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My raising method (great for beginners)

Well, there's been alot of talk of raising methods, so I thought I'd throw mine into the mix. You might call it 'old school' because I've barely changed it since I first had Monster Farm 2!

First of all, this method is NOT for you if you:
Want to create a totally maxxed-out 1st or 2nd generation monster,
Want to complete the game in as little time as possible
Want your monsters to have extremely long lifespans,
Don't like combining.

It IS for you if you:
Are a beginner having a hard time starting and raising rank,
Just want to enjoy playing the game,
Don't like to reset and reload the game frequently,
Don't want to pour hundreds of thousands of Gold into one monster,
Like to try out many different monsters,
Enjoy the challenge of 'balanced' monsters with strengths and weaknesses,
Like combining monsters.

My method is fairly simple, easy to use, and can be applied to almost all monsters. In fact, I never considered calling it a 'raising method' until all the other ones sprung up. So here it is.

First, I reccomend getting an Artemis Statue and Gemini Pot. The Pot is especially handy, as it lets you train for one additional week. If you don't have it, just shorten all your training regimens by one week. A hero or Heel badge can help, but no other items are really neccessary.

At the beginning of your monster's life, you must first figure out what stats your monster excels at and what ones they aren't good at. If you're unsure, the easiest way is to look at thier starting stats; 120 is about average, above that and they're probably good in that stat, lower and they're worse. This isn't always true, so you may need to experiment a bit to find out exactly.

The firt part of the method consists of the first six months of your monster's life. I always feed them Milk, as they don't need anything more, but if your monster doesn't like milk or if you have the extra cash, feel free to feed it whatever you want. For the first six months, I don't drill my monster too hard. I never use hard drills, and at most 3 normal drills in a row, then rest.

After six months, but before 1 year, you can start putting in hard drills. At this point, I dril my monster for 4 weeks in a row if they are normal drills; a hard drill counts as two normal drills. In any case, always rest your monster when it 'seems tired' (you'll get 2 or 3 of these messages), never let your monster become tired! Do not send your monster on any errantries yet.

After a year, your monster is considered, for the most part, 'full-grown'. Keep drilling 4 times (remember, a hard drill counts as two), but do not do two hard drills in a row. This causes lots of stress, which of course can be offset by the Statue and Mint Leaves, but avoiding overdrilling costs less money and won't have much of an adverse impact on final stats. You can now also send your monster on errantry. At this point, I rarely send a monster on more than 3 or 4 errantries, as they shorten lifespan considerably. Only send your monster when it is fully rested, and when you are very sure it will learn a new technique. If you want a monster with all the techniques, you can achieve this through combining.

Always scold your monster when it does bad, and praise it when it does good if it's style is even or worse. You will need to occasinally give your monster Mint Leaves (especially if you don't have the Statue), or other items such as Smoked Snakes. This method tends to create good monsters, but if you want a bad natured one, simply scold it more often and try feeding it sweet jellies.

Later on in life, when your monster has slowed down in it's stat gains and is considered 'elderly', you can send it on a few more errantries, to gain techniques for combining. Later on in life, the lifespan loss doesn't seem to be as great.

The good thing about this method is that you can enter battles any time you want, and, in fact, battles are one of the key ways of raising your monster! As soon as loyalty breaks 30, enter your monster in as many battles as you want, under these conditions: Rest your monster fully before entering, and rest afterwards. Battles are great for your monster for many reasons. They reduce stress and make money for the ranch (especially important for beginners). Also, the stat gains from battles are NOT affected by your monster's breed. This means that if I have a Gaboo, entering it frequently in battles may allow it's skill to raise to a decent level.

When drilling, I follow theses guidelines: Pick 3 stats. I generally go with ski, then one of (pow or int), which are offensive stats, then one of (lif or def or spd) which are defensive stats. If possible, I try to raise lif and one of the other defensive stats. Doing this, you cam ignore the other stats, especially when hard drilling, to raise the important ones. This way, you'll often end up with monsters that have 999 int but 1 pow, which is okay.

Also, when drilling, try to go with the drills your monster likes. When you select the drill but before you confirm it, your monster will have a good or a bad animation. Try to do the ones where it has a good animation; I don't have any hard evidence to back it up, but I believe this keeps loyalty high. The ones it likes will change, and some weeks it won't like any, which is okay; you can even change which oens it likes by doing them enough! I had a Moiagon that eventually came to love 'shoot', and started getting stat gains of 4-5 in it.

The monsters that result from this method generally live to 3-4 years if you're just starting out, or 6-8 if you have all the upgrades, the Statue and the Pot. The stats at the end wind up something like this: 900+ in one stat, 500-600 in one or two others, mediocre (200-400) in two others, then less than 100 in another. You'll get around 2300-2800 total in a first generation monster. Second generation can really shine, with two stats above 900, and two more above 600, totaling over 3500-4000 easily. While this may not sound fantastic compared to the other methods, keep in mind that you're not constantly buying items or resetting the game, so in the time that it takes to raise one of those super-monsters, you can raise 2, 3, or even more different monsters, and the more your combine them, the better they will be! The only time I reccomend saving and reloading is when you combine, as the results can be very fickle.

I hope this helps someone, and at the least lets you all in to how I enjoy the game. Thanks!

-- B Campbell (apparatus@@juno.com), March 11, 2000

Answers

Hm. I'll try it sometime. Right now, to the b-ball court!

-- JellTrainer (lukadjukic@yahoo.com), March 11, 2000.

about how much money do you need for this method?

-- dude (dude@dude.dude), March 11, 2000.

Looks good B. I have a feeling this will be highly recommended to the beginners who come on here. I wish it was here a few months ago when I first started, but I have learned a lot experimenting on my own, and finally did beat the M4, Legend & Elder Cup, and go to HOF. Had to incorporate a few of the other methods to suit my raising style to do so.

-- Tony (amcdaniel@riteaid.com), March 11, 2000.

Wow, you used HTML! Way to go. I think beginners might find this method useful actually. Good job B.

-- The Man (djedmond@pinenet.com), March 11, 2000.

Never mind, I'm no beginner. But, tell you what, I'll send it to my friend in Missouri and he'll try it (He only got to A class once), how about that

-- JellTrainer (lukadjukic@yahoo.com), March 11, 2000.

good post, b. let me expand upon what i think is the central concept of it.

you don't need complicated raising methods to reach higher ranks, even with first gen monsters.

you don't need complicated methods to beat the big four or the legends cup, with a better[usually gen 2+] starting monster - with a peach or 2, so much the better.

common sense approaches make the most sense.

my current raising style is much like your method, b. at seems well, i use nuts oil or occasionally rest, so i end up using more mint leaves. use this method, or modify it slightly, and you'll always have a chance at the high levels.

-- torey luvullo (dst10000@compuserve.com), March 11, 2000.

Dude: As long as you have enough money to feed your monster, you should be able to use this method. I've recently restarted my game, and I've been using it from day 1, so you can use it from the beginning.

Of course, having more money can help. Every once in a while, depending on the monster, you may need a mint leaf, and other items can't hurt. All of that stuff, however, is optional. That's really the beauty of this message, as Torey said.

Torey: absolutely. The fact that all of the hard-to-get stuff (wether it's hard to get by being on an expedition, or hard to get by being expensive) is optional makes this method accessible to everyone, even a first rank rancher. Once you raise a monster or two with this method, I strongly encourage anyone who uses it to modify it as they see fit. It's not so much a hard-and-fast rule as it is a stable foundation, which everyone can build thier own style into. It's simple, easy, and as you said, makes sense.

Thanks for the replies, guys! As for how well it works, in my old game, I had a first generation Durahan reach Rank 8, and his 2nd generation offspring make it to the Hall of Fame. The only 'extra' item I used was a Golden Peach.

Good Luck!

-- B Campbell (apparatus@@juno.com), March 11, 2000.

Once upon a time, it was actually possible for me to raise a monster in one day. Aah... the good ol' days. It's a good thing you posted this "beginner" type method, B campbell. At first, there was only Wildcard's. Then there was Torey's and Hokey's, but they were deleted by Billy. We need more variety in "beginner" methods around here.

This is probably the most inexpensive method to start out with. No items, no extras. Just the bare neccessities - food.

-- RNA (RNA@Ribosome.nuc), March 12, 2000.

Hey! Great for beginners! It is in many ways what my method is not, fast, simple, and inexpensive. Great for beginners and those who blanch at the thought of using methods like RNA's, The Man's, or espencially mine. Actually I used a method similar to this when I started a new game awhile back, when I didn't have much money. Other raising styles that are good for beginners are Wildcard's and Azn- beast methods. Actaully, think of all those training methods as like training wheels on a bicycle. They'll help out when your learning the game, but eventually you'll want to go on your own. Nice method.

-- Dark Phoenix (Arax7@aol.com), March 13, 2000.

Since I started a new game, I thought I'd toss up this followup. The second monster I raised in this new game was a Pink Kato from a CD. I used the method above, with the only items I have being the Gemini Pot and Artemis Statue. I have the basic stable and upgraded the house about halfway through his life. He started to slow down around 4y9m. I'm sure he's got another 6 months in there at least, but I'm retiring him. He fought in 48 battles (10 or 11 tournaments), 45 wins, 3 losses. He went on two failed expeditions and 1 successful one. He went on six errantries and ended up with 8 techs total. His stats:
Lif: 314
Pow: 130
Int: 707
Ski: 446
Spd: 508
Def: 125
Tot: 2230

This is a bit low because I spent about half a year concentrating on Lif for the expeditions, which Pink Kato's aren't very good at (gaining about 5 for each drill during prime). This is a pretty good representation of what you can do with a first generation monster with this method. If you choose not to go on expeditions, expect about 100-150 more total stat points, and another 100-150 if you stay focused on the stats they're good at. Live longer, and they'll go up as well. One more bonus: This monster earned me about 40,000G. Not too shabby!

-- B Campbell (apparatus@@juno.com), March 18, 2000.