Ok. There are a few things that I would like to clarify about Lifespan hits (unnecessary losses of remaining lifespan).


First of all, your monster loses life at the very very beginning of the week, when the screen is black and the date appears in the corner. It is EXTREMELY important that you remember this.

Second of all, we were under the impression that you begin to take lifespan hits once your Stress hit 25 or once your Fatigue hit 50. This is actually not the case, but it can be. The point at which you begin losing Lifespan is based on the addition between your monster's Fatigue and Stress. (Also, before I forget, Fatigue AND Stress both go to 100. Stress goes up at a much slower rate, but it is far more dangerous, as you are about to witness).

Use this following equation to determine if you are losing lifespan:

Fatigue + (2 * Stress) = Lifespan Index (Call this whatever you want. It's just a calculated number.)

The first lifespan hit comes when your Lifespan Index reaches 70. For example, let's say that your monster has 10 Fatigue and 30 Stress. Multiply your Stress by 2 and add it to your Fatigue. If this is 70 or above, you will lose 1 week from your monster's lifespan at the very beginning of the following week. Another example: your monster has 60 Fatigue and 4 Stress. Multiply your monster's Stress by 2 and add it to your Fatigue, giving you a sum of 68. Since 68 is less than 70, your monster will not lose any additional lifespan at the beginning of next week.

The following is a list of the critical points of Lifespan loss:

LI = Lifespan Index (Fatigue + (2*Stress))

LI >= 70: -1 week from remaining Lifespan
LI >=105: -2 weeks from remaining Lifespan
LI >=140: -3 weeks from remaining Lifespan
LI >=175: -4 weeks from remaining Lifespan
LI >=210: -5 weeks from remaining Lifespan
LI >=245: -6 weeks from remaining Lifespan
LI >=280: -7 weeks from remaining Lifespan
(Note: your monster will usually run away or go to the hospital if the LI is 250 or more)

So, for those of you out there who are creating methods, keep this in mind when you are trying to calculate how much life your monster will lose on any given week.

Note: Errantry has a bug, which causes the software to double the stress & fatigue at the end of the final week of errantry.

Disclaimer: the LI critical points were found while raising a Zuum, a Pixie, and a Durahan (all yielded identical results). Also, there were no items in my inventory while I performed this research. The Stable size was changed several times, but this had no impact on the LI critical points.

-Nevistar

**NOTE** This work was done by Nevistar, not me and was copied here with his permission. So give credit to Nevistar here, not me.

a question and a philosophical conundrum:

the question: previous to this post, i had read that certain events cause loss of lifespan. without checking for accuracy of the exact number, examples include battles = -3 weeks, more if critical hits or kos are incurrred. errantry = -4 weeks. there are others.

with this revelation, i need to know - is this cumulative, or related? does errantry cause -4 weeks because you cant avoid reurning from errantry with a LI of ~175, or do you lose the 4 weeks for errantry plus the weeks caused by your poor LI at the return of errantry?

the philosophical observation: this information could cause me to go in one of two diametrically opposed directions with raising my monsters. i could treat them even more carefully, which would be another step in the direction ive been going in anyway. [it would help to know what the average fatigue level is at very well, well, seems well, etc.]. or i could decide that lifespan loss is unavoidable, given the way i like to play the game, and go back to the way i raised my dainas - quick and hard - get the stats, and with no concern about maximizing lifespan.

comments and criticisms please. your thoughts are welcome. feedback is appreciated. etc etc etc.

dark phoenix answered the question for me at chat last night. the discovery of the LI factor and how much loss of lifespan is caused at certain levels supercedes and replaces our previous knowledge as to how much lifespan was lost in certain activites, such as battles and errantries.

an example. before this post, i thought, before going to an errrantry, "well, i will lose 4 weeks of lifespan, but i might get a technique i want...so" and then make a decision. now, i will think, "well i will lose some weeks depending on how high the errantry raises my LI factor..."

i was afraid you lost both; dark phoenix told me this is not so.

If the monster is deposited in the lab during the first week of every month, then could it be possible that the game would not able to calculate the lifespan hits.

Lifespan hits are calculated at the beginning of EVERY week, so there's no way around it.

Hrmm. Is there a (mathematical) chart somewhere listing how much stress and fatigue are CAUSED by drills? (I'm sure that form and monster's-opinion-of-the-drill also affect this, but on an all-things-being-equal basis...)

My current method (which I'm amused to find is growing increasingly similar to most of the "named" methods that don't use resets or Bananas) would seem to have a fatal flaw, given the above:

(starting Very Well, unstressed)
Month Start: Tablet
W1: ML, HD
W2: NO, HD
W3: NO, HD
W4: ML, Rest

because it's bunching the stress relief around W4-W1. Now, the stress is damn well zero after it gets the ML in Week 1, with a ML-Rest-Tablet-ML combo... but three hard drills in a row will almost assuredly cause a lifespan hit by the time it hits Week 4's Mint Leaf.

I think I may get better results by staggering it:

W3: ML, HD
W4: NO, HD
Tablet
W1: NO, HD
W2: ML, Rest

because the Tablet helps knock stress down in the middle of the hard-drill cycle.

Now, regarding this stress cycle, I have:

Month start: -15/-13 stress (Tablet)
Week 2: Mint Leaf, Rest
Week 3: Mint Leaf

which may or may not be overkill. Would I be able to switch the Week 2 Mint Leaf to a Candy to help keep the bulk up, gambling that Rest would knock stress down to a no-lifespan-hit level when Week 3 starts? Or perhaps on a biweekly basis. I need something in there to keep it from getting skinny.

The consecutive Nuts Oils have been there to keep it from getting Tired at any time. I'd feel better, though, if I had the numbers to prove whether or not I'm doing the right thing...

Stress and Fatigue basics:

Light Drill: +10 Fatigue/+5 Stress
Hard Drill: +15 Fatigue/+12 Stress

(Form and the monster's attitude toward a drill do not change this. However, the monster's attitude will change the chance of it doing Great or Cheating (so does Stress), in which case the numbers are lower.)

Light Drill Great: +5 to +9 Fatigue / +5 Stress
(I forget what the HD Great and LD/HD Cheat mods are, but I am sure that Dark Phoenix has them posted somewhere here)

Errantry: +18 Fatigue/+7 Stress PER WEEK!!!!
(18*4 = 72 Fatigue/ 7*4 = 28 Stress)

Expedition: +70 Fatigue / +0 Stress (may vary if monster has negative Life Points when it reaches Base Camp. Need to do more research).

Rest: -33 to -47 Fatigue / -5 to -10 Stress
(-43 to -55 Fatigue / -9 to -12 Stress w/Fire Stone or Lump of Ice)

Mint Leaf: -1/2 current Stress (round down)

Nuts Oil: -28 Fatigue (-1/5 current Stress [round down] in monsters with Durahan,Henger, or ArrowHead main and/or Sub)

Play: Reduces a small amount of Stress, adds Fatigue (less than battles). The numbers vary by the skill level of the monster, how well it scores in the game, how many hits it takes (mudball/snowball) and several other factors. Most ranchers avoid Play because it increases Fatigue and wastes time.

Just a quick reminder on the Form issue: every year, Colt gives your monster a cake.

Colt's Cake: +15 Form

People tend to forget about this. Even if your monster gets -1 Form per month, at the end of the year, it will net +3 Form. Obviously, appropriately placed Mint Leaves, Rests, Candies, etc. can be used to control this. Speaking of which, NEVER use Powders as they induce Stress (I forget how much though, but I'm sure that DP has it somewhere around here). You are better off using a Mint Leaf as a method of Form reduction.

-Nevistar

I've tested Powders and found that they don't appear to induce stress. They DO cause small amount of Fatigue however. +5 to be exact.

My SO just brought up a question that I tried to answer, can't, and decided to ask the experts:

During the errantry, you lose that much lifespan per week of being on the errantry. Does the lifespan hit get checked in the middle of the errantry? Or do you have to wait until after the errantry, when it all totals up and comes out?

For instance: Week 1 of the errantry: +18f/+7s
Thanks to the numbers working out, this will not trim a week from it. (LI=32)

Week 2: another +18f/+7s. This bumps the numbers up. Now, you're at +36f/+14s. This equals LI=64. Still no lifespan hit.

Week 3: Add it again. However, you're now in the 'danger' numbers: +54f/+21s: LI=96. First lifespan hit. -1 week.

Week 4: We're now into +72f/+28s. Work that out, and the LI=128. Another -2 weeks.

Altogether, the errantry, with that factor alone, has stripped your monster of three months. _IF_ it's worked out at the end of every week, and not just the last. And that's only if they're going into it at 0 and 0 (good luck of that happening!).

Now, is this what happens? Or does it add it all up and apply at the end, rather than cumulatively?

I would assume that it does get checked in mid-errantry... as your monster's working pretty hard throughout it.

Compare it to, let's say, four hard drills in a row without items:

Week 1: 12 Stress, 15 Fatigue: LI=39.
Week 2: 24 Stress, 30 Fatigue: LI=78. -1 week.
Week 3: 36 Stress, 45 Fatigue. LI=117. -2 weeks.
Week 4: 48 Stress, 60 Fatigue. LI=156. -3 weeks.

An errantry is sort of a middle ground between light and hard drills; you get light-drill gains in one stat, a small boost to Lif and a chance for a new technique (plus the chance for fighting a monster at the end and earning your money back).
Like the above, you're not using items during it to relieve stress/fatigue, so losing three weeks' lifespan sounds reasonable (half of what you'd lose from the above workaholic month).

(It's not THAT hard to go into an errantry at 0,0, is it? If you're not killing your monster with drills, just go Mint Leaf-Rest on the week before and both Stress and Fatigue should plummet.)

What I want to know is: if your monster fights at the end of an errantry, does it take an additional lifespan hit/fatigue tally from battling, as compared to when it just completes four weeks and goes home happy?

How about if your monster gets to the third or fourth stage of errantry and fails? Any bonus stress/fatigue from that?

Yes, that is exactly what happens: the lifespan loss is calculated at the end of every Errantry stage, successful or not (ie. each week). Well, almost.... (sorry, the explanation for this needs a little bit of setting up)

Remember that your monster is always losing 1 week from its lifespan to show that it has been alive for 1 week (the "hit" is additional unnecessary loss). I'm sure that most of you know that, but it's very important for what I'm about to say.

Lifespan loss is calculated immediately at the beginning of any given week when the screen is black with the date in the corner. So, if you do a drill that brings your LI up to dangerous levels, the lifespan is not actually lost until the first thing next morning. When your monster is on an Errantry, the lifespan loss is calculated at the END of each Errantry stage, whether or not your monster is successful (ie. each week of errantry). This is where an interesting (and unfortunate) conflict occurs.

Let's say that you send a monster on an Errantry on the first week of the month and that this monster starts with 0 Fatigue and 0 Stress.

Week 1:
-Errantry: +18f/+7s
-monster now has 18f/7s
-monster gets -1 to remaining lifespan to show that it has been alive for 1 week (ie. normal loss. Not a lifespan hit).

Week 2:
-Errantry: +18f/+7s
-monster now has 36f/14s
-monster gets -1 to remaining lifespan to show that it has been alive for 1 week (ie. normal loss. Not a lifespan hit).

Week 3:
-Errantry: +18f/+7s
-monster now has 54f/21s
-monster gets -2 to remaining lifespan, -1 for being alive for 1 week and another -1 due to Fatigue and Stress levels as indicated at the beginning of this post.

Week 4:
-Errantry: +18f/+7s
-monster now has 72f/28s
-monster gets -3 to remaining lifespan, -1 for being alive for 1 week and another -2 due to Fatigue and Stress levels as indicated at the beginning of this post.

At the end of the Errantry, your monster returns to the ranch. Colt asks if you want to praise your monster, and then the week ends.

Week 1, next month:
-As normal, the lifespan loss from the previous week is calculated. -3 to lifespan.

This is the weird part. This lifespan loss for this week was already calculated at the end of the last stage of the Errantry, yet gets calculated a second time. It is as if your monster has lived the same week twice. I would say that this is a glitch in the game programming, but your monster's age is still calculated correctly, which makes me wonder....

So, on the final week of the errantry, your monster gets -6 to lifespan for 1 week of living. Overall, your monster gets -10 weeks to lifespan for 4 weeks of living, a grand total of -6 lifespan. So, going on an errantry takes away a minimum of 6 weeks from your monster's lifespan. That's a month and a half gone, and 3 weeks of that is because of what could be a programming error.

That is nasty, indeed. That last -2 lifespan hit (it is only an extra -2 on week five, not an extra -3, right? LI would still be at 128) is being double-counted, since you can't rest or use an item between the end of the errantry and the beginning of the next week. You can praise your monster, but does that do anything useful? (I doubt it does enough to knock you below 105 LI and at least take a -1 on Week 5 instead of -2. Praising it would have to relieve, oh, 12 stress to do that.)

Compare it to the four-hard-drill-w/o-rest thing I posted above, though. If you're using no items (like in errantries), you'll have lost six extra weeks of lifespan at the beginning of Week 5. Errantry has lower stat gains than that, but is a similar restless/itemless month, shares two-stat-gain status and gives you shots at new battle techniques. I can see where they wouldn't be that dissimilar in how much they'd hammer your monster.

Makes ME think twice about errantries, though... my Pixies will just have to win the Big 4 with Pat from now on. ;)

Yes, the lifespan hit in week 5 is still -2, but since you it counts the same week twice, it takes away two weeks from your lifespan when your monster only lived for 1. So, effectively, the entire second lifespan calculation at the beginning of week 5 can be treated as a hit, meaning that you really do lose 3 weeks of lifespan instead of 2.

As for battles at the end of errantries, I need to do more experimentation with them, but as far as I can tell, they have no effect on Stress, Fatigue, or lifespan loss.