In the delightful farming sim Rune Factory 3: Special, the player can develop friendships with each of Sharance Town’s residents. These relationships are fostered through daily conversations, completing various requests, and by gifting each character certain items.

Every character has their own list of liked and disliked items, including an assortment of favorites, which affect the character’s friendship when received. Characters also have preferred cologne scents, which can be applied by speaking with Shara in her shop each day.

The player will especially want to stay on top of giving daily gifts to the town's female characters, as marrying one of these bachelorettes is required by the game's story. This guide will dive deeper into gift-giving and finding true love in Rune Factory 3: Special.

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How Does Gift Giving Work in RF3:S

Gifts can be given to all characters, male and female included, allowing the player to get to know each character better and bring their relationship to a maximum level. However, only female characters can be romanced, developing a far deeper bond that will ultimately lead to marriage.

Related: Rune Factory 3 Special: Bachelorette Relationship Gift Guide - All Likes & Dislikes

Each character in the game has specific items they favor, which can range from baked goods and gemstones to fish. As with other villagers, RF3:S's eligible bachelorettes have their own gift preferences, including a variety of likes, dislikes, and gifts which they will outright hate. While some characters have very specific wants, others enjoy a far wider assortment of items, making it easier to find the perfect gift.

In addition to the assortment of items that can be gifted to increase friendship, the player can also visit Shara in her shop to get sprayed with a random cologne each day. Each character has their own preference for these scents, but do not have any dislikes. The character simply won't comment on the cologne, and no friendship points will be earned for the effect.

The character will have to marry one of the RF3:S’s bridal candidates to finish the game’s story. Therefore, after making the difficult decision of which lucky lady has won the player’s heart, they should make sure to deliver their favorite item each day. When the player reaches Level 7 friendship with a female character, they will agree to date the main character, and at Level 10 the player can propose to marry.

How to Give Characters Gifts

Each new day offers the player a chance to find and converse with Sharance residents. These interactions allow the player to better understand individual characters’ personalities, and they can occasionally engage in dialogue concerning specific requests. To give the character a gift, the player should select and Hold the item from their backpack, then approach and Give the item to the character using the respective hotkey. The numbers that show when a gift is given is health or mana gained when a recovery item is gifted.

The increase in friendship points is reflected in the character reputation menu accessed via the fourth tab in the game menu. Characters which can become potential romantic interests have their friendship level indicated by a heart, and other villagers will feature a smiling face. The character will not be able to see their current friendship points with a character, only the overall level.

What are the Benefits of Giving Gifts

Gifting a character one of their loved items will reward the most friendship points (+10), so the player should try to ensure they have these items ready whenever possible, though this may be difficult to do during RF3:S's early game. Liked items will increase friendship by a lesser amount (+5), and hated items will substantially decrease (-10) their feelings toward the player and should certainly be avoided.

Giving a character their favorite gift on their birthday will double the points earned. Additionally, wearing one of a character's preferred colognes will result in the character commenting on the pleasant scent and offer a small amount of friendship points (+3).

While the character can technically give a character multiple gifts, only the highest quality gift given will affect the relationship points for that exchange. This means that if the player happens to give a character their most hated item, reducing their affection by 10, they can correct this awful blunder on that same day by offering a more preferred item. The effect of the previous gift given will no longer apply, and instead the player will gain only the benefit of the most recently given, highest quality item.

For example, if the player has made the egregious mistake of gifting Raven a Skull, they will briefly invoke her wrath and lose 10 friendship points with the potential bachelorette. However, if they return to her on that same day with a Sun Pendant, one of her most loved items, the reduction of friendship points will be nullified, and they will instead gain 10 friendship points on top of the amount they had with that character prior to giving her the creepy skull.

All Bachelorette Favorite, Liked, and Hated Gifts in RF3:S

All Villager (Non-Romanceable) Favorite, Liked, and Hated Gifts in RF3:S

Rune Factory 3: Special is available now on Nintendo Switch and PC.

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