Relationship variables: My attempt at an optimal path+ guide differences

[B the Cyndaquil]

For my second playthrough of  Reborn, I tried to get the most points relationship points with everybody because I wanted to be friends with everybody (yes, even Fern).

With help of the discontinued relationship variables guide and finding some points not included in the guide while digging through RPG Maker itself, I hope I found them all.

At the end you can find some differences I found with the discontinued relationship variables guide, if you're interested.

 

Notes:  - There are spoilers below this point, don't read this if this is your first playthrough.

           -Anna and Shade got priority (I just have a feeling theirs important). If I could get a point with them, i would, even at the cost of losing points with others. This also means my list follows the Reshiram route.

           - Sidequests also got priority. I did every sidequest as of Ep18, even if I lost points with someone for it.

           - I played as non-binary, as it's the gender where you get the most points.

           - This is not a new guide for relationship variables, for now I only convey my thoughts.

         

           

The list:

-Adrienn: 1

*Adrienn is a difficult one. While xe is a very nice person, it's so easy to lose points with him (not giving him the Ruby ring, siding with Radomus and helping Sandy in the Ep18 quest= 4 point loss). Honestly, I'm only in the positive with xem because I got the non-binary point. That's just too bad, because xe is one of my favourite character in the game but I hope we do get more chances in E19. 

 

-Amaria: 0

*In the Reshiram route, this is the best I could manage with her. I trusted her during the factory raid, told her about the diary but got a heavy -3 when she tried to drown me (being at 0 didn't give me any dialogue chance sadly). I'm actually very excited what will happen in Ep19 because of the split routes. For now, all I can hope for is that she doesn't die. I wouldn't like losing one of the (IMO) best written characters in the game.

 

 

-Anna: 6

* 6 points, also 6 story choices you need to make to trigger the switch 'Anna smiles' before raiding Devon Corp. It's interesting to see how all of Anna's and Shade's variables are connected to eachother. Anna is still a big, yet interesting mystery to me (and yes, I saw the hidden message in the void). She's nice to have around though, great to have someone who's positive most of the time. We'll see if Ep 19 will unravel her secrets.

 

 

-Arc: 5

*Arclight is a cool dude. I'm sure he appreciated my help with Devon and the stolen Pokémon sidequest. He's also a wildcard imo. He's, like, connected to some events with MC while having a completely seperate life beside it. I don't know if there's more in store for him, but I do hope so, since there can still be much more to his character.

 

 

-Aya: 3

* She didn't like being kidnapped I guess. I don't have much to say about her. Since she's being held hostage for ages now, she missed out on a lot of interactions. Don't worry Aya, hardy's coming for you (Mc probably too).

 

 

-Bennett: 1

* Bennett is such an easy character to hate. He's awkward, a pervert and makes a lot of wrong actions. Still, I just can't hate him. He's misguided, but I feel like he wants to do the right thing. Even while trying my best, it's hard to get a higher value with him (Technically you could if you lose battles to him, but losing is not a word in my book). I do think next episode can have some nice redemption for him.

 

 

-Blake: -2

* One of the two negatives on this list. Seems like I couldn't avoid some negatives, but i had to for the point with Anna and Shade. (You can actually lose more points with him if you look under his sheets, so I avoided that). Blake comes off as a complete douche, but from what Taka told me in the desert, it seems there is more to him. He says he joined team Meteor for some benefits later on, but I wonder if there is nothing more to him. For now though, just a douche.

 

 

-Cain: 7

* I'm surprised it's so high, given I didn't fight Sigmund at Yuyeru. Still, we always supported eachother during our journey. I love how he wants to look out for Heather too. Cain's a good friend but maybe I should be afraid our relationship points are that high? Then again, he's currently lost in a void, so I hope he comes out eventually.

 

 

-Cal: 5

* I never hated Cal, not even after his stunt on Pyrous mountain, though I still don't understand that he chose for Team Meteor as a change, but oh well. I love his Reborn Cal design and his newfound motivation. I supported him the way through, and that's why he's at 5. (He would even be if I didn't like him, because this run I went for max points with everyobdy anyway)

 

 

-Charlotte: 6

* I instantly liked Charlotte because she trains my favourite type: Fire. I love her interactions with the other characters and the way she thinks about things. Hope you can join us in battle soon, you've been on guard duty way too long. I hope you can learn the truth about the fire at your house.

 

 

-Ciel: 3

* I screamed in terror at your acrobatics spam, but i loved your interactions with Samson and Terra. Hope for you they both come back.

 

 

-Elias: 0

* Elias at 0 is surprising. Then again, only lost points with him for siding with Radomus. I think El is a cool character, even if he's not our side. I'm happy we already got to know him better by reading his diary in the Subseven Sanctum. 

 

 

-Eve: 3

*We haven't seem much from her outside of being ZEL. She's a nice and caring character. Thanks fro the pulse info btw.

 

 

-Fern: 6

*As hardy said, he wins the douchebag of the year award. I feel like wouldn't be this way if we just didn't exist, but yeah, that's not the case (Although the fortune teller in Jasper Ward makes me worried). I hope Florinia can knock some sense into him. (Be lucky I begged to you in that cage, Fern).

 

 

-Florinia: 2

I truly wonder how she was like before the things that happened to her. I can't really judge her, because I don't know her. I think Ep19 has a big role for her.

 

 

-Gardevoir: 3

I really enjoyed your news reports and interviews, and uh, thanks for saving everyone.

 

 

-Hardy: 6

* A solid mate. I like his personallity. You and I are on the same wavelenght. Everyting is ok if you don't rock slide me to death.

 

 

-Heather: 0

* Sorry Heather, about not saving you from Sigmund and not giving Blake the Ruby ring, but it had to be done. Always glad to have someone with a Salamence on our side. i'm still neutral on you.

 

 

-Julia: 2

* captain of cheer and pep. You are a bit to energetic for me but I appreciate your help for taking down Solaris and John. She has pretty fun dialogue too.

 

 

-Laura: 2

* She's alright to me. She can get herself in trouble but she cares for her family.

 

 

-Lumi: 3

* Same as Eve, but you get extra points for having a Glaceon.

 

 

-Luna: 4

* Luna still holds many secrets. I want to find out more about what Taka told me about her, but he's.... yeah. She also get props for training Dark types. I do like her, though.

 

 

-Noel: 3

* Poor Noel. He's always overlooked. I really like that's he so level-headed. I hope you get what you deserve. I love normal types too, so it's nice seeing him specialize in it.

 

 

-Radomus: 3

* Radomus is such a funny character. I loved his small arc in the Citae. One of the most entertaining characters out there.

 

 

-Samson: 2

* Not much to say, I loved your interactions with Ciel and Terra. Still frustrated I have to hit that stupid bell 100 times to get my tm but you do it first try.

 

 

-Saphira: 5

* She's a fighter all right. She really cares for her family and city and knows how to handle things. I can appreciate that.

 

 

-Serra: 4

* Seeing you in the Glass workstation was nice and gave some great story bits. Your mirror arena field can go somewhere else though.

 

 

-Shade: 6

*Mysterious entity you are. You're so important but we know nothing, I hope Anna can bring us answers.

 

 

-Shelly: 4

* I must protect her, she's just too precious. Made me respect bug types too. I love that she's growing stronger and more confident each time.

 

 

-Sigmund: -1

* A negative I couldn't avoid regarding my notes above, not sure if I would want to be in the positive with you either. It's obviously not Ok what you did in your orphanage but I'm eager to see how Elizabeth is connected in all this.

 

 

-Taka: 8

* Why did this have to happen Taka, WHYYY! He was such a great character and comedic relief. I learned a lot from him and bonded a lot while travelling through the desert and hope he can miracously come back. (Anna said we still could fix this, I hope that's referring to you). 

 

 

-Terra: 4

* Terra is not a bad character, I just have trouble with reading everything she says. She's a bit too nonsensical to me, but her interactions were still fun.

 

 

-Titania: 2

* Titania in the positives while telling Amaria about the diary. The answer is Blue Moon Ice Cream. She's so rude, but I want her to be free from Amaria. She's also a valuable asset against Team Meteor.

 

 

-Victoria: 9

* And the highest value goes to Victoria. She's strong, she's responsible, a little too much Kiki talk, but that's fine. Overall, she's great.

 

 

Differences with the Relationship Variables Guide

 

 

Now, I'm not going to write down how I got all these points, i will just point some out that aren't in the guide or aren't completely correct (if it ever will be continued it can be helpful), not that there are many.

 

-Blake: If you look under his bed while searching his appartment with Shelly, you lose 1 point with him.

 

-Fern: Defeating Aya first try gives you 1 point with him

 

-Hardy: Defeating Aya first try gives you 1 point with him. Talking to him in Calcenon after defeating Titania also gives you 1 point.

 

-Laura: If the Depth's pc is active (in Tanzan Depths), you get no points with her for defeating the Steelix (opposing to the guide), but defeating the Steelix first try gives you one point with her (opposing to the guide)

 

-Bennett: Defeating him at Iolia valley deducts 2 points with him instead of 1 (The guide is a bit inconsistend there, cause it says both)

 

-Sigmund: Choosing to stop him in Belrose manions lowers 2 points with him instead of one (The guide says both there too)

 

-Shelly: Talk to Shelly while she says she needs a moment in Ametrine during the Blake chase is only available if you give Blake the Ruby Ring

 

-Heather: If exposed Corey earlier in the game when Blake mentions Corey to Heather at Ametrine is only available if you didn't give Blake the Ruby Ring.

 

-Victoria: Talking to her in the Grand Hall office gives you 1 point (the guide was a bit unclear there)

 

-Taka (incertainty): When Europe asks if Taka is your boyfriend and I answered yes, I didn't get a point (but it's still in the game data), I'm not sure why I didn't get that.

 

That's everything I found, so if the guide ever continues, this can be used.

 

 

So, that's a long post, so I'll leave it there, hoping someone will ever read this. Thank you for your time.

 

Edited December 19, 2020 by B the Cyndaquil
grammar errors

[Logan_the_balalaika]

Since this is your 1st post - welcome to the Reborn forums!

 

I can respect commitment and time you put into finding all of this.

 

 

I've read the whole post but I'll comment on the differences. They seem to be correct. I don't have that many save files although I checked most of the points and it's just as you wrote. Those about Fern, Blake and Hardy caught me by surprise.

 

If your aim is to acquire as many points with everybody as possible you should know 2 more things:

1) you can get 1 more point with Terra if you interact with the tombstone in the south of Lavender Town

2) this is a bug (and it's been reported to the devs) but you can get +2 points with Titania if you read the diary (instead of -2) and when she asks if you were reading her diary say 'no' (you'll get +1 instead of -1). So basically:  Read diaries -> Lie -> Make Friends. This doesn't make sense but it is what it is lol.

[B the Cyndaquil]

Ah, it seems like I indeed missed that point with Terra, thanks for telling me.

Titania's diary is interesting to know,  but since that's a bug I won't count that. I still want to play it fair.

[Lucifer Morningstar]

On 12/18/2020 at 9:17 AM, B the Cyndaquil said:

Taka (incertainty): When Europe asks if Taka is your boyfriend and I answered yes, I didn't get a point (but it's still in the game data), I'm not sure why I didn't get that.

 

I've completed the game thus far on the Reshiram route and although it's been some time, I'm quite certain no such event occurred. Nor have I met a character called Europe. 

 

Is this perhaps an event exclusive to Zekrom?

 

Regardless this is very commendable work.