It has been twenty-four years since the release of PlayStation title Monster Rancher, known in Japan as Monster Farm. The first game spawned numerous other games, as well as an anime series. Koei Tecmo has given players the chance to relive those days with Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX, a bundle containing remasters of the first two titles. Players can actually spawn their own monsters, by using the CD library.
As you unlock more powerful monsters, you will notice something happening at the Shrine in the early game. Each unlock for the rarer breeds requires a certain series of steps. To actually get access to the full monster roster, you need to complete a few steps for each monster breed. And that process often involves raising tough monsters, and winning tournaments. Here’s a guide that explains each stat in Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX and tells you how to train for success.
What does each stat do?
One of the core uses for stats in the various games in the franchise is damage and defensive scaling. Each monster has a certain set of attacks. Depending on the game, these will be called different things. In MR2 the attack types are: Heavy, Sharp, Hit, Wither, and Special. Each attack has an associated stat that scales both its offense and defense. It’s important to note that defenses also scale off of stats. So a monster with high INT that’s targeted with an INT-type attack, will take less damage compared to one with lower stats.
Here’s a quick rundown of each stat:
- Life – LIF – The raw health of each monster is based on Life.
- Power – POW – Power is the primary damage stat for physical attacks.
- Intelligence – INT – INT determines how well your monster is at finding rare drops in Expeditions. Some items only drop with 300+ INT, for example. Some attacks also base their damage off of INT, namely any attack not a direct physical one.
- Skill – SKI – Overall accuracy of attacks is based on Skill. You can also use to overcome some obstacles on Expeditions.
- Speed – SPD – Mostly determines how easy it is for a monster to dodge an attack.
- Defense – DEF – The higher the Defense of a monster, the less damage they take from attacks, especially those with lower Power.
Training for max gains
Most of the time, in both games, you need to hyperfocus on the stats that are best for your monster. Let’s use Tiger as an example. He has stat gain in Intelligence, Skill and Speed at this best ratings. His other stats are all Ds or worse. You need to focus on these stats to make Tiger viable in late-game. Getting his Defense up higher can help in combat, but it shouldn’t be a huge focus on training runs. The choice of what stat in Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX to train varies by breed. Now that you know what stats to focus on, it’s time to train.
With Monster Rancher 1, the training is split into two types. Easy work is any work task that increases a single stat. Hard work is any task that increases two stats while decreasing another. Hard Work not only increases fatigue quicker, requiring more rest, but it’s also only viable if you’re building up the right stats. Don’t even do heavy work that’s going to diminish a stat that you actually want to be raised.
- Easy Work > Easy Work > Easy Work > Rest – Repeat
- Hard Work > Easy Work > Rest – Repeat
MR2 makes it a bit simpler. Each time you train, you send your monster away on various missions. Each mission will have its own stats attached. There will be one stat that gets a major boost, and a secondary stat will get boosted as well. Each monster will have a set series of stat gains from E to A. The closer to A a monster is in a stat, the faster they gain that stat in Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX. Here’s a great tool for checking the stat gain rating of each breed. You can also use items to gain stat buffs and boost the impact of training. The best approach is to try and manage fatigue and keep your monster healthy.
If you would like to know how to get more techs, and what stats to train, use this tool.
Monster Rancher 1 is pretty forgiving when it comes to doing this. Just feed Mint and Taffy to monsters before training to reduce Stress. There’s no limit in MR1 to how many items you can give monsters.
Monster Rancher 2 makes this even easier. Some players advocate for the no-rest training method, which is as follows:
- 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
Using these items ignores the likes and dislikes of most monsters. Paying attention to this can actually help boost the happiness, and thus usefulness, of a monster. Here’s a sheet that explains the dislikes of each breed. If your monster Dislikes Tablets then you can either reroll his character or, if you don’t want to cheese it, have a switch in Week 3 to a Light Drill every other month.
What is Monster Lifespan?
Monster lifespan in both games has a base cap. If you do nothing but rest each week, you can have a monster live as long as possible. The reality is that a bunch of monster activities, like Expeditions, shorten lifespan. Also, losing fights can shorten lifespan if your monster is KOd. Most monsters in MR2 have a lifespan ranging from 300-500 Weeks.
