Okay, now that the Harvest Festival event is live, I’ll give some info for those of you who want to know straight-out what is happening and possible.
What’s changed?
The event has two main changes to the game:
A) In every town (Hopitan, Chaduk Haven, Martis, Tiasas Star) you’ll find a new location, usually by the market. It’s always a kind of foodstore, and it’s huntable, like an arena. There you’ll battle constructs of victuals (Jam, Honey, Bread, Milk, Cider, etc.) and produce (veggies, fruit…) in different sizes (collection, golem) and numbers. Small amounts of collections only in Hopitan, up to groups of 6 or 7, including up to two golems (1 produce and 1 victual) in Tiasas Star. Every group may have a boss – a Produce Juggernaut in Tiasas Star, and a Pumpkin Pie in every other town. Danger! Those things may be hard.
B) There is an additional possible NPC group on every major route – Chaduk Desert, Tiasanian Flatlands, Martuso Mountains and Plateney Woods – usually consisting of either potatoes (Chaduk/Martuso) or bread (Tiasa) and a possible Turkey boss, or just turkeys (Plateney – only one of them may be a boss, though). These can be found hunting, but they may also jump you.
Why is this so hard?
The foes use special, unique skills from their Festival skill tree. As your own people have no levels (only the default 10) in these skills, you’re practically defenseless. Your defense will increase by being attacked by these creatures, gradually lowering the difficulty plus: You will stand on the leaderboard for those skills if you managed to fight these creatures often. And no, you won’t get any weapons that can use these skills, they’re “monster only”, much like biting/clawing. As the foes have all skills on one level, the Plateney Turkeys have a whopping 60-70 against your 10, so they may even instantly kill you, if you haven’t trained against easier foes up to there. (That’s why I suggested withdrawing to safety.)
What’s in it for me?
Apart from the recognition in the Festival, Autumn Harvest, Turkey, Victual and Produce skill leaderboards, you can find two weapons (a longblade/plant and an extremely quick, although rather weak short blade) with the Victual/Produce Golems (they only appear in the foodstores. Victual in Chaduk and Tiasa, Produce in Martis and Tiasa) and they only may have this weapon (50:50 chance).
But more important: Every boss may or may not carry an accessory, and these accessories may or may not be droppable. But every boss has the chance to carry a unique accessory. They’re weak (balanced, all of them have upsides and downsides) but they can be useful. So there are no less than SIX different accessories obtainable (one for each of the four turkeys you can find on the four different roads and one for each of the two bosses – Produce Juggernaut (Tiasa) and Pumpkin Pie (others) – you can find in the foodstores)
How long will this last?
One week, wednesday to wednesday. As far as I know, health regeneration should have been doubled for this time.
Any hints?
Yeah. Check your foes closely. Some tactics you know may not work 100%. For example, Firecoat only triggers on melee attacks – but even if a turkey pecks you, it isn’t a melee, but a festival attack, so firecoat may not trigger. Some foes tend to use combination actions, though, and a festival+grappling attack will trigger anything that counters grappling (such as firecoat or thorny skin).
Summary of new Foes
Potatoes + possibly Roasting Turkey (boss) in Chaduk, possibly rewarding the Hot Turkey Medal.
Potatoes + possibly Frozen Turkey (boss) in Martuso Mountains, possibly with Cold Turkey Medal.
Breads + possibly Stuffed Turkey (boss) in Tiasa Flatlands, Fine Turkey Medal.
Wild&Free Turkeys + possibly Savage Turkey (boss) in Plateney, Fresh Turkey Medal.
Victual + Produce Collections in all town food storages, possibly
with Pumpkin Pie in Hopitan (Victual Crown)
with Pumpkin Pie + Victual Golem in Chaduk (Crown + Butterknife)
with Pumpkin Pie + Produce Golem in Martis (Crown + Cucumbersword)
with Victual and Produce Golem, as well as Produce Juggernaut in Tiasa (Butterknife, C.Sword and Produce Sash)
What do these accessories do?
Different stuff. Most will grant you a few AP per turn (usually 2) plus some other benefit. The Produce Sash, for example, will increase AP regeneration by 2, defense regeneration by 5 (for whole battles, as long as it is worn/equipped) but you’ll always use all movement of your first turn with the respective character. Not all drawbacks are this strong, though. I may (or may not) post a full list of effects on a later date.
