Ranking Every Sacred Treasure in Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma

One of the most enticing rewards gamers can receive is an upgrade, particularly in titles that emphasize exploration. In Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, this excitement is fulfilled through the acquisition of Sacred Treasures.

With each segment of the main narrative, players unlock new Sacred Treasures, most of which are linked to the gods of Azuma. To fully unleash their potential, players must progress through the storyline.

As soon as a Sacred Treasure is obtained, players can wield it to discover new landscapes in Azuma. This element infuses a Zelda or Metroidvania-like experience, allowing adventurers to revisit previous locations in search of collectibles that were unattainable before. Furthermore, these treasures can be utilized in combat immediately, enabling players to expend RP for significant elemental damage.

Each Sacred Treasure is equipped with a unique skill tree, requiring distinct skill XP for enhancement. Thus, the more frequently one uses a treasure, the more powerful it becomes. But which of these treasures stands out as the best? Our ranking evaluates each Sacred Treasure’s utility in combat and exploration to determine the optimal selection.

8 Terra Tiller

The Terra Tiller could be deemed the most crucial item within Guardians of Azuma. This treasure, given by Woolby, enables players to cultivate crops and establish their own village.

However, its functionality is limited as it lacks a skill tree, which means it falls short of being versatile.

Consequently, this necessitates a debate: should the Terra Tiller rank at the top for its significance, or at the bottom for its singular utility? Due to the absence of further interactions it offers, it inevitably occupies a lower position on our list.

7 Sacred Staff

The Sacred Staff enables the summoning of light butterflies that pursue enemies and reveals hidden elements while equipped. However, since it is acquired late in the game, its advantages may not justify the time needed for upgrades.

While its combat capabilities are serviceable, the Sacred Staff’s potential as a source of Light damage against tougher end-game opponents falls short when compared to earlier treasures. Moreover, its passive ability does not facilitate access to new locales, which limits its overall effectiveness in exploration.

6 Plum Branch

The Plum Branch serves as your introductory Sacred Treasure in Guardians of Azuma, granting you the ability to perform the Dance of Bonds, which unlocks warp points and collects recipes from Frog Statues.

Like the Terra Tiller, the Plum Branch lacks a skill tree and does little to enhance combat or exploration. While it can be used to tame powerful boss monsters, this is still a relatively passive application of the treasure.

What elevates the Plum Branch slightly in our rankings is its ability to enhance your Bond Level with NPCs, albeit minimally. This boost can sometimes make all the difference, and thus maintains its usefulness.

As the game progresses, the Plum Branch gets replaced by the Sacred Fan, yet both treasures operate similarly.

5 Earth Drum

Now, we begin discussing the more impactful items! The Earth Drum can be acquired within the first hour of gameplay and is essential for performing rapid area-of-effect (AoE) heals to keep your team alive.

Its offensive capabilities may leave something to be desired, primarily pushing foes back but it compensates somewhat with the significant damage delivered by its Flower Storm ability. While it can also refresh blighted trees to restore Azuma, this is more of a chore than a reward during exploration.

Ultimately, the Earth Drum falls short of a top-tier ranking because healing can be accomplished without spending RP. NPC healers can provide sustenance and become stronger as you increase your Bond Levels, providing a more cost-effective option for maintaining health.

With strong, easily accessible food items also available, the Earth Drum is primarily useful as a quick healing tool in emergencies, but conserving RP for offense may often be the better strategy.

4 Sacred Mask

As your penultimate treasure, the Sacred Mask is a formidable Dark-type weapon boasting impressive skills. When employed effectively, its standard attacks deliver substantial damage to foes boxed in by your aura. Its passive ability also prevents flinching from incoming attacks, although this could backfire if players are not cautious.

This treasure also enables players to shatter those annoying purple blocks previously encountered in the game, granting access to new rewards.

Although the Sacred Mask is obtained relatively late in the story, it does share some of the challenges present with the Sacred Staff, struggling for ultimate effectiveness against earlier treasures. Nevertheless, its skills like Sumo Stomp offer distinctive combat advantages, and its passive ability enhances its viability significantly.

Upon activating the Sacred Mask’s skill tree, the next main quest takes players to the Heavenly Realm, where numerous enemies are susceptible to Dark attacks. This presents an opportune moment to gather Sacred Mask skill XP.

3 Sacred Sword

When surrounded by enemies, the Sacred Sword ensures they won’t stand a chance.

Since this treasure is acquired in the Summer Region, it becomes relatively easy to level up its skill XP, especially as it’s the first genuine “weapon”among the treasures. By investing in the Blessing of Flame perks, players can inflict astonishing damage during late-game encounters.

The Sacred Sword’s passive ability allows it to add Fire damage to arrows and increase shots from charged Talisman attacks. While this is a solid feature, it doesn’t stand out as particularly unique.

In terms of exploration, the Sacred Sword can eradicate purple blight blossoms and obliterate ice barriers, unlocking a few previously hidden locations. However, this only slightly increases your collectible retrieval options.

2 Sacred Parasol

The Sacred Parasol introduces gliding after jumps, significantly opening up exploration in Guardians of Azuma.

This ability allows access to hard-to-reach areas such as the Isolated Islet in the Spring Region and the Remote Island in the Summer Region. Gliding simplifies tricky platforming segments, even those that do not explicitly require the paraglider. Additionally, it can clear red blight blossoms in prior areas.

In combat, the Sacred Parasol shares similarities with the Long Sword in terms of damage output, but there are notable gaps during attack sequences that can leave you vulnerable.

Ultimately, the Sacred Parasol ranks high on our list primarily for its unparalleled movement advantages. Although it offers decent combat capabilities and is manageable to build up in the mid-game, this treasure is predominantly utilized for navigating Azuma rather than for combat.

1 Sacred Fan

The Sacred Fan is undoubtedly the standout Sacred Treasure in Guardians of Azuma, impacting both exploration and combat immediately upon acquisition in the Autumn Region. With its swirling tornado attacks, it allows players to unleash considerable damage while minimizing exposure to danger.

Moreover, the tornadoes can eliminate green blight blossoms, activate fans, and disperse mist, making this treasure incredibly versatile. Timing of acquisition is also favorable—late enough to offer exploration opportunities but soon enough to develop a new skill tree.

What truly sets the Sacred Fan apart is its deceptively effective passive: while equipped, it boosts sprint speed. This enables swift traversal across the map and facilitates outrunning enemies, ideal for collecting Dragon Statues quickly before nighttime exhaustion sets in.

Additionally, this speed boost allows players to make jumps that may require the Sacred Parasol in other contexts. Although full sections of gameplay may not be bypassed completely, the challenge of discovering collectibles early remains an engaging puzzle.

As players develop the Sacred Fan’s skill tree, they unlock Wind Burst, a highly beneficial skill that allows sprinting to knock back adversaries. This passive feature proves advantageous in both exploration and combat scenarios!