The following guide was graciously provided by Marcus Majarra, and is presented here with permission. Only minor formatting edits have been made.
Remaster Notes:
This guide was written for the original version of Legend of Mana, and thus information may differ slightly for the Remaster. Listed below are names that have changed more significantly.
Plunge Attacks → Master Moves
Scissors → Pincers
Virgin’s Sigh → Damsel’s Sigh
Fertility Goddess → Harvest Goddess
Witch of Moon → Lunar Witch
Nymph of the Sky → Valkyrie
Unicorn → Narwhal
Spirit → Faerie
Stronger Aerolites such as NemesisRock, BiellaRock, and SwifteRock as well as Maia Lead and Fossil Wood are available through Ring Ring Land in the Remaster.
The Guide
TTTTTT EEEEEE M M PPPPP EEEEEE RRRRR IIII N N GGGG TT E MM MM P P E R R II NN N G TT EEEEEE M MM M PPPPP EEEEEE RRRRR II N N N G GGG TT E M M P E R R II N N N G G TT EEEEEE M M P EEEEEE R R IIII N NN GGGG FFFFFF OOOO RRRRR DDDDD U U M M M M IIII EEEEEE SSSSS F O O R R D D U U MM MM MM MM II E S FFFFFF O O RRRRR D D U U M MM M M MM M II EEEEEE SSSS F O O R R D D U U M M M M II E S F OOOO R R DDDDD UUUU M M M M IIII EEEEEE SSSSS TEMPERING FOR DUMMIES The Basic Handbook for Tempering in Legend of Mana Compiled by Marcus Majarra (contact on GameFAQs, or find on The Mana Series Discord) Tests by Anthony Nelson (majordragon@hotmail.com) Version 2.50
Table of Contents
1. Introduction 2. Updates 3. Obtaining Your Equipment 4. Tempering and Altering 4.1 The Basics 4.2 Mystic Cards and Slots 4.3 Permanent And Temporary Effects 4.4 Material Essence Resistance 4.5 PROCEDURE: Increasing Essence Levels 4.6 PROCEDURE: Plunge Attacks And Status Immunities 4.7 PROCEDURE: Rinsing 4.8 PROCEDURE: Augmenting Attributes 4.9 PROCEDURE: Varnishing 4.10 Post-Varnishing Tempering 5. Essence Level Specifics 5.1 Essence Types 5.2 Silver or Gold? 5.3 Elemental Spirit Cards (UPDATED) 5.4 Nymph of Dawn Card 5.5 Wizard Cards 5.6 Ancient Moon Card 5.7 Mirrored World Card (UPDATED) 5.8 Essence Consumption 5.9 Cardless Tempering (UPDATED) 5.10 Essence Markers and Elemental Resistances (UPDATED) 5.11 Notes (UPDATED) 5.12 Reminder (UPDATED) 6. Material Properties (UPDATED) 7. Special Powers 8. Tempering For Money (UPDATED) 9. Information Lists 9.1 Material Essence Resistances 9.2 Energy Requirement List (UPDATED) 9.3 Item Effect List 9.4 Card Effect And Requirements List (UPDATED) 9.5 Material Properties List (UPDATED) 10. Examples 10.1 AltenaAlloy Sword - Increasing Essence Levels 10.2 DragonScales Flail - Selecting Plunge Attacks 10.3 LorimarIron Armor - Augmenting Attributes 10.4 MapleWood Hammer - Varnishing 10.5 DiorWood Bow - Complete Process 10.6 Adamantite Ring - Special Powers (UPDATED) 10.7 DragonScales Spear - Cardless Tempering (UPDATED) 11. Locations of a Few Useful Materials 12. Card Glossary (UPDATED) 13. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) 14. Scratch Pad (UPDATED) 15. Credits and Contacting
1. INTRODUCTION
If you're looking for a FAQ document with countless lists of verified recipes for every weapon, armor, and material out there, this isn't the way to go. At the best, a couple of examples to get you started will help you understand the basics, so that you can later devise your own recipes, much like I did. This FAQ document contains all the information you need to understand how tempering works, and how to optimize on your tempering techniques. This will provide you with the knowledge you'll need to understand how those long and complicated recipes work, and to see how one part of the tempering process leads to the next. It's my experience that through a thorough understanding of how the process works, one can come up with tempering schemes that outweigh those currently found on the web. A friend and I have worked on obtaining 75 essence levels on DiorWood, whereas most guides can barely get to 60 essence levels. I hope that you will find this information enlightening. Please enjoy, and if you have trouble understanding all of this on the first reading, don't hesitate to read again. Tempering is a complex process.
2. UPDATES
Version 2.00 (April 30th, 2001) > Corrected the Material Properties section > Corrected the Wizardless tempering cost formula > Added the Cardless Tempering section > Added the Mirrored World tempering section > Corrected a few minor errors in the charts > Essence Tainting discussed > Added Cardless Tempering example > Added Mirrored World tempering example > Added the Special Powers section > Added Special Powers example > Minor corrections to the Attribute Augmentation explanation > Added Essence Markers and Elemental Resistance section > Added the Tempering for Money section > Added the Scratch Pad > Added the Card Glossary NOTE: I probably missed a few elements. This is a BIG update. Version 1.00 (February 26, 2001) > Created the guide.
3. OBTAINING YOUR EQUIPMENT
First things come first. In order to be able to perform any kind of weapon or armor modification, you'll need to acquire those particular pieces of equipment. You can usually purchase these in shops, but the options are very limited, especially with armory. Second, you'll need to have Watts the Blacksmith build an equipment smithy in your workshops area. If you don't have the smithy yet, you'll need to obtain the Bottled Spirit AF, to place the Ulkan Mines, where you must first complete the events "Mine Your Own Business" and "Watts Drops The Hammer" before going back to your Home, and reporting to your workshops where Watts will trigger the "Path Of The Blacksmith" event. Once these three events are cleared, you'll be free to forge your own equipment. This offers more liberty than simply buying finished items in shops, since you can gather the materials yourself. In any case, the first step in any tempering process is acquiring the item you wish to temper or alter. You can either buy one, or forge one for yourself, depending on your preferences. It might also be profitable for you to hunt for rare weapons or armor dropped by enemies for better tempering results. For example, you might want to find the rare Captain's Helm, which is made out of Adamantite, so that you can start out with a good and workable item. However, you should be careful when tempering found items. The DragonsRing (a DragonScales ring dropped by Sky Dragons) suffers a great power loss when first altered.
4. TEMPERING AND ALTERING
Onto the piece de resistance! Here's where the spicy information is. Basically, the process of tempering weapons or altering armor implies the incorporation of secondary materials onto your weapon or armor. Even instruments are altered to be rendered magical, as you select an elemental coin to be placed on it. The following sections cover what is involved in the entire tempering process, but we won't jump into complete detail just yet. It's best that you understand what a particular part of the process does before getting to the "how" of this matter.
4.1 The Basics
The first thing you have to know is that only secondary materials can be used in weapon tempering or armor alteration. Primary materials like metals, woods, and aerolites are used in the immediate craft of the item in question. Each secondary material has direct effects on the weapon or armor in question, and most (if not all) of them may produce a mystic card when implemented onto the piece of equipment being transformed. Both of these aspects are relevant in the determination of what modifications you are implementing in your equipment. An unlimited amount of secondary materials can be tempered onto any weapon or armor, but not all will have cumulative or desirable effects. It's crucial to know what you can correctly temper, and how to do it.
4.2 Mystic Cards and Slots
Purchase a weapon or piece of armor, and go into its Status display. On the second screen, you can observe three dotted lines in the lower-left corner. These are the Mystic Card slots. Every weapon and every piece of armor has those three lines, although some of the items you find may already bear properties there. The ForbiddenRing, for example, bears the Fertility Goddess and the ReviveRing bears the Phoenix, in both cases in the top slots. Whenever you first temper a secondary material onto a cardless weapon or armor, that equipment gains the material's special powers, if it's compatible with them. If you take a look at the equipment status screen, you'll notice that the three Mystic Card slots are unaffected, even though some of the other aspects of the item in question might have changed. When you temper a second material onto the equipment you're tempering, a Mystic Card might be pushed onto the object. This card will be the one representing the magical effect of the first item you tempered in. For example, if you tempered a Wisp Silver first, and then follow with a Sulpher, a Wisp Card will appear as you temper the Sulpher. This is due to the fact that there is a hidden card slot on the equipment. This is present in all weapons and armor. Thus, you should look at your piece of equipment as if it had the following Mystic Card slots: (----------) [Invisible Slot] <- Item Properties ---------- [ Visible Slot ] <- Card Properties ---------- [ Visible Slot ] <- Card Properties ---------- [ Visible Slot ] <- Card Properties Basically, the invisible slot represents the item that you are tempering at the present time. In essence, it's not a real Mystic Card, but you might want to find out what card it represents. To make a long story short, raw materials have properties, and Mystic Cards have properties, but these are not always the same. When you know that something is occupying the invisible slot, you take into account the properties of the raw material you're tempering. As soon as the raw item becomes a Mystic Card (and thus, moves in the first visible slot), you stop taking into account its properties (unless they're permanent, until manually dispelled), and you start taking into account the properties of the new card. For example, if you temper a Holy Water onto a weapon, you gain the power to push off Pixie cards. However, if you temper a Lilipods following that Holy Water, the Lilipods take the invisible slot, and the Holy Water becomes a Cleric card, which has properties that differ from the raw item that created it. In essence, you lose the ability to push off Pixie cards, but you affect the weapon's power, and other factors. As you keep adding more secondary materials to your equipment, more cards are pushed down to accommodate the new cards that are being tempered in. When a card reaches the bottom slot, and another is pushed in afterwards, the bottom card will be expelled from the weapon or armor, and with it go the Mystic Card's magical effects, AS LONG AS THEY ARE NOT PERMANENT. Duration of specific effects are covered in the next section. Pixie cards are an exception to this rule. They occupy the bottom slots permanently, until Holy Water is added. Note that some times, the card animations are not viewed. This is because the item's card slot disposition will not change with the particular sequence you're going through, WITH RESPECT TO THE NUMBER OF CARDS OF THE SAME TYPE PRESENT. This means that if you had two Aura cards and a Witch present, and the item that you temper causes this fact to remain the same, even though the order of the cards might have changed, you will not see a card animation. Since you start off with 2 Aura and 1 Witch, and you end up with the same, no animation is required. Do not be eluded by these effects. Except for specific card properties, the lack of animation does not result in a lack of card, if a card can be produced. This is why tempering five Glow Crystals in a row does not create four animations of the Nymph of Dawn card, but rather three. Whenever you don't see an animation and don't feel sure of how the item is going, don't hesitate to leave the workshop and check. As a final note with regard to the invisible slot, any item that doesn't produce a card under the conditions present prior to the tempering of the item in question (like Dragon Blood, when Salamander is at 1, even if the Dragon Blood itself would cause it to rise to 2 itself, and thus be under the appropriate conditions for the God of War card to be compatible) will be considered cardless, and will be unable to push in or push out a card. As soon as you temper another item, the one in the invisible slot disappears, and is replaced by the new one. Remember that only items that can produce cards under the essence level conditions in which you're tempering your item, have the power to push a card in, or out, regardless of the changes in the essence level conditions following the tempering of that item. Cardless items occupy the invisible slot until another item is tempered in, be it cardless or not. This is why it's best to use cardless items when you know you can achieve a permanent effect, or to finish the entire tempering process.
4.3 Permanent and Temporary Effects
As you temper various materials onto your equipment, you'll come to learn that
some effects are temporary, and last only as long as the items or cards that
powered them remain on the item, while others are permanent, and persist
indefinitely.
Here is the list of permanent effects:
> Essence levels: When an essence level is augmented, it remains at
that level until a conflictive tempering takes
place. Some levels might fall if you temper another
essence without the right materials to accommodate
it.
> Plunge Attacks: Weapons with new plunge attacks keep them, even if
& Status Immunities the card that produced them is discarded from the
weapon. The only way to remove a plunge attack is to
replace it with another. The same mentality applies
to Status Immunities on armor.
> Attribute Augmentations: Many cards give bonuses or penalties to some
associated attributes. The Aura card increases luck.
These remain unless diminished by another card's
limitations.
> Essence Markers: In the case of weaponry, as soon as an essence
reaches a particular level (usually 2), the weapon
gains the essence marker of that essence, and the
weapon becomes aligned with that essence. Unless the
tempering process causes that particular essence to
fall to a very low level (usually 0 or 1), the
essence marker will remain.
> Elemental Resistances: Much like essence markers, elemental immunities are
present on armor of various types when its
associated essence reaches a particular level
(usually 2). The armor in question becomes aligned
by that essence, and allows you to better resist it.
Unless the tempering process causes that particular
essence to fall to a very low level (usually 0 or
1), the elemental resistance will remain.
Also, any other properties derived from those permanent effects stay in, as
long as those effects remain.
Effects that are not associated with permanent effects disappear as soon as the
item or card they're associated with leave the weapon or item being tempered.
For example, on a metal hauberk, adding multiple Spiny Seeds causes the
Yggsdrasil card to augment attributes to a maximum of +10. As long as the
Yggsdrasil card remains on the armor, the augmentations will remain at the
level you tempered them in, but if it leaves, they will adjust to the default
maximum, which is +1 in this case. If another card with a higher limit is
placed, you'll have to find a way to raise them back again. For items that
don't necessarily show a card, but do have effects, like the Sharp Claw under
certain essence level conditions, for example, their effects remain so long as
another item isn't tempered in the weapon or armor, since their lack of mystic
card causes them to be discarded from the item as they are pushed out of the
invisible slot.
4.4 Material Essence Resistance
Essences can be tempered on an item at a difficulty based on the material used to forge the weapon or armor in question. Primary materials may have different resistances to essences. For example, woods tend to be highly resistant to Salamander tempering, but don't resist Dryad too much. For every type of essence of every material, there are 7 different levels of resistance. However, most tempering schemes consider only three global levels of resistance: > Low Resistance (5, 6, or 7) > High Resistance (8, 9, or 10) > To Be Avoided At All Costs (32) The higher the resistance of the material, the more difficult it is to temper that particular essence onto the final product. DiorWood has a resistance of 5 to Dryad, which means that it can be tempered in at a very low cost. However, that same material has a resistance of 10 to Salamander, which means that it'll be much more difficult to raise the Salamander essence than it is to raise the Dryad essence. The least resistant material overall is DragonScales (total of 55 resistance points over 8 essences). The most resistant material overall is MaiaLead (total of 256 resistance points over 8 essences), but it's rare and not particularly strong. It's not worth working on MaiaLead. The second most resistant material is AltenaAlloy (80 points over 8 essences), and it can be tempered to about 50-75% of the strength of less resistant materials. It's sturdy, but not incredibly strong. However, Adamantite is also considered a highly resistant material (64 points over 8 essences), but it tempers similarly to AltenaAlloy. This is why we categorized high and low resistances.
4.5 PROCEDURE: Raising Essence Levels
The most fundamental of all tempering and alteration aspects is the raising of essence levels. On weaponry, it radically increases a weapon's strength. For example, I forged an AltenaAlloy sword from a power rating of 50 to a power rating of 232 through essence levels. It is a complex process, and research is always being done to optimize its results with regards to the cost of materials, the number of essence levels gained, and the amount of time invested in the craft of such an item. The process itself generally involves the addition of elemental coins, the same ones that are used in the craft of an instrument, to a weapon or armor. This is the most basic aspect, and adding a few coins of an element can boost some essences a little. To this, we also combine the power of Glow Crystals, which act like the increase of heat inside a chemical reaction, and thus increasing the power of the coins. Not only that, but we also combine Mercury and Sulpher, which act as catalysts with their respective essences, and reduce the amount of energy required for the essences to be boosted. Chaos Crystals are also often used, since they allow conflicting essences to be present without canceling each other out, much like a Basic substance and an Acidic substance would nullify each other out. To make a long story short, tempering essences is a lot like a chemical reaction. You have to know what component does what, and why adding one at that time creates a particular effect. Getting to level 1 always costs, at the least, 8 energy. The formula which determines the energy cost to reach a higher level is: Energy Cost = Material Resistance x (2^Current Level) Thus, raising Salamander on AltenaAlloy (resistance 10) to level 1 would require the addition of 10 Salamander energy (cost = 10 x (2^0)), level 2 would require 20 points, and level 3 would require 40 more points. Note that the costs are not descriptive of the overall cost. On AltenaAlloy, 40 energy do not bring you from level 0 to level 3 on the essence you're tempering. Rather, they bring you from level 2 to level 3 only. Additionally, not all items have the power to raise an essence by more than one level at a time, so going all the way from level 0 to level 3 on an essence found in AltenaAlloy might require the additition of at least 70 energy, in three increments of at least 10, 20, and then 40 energy.
4.6 PROCEDURE: Plunge Attacks and Status Immunities
It's recommended that, immediately after completing the tempering of the essences in your weapon or armor, you temper in your weapon's new plunge attacks or the armor's status immunities. The reason for this is simple. The process doesn't require for you to cleanse the item you're working on, and the effects are permanent until manually removed. Although this procedure can be performed at the same time you temper essences, it's not recommended to do so, unless you specifically want to add effects derived from Evil God cards without going through the Ragnarok card first. You see, the cards that give weapons their special plunge attacks and status immunities for armor have essence level requirements. For Evil God cards, they have complicated requirements when the Ragnarok card is not present. In most cases, this involves having one particular essence at level 5 or above, and having another essence at level 0. This is the only instance when it's necessary to perform this procedure during the essence tempering.
4.7 PROCEDURE: Rinsing
The rinsing process is probably the most simple one. It consists of using items to remove any leftovers from previous procedures without affecting the item as it is. Sometimes, residue effects from essence tempering or plunge attack placement can have a negative effect on attribute augmentation tempering, or even the varnishing. In order to prevent this backfire, the rinsing process eliminates any mystic cards left from those previous processes with neutral cards. In this procedure, it's recommended to use Lilipods, and preferably in groups of three. Lilipods produce the Enticed Nymph card, which reacts with almost nothing, but still pushes down other cards. Three Lilipods produce three Enticed Nymphs, and although the third one isn't apparent when you temper the last Lilipods, it will become so when you begin the following procedure. If you want to make sure everything works out well, you might want to use a fourth one, but it's unnecessary more often than not. Other items can be used, depending on what stage you're at. Just zoom through the charts found in this guide, and look for items that don't cause unwanted reactions in the item you're tempering, while still removing any unwanted cards previously added. However, Lilipods seem to be the best cleanser around, since they can be grown in the Orchards quickly, and most easily.
4.8 PROCEDURE: Augmenting Attributes
This procedure can be performed at any time during the tempering process, but it's best to do it after thoroughly rinsing the weapon or armor in question, and preferably right before the varnishing. This procedure is very delicate, and is affected by many factors, namely the augmentation limit, and the augmentation provided by certain cards under specific conditions. For example, the God of Destruction card allows the HP attribute to go up to +15, and its limitations allow it to remain at that level (and even go higher, to a maximum of +20), until the card is removed. This would mean that were the God of Destruction card to leave the item you're tempering, the +15 augmentation would fall to its default limitation, if it's lower. The priority of limitation ranged from the earliest card placed on the item to the most recent. It's always that oldest card that will predominate over the newer ones in this perspective. For example, the limitations would be at +10 with the following card display: (--------) [Invisible Slot] Cleric [ Visible Slot ] Cleric [ Visible Slot ] Yggsdrasil [ Visible Slot ] On the other hand, a different card disposition could result in limitations of only +3: (--------) [Invisible Slot] Sorcerer [ Visible Slot ] Yggsdrasil [ Visible Slot ] Cleric [ Visible Slot ] In the first example, Yggdrasil's limitations predominate, since it was the oldest card placed on the item, regardless of the number of Clerics present. In the second example, Cleric predominates, even though Yggdrasil is much looser. This is why it's preferable to rinse the item you're tempering before proceeding to the Attribute Augmentation procedure. Residue cards from previous processes may impose their own limitations. You should also keep in mind that any forged item has a basic limitation of +1 on all attributes. This has always inferior priority to any card placed on it. There is a notable exception to this rule. If the oldest card with limitations happens to appear more than once in your Mystic Card slots, only the newest of these two cards is accounted for, if there is no other card with limitations that's older than this particular card. In the following example, the Beast- headed God predominates, even though there are two Yggsdrasil cards present. The limitations will be of +20 on all attributes: (--------------) [Invisible Slot] Yggsdrasil [ Visible Slot ] Beast-headed God [ Visible Slot ] Yggsdrasil [ Visible Slot ] As you can see, since Yggsdrasil is present more than once, only its newest version's limitations can be accounted for. However, the Beast-headed God is older than the newer Yggsdrasil, and therefore predominates. The next key element in the aspect of attribute augmentation in an item is to know which items raise which attributes. In general, these items do not create cards, or push down cards with specific limitations. For example, Spiny Seeds augment all attributes, and add the Yggsdrasil card as well, as long as it's not already present. This means that a repetitive addition of Spiny Seeds in the process will only create one Yggsdrasil card, but the augmentations will keep accumulating until they reach the current limitation. There is one clear exception in the field of a card's bonus limitations. Whenever a card offers a specific bonus (like Leviathan's +15 to Defense), that particular limitation is automatically considered dominant over any previous limitation to that particular attribute, so long as no other item with a fixed bonus arrives at a later time, even if the card with the original bonus is still on the item, AS LONG AS THIS NEW BONUS IS HIGHER THAN THE PREVIOUS ONE. In these cases, dominance is always attributed to the more recent card. Attributes that don't suffer a fixed bonus keep the limitations of the least recent card. Keep this in mind when attempting to raise attributes in a disordered fashion.
4.9 PROCEDURE: Varnishing
The varnishing is the final process in the tempering of a weapon or the alteration of a piece of armor. The term itself comes from the artistic process that covers a work of art with varnish, in order to protect it from outside conditions, and later display it. In tempering, it involves the addition of three Mystic Cards and one item to further boost the item you're working on. This can be done to optimize weapon or armor overall power, and can be applied at different levels, depending on how much you wish to benefit from attribute augmentation. It's important that the final item you add confer its effects without having to use a Mystic Card, for the item that rests in the invisible slot can still affect the weapon or armor. Mystic Cards can't be used as cappers. More often than not, one type of card varnishing fits your item well, and you should aim to use the same card three times to optimize your item's power. However, this is sometimes disadvantageous in other aspects, namely in attribute augmentation, since the oldest card available usually sets the limits. Sometimes, it might be more profitable to install varnishing cards so far as to keep the card that provides the limitations you need in the last slot, so that you can still benefit from its high limits. In other words, Varnishing depends on which of the temporary aspects of tempering you want to keep. Know that Varnishing increases an item's power tenfold. An AltenaAlloy sword was increased to power 232 from 50, by tempering in essences (final levels: Wi7, Sh7, Dr9, Au9, Sa10, Gn7, Ji10, Un7). With merely 3 Clown cards and 1 Sharp Claw, its power increased to 414. You should also keep in mind that different varnishing techniques have different requirements to be applied. Additionally, some varnishing techniques might be useful on some kind of equipment, while others might be more beneficial on a particular primary material of equipment. Both type and material are factors in determining which varnishing technique should be used for optimization.
4.10 PROCEDURE: Post-Varnishing Tempering
If you happen to discover a new tempering technique and you wish to apply it on a previously forged item, know that it's within your boundaries to do so. In order to temper safely after the varnishing, you simply rinse your weapon or armor, as shown in the procedures above. Afterwards, you're free to perform any new tempering on that weapon with normal results. However, you lose all attribute augmentations, save for a maximum of +1 in each attribute, as well as the power boost gained from the varnishing itself. You will have to do these steps once again. Post-varnishing tempering is most often used when you would like to add new plunge attacks or status immunities to your equipment, or when you wish to further temper in your essences. The latter is not recommended, since most tempering recipes are specifically designed to follow a particular order of tempering. With essence levels already locked in, tempering old or new essences might create conflict, and render the process more difficult and limited. Once you are done with this, you can proceed to rinse your item as needed, and retrace your steps back to the varnishing.
5. ESSENCE LEVEL SPECIFICS
The tempering of essence levels is discussed in its own section due to its great complexity. A lot of factors are in play here, and you should be aware of these to develop a working recipe. Know that many of the variables in this process are still unknown to us, and we're trying to make some sense out of this as we can.
5.1 Essence Types
All essences have similarities, but not all essences temper alike. For example,
all essences are dominant over other particular essences, and all essences are
dominated by other particular essences. In some cases, one essence might be
dominant over another, and be dominated by it at the same time. However, the
determination of dominance is usually applied when an essence is tempered after
another. Here is the list of the eight essences and their respective
properties:
Wisp: Essence of light, and charm. Wisp, like Shade, doesn't temper like the
other essences. Initially, it already requires more energy to gain
levels, and if Aura levels surpass Dryad's levels, it's even more
difficult to raise Wisp. Under normal conditions, Wisp will raise no
matter what other essence is present. Triggers Shade consumptions.
Shade: Essence of darkness, and spirit. Shade, like Wisp, doesn't temper like
the other essences. Initially, it already requires more energy to gain
levels, and if Dryad levels surpass Aura's levels, it's even more
difficult to raise Shade. Under normal conditions, Shade will rise so
long as Wisp is not above level 0. Triggers Wisp consumptions.
Dryad: Essence of nature, and constitution. Under normal circumstances, Dryad
will not rise if Wisp is inferior to Shade and Aura is present. If Wisp
is superior to Shade, Dryad can trigger Aura consumptions.
Aura: Essence of materialism, and luck. Under normal circumstances, Aura will
not rise if Shade is inferior to Wisp and Dryad is present. If Shade is
superior to Wisp, Aura can also trigger Dryad consumptions.
Salamander: Essence of fire, and strength. Under normal circumstances,
Salamander will rise so long as Undine isn't present. Salamander
triggers Gnome consumptions.
Gnome: Essence of earth, and endurance. Under normal circumstances, Gnome will
rise so long as Salamander isn't present. Gnome triggers Jinn
consumptions.
Jinn: Essence of wind, and agility. Under normal circumstances, Jinn will rise
so long as Gnome isn't present. Jinn triggers Undine consumptions.
Undine: Essence of water, and intelligence. Under normal circumstances, Undine
will rise so long as Gnome isn't present. Undine triggers Salamander
consumptions.
In some cases, essences are considered sensitive with regard to direct
tempering, and they sometimes raise themselves as other essences are tempered
in the item. This is relevant of the material used to craft the item you're
tempering. For woods, Dryad is considered sensitive, whereas Undine is
sensitive in the Coral material. Watch out when you temper materials with
sensitive essences. They have the mixed blessing of having the sensitive
essence borrow some of the energy used for the tempering of other essences, so
that they can rise by themselves. Also, on materials with sensitive essences,
ALL ITEMS PRODUCE MYSTIC CARDS, REGARDLESS OF THE PRESENT CONDITIONS. Whenever
an item would not produce a card under the present conditions automatically
generates an elemental spirit card associated with the sensitive essence. This
will be further covered in a later section.
When two or more essences that aren't in a dominant-dominated relationship with
each other are tempered all at once, they're considered fully-neutral, and
don't affect each other's growth (unless specified in their descriptions). For
example, tempering Dryad, Salamander, and Jinn at the same time would not
create conflict, because the essences aren't linked.
Additionally, on the top row of essences, the Wisp-Shade and Dryad-Aura
equilibriums may break the rules of dominance. For example, if you temper Shade
to level 7, and then Wisp to level 7, their balance prevents the conflict that
would occur when tempering Dryad Aura afterwards. For the purposes of conflict,
a balance in each of the groups of two essences would allow them to be
considered as if they were at level 0. More on this later on.
5.2 Silver or Gold?
What's the difference between the two sorts of coin? Well, for starters, the Silver Coins provide 48 energy, whereas the Gold provide 64. It's not an immense difference, but since you're limited to 4 card slots at the very most, the Golds might be necessary at some time. The other difference lies in the fact that individually, Gold Coins can divide their energy to simultaneously boost two essence levels of the same element at once. This is why adding a Gold Coin to a freshly crafted weapon raises that particular essence to level 2 (except on MaiaLead). Silver Coins can't split their energy in this fashion. The Gold Coin split is only applied when possible. In other words, if you still have some energy left after going up a level, the remaining energy can be used to try to go up another level. After that, any residual energy left is wasted. For Silver Coins, this happens after going up a single level. This is because Gold coins start off with two tainting points, whereas Silver coins start with only one. This will be discussed in the next section.
5.3 Elemental Spirit Cards
When tempering in coins and some other items, cards representing the various elemental spirits might become present in the weapon or armor at hand. These cards might look somewhat useless at first, but they have a very interesting effect with regard to the tempering of essence levels. This effect is what I like to call Essence Tainting. This tainting is the real way to raise essence levels. Only items associated with elemental essences start off with tainting points (Gold coins start with two), and elemental spirit cards bestow tainting points on the items being tempered. It's been my observation that each tainting point (TP) allows the item bring tempered to raise an essence by as much as one level. This effect is cumulative. For example, if a Wisp Silver would be added on an item with an active Wisp card, the coin being tempered could raise the Wisp essence by as much as 2 levels, since the Wisp Silver starts off with 1 TP for Wisp, and the Wisp card bestows another Wisp TP onto the coin. This is also why normally unaligned items (like Sulpher, Mercury, and Glow Crystals) raise essences as well. Now, when you have a large amount of TPs, it's a good thing to know in what order they are applied, when they use the energy of the items you temper. As mentioned in an earlier section, you need certain amounts of energy to gain a level on a particular essence. This cost is based on the essence resistance of the material from which your weapon or armor is crafted, and on the current level of the essence you wish to raise. In many cases, you might wind up with more TPs than you have energy to spread around so that all the TPs can raise one essence by one level each. For example, if at one time you have 2 TPs, and you would need a total of 128 energy to put them both to good use, you'd have to find an item with 128 energy so that both TPs can be used up. However, no single item has 128 energy, and thus, you'll most likely be using only one TP, or maybe neither of them. Any unused TPs are wasted. The priority of TPs is particular. Here's the normal chain of succession, in order of TP importance: 1. Sensitive essence (if available) 2. Top visible slot (if available) 3. Middle visible slot (if available) 4. Bottom visible slot (if available) 5. Innate TPs (if available) When you're tempering an item to raise an essence level, the game will automatically determine if your item has enough energy to raise the essence with the highest-priority TP. If it does, this energy will be invested in this TP, and the rest will be passed on to the TP with the next priority. If the item doesn't have the energy required to raise the essence of the TP with highest priority, then no energy is wasted, and all is transferred onto the next TP in the chain. For example, let's say we're dealing with a DragonScales item. So far, the level of Sala essence is at 5, and Jinn is at level 1. Currently, you have 1 Sala Card (middle slot), and 1 Jinn Card (top slot). To this, you add a Dryad Gold. You have 64 energy to start with, and 4 TPs. The first in line is a Jinn TP, because Jinn is higher on the chain. Since Jinn is at level 1, it requires 14 energy to gain a level. Thus 14 energy are spent on Jinn. This essence goes up to level 2, and passes the remaining 50 energy onto the next TP. Next in line is Sala. Sala, being at level 5, would require 192 energy to gain a level, but we only have 50. The Sala TP doesn't have enough energy to be put to good use, and is thus wasted. Since none of the 50 energy could be used, they are passed onto the Dryad TPs. Dryad is at level 0, and thus requires 8 energy to gain a level. Thus, 8 energy are spent, and Dryad gains a level. We have 42 energy left. Since we used a Dryad Gold in this process, we have an additional Dryad TP to use. So far, Dryad's at level 1, and requires 14 energy to gain a level. Another 14 energy are spent, and Dryad goes up to level 2. What have we left? 28 energy, and no TPs. Since no TPs are left, no essence can actually gain a level, and the remaining energy is wasted. The result of this small process is Dryad 2, Sala 5, and Jinn 2. On items with sensitive essences, all items start off with a TP of the sensitive essence. This would explain why the sensitive essence tend to gain levels on their own. This means that you have to keep in mind that materials with sensitive essences always have at least one TP at all times, and you have to watch out with the priorities. You might accidentally waste too much energy on the sensitive essence, and wind up with too little of it to work on the intended essence. Additionally, materials with sensitive essences cause all items to be tempered on it to produce a Mystic Card, regardless of the requirements. If the normal situation of your weapon or armor would cause the item you're tempering to create a card, this particular card will be the one to become awakened as it enters the top visible slot. However, if the item you're tempering doesn't normally produce a card, it will still create one later on, but it will be an Elemental Spirit card of the sensitive essences. This means that any item that doesn't create a Mystic Card will create a Dryad card when tempered on a DiorWood weapon or armor. Please take notice that, like most other card families, the elemental spirit cards bestow their effects from the turn in which they become active, until the turn before they are pushed out, inclusively. Thus one such card wouldn't bestow a TP to an item being tempered if this card is pushed off the item at the same time. Here's a brief reminder of where TPs can be obtained: - Items with TPs (check the item lists in a later section) - Elemental Spirit cards (each such card provides 1 TP) - Sensitive essences (always adds 1 TP of the essence) And remember, TPs are used instantly. The number and type of available TPs changes as you temper more items. Any unused TPs are wasted.
5.4 Nymph of Dawn Card
These are produced by tempering Glow Crystals onto your item. Whereas Glow
Crystals are one of the strongest sources of energy for the essence tempering
process, the Nymph of Dawn in itself doesn't do much. What it does is that when
it's removed from an item, this card adds 192 energy to the material you're
tempering to drive the Nymph out. This makes for a total of 240 energy for
silver coins, 256 for gold coins, and 288 for aligned Glow Crystals! However,
Nymphs of Dawn are highly conflictive with cards other than Elemental Spirit
cards. Every time that a non-coin item is tempered in when a non-Elemental card
is active or activated above the Nymph of Dawn, a NoD is automatically
discarded.
For example, tempering two Mercury (that produce the Witch card) after one Glow
Crystal would eliminate the Nymph of Dawn that settled with the Glow Crystal:
Step #1 Step #2 Step #3
(Glow Crystal) ( Mercury ) ( Mercury )
Shade Nymph of Dawn Witch
Shade Shade ---------------
Shade Shade Shade
Here's another example in which a Nymph of Dawn is forced out, along with
another card:
Step #1 Step #2 Step #3
( Mercury ) (Shade Silver) ( Mercury )
Nymph of Dawn Witch Shade
Shade Nymph of Dawn Witch
Shade Shade ---------------
However, you should note that if a Nymph of Dawn is due to leave an item
normally when you temper in the conflicting material, this effect does not
occur an additional time:
Step #1 Step #2
( Mercury ) ( Mercury )
Nymph of Dawn Witch
Nymph of Dawn Nymph of Dawn
Nymph of Dawn Nymph of Dawn
Keep in mind that in order to best use the Nymphs of Dawn, you have to
coordinate their leaving your item when you temper a material you want to
boost. The Glow Crystals act like an increase of heat in a chemical reaction.
It speeds up the process. Ironically enough, in the japanese version, these are
called Blaze Crystals.
Again, take notice that Nymphs of Dawn bestow their effects on the turn they
are pushed off a card (forcibly or not), and on that turn only. At any other
time, Nymphs of Dawn do absolutely nothing. Combining this effect with an
effective management of TPs provides the best results when tempering essences.
5.5 Wizard Cards
There are two wizard cards: the Sorcerer and the Witch. They are produced by Sulpher and Mercury respecitvely. As mentioned earlier, these act like catalysts do in a chemical reaction. They lower the activation energy, or in this case, they reduce the amount of energy required to gain a level in a particular essence. Their effects are cumulative, so more such cards means even less energy is required to gain a level. These can be used to reduce the energy costs of essence consumption as well, seeing as you'll need to concentrate the entire consumption on a single coin. This will be explained in detail in a section below, as will be displayed the energy costs for each level depending on the number of wizard cards present. Additionally, keep in mind that Sorcerer cards reduce the energy costs for the Wisp, Dryad, Salamander, and Gnome essences only. To reduce the energy costs of Shade, Aura, Jinn, and Undine, use Witch cards instead. Having both the Sorcerer and Witch cards on an item at the same time does not cancel their effects. In fact, any essence can benefit from such a combination, but in order to optimize results, it's best not to mix them, and accumulate the same kind instead. Please take notice that, like most other card families, Wizard cards bestow their effects from the turn they become active on the item, until the turn before they are pushed out, inclusively. Thus, tempering one Shade Silver after having tempered one Mercury would be favorable to the Shade essence, since the Witch card will become active on that turn. In the same perspective, tempering a Shade Silver while the Witch card is in the bottom slot would do nothing for the Shade essence, since the Witch is due to leave on that turn, and its effects won't be accounted for.
5.6 Ancient Moon Card
The Ancient Moon card, produced by the Chaos Crystal, is used to temper conflicting essences without disrupting other essences. Its effects are accounted for from the moment the card appears on the item until the moment the card leaves the item, inclusively. This means that if you temper a conflicting item that pushes the Ancient Moon in, it won't suffer from essence disruption. Similarly, the consequence is the same when you temper an item that causes the Ancient Moon to leave the item. You still benefit from its powers then. To make things much simpler, if the Ancient Moon is present at any time when you temper an item, be it before you temper a particular item, afterwards, or somewhere in between, you can use its powers. If you don't see the Ancient Moon at all, then you don't. At first thought, you would think that the Ancient Moon could allow you to temper conflicting essences just as well as non-conflicting essences. In a way, this is true, but you have to remind yourself that the Ancient Moon occuppies a Mystic Card slot, and more often than not, this slot is essential to rise to one of the higher levels (8 through 12). Keep in mind that Ancient Moon prevents consumptions from taking place, and eliminates all conditions necessary for an essence to rise. Finally, it's a good thing to know that, as with all of the World cards (Ragnarok, Mirrored World, Yggsdrasil, Dying Earth, Heaven's Scale), the Ancient Moon can't be present more than once on a particular item, at the same time. In a similar perspective, no two World cards can be present on a single item at the same time. There is one exception to this rule, and it's the Bed of Thorn card, which allows multiple World cards to co-exist. This will be covered later on. Additionally, World cards differ from other card families in the sense that their effects are also accounted for on the turn they are pushed off an item. Thus, you could safely temper a conflicting essence on the turn the Ancient Moon is pushed off an item.
5.7 Mirrored World Card
Courtesy of AsianGrinch, we have now some spicy info on this very elusive card.
What it does is simply reverse the order of dominance found in the various
essences. Thus, while the Mirrored World is present, Salamander would not
dominate over Gnome but, rather, Gnome would dominate over Salamander. This
could allow for reversed consumptions (see below), but we've yet to find a
particularly profitable one. This effect also applies to top-row essences (Wisp-
Shade-Dryad-Aura).
Here are the changes applied in Mirrored World:
Wisp: Is more difficult to temper if Dryad is superior to Aura. Wisp will not
rise if Shade is superior to 0.
Shade: Is more difficult to temper is Aura is superior to Dryad. Shade rises
under any conditions.
Dryad: Dryad will not rise if Shade is inferior to Wisp and Aura is present. If
Shade is superior to Wisp, Dryad triggers Aura consumptions.
Aura: Aura will not rise if Wisp is inferior to Shade and Dryad is present. If
Wisp is superior to Shade, Aura triggers Dryad consumptions.
Salamander: Salamander will not rise if Gnome is present. Salamander triggers
Undine consumptions.
Gnome: Gnome will not rise if Jinn is present. Gnome triggers Salamander
consumptions.
Jinn: Jinn will not rise if Undine is present. Jinn triggers Gnome
consumptions.
Undine: Undine will not rise if Salamander is present. Undine triggers Jinn
consumptions. Take notice that, as with all the World cards (Ragnarok, Ancient Moon, Yggsdrasil, Dying Earth, Heaven's Scale), the Mirrored World can't be present more than once on a particular item, at the same time. In a similar perspective, no two World cards can be present on a single item at the same time. There is one exception to this rule, and it's the Bed of Thorn card, which allows multiple World cards to co-exist. This will be covered later on. Additionally, World cards differ from other card families in the sense that their effects are also accounted for on the turn they are pushed off an item. Thus, you could perform a reversed consumption on the turn the Mirrored World is pushed off an item.
5.8 Essence Consumption
One of the more curious aspects of essence tempering is what we call consumption. This is a special process that allows some essences to go above level 9. It involves having one or more essences "eat" another essence. What you have to do is simple. At the basics, what happens is that you take away some energy that was invested for an essence to gain a level, and re- invest that in other essences, along with an energy supplement provided by you. Since this energy is generally much larger than any you can provide to gain levels in an essence, this is the only means available to reach levels of 10 and above. The process is as basic as they come. In order for a consumption to be possible, you have to provide at least 1 TP of an essence that triggers a consumption of the essence you want to "eat up". To see what consumptions are triggered by which essences, look in Section 5.1. Remember that Mirrored World affects this, and refer to that section when attempting consumptions in Mirrored World. Additionally, you need for the essence that dominates over the one you want to raise to be absent during the consumption. This only applies to the row of the trigger. In other words, if you're using a Salamander TP to trigger a Gnome consumption, Undine may not be present, since it dominates over Salamander, and is in the same row as the trigger. However, if you were to have enough energy to have Dryad gain a level as well, it doesn't matter whether or not Aura is present (Aura dominates over Dryad), because the trigger is in the bottom row, whereas Dryad and Aura are in the top row. To make a long story short, for a trigger to work, the essence that dominates over it musn't be present. The essences that will try consume the essence readied to be "eaten up" will be those whom have TPs available, much like you would normally raise an essence. Thus, you can't have Aura rise from a consumption if an Aura TP isn't present to allow the boost. Since triggers are always TPs, there's always the possibility of a consumption. Additionally, the cost to gain a level will also be affected by the Wizard cards associated with the TPs present. For example, if you want to raise Undine through a consumption, it will be much easier to do with three Witch cards present. For example, on a DiorWood item, if Dryad and Sala are at level 10, and Gnome is at level 9, it's possible to get both Dryad and Sala to level 11 with only one consumption. How? Well, for starters, you need to coordinate some Glow Crystals and Sulpher so that you can discard a Nymph of Dawn (see above sections), while having 3 Wizard cards present on the weapon, and all of this at the same time you temper a Sala coin. The coin, having a Sala TP, will cause Gnome to fall into a consumed state, and it will ready its energy to be passed onto the TPs found at that time. Since we're dealing with a DiorWood item, you have a Dryad TP (DiorWood is Dryad-sensitive), and a Sala TP (from the coin). Under normal circumstances, if you'd only wanted to have Sala perform the consumption so that you could raise it alone, a level 8 Gnome would've provided sufficient energy. A level 9 Gnome has more than enough energy to make both Dryad and Salamander raise. Thus, Salamander and Dryad go up to 11, whereas Gnome falls to 8. Keep in mind, though, that immediately after a consumption, the essence that was powered down will be weak, and since you'll have leftover TPs from the trigger (you need to use a coin, and thus generate Element cards), any further addition of items will simply waste away the consumed essence without any gain. In order to prevent this, you need to use one of two cards: Ancient Moon or Mirrored World. Ancient Moon stops conflict, and will prevent the consumed essence to fall any further. Mirrored World reverses the dominance order, and may cause some unusual effects. It's recommended to go with Ancient Moon. Any of the aforementioned information with regard to essence tempering can be applied to consumtions, including Wizard cards, blazing from NoDs, etc.
5.9 Cardless Tempering
It occurred to me that many items do not produce cards, regardless of the situation, and yet, they still provide energy to the tempering process. I tried tempering cardless items, making sure I had an elemental spirit card present to taint these items. The results were gratifying, to say the least. These items provide their energy according to the conditions specified by the cards currently active on the item. I managed to achieve 46 essence levels on DragonScales, using only 5 Sulpher, 5 Mercury, 1 Chaos Crystal, and only 1 item associated with each essence (and a handful of common and free items)! This can be very good for those who don't have a lot of Lucre hanging around, since Flaming Quills can be used rather well in this process (unless Sala and Jinn are notably present), and they can be commonly found on Chocobos and Cockatrices. However, if you wish to temper an item to very high essence levels, this technique won't be optimized very well. Additionally, this technique can't be used on items with sensitive essences, since any secondary material added to an item crafted of a primary material with a sensitive essence automatically forces any cardless items to generate a card of the sensitive essence.
5.10 Essence Markers and Elemental Resistance
When a weapon or piece of armor has been exposed to a particular element long enough, it gains an indicator of the essence that it has been exposed to. This usually happens when this particular essence reaches level 2. At this point, a weapon gains that essence's marker, and a piece of armor bestows resistance to that particular element. As long as that essence doesn't fall to 0 (or possibly even 1), the marker/resistance will remain. In some cases, these indicators might be welcome, but some prefer to do without one or two of the, since certain cards can't exist when the indicator is present. For example, Bed of Thorn can't exist while there is a Salamander indicator.
5.11 Notes
Here are a few things you might want to know before trying new tempering techniques. This information will remain final until new discoveries can be made: > Wisp and Shade temper differently from other essences. Until I can provide a working energy cost chart for these essences, you should experiment on your own. > Low resistances (5-7) can always be raised to level 9, without resorting to essence consumption. > For higher resistances (8-10), Wisp and Shade can't rise above level 7 without resorting to essence consumption. Any other non-conflicting essence can raise to level 9 without resorting to essence consumption. Highly resistant and conflicting essences can't raise above level 7 without essence consumption, and it's most unlikely that a conflicting essence will be able to consume altogether. > Low resistances can be raised to level 12, through essence consumption. However, this requires for the dominated essence to be of low resistance as well, since you'll need to raise it to level 9, while in conflict, in order to perform the consumption. > High resistances can be raised to level 11, through essence consumption. However, this requires for the dominated essence to be of low resistance, since you'll need to raise it to level 8, while in conflict, in order to perform the consumption. > If a process of consumption involves two highly resistant essences, the devouring essence will never be increased above level 10, since the devoured essence can't be raised above level 7, because it's in conflict. Thus, it's best to have the more resistant essences consume the least resistant ones to optimize the results. > The balance of Wisp and Shade is extremely important. Having differing levels in Wisp and Shade might cause problems when tempering Aura and Dryad. Even if one of these two essences might be less resistant than the other on the same material, it's best to raise them both to the same level. > The process of having a Wisp/Shade or Dryad/Aura consumption is complex, and chaotic. Most of the time, the rate of success of this operation lies with the type of material used to forge the item you're tempering.
5.12 Reminder
Basically, here are the essential things you have to remember: > Two things cause an essence to gain a level. Energy, and TPs. Each TP grants the possibility of gaining one level in the appropriate essence. If the energy is sufficient for that TP, the energy is used, and the element associated with the TP gains a level. If not, it's passed onto the next TP. If there are no TPs left, then the remaining energy is wasted. > Energy increments are not cumulative. Any excess energy is discarded when everything was sorted out. If a Glow Crystal left you with 48 unused energy, and you then add another Glow Crystal with 96 energy, you'll only have the 96 from the new Glow Crystal. This is why you often have to try to unleash the most energy with only one item. > Wizard cards are essential to reach the higher levels, and they're also essential to perform consumptions. > Consumptions are triggered by consumption triggers (in the form of TPs, see above), and by the absence of the essence that dominates over the trigger. Of course, all the other rules about essence level tempering also apply here. > Mirrored World reverses dominance and consumption triggers. Be careful with this. > Ancient Moon nulls out the fact that some TPs might trigger consumptions, in reality. By eliminating all possible conflict, any essence can be raised normally. > Glow Crystals provide 96 energy. Nymphs of Dawn provide 192 when they leave your item. Note the difference. When using Nymphs of Dawn, make it so that they leave your item when tempering an item to gain an essence level. > If there is one non-Element card present on your weapon or armor, as well as a Nymph of Dawn, the addition of any item that doesn't generate an Element card causes the Nymph of Dawn to be immediately discarded, along with any normal discards.
6. MATERIAL PROPERTIES
What determines whether a particular material will make strong weapons and armor depends on its various properties. Some materials are better for certain weaponry, while others might be better for armor. Every material has eight properties. Four that apply to weaponry, and four that apply to armor. The four armor aspects can be spotted out easily, as they are the four different types of protection: Strike, Slash, Pierce, and Magic defenses. Until we can obtain a better translation of the Seiken Densetsu 4 Ultimania guide, the four weapon attributes will remain unknown. The better estimates are Slash, Heavy, Force, and Tech, but my theory is that they refer to the types of plunge attack damage (Cut, Blunt, Pierce, Indirect). Albatross provided me with a list of offensive statistics for weaponry, but it only applied to the japanese version of LoM, and we're trying to chart out the correct values as we can. This is why the charts will be incomplete, fow now. Here are the formulas needed to calculate the power ratings of weapons and armor (without essence levels): Weapons (Wpn Slash x Mtrl Slash)/128 + (Wpn Heavy x Mtrl Heavy)/128 + (Wpn Force x Mtrl Force)/128 + (Wpn Tech x Mtrl Tech)/128 Armor (Armr Strike Def x Mtrl Strike Def)/64 = Total Strike Def (Armr Slash Def x Mtrl Slash Def)/64 = Total Slash Def (Armr Thrust Def x Mtrl Thrust Def)/64 = Total Thrust Def (Armr Magic Def x Mtrl Magic Def)/64 = Total Magic Def When you wish to apply a varnishing technique to your weapon or armor, you can increase or reduce particular aspects of a weapon or armor by increments of 25%, 50%, or both. These changes in weapon and armor power last, so long as the varnishing remains intact. The goal is to accumulate 3 cards that boost particular aspects that are strong, and finish it with an item that further contributes to that. When you add more such increments, keep in mind that they always apply to the new total. For example, if you add a 50% increment after having adding a 25% increment, you'll be adding a 50% increment of 125% of the initial value.
7. SPECIAL POWERS
This is a most delicate matter, in the realm of tempering. It only applies to pieces of armor. Some cards may be able to bestow a special power on a piece of armor, but not in a way similar to the addition of new plunge attacks or status immunities, even if the results could be qualified as similar. When hunting for card-derived special powers, most observations lead to the conclusion that only the most recent active card on an item can provide special powers. This is why the Fertility Goddess card on a ring won't share the experience crystals acquired if the card isn't on the top slot. People have been trying to get multiple special powers to work on on the same item at the same time (namely, combining the powers of the Forbidden and Revive rings), but most tests have been inconclusive. Anthony is presently working on this, and more information will be added on an upcoming update.
8. TEMPERING FOR MONEY
It's very clear that tempering can be an expensive process. Likewise, if handled right, tempering can be a very rewarding process, Lucre-wise. How? By tempering in the proper items in order to boost the price to incredible amounts. Here are the factors that have influence over the price of a weapon or armor: - Material from which the weapon/armor is made of - Type of weapon/armor - Mystic Cards present - Mystic Card potentially created by the item in the invisible slot, BASED ON ESSENCE LEVELS PRIOR TO TEMPERING IN THAT ITEM What does this mean? Well, it means that a DiorWood Axe with 300 power and three Enticed Nymphs will sell at the same price as a DiorWood Axe of 60 power with three Enticed Nymphs. That's right, the overall offensive or defensive power of your weapon or armor doesn't matter when you're going for money. Right now, I don't have a way to determine how the basic price of a weapon or armor is determined, but I know for certain that any additional Lucre-value is due to Mystic Cards, and the card that could be potentially created by the item in the invisible slot. Why 'potentially'? Because while it is in the invisible slot, the item doesn't count as a Mystic Card. Only the item's powers are applied (not the card's), cardless items would create an inconsistency, and special conditions might render the creation of a certain card impossible, despite the matching essence levels. An evident example of this is with World cards, which are unable to be present more than once on an item at any time, unless a Bed of Thorn is ready to accomodate them. If you already have a Ragnarok card on your weapon/armor, and you temper in a Pine o'Clock, the produce will be considered cardless for the purposes of actually creating a card as it moves on. However, if the essence levels are sufficient for a Pine o'Clock to create the Ragnarok card, so long as the Pine o'Clock remains in the invisible slot, the value of the Ragnarok card is accounted due to it. Right now, we're working on charting out the price values of all the cards, but this will require some time. If you come up with any results, please send them to me on GameFAQs or in The Mana Series Discord. I've only charted a few cards so far, and there are plenty more to go.
9. INFORMATION LISTS
In this section, you will find various lists, with information relevant to the various aspects of tempering. These include the energy costs for essence levels when there is a presence of wizard cards, and the effects of mystic cards, among others.
9.1 Material Essence Resistance
Here is the chart of the various resistances materials have towards the various
elements. You can use this information, with the subsequent chart to find out
how much energy you need to gain a level in a particular essence, for your
material.
-----------------------------------------------------
Material Type Material |WI SH DR AU SA GN JI UN
-----------------------------------------------------
METAL MenosBronze |8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
METAL ForsenaIron |9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
METAL GranzSteel |9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
METAL LorantSilver |9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
METAL WendelSilver |9 7 8 8 8 8 8 8
METAL VizelGold |7 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
METAL IshePlatinum |7 7 8 8 8 8 8 8
METAL LorimarIron |7 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
METAL AltenaAlloy |10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
METAL MaiaLead |32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32
METAL Orihalcon |8 8 7 10 7 9 6 8
-----------------------------------------------------
WOOD OakWood |7 8 6 9 10 7 7 7
WOOD HollyWood |7 8 6 9 10 7 7 7
WOOD BaobabWood |7 8 6 9 10 7 7 7
WOOD EbonyWood |7 8 6 9 10 7 7 7
WOOD MapleWood |7 8 6 9 10 7 7 7
WOOD DiorWood |7 8 5 9 10 7 7 7
WOOD AshWood |7 8 6 9 10 7 7 7
WOOD FossilWood |7 6 6 9 10 6 7 7
-----------------------------------------------------
STONE Marble |7 8 9 7 7 6 10 7 There is a rumor about
STONE Obsidian |8 6 9 7 7 6 10 8 PedanStone having a
STONE PedanStone |7 8 9 7 7 7 10 7 resistance of 11 to
STONE Gaeus'sTears |8 8 9 7 10 6 10 6 Jinn. (Unsure)
-----------------------------------------------------
HIDE AnimalHide |8 8 7 9 9 7 7 7
HIDE GatorSkin |8 8 7 9 7 8 8 6
HIDE CentaurHide |8 8 9 7 8 7 8 8
HIDE DragonSkin |8 8 7 9 5 10 5 10
-----------------------------------------------------
SCALES FishScales |8 8 8 8 8 8 8 6
SCALES LizardScales |7 9 8 8 7 8 8 9
SCALES SnakeScales |9 7 8 8 8 7 8 7
SCALES DragonScales |7 7 7 7 6 7 7 7
-----------------------------------------------------
BONE AnimalBone |9 6 8 8 8 8 8 8
BONE Ivory |7 6 7 7 8 6 7 7
BONE CursedBone |9 5 9 7 9 7 9 7
BONE Fossil |9 6 8 8 10 6 10 6
-----------------------------------------------------
FABRIC ToppleCotton |6 8 6 10 10 7 7 6
FABRIC Sultan'sSilk |6 8 6 10 10 7 7 6
FABRIC JuddHemp |10 6 6 10 10 7 7 6
FABRIC AltenaFelt |7 7 7 9 10 7 7 6
-----------------------------------------------------
AEROLITE JacobiniRock |7 8 10 7 7 8 9 8
AEROLITE HalleyRock |7 8 10 7 7 8 9 8
AEROLITE AnkhRock |7 8 10 7 7 8 9 8
AEROLITE VinekRock |7 8 10 7 7 8 9 8
AEROLITE TuttleRock |7 8 10 7 7 8 9 8
AEROLITE NemesisRock |7 8 10 7 7 8 9 8
AEROLITE BiellaRock |7 8 10 7 7 8 9 8
AEROLITE SwifteRock |7 8 10 7 7 8 9 8
-----------------------------------------------------
Adamantite |8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
FullMetal |8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
Coral |9 6 7 7 9 7 9 5
TortoiseShell|8 8 9 7 9 8 9 7
Shell |8 7 9 8 9 7 9 6
Emerald |8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
Pearl |8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
LapisLazuli |8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
-----------------------------------------------------
9.2 Energy Requirement List
The following chart lists the energy required to rise to a certain essence level while there is a presence of favorable wizard cards (Witch/Sorcerer). Up to three can be present at any time on an item, and having more tends to reduce the energy costs. Remember that the cost for reaching level 1 is always 8, and increasing beyond that without Wizard cards goes along the following formula: Energy = Resistance x (2^Current Level), with a minimum requirement of 8 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Essence |Wizard | Cost For Essence Level Targetted Resistance |Cards |1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ---------------------------------------------------------------- 5 |0 |8 10 20 40 80 160 320 640 1280 5 |1 |8 8 16 24 48 96 192 384 768 5 |2 |8 8 8 8 16 32 64 128 256 5 |3 |8 8 8 8 16 32 64 128 256 ---------------------------------------------------------------- 6 |0 |8 12 24 48 96 192 384 768 1536 6 |1 |8 8 16 24 48 96 192 384 768 6 |2 |8 8 8 8 16 32 64 128 256 6 |3 |8 8 8 8 16 32 64 128 256 ---------------------------------------------------------------- 7 |0 |8 14 28 56 112 224 448 896 1792 7 |1 |8 8 16 24 48 96 192 384 768 7 |2 |8 8 8 8 16 32 64 128 256 7 |3 |8 8 8 8 16 32 64 128 256 ---------------------------------------------------------------- 8 |0 |8 16 32 64 128 256 512 1024 2048 8 |1 |8 16 24 48 96 192 384 768 1536 8 |2 |8 8 16 24 48 96 192 384 768 8 |3 |8 8 8 8 16 32 64 128 256 ---------------------------------------------------------------- 9 |0 |9 18 36 72 144 288 576 1152 2304 9 |1 |8 16 24 48 96 192 384 768 1536 9 |2 |8 8 16 24 48 96 192 384 768 9 |3 |8 8 8 16 16 32 64 128 256 ---------------------------------------------------------------- 10 |0 |10 20 40 80 160 320 640 1280 2560 10 |1 |8 16 24 48 96 192 384 768 1536 10 |2 |8 8 16 24 48 96 192 384 768 10 |3 |8 8 8 8 32 32 64 128 256 ---------------------------------------------------------------- 32 |0 |32 64 128 256 512 1024 2048 4096 8192 32 |1 |24 48 96 192 384 768 1536 3072 6144 32 |2 |24 48 96 192 288 576 1152 2304 4608 32 |3 |16 24 48 96 192 384 768 1536 3072 ----------------------------------------------------------------
9.3 Energy Requirement List
The following chart displays what effects a particular item has, when tempered
in a particular item. Remember that these are present as long as the item
remains tempered in the item. This chart also displays the basic energy
allocation and elemental association of the items.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Item Type |Item Name Energy|Element TP|Equipment Effect
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COINS |Wisp Gold 64|Wisp x2 |
COINS |Shade Gold 64|Shade x2 |
COINS |Dryad Gold 64|Dryad x2 |
COINS |Aura Gold 64|Aura x2 |
COINS |Sala Gold 64|Sala x2 |
COINS |Gnome Gold 64|Gnome x2 |
COINS |Jinn Gold 64|Jinn x2 |
COINS |Undine Gold 64|Undine x2 |
COINS |Wisp Silver 48|Wisp |
COINS |Shade Silver 48|Shade |
COINS |Dryad Silver 48|Dryad |
COINS |Aura Silver 48|Aura |
COINS |Sala Silver 48|Sala |
COINS |Gnome Silver 48|Gnome |
COINS |Jinn Silver 48|Jinn |
COINS |Undine Silver 48|Undine |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
M.STONES |Fire Stone 24|Sala |
M.STONES |Earth Stone 24|Gnome |
M.STONES |Wind Stone 24|Jinn |
M.STONES |Water Stone 24|Undine |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
M.CRYSTALS |Sun Crystal 48|Wisp |
M.CRYSTALS |Moon Crystal 48|Shade |
M.CRYSTALS |Glow Crystal 96| |
M.CRYSTALS |Chaos Crystal 24| |Cannot be tainted
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SEEDS |Round Seed 16|Dryad |
SEEDS |Oblong Seed 16|Dryad |
SEEDS |Crooked Seed 16|Dryad |
SEEDS |Big Seed 24|Dryad |
SEEDS |Small Seed 24|Dryad |
SEEDS |Long Seed 24|Dryad |
SEEDS |Flat Seed 48|Dryad |
SEEDS |Spiny Seed 48| |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRODUCE |Bellgrapes 64| |
PRODUCE |Diceberry 16| |
PRODUCE |Mangoelephant 64| |
PRODUCE |Loquat-Shoes 16| |Shoes: Strike/Slash/Thrust +25%
PRODUCE |Pear o'Heels 32| |Shoes: Strike/Slash/Thrust +25%
PRODUCE |Squalphin 16|Undine |
PRODUCE |Citrisquid 8 | |Weapons: Slash -25%, Heavy +25%
| | |Armor: Strike +25%, Slash -25%
PRODUCE |Springanana 16| |
PRODUCE |Peach Puppy 24| |Weapons: Slash +25%, Heavy -25%
PRODUCE |Apricat 8 | |Weapons: Force -25%, Tech +25%
PRODUCE |Applesocks 64| |
PRODUCE |Whalamato 32| |
PRODUCE |Pine o'Clock 24| |Armor: Sleep Immunity
PRODUCE |Fishy Fruit 32|Undine |
PRODUCE |Boarmelon 32| |
PRODUCE |Rhinoloupe 32| |Weapons: Slash +25%
| | |Armor: Poison Immunity
PRODUCE |Orcaplant 24| |
PRODUCE |Garlicrown 8 |Aura |Pushes Off Pixie Cards
PRODUCE |Honey Onion 32|Dryad |
PRODUCE |Sweet Moai 32| |Helm: Strike/Slash/Thrust +25%
| | |Hat: Strike/Slash/Thrust +50%
PRODUCE |Spiny Carrot 8 |Undine |Weapons: Slash +25%, Heavy -25%
PRODUCE |Conchurnip 16| |
PRODUCE |Cornflower 24|Wisp |
PRODUCE |Cabadillo 8 | |Hauberk: Strike/Slash/Thrust +25%
| | | Magic Def -50%
PRODUCE |Needlettuce 24| |Weapons: Slash +25%, Heavy -25%
PRODUCE |Cherry Bombs 16| |
PRODUCE |Masked Potato 24| |Weapons: Slash -25%, Heavy +25%
PRODUCE |Lilipods 8 | |
PRODUCE |Rocket Papaya 64| |
PRODUCE |Orange'opus 64| |
PRODUCE |Bumpkin 24| |
PRODUCE |Heart Mint 8 | |
PRODUCE |Spade Basil 16| |Weapons: Slash +25%
PRODUCE |Dialaurel 64| |
PRODUCE |Gold Clover 64| |Weapons: Slash +25%
PRODUCE |Mush-In-A-Box 32|Shade |
PRODUCE |Toadstoolshed 64|Shade |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MEATS |(All Kinds) 16| |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FANG/CLAW |Sharp Claw 24| |Weapons: Slash +50%, Heavy -50%
FANG/CLAW |Poison Fang 8 | |Weapons: Force -50%, Tech +50%
FANG/CLAW |Giant's Horn 32| |Weapons: Slash -50%, Heavy +50%
FANG/CLAW |Scissors 16| |Weapons: Force +50%, Tech -50%
FANG/CLAW |Healing Claw 24| |Shield: Poison Immunity
FANG/CLAW |Zombie Claw 32| |Pendant: Paralysis Immunity
FANG/CLAW |Vampire Fang 24| |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EYES |Little Eye 32| |Armor: Slash +25%
EYES |Sleepy Eye 32| |Armor: Thrust +25%
EYES |Silly Eye 32| |Weapons: Heavy +25%
EYES |Dangerous Eye 32| |Armor: Strike +25%
EYES |Angry Eye 32| |Weapons: Force +25%
EYES |Blank Eye 32| |Weapons: Tech +25%
EYES |Wicked Eye 32| |Weapons: Slash +25%
EYES |Creepy Eye 48| |Armor: Magic Def +25%
| | |Produces a random Pixie card (?)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FEATHERS |Angel Feather 32|Wisp |
FEATHERS |Raven Feather 24|Shade |
FEATHERS |Clear Feather 24| |Weapons: Heavy -50%, Tech +50%
FEATHERS |Moth Wing 32| |Armor: Strike/Slash/Thrust -25%
| | | Magic Def +25%
FEATHERS |Flaming Quill 64| |
FEATHERS |White Feather 32| |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOTTLES |Aroma Oil 24| |Hide Armor: Strike/Slash/Pierce
| | | +50%
BOTTLES |Dragon Blood 64| |
BOTTLES |Acid 48| |
BOTTLES |Holy Water 16| |Pushes Off Pixie Cards
BOTTLES |Ether 8 | |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VIALS |Mercury 24| |
VIALS |Stinky Breath 16| |Armor: Poison/Confusion Immunity
VIALS |Ghost's Howl 32| |
VIALS |Dragon's Breath 24| |Weapons: Force +25%, Tech +25%
VIALS |Virgin's Sigh 16| |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
URNS |Electricity 32| |
URNS |Moss 32| |Helm: Darkness Immunity
URNS |Ear Of Wheat 24| |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PELLETS |Baked Roach 24| |Robe: Poison Immunity
PELLETS |Blackened Bat 48| |Pendant: Darkness Immunity
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
POWDERS |Sulpher 24| |
POWDERS |Poison Powder 8 | |
POWDERS |Sleepy Powder 8 | |
POWDERS |Knockout Dust 8 | |
POWDERS |Rust 8 | |
POWDERS |Grave Dirt 32| |
POWDERS |Ash 16| |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
POUCH |Hairball 8 | |
POUCH |Needle 8 | |
POUCH |Mirror Piece 24| |Cannot be tainted?
POUCH |Wad Of Wool 16| |
POUCH |Messy Scroll 16| |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|Greenball Bun 8 | |
|Tako Bug 8 | |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9.4 Card Effect and Requirements List
Much like the chart above, the following one describes the effects of mystic
cards, when present, as well as their requirements to be installed. This also
describes the possible attribute bonuses of each card, as well as their
limitations. Due to the amount of content explored, this list will be divided
in two parts. Remember that if an item doesn't have any attribute limitations,
it is limited to the equipment's basic limits, which are of 0 to +1 on all
attributes. If a modifier has a fixed bonus or penalty, it gives the marked
attribute modifier, it's not cumulative. Thus adding multiple Evil Gods does
not add 15 to the appropriate attribute, but it brings the attribute to +15.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Card |Card |Attribute |Attribute |Lucre
Family |Name |Modifiers |Limitations |Value
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
WORLD CARDS |Yggsdrasil |All Up |All -5 to +10 |
| | |Staff: All -3 to +9|
WORLD CARDS |Ancient Moon | | |
WORLD CARDS |Mirrored World | | |
WORLD CARDS |Heaven's Scale | | |
WORLD CARDS |Dying Earth |All Down |All -5 to +10 |
WORLD CARDS |Ragnarok | | |10000
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
STAGE CARDS |Bed of Thorn | |All -1 to +3 |
STAGE CARDS |Volcano | | |
STAGE CARDS |Metropolis | | |
STAGE CARDS |Tower | |All -3 to +5 |
STAGE CARDS |Spring | |All -3 to +5 |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
12 HEAVEN GODS|Ruler of the Sky |Pwr +9 |Pwr -3 to +9 |
| |Mgc +9 |Mgc -3 to +9 |
12 HEAVEN GODS|Mother of Gods |Mgc +5 |Mgc -3 to +5 |
| |Spr +5 |Spr -3 to +5 |
| |Chm +5 |Chm -3 to +5 |
12 HEAVEN GODS|Sun God |Chm +10 |Chm -5 to +10 |
12 HEAVEN GODS|Moon Goddess |Spr +10 |Spr -5 to +10 |
12 HEAVEN GODS|Thunder God |Pwr +5 |Pwr -3 to +5 |
| |Skl +5 |Skl -3 to +5 |
| |Def +5 |Def -3 to +5 |
12 HEAVEN GODS|Goddess of Love |Spr +7 |Spr -3 to +9 |
| |Chm +7 |Chm -3 to +9 |
12 HEAVEN GODS|Fertility Goddess |HP +10 |HP -5 to +10 |
12 HEAVEN GODS|Ocean God |Pwr +7 |Pwr -3 to +9 |
| |Skl +7 |Skl -3 to +9 |
12 HEAVEN GODS|Wind God |Skl +10 |Skl -5 to +10 |
12 HEAVEN GODS|Wisdom Goddess |Mgc +10 |Mgc -5 to +10 |
12 HEAVEN GODS|Blacksmith God |Def +10 |Def -5 to +10 |
12 HEAVEN GODS|God of War |Pwr +10 |Pwr -5 to +10 |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
7 EVIL GODS |Fallen Angel |Chm +15 |All -10 to +20 |
| |Others Down | |
7 EVIL GODS |Witch of Moon |Mgc +15 |All -10 to +20 |
| |Others Down | |
7 EVIL GODS |Lord of Flies |Skl +15 |All -10 to +20 |
| |Others Down | |
7 EVIL GODS |Wings of Darkness |Spr +15 |All -10 to +20 |
| |Others Down | |
7 EVIL GODS |God of Destruction|Pwr +15 |All -10 to +20 |
| |Others Down | |
7 EVIL GODS |Beast-headed God |HP +15 |All -10 to +20 |
| |Others Down | |
7 EVIL GODS |Leviathan |Def +15 |All -10 to +20 |
| |Others Down | |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOBLES |Sage |Def Up |All -3 to +5 |
| |Mgc Up | |
NOBLES |Man of Valor |Pwr Up |All -3 to +5 |
| |HP Up | |
NOBLES |Wanderer |Skl Up |All -3 to +5 |
| |Spr Up | |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
MAIDEN CARDS |Sacrificed Nymph | | |
MAIDEN CARDS |Enticed Nymph | | |1000
MAIDEN CARDS |Nymph of the Sky | | |
MAIDEN CARDS |Nymph of Orchards | | |
MAIDEN CARDS |Nymph of Dawn | | |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPIRIT CARDS |Spirit (Ocean) |Chm Up | |
SPIRIT CARDS |Spirit (Forest) |Spr Up | |
| |Chm Up | |
SPIRIT CARDS |Spirit (Mountain) |Def Up | |
| |HP Up | |
SPIRIT CARDS |Spirit (Shoes) |Skl Up | |
SPIRIT CARDS |Spirit (Housework)|Lck Up | |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
PIXIE CARDS |Pixie |Chm Up |All -1 to +3 |150
|(Red Hat) |Others Down | |
PIXIE CARDS |Pixie |Mgc Up |All -1 to +3 |150
|(Blue Hat) |Others Down | |
PIXIE CARDS |Pixie |Skl Up |All -1 to +3 |150
|(Yellow Hat) |Others Down | |
PIXIE CARDS |Pixie |Spr Up |All -1 to +3 |150
|(Black Hat) |Others Down | |
PIXIE CARDS |Pixie |Pwr Up |All -1 to +3 |150
|(Light Blue Hat) |Others Down | |
PIXIE CARDS |Pixie |HP Up |All -1 to +3 |150
|(No Hat) |Others Down | |
PIXIE CARDS |Pixie |Def up |All -1 to +3 |150
|(Purple Hat) |Others Down | |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
BEAST GODS |Phoenix |Pwr +3 |Pwr -3 to +5 |
| |Skl +3 |Skl -3 to +5 |
BEAST GODS |Unicorn |Def +3 |Def -3 to +5 |
| |Mgc +3 |Mgc -3 to +5 |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
ELEMENTS |Wisp |Chm Up | |200
ELEMENTS |Shade |Spr Up | |200
ELEMENTS |Dryad |HP Up | |200
ELEMENTS |Aura |Lck Up | |200
ELEMENTS |Salamander |Pwr Up | |200
ELEMENTS |Gnome |Def Up | |200
ELEMENTS |Jinn |Skl Up | |200
ELEMENTS |Undine |Mgc Up | |200
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
MISC CARDS |Raven |Mgc +3 |Mgc -3 to +5 |
| |Chm +3 |Chm -3 to +5 |
MISC CARDS |Wolf |Skl +3 |Skl -3 to +5 |
| |HP +3 |HP -3 to +5 |
MISC CARDS |Sorcerer |Mgc Up |All -1 to +3 |
| |Tower: Chm Up|Tower: All -3 to +5|
| | Spr Up| |
MISC CARDS |Witch |Mgc Up |All -1 to +3 |
| |Tower: Chm Up|Tower: All -3 to +5|
| | Spr Up| |
MISC CARDS |King |Pwr Up | |
MISC CARDS |Princess |Def Up | |
MISC CARDS |Clown | |All -3 to +9 |
| | |Metropolis: |
| | | All -5 to +12 |
MISC CARDS |Cleric | |All -1 to +3 |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Card |Item |Essence |Effects
Name |Requirements |Requirements|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yggsdrasil |Spiny Seed |Dryad>4 |Faster HP recovery (?)
| | |When its limits dominate, it
| | |allows Spiny Seeds to keep
| | |accumulating attribute modifiers
Ancient Moon |Chaos Crystal| |Allows conflicting essences to be
| | |raised normally
Mirrored World |Mirror Piece |Total>2 |Reverses the elemental dominance
Heaven's Scale |Springanana | |Allows HP recovery while moving
| | |Empowers Phoenix
Dying Earth |Grave Dirt | |
Ragnarok |Pine o'Clock |Salamander>0|Changes Pixie Cards to Evil Gods
| |Gnome>0 |2HSword: Adds "Ragnarok" Plunge
| |Jinn>0 | Attack
| |Undine>0 |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bed of Thorn |Needle |Dryad>0 |Armor: All +50%
|Needlettuce |Salamander=0|Prevents HP recovery
Volcano |Ash | |Weapons: Force +50%, Tech -50%
| | |Hammer: Adds "Magma Hammer"
| | | Plunge Attack
| | |Hauberk: Freeze Immunity
| | |Empowers Phoenix
Metropolis |Dialaurel |Shade>0 |Armor: Magic Def +25%
| |Salamander=0|Robe: Magic Def +50%, Confusion
| | | Immunity
Tower |Rocket Papaya|Wisp>0 |
|Healing Claw |Jinn=0 |
Spring |Fishy Fruit | |Robe: Flameburst Immunity
| | |Pendant: Sleep Immunity
| | |Empowers Unicorn
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ruler of the Sky |Spade Basil |Wisp>2 |Spear: Adds "Gungnir" Plunge
| |Total>5 | Attack
| | |Staff: Adds "Electrosceptre"
| | | Plunge Attack
Mother of Gods |Heart Mint |Shade>1 |Flail: Adds "Green Princess",
| |Gnome>1 | "Game of Death", and "Red
| |Undine>1 | Dream" Plunge Attacks
Sun God |Sun Crystal |Wisp>2 |Sword: Adds "Sunlight" Plunge
| |Total>4 | Attack
| | |Bow: Adds "Solar Flare" Plunge
| | | Attack
Moon Goddess |Moon Crystal |Shade>2 |Sword: Adds "Moonlight" Plunge
| |Total>4 | Attack
| | |Bow: Adds "Lunar Shot" Plunge
| | | Attack
Thunder God |Electricity |Wisp>2 |Hammer: Adds "Mjolnir" Plunge
| |Salamander>2| Attack
| |Jinn>2 |
Goddess of Love |Virgin's Sigh|Shade>2 |Pendant: Increases Lucre Gain
| |Dryad>2 |
Fertility Goddess |Ear of Wheat |Dryad>2 |Armor: Petrification Immunity
| |Total>4 |Ring: Share Exp Crystals
Ocean God |Squalphin |Undine>2 |Spear: Adds "Trident" Plunge
|Orcaplant |Total>4 | Attack
| | |Armor: Flameburst Immunity
Wind God |Diceberry |Jinn>2 |Staff: Adds "Caduceus" Plunge
| |Total>4 | Attack
| | |Shoes: Paralysis Immunity
Wisdom Goddess |Aroma Oil |Total>5 |Shield: Stare Immunity
Blacksmith God |Ether |Aura>2 |Hammer: Adds "Sledgehammer"
| |Gnome>2 | Plunge Attack
God of War |Dragon Blood |Salamander>2|Axe: Adds "Dragonslayer" Plunge
| |Total>4 | Attack
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fallen Angel |Angel Feather|Wisp>4 |2HSword: Adds "Chaotic Avenger"
| |Shade=0 | Plunge Attack
Witch of Moon |Vampire Fang |Jinn=0 |Sword: Adds "Vampsword" Plunge
| |Undine>4 | Attack
Lord of Flies |Clear Feather|Gnome=0 |Knife: Adds "Sinister Blade"
| |Jinn>4 | Plunge Attack
Wings of Darkness |Blackened Bat|Wisp=0 |Staff: Adds "Golden Touch" Plunge
| |Shade>4 | Attack
God of Destruction|Sharp Claw |Salamander>4|Sword: Adds "Flame Tongue" Plunge
| |Undine=0 | Attack
| | |Armor: Freeze Immunity
Beast-headed God |Poison Claw |Dryad>4 |Knife: Adds "Poison Blade" Plunge
| |Aura=0 | Attack
Leviathan |Orange'opus |Salamander=0|2HAxe: Adds "Treefeller" Plunge
|Giant's Horn |Gnome>4 | Attack
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sage |Messy Scroll |Jinn>0 |Bow: Adds "Phoenix Falling"
| |Undine>0 | Plunge Attack
| |Total>2 |
Man of Valor |Dragon Breath|Wisp>0 |Spear: Adds "Spear of Light"
| |Salamander>0| Plunge Attack
| |Total>2 |
Wanderer |Wad of Wool |Shade>0 |Axe: Adds "Woodchopper" Plunge
| |Dryad>0 | Attack
| |Total>2 |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sacrificed Nymph |Ghost's Howl | |Pendant: Petrification Immunity
| | |Affects cards from the 7 EVIL
| | |GODS family
Enticed Nymph |Lilipods | |
Nymph of the Sky |White Feather|Wisp>0 |Mantle: Allows HP restoration in
| |Total>2 | battle
Nymph of Orchards |Applesocks |Total>4 |Ring: Unconscious time cut
Nymph of Dawn |Glow Crystal | |Adds 192 energy to the item being
| | |tempered when it leaves the
| | |weapon/armor
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spirit (Ocean) |Conchurnip | |
Spirit (Forest) |Moth Wing | |Bow: Adds "Elven Archer" Plunge
| | | Attack
Spirit (Mountain) |Ether |Aura<3 |Hammer: Adds "Quake Hammer"
| |Gnome<3 | Plunge Attack
Spirit (Shoes) |Loquat-Shoes | |Boots: Paralysis Immunity
|Pear o'Heels | |Shoes: Extra Exp Crystal
Spirit (Housework)|Hairball | |Ring: Extra Lucre
| | |Mantle: Sleep Immunity
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pixie |Little Eye | |Transforms into Fallen Angel if
(Red Hat) | | |Ragnarok is present
Pixie |Sleepy Eye | |Transforms into Witch of Moon if
(Blue Hat) |Rust | |Ragnarok is present
Pixie |Blank Eye | |Transforms into Lord of Flies if
(Yellow Hat) |Sleepy Powder| |Ragnarok is present
Pixie |Wicked Eye | |Transforms into Wings of Darkness
(Black Hat) |Stinky Breath| |if Ragnarok is present
Pixie |Angry Eye | |Transforms into God of
(Light Blue Hat) |Poison Powder| |Destruction if Ragnarok is
| | |present
Pixie |Dangerous Eye| |Transforms into Beast-Headed God
(No Hat) | | |if Ragnarok is present
Pixie |Silly Eye | |Transforms into Leviathan if
(Purple Hat) |Knockout Dust| |Ragnarok is present
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phoenix |Flaming Quill|Salamander>2|Ring: Automatically revives if
| |Jinn>2 | Volcano and Heaven's Scale
| | | are present
Unicorn |Whalamato |Gnome>2 |Ring or Pendant:
| |Undine>2 | Halves revival time; divides
| | | it by three if Spring is
| | | present
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wisp |Wisp Gold | |Provides one Wisp Taint Point
|Wisp Silver | |
Shade |Shade Gold | |Provides one Shade Taint Point
|Shade Silver | |
Dryad |Dryad Gold | |Provides one Dryad Taint Point
|Dryad Silver | |
|Round Seed | |
|Oblong Seed | |
|Crooked Seed | |
|Big Seed | |
|Small Seed | |
|Long Seed | |
|Flat Seed | |
|Spiny Seed | |
Aura |Aura Gold | |Provides one Aura Taint Point
|Aura Silver | |
Salamander |Sala Gold | |Provides one Sala Taint Point
|Sala Silver | |
|Fire Stone | |
Gnome |Gnome Gold | |Provides one Gnome Taint Point
|Gnome Silver | |
|Earth Stone | |
Jinn |Jinn Gold | |Provides one Jinn Taint Point
|Jinn Silver | |
|Wind Stone | |
Undine |Undine Gold | |Provides one Undine Taint Point
|Undine Silver| |
|Water Stone | |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Raven |Raven Feather| |Bow: Adds "Magical Shot" Plunge
| | | Attack if Witch and Wolf are
| | | present
Wolf |Peach Puppy | |Bow: Adds "Magical Shot" Plunge
| | | Attack if Witch and Raven
| | | are present
Sorcerer |Sulpher | |Reduces the energy cost to raise
| | |Wisp, Dryad, Salamander, and
| | |Gnome essences
Witch |Mercury | |Bow: Adds "Magical Shot" Plunge
| | | Attack if Raven and Wolf are
| | | present
| | |Reduces the energy cost to raise
| | |Shade, Aura, Jinn, and Undine
| | |essences
King |Garlicrown |Aura>0 |Glove: Adds "Hand of Midas"
| | | Plunge Attack
Princess |Honey Onion | |
Clown |Bumpkin | |Knife: Adds "Quick Blade" Plunge
| | | Attack
| | |Weapons: Slash +50%, Heavy -50%
| | |Armor: Strike -50%, Pierce +50%
Cleric |Holy Water | |Staff: Adds "Demonicide" Plunge
| | | Attack
| | |Weapons: Slash -50%, Heavy +50%
| | |Armor: Strike +50%, Slash +50%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9.5 Material Properties List
As mentioned in an earlier section, not all materials are as strong on one
aspect of the weapon or armor you're working on as others. Use the following
values when determining the basic power of your weapon, and in most cases, this
will also help you determine which varnishing technique you will use.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Material Material |Weapon Properties |Armor Properties
Type |Slsh Hevy Frce Tech|Strk Slsh Prce MgcD
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
METAL MenosBronze |10 10 10 10 |10 10 10 10
METAL ForsenaIron |15 15 15 15 |15 15 15 15
METAL GranzSteel |20 20 20 20 |20 20 20 20
METAL LorantSilver |25 25 25 25 |25 25 25 25
METAL WendelSilver |30 30 30 30 |30 30 30 30
METAL VizelGold |35 35 35 35 |35 35 35 35
METAL IshePlatinum |40 40 40 40 |40 40 40 40
METAL LorimarIron |45 45 45 45 |45 45 45 45
METAL AltenaAlloy |50 50 50 50 |50 50 50 50
METAL MaiaLead |?? ?? ?? ?? |?? ?? ?? ??
METAL Orihalcon |?? ?? ?? ?? |?? ?? ?? ??
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
WOOD OakWood |?? ?? ?? ?? |16-17 5-7 5-7 8-10
WOOD HollyWood |?? ?? ?? ?? |24 5-7 8-10 12-13
WOOD BaobabWood |?? ?? ?? ?? |32-34 10 13-14 17-18
WOOD EbonyWood |?? ?? ?? ?? |40-41 13-14 16-17 22-23
WOOD MapleWood |?? ?? ?? ?? |56 16-17 24 30-31
WOOD DiorWood |?? ?? ?? ?? |80-81 25-27 35 44-45
WOOD AshWood |?? ?? ?? ?? |48-49 15 20-21 27
WOOD FossilWood |?? ?? ?? ?? |?? ?? ?? ??
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
STONE Marble |?? ?? ?? ?? |6-7 8-9 11-12 14-15
STONE Obsidian |?? ?? ?? ?? |13-14 18 24 30-31
STONE PedanStone |?? ?? ?? ?? |20-21 25-27 36 44-45
STONE Gaeus'sTears |?? ?? ?? ?? |28-29 35-36 48-49 60-61
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
HIDE AnimalHide |?? ?? ?? ?? |20-21 8-9 11-12 8-10
HIDE GatorSkin |?? ?? ?? ?? |35-36 13-14 20-21 16-18
HIDE CentaurHide |?? ?? ?? ?? |?? ?? ?? ??
HIDE DragonSkin |?? ?? ?? ?? |70-71 28-29 42 35
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCALES FishScales |?? ?? ?? ?? |8-9 8-9 8-9 4-5
SCALES LizardScales |?? ?? ?? ?? |19 19 16-17 8-10
SCALES SnakeScales |?? ?? ?? ?? |28-29 28-29 24 12-13
SCALES DragonScales |?? ?? ?? ?? |72 72 60 30
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
BONE AnimalBone |?? ?? ?? ?? |8-9 15 5-7 8-10
BONE Ivory |?? ?? ?? ?? |18 30-31 11-12 16-18
BONE CursedBone |?? ?? ?? ?? |?? ?? ?? ??
BONE Fossil |?? ?? ?? ?? |?? ?? ?? ??
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FABRIC ToppleCotton |?? ?? ?? ?? |8-9 8-9 8-9 8-10
FABRIC Sultan'sSilk |?? ?? ?? ?? |13-14 13-14 13-14 14-15
FABRIC JuddHemp |?? ?? ?? ?? |19 19 19 19
FABRIC AltenaFelt |?? ?? ?? ?? |24 24 24 24-26
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
AEROLITE JacobiniRock |?? ?? ?? ?? |15 13-14 18 24-26
AEROLITE HalleyRock |?? ?? ?? ?? |20-21 18 24 32-34
AEROLITE AnkhRock |?? ?? ?? ?? |25-26 22 30-31 40-42
AEROLITE VinekRock |?? ?? ?? ?? |30-31 25-26 35-36 48-50
AEROLITE TuttleRock |?? ?? ?? ?? |35-36 30-31 42 56-58
AEROLITE NemesisRock |?? ?? ?? ?? |40-41 35-36 48-49 64-66
AEROLITE BiellaRock |?? ?? ?? ?? |45 40-41 54 72-74
AEROLITE SwifteRock |?? ?? ?? ?? |?? ?? ?? ??
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adamantite |?? ?? ?? ?? |62 30 92 62
FullMetal |?? ?? ?? ?? |43-44 25-27 99 27
Coral |?? ?? ?? ?? |23 8-9 32-34 8-10
TortoiseShell|?? ?? ?? ?? |32-34 13-14 46 12-13
Shell |?? ?? ?? ?? |25-26 10 36 8-10
Emerald |?? ?? ?? ?? |1 1 1 50
Pearl |?? ?? ?? ?? |1 1 1 50
LapisLazuli |?? ?? ?? ?? |1 1 1 50
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------
Weapon Type |Slsh Hevy Frce Tech
------------------------------------
Knife |44 16 12 48
Sword |32 32 32 32
Axe |28 36 48 16
2H Sword |40 40 40 40
2H Axe |40 40 64 16
Hammer |8 72 64 16
Spear |52 20 24 48
Staff |4 44 16 32
Glove |0 32 24 56
Flail |0 40 28 44
Bow |40 4 20 40
------------------------------------
------------------------------------
Armor Type |Strk Slsh Prce MgcD
------------------------------------
Shield |8 8 8 4
Helm |8 7 6 2
Hat |4 2 2 4
Hauberk |12 16 16 2
Robe |6 6 6 8
Gauntlet |7 6 8 2
Ring |1 1 1 16
Boots |6 8 7 2
Shoes |2 4 2 4
Full-Armor |26 26 26 4
Mantle |4 4 4 12
Pendant |0 0 0 24
------------------------------------
10. EXAMPLES
In this section, you will find a few tempering schemes, depicting procedures discussed here. We'll try to be as detailed as possible.
10.1 AltenaAlloy Sword – Increasing Essence Levels
Here, we'll cover a small excerpt from what would be a complete essence tempering scheme for an AltenaAlloy Sword. You will examine the tempering of two essences, one of which conflicts with the other, and you will also see the effects of Wizard cards, as well as Chaos and Glow Crystals. In this process, we will demonstrate how to raise Salamander to level 9, and Gnome to level 7. In the end, we will also proceed with an essence consumption, bringing Salamander to level 10, and then work on raising Gnome back to level 7. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Item Added |SA GN|Sword Power|Observations ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Forging Sword|0 0 |50 |In this particular process, it's easy to Sala Silver |1 0 |52 |observe how each step may or may not match the Sulpher |2 0 |55 |energy requirements to achieve a level boost. Sulpher |3 0 |58 |There are only a few steps in which wizard Sulpher |4 0 |61 |cards are not taken into account, and you can Sala Silver |5 0 |63 |easily observe how a Salamander card can taint Glow Crystal |6 0 |66 |the following items tempered, so that their own Glow Crystal |6 0 |66 |energy is attributed to Salamander. Even the Glow Crystal |6 0 |66 |first Glow Crystal keeps raising Salamander. Sulpher |6 0 |66 | Sulpher |6 0 |66 |Also, notice how none of the cards bestow their Sala Silver |6 0 |66 |effects on the turn they leave. For example, Glow Crystal |7 0 |69 |when the first Sala card is in the third slot, Glow Crystal |7 0 |69 |you're about to temper a Sala Silver. Looking Glow Crystal |7 0 |69 |at the energy requirement charts, you need 32 Glow Crystal |7 0 |69 |energy to gain a level. However, the Sala card Sulpher |7 0 |69 |will leave on this turn, and thus make the Sulpher |7 0 |69 |increase unattainable without a Sala TP. Sulpher |7 0 |69 | Sala Silver |8 0 |72 |To better understand this simple procedure, try Glow Crystal |8 0 |72 |to determine which factors are taken into Glow Crystal |8 0 |72 |consideration when each item is tempered. The Glow Crystal |8 0 |72 |optimization of materials can be done in an Glow Crystal |8 0 |72 |easier fashion by figuring out economic and Sulpher |8 0 |72 |effective ways of reaching a particular level, Sulpher |8 0 |72 |and more often than not, these techniques are Sulpher |8 0 |72 |also made so that when you've just reached a Sala Gold |9 0 |75 |new level, you're already working on the next. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chaos Crystal|9 0 |75 |When we first attempted this process, we began Gnome Silver |9 1 |77 |to wonder how tainting would affect an essence Glow Crystal |9 2 |80 |in conflict. After thorough tests, it seems a Sulpher |9 2 |80 |conflicting essence can only taint while there Sulpher |9 3 |83 |is a presence of the Ancient Moon. Note that Chaos Crystal|9 3 |83 |the Ancient Moon needs only be present when Gnome Silver |9 4 |86 |tempering an aligned item. Otherwise, a Chaos Glow Crystal |9 5 |88 |Crystal would be required every 5 items. Sulpher |9 5 |88 | Sulpher |9 6 |91 |Otherwise, there are a lot of similarities in Glow Crystal |9 6 |91 |the tempering of chaotic and non-chaotic Glow Crystal |9 6 |91 |essences. It's just that you have to fit some Glow Crystal |9 6 |91 |Chaos Crystals in between items every now and Glow Crystal |9 6 |91 |then. Chaos Crystal|9 6 |91 | Sulpher |9 6 |91 |Gnome was only tempered to level 7 because this Sulpher |9 6 |91 |is where Salamander can consume it. Gnome Silver |9 7 |94 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sulpher |9 7 |94 |Since the consumption must be done with only 1 Sulpher |9 7 |94 |aligned item, it's crucial to reduce the energy Sulpher |9 7 |94 |cost. It seems the consumption here requires 48 Sala Silver |10 6 |94 |energy at the most, with 3 wizard cards. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chaos Crystal|10 5 |91 |As you can see, as soon as you keep tempering Gnome Silver |10 5 |91 |beyond the consumption, the consumed essence Sulpher |10 5 |91 |keeps losing power. This will persist until the Sulpher |10 5 |91 |Ancient Moon becomes active on the weapon or Glow Crystal |10 6 |94 |armor. This is why the initial Chaos Crystal Glow Crystal |10 6 |94 |results in a Gnome power loss. The apparition Glow Crystal |10 6 |94 |of the Ancient Moon on the following step stops Glow Crystal |10 6 |94 |that. Chaos Crystal|10 6 |94 | Sulpher |10 6 |94 |Since Gnome was already at level 5, it's much Sulpher |10 6 |94 |easier to coordinate the level 6 and level 7 Gnome Silver |10 7 |97 |procedures. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10.2 DragonScales Flail – Selecting Plunge Attacks
In this step, we will demonstrate how one places Plunge Attacks on a weapon. An
identical process is used when one wishes to put some Status Immunities on
armor, except that you'll be using different components. The reason we chose
the Flail for this example is because there is only one Mystic Card that
provides it with Plunge Attacks, and it happens to provide three of them. We
will observe the process of getting a piece of DragonScales, and tempering it
to a Flail with the "Green Princess", "Game of Death" and "Red Dream" Plunge
Attacks.
---------------------------------------------------
Item Added |SH GN UN|Flail Power|Plunge Attacks
---------------------------------------------------
Forging Flail |0 0 0 |51 |
1 Shade Silver |1 0 0 |54 |
1 Undine Silver|2 0 1 |61 |
2 Gnome Silver |3 3 1 |76 |
1 Undine Silver|3 3 3 |83 |
1 Heart Mint |3 3 3 |83 |
3 Lilipods |3 3 3 |83 |Green Princess
| | |Game of Death
| | |Red Dream
---------------------------------------------------
The reasons why we chose to finish with 3 Lilipods are simple. First off, you
have to get the Mother of Gods card to become active on your Flail. When you
first tempered your Heart Mint, the card was not yet active. Additionally, the
Lilipods will create Enticed Nymphs, which will help you clean up your weapon,
in case you might not want the cards from the Elements family to taint any of
the subsequently tempered items. This is why it's recommended to perform the
addition of Plunge Attacks and Status Immunities around the same time you're
working on raising essence levels.
10.3 LorimarIron Armor – Augmenting Attributes
In order to demonstrate the augmentation of attributes, we're going to use one of the most simple, and most popular procedures: Yggsdrasil. Yggsdrasil has the potential to rise all of a weapon or armor's attribute bonuses to +10 at the same time, which is why the Spiny Seeds that make Yggsdrasil are so valuable. It's also crucial that we raise Dryad to level 5, otherwise Yggsdrasil won't appear. This also requires the cleansing of the armor to prevent the Dryad cards from tainting the Spiny Seeds, or having the Sulpher impose its limitations. ---------------------------------------- Item Added |DR|Attribute Augmentations ---------------------------------------- Forging Armor|0 |None Dryad Silver |1 |None Sulpher |2 |+1 HP Sulpher |2 |+1 HP Sulpher |3 |+1 HP, +1 Mgc Sulpher |4 |+1 HP, +3 Mgc Dryad Silver |5 |+3 HP, +3 Mgc Lilipods |5 |+3 HP, +3 Mgc Lilipods |5 |+3 HP, +3 Mgc Lilipods |5 |+1 HP, +1 Mgc Spiny Seed |5 |+1 HP, +1 Mgc Spiny Seed |5 |+2 to All Spiny Seed |5 |+3 to All Spiny Seed |5 |+4 to All Spiny Seed |5 |+5 to All Spiny Seed |5 |+7 to All Spiny Seed |5 |+9 to All Spiny Seed |5 |+10 All ---------------------------------------- As you can see, there is an exponential growth in attribute bonuses, which is why it doesn't require too many Spiny Seeds. This growth is pretty much the same with all the different methods, but you need to be careful about what your attribute limitations will be, and how each item contributes towards attaining the desired attribute bonuses. For example, it's possible to reach a +15 bonus in Defense, and a +20 bonus in Luck using Leviathan cards, and considerable amounts of Aura coins or Hairballs, but odds are that every other attribute modifier on the item will be at -10 by the time the process is complete.
10.4 MapleWood Hammer – Varnishing
Although varnishing seems simple and quick, it's not all that easy to perform
successfully. More often than not, the essence level tempering will affect the
basic attributes of a weapon or armor in a way that one varnishing technique
might be more productive before the essences are tempering while another could
provide better results once the essence tempering is complete.
It's not only recommended, but it's mandatory that the varnishing be the last
process used in the tempering of a weapon or armor. This is due to the basics
of varnishing. It consists of placing on the weapon or armor as many cards that
can boost its basic attributes (see the charts in seciton 9), without removing
the desired attribute limitations from the previous step, and finishing off
with what we call a "capper", which is an item that increases a piece of
equipment's basic attributes without the need of a card. For example, when the
essence level requirements aren't met for the production of its associated
card, Sharp Claws make for good Spear and Bow cappers.
Now, the tricky part is finding out to what extent you can boost your equipment
without losing the attribute limitations you so carefully worked on in the
previous step. Many people who raise a weapon's attribute bonuses through
Yggsdrasil will want to keep the Yggsdrasil card on the weapon to save the
bonuses, and this limits the varnishing to only two cards and one capper.
Others will prefer to sacrifice the attribute bonuses in favor of greater
power. For example, varnishing a DragonScales armor with 3 Beds of Thorn and a
Sleepy Eye will result in the most powerful type of armor available, with
ratings of 98 in Strike and Slash defense, 99 in Pierce defense, and 6 in Magic
defense. However, its attribute bonuses will be limited to +3, since these are
the ones associated with the Bed of Thorn card.
In the following example, we will demonstrate a rather simple varnishing of a
MapleWood Hammer. To optimize the results, we will use Holy Water to produce
the Cleric cards, and we'll cap it with a Giant's Horn. You will see that the
varnishing can provide astronomically high results:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Item Added |Hammer Power|Cards Present|Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Forging Hammer|40 |None |There is one little comment about
Holy Water |43 |None |this specific process. Normally, we
Holy Water |52 |Cleric x1 |would have to use 4 Holy Water to add
Holy Water |61 |Cleric x2 |the 3 Clerics, since the Giant's Horn
Giant's Horn |105 |Cleric x3 |doesn't normally produce a card under
| | |these essence level conditions. Still
| | |since we're using a wood item, any
| | |item that doesn't create a card of
| | |its own automatically produces a
| | |Dryad card, can it's enough to push
| | |in the third Cleric.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10.5 DiorWood Bow – Complete Process
This will be the only complete recipe in this guide, and it will include every
aspect of tempering we've discussed so far. We won't go into specific detail
for every single step, but we will describe our observations during each step.
For this example, we will use a DiorWood Bow, and more specifically a Sacred
Bow, which is a very rare item dropped by Chobin Hoods. The reason why we
selected this Bow rather than to forge one altogether is because the Sacred Bow
starts off with a unique Plunge Attack that can't be manually placed on the
weapon.
Step 1: Essence Level Tempering:
--------------------------------------------------
Item Added |WI SH DR AU SA GN JI UN|Power
--------------------------------------------------
Acquiring Sacred Bow|0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |33
--------------------------------------------------
2 Glow Crystal |0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 |40
2 Shade Silver |0 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 |54
3 Glow Crystal |0 6 5 0 0 0 0 0 |70
2 Mercury |0 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 |74
2 Shade Silver |0 7 6 0 0 0 0 0 |77
--------------------------------------------------
3 Sulpher |0 7 6 0 0 0 0 0 |77
2 Wisp Silver |3 7 6 0 0 0 0 0 |87
3 Sulpher |4 7 6 0 0 0 0 0 |91
1 Wisp Silver |4 7 6 0 0 0 0 0 |91
3 Glow Crystal |6 7 7 0 0 0 0 0 |101
2 Sulpher |6 7 7 0 0 0 0 0 |101
2 Wisp Silver |7 7 8 0 0 0 0 0 |108
--------------------------------------------------
1 Aura Silver |7 7 8 1 0 0 0 0 |111
3 Mercury |7 7 8 4 0 0 0 0 |121
1 Aura Silver |7 7 8 5 0 0 0 0 |124
3 Glow Crystal |7 7 8 6 0 0 0 0 |128
2 Mercury |7 7 8 6 0 0 0 0 |128
1 Aura Silver |7 7 8 6 0 0 0 0 |128
4 Glow Crystal |7 7 8 7 0 0 0 0 |131
3 Mercury |7 7 8 7 0 0 0 0 |131
1 Aura Silver |7 7 8 8 0 0 0 0 |135
4 Glow Crystal |7 7 8 8 0 0 0 0 |135
3 Mercury |7 7 8 8 0 0 0 0 |135
1 Aura Gold |7 7 8 9 0 0 0 0 |138
--------------------------------------------------
1 Sala Silver |7 7 8 9 1 0 0 0 |141
3 Sulpher |7 7 8 9 4 0 0 0 |151
1 Sala Silver |7 7 8 9 5 0 0 0 |155
4 Glow Crystal |7 7 8 9 6 0 0 0 |159
2 Sulpher |7 7 8 9 6 0 0 0 |159
1 Flaming Quill |7 7 9 9 6 0 0 0 |162
1 Sala Silver |7 7 9 9 7 0 0 0 |165
4 Glow Crystal |7 7 9 9 7 0 0 0 |165
3 Sulpher |7 7 9 9 7 0 0 0 |165
1 Sala Silver |7 7 9 9 8 0 0 0 |168
4 Glow Crystal |7 7 9 9 8 0 0 0 |168
3 Sulpher |7 7 9 9 8 0 0 0 |168
1 Sala Gold |7 7 9 9 9 0 0 0 |172
--------------------------------------------------
1 Undine Silver |7 7 10 9 9 0 0 1 |178
--------------------------------------------------
2 Jinn Silver |7 7 10 9 9 0 3 0 |185
3 Mercury |7 7 10 9 9 0 5 0 |192
1 Jinn Silver |7 7 10 9 9 0 6 0 |195
4 Glow Crystal |7 7 10 9 9 0 7 0 |199
2 Mercury |7 7 10 9 9 0 7 0 |199
1 Jinn Silver |7 7 10 9 9 0 8 0 |202
1 Jinn Gold |7 7 10 9 9 0 9 0 |205
--------------------------------------------------
1 Gnome Silver |7 7 10 9 9 0 9 0 |205
1 Chaos Crystal |7 7 10 9 9 0 9 0 |205
1 Gnome Silver |7 7 10 9 9 2 9 0 |212
1 Glow Crystal |7 7 10 9 9 4 9 0 |219
2 Sulpher |7 7 10 9 9 5 9 0 |222
1 Chaos Crystal |7 7 10 9 9 5 9 0 |222
1 Gnome Silver |7 7 10 9 9 6 9 0 |226
2 Sulpher |7 7 10 9 9 6 9 0 |226
1 Glow Crystal |7 7 10 9 9 7 9 0 |229
--------------------------------------------------
3 Glow Crystal |7 7 10 9 9 7 9 0 |229
3 Sulpher |7 7 10 9 9 7 9 0 |229
1 Sala Silver |7 7 10 9 10 6 9 0 |229
--------------------------------------------------
1 Chaos Crystal |7 7 10 9 10 5 9 0 |226
1 Gnome Silver |7 7 10 9 10 5 9 0 |226
1 Glow Crystal |7 7 10 9 10 5 9 0 |226
2 Sulpher |7 7 10 9 10 6 9 0 |229
1 Chaos Crystal |7 7 10 9 10 6 9 0 |229
1 Gnome Silver |7 7 10 9 10 6 9 0 |229
2 Sulpher |7 7 10 9 10 6 9 0 |229
4 Glow Crystal |7 7 10 9 10 7 9 0 |232
1 Chaos Crystal |7 7 10 9 10 7 9 0 |232
2 Sulpher |7 7 10 9 10 7 9 0 |232
1 Gnome Silver |7 7 10 9 10 8 9 0 |236
4 Glow Crystal |7 7 10 9 10 8 9 0 |236
1 Chaos Crystal |7 7 10 9 10 8 9 0 |236
2 Sulpher |7 7 10 9 10 8 9 0 |236
1 Gnome Gold |7 7 10 9 10 9 9 0 |239
--------------------------------------------------
4 Glow Crystal |7 7 10 9 10 9 9 0 |239
3 Sulpher |7 7 10 9 10 9 9 0 |239
1 Sala Gold |7 7 11 9 11 8 9 0 |243
--------------------------------------------------
3 Sala Silver |7 7 11 9 11 0 9 0 |216
--------------------------------------------------
1 Undine Silver |7 7 11 9 11 0 9 0 |216
1 Chaos Crystal |7 7 11 9 11 0 9 0 |216
1 Undine Silver |7 7 11 9 11 0 9 2 |222
1 Glow Crystal |7 7 11 9 11 0 9 4 |229
2 Mercury |7 7 11 9 11 0 9 5 |232
1 Chaos Crystal |7 7 11 9 11 0 9 5 |232
1 Undine Silver |7 7 11 9 11 0 9 6 |236
2 Mercury |7 7 11 9 11 0 9 6 |236
1 Glow Crystal |7 7 11 9 11 0 9 7 |239
--------------------------------------------------
3 Glow Crystal |7 7 11 9 11 0 9 7 |239
2 Mercury |7 7 11 9 11 0 9 7 |239
1 Jinn Silver |7 7 11 9 11 0 10 6 |239
--------------------------------------------------
1 Chaos Crystal |7 7 11 9 11 0 10 5 |236
1 Undine Silver |7 7 11 9 11 0 10 5 |236
1 Glow Crystal |7 7 11 9 11 0 10 5 |236
2 Mercury |7 7 11 9 11 0 10 6 |239
1 Chaos Crystal |7 7 11 9 11 0 10 6 |239
1 Undine Silver |7 7 11 9 11 0 10 6 |239
2 Mercury |7 7 11 9 11 0 10 6 |239
4 Glow Crystal |7 7 11 9 11 0 10 7 |243
1 Chaos Crystal |7 7 11 9 11 0 10 7 |243
2 Mercury |7 7 11 9 11 0 10 7 |243
1 Undine Silver |7 7 11 9 11 0 10 8 |246
--------------------------------------------------
4 Glow Crystal |7 7 11 9 11 0 10 8 |246
2 Mercury |7 7 11 9 11 0 10 8 |246
1 Jinn Silver |7 7 11 9 11 0 11 7 |246
--------------------------------------------------
1 Chaos Crystal |7 7 11 9 11 0 11 6 |243
1 Undine Silver |7 7 11 9 11 0 11 6 |243
2 Mercury |7 7 11 9 11 0 11 6 |243
4 Glow Crystal |7 7 11 9 11 0 11 7 |246
1 Chaos Crystal |7 7 11 9 11 0 11 7 |246
2 Mercury |7 7 11 9 11 0 11 7 |246
1 Undine Silver |7 7 11 9 11 0 11 8 |249
4 Glow Crystal |7 7 11 9 11 0 11 8 |249
1 Chaos Crystal |7 7 11 9 11 0 11 8 |249
2 Mercury |7 7 11 9 11 0 11 8 |249
1 Undine Gold |7 7 11 9 11 0 11 9 |253
--------------------------------------------------
4 Glow Crystal |7 7 11 9 11 0 11 9 |253
2 Mercury |7 7 11 9 11 0 11 9 |253
1 Jinn Gold |7 7 11 9 11 0 12 8 |253
--------------------------------------------------
1 Chaos Crystal |7 7 11 9 11 0 12 7 |249
4 Glow Crystal |7 7 11 9 11 0 12 7 |249
1 Chaos Crystal |7 7 11 9 11 0 12 7 |249
2 Mercury |7 7 11 9 11 0 12 7 |249
1 Undine Silver |7 7 11 9 11 0 12 8 |253
4 Glow Crystal |7 7 11 9 11 0 12 8 |253
1 Chaos Crystal |7 7 11 9 11 0 12 8 |253
2 Mercury |7 7 11 9 11 0 12 8 |253
1 Undine Gold |7 7 11 9 11 0 12 9 |256
--------------------------------------------------
1 Gnome Silver |7 7 11 9 11 1 12 9 |259
1 Chaos Crystal |7 7 11 9 11 1 12 9 |259
1 Gnome Silver |7 7 11 9 11 3 12 9 |266
3 Sulpher |7 7 11 9 11 5 12 9 |273
1 Chaos Crystal |7 7 11 9 11 5 12 9 |273
1 Gnome Silver |7 7 11 9 11 6 12 9 |276
2 Sulpher |7 7 11 9 11 6 12 9 |276
4 Glow Crystal |7 7 11 9 11 7 12 9 |280
1 Chaos Crystal |7 7 11 9 11 7 12 9 |280
2 Sulpher |7 7 11 9 11 7 12 9 |280
1 Gnome Silver |7 7 11 9 11 8 12 9 |283
4 Glow Crystal |7 7 11 9 11 8 12 9 |283
1 Chaos Crystal |7 7 11 9 11 8 12 9 |283
2 Sulpher |7 7 11 9 11 8 12 9 |283
1 Gnome Gold |7 7 11 9 11 9 12 9 |286
--------------------------------------------------
You can observe how the sensitive essence in DiorWood (Dryad) borrows energy
from the other items tempered in. The entire process brings Dryad to level 11,
and not a single Dryad coin was spent. If fact, the highest levels of Dryad are
attained in the middle of the tempering sequence of other essences (namely
Salamander, no less). The only mystery in this sequence is why an Undine coin
caused Dryad to move to level 10. It might be possible that the Undine coin
causes a consumption of Salamander energy, which isn't enough to lower Sala by
one level, but high enough to boost Dryad, especially with the two Sorcerer
cards present to support it. One might conclude that Wizard cards create the
possibility of a high-level consumption, and in this particular case, they were
favorable to Dryad, and the consumption was forced by the Undine coin.
Keep in mind that this is the most expensive part of the tempering sequence.
Just the essence tempering costs you over 300000 Lucre.
The interesting things to observe in this particular example are the usage of a
conflicting coin prior to the usage of a Chaos Crystal when that essence is
first tempered. For example, a Gnome Silver was added before going onto the
first Chaos Crystal after having tempered Salamander to level 9. This taints
the Gnome Silver that will come in after the Chaos Crystal without disturbing
the balance of powers, and provides a useful amount of energy that optimizes
the cost on Chaos Crystals by an interesting margin. However, you should be
careful and not add any wizards that may be favorable to that coin prior to the
conflicting coin, for they may render the coin powerful enough to reduce its
dominating essence without having enough power to boost radically itself. This
happened to us when we first started tempering Undine, and we decided it was
best to simply avoid using Mercury prior to it.
The other interesting thing to observe during this process is how we tried to
optimize on the Glow Crystal cost by trying to end the sequences that bring you
to levels 6, 7 and 8 on Glow Crystals, since getting to the next level requires
a sequence of Glow Crystals who's only purpose is to be discarded. Basically,
we gave those particular Glow Crystals a double-purpose, and possibly saved up
around 40,000 Lucre or more in the process.
The last factor that seemed interesting to us was how Dryad got to level 11. We
were surprised to see it rise to level 10 when Salamander consumed Gnome the
first time, and we were hoping the same effect would be apparent when
Salamander, at level 10, consumed a level 8 Gnome to rise to level 11. It was
unfortunate that Dryad didn't raise in this process, even though Salamander
reached its targetted level normally. Anthony then came up with the theory of
having the consumption take place while Gnome was at level 9 rather than level
8, and it turns out his theory was correct, and we got both Dryad and
Salamander to reach level 11, at the expense of only 1 Gnome level.
Step 2: Adding Plunge Attacks
-------------------------------
Item Added|Power|Plunge Attacks
-------------------------------
None |286 |Medusa's Arrow
| |Shot
| |Jump
Moth Wing |286 |Medusa's Arrow
| |Shot
| |Jump
Lilipods |286 |Medusa's Arrow
| |Elven Archer
| |Jump
-------------------------------
This process is very simple. The Sacred Bow already starts out with the
Medusa's Arrow in the slot normally attributed to Double Shot, and since we
found that Plunge Attack to be useful, we decided to keep it, even though we
might have chosen to replace it with something like the Magical Shot. Instead,
we thought it might be better to add another Plunge Attack, taking the Shot's
place. In this case, it was my personal preference that got us the Elven
Archer, provided by the Spirit (of Forest) as seen in the mystic card tables.
In order to get the Spirit to appear on the weapon, we needed to push in the
Moth Wing, and since we were going to proceed onto the attribute augmentation
process, a Lilipods should do.
Step 3: Augmenting Attributes
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Item Added |Power|Attribute Modifications
-----------------------------------------------------------------
None |286 |+1 Pwr, Skl, HP, Lck; +2 Chm; +3 Def, Mgc, Spr
3 Lilipods |286 |+1 All
7 Spiny Seed|286 |+9 All
-----------------------------------------------------------------
This is another simple process. In order to gain the benefits of Yggsdrasil,
it's crucial to eliminate any other card with attribute limitations. This is
why we added 3 Lilipods to be safe. Afterwards, it was just a matter of adding
Spiny Seeds "al dente", until we reached the attribute augmentations. Although
we could've gone all the way up to +10 on all attributes, we decided to stop at
+9 because we were anticipating the varnishing process which, in this case,
involved Clown cards, which have limitations of up to +9. Thus we saved on one
Spiny Seed, and considering the rarity of this item, it's not such a bad
tradeoff.
Step 4: Varnishing
----------------
Item Added|Power
----------------
None |286
Bumpkin |286
Bumpkin |349
Bumpkin |445
Sharp Claw|815
----------------
The final process is probably the most impressive one, as seen on this table.
Only 4 items, and our bow went from a useful 286 power to an incredible 815! We
chose to use Bumpkin here because they raise the A attribute of the weapon
while reducing the B attribute, and this optimized the bow's basic attributes.
The Sharp Claw also produced the same effect as the Clown cards produced by the
Bumpkin, and this is why it created a 400-power boost on its own. Had you added
a fourth Bumpkin to observe the growth, you would be somewhere near the 600-
power range. Adding a Sharp Claw after a fourth Bumpkin would bring you to 815
again, though.
Note that in some cases, you might have to mix varnishing items to keep the
better attribute augmentations, so don't hesistate to experiment on its own.
The final result of this time- and Lucre-expensive weapon is as follows:
Sacred Bow (DiorWoodBow)
Power: 815
Plunge Attacks: Medusa's Arrow, Elven Archer, Jump
Essence Levels: Wisp 7, Shade 7, Dryad 11, Aura 9, Salamander 11, Gnome 9, Jinn
12, Undine 9.
Essence Markers: All
Mystic Card Slots: Clown x3
Attribute Augmentations: All +9
Approximate Cost: 330000 Lucre
10.6 Adamantite Ring – Special Powers
This excerpt will be a rather short one. Basically, we're going to make the equivalent of a ForbiddenRing, except that we will be using stronger materials, and even employ the Bed of Thorn card to further boost this item. Keep in mind that the goal is to wind up with the Fertility Goddess card on top. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Item Added |Power|GN DR|Cards (top to bottom) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Acquiring Ring|16 |0 0 |None Round Seed |16 |0 1 |None Sulpher |16 |0 2 |Dryad Sulpher |16 |0 3 |Sorcerer - Dryad Gnome Silver |16 |1 4 |Sorcerer - Sorcerer - Dryad Needlettuce |16 |2 4 |Gnome - Sorcerer - Sorcerer Needlettuce |26 |3 4 |Bed of Thorn - Gnome - Sorcerer Ear of Wheat |40 |3 4 |Bed of Thorn - Bed of Thorn - Gnome Lilipods |40 |3 4 |Fertility Goddess - Bed of Thorn - Bed of Thorn Creepy Eye |49 |3 4 |Fertility Goddess - Bed of Thorn - Bed of Thorn -------------------------------------------------------------------------- At this point, we've reached our goal, and we've thoroughly boosted our Adamantite Ring's power to a respectable level. Now, you have a much stronger variant to the ForbiddenRing. In future attempts to install special powers on various armor types, keep in mind that the goal is to put the card that actively bestows those powers on the top visible mystic card slot.
10.7 DragonScales Spear – Cardless Tempering
This process is very simple. We will try to temper one essence at a time, employing items that don't create cards, but are highly energetic. In this particular situation, we will use Flaming Quills and Dialaurels. Notice how we're always using as many wizard cards as possible, at the same time: --------------------------------------------- Item Added |Power|WI SH DR AU SA GN JI UN --------------------------------------------- Acquiring Spear|65 |0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Shade Silver |69 |0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mercury |74 |0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mercury |74 |0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 Aura Silver |83 |0 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 Flaming Quill |88 |0 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 Mercury |92 |0 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 Mercury |97 |0 4 0 3 0 0 0 0 Undine Silver |106 |0 4 0 4 0 0 0 1 Flaming Quill |111 |0 4 0 5 0 0 0 1 Flaming Quill |116 |0 4 0 6 0 0 0 1 Flaming Quill |120 |0 4 0 7 0 0 0 1 Wisp Silver |130 |1 4 0 7 0 0 0 2 Flaming Quill |134 |1 4 0 7 0 0 0 3 Flaming Quill |139 |1 4 0 7 0 0 0 4 Flaming Quill |144 |1 4 0 7 0 0 0 5 Flaming Quill |148 |1 4 0 7 0 0 0 6 Flaming Quill |153 |1 4 0 7 0 0 0 7 Sulpher |158 |2 4 0 7 0 0 0 7 Sulpher |158 |2 4 0 7 0 0 0 7 Dryad Silver |162 |3 4 0 7 0 0 0 7 Flaming Quill |167 |4 4 0 7 0 0 0 7 Sulpher |171 |4 4 1 7 0 0 0 7 Sulpher |176 |4 4 2 7 0 0 0 7 Gnome Silver |185 |4 4 3 7 0 1 0 7 Flaming Quill |190 |4 4 4 7 0 1 0 7 Flaming Quill |195 |4 4 5 7 0 1 0 7 Flaming Quill |199 |4 4 6 7 0 1 0 7 Flaming Quill |204 |4 4 7 7 0 1 0 7 Jinn Silver |209 |4 4 7 7 0 2 0 7 Flaming Quill |213 |4 4 7 7 0 3 0 7 Flaming Quill |218 |4 4 7 7 0 4 0 7 Flaming Quill |223 |4 4 7 7 0 5 0 7 Flaming Quill |227 |4 4 7 7 0 6 0 7 Flaming Quill |232 |4 4 7 7 0 7 0 7 Mercury |232 |4 4 7 7 0 7 0 7 Chaos Crystal |232 |4 4 7 7 0 7 0 7 Sulpher |237 |4 4 7 7 0 7 1 7 Flaming Quill |241 |4 4 7 7 0 7 2 7 Flaming Quill |246 |4 4 7 7 0 7 3 7 Flaming Quill |250 |4 4 7 7 0 7 4 7 Flaming Quill |255 |4 4 7 7 0 7 5 7 Sala Silver |260 |4 4 7 7 1 7 5 7 Spade Basil |289 |4 4 7 7 2 7 5 7 Dialaurel |269 |4 4 7 7 3 7 5 7 Dialaurel |274 |4 4 7 7 4 7 5 7 Dialaurel |278 |4 4 7 7 5 7 5 7 ---------------------------------------------
11. LOCATIONS OF A FEW USEFUL ITEMS
Here's a small list of where you can find items that might be particularly
interteresting for tempering.
> Elemental Coins: Various boss locations
> Glow and Chaos Crystals: Lumina's jewelry shop, Alex's shop (before
"Fluorite" event"), Bejeweled City (after "Teardrop
Crystal" event)
> Spiny Seeds: From Trent and the Orchard Tree, after harvesting produce,
Lullabuds, Malboros, Shrieknips, Shadow-Zero Mini-Game
> Various Produce: Grown, except for Mush-In-A-Box, Heart Mint, Spade Basil,
Dialaurel, and Gold Clovers which can also be bought at the
Bone Fortress
> Sharp Claws: Molebears, Howlers, Kid Dragons, Tyrranos
> Giant's Horns: Gray Oxen, Skull Beasts, Chess Knights
> Scissors: Pincher Crabs
> Various Eyes: Eye Spies, Beholders
> Holy Water: Level 3 Material Shop
> Mercury and Sulpher: Level 2 Material Shop
> AltenaAlloy: Received from metal-reward events, in high-level lands
> Lorimar Iron: Level 4 Material Shop
> MapleWood: Level 4 Material Shop, Woodings
> DiorWood: Woodings
> PedanStone: Level 4 Material Shop, Teedies, Chimera Beasts
> Gaeus'Tears: Chimera Beasts
> DragonSkin: Land Dragons, Sky Dragons, Kid Dragons
> DragonScales: Land Dragons, Sky Dragons
> AltenaFelt: Level 4 Material Shop
> Stronger Aerolites: Dropped finished items
> Adamantite: Chess Knights
> FullMetal: Pincher Crabs
> Flaming Quill: Chocobos, Cockatrices
12. CARD GLOSSARY
In this section, I've made a brief, but explanatory description of notable cards and card families, with their particular properties. Unless otherwise specified, cards bestow their effects from the turn they become active on your weapon or armor, until the turn before they are released. WORLD Cards This suite of six cards is quite peculiar. Under normal conditions, no two cards of this suite may be able to exist on the same weapon or armor at the same time. Unlike most suites, WORLD cards bestow their effects on the turn they leave your weapon or armor. YGGSDRASIL Card This card allows Spiny Seeds to repetitively boost all of the attribute modifiers at the same time, so long as this card is on the top visible slot, and is the oldest card available with limitations. If a card with limitations is older than YGGSDRASIL, or if YGGSDRASIL isn't on top, this effect will not work. ANCIENT MOON Card As mentioned above, this card eliminates conflict during essence tempering. MIRRORED WORLD Card As mentioned above, this card reverses the dominance order during essence tempering. RAGNAROK Card When present, this card transforms any (potential) PIXIE card into a card from the 7 EVIL GODS suite. If RAGNAROK leaves, the EVIL GOD card reverts to PIXIE form. STAGE Cards Like WORLD cards, those from this suite also bestow their effects on the turn they leave your weapon or armor. BED OF THORN Card This card allows for multiple WORLD cards to coexist. So long as its effects are present, WORLD cards can be generated, if all other conditions are met. This card also prevents HP regeneration in battle, unless a direct counter- effect is placed on the top visible slot of every item with BED OF THORN. 7 EVIL GODS Cards Cards from this suite can be obtained through raw materials by neglecting to temper a particular essence, and tempering the one who would be consumed by this essence to level 5 or above. Additionally, PIXIE cards turn into EVIL GOD cards in the presence of RAGNAROK. These cards have the highest attribute limitations of all. SACRIFICED NYMPH Card This peculiar card becomes a card from the 7 EVIL GODS suite if followed by one such card. It becomes an exact duplicate of the adjacent EVIL GOD card, and reverts, should the real EVIL GOD card leave. NYMPH OF DAWN Card As mentioned above, this card releases 192 energy when discarded from a weapon or armor. PIXIE Cards Cards from this suite will permanently occupy the visible slots on your weapons and armor, starting with the bottom slots. The only items that can force a PIXIE card to be discarded are HOLY WATER and GARLICROWNS. ELEMENT Cards These cards bestow 1 TP of their essence so long as their effects are bestowed. SORCERER Card This card reduces the energy cost for level-ups in Wisp, Dryad, Salamander, and Gnome, when tempering essences. WITCH Card This card reduces the energy cost for level-ups in Shade, Aura, Jinn, and Undine, when tempering essences.
13. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)
We have accumulated here a bunch of questions that were asked by people experimenting some difficulties with regard to tempering. It's recommended that you read these, in case you find a problem you were faced with as well. Q: What are the best primary materials used to craft strong and temperable items? A: For weapons, the most recommended are Adamantite, DiorWood, DragonScales, and Gaeus'sTears. For armor, DragonScales and Adamantite are best. TuttleRock makes great Rings and Pendants (albeit slightly weaker than the Adamantite counterparts), and SwifteRock would provide even better results, but it's unavailable in the English version, without a GameShark. Q: I'm playing on Normal Mode, and I can't find those items. What can I do? A: Well, keep in mind that if you use weaker materials, you'll wind up with weaker equipment. FullMetal seems to be the weaker alternative to Adamantite, but it's equally rare. MapleWood tempers well, and you could replace any attempts with DiorWood with MapleWood. Theoretically speaking, they should temper the same, due to the strong resemblance in their elemental resistance. There's not much you can do for a substitute for DragonScales, I'm afraid. Other Scale materials are much weaker. If you can't find Gaeus'sTears, you can default to Pedan Stone, which is a tad weaker, but very similar in tempering aspects. After that, the best you can go to is the stronger metals (LorimarIron and AltenaAlloy), but keep in mind that metals are very resistant to most essences, and have balanced attributes, making the varnishing weaker. I've determined that the strongest AltenaAlloy weapon should be a Hammer, which could possibly reach the 800-range. If you want to try out fabrics and hides, go for AltenaFelt and DragonSkin, which shouldn't be too difficult to find. Also, you can look for enemies which carry items made of rare materials. It's not all that uncommon to wind up with a DragonsRing or a DragonsMail when fighting Land or Sky Dragons (these are a DragonScales Ring and Hauberk, respecitvely), and Mad Mallards drop Captain's Helms, which are made of Adamantite. Q: What's all this I hear about Bed of Thorn and armor? A: Bed of Thorn is the best armor varnishing available. A DragonScales armor varnished with 3 Bed of Thorn and a Sleepy Eye winds up at a fabulous 98, 98, 99, 6; a whopping 301 points of defense on one item only. Check the item and mystic card lists for details. Q: How come my varnishing technique doesn't work on X Material when it worked for Y Material, and I used the same weapon? A: This is because the two materials have differing attributes. Also, essence levels boost attributes of weapons in ways that are still beyond us. This can always be a factor. Q: Why doesn't the essence raising technique work the same for Wisp and Shade? A: My guess is that Wisp and Shade, being the most natural of all essences, are simply more difficult to raise. The best guess I can come up with is that these essences would be considered to be as difficult to temper as a conflicting essence would, and this explains why you can't raise a highly resistant Wisp/Shade beyond level 7, even though you can do it without using Chaos Crystals. Until more progress is done, a highly resistant Wisp/Shade tops at level 7, and a low-resistance Wisp/Shade tops at 9. My other theory is that the ease at which you temper Wisp and Shade depends on which one of the other top- row essences dominates. If Dryad is higher than Aura, you could probably temper Wisp much more easily. Same goes for Aura and Shade. The reversed situation also applies. On DragonScales, I tempered Aura to level 9, and when I next tempered Wisp, I couldn't even pass level 8. Q: How do you know how many cards are affected by a particular card? Couldn't it be possible to have 4 wizard cards accounted for when tempering an item by tempering your item as a wizard card leaves and another goes in? A: No. When a wizard card leaves, its effects are not accounted for. This includes the turn in which the card is leaving. This is much different from other items, as Ancient Moons still prevent chaos when they're leaving, but elemental spirit cards still can't taint an item being tempered as they leave. Q: Why is tempering so expensive? A: That's easy. It's because of all the Glow Crystals and Chaos Crystals you need for essence level tempering. The Glow Crystals sell at 2,000 Lucre a piece, and the Chaos Crystals sell at 5,000 Lucre each. Q: In the meantime, is there anything I can do to reduce the cost of tempering? A: There are two ways to go here. Either you work on optimizing recipes to use as little Crystals as possible, or you stick to Cardless Tempering. Using the latter alternative, I've been able to temper a 576-power DragonScalesSpear for a meaningless 11300 Lucre. Q: Argh! I can't even get those more common materials you mentioned! A: Um, that's not a question... Anyway try bringing a PolterBox pet with you. You'll have better odds of getting the items you need. Note that the higher the enemy level, the higher the odds of getting rare items. It's also recommended that you bring yourself some equipment that raises your own Luck, since that's a factor as well. If the attribute augmentation process is optimized, a piece of equipment may have as much as +20 in its Luck attribute, so make yourself 4 items like that (1 weapon, 3 armor components), and you could start out with an effective 85 Luck. Q: I still can't figure out how these essences work. Can you help me? A: Try going over all the information again. Afterwards, take a look at the experiments on AltenaAlloy, DragonScales and DiorWood presented in this guide, and try to observe how much of which energy is unleashed at which particular time. Eventually, you'll see that the numbers make sense (except maybe for Wisp and Shade), and you'll be able to devise tempering schemes. Q: What's this I hear about Bed of Thorn working on an armor with 1 level of Salamander? Are you giving us crap or something? A: No, I'm not. When determining the possibility of generating a card, according to essence level requirements, you only consider the conditions prior to tempering in your items. Thus, if Dryad's at 1 and Sala is at 0, but you happen to have a Sala TP as you temper a Needlettuce in, the Needlettuce will later create a Bed of Thorn, despite the fact that it directly caused Salamander to rise to level 1. Q: How come you didn't include the best tempering schemes for everything? A: For starters, it would take too long, and this document would be huge (moreso than it already is). Also, you have to be able to make your own designs, otherwise you'll never understand how tempering works. Give a man a fish and he's fed for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he's fed forever. Keep in mind that this is more of a manual rather than a corrector's guide. Q: How long does it take to understand tempering? A: That depends on how you proceed to it. Anthony went to it through trial and error, and his first trials were made to optimize the currently available DiorWood tempering schemes. He never mentioned how long it took him, but since he was the only tempering guru I knew when I was starting up, I'm guessing a good while. As for me, well that's another matter. I never paid much heed to the existing recipes and went directly onto hardcore theory. It took me a week (and a few questions answered by Anthony) to develop a 78-essence DragonScales tempering scheme, which turned out to be slightly flawed and was limited to 72 essence levels, until AsianGrinch came by, and tried out something new to get the essences to drain correctly. Depending on your learning curve, it may take you between a week and two months to understand how tempering works. It's my experience that learning the mechanics of this makes the understanding easier, but you're still in it for a few bugs along the way, as Anthony told me so many times. ^_^
14. SCRATCH PAD
This section won't have elaborate explanations. Here, I will write down some nifty tricks to perform when tempering. More precisely, here will be some short recipes for particular objectives. Note that these recipes might not be integrated into larger recipes. These are stand-alone. Using the information in this FAQ, you might be able to incorporate these in recipes of your own. > +20 on all Attributes, except HP (any material, except MaiaLead): > 1 Dryad Silver (or a non-Spiny seed) > 3 Sulpher > 1 Dryad Silver > 1 Needle > 2 Spiny Seed > 1 Poison Fang > 8 Spiny Seed > 20000+ Lucre WindCap (only on WindCaps): > 4 Clear Feather > 8800+ Lucre items of all kinds: > 1 Dryad Silver (or a non-Spiny seed) > 1 Needle > 4 Grave Dirt > 40000+ Lucre items: > 1 Dryad Silver (or a non-Spiny seed) > 1 Earth Stone > 1 Needle (or Needlettuce) > 1 Chaos Crystal > 1 Water Stone > 1 Wind Stone > 1 Fire Stone > 1 Needlettuce > 4 Pine o'Clock
15. CREDITS AND CONTACTING
You can reach me with your questions on GameFAQs or in The Mana Series Discord. Up to now (version 2.50), there are little questions to be answered, apart from those values missing in the FAQ. Most of the explanations and information is already up, and you already have more than you need to make complete recipes. DO NOT ASK ME FOR COMPLETE RECIPES FOR ANYTHING. I will not send them to you, and most likely won't even reply to your email. I compiled all this information so that you guys can start tempering without having to check a recipe FAQ, and if I give out all my recipes, you'll learn nothing, and this FAQ will be in vain. This is also why I've not specified how to adapt the few examples in this guide onto any item. This is something that you'll have to do on your own. Learn to temper, people. Contributors: Marcus Majarra (contact on GameFAQs, or find on The Mana Series Discord) That's me. :) Anthony Nelson (majordragon@hotmail.com) He's my guru of tempering, and I wouldn't be here without his precious counseling. Lots of the work discussed here is credited to him. AsianGrinch (tonguyen@mines.edu) Another master blacksmith. He discovered how to get stubborn essences to consume in the higher levels when the techniques I was using wouldn't work. Borris, the Mindless Russian (fdesroches@juno.com) Well, come to think of it, Borris didn't contribute a lot in the tempering business, but I'll be damned if there's a LoM question he can't answer. This dude knows. Along with Anthony, they're working on incredible artifact placement guides as well. Albatross (xo_pitseleh@hotmail.com) http://www.geocities.com/xo_pitseleh/lom.html Another person whom's mention is required. He's the one who brought me the translated charts from the Ultimania guide, and without his documents, I wouldn't have understanded so much about the complexity of tempering. If you're happy to have some info charts here, you should thank him as well. GameFAQs' LoM Message Board The people here have supported the work here, and waited patiently for me to gather this all up. Thank you for coping with me and my ego. ^_~ Robert Silvers (neo_rob_silvers@hotmail.com) He's my first guinea pig. ^_^ Just kidding. He's the first tester of this document, and any comments on his part will go on the next update, if I can provide any remedy to it. The following people have also directly contributed to this FAQ: Myst Erik Ery (Myst_Erik@yahoo.com) BalbanesBeoulve () WeaponOMD () Wodash () (as you can see, I'm missing a few email addresses here. Please send them in, if you have them, for proper creditting) This Document is Copyright 2001 Marcus Majarra No modifications authorized without written permission from the author. If you wish to distribute this FAQ document, please notify me on GameFAQs, or The Mana Series Discord.
