Quick Links
It may strike you as a touch odd that you’ll not find shops inAtelier Yumiaat the start of the game. Indeed, almost all the Ligneus Region is at your disposal from barely half an hour into Yumia’s grand alchemical journey. The Research Team’s base is, granted, more for surveying than setting up some kind of permanent settlement, but still.
As it happens, thereisshopping to be done in Atelier Yumia, via the bartering system. Rather than paying hard-earned Cole, you’ll swap goods with merchants. Reach an agreed-upon deal, and the item’s yours. Here’s how to unlock this supplemental mechanic.
How To Unlock Bartering
In Atelier Yumia,each of the game’s four main regions has its own merchants,andyou must unlock access to them at separate points. In all cases, the solution is toadvance your Pioneering Efforts.
If you aren’t sure what “Pioneering Efforts” are, you’ve simply not yet reached the point in the story in which the Research Team’s grizzled commander presents it to you. Don’t worry - you’ll get it soon!
Pioneering Efforts offerrewards for every 10 percent completion.These rewards will vary fromnew materials to important new ammo, but the big one for the purposes of this guide isthe addition of merchants to the specific area you’re working on.
Now, just because you’ve unlocked them,doesn’tmean you will have access to the full array of goods.There are numerous tiers of merchant unlocks; in other words,further merchants will populate the regions as you progress their respective Pioneering Efforts.
How Bartering Works In Atelier Yumia
You’ll need tolocate the merchantsonce they’ve arrived, though they’re always in predictable places: the Research Team Base, a regional village, that sort of thing. With that out of the way,stand in front of the cloths that they lay out in front of them.
If you’re on PlayStation, at least, getting the button prompt for this can be oddly tricky, at least with our pre-launch copy of Atelier Yumia.Move around a bit, slowly,until the prompt to interact with the merchant appears.
Once you’ve initiated the process,ingredients will be spread across the clothsas the camera zooms in on everything. (Some will be marked as “Recommended”, by the way, but we’re not quite sure whether that’s a meaningful designation.)Highlight the one you wantand check the right side of the screen.
Here, you’ll seeeverything that can be exchanged for the item. The bartering system is built ona points system. At thecenter of the screenis arunning tally of how high you’ve cranked the number, and you need to reach itsmaximumin order for the merchant to agree to your deal.
It might go without saying, butdo be mindful of what you’re exchanging.If you’re not careful, you may offer up vital ingredients in your next big Synthesis run. Of course, you can get them back through foraging, but it’s a real hassle if that happens.
Once you’ve made your exchange,the item you’ve selected will be sold outuntil further notice. We’re keeping on eye on whether they restock, but regardless, you’ll want totreat anything you’ve not yet discovered while exploring as a limited-quantity ingredientuntil you come upon it yourself.
