RF4 Help - Rune Prana & Crafting

**Posts:** 304

A while back I picked back up my copy of RF4S, and I've been going at it for a good while, but I think I have finally reached a point where I must seek help.

Though I played RF4 on the 3DS, I never beat Rune Prana. In fact if I recall, I don't think I made it past the first area in Rune Prana. However, I have been having a better time with RF4S. I've made it to the last area of Rune Prana, after a rough time with Death Wall. I really do want to beat this part of the game and have Venti back, so I can move onto doing marriage stuff on multiple saves, without having to go through Rune Prana repeatedly on different files.

SO! I noticed I'm not doing a lot of damage to the monsters in Rune Prana 7.

I wanted to know if anyone had any advice with this. I'm going to drop my stats and armor + weapon. I'm playing on easy, for reference. I'm at level 174. Currently I have equipped: Feathered Hat, Knight Shield, Wooly Shirt, Feather Boots, and the Holy Amulet. I've been using the Ironleaf Fists (with psn atk, seal atk, and par atk added) which makes my attack 3492. My defense is around 1500 when I use them though. Do I need better equipment?? Or just level up? I DO have the magic charm that makes your magic attack high if your weapon is high attack, but if I recall my magic still wasn't doing much damage either.

Another question I have is what's the best way to level up crafting? Should I just gather materials for the latest recipe and make those, or is there a way to cheat it up a bit more? My current crafting level is 53 and my forging is at 59.

**Posts:** 272

Hmmmm...it's been a while since I've played RF4, but when last I did I got very deep into the 'dungeon seed' (I think that's what they're called?) game and skipped most of the crafting grind. (Dungeon seed weapons fed into getting me through Rune Prana, which got me more weapons iirc.)

For somebody somebody who's played a lot of RF4...are the weapons in Rune Prana randomized? It would be time consuming but...if they are you could at least do runs through higher levels to grind for gear.

Iirc there's no benefit/bonus EXP for making things you haven't made before. I mostly remember making a lot of some cheaply made item(s) when I finally hit some DPS check wall in the game when I first played. I feel like experience HAS to vary between high/low level items, but I can't remember by how much.

Hopefully somebody has some more insight. I don't think I've been very helpful.

**Posts:** 4077

I'm not one who can make with the technical explanations on battle stats or anything like that, but upgrading your weapons is probably a little more effective than just raising your forging skill (not that that hurts, since you'll continue to unlock more and more powerful stuff as you get better at forging). I was lower level than you when I finished Rune Prana, so your level is fine...character level is essentially meaningless by the time you get to Rune Prana...it's all about your gear. Definitely remember to use weaknesses...so you'll probably need to carry several weapons with you to be able to hit the weakness of every different enemy on that floor. If a specific type of monster is giving you trouble, try looking up its weakness online.

On Rune Prana 7, the monsters have very high defense. Try using your skills, maybe? Also, your companions are super important in fights...make sure you have the right ones (and strong ones! The one that worked well in the first parts of the game tend to be rather useless by the time you hit Rune Prana. Like the smaller elemental fairies were so great for ages, and then they were completely ineffective. But you could try taming Death Wall, for example. His item is easy to get...ice cream...so you could just make a stack of it and give it all to him, saving and reloading if the taming doesn't work, until it finally does...that's what I did) for your current enemies. You can also make use of armor and accessories tailored to protect from your specific enemies' attacks...and food buffs, too.

Growing some level 10 sword flowers is worthwhile, as well. I love how many ways there are to become more powerful in RF4

Though I've never gone as far as doing the Sharance maze, since I lost interest after I'd completed all the story stuff.

**Posts:** 272

WOW I'm dumb. Thank you, Kikki, Sharance Maze...not Rune Prana.

As we can see, it's been years since I've played this game. :lol:

Dammit. For correction, I'm wondering if the Sharance Maze weapons are randomized, because you could grind in there.

Seed dungeons definitely got me through my second playthrough, all arcs. And I know I went into Sharance before I finished the game (both full playthroughs), so it's very doable.

The companions you get through the story are all you really NEED, but maybe go back and tame a couple of bosses for extra DPS?

**Posts:** 304

Whew! thank you for the advice.

I went into some dungeon seeds and ended up being very lucky by finding some amazing weapons and a crown. After I got past the Tree boss, it wasn't too bad at all. I don't know why that boss I found so much more difficult than all the others (aside for G. Golem, but I ended up using my lvl 8 fireball against him so!)

Now, I've triggered Margaret's last event before I can marry her, so I'll be off to that. Thank you guys!

Ushi No Tane - Harvest Moon

RF4 Help - Rune Prana & Crafting