Wild Hearts | Best Karakuri Upgrades
As you progress through Wild Hearts, you’ll want to pay attention to attention to your Karakuri and which upgrades you can get for them. There are plenty to choose from and most of them are useful to further enhance your playstyle. However, some are better than others, and here at God is a Geek we’ve summarised the best Karakuri upgrades in Wild Hearts, and therefore the ones you should consider getting as soon as possible.
Wild Hearts | How to get Karakuri Upgrades
The first thing you’ll need to understand is where to go to upgrade your Karakuri. First, head to the main menu, and scroll right until you get to the Karakuri section. You’ll notice a big vertical Skill Tree that you can navigate your way down and unlock various upgrades. Here you can select different upgrades, as long as you have gotten previous upgrades in the tree.
What do I use to upgrade Karakuri?
To upgrade Karakuri you need Kemono Orbs. These are obtained in two ways. The first and most obvious way is by defeating Kemono. You are rewarded at the end of the battle with a number of Kemono Orbs. The more difficult the Kemono you felled, the more orbs you obtained. However many times your carted (died) during the fight also impacts your Orb reward. Carting once reduces your reward by one-third, and carting twice reduces it by two-thirds. So it’s better to stay alive to maximise your Kemono Orbs.
The other way to obtain Kemono Orbs is by breaking parts during a Kemono fight. You’ll be rewarded with a few Orbs upon breaking the part, but this wounding process will also cause Orbs to scatter on the ground, which look like small blue beads of light. Collect them to top up your Kemono Orb total.
Each Karakuri upgrade costs a certain number of Orbs to unlock.
Why can’t I access certain Karakuri upgrades?
Some upgrades in the Karakuri upgrade tree are actually Fusion Karakuri. To unlock these you need to have observed the corresponding Fusion Flash in a certain fight. If the image is a Question Mark, then you haven’t encountered the Kemono yet. If it shows the image of a Kemono, then you need to replay that fight and try and witness the Fusion Flash to unlock it.
For more information on Fusion Karakuri, check out our main Karakuri Guide here.
Wild Hearts | Best Karakuri Upgrades
We will now list the best Karakuri upgrades to get you started in Wild Hearts
Water Toter
There are a few of these throughout the Karakuri Skill tree, and it’s recommended to get them as you unlock and can afford them. Each one increases the number of Healing Water you can hold by one. This means you have more healing capability during battle, and you can make more use of the numerous Healing Water Flowers scattered across the landscape to keep yourself topped up. An absolute must.
Hunting Tower: Expansion
One of the most useful early Dragon Karakuri you will use is the Hunting Tower as it allows you to find Kemono in the area as well as other points of interest. Getting this upgrade expands the range of each Tower meaning you’re more likely to find the Kemono in range of a tower, and you won’t need to flood the map with lots of Hunting Towers to find what you need.
Wind Vortex
An optional Dragon Karakuri, but one that gives a unique traversal option when exploring. It is basically a large air vent that allows you to fly high up into the air and reach otherwise unreachable areas. Great for giving you options to explore your surroundings quickly and getting to places a Flying Vine simply can’t reach. You can also combine this with a Glider Karakuri (just walk onto the Wind Vortex with one) to go flying into the air, and then Glide to new areas.
Ingredients Chest
Whilst it may not seem it at the start, before long with everything you will pick up, your ingredient pouch will get full. As such you won’t be able to pick up any more varieties of food. A great way to combat this is to use and Ingredients Chest to store your ingredients for later. Popping these in camps next to a Tent allows you to Fast Travel to them with ease and take out what you need as and when, giving you greater flexibility when cooking or eating ahead of a hunt.
Paddle Scoop
This Karakuri can be placed in water to catch fish. You can leave it to work and it will automatically go out fish whilst you are off doing other things. It makes amassing ingredients much more efficient. You can use them as part of your cooking or simply sell them for extra gold. Either way it means you can spend your time hunting kemono, rather than gathering fish.
Tsukumo Ore Shrine
The Tsukumo Ore Shrine works in a similar way to the Paddle Scoop, except this one needs to be placed on land and focusses on gathering ore. Whilst you’re away your obedient Tsukumo will gather ore for you and leave it for you to collect at the shrine. Be mindful to return regularly to check on their progress and take what they have gathered to stop it being at max capacity and no longer working for you.
Hunting Tower: Deep Probe
This upgrade to the Hunting Tower gives them the additional functionality of locating nearby Tsukumo and documents. This can make the hunt for them significantly easier, and allow you to grab them with ease. Definitely, one to work towards as you progress through the Karakuri Skill Tree.
Looking Glass
For those of you who want to change the look of your hunter after the initial configuration, the Looking Glass is for you. It can only be used in Minato, but it allows you to alter how you look and even allows you to change your hunter name too.
