach (for regular training only). The ability of a coach in the attribute that it is training directly affects the benefit you'll receive from the training. (I am, as yet, not sure about heavy training; it seems to me that a high number in all 3 statistics is good to maximize gain and minimize loss. Must check on this...) Now then...what attributes should you train to get maximum benefit? The answer to this question is a little different from what you would expect. Instead of trying to balance out your monster, train it as far as it can go in one particular statistic - Intelligence for Suezo, for example. There is a method to this madness... Your problem early in the game is that while AGIMA provides coaches for you they are not particularly stunning at their jobs. Trying to train a balanced monster will mean you'll get less-than-maximum gains across all of your stats and will find yourself with no advantage to speak of in the higher classes. Instead, train a monster up to one 999 stat, and then get him to a high enough rank to be a Coach. (You may find that you get incredible combat effectiveness from this monster - like a certain Suezo I had [yes, I'm a fanatic, I know] that had 999 Intelligence, 400 Accuracy, and Suezo Beam...he was mean...anyway...be sure that the monster gets as much money for you as possible.) Then turn him into a Coach for his 999 attribute, and repeat...this takes patience, but you'll soon be able to train (more-) balanced monsters than you were before. Special training should be undertaken frequently, but not all the time (mostly because it's expensive). Try to get in there whenever Ayase hands you a discount. Special training is the ONLY way to get new moves, and it's important to get your monster's best skills for the upper-crust tournaments. Contrary to what I said about balance above, you SHOULD train your lower stats some of the time in special training, again because this seems to give you the best chance of getting a new skill. (It's okay to train that one super-stat that you're going for, though, and I recommend doing that up to two-thirds of the time. It may also be advantageous to check the other skills to see which one affords the highest chance of learning a new skill; sometimes "it is likely" is all you're going to get for any skills. It helps to know these things so you can effectively make selections :) This method has produced some strong monsters for me so far, but I have not tried the other method of training I have heard about - freezer training. The theory behind freezer training is that there is a certain period of time in your monster's life where your monster gets maximum effectiveness from stat gains. Combat experience is probably the best way of gaining experience, because when you win a tournament, you also get money, and the tournament was free to begin with. It also only takes one week...the advantages of combat exp. over special training are clear. The problem is that between tournaments you aren't gaining combat experience and your monster is still aging. Therefore, monsters should be frozen and 'prop' monsters should be put in for them when there are no tournaments to fight. There are people on the GameFAQs BB who have gotten monsters up to 999 in every stat. I envy them. I will be in their class soon...more on raising monsters to that level in a later version. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- V. BATTLING Combat is usually done in the form of tournaments, although you can also have random battles against stray monsters or special events that lead to combat. Tournaments take either of two forms: round-robin or single-elimination. In the former, each monster fights every other monster once and gets 1 point for a win and 0 points for a loss. The monster with the most points at the end wins; if two monsters are tied, a tiebreaker is done. In the latter, each monster is assigned a first-round opponent; if it wins, it moves on to another opponent, and if it loses, it goes home unhappy. The last monster standing is the outright winner. Some of the unofficial tournaments will be single-elimination, but all the Agima Officials are 6-RR (6 monsters in a round-robin format). Winning a tournament affords you valuable cash prizes. Sometimes you will also receive some sort of Box that contains an item; the items increase in value along with your class. Your performance in a tournament also affects your monster's Fame rating. Fame seems to increase the fastest in AGIMA Officials, and you seem to gain more Fame from scoring an outright KO instead of a tiebreak, but as far as I can tell Fame has no discernable impact on your monster's performance. ***** When you actually get into combat, you need to have some idea what you're doing, so here's an overview of the battle screen. Along the top row you'll see HP bars for each monster. It's a lot like Mortal Kombat, or whatever fighting games you kids play these days. In between the two bars is the timer; when it reaches 0, the match is called, regardless of whether a monster has been knocked out. If someone's HP reaches 0, he's knocked out and loses the match. Just below that is the pretty graphical renditions of the monsters. This area is useless EXCEPT for showing a negative status affect that's afflicting your monster. Below that is the important part of the battlefield: the range indicator and the guts/hit meters. Each side has an icon and a little slider that moves back and forth along a line; the moves that you have selected (see below) will be along it, with their Guts costs listed next to them. Pushing Left and Right on the control pad will try to move you along this line; you can only use the attack that is in the current range. (Note that there is an 'extra' range to the left of the green one; it is blue, and it means that the sides have disengaged and cannot attack each other until they get closer.) Between these bars are two numbers; the ones on a blue background are Guts, and the ones on an orange background are your hit percentage. Guts serve three purposes: 1) They are required to use moves, 2) They make moves more accurate when you use them, and 3) They make your opponent's moves less accurate. They go up constantly during a fight and can be drained by an opponent's attack. The hit percentage is the theoretical probability that the attack you use will hit your opponent. I'm not sure how accurate this number is, but I have seen cases of an opponent 'defying probability' over and over again. (Usually this is the result of high Spd.; the characteristic Act. View will help you deal with this. Some monsters have moves that cause the "Caution" status on themselves; I think this also gives them an extremely high evade rate.) ***** Combat preparation basically means making sure your monster is rested and making sure that you've set yourself up to use the skills you want. Viewing your monster's data and pressing Up will bring you to the Moves screen, where you can play around with what moves go where. Each move has a number of distinguishing characteristics: 1) Range - Far, Med, or Near. Moves that are used in their natural range get a small boost to their power in combat, tend to cost fewer Guts, and tend to have better statistics than in other ranges. (This is not always the case - try playing with Suezo's PK...) 2) Type - Pow or Int. Determines which statistic is used in damage calculations. Note that Items 3-6 are graded on a scale of E-S, with E being lowest and S being highest, and A coming just before S. 3) Acc. - The inherent accuracy of the move, important in determining hit percentage in combat. 4) Damage - The relative power of the move; moves with a high Damage will take off more HP when they hit. 5) GutsDown - The ability of the move to drain Guts from the opponent. Some moves are designed to be very, very good at this and cause almost no damage at all. 6) Critical - The relative chance that this move will critically hit (lightning flashes outside the arena) and cause extra damage and Guts reduction. 7) Guts - The number of Guts it'll take to pull this move off in combat. Obviously, you want to keep your monster equipped with his most powerful skills and have 3 different ones in place at all times, preferably matched to their ranges - although a skill's grades should take precedence to its preferred range. You should only have a skill repeated if 1) you are forced to by the sheer lack of available skills, or 2) one or two of your skills is so ridiculously powerful in comparison to the others that it makes no sense whatsoever to use any other skills. Note that you have two sets of skills, so you can keep all your abilities equipped. You can switch between them in combat with the B button. (As far as I can tell the only penalty for doing this is a very slight hesitation after you change sets; during this time you can't rip off a move.) Take note that you can change skill sets during a tournament by choosing INFO and Self. ***** Combat ends in two ways. If the timer at the top of the screen reaches 0, then the battle is over, and a set of tiebreakers is used to determine the winner. The first of these, % of HP remaining, usually decides all matches. Combat also ends when one combatant loses all his HP and is thus knocked out. I have just learned through experience that when this happens (or your monster's HP gets very, very low) your monster has a chance of becoming (gasp) injured. Injury hospitalizes a monster for a certain length of time (1 week?) during which you are powerless to train it or do anything else with it. When it returns it will be as good as new. I have no idea if injury reduces the effective lifespan of a monster. ***** Combat strategy is a totally foreign idea to me. I am not ashamed of this. The better part of my combat strategy knowledge is that you have to do more damage to your opponent than your opponent does to you. I can, however, offer some basic tips: 1) You are given information, during a tournament, about your opponent's moves before you fight him. It's good to look over this if you haven't seen the opponent before. There may be specific ranges you want to keep him in - or out of - based on his moves and characteristics. 2) Play to your strengths, not against your opponent's! I can't stress this enough. Defensive play is okay if you've set up to do that (a monster with a bunch of defensive characteristics and a couple of super-accurate moves), but in general, the side that attacks WINS, and we all know that this is the goal of combat. 3) Be mindful of skills that drain Guts but don't do much damage. You can keep one on your 'backup' moves set and try to use it to gain an edge over your opponent, perhaps raising your Hit% a little bit. 4) Oh, and pay attention to elemental attacks and the characteristics of both sides. Characteristics can turn the tides of battles. They are the wild cards that keep everything interesting. 5) I neglected to mention monster loyalty in my first published version, but it is indeed important...occasionally you will see your (or the enemy's, hopefully) monster display a set of question marks. In this state your monster is distracted, rather like a Little League right fielder picking his nose because no one EVER hits to right field. He can't use any skills and he gets hit more often. The same applies to the enemy - if he gets confused, that's your chance to strike. 6) Remember: getting extremely close to the enemy and then pressing the L button will cause you to go slamming back into middle or far range - possibly to the point where you can disengage the enemy entirely. This is important if you are weaker than he is to the point where the battle will be decided entirely on the basis of who gets their powerful attack to hit first; you can simply drop out of range of everything, store up Guts, and then pop back out to launch an attack. 7) On a similar note: if you are having difficulty moving *backwards* in combat to reach your desired attack range, then try moving forwards instead and using L1. Typically, difficulty moving in one direction is accompanied by ease of motion in the other. Please submit things to this section...PLEASE. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- VI: HOW TO WIN RIDICULOUSLY QUICKLY - A Walkthrough for the Speed-Inclined Here is my advice on how to reach S-Class with speed comparable to a bullet train in a new game: 1. Start with the code '67' to get a Suezo. Suezos have naturally high intelligence and skills that complement it. 2. Skip all the tournaments until you reach your second AGIMA Official. Until that time, your primary tasks are to: a. Build the Suezo's loyalty in you through feeding it foods that have at least 3 boxes in the happiness bar filled in (I got away with Nutrients for the majority of this), and b. Build the Suezo's intelligence to unheard-of levels. 3. Compete in the Agima Official to attempt to get money and reach Class C. 4. If you win, continue to train intelligence. There is a high likelihood that, just after winning this tournament, Ayase will show up and give you a discount offer at the training center. Go there, and if you are likely to get a new skill through Sense training, do that for 1000g. 5. Train intelligence until you feel comfortable in the Class C AGIMA Official. Aim to win that, and hope you get another discount... This is the basic procedure: train intelligence and take advantage of special offers until the Suezo gets the Suezo Beam skill. Then throw that in as his "Far" attack; you should have 400+ intelligence at this point and be able to completely dominate the competition with Suezo Beam alone. This is how you win very, very quickly. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- VII. COMPENDIUM: God's Practical Joke on Man No, it ISN'T God's gift to Man. Stop whining :) In this section I hope to develop a reasonably complete list of the important things in MRA: monsters, passwords, items, combat opponents, and the like. This section will go faster if you send things to it but it will also be produced by my own research and experimentation. So don't feel OBLIGATED, but do feel GUILTY about not sending stuff in. ======================================================================= COMPENDIUM OF MONSTERS AND TABLET PASSWORDS As you know, there are 440 monsters and 20 classes thereof. One possibility for making monsters is Tablet Regeneration - in goes a word or phrase, and out pops a monster. There is a large amount of 'theory' that allows you to produce certain kinds of monsters. I will not repeat it here, for Jimeous has done an excellent job with it already. His FAQ is available at GameFAQs. The 20 families are: Antlan, Arrowhead, Dragon, Ducken, Durahan, Golem, Joker, Lesione, Mew, Mocchi, Mogi, Momo, Naga, Octopee, Pixie, Psiroller, Suezo, Tiger, Zan, and Zuum. There are, therefore, 22 types within each family - a cross between that family and another (or itself), plus two special monsters. The following is an incomplete and uncategorized list of the results of my own research. As it becomes more and more complete I will categorize and turn it into a true catalog. (Note: The pound sign, #, stands for the musical note symbol.) (Note 2: The characters [ and ] stand for the Japanese-style brackets.) /-------------------------------------------------------------------\ | PASSWORD | MAIN CLASS | SECOND CLASS | MONSTER TYPE | MONSTER NO. | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |%%%%%%%% |Pixie |Pixie |Pixie | 1 | |Bb1 |Pixie |Golem |Granity | 2 | |19 |Pixie |Ducken |Mystie | 9 | |(ashes) |Pixie |Joker |Amazoon | 13 | |Ultra |Pixie |Special |Altima | 21 | |Nature |Pixie |Special |Nymph | 22 | |61 |Golem |Golem |Golem | 24 | |13 |Golem |Suezo |Titan | 29 | |15 |Golem |Ducken |Wickerman | 30 | |SCH2004 |Golem |Zuum |Scalie | 31 | |Civ3 |Golem |Lesione |Tidallie | 40 | |4 |Mew |Mew |Mew | 47 | |MTX |Mew |Dragon |Dramew | 49 | |OkaNE |Mew |Momo |Momomew | 61 | |Pale |Mew |Special |Ballad | 66 | |TECMO |Mocchi |Mocchi |Mocchi | 70 | |Kaibutsu |Mocchi |Tiger |PengMoch | 76 | |Rouge |Mocchi |Special |Soft Pink | 87 | |Pabs |Mocchi |Special |White Moch | 88 | |OTT-LITE |Dragon |Golem |RockDragon | 90 | |Infinite |Dragon |Special |Diva | 109 | |NFL |Arrowhead |Golem |Priarocks | 112 | |BMW |Suezo |Mew |Cat Eye | 135 | |Hi-Tech |Suezo |Suezo |Suezo | 139 | |FIF |Suezo |Lesione |Fukazo | 150 | |Tesca |Suezo |Special |WhiteSuezo | 153 | |ONLIGHT |Suezo |Special |Jagandi | 154 | |Greg |Ducken |Mocchi |Mochikung | 158 | |Frances |Zuum |Zuum |Zuum | 185 | |oKAne |Zuum |Tiger |Hound Zuum | 186 | |Okane |Tiger |Mew |Mewger | 201 | |GJ |Tiger |Arrowhead |Volgue | 204 | |!?! |Tiger |Ducken |Vanders | 206 | |CMvWeber |Tiger |Tiger |Tiger | 208 | |Leaf |Tiger |Special |Remus | 219 | |Papas |Tiger |Special |Kamui | 220 | |MoMo |Naga |Pixie |Ripper | 221 | |8 |Naga |Naga |Naga | 231 | |zOOm!? |Naga |Ducken |Albina | 228 | |14 |Octopee |Suezo |Lemopee | 249 | |!?#% |Octopee |Ducken |Trippee | 250 | |TSUtoME |Octopee |Momo |Fur Octy | 259 | |w00t |Octopee |Antlan |Bluepee | 262 | |Snow |Octopee |Special |Yuppee | 264 | |MiCaH |Mogi |Dragon |Raiven | 269 | |17 |Mogi |Suezo |Tigre | 271 | |l33t |Mogi |Naga |Tranth | 275 | |3 |Mogi |Mogi |Mogi | 277 | |okaNE |Mogi |Momo |Casua | 281 | |magiTEK |Psiroller |Ducken |Controller | 294 | |1 |Psiroller |Psiroller |Psiroller | 300 | |Colombo |Psiroller |Lesione |Searoller | 304 | |[tsuGI] |Durahan |Durahan |Durahan | 323 | |Paladin |Durahan |Special |HolyKnight | 330 | |jerkY |Joker |Naga |Glitter | 341 | |MAHO |Momo |Golem |Zaza | 354 | |festoon |Momo |Momo |Momo | 369 | |ALIEn |Momo |Lesione |Lulu | 370 | |Santa |Momo |Special |Momorien | 374 | |JaCIUS |Lesione |Dragon |LavaLessie | 379 | |NBA |Lesione |Arrowhead |Lebian | 380 | |l337 |Lesione |Lesione |Lesione | 392 | |SEAINSUN |Lesione |Special |Irassie | 395 | |98%SPEED |Zan |Zan |Zan | 419 | |suezo |Antlan |Ducken |Heel Ow | 426 | |Gamble |Antlan |Zuum |Grasbie | 427 | |10 |Antlan |Lesione |Sieger | 436 | |Justice |Antlan |Special |Moon Light | 439 | |Ninja |Antlan |Special |Ninja | 440 | \-------------------------------------------------------------------/ (Total Entries: 69/440) MUCH more to come. ======================================================================= COMPENDIUM OF SKILLS Each major class of monster gets nine skills; as far as I can tell, subclass has absolutely no effect on skills learned. The following is what I have figured out - only complete lists are here, though. Format: - D = Damage - A = Accuracy - G = GutsDown - C = Critical - $$ = Guts Cost Skills with a * in the name are INT-type. If I feel like it I'll put in some strategic notes... I have neglected to list the 'optimal ranges' here because the attributes are more important. ****** ANTLAN ****** /---------------------------------------------------------------------\ | SKILL NAME | Near | Mid | Far | |==============| D | A | G | C | $$ | D | A | G | C | $$ |D|A|G|C| $$ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |Fire Punch | D | D | E | E | 17 | D | E | E | E | 14 |D|E|E|E| 13 | |Punch Rush | D | C | D | E | 25 | D | D | D | E | 21 |D|D|D|E| 19 | |X Blade | D | C | D | B | 25 | D | C | D | B | 22 |E|D|D|B| 19 | |Smoke Bomb* | E | C | E | E | 13 | E | D | E | E | 11 |E|D|E|E| 10 | |Scissors | A | E | E | E | 31 | B | E | E | E | 27 |B|E|E|E| 23 | |Whirlwind* | E | B | S | D | 40 | E | B | S | D | 37 |E|B|S|D| 32 | |Tail Sting | A | D | E | E | 36 | B | D | E | E | 31 |B|E|E|E| 27 | |Crescent | S | C | E | B | 60 | A | C | E | B | 52 |A|D|E|B| 44 | |Lightning | C | D | E | C | 35 | C | E | E | C | 30 |C|E|E|C| 26 | |Meteor* | S | C | C | C | 61 | A | C | C | C | 56 |A|C|C|C| 49 | \---------------------------------------------------------------------/ Special Effects: -Fire Punch and Whirlwind can cause Stagger. -Smoke Bomb can cause Wince. -Lightning can cause Stunned. ********* ARROWHEAD ********* /---------------------------------------------------------------------\ | SKILL NAME | Near | Mid | Far | |==============| D | A | G | C | $$ | D | A | G | C | $$ |D|A|G|C| $$ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |Punch | D | S | E | E | 15 | E | B | E | E | 13 |E|C|E|E| 11 | |Tail Sting | C | B | D | A | 26 | D | D | D | A | 22 |D|D|D|A| 20 | |3 Stings | C | S | D | D | 30 | C | B | D | D | 26 |D|C|D|D| 23 | |ScytheTail | B | C | D | S | 39 | B | C | D | S | 34 |C|D|D|S| 29 | |MeteorBomb* | S | D | C | D | 44 | S | D | C | D | 38 |A|E|C|D| 32 | |Claw Pinch | C | B | E | E | 18 | D | B | E | E | 16 |D|D|E|E| 14 | |SneakSting* | B | S | D | D | 43 | B | S | D | D | 39 |C|S|D|D| 34 | |Power Shot* | D | A | B | D | 31 | D | A | B | D | 29 |D|A|B|D| 25 | \---------------------------------------------------------------------/ Special Effects: -Punch can cause Wince. -Tail Sting, 3 Stings, and SneakSting can cause Stunned. ******* DURAHAN ******* /---------------------------------------------------------------------\ | SKILL NAME | Near | Mid | Far | |==============| D | A | G | C | $$ | D | A | G | C | $$ |D|A|G|C| $$ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |Kick | D | C | E | D | 17 | D | D | E | D | 13 |E|E|E|D| 13 | |Swing | E | S | E | E | 14 | E | B | E | E | 12 |E|C|E|E| 11 | |Cut-In-Two | B | E | E | D | 23 | B | E | E | D | 20 |C|E|E|D| 17 | |Charge | C | C | E | E | 26 | D | C | E | E | 22 |D|D|E|E| 19 | |Turn Slash | B | C | E | D | 35 | B | C | E | D | 30 |C|D|E|D| 26 | |Gust | B | D | E | S | 37 | B | D | E | S | 32 |C|E|E|S| 27 | |Air Shot* | C | S | E | D | 36 | D | S | E | D | 33 |D|S|E|D| 29 | |Aura Slash | S | D | E | D | 50 | S | D | E | D | 46 |S|D|E|D| 40 | |Gaea Sword* | S | D | D | C | 46 | A | D | D | C | 43 |A|D|D|C| 37 | \---------------------------------------------------------------------/ Special Effects: -Charge can cause Stagger. -Air Shot can cause Wince. Durahans rely on their ability to cause heavy damage and outlasting their opponent with the Armor trait. If for some reason you have developed your Durahan into an Int-based monster, definitely use Air Shot and Gaea Sword; otherwise mix Aura Slash in the back with Gust or Turn Slash in the middle and attack from afar. ***** GOLEM ***** /---------------------------------------------------------------------\ | SKILL NAME | Near | Mid | Far | |==============| D | A | G | C | $$ | D | A | G | C | $$ |D|A|G|C| $$ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |Kick | C | E | D | C | 15 | C | E | D | C | 13 |D|E|D|C| 11 | |Uppercut | A | E | D | C | 26 | B | E | D | C | 22 |B|E|D|C| 20 | |Punch | D | E | E | C | 12 | D | E | E | C | 10 |E|E|E|C| 09 | |Giant Clap | D | C | B | B | 33 | D | C | B | B | 30 |D|C|B|B| 26 | |Dive Press | S | E | S | B | 41 | S | E | S | B | 36 |S|E|S|B| 31 | |Boulder | S | D | B | B | 46 | A | D | B | B | 40 |A|E|B|B| 34 | |Fist Shot* | S | D | S | B | 61 | S | D | S | B | 56 |A|D|S|B| 49 | |Magnifist* | C | C | E | E | 33 | C | C | E | E | 30 |C|C|E|E| 26 | |Cyclone | S | C | B | B | 65 | S | C | B | B | 60 |S|C|B|B| 52 | \---------------------------------------------------------------------/ Special Effects: -Kick and Magnifist can cause Stagger. -Dive Press is Suicidal. Big problem with Golems is their accuracy; fortunately Cyclone has an Acc rating of C, so you can stand in the back and launch those, using Giant Clap in the other set and launching Magnifists from mid-range. ***** SUEZO ***** /---------------------------------------------------------------------\ | SKILL NAME | Near | Mid | Far | |==============| D | A | G | C | $$ | D | A | G | C | $$ |D|A|G|C| $$ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |Yodel* | E | A | S | C | 48 | E | A | S | C | 44 |E|A|S|C| 38 | |Spit | D | C | D | E | 23 | D | C | D | E | 20 |E|D|D|E| 17 | |Tail Whip | D | D | E | E | 13 | D | D | E | E | 11 |E|E|E|E| 10 | |Teleport | C | A | D | E | 29 | C | A | D | E | 26 |D|A|D|E| 23 | |P.K.* | B | B | E | E | 36 | B | B | E | E | 33 |C|B|E|E| 29 | |Lick* | E | B | C | E | 13 | E | D | C | E | 11 |E|D|C|E| 10 | |Kiss* | D | C | B | E | 27 | D | D | B | E | 23 |E|E|B|E| 20 | |Suezo Beam* | S | C | E | D | 54 | S | C | E | D | 49 |S|C|E|D| 43 | |Telepathy* | D | C | D | A | 28 | D | C | D | A | 24 |D|D|D|A| 20 | \---------------------------------------------------------------------/ Special Effects: -Yodel, Kiss, and Telepathy can cause Confused. -Spit can cause Wince. Yodel is actually a pretty good skill if you follow the rapid Intelligence-raising strategy. You can trade it up for Suezo Beam later on and have a long-range weapon that, when it hits, is devastating. MUCH more to come here, too. ======================================================================= COMPENDIUM OF ITEMS This is a list of all of the items available for collection in the game. I ended up getting most of these just by finding the appropriate memory value for stored items and changing it with a utility until strange things started to hapapen. (I can't guarantee that I found all the items. This may just be most of them, but I feel this list is fairly complete.) As most of the items that you don't get from the shop are the kind of thing that you would like to keep on hand, and to allow myself more space for the descriptions, I have removed the pricing information from this table. (If, by some chance, you want to sell something rare, it should be fairly easy just to check the price on your own.) I have taken the liberty of amending all typos from the in-game descriptions and shortening them as necessary. Descriptions with *'s at the end have "Effects when you own" status. /---------------------------------------------------------------------\ | ITEM NAME | DESCRIPTION | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | Aroma Pot | Lets body and spirit relax, allowing deep sleep. (*) | | Ava. Horn | Horn of an Avalance Beacon. Gives "Sharp Horn". | | Baisin Z | Fatigue-preventing medicine. Gives "Iron Heart". | | Bajarl Pot | A pot that contains the spirit monster Bajarl. | | Banana | Lazy monster Ape's banana. Makes your monster lazy. | | BeaclnHorn | A Beaclon horn. Gives "Hard Skin". | | Binoculars | Let you see distant objects. Gives "Sniper". | | Black Box | Suspicious treasure box that contains an item. | | BlackPearl | Jewelry made by rare oysters. Used for medicine. | | Bone | Leftover bones. Some monsters like to chew this. | | Bright Gem | Greatly reduces monster stress. (*) | | Cold Paint | Cold-resistant paint. Gives "Cold Proof". | | Cookies | A cookie with a spicy taste. Great for snacks. | | Coral | Accessory from the ocean bed. Used for medicine. | | Crystal | Pretty stone excavated from a cave. Has some value. | | Diamond | A rare jewel. Has great value. | | Dino Tail | Dino's prehensile tail. Gives "Flex Tail". | | Disc Frag | Fragment of a monster that looks like a Saucer Stone. | | Earth Orb | Orb with the power of earth. Gives "Earth Know". | | Elec Paint | Lightning-resistant paint. Gives "Elec-Proof". | | Evil Knife | Wracky's knife. Gives "Sharp Bld.". | | Eye Drops | Cleans eyes and improves eyesight. Gives "Act. View". | | Fire Orb | Orb with the power of fire. Gives "Fire Know". | | Flower | Beautiful fragrant flower. Calms the heart. | | Gaboo Soul | Soul of Gaboo. Gives "Iron Fist". | | Gali Mask | A Gali mask. Gives "Light Aura". | | Ghost Stik | Stick that belongs to a Ghost. | | Gold Cup | Water that removes some fatigue. (*) | | Golem Frag | Fragment from a Golem. Gives "Hard Head". | | Heat Paint | Heat-resistant paint. Gives "Heat Proof". | | Holy Cup | Water from this cup greatly reduces fatigue. (*) | | HoneyCandy | Honey candy. Great snack for monsters. | | Ice Orb | Orb with the power of ice. Gives "Ice Know". | | Incense | Helps spirit relax, allowing peaceful sleep. (*) | | Jill Beard | A Jill beard. Gives "Cold Resis". | | Joker Mask | A Joker mask. Gives "Dark Aura". | | Karianin S | Increases thinking capacity. Gives "Hi-Sense". | | Larox A | Strength-boosting medicine. Gives "Hi-Power". | | LetheRxX | Makes monster forget X'th trait. [See below.] | | Life Orb | Orb with life energy. Gives "Life Know". | | Logimole V | Resistance-boosting medicine. Gives "Hi-Resist". | | Lozenges | Clarifies your voice. Gives "Sweet Vox". | | Magic Orb | Orb with pure magic power. Gives "Magic Know". | | Mango | Sweet southern fruit. Great monster snack. | | MarkisWing | A Markis wing. Gives "Wind Resis". | | Megaphone | Helps amplify voices. Gives "Loud Voice". | | Mind Orb | Orb with psychic power. Gives "Mind Know". | | Mint Candy | Refreshing candy. Great for reducing stress. | | Mint Leaf | Refreshing mint leaf cures stress. Also a medicine. | | Mirror | Mirror with the power of the legendary monster Majin. | | Mock Seed | Seed of the monster Mock, who was born from a tree. | | Monol Frag | Monol fragment. Gives "Magic Resis". | | Mud Doll | A mud doll. No artistic value. | | Nail File | Necessity for proper nail care. Gives "Sharp Claw". | | Nitroberry | Refreshing taste removes fatigue from monsters. | | Nuts Oil | Nuts oil removes fatigue from monsters. | | Phnx Fthr | A Phoenix feather. Gives "Heat Resis". | | Pollen | Plant pollen. Gives "Soft Smell". | | PrettyRock | A pretty rock. Not much value. | | Ribbon | Suzurin's Ribbon. Gives "Eye Charm". | | Roast Newt | A bitter taste feared by monsters. Used as medicine. | | Scales | Scales of the dragon Kjata. Gives "Hard Scales". | | Scarf | A pretty scarf accessory. Gives "Fast Footwork". | | SH Fruit | Increases lung capacity. Gives "Big Lungs". | | Shell | Hard shell of a Niton. Gives "Hi-Tough". | | Shiny Gem | Relieves a little stress from monsters. (*) | | Silver Cup | Water from this cup removes monster fatigue. (*) | | SparkleGem | Reduces stress in monsters. (*) | | Tapaurin N | Increases tolerance to pain. Gives "Hi-Tough". | | Teromean S | Weight loss medicine. Gives "Hi-Speed". | | Thndr Orb | Orb with the power of lightning. Gives "Ltng Know". | | Tiger Horn | A tiger horn. Gives "Elec Resis". | | Toe Shoes | Shoes worn by a dancer. Gives "Grace Step". | | Torles Wtr | Mineral water from overseas removes monster fatigue. | | Trokatin X | Medicine that helps focus. Gives "Hi-Tech". | | Water Orb | Orb with the power of water. Gives "Water Know". | | Watr Paint | Water-resistant paint. Gives "Waterproof". | | Whip | A whip belonging to the mysterious monster Doodle. | | Wind Drum | Strikes fear in monster's heart with scary sounds. | | Wind Orb | Orb with the power of wind. Gives "Wind Know". | | Worm Fang | Fang of a worm. Gives "Sharp Fang". | | ZillaBeard | A Zilla beard. Gives "Water Resis". | \---------------------------------------------------------------------/ Note: The Lethe Rx items come in numbers; Lethe Rx 1 makes your monster forget his 1st trait, Lethe Rx 2 makes him forget his second trait, and so on. ======================================================================= COMPENDIUM OF CHARACTERISTICS The following is a list of characteristics that I have seen so far. It is also incomplete, although I do know that there are two kinds and I don't have any of the advanced traits yet. /---------------------------------------------------------------------\ | NAME OF TRAIT | DESCRIPTION | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | Act. View | Makes it easier to hit high-speed opponents. | | Armor | Increases Defense, but makes it harder to evade. | | Big Eater | Monster eats twice as much food as normal. | | Big Lung | Breath-type attacks do extra damage. | | Cold Proof | Reduces damage from ice attacks. | | Cold Resis | Increases resistance to ice attacks. | | Dark Aura | Increases resistance to mental attacks. | | Dusk Aura | Reduces damage from mental attacks. | | Earth Know | Increases Earth moves' power and accuracy. | | Elec-Proof | Decreases damage from electric attacks. | | Elec Resis | Increases resistance against electric attacks. | | Eye Charm | Increases power of charming attacks. | | Fairy Know | Increases power and accuracy of all elemental moves.| | Fire Know | Increases Fire moves' power and accuracy. | | Flex Tail | Increases damage and accuracy of attacks w/tails. | | Footwork | Increases evade, but decreases Defense. | | Gold Gift | Makes it easier to gain *all* stats. | | Grace Step | Increases pwr. of dancing moves, increases evade % | | Hard Head | Increases damage of attacks with the head. | | Hard Scale | Increases Defense, but makes it harder to evade. | | Hard Shell | Increases Defense, but makes it harder to evade. | | Hard Skin | Increases Defense, but makes it harder to evade. | | Heatproof | Reduces damage from fire attacks. | | Heat Resis | Increases resistance against Fire. | | Hi-Power | Makes it easier to gain Pwr. | | Hi-Resis | Grants resistance to status changes in combat. | | Hi-Sense | Makes it easier to gain Int. | | Hi-Speed | Makes it easier to gain Spd. | | Hi-Tech | Makes it easier to gain Acc. | | Hi-Tough | Makes it easier to gain Def. and Lif. | | Ice Know | Increases Ice moves' power and accuracy. | | Iron Fist | Increases damage from punch attacks. | | Iron Heart | Reduces monster's rate of fatigue. | | Light Aura | Decreases the damage you take from magic. | | Loud Voice | Increases the power of vocal moves. | | Ltng Know | Increases the power and acc. of electric attacks. | | Magic Resis | Increases resistance to magic attacks. | | Magic Know | Increases power and acc. of magic attacks. | | Mind Know | Increases power and acc. of mental attacks. | | Rock Skin | Increases Defense, but makes it harder to evade. | | Sharp Blade | Increases the power of moves using weapons. | | Sharp Claws | Increases the power of moves using claws. | | Sharp Fang | Increases the power of moves using fangs. | | Sharp Horn | Increases the power of moves using horns. | | Sniper | Increases the accuracy of projectile attacks. | | Soft Body | Reduces damage. | | Soft Smell | Increases the power of charming moves. | | Spec Mods | Grants resistance to fire, ice, water, and ltng. | | Sweet Vox | Increases power and acc. of singing attacks. | | Water Know | Increases water power and accuracy. | | Waterproof | Decreases damage from water attacks. | | Water Resis | Increases resistance against Water. | | Wind Know | Increases power and acc. of wind attacks. | Wind Resis | Increases resistance against Wind. | \---------------------------------------------------------------------/ Personally, I don't know what the difference is between "reduces damage from" and "increases resistance to." They are either of differing magnitudes, or simply have the same effect. If anyone knows the difference, e-mail me. ======================================================================= CALENDAR OF EVENTS I don't want to seem like a total sleaze, so here's a FINISHED section of the Compendium. Be proud. Tournaments are listed with their 1st/2nd place prizes in parentheses. AGIMA Officials are listed as such, and not among individual classes. ******* JANUARY ******* S CLASS -Week 1: Joker Invitational invite arrives A CLASS -Week 2: AGIMA Prem. W (3200/1600) C CLASS -Week 3: January Cup (1600/800) ******** FEBRUARY ******** Week 4: AGIMA Officials S CLASS -Week 1: Joker Invitational (must have invitation) -Week 3: Greatest 3 invite arrives D CLASS -Week 1: Youth Cup (800/400) ***** MARCH ***** S CLASS -Week 3: Greatest 3 Tournament A CLASS -Week 3: AGIMA Prem. S (3200/1600) B CLASS -Week 2: Blossom Cup (2400 & Silver Box/1200) ***** APRIL ***** A CLASS -Week 1: Mission Cup (3200 & Gold Box/1600) -Week 3: Dragon Invitational invite arrives C CLASS -Week 2: Lake Ira Cup (1600/800) *** MAY *** A CLASS -Week 3: Dragon Invitational (must have invitation) B CLASS -Week 3: Goldor Cup (2400/1200) D CLASS -Week 2: Spring Cup (800/400) **** JUNE **** Week 4: AGIMA Officials S CLASS -Week 1: Emperor Cup invite arrives **** JULY **** S CLASS -Week 1: Emperor Cup -Week 3: Zan Invitational invite arrives A CLASS -Week 4: Vizlee Cup (3200/1600) C CLASS -Week 3: Aspia Cup (1600/800) ****** AUGUST ****** S CLASS -Week 3: Zan Invitational (must have invitation) B CLASS -Week 3: Ocean Cup (2400/1200) D CLASS -Week 2: Rookie Cup (800 & Wood Box/400) ********* SEPTEMBER ********* S CLASS -Week 2: E-1 Grand Prix invite arrives A CLASS -Week 1: IMa Amity invite arrives C CLASS -Week 3: Carota Cup (1600 & Iron Box/800) ******* OCTOBER ******* Week 4: AGIMA Officials S CLASS -Week 2: E-1 Grand Prix (must have invite) (6400/3200) A CLASS -Week 1: IMa Amity (must have invite) ******** NOVEMBER ******** S CLASS -Week 3: Winner's Cup invite arrives A CLASS -Week 2: Durahan Battle invite arrives B CLASS -Week 3: Harvest Fest (2400/1200) D CLASS -Week 4: Sprout Cup (800/400) ******** DECEMBER ******** S CLASS -Week 3: Winner's Cup (must have invite) (6400/3200) A CLASS -Week 2: Durahan Invitational (must have invite) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- VIII. MISCELLANEA: Notes, Strategies, and Useless Information -In doing the monster password list, I found a nifty little feature where the PRIMARY class determines the shape of the monster and the SECONDARY class determines its color scheme. See if you can put 'em together :) Please sumbit things to cubbies984@activatormail.com so I can put them here and include them in the next version. Thanks. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- IX. CHEATS Still working. Send in your submissions. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- X. CONCLUSION I hope you got at least SOME use out of this FAQ. Remember, submissions to the Compendium or anything else I may have missed can go to cubbies984@activatormail.com. Read the Introduction again for rules to send stuff in by... Please do not start sending me chain letters. I get enough spam as it is. Also, as a virus precaution, I cannot accept any attachments that are not basic text files. Thanks for understanding. This FAQ is copyright Greg Colombo, 2002-2003. Please see the Introduction for the terms of use. CLOSING CREDITS: GJ - the author Bonny Guang - a handful of passwords the_1st_guy@yahoo.com - password for Diva Goh Dong Shiun - various information Various people - sending me information about Lake Ira Matthew Wheatley - more passwords, and he even gave me ALL THE INFO I WANTED without me having to ask him! Matthew gets a special prize of EXTRA undying gratitude :) He also recommended the White Mocchi as a starting monster. Anyone on the GameFAQs BB who ever posted anything that I might have used - great community, plenty of information which I've slowly been absorbing. The people at Monster Rancher Metropolis - these folks run an incredible website with lots of information about ALL the MR games; their encyclopedic knowledge has helped me every time I play. Give them your love and visit their website :) A special thanks to Jeff "CJayC" Veasey for maintaining GameFAQs and putting up with my incompleteness. And thanks for reading this :) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Monster Rancher Advance (GBA) version 0.5 6/30/03 by Greg Colombo (GJ) Copyright Greg Colombo, 2002-2003