How to Use Research Buddies in Farmagia

There are two types of monsters you can collect in Farmagia: Battle Buddies and Research Buddies. Battle Buddies are obviously the ones you take into battle with you in the Mazes, but Research Buddies are less clear in their purpose.

How to Obtain Research Buddies in Farmagia

You obtain Research Buddies by defeating monsters in the Mazes. These monsters will occasionally drop seeds of their type, which you can then take back to your farm to plant.

There are three types of seed you can acquire:

• Small, Green Bags – requires 1 square to plant
• Medium, Blue Bags – requires a 2×2 square to plant
• Large, Purple Bags – requires a 3×3 square to plant

Research Buddies can then be harvested after a few days, with larger Buddies taking longer to grow.

What Do Research Buddies Do

Research Buddies are not like Battle Buddies in Farmagia. Sadly, you will not be able capture an army of monsters simply by clearing a dungeon and planting all your spoils, as this is not how the game works.

Instead, Research Buddies offer two purposes. The first is the most obvious. For each Research Buddy you harvest, you gain a Research Point. This can be used to improve your farm, your abilities and to later unlock new forms of Battle Buddy. However, they do serve a second purpose.

While Research Buddies can’t be battled with directly, they do play a role in battles. If you harvest three of the same type of Research Buddy, that monster becomes available as a new United Form for your Battle Buddies. This is the form used in their Unite Blitz moves, and this can be changed once you unlock more forms.

Equipping new forms is useful as these grown types tend to be more powerful than the default ones that come with the Battle Buddies. This applies to their attack stats as well as their cooldown states, which are often shorter than the default Forms.

How to Make Good Use of Research Buddies in Farmagia

To best make use of Research Buddies in Farmagia, you should focus on growing three of each type to unlock more Forms as you go. While planting Research Buddies that you’ve already harvested three of will still reward you with Research Points, it’s best not to waste farm space in this way.

Focus on your Battle Buddies and the Research Buddies whose United Forms you have yet to unlock to make efficient work of your farm. As you progress through the story, you’ll keep encountering new monster types anyway, so you’ll likely have plenty to work through early in the game for Research Points without needing extras.

Farmagia is out for PC, Nintendo Switch and PS5.