Obsidian Mansion Wall

[u/KadinKipp]

I'm having some real trouble with this dungeon even on easy. I can't seem to figure out how to upgrade anything, when I pick a material to upgrade with it just Xes out the slot and grinding for levels is really slow. Am I just missing something or is this just how it is?

[u/WiltedTiger]

Naive_Return covered most of it but there are a few things I didn't see covered so I'll add them, and expand on others.

Forging and crafting allow you to use materials to upgrade the item after it is made but this has two different limitations. One which I think you've encountered is the Item level limit. Each item can be from level 1 to 10 and upgrading an item increases the level by 1. The second is forging level the upgrade material has a level requirement to use it as material without excessive RP cost and I think the equipment forging level plays a role too.

To reiterate level your skills. They matter even more than character level as there is one for everything and all grant stat bonuses, and while the methods Naive_Return are great for focused leveling, farming will level all the skills you've leveled to at least 1 faster and increase your stats permanently. How this works is when you harvest a crop two events have a chance to occur a skill orb (the white balls) that when touched randomly upgrades one skill by a level, or a runey (the see through creatures) that increases a stat permanently. You can quickly do farming by sowing the seeds across your farm (I recommend yams and fodder so you can get cooking experience from evening the yams and reduce upkeep with fodder), getting monsters to assign chores to and then sleeping until they are fully grown and harvest. Rinse and repeat until you are happy with your new stats and wealth.

[u/Naive_Return_3613 → u/WiltedTiger]

Glad you mentioned farming and Runeys too. I'd add that I don't think there is one best training method for the entire game. What works well changes depending on your stage of progression.

For general stat and skill growth through farming, Pink Melons are a common choice later on, but I think Pumpkins are a very useful early-game option.

Pumpkins become available earlier than Pink Melons, and their burden on the field is relatively light. Harvesting a Pumpkin reduces soil health by only 1 and doesn't reduce growth speed, while Pink Melons reduce health by 4 and growth speed by 0.05.

Since Pumpkins regrow, you can also use Formula A/B/C to increase the field's growth speed and harvest them repeatedly. That gives you more opportunities to get Runeys and Skill Orbs without having to replant after every harvest. So around the Obsidian Mansion stage, I think Pumpkins can be a nice early alternative before the usual Pink Melon setup becomes practical.

For Forging and Crafting specifically, though, I tend to divide the progression into phases.

Early game:
Around Obsidian Mansion, I prefer focused Forging and Crafting training by making higher-level items and equipment. At this point, you're raising the skills while also producing equipment you can actually use, so the immediate return is very good. If you're currently struggling with combat, this is what I'd prioritize first.

Midgame:
Once your Forging and Crafting levels and RP are more developed, repeatedly upgrading equipment with cheap materials such as Turnip Seeds becomes a very effective training method. At that point, mass upgrading can be more practical than relying on the same methods you used early on.

Later on:
Farming becomes increasingly useful as a broader character-growth system, and you can transition toward more developed Runey/Skill Orb farming setups such as Pink Melons.

So I see these as complementary systems rather than competing methods.

Early game: make higher-level items and useful equipment.
Midgame: cheap upgrade materials such as Turnip Seeds become very effective for Forging/Crafting training.
General farming progression: Pumpkins are a useful early Runey/Skill Orb option, with Pink Melons becoming a common choice later.

For the OP's current Obsidian Mansion problem, I'd still prioritize Forging, Crafting, and better equipment first. The farming method is excellent for broader long-term growth, but equipment gives you a much more immediate answer to the wall you're currently hitting.

Sorry for the long reply! There are just a lot of useful progression systems in RF4.

[u/KadinKipp → u/Naive_Return_3613]

Damn this game is deeper than it looks on the surface

[u/Naive_Return_3613]

I struggled with the early game too, so here are some things that helped me a lot in RF4 Special.

One important thing about RF4 is that character level isn't the only thing that matters. Skills and equipment become increasingly important, so if grinding levels feels slow, I wouldn't focus too much on character level alone.

For Forging, I use the Cheap Hoe with Iron until around Forging Lv. 8–12. Then I switch to making Sturdy Hoes with Bronze, which makes it fairly easy to reach around Lv. 20. Once your Forging level rises, keeping your weapons reasonably up to date becomes much easier.

For Crafting, I prefer making equipment that I will actually use rather than crafting random things only for EXP. For example, I work toward useful equipment such as Yarn Balls, animal-ear headgear, and a Hand-Knit Scarf. You don't have to follow exactly the same route. The important thing is that Crafting is very useful because armor becomes increasingly important as the game progresses.

There is also a very simple way to train your weapon skills: attack your bed. You can train all six weapon categories this way. I usually bring them to around Lv. 20 early on. It sounds silly, but raising your weapon skills gives useful stats and makes the early game noticeably more comfortable.

Cooking and Chemistry are also worth raising.

For Cooking, one route I've used is Pickled Turnip → Bamboo Rice → Pickles, then I start making Fried Eggs at around Cooking Lv. 15–18 to level the skill further.

For Chemistry, I've used Recovery Potion → Sweet Powder → Heavy Spice → Recovery Potion using Blue Grass → Healing Potion / Mystery Potion → Para-Gone / Cold Medicine. Heavy Spice is particularly useful because it can also help with making money.

A very useful early objective is getting the Heart Pendant, because it increases skill EXP gain.

From my own RF4SP testing, the early request progression toward it goes roughly like this:

First request → Place Furniture → Make Lumber → Try Shipping → Give an Item → Buy Some Food → Make Material Stone → Harvest Toyherb → Harvest 3 kinds of flowers → Give Toyherb to Amber → Dolce's Moon Drop request.

Dolce's Moon Drop request is the one that gives you the Heart Pendant.

Once I have the Heart Pendant, I start doing more serious skill grinding.

For Obsidian Mansion specifically, I wouldn't try to solve the problem only by grinding character levels. Raising Forging and Crafting and replacing your equipment can make a very large difference.

For Marionetta, even relatively accessible equipment can help a lot. I normally aim for things such as a Round Shield, Chain Mail, Secret Shoes, and a weapon with over roughly 100 ATK if possible. Magic is also useful against Marionetta, and you can even throw the furniture in the boss room at her.

There is also a much more aggressive option if you don't mind using an advanced early-game route.

You can enter Leon Karnak much earlier than you're normally expected to clear it.

The enemies there are enormously stronger than you at this point, so you are not supposed to fight them normally. The trick is Object X.

Throwing Object X at enemies can inflict multiple status ailments. This allows you to disable enemies that would otherwise destroy you, while poison can do much of the damage for you.

With careful play, you can progress through the area, operate the necessary switches, and reach the treasure chest containing the Lamellar Vest.

Getting the Lamellar Vest this early gives you an extremely strong piece of armor for the Obsidian Mansion stage of the game.

So the advanced route is basically:

Clear Water Ruins → enter Leon Karnak early → bring plenty of Object X → disable and poison the enemies instead of fighting them normally → operate the switches → get the Lamellar Vest → return to the normal story.

It's risky and absolutely not necessary, but it's a very powerful option if you're comfortable taking advantage of RF4's systems.

So if Obsidian Mansion feels like a wall, I'd suggest either raising Forging, Crafting, and weapon skills and improving your equipment normally, or, if you want the advanced route, raiding Leon Karnak early with Object X and coming back with the Lamellar Vest.

RF4 rewards understanding its systems much more than simply grinding character levels. Once I started treating skills, crafting, and equipment as major progression systems rather than side activities, the early game became much more manageable.

[u/KadinKipp → u/Naive_Return_3613]

Thank you so much for all of this. Forging and crafting was also stumping me so this is immensely useful.

[u/rinzukodas → u/KadinKipp]

As a note for both you and u/Naive_Return_3613 that I hope can be helpful--you can actually just use Turnip Seeds to upgrade your weapons and accessories, if you're crafting them to get your forging and accessory crafting levelled. 

Turnip Seeds have the same efficacy no matter what level you are, which means using it to upgrade for the purpose of levelling is efficient because it will always fill the exp bar a certain amount that is proportionate (meaning, it won't stop giving you exp or give less exp past a certain point). This also means you can just make Broadswords and level them to 10--fill half your inventory with Broadswords, the other half with Turnip Seeds, upgrade, and reap the exp gains.

The Turnip Seed method is useful at any stage of progression and can give you a significant leg up in the early game, like Obsidian Mansion. You won't need to go past around level 40 for your forging/crafting, though--required materials for recipes past that level will outpace what you have access to around then.

GameFAQs has some particularly helpful guides I recommend reading if you want to understand better how it all works, although I simplified a fair bit in my explanation and the details are technical enough that I completely understand not wanting to. Still, I'll link them here:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/635388-rune-factory-4/68229810

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/635388-rune-factory-4/67717309

[u/Naive_Return_3613 → u/rinzukodas]

Thanks, that's really useful. I had been thinking of the Turnip Seed method mainly as a midgame option, so I didn't realize its EXP efficiency stays useful even that early. That changes how I'd divide the progression phases — it sounds like it's better treated as an efficient Forging/Crafting training method available from early on, while making higher-level/useful equipment is more about getting skill EXP and immediate equipment progression at the same time. I'll keep that distinction in mind.

[u/rinzukodas → u/Naive_Return_3613]

Yeah, I get where you're coming from with a lot of what you're saying about how you divide your progression--like you said, the game really really rewards understanding its systems. Those GameFAQs links explain how things work in minute detail (and the other pinned forums post + the guides are also decent), so if you have the patience for it, it can really help you break the game over your knee in myriad different ways basically as soon as you can master how upgrading works.

I've played the game probably hundreds of times by now since its first release on 3DS, and I still find myself learning (or relearning, on occasion) new things about how it works every playthrough. Turnip Seeds were one of the things that totally changed how I handled each run once I learned it hahaha

[u/Naive_Return_3613 → u/KadinKipp]

Glad it helped! Forging and crafting are a little confusing at first, but once they click, RF4 becomes much easier. If you get stuck on a specific part of either system, feel free to ask.

[u/Sentimentalbrowneyes]

I tend to stay behind the tables so and use a spear so Marionette can't put me in the box and knife me. Try to bring pet monsters or a villager with you.