Monster Rancher 2 Combo Breaker 2024 Live Tournament

Monster Rancher 2 - Feeding, Drills, and other tips

There are many aspects to raising your monster. Drills to raise stats, Errantry to learn to attacks, participating in tournaments for money or game progression. This page is not meant as a Walkthrough or step by step guide to beat the game, rather it breaks down several of the aspects of the game into smaller consumable bits of information that you can apply to your overall experience which will lead to beating the game. Some of the advanced raising schedules won't really be affordable on a fresh game, it's OK to use a first monster or two to help stockpile your funds so you can concentrate on a very strong monster later.

Monster Rancher 2 DX (2021):
(Steam, Switch, iOS versions)
No-Rest Raising Schedules for advanced play

Monster Rancher 2 (1999):
(Playstation/PSX version)
No-Rest Raising Schedules for advanced play

 

Cheap Raising Method (Any Version):

This method works for Original or DX and is for: New players, Starting a new save with low money, or raising on a budget until you can afford the more costly (and more effective) No-Rest method.

Choose Schedule #1, or #2, or mix it up between both of them.

CHEAP Monthly Schedule # 1
300-350g/mo
Week 1: Fish or Cup Jelly[1]Light Drill
Week 2: No item Light Drill
Week 3: No item Light Drill
Week 4: Mint Leaf Rest
CHEAP Monthly Schedule # 2
360-410g/mo
Week 1: Fish or Cup Jelly[2] Hard Drill
Week 2: MangoLight Drill
Week 3: No itemLight Drill
Week 4: Mint LeafRest

Caveats, Costs and other info

These Feeding and Drill schedules maximize lifespan and drills while staying within an easy to maintain budget, especially on a new game.

  • [1]1999 MR2 or DX: Monster Must LIKE or be Neutral to either Fish or Cup Jelly (Check for "Likes" or natural item preference OR the monster data screen.) for this to work without lifespan hits.
  • [2]1999 MR2: Fish or Cup Jelly MUST be "Liked" in natural item preferences OR the monster data screen.
  • [2]2021 MR2DX you can utilize Gemini pots in your inventory If Neutral to Fish or Cup Jelly:
    • Neutral to Fish: Have 3 Gemini pots in inventory.
    • Neutral to Cup Jelly: Have 1 Gemini pot in inventory.
    • LIKES either Fish or Cup Jelly: 0 Gemini pots needed.
  1. Schedule 1: 4,200G per each Year & uses (Fish: 100g Or Cup Jelly: 150g) + Mint Leaf: 200g.
  2. Schedule 2: 4,920G per each Year & uses (Fish: 100g Or Cup Jelly: 150g) + Mango: 60g + Mint Leaf: 200g.
Need Money for all these items? You can get 40,000 gold per year fighting in E and D Grade tournaments and selling the rewards!

 

No-Rest: Monster Rancher 2 DX (2021 - Steam, Switch, iOS)

No Rest + Magic Bananas (DX)

Due to the Magic Bananas change for MR2DX, and stacking effect of Gemini pots, a few new options open up which allows for any monster to have 3 Hard Drills every month (Does not account for additional stress of Scolding/Breaking Promises).

The below schedule does NOT account stress from Scold/Deny/breaking Promises.Determine how many Pots you will need

Any Monster + Magic Bananas:
3 to 8 Gemini Pots with MB
Week 1: Tablets +
Nuts Oil
Hard Drill
Week 2: Magic Banana*
-10 Stress
Hard Drill
Week 3: Nuts Oil Hard Drill
Week 4: Mint Leaf Light Drill
* Magic Banana outcomes in MR2DX:
-10 Stress is the desired effect.
This also raises loyalty.
FearSpoilFormFatigueStress
+10+10-10-10
-10+100-15-5
-10-10+1-300

How Magic Bananas Work
  • Magic Bananas randomly have 1 of 3 possible effects shown above.
  • Gauging these effects purely in-game is done by observing Loyalty.
  • Loyalty = (Fear/2) + (Spoil/2). Fear and Spoil start at 0 and cap at 100.
     Your "Style" indicates if you have more Fear or Spoil.
  • In most scenarios +10 Loyalty will occur for the desired -10 stress effect.
     +10 in Loyalty = (Fear: +10/2) + (Spoil: +10/2)
     Differing at high loyalty, or when Fear or Spoil can no longer increase.
  • See the Item List for all items.

 

Lazy No rest: without Magic Bananas (DX)

This is called "Lazy" as it won't require save-scumming for Magic Banana outcomes to squeeze in the extra 3rd Hard Drill. It does not account for additional stress of Scolding/Breaking Promises.

The below schedule does NOT account stress from Scold/Deny/breaking Promises. Determine how many Pots you will need

Any Monster & Tablet preference
1 to 7 Gemini Pots
Week 1: Tablets[1] +
Nuts Oil
Hard Drill
Week 2: Mint Leaf Light Drill
Week 3: Nuts Oil Hard Drill
Week 4: Mint Leaf Light Drill
  • [1]Demo: If "Liked" You can use Cup Jelly or Fish if you have enough Gemini Pots to prevent Stress creeping up.
  • Demo: Dislike Tablets/1 Gemini Pot: No lifespan hits, but has a remainder of stress
  • Demo: Dislike Tablets/7 Gemini Pots: Perfect schedule with no stress remaining.
  • H.A.D + Tablets
    H.A.D. with 2 or 4 Gemini Pots
    Week 1: Tablets +
    Mint Leaf
    Hard Drill
    Week 2: Nuts Oil Hard Drill
    Week 3: Mint Leaf Light Drill
    Week 4: Nuts Oil Hard Drill
  • Demo: 2 Pots for Likes Tablet (imperfect but no lifespan hits)
  • Demo: 4 Pots for Neutral to Tablet (imperfect but no lifespan hits).
  • No room for scolding.
  • H.A.D. is any monster that has either a Main or Sub (or both) of Henger, ArrowHead, Durahan.
  • H.A.D + Like Tablets required
    H.A.D. with 10 Gemini Pots
    Week 1: Tablets +
    Any Item1
    Hard Drill
    Week 2: Nuts Oil Hard Drill
    Week 3: Mint Leaf Light Drill
    Week 4: Nuts Oil Hard Drill
  • You Must have 10 Gemini Pots.
  • Demo: 10 Pots + Likes Tablets with open week 1 for any item.
  • 1 Feed Nothing, or any item that doesn't increase Stress/Fatigue. Some Form or Nature items can be used as well.
  • You can use fewer Gemini Pots if feeding a Stress reducing item, 1 fewer pot per stress reduced.
  •  

    Gemini Pots! (DX Gemini Pots stress offsets)

    Get them every May week 4, D Grade tournament.

    Determine # of required Gemini Pots:

    This is a baseline determination which used to reset remainder of Stress (from week 4 + Tablets on Week 1) back to 0 at the start of every month when considering the "Any Monster" Magic Banana 3x Hard Drills per month.
    This allows a continuing training loop without losing additional lifespan, and always beginning the Schedule on week 1 with 0 Stress (and 0 fatigue from item use).

      Magic Banana (3xHDs)
      Tablet Preference# Gemini Pots
      Likes Tablet3 Gemini Pots
      Neutral to Tablet5 Gemini Pots
      Dislike Tablet8 Gemini Pots
      Custom Scenarios10+ Gemini Pots

      10 Gemini pots + Like/Neutral to Tablet is recommended to allow for wiggle room with Scolds/Deny Request, etc. but is not required if you are Save-Summing to avoid cheats or your monster asking for things.

    How do I know my Monster's Tablet preference?

    • Monsters have baseline preferences and may Like/Neutral/Dislike Tablets even without it being specified.
    • Likes & Dislikes override the baseline preferences.
    • If a monster Likes or Dislikes "You", this does NOT override their original specified Likes/Dislikes.

    OTHER options for MR2DX "Lazy No-Rest": More Gemini Pots allow for cheaper alternatives. These are for Lazy No Rest method. For the "No Lifespan Hit" there is a remainder of stress but no direct lifespan hits. "No Stress left" is how many pots it would take to get to 0 stress with the Lazy method
    TABLETS: Lazy: 2x HDs + 2xLDs
    PreferenceNo Lifespan HitNo Stress left
    Likes0 Gemini Pots2 Gemini Pots
    Neutral0 Gemini Pots3 Gemini Pots
    Dislike1 Gemini Pots7 Gemini Pots
    Even Dislike Tablet easily doable for 0 Stress
    CUP JELLY: Lazy: 2x HDs + 2xLDs
    PreferenceNo Lifespan HitNo Stress left
    Likes4 Gemini Pots10 Gemini Pots
    Neutral6 Gemini Pots12 Gemini Pots
    Dislike12 Gemini Pots18 Gemini Pots
    Neutral/Dislike Cup Jelly isn't viable for 0 Stress
    FISH: Lazy: 2x HDs + 2xLDs
    PreferenceNo Lifespan HitNo Stress left
    Likes6 Gemini Pots11 Gemini Pots
    Neutral8 Gemini Pots14 Gemini Pots
    Dislike13 Gemini Pots19 Gemini Pots
    Neutral/Dislike Fish isn't viable for 0 Stress

     

    No-Rest: Original Game (1999 NTSC/PAL - PSX)

    Feeding & Drill Schedule

    Outside of a Tournament or Errantry, this is the schedule for the entire duration of a monster's life.
    You must ALWAYS use the food items every week with the below schedule to avoid losing lifespan to fatigue or stress!

  • Tablets: 500G, Nuts Oil: 200G, Mint Leaf: 200G
  • This is 1300G per each month, or 15,600G per each Year. If you can't afford the items, do not attempt this or your monsters will die very early. Use a Cheap raising method until you can afford it.

    A Monster may like or dislike Tablets without it being shown on the screen.
    See the Items Page for Monster Food Preferences of default Liked/Neutral/Disliked items.

    Traditional No-Rest method alternates (PSX sched. A)

    H.A.D. ONLY Monsters + Like or Neutral to Tablets

    Traditional No-Rest method for H.A.D. monsters (Henger, Arrowhead, Durahan as a pure, main breed, or sub breed monster.)
    Alternate Month A (Jan) and Month B (Feb) etc.

    H.A.D. Month A
    Week 1: Tablets +
    Nuts Oil
    Hard Drill
    Week 2: Nuts Oil Hard Drill
    Week 3: Mint Leaf Light Drill
    Week 4: Nuts Oil Hard Drill
    H.A.D. Month B
    Week 1: Tablets +
    Nuts Oil
    Hard Drill
    Week 2: Mint Leaf Light Drill
    Week 3: Nuts Oil Hard Drill
    Week 4: Mint Leaf Light Drill

     

    Traditional No-Rest method alternates (PSX sched. B)

    • H.A.D. Monsters + Dislike Tablets
    • Non-H.A.D + Like/Neutral to Tablets*
      • * If a Non-H.A.D. monster asks for an item you must give it to it, or save reset until it doesn't ask for the item. (Denying the item adds too much stress to stay in bounds of lifespan index).

    Every Month
    Week 1: Tablets +
    Nuts Oil
    Hard Drill
    Week 2: Mint Leaf Light Drill
    Week 3: Nuts Oil Hard Drill
    Week 4: Mint Leaf Light Drill

     

    Traditional No-Rest method alternates (PSX sched. C)

    Any other monster even if they Dislike tablets.
    Alternate Month A (Jan) and Month B (Feb) etc.

    Any Monster Month A
    Week 1: Tablets +
    Nuts Oil
    Hard Drill
    Week 2: Mint Leaf Light Drill
    Week 3: Nuts Oil Hard Drill
    Week 4: Mint Leaf Light Drill
    Any Monster Month B
    Week 1: Tablets +
    Nuts Oil
    Hard Drill
    Week 2: Mint Leaf Light Drill
    Week 3: Nuts Oil Light Drill
    Week 4: Mint Leaf Light Drill

  •  

    Drills

    Stats and what they mean

    Before you begin to do drills, know what the stats actually do, this can help you focus on which stats you want, or need.
    • LIF: This is your Health bar. It also determines how long you can explore during expeditions.
    • POW: A damage stat that modifies base damage for Power techs, indicated by yellow icons. It also provides a bit of defense against opponent POW based attacks. For expedition, this can remove obstacles.
    • INT: A damage stat that modifies base damage for Intelligence techs, indicated by green icons. It also provides a bit of defense against opponent INT based attacks. For expedition, this can discover hidden paths and find items in buildings.
    • SKI: An accuracy stat that modifies a tech's base chance to hit, and helps counter opponent SPD.
    • SPD: A speed stat, affected by form, that increases your chance to dodge an attack, and helps counter opponent SKI.
    • DEF: A defense stat, affected by form, that reduces damage but is more effective when combined with a damage stat. (high DEF and high POW provides better protection from enemy POW techs)

    Drill Planning: What drills do I use?

    General Advice:
    • Know your monster's Attacks and plan around them (See Tech List). Decide if you're going to use POW or INT based attacks and focus the corresponding supporting stat.
    • Pick 1 Attack Stat: POW or INT.
      This determines Domino or Study for light drills, and Pull or Meditate for heavy drills.
    • Pick 1 Defensive Stat: SPD or DEF.
      This determines Dodge or Endure for light drills, and Leap or Swim for heavy drills.
    • Fill in with SKI and just enough LIF to avoid KOs.
      SKI and LIF only have Light Drill options, so you'll want to fill in with these where possible.

    Maximizing Gains:

    • Gains: Know your monster's Stat Gains (Original -- MR2DX).
      (E or 1 are the lowest gains. C or 3 is average. A or 5 are the highest gains)
    • Before Prime: For A and B gain stats, Focus-raise the stats.
      (Baby stage through adolescence should be enough to max out one or two of these with No-Rest since B and A gains can still get high/20s in Great!s before Prime)
    • Around/During Prime: Raise any remaining desired stat a given monster has low gains in.
      (This is the best Gains-per-week a low gain stat can get and is the best time to catch these up.)
    • Dump Stat: Heavy drills drop a given stat by a low amount based on the drill, but you may not need the dropped stat, or it may be a stat you can easily catch back up later. Heavy Drills are key for maxing multiple stats.
    • Using any of the training schedules, choose Hard Drills and Light Drills that Compliment each other. Avoid constantly alternating drills that raise and lower the same stat, instead just stick with 1 until you're ready to switch.
    Example:
    INT/SPD/SKI build is the easiest with the following
      Meditate(H) + Shoot(L), or Leap(H) + Shoot(L), and Study(L), Dodge(L), Run(L) mixed in as needed

    POW/SPD build is a bit more difficult based on a given monster's gains, since the Pull heavy drill also lowers SPD, but it is perfectly achievable when planning ahead, especially when using Training Drugs (at the proper times) such as Troron and Paradoxine.

    Other Considerations:

    • Once your main stats are maxxed out (or as high as you want them to be) then you can start raising the lower stats up. This optimizes stat gains instead of swapping between drills that raise and lower a stat over and over..
    • Techs: Know what you want prior to training. This helps you know how you are going to raise your monster and know stat requirements for techs in advance, and avoid unnecessary lifespan hits by sending to the wrong errantries.
    • Drugs? Please read the Drugs and Peaches section. Planning ahead can yield great results. Using at the wrong time is a waste of lifespan.
    • See the item list for a deeper understanding on why the items work.

    Below is a basic breakout of Drills. See the complete Drill Processing breakdown for all scenarios.

    Light Drills summary

    +5 Stress
    +10 Fatigue
    -1 Form
    Drill Main Stress Fatigue
    Domino Pow ↑ +5 +10
    Shoot Ski ↑ +5 +10
    Study Int ↑ +5 +10
    Dodge Spd ↑ +5 +10
    Run Lif ↑ +5 +10
    Endure Def ↑ +5 +10

    Heavy Drills summary

    +12 Stress
    +15 Fatigue
    -2 Form
    Drill Main Sub Drop Stress Fatigue
    Pull Pow ⇈ Lif ↑ Spd ↓ +12 +15
    Leap Spd ⇈ Int ↑ Pow ↓ +12 +15
    Meditate Int ⇈ Ski ↑ Def ↓ +12 +15
    Swim Def ⇈ Lif ↑ Int ↓ +12 +15
    Stat Gain Heat Map: Gain averages by Life Stage.
    This is a visual approximation of the Light/Hard drill data tables.
    Monster Rancher 2 Life Stage heat map comparison
    Light Drill results by Life Stage & Stat Gain:

    Life StageGain: 1/EGain: 2/D Gain: 3/C Gain: 4/B Gain: 5/A
    11-1-2-3 1-1-2-3 1-2-3-4 2-3-4-5 3-4-5-6
    21-2-3-4 2-3-4-5 3-4-5-6 4-5-6-7 6-7-8-9
    32-3-4-5 3-4-5-6 5-6-7-8 7-8-9-10 9-10-11-12
    42-3-4-5 4-5-6-7 6-7-8-9 8-9-10-11 11-12-13-14
    5/Prime4-5-6-7 6-7-8-9 8-9-10-11 11-12-13-14 14-15-15-15
    6/Sub-Prime3-4-5-6 5-6-7-8 7-8-9-10 10-11-12-13 13-14-15-15
    72-3-4-5 4-5-6-7 6-7-8-9 8-9-10-11 11-12-13-14
    82-3-4-5 3-4-5-6 5-6-7-8 7-8-9-10 9-10-11-12
    91-2-3-4 2-3-4-5 3-4-5-6 4-5-6-7 6-7-8-9
    101-1-2-3 1-1-2-3 1-2-3-4 2-3-4-5 3-4-5-6

    Heavy Drill Results by Life Stage & Stat Gain:
    Primary Stat Gains
    Life StageGain: 1/EGain: 2/D Gain: 3/C Gain: 4/B Gain: 5/A
    13-3-3-4 3-3-4-5 3-4-5-6 5-6-7-8 6-7-8-9
    23-3-4-5 4-5-6-7 6-7-8-9 8-9-10-11 11-12-13-14
    34-5-6-7 6-7-8-9 9-10-11-12 12-13-14-15 15-16-17-18
    45-6-7-8 8-9-10-11 11-12-13-14 15-16-17-18 19-20-20-20
    5/Prime7-8-9-10 11-12-13-14 14-15-16-17 19-20-20-20 20-20-20-20
    6/Sub-Prime6-7-8-9 10-11-12-13 13-14-15-16 18-19-20-20 20-20-20-20
    75-6-7-8 8-9-10-11 11-12-13-14 15-16-17-18 19-20-20-20
    84-5-6-7 6-7-8-9 9-10-11-12 12-13-14-15 15-16-17-18
    93-3-4-5 4-5-6-7 6-7-8-9 8-9-10-11 11-12-13-14
    103-3-3-4 3-3-4-5 3-4-5-6 5-6-7-8 6-7-8-9
    Secondary Stat Gains
    Life StageGain: 1/EGain: 2/D Gain: 3/C Gain: 4/B Gain: 5/A
    12 2 2-3 2-3 2-4
    22 2-3 2-4 2-5 2-5
    32-3 2-4 2-5 3-6 4-7
    42-3 2-4 3-6 4-7 5-8
    5/Prime2-4 2-5 4-7 6-9 7-10
    6/Sub-Prime2-4 2-5 3-6 5-8 7-10
    72-3 2-4 3-6 4-7 5-8
    82-3 2-4 2-5 3-6 4-7
    92 2-3 2-4 2-5 2-5
    102 2 2-3 2-3 2-4
    Tertiary (dropped) stat:
    Drill ResultDrop Amount
    Great-2 to -3
    Success-2 to -3
    Cheat-1 to -4

     

    Errantry

    Errantry during the No Rest method

    • You WILL have to rest your monster if you Errantry.
    • Never Errantry (or Battle) during a monster's prime. This is a huge lifespan loss VS stat gains for this stage of Life.
    • Errantry early to get techs. (Or monster unlocks). If you DON'T get a tech, reset or don't go at all.
    • Only errantry later if you really want a tech chain and can't get it until later in life.
    Recovering from Errantry:
    • Go to errantry on the 1st week of the month with 0 stress/ 0 fatigue, after feeding Tablets/Nuts Oil.
    • Your monster will likely be Very Tired when you return. You will be able to give it Tablets and Nuts Oil again, then Rest. This should get it back to "is Well". One more Nuts Oil should get you to Very Well.
    • You should be able to resume the No Rest method from this point from the second week in the schedule. (Don't forget to feed it the items!)
    • Once this short training week is finished, and you have once again fed Tablets and Nuts Oil on the following month week 1, you should be back at 0 Stress / 0 Fatigue, and can resume the No Rest method every week as per usual.
    Errantry and how they affect your Lifespan
    Plan errantry or battles early or late in life, and here's why:
    • Stages 5 & 6 are technically "Prime / Best stat gains". Also, before and after Prime as well (stage 4 & 6), since stat gains are still pretty great.
    • Week 1 is the optimal week to send on errantry as it allows you to feed items (tablets) before, and immediately after return, helping minimize lifespan loss from stress.

    • MR2 1999: It's huge potential lifespan loss VS stat gains for this stage of Life. Every week of errantry is +18 Fatigue, +7 Stress without the ability to reduce it. On the best case scenario (0 Fatigue/0 Stress & start week 1):
      • Success: -10 weeks Total: -4wks errantry + -1wk LI + -2wks LI + (-3wks LI on wk1 return bug where Stress and fatigue is calculated twice).
      • Your Monster is KOd: need validation of LI with Monster KO.
    • MR2DX:
      • Success: -7 weeks Total: -4wks errantry + -3wks LI
      • Your Monster is KOd: -13 weeks Total: -4wks errantry + -3wks LI + -6wks KO penalty.

    Errantry summary

    +7 Stress / +18 Fatigue Per Week (Total: +28 S / +72 F)
    LocationMainSubStressFatigue
    1. Papas (Sharp Tech)Spd ⇈Lif ↑+7/wk+18/wk
    2. Mandy (Heavy Tech)Pow ⇈Lif ↑+7/wk+18/wk
    3. ParePare (Withering)Int ⇈Lif ↑+7/wk+18/wk
    4. Torble Sea (Hit Tech)Ski ⇈Lif ↑+7/wk+18/wk
    5. Kawrea (Special Techs)Def ⇈Lif ↑+7/wk+18/wk

    Errantry Gains

    Stat Gain level for Locale's stat
    Life
    Stage
    12345+LIF*
    12-42-52-52-63-73
    22-52-63-74-85-95
    33-74-85-96-108-127
    43-74-85-96-108-127
    55-97-118-1210-1413-1510
    64-86-107-119-1311-159
    73-75-96-107-119-138
    83-74-85-96-108-127
    92-52-63-74-85-95
    102-42-52-52-63-73
    *LIF gain is limited to the stat gain - 1

    Errantry Success/Injury Chances & examples

    In short, the best chances of Errantry success: The less fatigue it has, the older the monster is, the more Fear it has, the higher the Stat Gain is for the locale you've sent it to. But this will break down manual calculation and also some tables for worst case/best case scenarios for each week of the 4 week Errantry.
    Calculations
    Success/Fail/Injury
    • drill_gain = drill gain for corresponding errantry (1-5) [ torble-ski, papas-spd, mandy-pow, jungle-int, kawrea-def ]
    • life_gain = life drill gain (1-5)
    • lifestage = life stage (1-5)
    • fatigue = fatigue (0-100)
    • fear = fear (0-100)
    • rnd(x) = random number between 0 and x-1
      any division is integer division and will result in the loss of any decimal places
    Strength = 2 x [ ( 2 x drill_gain + life_gain ) / 3 ] + ( 4 x lifestage ) + ( fear / 5 ) + [ ( -2 x fatigue ) / 10 ] + rnd(30)
    Threshold = [ 0->5, 1->15, 2->25, 3->35 ] : this value depends on the number of weeks you have previously passed during this errantry Strength >= Threshold, then success (else failure).
    The Week Percentages assume that you passed the previous week. If you don't you stay on that weeks chance

    Failed Errantry can Injure your monster:

    % Chance of Injury = INT( ( fatigue - 50 ) / 2 ) , limited to 0% If you do get injured, then you will be missing for:

    • 3 days for fatigue >= 90
    • 2 days for fatigue >= 70
    • 1 day for fatigue < 70.

    Note: you can't be injured if fatigue is <= 51. So, if you start out with 0 fatigue, then only on the 4th week if you fail, you have a 2% chance of being injured.

    0 Fear +
    Stat & LIF gain = 1
    Life
    Stage
    Week 1Week 2Week 3Week 4
    1100.0%55.2%6.9%0.0%
    2100.0%69.0%20.7%0.0%
    3100.0%82.8%34.5%0.0%
    4100.0%96.6%48.3%3.4%
    5100.0%100.0%62.1%17.2%
    6100.0%100.0%75.9%31.0%
    7100.0%100.0%89.7%44.8%
    8100.0%100.0%100.0%58.6%
    9100.0%100.0%100.0%72.4%
    10100.0%100.0%100.0%86.2%
    0 Fear +
    Stat & LIF gain = 5
    Life
    Stage
    Week 1Week 2Week 3Week 4
    1100.0%82.8%34.5%0.0%
    2100.0%96.6%48.3%3.4%
    3100.0%100.0%62.1%17.2%
    4100.0%100.0%75.9%31.0%
    5100.0%100.0%89.7%44.8%
    6100.0%100.0%100.0%58.6%
    7100.0%100.0%100.0%72.4%
    8100.0%100.0%100.0%86.2%
    9100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%
    10100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%
    100 Fear +
    Stat & LIF gain = 1
    Life
    Stage
    Week 1Week 2Week 3Week 4
    1100.0%100.0%75.9%31.0%
    2100.0%100.0%89.7%44.8%
    3100.0%100.0%100.0%58.6%
    4100.0%100.0%100.0%72.4%
    5100.0%100.0%100.0%86.2%
    6100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%
    7100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%
    8100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%
    9100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%
    10100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%
    100 Fear +
    Stat & LIF gain = 5
    Life
    Stage
    Week 1Week 2Week 3Week 4
    1100.0%100.0%100.0%58.6%
    2100.0%100.0%100.0%72.4%
    3100.0%100.0%100.0%86.2%
    4100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%
    5100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%
    6100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%
    7100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%
    8100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%
    9100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%
    10100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%

     

    Money Tips

    Jump To:

    New Game or poor players

    40,000k G first year with E & D Tournaments!

    Starting out fresh on a new game might feel daunting before you can afford expensive No-Rest methods. Fear Not!
    - You can use the below tournament dates to bring in a lot of money with any monster at any time of course, but...
    - With 16x Sueki Suezos you'll destroy these from day 1! -- Sueki Suezo will die in 1 week, and the following week is unusable due to the Death Event scenes. These are the reward optimal tournaments you can fight in, accounting for time lost for death events.

    Sueki Suezo MoneyTourney PrizeSell ItemAll defeated
    Jan WK4 FFA **40000300
    Feb WK2 Torles Tourney10001500100
    Mar WK1 Parepare Cup2000100150
    Mar WK4 IMA Official D10000250
    Apr WK2 Spring Carnival1000500100
    May WK4 Gemini Cup *20001500150
    Jun WK2 Freshmen's Cup8000150
    Jun WK4 IMA Official D10000250
    Jul WK2 Nageel Cup2000500150
    Aug WK2 Desert Moon Cup1000500150
    Sep WK2 Artemis Cup10001500150
    Sep WK4 IMA Official D10000250
    Oct WK2 Rookie Cup800500100
    Oct WK4 Heels' Cup10005000700
    Noc WK2 Galoe Cup2000500150
    Dec WK1 Parepare Cup20000150
    Dec WK4 IMA Official D10000250
    Grand Total: 40,150 G24600121003450

    * You may want to keep those Gemini Pots though. They'll come in handy later!
    ** MR2DX: New Year's FFA is bugged and can crash. Try disabling FF to do this tournament. Sometimes this is enough to proceed to participate in it, but can also take multiple resets before it works.

    • As you can see, Lower level tournaments can give a decent boost. For a complete schedule, see: Schedule of Annual Events
    • You can freeze your monsters until the next event if it's getting close to the end of it's life.
    • While a monster is frozen, you can raise a second monster on the cheap to pass time, or work towards your next monster.
    • Once you have enough cash to afford a No-Rest method, the resulting monster from that will be a massive return on investment.

     

    Mid-Game: Freezer Method and Tournaments

    A whole lot of fighting gives a whole lot of gold!
      Class# of FightsPrize Money
      B & A17~86,000g
      M4443,000g
      See the Calendar for tournament dates & rewards.
    • Raise a B Grade monster that can also win A Grade fights. Fight in as many Non-Official (Non-promoting) B & A Grade tournaments as you can. You can make quite a bit of money with 1 monster this way.
    • Once a monster gets to S Grade and can beat S Grade and/or M4 Tournaments you can use the Freezer method to farm them. Freeze the monster in-between Major 4 battles and only bring it out of the freezer to fight in the Major 4 Battles.
    • Do both! Fight M4 battles with 1 monster, and B+A rank battles with another inbetween. (Optionally, You could use the same monster for B+A+S though your fame will drop slightly and you'll go through lifespan faster)

    Tournaments use up a minimum of 3 weeks of Lifespan, so factor this in.
    When using this method, always use Nuts oil Before and After a tournament to avoid additional lifespan hits. You won't need to use Mint Leaf since Tournaments reduce stress.

    What is the Freezer Method/Juggling
    • Eventually you may be at a point where you will have multiple monsters at varying life stages and capabilities. Maybe you only bring your M4 monster out for those tournaments, and you also have a new monster you're raising but Expeditions or M4 tournaments sort of interrupt your new monster's schedule and rhythm.
    • Consider using a "throw away" monster to sleep through it's life to pass the time until your other monster's feeding/training schedules will be back in sync to the time you put them in the freezer, or to just pass the time until a known event occurs (Event such as a tournament invitation, ranch event, expedition etc.)

     

    Late-Game: Expeditions!

    Maximizing gold earned for Lifespan spent. Just 1 expedition monster can bring in hundreds of thousands of gold over it's life.
    In MR2DX, expeditions are the most efficient method for making money (See why below) but takes planning to raise an optimal expedition monster. Your Mid-game money making should allow you to do this.
      Expectations with 13 free inventory slots
      ExpeditionAverage Take*High End*
      Torles30,000g50,000g
      Kawrea30,000g50,000g
      Parepare20,000g25,000g
      More free slots means more items to keep for selling later
    * Found items are random and may require resets to get decent take-home sellables. More free inventory slots allow for more items to sell. (My personal highest take-home was 50k from Torles with 13 free slots, and 47K from Kawrea while finding multiple platina items but this is not the norm)

    What monster to use for Expedition?
    Key stats are INT > LIF > POW (and > SKI for very specific scenarios). The below table has filtered down to some of the best compliments of monsters to use. There are plenty of good expedition monsters if you don't like the suggestions below, these are just curated from filtering for the best attributes. See the Song list to look these up, or find other monsters to your preference.

    Expedition Monster Top Analysis Picks by Game Progression
    Unlock ProgressRatingMonster TypeCDDB ID#Title/Artist
    Nothing Unlocked#1
    #2
    #3
    Caloriena (Mocchi/???)
    Time Noise (Naga/???)
    Sumopion (Arrowhead/???)
    ID# 1027
    ID# 1046
    ID#1006
    EKTO/m-flo
    GOES/BBE
    Posso/Fara
    IMA-FIMBA monsters#1
    #2
    Garlant (Henger/Dragon)
    Express Worm (Worm/???)
    ID# 1141
    ID# 1045
    Tes/Maki
    Darin/Darin
    1st Stable Upgrade#1Titan (Golem/Suezo)ID# 505KOE/ASCA
    Centaur UnlockedOverall Best*Blue Thunder (Centaur/???)ID# 995Matr/Yaz

    * The #995 variant Blue Thunder is one of the best expedition monsters in the game based on life type, lifespan, Nature in an easily shiftable position for +/- nature item requirements, and high stat gains are in the right place making it incredibly quick to raise for expedition readiness (~50m with Lazy No rest).

     

    Training an Expedition Monster:

    Using Lazy No Rest schedule of items/drills, and assuming one of the above recommended Expedition Monsters:
    While doing any of the drills, Consider if you want a positive or negative natured monster and factor in Scolds/Praises/Jellies to shift nature where you need it.
    1. Do Meditate as your Hard Drill, and alternate Study/Run for light drills until INT is about 700.
      • Depending on Gains: (Low LIF gain) Only Meditate and Study for the first life stage or two, then begin alternating Study/Run or only Run as needed.
    2. Replace Meditate with Pull as your Hard Drill, and continue to alternate Study/Run for light drills until POW (350+) and LIF (max 700) are in a comfortable spot for you.
      • Depending on Gains or 900 INT: Only Pull and Run after switching from INT (or alternate Run/Shoot if you need to reach 300 SKI)
    3. Fight in D official, then fight in C official. (Freeze your monster between officials if you want to save a bit of lifespan)
    4. Optionally Use a Star Prune if you need to reach 50 Fame.
    5. Optionally use light drills to top off any remaining stats you might want in INT/LIF/POW/SKI.
    6. Optionally Gold+Silver Peach and your monster is Expedition ready!
    Depending on your chosen monster's gains you may need to adjust the drills slightly. However, this schedule should help you get close enough without being too specific for exact monsters. The goal is to try to land on as close to "Optimized Expedition Stats" with as little extra topping off as possible.

    Expedition Monster Goal recap:

    • 700-900+ INT
    • 700 LIF (anything more won't count towards expedition energy bar)
    • 350-500 POW (depending on your tolerance for RNG)
    • 300-350 SKI (only required to find Joker Mask, otherwise not required unless you are going for Pure Platina)
    • Precocious and Sustainable life type monsters (Peak gains early and long lifespan remaining for expeditions).
    • B Grade with 50 fame (You only need to beat C Grade official to be promoted to B, and you can optionally use Star Prunes to make up any fame to get up to 50)
    • Nature: Item % drop can change based on Good/Bad nature values combined with INT levels (or SKI for a few items).
      • You might raise both a Good and Bad natured monster to target specific items from Expedition
      • Example: Platina is incredibly difficult to acquire with +1 or better nature, and tops out at 6.3% with 200-299 SKI, but with 0 or negative nature, you have 12.5% chance with 300-999 SKI.
      • See SF96's detailed expedition breakdown for exact values.

    Maximizing valuable items and inventory:

    • Empty your inventory before expedition (Keep the Gemini Pots though). Even if you sell the items, you'll get some money back, rather than deleting the item while on expedition.
    • Use the Expedition Maps to help you locate the buildings that can drop the high dollar items.
    • Torles and Kawrea are usually the most profitable of the 3 expeditions. Since the items are random, you can choose to reset the expedition and try again until you acquire items that sell for the threshold you're trying to make.
    • Once your inventory fills up, keep searching! Replace the lowest value items with the highest value items you continue to find.
    • Refer to the complete Item List if you're unsure what stuff sells for. (Platina 8k, Gold 6k, Silver 4k, Disc Chips between 500g-2kg etc.)

    Example Expedition
    - 13 free slots
    - Torles Mountains

    • Feed Nuts Oil, Save, then Rest on week 4 before the expedition
    • Over the expedition you get 1 Gold, 3 Silver, 1 Fire Stone, 4 Mock Chips, 3 Centaur Chip, 1 Henger Chip
      • Maybe you also got some junk like Half-Eaten nuts but you can delete/replace these as you find other items that are more valuable
    • Back on the ranch you feed your Week 1 item
    • Sell the expedition take-home items for 36,000g
    • Freeze your monster until the next Week 4 prior to an expedition and repeat.

    In MR2DX you get 70 Fatigue for expedition. Assuming you were at 0 stress/fatigue when you started, this equates to only 2 week lifespan hit for the 4 weeks lived.
    You can still make the same amount of money in expeditions In the original 1999 game, but you take a larger lifespan hit (minimum of 8 weeks).

    Cost Analysis/Comparison: The Lifespan cost of Gold

    - MR2DX: Expeditions cost 2 weeks of lifespan (minimum).
    - MR2 1999: Expeditions cost 8 weeks of lifespan (minimum).
    - Tournaments cost 3 weeks of lifespan (minimum).

    The highest payout tournaments:

    • July Wk2 A class: 10,000
    • November wk4 A class: 11,000
    • "Major 4" S Grade tournaments (Wk2 Feb/May/Aug/Nov) 10,000 each
    Lifespan Cost of Gold per tournament:
    • The highest payout tournament at 11k gold costs 3 weeks of Lifespan minimum.
    • This equates to 3,666g per week of lifespan, and should be your benchmark.
    Lifespan Cost of Gold per expedition:
    • MR2DX: Take your total amount sold from expedition and divide it by 2.
      • If you acquired 28,000 gold in sellable items on a single expedition, then you made 14,000g per week of lifespan.
      • Much more take-home pay than the highest paying tournaments in the game!

    • Monster Rancher 1999: Take your total amount sold from expedition and divide it by 8.
      • If you acquired 30,000 gold in sellable items on a single expedition, then you made 3,750g per week of lifespan. Just over break-even compared to M4 farming
      • It's more up to personal preference if you would rather farm pay-out tournaments, or use expedition to make money, but you need to make ~30k or higher for it to be better income per week of lifespan.

     

    Colt's Warnings & other Lifespan Information

    • The "stressed" or "tired" messages from Colt is an indicator that the lifespan index calculation very likely hit a point that begins reducing lifespan. (How much depends on the calculation).
    • If you save frequently enough, you can Reset & Reload if you see these messages. After a reset you can try something different, such as doing a Light Drill instead of a Hard Drill (or even rest). You can wing it a bit to fit your needs based on the messages you see.
    • With the No-Rest method you should not see these messages unless you do activities outside of the Feeding/Drill schedule (like scolding or refusing requests).

    Colt's Life Stage & Retirement Messages

    In MR2DX Colt always gives the Prime Stage messages. In the 1999 version you are told only 1 time, then must gauge Prime Stage 5 by size and stat gains.

    Stage based indicators:

    • Stage 1-4: No messages.
    • Stage 5 (Prime): One of the following:
      • #1: ... [Trainer Name], From now on, it will be a important time for [Monster Name]. Let's give it some extra care.
      • #2: ... [Trainer Name], from now on, [Monster Name]'s strength will be affected depending upon how we raise it. This is where we must use our Training Skill!
    • Stage 6-10: No Messages.
    Retirement Indicators (not tied to life stage / Can occur mid-stage) Messages will vary slightly but the moment they occur is specific (Though they can be offset by as much as 10 weeks if interrupted by a birthday event etc.)
    • 49 weeks remaining Retirement Messages:
      #1: [Monster Name] looks very exhausted. Maybe we should consider retiring it...
      #2: Hmmm... [Monster Name] doesn't look very good these days. Maybe we should consider retiring it...

    • 29 weeks remaining Retirement Messages: (May or may not receive this warning)
      #1: It doesn't look well, these days... I guess we have to consider its retirement...

    • 9 weeks remaining Retirement Messages:
      #1: [Trainer Name], [Monster Name] has done enough. We should let it retire.
      #2: [Monster Name] can't go further. We better retire it soon or else we'll get into some serious trouble. Better late than never.

    Colt's Stress and Fatigue Messages

    FatigueColt's weekly message
    0[Monster] is very well.
    1-19[Monster] is well.
    20-39[Monster] seems well.
    40-59[Monster] seems tired.
    60-79[Monster] seems pretty tired. Give it some rest.
    80-95Oh...... [Monster] seems very tired.
    96-100You are too hard on it... [Monster] will pass out.
    StressColt's Montly Message (Wk 1 Only!)
    0-19No message.
    20-100[Monster] is stressed out. We have to take care of it...

    It is possible to grossly underestimate how much stress you are accruing since you are only warned about it on Week 1.
    If you aren't following one of the proven raising schedule, you can use the Training Planner to validate your raising methods and make sure you're not taking unnecessary lifespan hits.

    Lifespan Index: Values and calculations

    An overview of Stress & Fatigue. What causes it, what relieves it, how to calculate lifespan hits from it.

    Activities that cause Stress and Fatigue:

    • Light Drills: +5 Stress & +10 Fatigue
    • Hard Drills: +12 Stress & +15 Fatigue
    • Errantry: +7 Stress & +18 Fatigue Per Week (Total: +28 S & +72 F)
      • MR2 original: LI is calculated twice upon return: -13 weeks = -4wks errantry + -3wks LI + -3wks LI again.
      • MR2DX Success: -7 weeks = -4wks errantry + -3wks LI
      • MR2DX Get KOd: -13 weeks = -4wks errantry + -3wks LI + -6wks KO penalty.
    • Expedition: +0 Stress & +70 Fatigue; Minimum 8 weeks lifespan cost: (3+3 * LI for expedition) + (1 + 1*LI start of week 1). This can scale exponentially if expedition is started with Stress/Fatigue causing a higher LI since the values are multiplied by the LI number.
      • MR2DX: Minimum 2 weeks lifespan cost: (0 lifespan hit for expedition) + (1 + 1*LI start of week 1).
    • Battle: Lifespan hit is: (3*LI)+1
    • Denying requests, and Scolding Truants, Failures, and Cheats can also can increase stress. The amount varies depending on your monster's Nature & Training Style. Click an action to see the detailed Drill Processing tables.

    Items that reduce Stress and Fatigue:

    • Nuts Oil: -28 Fatigue & (For Henger, Durahan, Arrowhead main or subs: Also -20% Stress (rounded down))
    • Mint Leaf: -50% stress
    • Gemini Pots: +1 Fear (DX: also -1 Stress) per pot
    • Artemis Statue: +1 Spoil (DX: also -1 Fatigue) per statue (Still not recommended to stack Statues)
    • Magic Bananas in DX: One of 3 possibilities
      • -10 Stress & -0 fatigue (Generally the desired result)
      • -5 Stress & -15 Fatigue
      • -0 Stress & -30 fatigue
    Resting Values by Stage
    StageFatigueStress
    1-36 to -39-5 to -8
    2-38 to -43-5 to -8
    3-40 to -47-5 to -10
    4-42 to -51-7 to -10
    5-44 to -55-9 to -12
    6-44 to -55-9 to -12
    7-40 to -47-5 to -10
    8-32 to -39-5 to -8
    9-32 to -37-5 to -8
    10-32 to -35-5 to -6
    Lifespan Index Table
    Index LI#Additional Life Lost
    0 - 6910 (Current week)
    70-10421 additional wk
    105-13932 additional wks
    140-17443 additional wks
    175-20954 additional wks
    210-24465 additional wks
    245-269*76 additional wks
    270-300*87 additional wks
    *Your monster will usually run away
    or go to the hospital if the LI is 250 or more)

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

    When does the lifespan hit occur?
    It occurs at the black screen when rolling over into the next week, and if the Lifespan Index value had reached 70 and above (or fails to drop below 70).
    Reducing Stress/Fatigue bringing the Lifespan Index value below 70 after this, and at the point you can feed an item only helps prevents further lifespan hits, not gain back the lifespan hits you've already taken.

    Order of Operations Example:
    An example of Week 1 of Month A, to Week 1 of Month B
    Assuming you start at 0/0 Stress/Fatigue.
    • Week 1 Month A: Do a Drill, get Stress & Fatigue
    • Week 2: Date rolls over. LI is calculated. If under 70, no lifespan hit.
      • Give an item to reduce Stress or fatigue
      • Do a Drill, get Stress & Fatigue
    • Week 3: Date rolls over. LI is calculated. If under 70, no lifespan hit.
      • Give an item to reduce Stress or fatigue
      • Do a Drill, get Stress & Fatigue
    • Week 4: Date rolls over. LI is calculated. If under 70, no lifespan hit.
      • Give an item to reduce Stress or fatigue
      • Do a Drill, get Stress & Fatigue
    • Week 1, Month B: Date rolls over. LI is calculated. If under 70, no lifespan hit.
      • Passive Items are Calculated (Gemini Pots in DX can reduce stress -1 per pot)
      • Monthly Food Item given (Tablets: -10 to -15 stress)
      • Give an item to reduce Stress or fatigue
      • Do a Drill, get Stress & Fatigue

    based on LI values from DarkPhoenix/Nevistar

     

    Battles

    My Monster Likes Battle (or Dislikes it)

    • After doing a tournament, you will see a screen that has 3 randomly chosen stats, and gains.
    • Higher level tournaments give more Post-Battle gains than lower tournaments.
    • Liking or Disliking Battle in the Monster's Preference can adjust these gains by 1 point.
    • Monster PreferencePost Battle Gains
      Likes Battle+1 to gains
      Dislikes Battle-1 to gains
      No indicator+/- 0 to gains

    My monster is Skinny or Fat, what does this mean?

    Form has a direct effect on your SPD and DEF at all times as a sliding scale between 0% (Normal) and 25% (Plump/Skinny) on both stats, though never dropping below 1 or going over 999. At their extremes, Form affects your stats like so:

    • Max Plump (+100): -25% SPD / +25% DEF
    • Max Skinny (-100): +25% SPD / -25% DEF
    Fatigue values between Skinny/Plump
      Tourney Placings
      DescriptionExplanation
      Win tournament1st Place
      Do OK in tournamentNot First/Not Last
      Lose tournamentLast Place
      Stress & Fatigue by placing
      Tournament outcomeFatigue Stress
      Win tournament 30 + Form / 13 -45
      Do OK in tournament 40 + Form / 10 -38
      Lose tournament 50 + Form / 8 -30
      Fatigue by Placing and Form
      Fatigue Example Ranges-100 Form0 / Normal+100 form
      Win tournament223037
      Do OK in tournament304050
      Lose tournament395062

      IMa V FIMBA special case
      Form Fatigue Stress
      -100 +38 -30
      -50 +44 -35
      0 +50 -40
      50 +56 -45
      100 +62 -50

    • A single tournament of any size will incur a lifespan hit of ((-LI hit * 3)+1).
    • This is a minimum -4wks of life: The Current Week (+1) plus (-LI hit * 3). Tournaments drop stress, but you can lose additional weeks lifespan if fatigue is high enough when entering a tournament. (See Training Planner)

    Battles with your monster:
    • On a new game, you will likely be battling a lot to bring in money to afford either progression upgrades or saving up for a raising schedule.
    • For maximizing stat gains, it's recommended to avoid battle during their Prime life-stage due to the minimum 4 week lifespan hit per tournament.
    • Some events require you or your monster to be a certain rank, so If you must battle to trigger the events, try to train a few years with the No-Rest method schedule before attempting to battle. Save beforehand, and be sure you can win the bracket. If not, reset and train more.
    • If you have the option, Only battle towards the Older stages, (After Prime) when gains drop off.
    • Skip official rank battles when ranking up (See Jump/Skip below). If you've trained until after Prime, your monster should be ready to JUMP/SKIP battles easily.

    Battle Tips:
      Loyalty:
      • Higher loyalty will result in less foolery in battle.
        • Foolery is when a monster acts confused, loses access to their Techs (All techs become ????)
      • Loyalty = (Fear/2) + (Spoil/2). Fear & Spoil are hidden values.
      • You can tell if you have more Fear or Spoil based on your Style
      • Keeping your style at Even will help ensure you eventually get to 100 loyalty. (Doting, for example is 0 Fear and 100 Spoil. (0/2) +(100/2) = 50 Loyalty)
      • When a monster gets Foolery, the attacker gets a sizable hit% bonus against the confused monster.

        LoyaltyFoolery %LoyaltyFoolery %
        050%5510%
        545%608%
        1040%656%
        1536%704%
        2032%753%
        2528%802%
        3024%851%
        3521%900%
        4018%950%
        4515%1000%
        5012% 

      Fighting:

      • GUTS: The more guts you have, the more damage your techs will do and the less damage you take. This applies to opponents too.
      • The attacking monster's guts generation is frozen during the attack animation, while the defending monster's guts continue to generate.
      • In MR2DX Enemies can attack at any guts value. In the original game enemies will NOT attack under 45 guts so you can plan/wait/attack accordingly.
      • Note your enemy's stats and pay attention to the weakest one, POW (yellow techs) or INT (green techs). While fighting, attempt to stay in the range slot of the weakest moves allowing them to barely damage you while you save up your guts for optimal attacks.

    JUMP/SKIP Tournament Classes & Money Tip:
    • You don't have to fight as soon as you can win the next Grade tournament. You can choose to wait until you are strong enough to win S class, and climb the ranks in fewer fights.
    • Once you are "S Grade Worthy" (even if your monster is currently E class), you can be S Grade ready in just 3 fights and be ready to fight in the M4 tournaments where you can get big money!
    • To JUMP/SKIP over "Class Official Tournaments", fight in a Grade 1 Grade higher than your own. Winning places you 1 Grade higher than the Grade you beat!
      Example:
      • Current Grade E → Fight in IMa Official Cup (D) bracket → Get promoted to C Grade.
      • Current Grade C → Fight in IMa Official Cup (B) bracket → Get promoted to A Grade.
      • Current Grade A → Fight in IMa Official Cup (S) bracket → Get promoted to S Grade.

     

    Drugs & Peaches

    Drugs and When to use them
    This is a very abbreviated guide to using drugs.
    • Monsters with long lifespans, and/or especially monsters with long baby life stages are great candidates for drug use.
    • Generally you'll use Drugs in the earlier stages of life, when the gains from the drugs would surpass the gains during the lost weeks of lifespan.
    • To help determine which drug to use and if it is worth the lifespan hit:
      Paradoxine (1 dose lasts 4 weeks):
      +30 POW & +30 SKI
      -10% SPD, -10% DEF
      -18 weeks lifespan:

      Paradoxine Calculator (.xlsx)

      Troron (1 dose lasts 4 weeks):
      +10 POW & +5 SKI
      -6 weeks lifespan
    • For either, You can gauge how many you want to use with the Life Stage calculator.
      Life Stage Calculator
      Prime Lifespan: wks
      Life Stage12345678910
      Duration10%10%15%15%10%5%10%5%5%15%
      Weeks50507575502550252575
      Remaining50045040032525020017512510075

      Example: Type 1 at 300 weeks has 50 weeks in stage 1. One Paradoxine subtracts 18 weeks from that stage; making Stage 1 last 32 weeks. You will have gained 120 POW & 120 SKI. Could you have achieved those stats at this stage in 18 weeks without it? If not, Paradoxine might be for you!
  • Save before every training, and RESET if it fails. (The drug only works on a cheat/success/great). You are also not notified of the stat gains on the training results window, but you can determine that the monster did gain the extra stats when you look at the Monster Data screen.
  • Example Feeding/Training schedule with Paradoxine during Baby stages, Feeding/Training schedule will be:
    • Week 1: Tablets + Paradoxine + Light Drill
    • Week 2: Nuts Oil + Hard Drill (Optional to just do a light drill this week).
    • Week 3: Mint Leaf + Light Drill
    • Week 4: Nuts Oil + Light Drill
  • Peaches! If you have them:
    • At 50+ weeks after your monster enters PRIME is the time to use a Golden Peach (Obtained from ParePare expedition)
    • At 25+ weeks after Prime (or 25 weeks after you fed a Golden Peach) you can use a Silver Peach (Obtained from the Elder's Cup Tournament).
    • DON'T Use Peaches the second your monster hits Prime!... Peaches extend the life of your monster by setting its biological clock backwards by those amount of weeks. Essentially, if you feed Peaches towards the end of Prime, your monster will get to live that many weeks of Prime again. If you use them too soon (or too late) it may place you at a life-stage where stat gains are not optimal.

     

    Competitive Tips

    Competitions and tournaments are run AI vs AI. Engineering your monster for the best possible outcome under AI control is part of the meta of raising a competitive monster. Losing an AI vs AI tournament does not mean your monster is bad; It might still be an exceptionally raised monster that had bad luck. Below are some tips on how to help optimize for AI vs AI battles.

     

    Preparing for your first tourney

    Before jumping into tournaments, there's a few things to consider:

    1. Complete the game and unlocks (Ranch and Monster unlocks -- Not required but really helps).
      • Having the game completed and all upgrades purchased will free up your wallet to spend on raising and no surprise costly ranch upgrades.
      • It opens up more monster options you'll have to submit to a given tournament.
      • It opens up more potential for a better PVP monster by being able to find Disc Chips of specific monsters (that you've unlocked) while on Expedition.
      • Having the ranch fully upgrades means the most inventory slots, which is important for making money on expeditions, and being able to store specific expedition items for competitive raising.
    2. Have some money stockpiled. A monster can be costly to raise.
      • In DX it is quite profitable with a dedicated expedition monster and lots of available inventory space (See Expedition and making money sections)
      • Having everything unlocked already means you can also find some of the highest value disc chips for selling, in addition to the big money items.
    3. Expectations of Tourneys and Raching for PVP.
      • Tournaments are run AI v AI since there's almost no way for manual control for both players unless they're in the same room on the same physical console. Additionally, manual control would likely be boring to watch since almost everyone would use the same tactic; Save up 99 guts, only use 1 attack.
      • Stat Caps: This term identifies generically how much total stats you're allotted for a monster, and your Stat Values totaled up cannot exceed this amount. Stat caps can vary depending on the Tournament Organizer and will be specified in their rules.
      • Dumping Stats: Intentionally lowering undesired/uneeded stats (via drills or drugs) so that those points can be allocated to raise other desired stats as high as possible or for other desired stat distributions.
      • Drop Stats: This term applies for some Tournament Organizers that will allow a stat to be dropped from the Stat Value totals. (e.g.; A Host may allow you to drop INT if it is 100 points or lower, then this value can be ignored when totaling your stats and meeting the Stat Cap of the specific tournament).
    4. Choosing and Signing Up for a Tournament:
      • Please see the Calendar, or Discord Events channel for scheduled tournaments. These will usually have their Sign-Up information linked. There are multiple tournament organizers, and plenty of formats to pick and choose from.
      • DX is cross region, cross platform compatible, so regardless if you're on Steam, Switch, or iOS, you can sign up for a tournament. (There are tournaments for other games as well, feel free to discuss in Discord!)
      • Once you've decided what you'd like to participate in, refer to that specific event's Rules and Sign up form to submit your entry. (It's possible you have something that qualifies already or will have to complete your entry by a deadline)
    5. Watch your monster battle it out!
      • The Tournament Organizer will have provided a date and time for the tournament you participated in.
      • If you're able to, you can attend the event live (Most Hosts stream the events live), or if you miss the event there will be a VOD that you can watch.
      • There are folks from all over the world across many time-zones participating, Support your fellow ranchers and Tournament Organizers, without them you wouldn't have anyone to compete with!

     

    Battle Specials

    Before you get started you might want to consider battle specials of the monster you are considering entering. If a monster's breed doesn't innately have a desired battle special, there are ways to acquire most of them through fusion. If a parent has a battle special, it has a random chance to pass it down to a baby monster. Additionally using specific disc chips will guarantee that the monster inherits the battle special that the disc chip provides.

    As a competitor in AI controlled tournaments, Grit is one of the more sought after Battle Specials. While not required, It's highly encouraged to get it, as Grit can offer a chance to revive from a KO and turn the tables (Or simply get knocked back out again :P).

    Ways to get Grit: Some monsters have Grit innately. In MR2DX others that don't normally have Grit, might have it on one of their variants in the Song List. In BOTH Original and DX you can combine for a chance to inherit it Grit if the parents had it, and also use Hare disc chips to get it.

    Grit isn't the only Battle Special, of course. There are multiple to choose from. Fury is a great competitive Battle Special. Most monsters will have access to Power or Anger, depending on their nature and your strategy for AI battles. You can always refer to the Battle Specials page to see what monsters have naturally, and what you'd need to engineer for based on your preference.

    Pages to reference: Battle Specials and Breed Defaults , DX CDDB List, Item List for what Disc Chips give which Battle Specials, Expeditions and disc chip locations & Calendar for Hare or other disc chip tourney prizes.

     

    Tech Loadout

    Consider the techs you want your monster to have that support your intent/build. You can also pass down non-special techs from fusing with a parent that knows many techs (Parent 1 specifically), including chained techs which can save you valuable lifespan if you have all (or most of) the techs you need when it is born.

    • A limited tech selection means more chances a monster will use the techs you want on AI versus mode. Having an empty range can be beneficial to allow your monster to save up guts.
    • Avoid acquiring bad techs. This isn't the same definition for every monster unfortunately. High cost/low payout is a loose gauge to use. Animation times of attacks can be considered too (While you're attacking, you don't generate guts, but your opponent does. Or long animations can help run down the clock)
    • Weigh the options by referencing the Tech Charts which indicate actual values for Hit/Crit/Dmg, and consider your monster's guts regen factor and battle specials while choosing.

     

    Stat Caps, Dropped Stats, & Dumping Stats

    For tournaments with stat caps, dumping stats in one area allows allocation of stats in another where you want it. Additionally, some tournament rules may allow dropped stats from the stat total, be sure to observe a given tournament's rules!

  • You will most likely be choosing between a Speed build or Tank build, while choosing between POW or INT for attacks. There are mixed attacker formats as well, and some cases where some techs are banned, but in most cases the Techs themselves are solely up to the rancher to choose.
  • Just about any monster can run SPD builds, but Tank builds are usually best fitted for monsters with fast guts regeneration.
  • "Tank" build usually implies very high LIF rather than DEF, but ultimately the choice is yours on how to allocate your stats within a given format.

    Ways to dump stats:

    • Hard Drills and some items (Like Paradoxine or Larox etc.) can help dump stats.
    • Resetting to intentionally get "cheats" on Heavy Drills during baby stages (-4 is the best reduction you can get and easiest during baby stage, while not getting to much in gains in other areas)
      • You can use Gold/Silver peaches to extend baby stages if you need more time with dumping stats. Be sure to use it while still in stage 1!
      • INT monsters can benefit from Leap and Meditate to work together to drop POW and DEF while raising necessary stats.
      • POW monsters benefit from Swim drill to drop INT.
      • POW monsters also benefit from Paradoxine raising POW and SKI, and lowering SPD and DEF by 10% per week.
      Paradoxine Calculator (.xlsx)
  •  

    Finishing Touches:

    Form (weight), Speed, and Defense

    Keep the following in mind while prepping your monster. Typically, the No Rest methods will always lean towards Skinny, so if you're planning on raising a Tank, you likely want to plan ahead so that during it's final days you can make sure Form is +100

    • Form adjusts your monster's SPD and DEF, scaling between 0 (Normal) and 25% (Skinny or Plump)
    • You can Cap SPD or DEF at 800 (Effectively 999) if you are -100 Skinny or +100 Plump respectively.
    • The Stat that benefits from the form will be increased, while the opposing stat will be decreased.

    Form Value Ranges
    SkinnySlimNormalFatPlump
    -100 to -60-59 to -20-19 to 1920 to 5960 to 100

    Candy and Rest can help you put weight back on quickly for Tank builds, but be on the look out for other adjustments especially if you're trying to finalize with negative nature Stress-Crit builds.

     

    Other Finishing Touches:

    Nature/Nature Specials, Fame, and Crit

    Unless it's a special spawn that can't get it; Monsters at +20 (Good) Nature or better will get the POWER battle special. Monsters at -20 (Bad) Nature or worse will get the ANGER battle special.

    Positive is any nature value between 0 to 100
    Negative is any nature value between -1 to -100
    Nature Value Ranges
    WorstBadNeutralGoodBest
    -100 to -60-59 to -20-19 to 1920 to 5960 to 100

    Positive nature monsters cap out at 10% crit. Negative nature monsters can get up to 20% crit.

    • Positive nature gets 1% Crit for every 10 Fame (maxing at 10% Crit from Fame)
    • Negative nature monsters gets 1% Crit for every 20 points of fame, plus 1% Crit for every 20 points of fame their opponent has, (maxing at 10% Crit from Fame)
    • Negative nature monsters additionally get 1% Crit for each 10 point of Stress. (maxing at 10% crit from Stress)
      • Getting to 100 Stress isn't difficult, but getting things to line up might be tricky. You will want to avoid events that decrease stress (like Gemini Pots on Week 1 rollover for example), Avoid going over your stat cap, and your nature or form being adjusted too much.
      • You can use Irritators (15 Stress each) and light drills (5 stress each) over several training weeks to get to 100 stress by replacing Mint Leaf with Irritator.
      • Alternate Nuts Oil and Irritators. Be sure to keep track if you're skipping the 4th week of raising to avoid the week 1 rollover items and Gemini Pot passives.
    • Where to get Irritaters?
      • They can be found in many places in Torles and Parepare Expeditions. However, ParePare location C, D, and H with a positive nature monster are your best bets if you have 400 INT or higher (since other locations are 0% at 400+ INT).
      • Irritaters can also be found as a substitute item. If you find a disc chip of a monster you haven't unlocked yet, that item is substituted and you are given: Mint Leaf, Half-Eaten, or Irritater.
        So if you haven't unlocked everything, you can have a much higher chance to find them by searching locations that drop Chips of locked monsters.

     

    Stress Schedules for negative Nature Crit
    See:  Training Planner  if you need to try a different custom schedule such as a Zero Irritater example schedule.
    Don't forget to factor gains from the drills while capping stress as this may skew your Stat Totals if your stats aren't already at 999

    Stress/Crit Schedule (Non-H.A.D.)
    Requires 5 Irritators & 25 weeks lifespan

    Non-HAD Irritater Schedule to max stress for bad nature crit chance

    Stress/Crit Schedule (H.A.D.)
    Requires 6 Irritators & 35 weeks lifespan

    HAD Irritater Schedule to max stress for bad nature crit chance

     

    How to upload your monster for Competitive

    Tournament Hosts running MR2DX will require you to upload your submitted monster to the cloud so that it can be accessed for the tournament. The below process will copy the the chosen save number with every lab-frozen monster up to the cloud. Once copied/uploaded, they remain there in perpetuity, as-is and independent of your local save number or continued local game progress. If you change/progressed your monster and need it updated for online matchups, then you must upload the save file again (with the updated monster frozen at the lab). You can only have 1 save number uploaded at any given time. New uploads will overwrite your previous uploads.
    1. Make sure your monster is frozen at the Lab.
      Steps to upload monsters in DX
    2. Save your game on any numbered save slot.
      Steps to upload monsters in DX
    3. Exit the game and go back to the Title, and choose "Vs. Mode" in the menu.
      Steps to upload monsters in DX
    4. Choose the same numbered save slot from Step 2, to register the frozen monsters online.
      Steps to upload monsters in DX
    5. Once the Frozen monsters have been registered, Select "Check Frozen Monster".
      Steps to upload monsters in DX
    6. In the list, confirm your monster shown, then click "Display Search Key".
      Steps to upload monsters in DX
    7. Note the Search Key. It may be required to submit your monster and is helpful if the monster name has censored character strings.
      Steps to upload monsters in DX
    Different Tournament Hosts may have different information requirements on their forms. This should help you correctly get your monster online, and collect everything that is required for any tournament submission in MR2DX.

    NOTE: you can only have 1 save slot uploaded at a time. Whatever is the last save uploaded is the only save in the cloud. You may overwrite the save slot on your local game however you want, it will not change what was already uploaded unless you re-register/upload it again.

     

    Teawch's Tips

    999 stats Examples -- ** Spoilers if you're new to the game! **
    These monsters and items won't be available to you immediately but can still be helpful to understand game mechanics that can be applied to new players)

    Teawch's Maxxed Monsters step by step tutorials/guides on YouTube.
    The below example monsters are detailed out to raise from infancy to Max stats.

    Credits:: Discord Community, Teawch, SmilingFaces96, Nash, Lisa Shock, Mepersoner, Dark Phoenix, Nevistar, Split Infinities
    This page was last modified: February 20 2024
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