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.hack Grunty Racing FAQ by Halibut
v. 0.5
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[Insert crappy ASCII art here. >P]
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[TOC] Table of Contents
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[TOC] Table of Contents
[COP] Copyright Information
[INT] Introduction
[HIS] Revision History
[FAQ] Frequently Asked Questions
[GRU] About Grunties
[PRI] Prizes
[BEF] Before the Race
[TIP] Tips for Running the Race
[RUN] Running the Race
[CRE] Credits
Press Ctrl+F and do a search on the [***] to zip to a particular
section.
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[COP] Copyright Information
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Copyright 2004 Halibut (
[email protected])
This document may only be reproduced for personal, private use in
its original, whole and unaltered form. It may not be placed or
distributed on any public or commercial forum, such as a web site or
magazine without the expressed written permission of the author. At
this time, only the website GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com) is permitted
to host this document publicly. Any other use of this document is
strictly prohibited by copyright law.
All trademarks and copyrights in this document are the property
of their individual owners.
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[INT] Introduction
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This FAQ was created when someone asked for some advice on how to
win the Grunty Races, and after giving some hints, I found that there
were no guides at GameFAQs on how to win at the Races. I thought this
odd, and decided to remedy this by writing a FAQ, not to mention that
this was my first FAQ I posted on GameFAQS.
So here it is, if you need some help getting 1st place in the
Grunty Races and showing that jerk Balmung a thing or two, here's
where it all begins.
[email protected]
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[HIS] Revision History
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ver 0.5: Complete data entered for Sigma server.
ver 0.4: Complete data entered for Theta server.
ver 0.3: Complete data entered for Lambda server.
ver 0.2: Most data entered for .hack//Mutation.
ver 0.1: Started this FAQ and laid out the topics.
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[FUT] Future Updates
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* I will add info on the last server when I play .hack//Quarantine.
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[FAQ] Frequently Asked Questions
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Q1. How do I get to race?
The races open when you raise each of the three Grunties
available in each server. The Theta Server has Iron, Poison and Noble
Grunties; the Lambda Server has Bony, Snakey and Noble Grunties; the
Signma Server has Aqua, Milky and Noble Grunties; but the Delta server
has no Grunties. When all three are raised, go to the Grunty ranch and
the man there will let you race.
You could have raised the Theta Grunties back in
hack//Infection, but the races weren't available until
hack//Mutation.
Q2. How do I raise Grunties?
Go to the ranches found in the Theta, Lambda and Sigma servers
and talk to the man there. He's got a baby Grunty who's hungry for the
various kinds of food you've found, like Golden Eggs, Piney Apples,
and Twilight Onions. You can find these items in your inventory under
"Key Items".
As you feed the baby Grunty, its stats will change, especially
it's size; when it's size reaches 40, it matures into an adult. What
kind of adult depends on the other stats. I'm not going into the
details of exactly what stats are needs for each Grunty, or what you
should feed it; you'll find all that in the Extras FAQ here at
GameFAQs.
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[GRU] About Grunties
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Grunties are a strange breed of animal found in The World, a
variety of these horse/hippopotamus mutates exist. In .hack//Mutation,
a mini-game was added where you could race these beasts around town
and capture flags for prizes.
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[PRI] Prizes
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There are 9 prizes to get from each of the races. First, you get
prizes for finishing 1st, 2nd, or 3rd; these can be collected as many
as three times each. After that, they are replaced with other less
valuable but still rather rare items for the 4th time you get that
rank and on. There are also consolation prizes you get if you finish
less than a second out of place, and a booby prize if you finish well
out of place or quit the race. Finally, each race has an unlockable
prize on your desktop, a special Grunty Race picture that you get when
you beat Balmung for the first time.
Note: you have to beat a time to place, a tie isn't enough. Also,
if you are exactly 1 second behind 3rd, you get the booby prize.
Here are the prizes available:
Theta Server Race:
| First 3 times | Fourth time on
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1st Place: | Golden Grunty | Ivory Barette
2nd Place: | Silver Grunty | Silver Scarab
3rd Place: | Divine Cross | Yellow Ribbon
Consolation: | Speed Charm
Booby: | Fortune Wire
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Lambda Server Race:
| First 3 times | Fourth time on
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1st Place: | Golden Grunty | Stonecall
2nd Place: | Silver Grunty | Summon Water
3rd Place: | Emperor's Soul | Light Cross
Consolation: | Fairy Orb
Booby: | Fortune Wire
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Sigma Server Race:
| First 3 times | Fourth time on
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1st Place: | Golden Grunty | Infernocall
2nd Place: | Silver Grunty | Summon Wood
3rd Place: | Divine Cross | Hale Cross
Consolation: | Health Charm
Booby: | Fortune Wire
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The 3rd place prizes are some nice rare items, but you really
want the 1st and 2nd place prizes, those will net you some Grunty
Trophies that permanently boost your stats when you use them. Golden
Grunties give you 30HP while the Silver Grunties give you 15SP. There
are three races available in .hack//Outbreak, that's 9 of each you can
get for an extra 270HP and 135SP. You can also trade with the Snakey,
Bony, Milky and Aqua Grunties for more Grunty Trophies; and you could
have traded with the Snakey and Bony Grunties back in .hack//Mutation
for another Silver and Golden Grunty. That's 12 of each for an extra
360HP and 180SP. Now your puny little Twin Blade has the HP of a Heavy
Axeman and the SP of a Wavemaster.
It can be really hard to snag 1st place in a race three times,
but it should be easy enough with some practice to take 2nd. Frankly,
I like the Silver Grunties since I use Special Attacks a lot, and hate
running out of SP.
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[BEF] Before the Race
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Here are some things to do to ready yourself before running any
race.
1) Come Alone!
One of the main reasons people fail to get first in a race is
that they keep running into people on the track. Since you are running
around in the server hubs, you have to contend with the normal
pedestrian traffic, not to mention other Grunties in the way. Grunties
are usually gentle creatures, so when they run into someone they stop
instead of just bowling them over. This is why you should disband your
party before starting a race; if you have any party members when you
start, that's two more people that'll be wandering around town that
you might run into.
2) Who's on top
Each town gives you the choice of three Grunties; the Noble
Grunty is of average skill, the Poison/Snakey/Aqua Grunty has
increased acceleration and turning in exchange for lousy max speed,
and the Iron/Bony/Milky Grunty has maximum velocity but handles like a
three-legged mule. The best Grunty to take on all three servers is the
one on top of the list, those are the Iron, Bony and Aqua Grunties.
Controlling the Iron/Bony Grunty may be the hardest, but it's the
only one who has any chance of taking 1st place on the Theta and
Lambda Servers. When you get the hang of taking turns using the
Iron/Bony Grunty, you'll be easily taking 2nd place, and with some
practice and luck can snatch 1st place too.
The Sigma Server is a whole other kettle of fish; there are no
good long stretches to build up speed, and the best path has you
running around the Recorder's booth. Although the Milky Grunty has the
advantage going for the 1st and 3rd flags, and can beat Balmung's time
if you have a perfect run; getting the second flag is very difficult
with the very tight turns you'll need to make. To get the best time,
you'll need the tight cornering ability of the Aqua Grunty.
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[TIP] Tips for Running the Race
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1) Slide to victory!!!
This is easily the biggest trick you'll need and is crucial for
finishing in top spot, especially on the Theta and Lambda Servers.
Grunties, like many things in the real world--even though they
are not real--have something called momentum; this means that they
can't turn or stop on a dime. When taking a sharp turn, you have to
start turning before you actually get to the turn; the Grunty's
momentum will keep it going in the same direction for a little bit
before they are able to change direction completely.
On the Theta and Lambda Servers, the paths you follow will have
you capturing a flag, and then turning 180 degrees to go back where
you came to get the next one. If you turn AFTER grabbing the flag, it
takes you half a second to stop and get going back in the other
direction, a whole half-second you just wasted. What you have to do is
turn around BEFORE grabbing the flag. If you time it right, the
Grunty's momentum will carry it right to the flag and stop there. This
manoeuvre is the key to beating these races.
For the Sigma server, there are no 180 degree turns, but you have
to turn while taking each flag; so start turning early and clip the
flag while passing it. You will also be using the Aqua Grunty as
opposed to the faster Milky Grunty; since the Aqua Grunty has tighter
turning ability, you don't have to worry so much about sliding, but
it'll still shave of a few precious hundredths of a second.
Obviously, you don't do this for the last flag, since that's the
end of the line.
2) Keep it straight
Try to avoid obstacles as best you can and go as straight as
possible, you'll waste a lot of time if you're zigzagging around
obstacles, especially when using the Iron/Bony Grunties.
3) For maximum prize potential
You can win the same prize for each place three times, so you
could net 3 Golden Grunties and 3 Silver Grunties if you take 1st and
2nd place 3 times. The problem is that when you place, your time
becomes the new time to beat; so if you post a stellar 1st place time,
you may find it impossible to beat the next time. What you want to do
it try to get progressively better times, shaving a few hundredths of
a second each time; that way it's not too difficult to keep beating
your time and score what ever position you want over and over again.
4) Analog vs. Digital
You can run the race using either, but my personal choice is the
analog stick, it's much more natural than the digital pad.
5) I can't see!!!
You always want to be able to see what's ahead to avoid running
into obstacles that can slow you down. So use the right analog stick
to zoom away and the L1 and R1 buttons to pan the camera around to see
what's ahead. This is very difficult to get down on the Sigma Server,
but it'll be a big help.
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[RUN] Running the Race
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Theta Server Race:
Just to reiterate, use the Iron Grunty for this race.
Getting to the first flag without any slip-ups is crucial, since
there's a trap there that can really mess you up. Run as fast as you
can and make the sharp turn. Try to turn a little early so you don't
hit the (invisible) walls and slow down. When you get around the bend
and reach the island with the Elf's Haven on it, run for the flag.
DON'T hug the cliffside, try to stay in the middle of the shop and the
cliff. Although there might be someone running past that you have to
avoid; if you go for the cliff, there's a rock in the way that'll stop
you cold. Just past the rock, pull the control stick in the opposite
direction, and the Grunty's momentum will carry it right to the flag.
Your time at this point should be a bit over 6 seconds.
Race back to the wooden planks while avoiding that rock, and head
for the Chaos Gate for flag two. There are some tricky spots here;
usually there's some people in the bridge, the worst place being right
at the sharp turn. Worse than that, there are Grunties that hang
around in this area, so be careful when you pass the bridge in front
of the Recorder's shop; there's one rather annoying Grunty hanging out
right there! Get to the Chaos Gate, and like the first flag, turn the
control stick back to slide into the flag and get going in the
opposite direction. The clock should be at 14 seconds for this one.
Finally, run back past the first bridge and turn at the second
towards the magic shop, the last flag is way in back. Be careful as
there's usually a Grunty prancing about in front of the weapon shop
and a person running around the flag. If you can avoid both and
maintain a fairly straight path to the flag, you should nab 1st place.
Lambda Server Race:
Use the Boney Grunty for this race.
The first flag is right in front of you in the door of the Grunty
Pen. Since you should be using the Bony Grunty, the Noble Grunty will
be in there, but it won't be in the way. Run at it at top speed, and
just before you reach the door to the pen, pull the control stick
back; the Bony Grunty will slide into the flag and come back in the
other direction. Your time should be around 4.2 – 4.3 seconds, any
less than that and you likely charged at it and overshot the thing.
When you come back and reach the point where the path widens,
start turning here; the Bony Grunty's momentum will carry you right
into the next path. You should also swing the camera around so that
you can see where you're going. Run right down the lane, making small
adjustments to avoid people and head for the flag in front of the
magic shop. If you look on the ground, you'll notice some dark spots
before and after the flag, turn around between the brown spot and the
flag, and you should slide into it, just like the flag above. Your
time should be a bit over 13 seconds here.
Rotate the camera around because the last flag is in front of the
weapon shop. After making the turn to the last path, you'll find that
it can be quite congested; especially with the Snakey Grunty standing
in the middle of the path. The Bony Grunty's bad turning means you'll
have to aim left. Keep an eye out when you go for the flag, most of
the time there's someone standing in front of it and running towards
you. Avoid them and grab the flag.
Sigma Server Race:
This race is different for a number of reasons. First of all you
don't have to perform the 180-slide because you never have to double
back. Also the Sigma Server has lots of connecting paths, so there are
multiple paths to get all three flags, but only one really works well.
Finally, there are no good straight paths, and the fastest route has a
lot of turns in it; so the tight turning Aqua Grunty is better than
the speedy Milky Grunty. Using the Aqua Grunty all but eliminates the
need for sliding, plus the Aqua Grunty doesn't have a psychotic smile
over it's face.
At the start, you don't go straight, instead take the left path
to get to the first flag. Press left on the controller, but don't
shift the camera yet; when you see the cannon, press up to turn into
the path. Stay right of the line as you make the slight bend in the
path, there's often someone walking along the left side of the path;
then inch towards the center line. You don't actually have to touch
the flag, if you just whiff by it, that should be good enough. Your
time should be about 5 seconds even.
Turn right towards the center of the Server, where the Recorder
is. When you aim for the short path between Elf's Haven and the
Recorder, try to line yourself up so that you enter right of the line,
and exit left of the line. You have two ways to go to get around the
Recorder's, but the Noble Grunty is waiting in back and will prevent
you from going tight to the wall, so head for the left and get as
tight to the wall as you can without brushing up against it. When you
get around the Recorder's and can see the path leading to the Magic
Shop and the purple flag, aim for the left side of the line, and head
straight for the next flag. Your time should be no more than 12
seconds.
When heading for the path to the third flag, aim for the left
corner and creep towards the right while following the path down. Like
the first, there's probably someone walking down the left side; you
should already be far enough to the right to avoid them, then it's
smooth sailing to the flag.
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[CRE] Credits
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Bandai, creators of the .hack// video games and anime.
GameFAQs and all who run it, for their great work in creating an
awesome video game help site.
