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Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Keyimproves upon many of its predecessors' beloved systems and mechanics while introducing many new ones that will help you prevail in Alchemy and combat encounters. As its title implies, theSecret Keyplays a significant role in the trilogy’s finale, rewarding you for exploration and experimentation.
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The Secret Key is a unique item that Ryza Synthesizes relatively early in the game, allowing her toforge other KeysfromMonsters and Landmarks andcall upon their powerduringcombator improve herAlchemy. This feature is incredibly deep and rewarding and will give you access to many rare resources and actions, meaning you should not sleep on it if you want to get the most out of the gameplay.
Secret Key Overview
As you naturally progress through the story of Ryza 3, Ryza willSynthesizetheSecret Key,and it isn’t until a little while after that that you learn of its properties. The Secret Key canproduce additional Keysfrom theMonstersRyza and her friends encounter and most of theLandmarksthey uncover as they explore new regions.
These Keys will haveunique Effects and Elemental properties,allowing you touse them during combat encountersto apply buffs or can beused in Alchemyto raise an Item’s quality, unlock additional properties, or help create entirely new Items. We will cover everything you need to know about utilizing the Secret Key in combat, Alchemy, and as you explore the massive regions in the game in the sections below!
Secret Key: Combat Tips
When it comes to utilizing theSecret Keyto its full potential duringcombat encounters,you can get caught up in what Monsters you should be turning into Keys and which ones you should use your new Secret Key abilities on to give yourself an edge in the fight. However, the answer is more straightforward than you might expect.
In short,you should turn whatever Monster that catches your eye into a Key.Whilethe stronger the Monster, the better your Keywill be, what ultimately matters is having awide range of Keyson hand, as they will allow you to open specific Chests and doors, improve your Alchemy, or overcome formidable enemies.
Turning Your Enemy’s Power Into Keys
While you don’t actually turn theMonsteritself into a Key, you willharness its powerinto one, allowing you to use it in battle to give yourself a significant boost. To do this, you will need to open yourCore Charge(CC)Menuduring an encounter by pressingSquare(PlayStation), thenpressL1to open theKey Creationmenu.
On this menu, you will see thepercentage of the likely hood you will succeedat making a Key from your target andhow many Keys you’re able to still make.Like your Basket,Keys have a set limit you can makewhen exploring the open world, with the default limit beingfive.Once youmake five Keys,you musthead back to your Atelierto be able to make more. Please note that you can carry far more than five Keys. You just cannot make more than five when exploring.
After successfully creating a Key from your target, it will be added to yourKeyringforuse in combat, Alchemy, or other things in the worldthat we will touch on later. As mentioned earlier, werecommend trying to create a Key from just about every Monster,especially the more formidable ones, such as Mini-Bosses.
Using Keys Against Enemies
WithKeysin your possession, you’re able to utilize them in combat by opening yourCore Charge(CC)MenuwithSquare,then pressingR1to open theKey Modificationpage. Once here, you will see yourKeyringwithall available Keysand theEffectsthey will give you. These Effects can range fromtemporarily raising all your Statstogiving you infinite AP for a limited timeand practically anything between and beyond.
If you couldn’t tell, theseKeys are extremely powerfuland can easily allow you todeal well over7,000 Damageon a formidable foe. There aretons of different Keys and Effects,allowing you to collect the ones thatfit your playstylewhile alsoencouraging you to step outside your comfort zone to experimentand dominate your enemies.
Secret Key: Alchemy Tips
In addition to using theKeysyou obtain from Landmarks or Monsters to rack up damage in combat, you’re able to also use them in yourAlchemy,allowing you toraise your Item’s Quality, add additional Effects to them, or even help Synthesize new Items.However, there are several layers to this that you must be mindful of or risk getting unnecessarily frustrated when trying to figure out the nuances of your Keys.
For Starters, when youunlock the ability to use Keys in Alchemy,you will have toadd the required Materials firstand will thenpress Triangle(PlayStation) to pull up yourKeyring.Not all Keys will be available for Alchemy, but the ones that are will havevery specific requirementsto use and get the most out of that you should strive to hit.
The Key’s Conditions And Effects
Whenselecting a Keyto use inAlchemy,look on theleft-hand sideof the screen to see what itsConditionsare and theEffectsthey will offer you. If theKey only meets one Condition,and its Effect is something like “Fire Increase - S,” we strongly recommendnot using it.However, if the Effect is “Element Value Up,” then youshould hop on that if you are trying to make something that requires lots of Elemental Nodesto be filled up and the Key’s Element matches it.
TheConditions you have to meetto earn the Key’s Effects will vary, with some being as simple as the Item being of theFire Elementorrequiring Oreas a Material. If you see a Key that has three Conditions that areWind, Motif: Ore, and Common Rarity,you canfind the Recipe that best suits it to meet all three Conditionsand get all of its Effects.
Always keep track of what the Key needsfor itsConditionsand if what you’re trying to make meets those Conditions or not.If they don’t- or the benefits aren’t that great - you shouldchoose a different Key or move on to another Itemfor the time being.Do not waste Keys on Items that won’t benefit from them,as you’re able to almost always find a better purpose for that Key.
Secret Key Overworld Tips
Lastly, you can also use Keys you have obtained from Landmarks or Monsters to open specific barriers or Chests found throughout each region.OpeningtheseSupply Points and Gateswillrequire specific Keys,which we will cover more extensively in the sections below.
Supply Points
Supply Pointsare thesmall, Diamond-shaped Cheststhatrequire Keysto open. Your Key must have anAdventure Statto get the items from within these Supply Points. When creating a Key, you canensure you have better odds of receiving one with an Adventure Effectby looking at thepercentages of the possible Effectsin theupper left sideof the screen. If the percentage for anAdventure Effect is high, you will likely receive a Key with one, allowing you to open the Supply Point.
Opening the Supply Point will net you avariety of Materialsthat canrange from common to rare,so it’s best to open them whenever you come across them and have a Key that meets their needs. Just remember that you will need a Key with at least one Adventure Effect to open them.
Gates
Gates,on the other hand, are a tad trickier than their Supply Point counterpart. These are thelarge, colored, translucent wallsyou will come acrossblocking off cave entrances, doorways, and more,that will haveloads of Materials and Chests behind them.To get through these, you must acquire aKeyof aspecific Elemental Type.From there, theKey will also need to have at least one node of that Element Typeand will also - in some cases - need anAdventure Effect.
Not all Gates are opened the same way.Some will require an Adventure Effect,while others won’t. Andthey don’t necessarily go out of their way to tell you what you lackto open them. However, for the most part, Gates will only require you to have a Key of its Element with at least one node (the large number to the left of the Elemental Symbols) to open. If that doesn’t work, you may need more than one node or an Adventure Effect to open it.
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