Updates:
10/05/00 - Completed this FAQ. Finished 4. Monster Reviews, added 5. Game Over?
Added AI tips and tricks in 2. Basic Tips.
10/14/00 - Added: more detialed Monster Reviews, new section (#5 End?).
Updated: Monster Reviews.
10/1/00 - Minor edits.
9/15/00 - Finished the first version of this FAQ.
~> Intro <~
This FAQ is supposed to accomplish a few things. Mainly to help card
players build better decks. Which is really a large concept to the game; to
build custom decks for your style of card playing and use them to achieve
victory. This FAQ gets right to the points of the game, if you want misc. info
go to www.mrcenter.com, there is a ton of Monster Rancher Battle Card Info on
that site.
First there was a game release in North America, on 10/97 called Monster
Rancher. The concept of this game was to raise a monster of your choice and
raise it to be a strong fighter. Than take it to compete in tournaments to get
a higher breeder rank. Than Monster Rancher 2 was released, and now a whole new
concept, Monster Rancher Battle Card. A card game based on the hit game Monster
Rancher, kinda like a Super Mario -> Mario Cart sequel.
DIFFICULTY SETTING: Setting the difficulty will determine the fun factor
of any game. Personaly, I set it to Hard and didn't save before battles. I
learned to play and win at the game on a hard difficulty setting, it takes some
time but is worth the effort. If you want your money's worth set it to hard. If
you want to play through the game the way it was designed try normal. And if
your new to this or want to learn the basics; try easy mode. Whatever your
reasons are just choose the difficulty setting wisely.
~> Basic Tips <~
As the Title says these tips are basic, most of this is stuff you already
learned through playing the game. Still you should at least know half of what
was written in this section.
___________
Terminology
This explains what abbreviations in the game mean:
POW - Type of card that takes out damage. Easier to block.
INT - Type of card that takes out damage.
SPE - Type of card that applies a special effect.
ENV - Type of card that applies a special effect while remaining in the game
until another ENV card is played.
DGE - Type of card that makes an attack totally ineffective.
BLK - Reduces the amount of damage to a certain number. Sometimes reversing it
back to the monster that delt the damage.
Stacked Cards - The cards that you draw from.
Discards - Cards that have been played or used as guts go to here.
_______________
Know Your Cards
Remember what each Monster is capable of, for example; a golem can only
block 5 points of damage from a power card. Using this knowledge you know that
you should try hurting it with very powerful POW cards (around 12 damage) or
attack it with INT moves. This is common strategy, however some people don't
use it. Always know your enemies dodging/blocking capabilities before wasting a
card that costs several guts.
__________________
AI Tips and Tricks
The computer players in Monster Rancher Battle Card Episode II are
programed really well. There aren't really any exploits to use when playing
them in Battle Cards. This is good, a card game is the last game you would
cheat in!
- Pre Programed
The 55 Battle Card players in this game have a pre-set way of playing.
Like the *Tombstone decks sometimes have a few attacking cards but they won't
them very often. They may use one to and K.O. one of your monsters. Usually if
a computer opponent defeats you, you versus him/her again and more than likely
win because you know how they play and what to expect this time.
For Information about Tombstone Decks see 3. Deck Types.
- Attacking Priority
Many of you notice that the AI targets certain monsters in your deck most
of the time. They place the highest priority on attacking the Monster Cards you
get later in the game. This really is annoying once you finally defeat Espada
and get a Durahan and add it to your deck. Than the you notice it keeps getting
K.O. before you really get to use it due to its rather weak Defense cards.
Doesn't that beat all?
- Taking advantage of "Attacking Priority"
Here is where this gets interesting. Now that you know your opponent will
ever so more than likely attack this one monster you can create a great, sorta
effortless defense. Just stock defense cards (as many as you can) for this one
Monster Card who is the first to be attacked. Its a lot better than having 1
DGE/BLK card for each monster in your hand at any given time. And throw in some
"Grit"'s, "Dodge"'s and any other Defense cards you can use for this first and
final line of defense. Hope this helps, it may take some time to set up this
defense, but once complete Battle Cards should be a lot funner to play.
- Attacking order
The computer's defense cards can be pretty good. Its somtimes impossible
to attack them. Consider Stolatos, his defense consists of many DGE and BLK
cards. You can try either attacking him with many cheap weak attacks thus
getting him to use more of his defense cards and landing more attacks. Or you
can hope to get lucky and try K.O.`ing his monsters with one card. Either way
is to risky, you'll probably run out of cards. The best way to defeat these
guys is to attack a Monster Card with a cheap[guts] card suck as Mocchi's
"Slap". This should get him/her to use up a defense card. Than on that same
turn attack that monster with a card that can KO them such as Golem's "W Chop".
The point of this is to get them to use up there defense cards on the cheap
cards leaving them with a weaken defense.
____________________
Weeding Out the Week
If you have some card in your deck that are rarely ever used in the game
(other than for guts) you should get rid of them and replace them with cards
you could use, thus giving you more options when your playing.
___________________________
The Importance of ENV Cards
Even if you never need to use these cards for a particular deck its always
good to have at least THREE in a deck. Or if you really don't want to use them
than use the Breeder Card "Pray", its a BLK card that Blocks ENV cards for the
cost of 0 guts. All this is to counter your opponent's ENV cards. If they play
an ENV card that totally messes you up; your chances cam be drasticly reduced.
________
Recipes!
Collect as many as you can! They are free and are lists that you can use
to compile decks. Why not save them??
~> Deck Types <~
Most importantly you need to not just build a deck from random cards, but
a deck that has a method of winning. A method of winning would be to beat your
opponent by dodging all their attacks and getting them to draw all 50 of their
cards. As you know by now if you can't draw any more cards because you ran out
of stacked cards you lose. So without further explanation
here it is the 4 types of decks:
____________________________________________________________________________
|| Deck Name | Explanation ||
||==========================================================================||
|| Agile Deck | This is constructed of cheap gut cards for attacking ||
|| | and lots of dodge cards for defense. Since you have to ||
|| | pay a small amount of guts to attack this leaves you ||
|| | with enough to dodge just about all attacks. Bascily ||
|| | you KO your oppenet's monsters with lots of cheap ||
|| | attacks. ||
||--------------------------------------------------------------------------||
|| Stong Deck | The idea is simple, the stronger the attack the more ||
|| | effective. Mostly you try to KO your opponent's ||
|| | monster using about one card. Since you have the power ||
|| | to KO a monster using one card your opponent is easily ||
|| | beat unless they have a quicker Strong deck or they ||
|| | can dodge enough. Depending on how many dodge cards ||
|| | they have will decide who wins. ||
|| | Think about this: Golem's Chop is a Pow card that ||
|| | takes out 8 damage and costs 5 guts, that's quite a ||
|| | lot of guts and can easily be dodged/blocked. So ||
|| | you'll probably end up drawing cards until you reach 0 ||
|| | *trying* to attack your opponents monsters. ||
||--------------------------------------------------------------------------||
|| Tombstone Deck | There is more than one way to win... thats to get your ||
|| | opponent to draw cards until he/she has none left to ||
|| | draw. You just gotta stay alive until they do that. ||
|| | First of all you need some ENV cards that get them to ||
|| | draw/discard more of their cards. Than get lots of ||
|| | dodge/block cards for defense. And last but not least ||
|| | drain their guts! This causes your opponent to gut ||
|| | more cards thus drawing more cards in the process. It ||
|| | also keeps them busy so you aren't attacked as much. ||
|| | One other tip: Throw in some "Busy Time" cards just to ||
|| | be careful. Some of the AI players's use Tombstone ||
|| | Deck's, so its essential for you to have this card. ||
||--------------------------------------------------------------------------||
|| Custom Deck | Its kinda vague to explain, its basically whatever gets||
|| | the job done. So maybe you want an agile deck that ||
|| | packs heavy hits for low guts? It can be done, or a ||
|| | Strong Deck that has some defense cards. What makes the||
|| | game fun is that you create a deck the suites your ||
|| | style of card playing. Not everyone can just use some ||
|| | basic deck like the above three, some people like to be||
|| | creative. The only problem with this deck is that ||
|| | there may be to many flaws with just throwing in all ||
|| | these cards in. The key to making this deck is ... ||
|| | BALANCE! The Deck MUST be balance and not have many ||
|| | flaws. The problem with throwing in all these cards you||
|| | like is that the deck doesn't have a concept, so you ||
|| | need to remember when building a custom deck to have ||
|| | some kinda concept like will draining moves, or defense||
|| | cards, etc. ||
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
~> Monster Card Reviews <~
Below are the reviews and ratings for all the Monster Cards (main types).
As for rating Monster Cards; its on a scale from 1-5 stars. Basicly what
determines the rating is the Cards this Monster uses and Initial Life is also
considered. Here is a small chart to clearify the ratings:
* - Horrible Monster Card.
Don't count on it to help you achieve victory.
** - Bad Monster Card.
Below average with few/little advantages.
*** - Average Monster Card.
Decent, if it can serve a purpose such as the Agile/Strong/etc Deck Types.
**** - Good Monster Card.
Has advantages that make it well suited for particular decks.
***** - Great Monster Card.
An above average Monster Card that has little flaws and many advantages.
Tiger - Composed of mostly weak attacks, has some nice combos.
Initial Life: 6 | Ground
Best Cards: Sonic Move and Jump
Rating: ***
Gali - Has some nice damage moves, however the guts costs are too high.
Initial Life: 7 | Aerial
Best Cards: Flame and Deflect
Rating: **1/2
Golem - Very good Monster Card, deals heavy damage and the ratio for guts to
damage is low.
Initial Life: 9 | Ground
Best Cards: Kick and Protect
Rating: ****
Suezo - Its great for lowering the opponents guts and has some nifty cards. A
nice addition to many types of Decks.
Initial Life: 7 | Ground
Best Cards: Yodel, Tongue and Scouting
Rating: ***1/2
Pixie - Not really that good in the damage department, however she is the only
monster that can restore other monster's Initial Life.
Initial Life: 6 | Aerial
Best Card: Lighting and Recover
Rating: ***
Dino - Dino's are pretty average, leaning more towards the side of offense than
defense.
Initial Life: 8 | Ground
Best Card: Leap Kick
Rating: ***1/2
Naga - Has high guts cost moves, though it does have a nice selection of
attacks.
Initial Life: 8 | Ground
Best Cards: Life Steal and Counter
Rating: **
Hare - Has the potential to do some major damage as long as it has the
Initial Life to spare. Its best attacks require at least 2 Life Points but are
very cheap[guts].
Initial Life: 6 | Ground
Best Cards: Charge and Loud Voice
Rating: ***
Mocchi - Don't underestimate them! They are very well balanced and great
Monster Cards in the beginning of the game.
Initial Life: 7 | Ground
Best Cards: Petal Wind and Motch Ray
Rating: ***
Phoenix - This Monster Card is often the first to be attacked and K.O.`d. Its
recomended to compile all of it's DGE/BLK cards in your deck.
Initial Life: 4 | Aerial
Best Cards: Fire Wave, Mys. Power and Hide Head
Rating: ****
Jell - This Monster Card is recommended for advanced players, its got some
great moves if you know how to use them.
Initial Life: 7 | Ground
Best Cards: Jell Copter and Copy Cat
Rating: **1/2
Monol - These are best used for defense. Its attacks are weak and mostly
pointless. Though Screech is a good card, its practicaly impossible to defend.
Initial Life: 8 | Aerial
Best Cards: Shield and Shock Breath
Rating: ***1/2
Ghost - Has some nice attacks but a lame defense. With only 5 Initial Life and
one type of defense card; these monsters are quick and easy to KO.
Initial Life: 5 | Aerial
Best Cards: Dove Bomb, Take Over and In The Hat
Rating: **1/2
Henger - Hengers have a blend of good attacks, will draining attacks and DGE
cards for defense.
Initial Life: 7 | Ground
Best Cards: Dodge Program, Burst Cannon and Laser Sword
Rating: ***1/2
Mew - A very good monster for draining will and dealing "can not dodge"
attacks.
Initial Life: 6 | Ground
Best Cards: HundredBlows and Miaow
Rating: ****
Plant - Great for conserving/draining guts. Doesn't deal much damage though.
Initial Life: 10 | Ground
Best Cards: Power of Sun, Rootone and Leaf Zero
Rating: ***
Worm - Worms are well ballanced and suited for damaging Aerial Monsters.
Initial Life: 9 | Ground
Best Cards: Tusk Slash and Roll Assault
Rating: **
Dragon - Has a nice variety of attack cards and has two strong total attack
cards.
Initial Life: 8 | Ground
Best Cards: Wing Cutter, Fire Breath and Fly Away
Rating: ***1/2
Durahan - These are fearsome Monsters with a great variety of attacks attacks.
Initial Life: 7 | Ground
Best Cards: Aerial Shot and Thunder Bolt
Rating: ****1/2
Zilla - They can take out major damage for rather low guts if used correctly.
Initial Life: 10 | Ground
Best Cards: Roll Asasult and Bounce
Rating: **1/2
~> Game Over? <~
Listen! You might not know this... the game never ends. You can keep
playing playing after you collect all the Monster Cards, just wait for the
credits to end and your back at the Farm. From here you can visit the places
you went to before and revisit the Monster Paradise. Plus you can collect Rare
Monster Cards now.
Once you have collected all 20 of the standard Monster Cards you can
collect Monster's with sub types. For example: Big Blue is a Golem/Tiger. A Big
Blue is just like a Golem except it uses Tiger's DGE (and if it had any) BLK
Cards. This can be a big advantage and a way to get more of the same type of
Monster in your deck. For example: You can't have 2 Golem's in the same deck
but you can have a Golem and a Golem/_____. Also their Initial Life is changed.
This is determined by taking the 2 Intitial Life Points of the Main type and
Sub type, adding them, then dividing by 2 and finally rounding the quotent.
Example: 8 + 7 = 15; 15/2 = 7 1/2; 7 1/2 rounded to 7 or 8 Initial
Life. Tecmo's staff rounds the quotent to either highest or lowest,
basicly its their decision.
There are many of these Cards to collect, here's how: After you visit the
Monster Paradise and your back at the farm you either; beat A class Cups at BC
Tournaments or defeat particular BC players and they *may give you their rare
Monster Card. Stolatos gives you a Usaba Plant x Suezo if you defeat him. Also
if you versus them in a practice match and don't K.O. them they will not give
you their Rare Monster Card.
*I'm not sure if they always give you this card when you defeat them. At
www.mrcenter.com there is a list of how to get the Rare Monster cards.
~> End? <~
Yes, this FAQ is complete! Updated versions shouldn't be needed, once it
reaches 1.0 its finsihed! If there ever is a 2.0 that will be for a sequal to
this game. Get it? it can't be 2.0 if it still has the same content.
Updated versions of this FAQ can be found at mrcenter.com and
gamefaqs.com. IF you didn't get a copy of this FAQ from there its probably out
dated.
Want to add this FAQ to your website? Then please read the following:
This FAQ can be obtained at www.GameFaqs.com, www.MRCenter.com or various
other websites that have *asked* for permision to use it. If you wish to
distribute this FAQ you may not edit it in any way or directly use information
to add to any website, faq or other media.
