Like with my Compendium for the 3DS game (Reddit Post), I want to create a all-in-one guide for this newest installment of Fantasy Life as well. I will be (slowly) expanding this guide as I am enjoying the game myself as well, so try not to put outrageous spoilers in the comments haha

Hope you find this guide somewhat helpful!

I do plan on eventually publishing a Compendium like with the 3DS game, but right now I haven't got everything I want yet. So instead, you may look at the slowly expanding notes that I jotted down throughout my first playthrough.

Google Sheet[docs.google.com] | HTML View Mode[docs.google.com]

• List of Monster & Combat Life Goals
  
  • You can complete goals even when you are still in lower ranks and the goal is not visible yet. For instance, if you are an Apprentice Paladin and do not want to revisit Lulab Forest to fight the Goldmeer needed, you can fight it as Apprentice in one trip
• List of purchasable recipes from shops (plus sighting reports for random recipes)
  
• Ginormosia Resources in Each Region
  
  • Certain end-game Ores & Trees can be found here
    
  • Each region usually has 1 corresponding legendary recipes and resource
    
  • Several bosses are easily renewable here
• List of Fish
  
  • It can be helpful hunting for specific fish if you pay attention to the fish color. For instance, all River fish in Tropica Isles are Kissyfish, and Hot Spring Bream can be found in Base Island if you look for Cave Big Shadow
• Individual and Total Cost for Legendary Recipes
  
• List of all Strangelings
  
  • Make a copy of the sheet if you want to sort by Life or in-game order
• Material needed for Base Shop upgrades
  
• List of Dark Flame Gates, plus Costs and Rewards/Resources
  
• List of Mounts and Methods to Obtain
  
• Tool Tiers
  
• Actions for each Crafting Life
  
• Debris-removal Rewards
  
• (WIP) Treasure Grove bosses sighting reports
  
• (a few other WIP pages)

• Dosh: Bulk-craft White Woolie Sticker
  Also a good idea to sell the obsolete waepons & tools from boss
  
• Redux Stone: Buy Long Cape (also in capital) to trade in
  
• Cashnut: Sell your veggie in stalls near the 6 Ginormosia settlements
  - Build 8 plots of Shadow Carrots at Base Camp, 90+ nuts per harvest per plot
  - Farm the Wicked Mandrake behind Spirit Road's sealed gate, 55+ nuts per harvest
  
• Celestia's Gift: Visit others' island (keyword "flower"), for 1000 per day
  
• Buddy Affinity: Gift Magical Milkshake to everyone, it's a high-lv recipe that is easy to make
  - Feeding favourite food does not affect affinity gained, you only get unique dialogues
  - See this Visual Guide or compendium page[docs.google.com] for favourite food

• Boss Enemies & Gathering Spots
  
• Ginormosia Map - Towers, Shrines, and Recipes
  
• Ginormosia Map - Leafes
  
• List of Strangelings[docs.google.com]
  
• A quick reminder that my compendium spreadsheet has listed where to find all Fish, Mounts, shop recipes, RNG-based recipes, Ginormosia bosses, Treasure Grove-exclusive bosses, etc.
  (Including quick recap here for easy searching)
  
  • Ginormosia Fish
    Sand Fish, Dunefish Tuna, Electric Eel, Redgill, Lavashrimp, Hotspring Bream
    
  • Ginormosia boss material
    Legendary Don Horn (etc.), Skeleton Horn, Skeep King's Fleece, Wild Antler, Rainbow Feather, Bigbeak Egg, Smoldering Fang, Smoldering Hide, Golem Fragment, Eruptuna, Magma Fin
    
  • Treasure Grove material
    Giant Scale, Evil Shard, Monster Crystal, Sultan Heart, Sultan Stone, Dragontree Horn, Dragontree Leaf, High-Flying Fish, Nimbus Scales, Great Lucky Bream, Lucky Pearl, Godfish, Godfish Moss, Poseidon Swordfish, Poseidon's Fin, Beelzebub Tuna, Devil's Fin
    
  • Shop Recipes
    Resistance Spray, Long Cape, Magic Aid, Starry Night Mat, Starry Night Streetlamp, White Flower Vase, Pastel Low Table, Pastel Table
    
  • RNG Recipes
    Desert Headwear, Spraylixir, Giant Fried Egg, Pumpkin Pie, Cabbage Rolls, Paralyzing Bomb, Hourglass

All the "Legendary materials" are dropped from special legendary challenges looks similar to the normal red challenges, but in blue color instead. They all start appearing at rank 3 of the area they appear in, and have a chance to drop an extra material at rank 5+, and another at rank 7.


Materials from Treasure Grove-exclusive bosses, as well as boss veggies, are also purchasable from Traveling Merchant, which is what I would consider a more hassle-free way to obtain them. If you are not in a hurry, you may check for his stocks (often in 2 locations) once per hour.

As a rule of thumb, difficult-to-make/remake equipment are often better in terms of stats. For more details regarding best source of EXP, equipment skills (remaking & aging), buffs & damaging moves, check out my other guide:
https://sp.zhabite.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3500367872

A total of 121 recipes are exclusively obtained from your islanders, and you can only get 1 per real-life day (oof...) For the optimal methods in obtaining them, and other notable recipes to look out for, check out my other guide:
https://sp.zhabite.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3493902047

This section about Ginormosia is very WIP, but want to quickly list the important points.

• As soon as unlocked, you want to grab as many Strangelings as you can, just so you can passively level up affinity
  
  • Crafting Life buddies are particularly helpful in the early-game, since the ~50%/~75% can help breaking the threshold needed to rank up much more easily
    
  • Gathering Life buddies are somewhat helpful in doing Ginormosia challenge, since you get 200 points if completed fast enough. Also helpful in the final Treasure Grove tier because even Oak Trees can be impossible if they are at lv100
• Every Mimic drops a Treasure Grove sapling when defeated
  
  • Sometimes they do self-destruct and wouldn't drop sapling, I'm not sure why yet
• Throughout the land are recipes for the Time-series equipment, but you won't be able to make them much much later
  
• Ranking up an area to lv3 makes the special "blue challenge" start appearing. They are like the normal "orange challenges" but much rarer, and they are the only source of Legendary ingredients for crafting the Time-series equipment
  
  • Ginormosia is roughly divided into 5 regions, one unique boss type per region
    (See the "Ginormosia" tab in my spreadsheet for the ones I've encountered myself)
    
  • Not sure if completing the Main Story is required for them to start spawning
    
  • I once got super lucky, where I got a blue challenge, then after clearing an orange challenge right after, I get another blue challenge. So yeah it's likely not time-based and just super RNG-dependent
• Ranking up an area to lv5 makes certain endgame bosses start appearing
  
  • I have yet to level mine up to lv5, but I think both the East Desert and Volcano have an exclusive Golden Boss

To quickly recap, Ginormosia is mostly an optional map that is basically an open world. Not only are most Strangelings obtained through exploring here, certain late-game resources like Platinum Ore and Starry Log can be obtained more easily. Most importantly, there are exclusive bosses that only appear when you rank up the area.

In the beginning, complete challenges lets you earn points very fast. Assuming you didn't take too long finishing the goal, you would earn 100 points for combat challenge or 200 for gathering challenges, so you basically need to do only around 10 to reach Rank 3.

From then, blue challenges may start appearing in that specific area, which gives a whopping 1000 points when completed. The main downside is their rarity, but you can refresh all challenges in Ginormosia by simply ranking down and back up any area. Simply keep refreshing until a blue challenge appears.

After about 6 blue challenges per area, you should be able to rank up said area to Rank 5, allowing exclusive bosses to spawn. I am still in the process of unlocking, but you may check my WIP spreadsheet to see which bosses are unlocked at which location, and which are exclusive to Ginormosia.

(Maybe I'll write a standalone guide if no one is making one after like a week or so)

Treasure Grove basically gives you access to any resource in the game, albeit it's completely random. Generally it's more reliable to farm materials somewhere else instead, but certain endgame crafting ingredients can only be found here.

You can replant with spare Saplings you have, which is a guaranteed drop from Mimic in Ginormosia. This most importantly lets you reroll the boss you're getting, and you typically want the ones unique to Treasure Grove. (see list below) Sadly the replanting itself CANNOT be save-scummed due to auto-saving.

And if you find a floor you particularly like, maybe it contains Magic Ore or an abundance Shadow Carrots, you can keep resetting to farm as many of these as needed, so long as the floor hasn't been cleared (where the game tells you "gate has opened up".)

• Certain resources are mostly exclusive here (some are found behind dark gate)
  
  • Useless Enemies (?) - Killer Bunny, White Panther, Burly Gorilla, Licky Gecko, Great Gemeleon, Fortoise, Killer Hornet, Vampire Bat, King Weedling
    
  • Valuable Enemies
    
    • Shadow enemies
      
    • Killer Bunny - Golden Droppings
      
    • Gloomspider - Pink Silk Thread
      
    • Cave Star - Marine Silk
      
    • Sandshark - Moon Cluster, Ancient Coral (high lv only?)
      
    • Gaia Golem - Moon Cluster (for making potions)
      
    • Boss Bee - Giant Thorn (1 needed for making Needle)
      
  • Ore - (Luminous) Magic Ore
    
  • Tree - (Luminous) Darkwood Tree
    
  • Fish - Electric Eel
• Certain bosses are exclusively found here
  
  • Combat - Big Beak, Lord of Death, Crystal Behemoth, Sheep?
    (Shadow Behemoth/ can be found in castle)
    
  • Ore - Heart of Darkness, Golemstone (?)
    
  • Tree - Great Dragontree
    
  • Fish - Great Lucky Bream, Beelzebub Tuna, Godfish

This section lists many of the miscellaneous FAQ and certain questions I've had during my first playthrough. There are probably too many to read all at once, so you are recommended to just search with [Ctrl]+[F] on the specific things you're looking for.

• Should I buy the Deluxe Edition?
  
  • Yes if you want to show the developers your love and support
    
  • No otherwise, or if you simply don't care about unique cosmetic
• Does the game have multiplayer?
  
  • [Local] Another player can control Trip, like Cappy in Mario Odyssey
    
  • [Online] Unlocked at the end of Chapter 3, other players can join your game.
    (The dev is still improving the multiplayer feature in response to player feedback, like I heard you can now do the Life goals?)

• When can I change my name and appearance?
  
  • End of Chapter 3 (comepletely free of charge)
    
  • I don't like the rolling sound of male voice 1/2/5/6, maybe pick others before you unlock customization
• Is there any permanently missable item/event?
  
  • Not 100% sure on quest - 2 side quests at the beginning (from the prince and aunt, each gives 3000 Dosh too) have dialogues tied to them. I accepted both in the beginning but only completed one, then the other disappeared during certain point in the story. I managed to accept and finish another 3000-dosh-quest, but am not sure if it's the same quest as the one before. So yeah, best to do it early just to be safe.
    
  • The EXP-boost talisman from pre-order bonus is unique and unobtainable elsewhere
    
  • Currency Items are all renewable and can be safely sold for Dosh. However, you might want to save the sacks for crafting Pile of Pirate Treasure for extra money
• When is fast-travel unlocked?
  
  • You can teleport to your Life Master from the Life menu (Dpad Right)
    
  • Switching to any crafting Life lets you teleport to the nearest workbench
    
  • At the end of Chapter 3, you can fast-travel to any unlocked landmark
• Can I add NPC to my party?
  
  • Yes at the end of Chapter 3 (again)
    
  • Press [-] to auto-equip whatever equipment you aren't using
    
  • When crafting and choosing partner, press [-] to enter their equipment screen

• Do I need to pick other Lives other than a Combat one?
  
  • No for the majority of Main Story, until very late where you have to fight a few strong & tanky bosses. Otherwise, you get high tier weapons/tools just from bosses' random drops
    
  • But you do need all non-combat Lives to finish the Main Story
    
  • There's no harm in grabbing all licenses, especially since you can skip the tutorial. Again, these licenses let you fast-travel early without waiting for the animations
• How do I unlock that 2 Lives, Farmer and Artist?
  
  • Through Main Story progression, end of Chapter 3 and 4 respectively
• What skills are recommended to prioritize?
  
  • Spend points on what make you level up faster instead for more skill points. If you need more firepower, just progress the Main Story to get better weapons/tools from stronger bosses

• How do I get more Stranglings in general? (see this list[docs.google.com])
  
  • Five guranteed during Main Story
    
  • One in each of the 19 remaining shrines
    
  • Randomly dropped from bosses (both crowns)
    
  • Certain places in Ginormosia

• How do I remove the weed?
  
  • Same way you remove furnitures, with [Face Button Left]
• Is terraforming in the game?
  
  • Unlocked soon early in Chapter 4? I cannot remember

• Where the HECK is the Banana Cave?
  
  • It's actually called Banaan Cave, directly south from the House west of capital
• Is the Cave of Trials needed for ranking up?
  
  • Miner - You need 5 Earth Mana, 5 Earth Shard, and 5 Diamond from the Starcrystal, so maybe find a movie to watch while waiting for respawns
    
  • Angler - Bluescale Lordfish need to be caught 2 or 3 times
    
  • Cook - Wild Beast Meat only drops from Taurus (crown boss) and you need FOUR in total just for ranking up. They can randomly spawn next to the B4 entrance, and one always spawns on the right path. Also worth nothing that, you get 2 meat from a Personal Request
    
  • Tailor & Alchemist - Napdragon's Scale & Teardrop can only be found here, but you can finish the Combat Life goal with the Napdragon in Capital instead

Eventually when more guides become available, I will list and sort them below. These are mostly not affliated with me, and I am only listing them here for other players' convenience.

• Everything about Alchemy

Thanks for reading thus far! As mentioned in the beginning, the guide is still slowly being expanded, so the guide is somewhat opinionated, and many things are tentative to change as new informations discovered. I'm pushing this out early just so new players have something to see, so in a sense I kinda hope this page would go obsolete since it would mean we have enough people making guides haha

Anyway, if you have at least learned one new thing from here, leave a thumbs' up! Feel free to share your own beginner tips in the comments below as well, or should I say, nice rest of your Life, eh?

Hope you have a nice rest of your day!


(I wrote guides for Phoenotopia too. That game has charming writing so you should check it out!)

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• Q: What are the main purposes in each Life?
  
  • Paladin / Mercenary / Hunter / Magician - For fighting monsters effectively
    
  • Miner / Woodcutter / Angler - Gather ingredients for Blacksmith / Carpenter / Cook
    
  • Blacksmith - Tools for Paladin, Mercernary, Miner, Cook, Tailor, Farmer; Armor (for defense)
    
  • Carpenter - Tools for Hunter, Magician, Woodcutter, Angler, Artist; Furniture
    
  • Tailor - Armor (for magic defense); Cosmetic; Min-maxing for Carpenter?
    
  • Cook - Consumables (for HP, SP, Buffs)
    
  • Alchemist - Consumables (for HP, SP, Buffs, Debuff cures); Bombs; Accessories
    
  • [Locked] Farmer - Gather ingredients for Cook?
    
  • [Locked] Artist - min-maxing for Blacksmith
• Q: Which Life is "essential"?
  
  • One Combat Life is mostly good enough for the Main Story
    
  • Blacksmith, Carpenter, and Tailor are somewhat obsolete because ranking up gives you decent equipment for free; Bosses also randomly drop weapons and tools (on par with the area's highest available tier)
    
  • Cook and Alchemist can be useful for crafting healing consumables, but you level up quite frequently anyway, which heals both HP & SP back to full
    
  • Gathering Lives have less extrinsic value because of that as well
    
  • That said, if you find crafting and gathering enjoyable, there's no harm at all in picking them. Though I recommend grabbing them only after fast-travel has been unlocked
    
  • Crafting Lives may overlap with each other too, e.g. mid-game hammer requires lumber to craft, but you can just buy them unless you're at the end-game

• Q: Is there penalty for dying?
  
  • Not really, you can instantly revive with Lifecure (or let your ally revive you for free.)
    
  • If you pick reload (or 30 seconds pass), you get send to your previous save. Any consumables used during the fight would return, but you also lose anything you gathered during that time
• The [Dodge] roll gives invincibility, and is quite lenient
  
  • Bosses usually have quite predictable attack patterns that goes "attack wait attack wait". If you are melee fighters, you want to hit them only a few times, then dodge in anticipation for their next attack

• Q: What is the optimal strategy for gathering?
  
  1. Circle around the node while pressing [Light Attack] every 90˚
     
  2. When sweet spot is found, spam [Heavy Attack]
     (Use the [Charged Light Attack] instead when unlocked & upgraded)
     
  3. When the HP drops low enough, switch to rapidly tapping [Light Attack] (I rebind [ZL] to turbo-[A])
     
  4. When the HP is barely visible, do one last [Heavy Attack]
     
  5. Note that, you may sometimes not have enough SP to do all that. If that's the case, just ignore the gathering for now and fight a few bosses until they drop what you need
     (Ranking up also gives a free tool)
     
  6. You may also make SP+ Armor with Blacksmith/Tailor, or Accessories with Alchemy, but it's not "needed" since I've been doing just fine without them
• Tap [Attack] to quickly switch to combat life TODO for faster SP regeneration, assuming you already have it unlocked in the "Skill Tree" (TODO needs verification)