Now that you're presumably moved into Rigbarth and ready to start your life on the farm, a few choice Rune Factory 5 tips are sure to help you avoid a few common mistakes. Resources are precious in this farming simulator RPG, and one wrong step can cost a fortune.
Our Rune Factory 5 tips and overall beginner's guide will primarily provide some tips and tricks to help not only your farmyard activities, but your dungeon crawling adventures as well. the farming and combat elements, before looking at a few more general shortcuts and handy advice to make your experience smoother.
Once you've got to grips with the mechanics of the game, it's time to delve into the romance system. Check out our Rune Factory 5 bachelors tier list and our Rune Factory 5 bachelorettes tier list to learn which resident of Rigbarth to couple up with.
Three Essential Rune Factory 5 Tips
Now that you know all about farming and combat, we've also got a few more general tips to enhance your early hours in Rune Factory 5. These aren't necessarily game-changers, but they'll make things smoother while you get to grips with the game.
Manage Your Inventory!
Clear it out of any debris like sticks or weeds by putting them in the fertiliser bin by the task board. You'll want a nice open inventory for when you go dungeon-crawling, so always make sure you've got spare spots for any goodies you may find!
Always Use Target-Lock!
In combat, you can use it to toggle which enemy you lock onto. It's especially handy when tackling big mobs of enemies.
Eat Well!
If you're out farming in a place distant from SEED HQ, you could very well need food to increase your RP if you find yourself running low. Don't risk passing out, just take some snacks with you.
Rune Factory Five Farming Tips and Tricks
In terms of gameplay, farming is probably the task you'll spend most of your time doing.
Looking after your crops and selling produce is the bread and butter in Rune Factory 5 (pun intended). It's the best way of earning money. Luckily, the game has quite a significant tutorial to explain how you farm, and it works quite similarly to other games like Stardew Valley.
Your first task is to care for the small patch of land just outside of SEED HQ, where you live in the early stages of the game.
Using the hoe provided by Priscilla, hit B to churn up the soil to get it ready to plant seeds. Then select a seed from your inventory, plant it using B, and water it with your watering can. Of course, if it's already raining outside, you won't need to worry about watering as mother nature will do it for you.
Once your crop is ready, it'll have a gold arrow above it. Pluck it out by pressing A, and then you can decide what to do with it.
You could stick it straight in the shipping bin to sell it for a fixed amount of money when the merchants take it at 9 AM every morning. You could also eat it yourself to restore HP and RP. The last choice is to cook it into a recipe, creating a dish you can then give to a Rigbarth resident to boost your relationship.
One important thing to note is that farming uses Rune Points (RP), the game's equivalent to energy. Be sure to keep an eye on that blue meter, because if it gets to zero your character will pass out and rock up at the infirmary. Doing so will cost you time and money, so it's something you'll want to avoid.
Rune Factory Five Combat Tips and Tricks
Of course, another key part of Rune Factory 5 is the combat. A lot of the main quest missions focus on exploring dungeons and dealing with all manner of malevolent beasts.
You start off with a regular short sword and you can visit the blacksmith to purchase hammers, longswords, and even gloves to go for a fist combat approach. Crafting these components yourself requires a lot of metal mined from ore, and you'll need to eat recipe bread to unlock new crafting recipes.
You can boost your combat stats quite easily by grinding low-level enemy spawns just outside of the Rigbarth gates. The group of Woolies that spawn early in the Pharos Woodlands are very easy to take down in one hit, but they'll still boost your combat progression nonetheless.
That's it for our Rune Factory 5 tips and general beginner's guide. Armed with these little life hacks, you'll be able to create a fearsome SEED ranger in no time. Keep chipping away at farming and main story quests, and you'll find yourself sinking plenty of hours into this latest game in the beloved series.
We've also got a Rune Factory 5 voice actor list, to see who voices the multitude of characters. If you're looking to succeed at romance in another game, then take a look at our Mystic Messenger emails guide.