#hopefully enough for whatever you want this for spide

[kariachi]

I have received a request, by @ladyofspiders, to go on a little ramble about how the partner bonds in Digimon work. She’s known me long enough, you’d think she’d know better, and yet. So strap in y’all, this is gonna be fun.

~~

First thing we have to do is we need to make sure everybody is on the same page with what we’re discussing, so, here’s what things are.

Digimon- a specific variety of being from a world attached to our own, species are created from data generated by our world. Can typically take on new species through evolution forward and back between six/seven power stages. Species taken can change and each individual species has a long list of other species they can become. Are formed out of computer data with their personalities and other individual information stored in a central Data Core, though talk from the minds behind the at-this-time-unreleased Digimon Survive imply that this is just the modern take on a far older form of creature

Digital World- the world occupied by the Digimon, heavily tied to computer systems and formed from computer data. The extent to which reality and physics as we know them applies tends to vary, both in general and from area to area, and everything from plants that grow cooked meat to fields of stoplights to oceans you can breathe under and more are possible. May or may not have it’s own consciousness or be under the control of a ‘god’ Yggdrasil. Like the digimon, recent information implies the Digital World as we know it may be new take on much older location.

Partner- a sapient non-digital being (typically human but I write scifi-fantasy so-) tied in some way to one or more digimon. On at least one occasion siblings have bonded to the same digimon, and multiple digimon bonding to one partner isn’t uncommon and practically the norm the the videogames. In the shows, individuals who work with more than one digimon may or may not have a ‘main’ partner (for a comparison- think Ash and Pikachu vs Ash and everybody the fuck else). We’ll get into the two major varieties in a moment.

Digivice- a piece of unique tech carried by the partners of digimon, often but not always having originally been a piece of technology owned by the partner and transformed when the bond between them and their digimon was solidly formed, that serves typically various functions depending on the series in the franchise, including tracking other digivice holders, opening up the option of using outside items to aid in various situations and/or temporarily upgrade the digimon, and better facilitating the power exchange between partner and digimon. Names, forms, and capabilities vary between series.

Crest- A representation of the dominant trait from which a Partner derives power, in series where they exist. There are nine crests in show canon (Kindness, Light, Love, Sincerity/Purity, Reliability/Sincerity, Courage, Friendship, Knowledge, Hope) and two restricted to specific videogames (Fate, Miracles)

Real World- the actual physical world as compared to the Digital World. The two are typically heavily tied, with problems in the Digital World sometimes shown to have very real effects on the Real World ranging from mucking with computer systems to causing sever issues with the weather. As a rule, works that involve saving the Digital World will also involve saving the Real World, as threats to one quite easily become threats to the other.

So, those are some Digimon Basics. You’ll notice a number of ‘depending on’, or ‘may or may not’s in there, and that’s because the anime alone is on it’s seventh or eighth universe, depending on how you count the Adventure reboot, and none of them function exactly the same. In one universe you may have evolution being the main goal of all digimon, while in another it just happens casually over time. In one two or more digimon merging together to become something new (DNA Evolution) may be something very rare, while in another multiple digimon merging their power could be the common way to receive a temporary upgrade. This is also part of why the types of partners get their own little section, because there’s .

That being said, the two common types of partner

Tamers- non-digital beings bonded with one or more digimon through at least one’s active choice (typically boths’ mutual decision, but not always). Often in the games and in the Tamers show have a strong focus on helping the digimon involved reach their full potential as far as power. The level of bond between tamers and individual digimon can vary from ‘this is business’ to ‘you are quite literally the person who made me and I love you’.

Chosen- what everyone thinks of when they think of the digimon-partner bond. Non-digital beings bonded with one digimon (there’s been a case of someone bonded to two, but only one so far and it was twin digis, so-) by outside forces. This can be fate, this can be the Digital World going ‘that one, make a digi for that one’, but whatever is going on it’s always a case of the digimon and non-digi being assigned each other, bound by fate and the fact they are more or less made to get on with each other. Chosen typically are attributed one or more crests.

Very similar, very different, but the key factor is the ‘why’ these bonds are formed the way they are and what the non-social benefits are to either side.

These bonds typically are formed either during times when the Digital World specifically needs heroes (more typical for Chosen) or when digimon are making more excursions into the Real World than is normal (more typical for Tamers). For the ‘hero’ side, this situation normally involves the non-digi being brought into the Digital World, where the digimon serve as protection and a guide. For the ‘excursions’, the bond normally forms after the digimon arrives in the Real World, where they proceed to act as protection against other digimon who find themselves there.

“But Achi,” I hear you ask me, “what’s the big difference between our friendly digis and the hostile digis?”

Well, my loves, you have the typical ‘so-and-so is an asshole’, very classic antagonist motivation, very good. There’s also ‘so-and-so doesn’t know what they’re doing is bad’, generally due either to cultural differences or simply not knowing how humans work. But you also have one other major risk. One that’s shown in multiple series but I think was displayed best in Young Hunters.

Digimon are very strongly effected by the emotions of non-digital sapients. We see multiple digimon in various series who seem to form a sort’ve partial bond with individual humans experiencing strong negative emotions. These bonds, when they’re shown, lead to this digimon taking action to try to make things better for the humans in question, often in a way that ends up harmful to others (”oh, you need to be top of your class? okay, I’ll just kidnap everybody with better grades!”). But why does this happen? What’s going on there that messes with shit?

They aren’t just effected, digimon can and do derive power from things like emotion. That’s why Chosen are chosen, and why bond with Tamers are in some series actively sought. The big power boosts that allow individuals to evolve to higher levels are usually temporary, but given it normally takes ages to reach those same levels of power without a partner, especially in times of great trouble the benefit outweighs the lack of permanence.

If you’re sitting there thinking ‘wow, it really sounds like the non-digis are very cherished batteries’ that would be because they are. Don’t get me wrong, humans seem to be better at plotting and thinking than your average digi, but even that’s mostly because the franchise focuses on the humans, let’s be real. Still, the major job of the humans is to act as support and sources of power for their digimon. In some universe they can even use their digivices to give their partners upgrades, to unleash powers from artifacts, or to give their partners access to forms of evolution that would otherwise be unavailable to them.

So, recap, what does each side get out of this bargain besides friendship? Digimon: power enough to protect themselves, their companions, and often their world. Non-Digi: protection for themselves and others from the dangers digimon and at times the Digital World itself can bring, the ability to save their world from whatever the threat of the series is.

This is also why, in works with Chosen, you see such a strong focus on crests. They represent and can help channel the power inherent in the traits they represent. Someone with the crest of Friendship derives power form their bonds with their friends. Reliability derives power from their trustworthiness and dedication. Knowledge derives power from their ability to process and utilize information. And so on. Typically in works with Chosen the bond and affection that exists within an partnership is enough to get a digimon into the lower stages, but it’s this power that needs to be called on to reach the highest ones.

There is a downside though, to this whole thing, and you can maybe guess it by going back to to where we start this part of the talk.

We’ve seen how these positive traits and emotions grant power. We’ve seen how emotions in general grant power. We’ve seen how being effected by the negative emotions of non-digis can lead to digimon doing bad things.

Let’s talk ‘dark evolution’, which we’re going to call ‘dire evolution’ here because I’m trying to move away from stuff associating ‘dark’ with ‘bad’.

Partnered digimon derive power specifically from their partners and their bonds with them, which is normally a good thing. Great thing. But when the feelings they’re pulling from are negative... Rage. Hate. Guilt. Suffering. Stress. When the emotions they’re drawing power from are wrong, or when evolution is forced, is when dire evolution happens.

When this happens, the digimon in question moves forward into the next power stage, but into a form they normally wouldn’t, normally one counter to the one they would be expected to take. For a canon example- MegaloGrowmon dire evolving into Megidramon, supposedly one form of the counterpart to his ‘proper’ final stage of Dukemon. This would be fine and dandy if not for the secondary effect of dire evolution- digimon who’ve undergone it go straight up feral. This is only temporary, lasting until the power boost wears off, but given just how dangerous digimon can be... Yeah. Not fun.

But, since we’re hear and talking about Tamers the series, we may as well discuss another sort’ve evolution that was introduced there- the Biomerge.

This form of evolution does as it says, merging digimon and partner together into one, more powerful, being. This is more dangerous for the non-digi, since they’re right up in the fight, but allows for more power than would be available otherwise. And once you get into the really powerful opponents? That’s important.

And that should be a basic overview of the hows and whys of the bonds between digimon and their partners. There’s some small details not in place (digimon made for Chosen will actively seek theirs out whether they know why or not, for instance), mostly because there’s no place to slip them in and they are minor, but for the most part this should work as an introduction to the basic information, suitable for anybody not looking to throw themselves into the depths of digi-hell.

[amatsudesserts]

OMG I WANT TO ET WITH ALL THE CAKES AND DESSERTS BUT, I'M NEW WITH NO GEARS GUIDE

Welcome to White Gold's very own newbie leveling/gearing/ET/whatever-this-is guide!

So, you've just joined the world of Talon RO not to be confused with any other server due to their powerfully customized items, skills, and gears. You've somehow stumbled into the pre-meiji era town of Amatsu, spoke with someone who either typed in all caps or afked half way into the conversation and was invited to join Amatsu Desserts! Congratulations, new player! You have just become part of one of the best RO families around.

Here you will enjoy luxuries like:

Being gifted with pictures on doggo's and food in our #instrogram channel that will make you hungry and require you to order food

Getting a crash course on time-zone calculations from all over the world, cause you probably don't live in Germany, which is what our server time is based off of.

And most of all getting to party play with people who have played this server for years and have built a stockpile of “elite” and “pro” gears.

I like to refer to these players as the Immortals, cause they've been around forever and are just a tad bit outdated on the difficulty of starting on a new server. You'll find this out when you ask for gear suggestions and everything they suggest has a price tag of 200mill +

Don't fret your friendly neighborhood Spide----I mean White Gold, yes yes, White Gold is here to assist! (Opps, I almost let them know my true identity)

CHAPTER ONE: LEVELING IS A BISH

I'm assuming you have played, even for a little bit considering you found our guild to join, and you at least have a character in the 70's range and probably doesn't have too much zeny. Cool, is it a knight? If its not, log off that character and make a knight right now. This will be your FARMING CHARACTER, and will help you farm zeny to use for basic leeches/newbie gears.

But, wait there's more!

Make a secondary account to make a Priest on, and then make ANOTHER account to make a Sage on.

Now you should have 3 classes Aco, Swordman, Mage all within level range. Join them in a party and put on ExP Share.

SPORES Go 1 south of Payon and use the Mage to start killing Spores will you level. You're going to want to have Soul Strike level 10. Keep killing Spores until you can one shot them (about 500-600 damage)

WOLVES With your one person army go 2 maps south of Payon (which is one more map south of spores) You'll find wolves! Yay! Sit your aco and swordman down and start Soul Striking Wolves until you all are job 40-50, whatever you prefer. By the time you're job level 40 on all characters you should be base 70ish Remember to pick up and save strawberries to sell to players to fund GJ, Meat, Red Bloods, Blue Gems, and extra gears extra.

SLEEPERS

You've job changed your aco to a priest, your mage to a sage, your swordman to a knight and you're thinking...now what?

Go back to Wolves until they have some job levels, specifically highest level:

Flame Launcher (on Sage)

Bowling Bash (on Knight)

Fill in priest skills however you like. Hopefully after you've been at Wolves for so long and sold your strawberries you have made enough zeny to purchase AHLSPIESS (item I.D 1478) at the time writing this guide @whosell is 300k

Put that on your knight and buy some Red bloods and Blue gems to warp to sleepers field.

THIS IS WHERE IT GETS IMPORTANT.

Flame launch knights weapon, buff knight, warp knight, knight go pew pew with Bowling Bash on sleeper map, collect Great Nature (and all loot, I see you heathens leaving grit like its not worth zeny, for shame), break down Great Nature into Green Lives (Ore Downgrading Quest), Sell Green Lives. Profit.

There are a billion other guides that explain gear for Sleepers, how the money is made etc, so I'm not going to go further into this

CHAPTER TWO: LEVELING DOESN'T HAVE TO COMPLETELY SUCK NOW

Now you're starting to make some real zeny. Remember that class you put down that you wanted to play! Cool continue to ignore that class, use the zeny you've been hunting to make a merchant and leech that to 79.

Start joining ET as leech in AD runs and continue to hunt zeny to pay for leech until you can reborn into Creator.

CHAPTER THREE: OMG IM ABOUT TO ET WITH THE CAKES AND DESSERTS!!!!

Yay!! You've reborn! Cool! Now, continue to farm zenny from Sleepers until you can afford a leech from 1-79. It should be like 5mill (at the time of writing this guide)

At Base 79 you should have enough job levels to get FCP level 3 and some AD. THIS IS OKAY! DON'T WORRY TOO MUCH, THE CHAMP DIES ANYWAYS.

Now, bring supplies required by Amatsu Desserts and wear whatever basic gear you have, don't worry too much as anything that will really be dangerous (stares at Bee), you will be off screen for anyways! ^.^

AD, FCP, and Loot away.

CHAPTER FOUR: YOU NEVER TALKED ABOUT GEAR

Here's the secret.... gear for the Creator isn't as important as most of the other front line classes which means you can still go to ET with minimal gears and be effective.

BUT, let's talk about gear succession.

For ET you should start farming out zeny for Lord Kaho Horn's but, also invest in a bathory armor.

After the armor and LKH work on a Deviling and a Gargoyle Card (or Moonie's if you start becoming rish).

Supreme's however you like them, I like mine in Orleans Gloves cause I’m used to it from other servers.

Get a Platinum shield and buy a Excalibur eventually.

ENDTH THE LESSON INTO ET'ING AND GEARING AND FARMING FOR THE NEW AMATSU DESSERT GUILDIE