iii. Ronza’s Rockin’ Return

Following the Birthday Bash, many hunters, including yours truly, were convinced Ronza might never return. There had been so much hoopla when she came last time that it seemed logical that the developers just didn’t want the headache!
However, we’ve been proven wrong before, and this was no exception. On September 22nd, over six months after Ronza’s last visit, we received the following memo during a downtime:

Now, it didn’t take much to realize that “A friend of the kingdom returning after a long voyage” could only be Ronza. However, the question arose: when in October will she arrive?

Speculations abounded on both when she would arrive and how much gold to save. People began saving millions in order to ensure that they would be able to get whatever it was that she would bring. The devs teased us for weeks with anticipation. Then, on October 16th, the waiting was over! Ronza arrived on the map and spent the next four days traveling, docking October 20th.

She brought many items with her this time. A total of three traps, a base and a crafting ingredient to make another trap.

Let’s look at them in no particular order, then!

Hitgrab Rockin’ Horse
Stats: Physical-type, 1,250 power, 2% power bonus, 10% attraction bonus, 25 luck, No Cheese Effect
Cost: 158,500, Points Required: 9,100

Hitgrab Rainbow Rockin’ Horse.
Stats: Physical-Type, 1,250 power, 2% power bonus, 10% attraction bonus, 25 luck, Very Fresh Cheese Effect
Cost: 75,900, Points Required: 0

The Rockin’ Horse was purchased from Ronza herself for 158,500 gold. The Rainbow Rockin’ Horse is a different trap available to hunters who have the original hitgrab horsey released on MH’s birthday. By smashing the horsey and combining it with invisi-glue and with a Rainbow Mohawk Wig of Awesomeness, which was purchased from Ronza for 60,000 gold, you get your rainbow rockin’ horse.

As you can see, the two traps are virtually the same. Same power, same attraction, same luck… The only difference in stats is that you get fresher cheese using the rainbow rockin’ horse. The major difference is price. If you already have the hitgrab horsey, you can make the rainbow rockin’ horse for a full 75,000 less than just buying the regular one from Ronza.

So do you want to buy it? Maybe. I can tell you that I didn’t think twice about purchasing the mohawk and making myself a rainbow rockin’ horsey. From a practical point of view, though:

The Rockin’ Horse is a suitable replacement for any regular physical trap up until you get the Digby Drillbot for the Tribal Isles as a legendary hunter. It’s somewhere between the Swiss Army Mouse Trap and the NVMRC in how powerful it is thanks to the 25 luck that comes with it.
Here’s the thing, though- if you’re following my guide, you’ll be buying the Swiss Army Mouse Trap for roughly 70,000 gold, and that’s it. Why spend an extra 88,000 gold when you don’t even need another physical trap? The best answer is that you shouldn’t.

Which makes my final verdict this: fun to own, but not worth buying as a practical physical trap.

Giant Speaker
Stats: Tactical-type, 2,850 power, 5% power bonus, 5% attraction bonus, 22 luck, No Cheese Effect
Cost: 612,800, Points Required: 91,000

This is a trap that has a very good use for a very specific group of people. At 612,000 gold, it’s incredibly expensive and may be a bit too much for hunters who are of the master (and in some cases even grandmaster) rank. However, if you play your cards right, this trap will serve as a complete replacement for every other tactical trap in mousehunt. The Partybot of tactical traps, as it’s been called.

Let me explain: originally I believed that this trap was pointless, so this is a reversal on my original stance.

It’s a much better trap than either Zugzwang’s Last Move or the Mutated Venus Mouse Trap. It’s also a better trap than the Ambush- the increase in luck offsets the 150 power that you lose when using the Speaker, especially when combined with the magma base. However, the difference isn’t large- owners of the Ambush won’t notice a huge difference when moving to the speaker.

The real interesting comparison comes with the Tribal Isles; how does this trap do on the Nerg Plains when compared with the Horrific Venus Mouse Trap?
This comparison reminds me of using the Partybot in the Derr Dunes. You would think that the lower power would make it less viable than the HVMT, wouldn’t you? However, particularly with the magma base (but the aqua base, too), the results are staggering- the Giant Speaker does as well or better in EVERY aspect of the Nerg Plains. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I first saw it, but it’s indisputable.

Final Verdict: The Giant Speaker is an incredible tactical trap; worth having, for sure!

Kraken Chaos
Stats: Hydro-type, 3,400 power, 0% power bonus, 0% attraction bonus, 18 luck, Very Stale Cheese Effect
Cost: 860,000, Points Required: 843,500

Similar to the Giant Speaker, this trap is good for the hunter who has no other traps of this type yet. This trap has several things going for it. One, it has 3,400 power, which completely outdoes the harpoon gun and net cannon. Two, it has 18 luck, which outdoes the ancient spear gun. And Three, it only costs 860,000 gold (the ancient spear gun is 824,000 for comparison). So for an extra 35,000 gold you can get a limited edition trap that is on par with the best hydro trap in the game.

One has to wonder why on earth this trap was made available. Yeah, it’s a little bit better than the ancient spear gun, but it’s awfully expensive- who really wants to buy it before they get to the Tribal Isles? When would you use it? The answer is simple- the Hydra.

With this trap, you can catch the hydra mouse. The hydra has frustrated thousands of hunters trying to reach Rodentia and the Tribal Isles, which means if you can afford this trap, you can get your blueprints MUCH faster, plus you get a trap to replace all future hydro traps in the tribal isles. You lose out on 35,000 gold but you gain days of hunting and countless headaches can be avoided.

If you DO have a hydro trap, you don’t need this trap. The Ancient Spear Gun is cheaper and almost as good. Given how expensive the harpoon gun and/or net cannon is, you don’t need to spend another 860k.

Final Verdict: Buy it if you don’t have a hydro trap yet. Otherwise, you aren’t missing too much.

Moving on from traps, Ronza also brought a new base for us to use.

Magma Base
Stats: 300 power, 8% power bonus, 5% attraction bonus, 10 luck, Insanely Stale Cheese Effect
Cost: 374,700, Points Required: 238,200

Unlike the traps, I absolutely love the magma base for its practical use, no matter who you are. It has the 2nd highest power of any trap, behind the tribal base (I’m talking total power including the bonus). It’s also tied with several traps for the 2nd highest attraction bonus, behind the target base. And lastly, it has the highest luck of any base in Mousehunt.

This base is, without question, a must-buy. The only thing that could possibly dissuade you would be the cheese effect, but even then it’s worth owning. What’s wrong with a few stale cheese? About the only time that you should consider not using it is in the catacombs and in the forbidden grove because you use a special cheese there that doesn’t have great attraction. In almost every other area, any cheese you use that isn’t store bought will have close to a 100% attraction anyway and so you won’t have to worry about losing cheese. And in the case of store bought cheese, staling them is such a small concern that it should not bother you in the slightest.

The other exception is the Jungle of Dread if you don’t have the Clockapult. With the clock, the freshness rating of the trap offsets the staleness of the base. For a Bottomless Grave user, though- avoid the magma base so that you don’t lose any Havarti to staling.

Final Verdict: Buy it! Don’t ask, just buy.

NOW, there are two other things we need to discuss: the Rockstar Mouse and Teddy Bears.

The Rockstar mouse arrived in Gnawnia onboard Ronza’s ship. When she landed, they quickly left her ship and scattered across the land. They are found everywhere, but there are three places in particular that have an abundant supply: The Town of Gnawnia, the Town of Digby and the SS Huntington II.

To catch this elusive mouse, hunters needed to collect a special kind of cheese. This cheese was known as Rockforth. Rockforth was not purchased and was not crafted. Instead, by hunting in Ronza’s Traveling Shoppe and catching Gold, Diamond and Nibbler mice, one could get rockforth cheese as a loot drop.
Once you got the cheese, it was simply a matter of equipping the cheese and looking for the Rockstar Mouse.

If you want my advice on where to look for the Rockstar, I highly recommend Digby. The mechanics of mousehunt work in such a way that when it comes to a special event mouse, your best chance of finding it is in an area with few other mice. This is why the Lab always works well for finding them. Of the three main locations, the Town of Digby has the fewest breeds and therefore the Rockstar is most likely to show up there. You could try the lab- there is a good probability of finding one there as well.

Catching the Rockstar mouse yielded three different types of loot: A Red, Blue or Green Satchel of Surprise. The color of the satchel depended on the location in which the mouse was caught: red satchels were dropped in Gnawnia, blue satchels were found in Digby and green satchels were found aboard the SS Huntington II. Each satchel contained different prizes. They are widely varied- read the wiki page to get a list of what can be obtained. The only important thing to note is that the satchels contained better prizes depending upon which one you collected. The red satchel, as the easiest to get, contained the least valuable prizes, while the green satchel contained several very valuable prizes.

And as for the Teddy Bear? Catch a White Mouse while hunting in Ronza’s Traveling Shoppe and it may very well drop a teddy bear for you to hug. It has no used beyond being there to hug. But then again, do you really need a better use for it?

The feedback of Ronza’s latest visit has been overwhelmingly positive in comparison with the feedback in the past. This means that it’s likely to see Ronza return again. And see her, we did! At Christmas of 2009