04 February 2016

Lucky Wheel, Circus Monkey, Magic Bunny, Buddy System and Mystery Shops

This was an old post that I published when all the options first were released but I now am updating it to reflect new changes as well as giving more details about each.

Favourites Menu
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You now can organise your Neighbours' List by Favourites as well as the older options.  To create a Favourite, you first need to visit the Neighbour and then tap on the Heart icon next to the name of the Farm.  This will create a Favourite.  You need no response or reciprocal action from the Neighbour for this.

A nice addition to the Neighbour Icons are the three little icons that display all actions that can be taken on the Neigbhour's farm currently.  It may not always be accurate at this point in time but it is potentially very useful.  The three icons show whether or not a Cleanable Decoration is available, if there are Crops or Trees to be fertilised and whether there are Cooking Bags to collect from the Cooking Stand.

Buddy System
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I now have created an entire post dedicated to the Buddy System.  This one simply gives a few details.

The Buddy system is quite different.  This is a situation where there will be many new options and any Buddy chosen must accept.  At present, there is a limit of 15 Buddies for any farmer.  To choose a Buddy, you need to go to the Neighbour Menu and find the second (lower) tab, then tap on it.  You will see a list of your neighbours.  You can choose up to 15 if you have no Buddies and then send Requests to them all at once by filling the little box next to the farm name.  Neighbours thus chosen must accept your request before you can become Buddies.
There are Levels to the Buddy system and these will be available as time goes on.  You can see the special Gifts you can send and receive at specific levels by accessing your Gifts Menu and choosing the second tab.

You receive 1 Buddy Point for each of the 5 ordinary actions you can complete on a Neighbour's farm if that Neighbour is your Buddy and you will receive 1 Buddy Point for cleaning that Neighbour's Decoration as well.  If you eat at your Buddy's Cooking Stand, that is worth +1 Buddy Point in some cases, although so far that action sometimes yields zero points.   You therefore can receive 7 Buddy Points for one visit in some instances.

From the game itself:

Here is all the information you need about the Buddy system:  Grade up by collecting Buddy Points from helping on this buddy's farm.  Reach Buddy Grade 1 and discover many new activities!  For buddies on Grade 0, if you do not help each other for 3 days, your Buddy Connection will be cancelled.

Getting Rid of a Buddy
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A member of my group posted that, if you should find yourself removed as a Buddy, it does not necessarily mean that you were a 'bad' buddy.  I suspect there are many players who would like to have their personal friends as their Buddies.

There are three ways to get rid of a Buddy.  One is if the person does not interact with your farm for three days but this is the case only until you reach Level 1 with that Buddy.    The other two are more pro-active.  Simply go to the Buddy List in your Neighbour Menu and hold down that Neighbour's icon until it begins to shake and displays an 'x'.  You then will be able to remove that Buddy and any others you do not wish to keep.

WARNING:  The third way to remove both a Buddy and a Neighbour is by visiting that individual's farm and pressing the X to the right of the Farm Name.  This is a very quick way to remove a player who has been inactive for a long time, but be warned!  It is very easy to press that X by accident, especially if you are tired or not entire focused on the game.  Be very careful as it is awful to lose a good Buddy who has reached a higher level with you.  It takes time, energy, persistence and even money to raise Buddy Levels.

Here are some tips, however, on being a good Buddy:

Being a Good Buddy
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A Good Buddy will make his/her farm Buddy-friendly by making certain that there are sufficient Crops and Trees to be tended by ALL his/her Buddies.  If you have 15 Buddies, you need to have options for 5 ordinary actions (fertilisation or harvest) by each every day.  Furthermore, you need to have sufficient cleanable Decorations for all of your Buddies to clean as that action is worth 1 Point. For this purpose, the Decorations that can be purchased for Coins are as good as any.

Finally, Buddies can obtain 1 Point by eating at a Buddy's Cooking Stand.  At present, the current Contest is coming to an end, but when the next Contest begins, remember this option.

It is a very good idea, when you have unlocked more than one Buddy Tree to continue to buy and place all of them on your Farm.  You will find that a Normal Buddy Tree will upgrade quickly, leaving other Buddies no 'heart' actions to perform.  If you have all three of the Buddy Trees on your Farm, your Buddies all should be able to earn points and Rewards from performance of 'Heart' actions as well as the ordinary Neighbour actions.

Note:  Do not place your Buddy Trees BEHIND other trees as it can become impossible to interact with them if you do.  Do not stack your Buddy Trees too close to one another.  The one in front may become the only one with which your Buddies can interact.

Perhaps this is too much effort for some farmers.  There is no need to engage in the Buddy option if you find it too demanding.  Simply do not accept Buddy invitations and if you have, remove all your Buddies from your List if you feel you cannot be a 'Good Buddy'.

It is similar to the Friendship Flower option.  Although many players actively seek Friendship Flowers from Neighbours, there is the option to place an X on your Friendship plots to let Neighbours know that you do not want any more of them.

Messages to your Buddies:
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There are three different Gift options now in Seaside, accessed through one of two tabs.  The first tab gives the list of Free Gifts that can be sent to ALL Neighbours.  The second tab is for the Buddy Gifts.  There are two different types of Buddy Gifts:  Free Gifts and Special Gifts.  The Free Gifts can be sent to ALL Buddies who are at Level 1 or above.  The Special Gifts can be sent only to one Buddy at a time and there is a different price and different time interval for each.  A later section lists all of the Special Gifts with their time limits and prices.

Note though that you can send a personal message with any Special Gift to a Buddy.  If you feel your Buddy is not being active, please do send a query about this before you delete him or her.  There are inexpensive Special Gifts with Coin prices that can be used for this purpose.  Another message that can be useful is one that lets a Buddy know if he/she does not have a Buddy Tree currently on the farm or if the Trees are inaccessible.

Visiting your Buddies
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To visit your Buddies, first choose the second Tab in the Neighbour Menu.  This screen shows all your current Buddies and the three icons beneath each will show you what actions currently can be performed on their farms.   In the best circumstances, you should be able to earn 7 Buddy Points simply from performing ordinary Neighbour actions including fertilising/harvesting 5 Crops or fertilising 5 Trees, cleaning one Decoration and, if the option is current, eating from the Cooking Stand.

Remember that many of your Neighbours/Buddies have two farms.  If you cannot find any way to interact with Crops and Trees on the original Seaside Farm, go to the Island instead.  The only problem with this is that the Buddy Trees all must be placed on the original Farm.  There is a default menu for Neighbours that places a green mark in a box in the top right corner forcing farmers to go to the Island Farm, if it is open, rather than the original Farm.  I always get rid of that, because there are many reasons to go to the original Farm first.  One is that the Cooking Stand has to be placed on the original Farm.  The other is that Buddy Trees all must be placed on the original Farm.  You can travel freely from one farm to the other, however, using the same land globe icon on the top right of the screen that you use for travel between YOUR farms.

N.B.  The Buddy option appears to be a permanent addition to the game and there is NO time-restrcition to it.  Players are being rather impatient about Buddy interactions and tend to delete their Buddies quickly if the Buddy's total points are below specific values each day, but remember that this may not be the Buddy's fault.  It may be his/her Buddy who has been inactive!

Buddy Trees
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The game declares that:  You can help Buddy Trees a limited number of times.  Get your Buddy Grade higher to increase the limit.

Help your Buddy Tree with different items. It could give the Tree some Tree Hearts and Buddy Points for you also.

The Buddy Tree is a Level 1 option.  You reach Level 1 when you have a total of 100 Buddy Points in the game.

The game states:  Once you reach Buddy Grade 1, you will be able to unlock the Red Mystrons tab.  From here, you will be able to purchase such items as the Buddy Tree.

After purchasing the Buddy Tree, you will need to build it by tapping on it.  After that, you will need Buddy Hearts to grow it.  You will receive Buddy Hearts when your Buddies tend the Tree.  After it is grown, it will give a Reward to both you and your Buddy and then it will disappear.

Buddy Tree Rewards:
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When you go to your Buddy's Farm and tap on a Tree with the Heart icon, you will see the following:

For a Magic Wand: 5 Hearts, 2 Buddy Points, 1 silver Gift Bag containing 1 Red Mystron, 10 Coins, with a chance to receive 1 Green Watering can and 1 Blue bucket

For 1 Organic Fertiliser: 10 Hearts, 5 Buddy Points, 1 Red Gift Bag containing 2 Red Mystrons, 100 Coins, chance for Green Watering Can and 2 Buckets

For 1 Watering Can: 20 Buddy Hearts, 10 Buddy Points, 1 Blue Gift Bag containing 3 Red Mystrons, 100 Coins, change to get 3 green Watering Cans and 3 Buckets

For 1 RC: 100 Buddy Hearts, 50 Buddy Points, 1 Gold Gift Bag containing 6 Super Watering Cans, 10 Red Mystrons, 1 Power, 100 Coins, and a chance of 5 Green Watering Cans and 5 Buckets

You can grow any regular Buddy Tree to maturity with 5 Buddy Tree Fences or you can opt to use 5 RC (1 for each Buddy Tree Fence).

Some items for the Buddy Tree are found in the Mystery Shops.  They include:

Buddy Tree Sign: 2 Blue Mystrons
  4 available
Soil Shovel: 5 Blue Mystrons
  83 available

Other Items are available in the special new Buddy Free Gifts Menu, but not until you reach a higher Buddy Level than zero.  They include:

Buddy Tree Fence
  5 of these are needed to grow any Buddy Tree.  For the higher level of tree, you will need other items as well.

Magic Stick
  This can be used to tend any Buddy Tree

Soil Rake
  Used to upgrade a Cow Upgrader

Cheese Mould
  Used to upgrade a Cheese Upgrader

Broom
  No longer available.

Cement Bag
  This is used to upgrade the Decorations section of the Warehouse.

Note that some of these items are for the new Upgraders.

Gift Mailbox and Snow Bench
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These items no longer are available!!!

Daily Order Board
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The Board remains the same but now ALL Farmers will receive 1 Blue Mystron for each Order that is completed.  The Rewards path remains valid for farmers who have not completed it yet, with the Special Sheep in the wrapped Gift Boxes at intervals along the path but instead of having to wait until you have collected all the Sheep to receive any Blue Mystrons, they now will be given for each Order.  Blue Mystrons now can be used to purchase upgrade materials as well as for Decorations from past Missions and special Avatars.

If you wish to grow a Super Buddy Tree or a Mega Buddy Tree, you will have to use Blue Mystrons to purchase the

You now can refresh your entire Order Board during the course of any day by paying RC.  The maximum number of times that you can refresh is three times.  The first time it costs 1 RC, the second time costs 1 RC and the third and final time, you must pay 2 RC to refresh.  Note that on weekeneds, you sometimes will be able to refresh the entire Order Board by paying Coins for the first two and Green Mystrons for the third.  You always can choose to refresh a single order instead by pressing the reload icon to the right of the individual order.  The number of times you can refresh individual orders depends on your Club level.  The minimum is 2 times and the maximum is 7.  Note that refreshing your entire Order Board will reset the number of times you can refresh any individual order as well.   The highlighted Order originally was a temporary option when a specific special item such as the material for a Base was avaiable.  Now there always is one highlighted order on the Board.  If no special item is being offered, you will have a random Farm Aid in its place.  As of 4 February, for the next week, the highlighted Order will give the first Material for the new Planter Base.

Winter Decorations in Market
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The old Decorations that were removed from the Market last Spring have returned and remain in the Market as of the start of February.  Note, however, that they probably will be removed again soon to make way for the return of some of the Spring items that were removed last Summer.   These Winter Decorations include the following three that can be placed on the Snow Base:

Snow Globe: 2000 Coins
  +1 Charm

Snowman: 3 RC
  +2 Charm

Snow Man: 6 RC
  +4 Charm

Other Decorations with Charm value but that cannot be placed on the Base are:

Snowy Arch: 9000 Coins
  +6 Charm

Sledding Hill: 20000 Coins
  +8 Charm

Snowlauncher: 4 RC
  +6 Charm

Charm values usually are related to the size of the footprint of the item.


New Wheel
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A new Wheel of Luck is available in the Market.  It costs 100 Coins and when purchased can be placed either on your Farm or the Building Area.  You will find that the old Wheel now has to be accessed through the new one.  You will find them side by side when you tap on the new Wheel.

The regular Wheel originally was located off your Farm at the top of the screen.  The new Wheel is subject to your own placement and can be placed anywhere on the Building Plot area or on your own farm.

When you tap on the Wheel, you will access the first wheel.  As before, you will have one free spin daily.  Spinning this Wheel is one of the Daily Quest tasks so it is worth doing.

To the right of the first wheel is the Lucky Wheel.  You need Lucky Tokens to spin the Lucky Wheel.  Lucky Tokens can be acquired in a number of different ways.  You usually will obtain some randomly by opening the Reward Treasure Chests along the Daily Quest path.  You randomly can win either 20 Lucky Tokens or 100 Lucky Tokens by spinning the regular Wheel for 1 or 3 RC.  (Make certain you see the item on the Wheel before you pay!)  Finally, there are special options for obtaining Lucky Tokens that are released from time to time, such as the option to send 20 Lucky Tokens to a Buddy for the price of 10 Green Mystrons.

The items that you can receive from spinning the Lucky Wheel include some special items that you either can purchase for RC or place in the Share Box to the top right of the Wheel.  These special RC items include premium Trees as well as Decorations that are not available in the Market.  Other RC items include RC itself.  Every RC item except for the Decorations is sold at a slight discount usually.  In other words, if you find a Premium Tree that you lack in a Buddy's Share Box, you will be able to purchase it for a lower price than the price in the Market.  (The discount usually is 1 RC less than the ordinary price.)

The Decorations can be different prices.  In early February, you randomly can find the Robovase, the Flower Stand, the Bouquet Bunny and the Mini Eiffel Tower via the Lucky Wheel.  Prices vary from 12 RC to 20 RC.  The Valentine Beehive is randomly available for 20 RC.  It is a Beehive that only responds to Clover, like the ordinary Beehive.  The only difference is its colour and general appearance.

Note that for 25 RC, you can buy the Provence Beehive that uses Lavender to make the ingredient needed for every Perfume in the form of Provence Honey.  The only other Beehive that really is different from the ordinary one is the Super Beehive that can use a wide variety of flowers to make Honey.  The Starline Beehive does NOT use anything different but does operate faster.

Finally, the Lucky Tokens do expire at the end of any month, so make certain that you use them before the expiration date.  You will see the expiration date at the bottom of the Wheel.

Circus Monkey
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The Circus Monkey is another new option, found in the Buildings section of the Market for 1000 Coins.  It offers boosts to various activities.  Apart from this, you can access a Calendar when you tap on the Monkey, not only to schedule a boost but to see what special options may be available throughout the month.  Special Missions are denoted by an open book.  Weekly Activities are denoted by the icon of the Magic Bunny.  When special Tokens or other items are offered, they will be shown on the Calendar.  The Calendar shows a 7 day period.

To the left of the Calendar is a Wheel that shows all possible Boosts with their prices.  Prices will vary depending on the day when you schedule the boost.  The further in advance that you schedule a boost, the less you will pay for it.  You will have to pay two types of Mystrons for any boost.

Monkey boosts are:

Machines/animals produce in  half the time (4 hours)

Machines/animals need half OP (1 hour)


Get 2 fish with one catch (2 hours)


New zeppelin shipments take half the time  (10 hours)

Get 2 Mastery Points when producing  (4 hours)

You can schedule your boosts in advance and both Green and Blue mystrons are used to pay for them.

Carrie Spurgeon, a member of our Family Farm Seaside Freyashawk Group posted the following experience with the monkey:  I did a test last night on the monkey and it seems that the hour equates just to setting up the machines. I had 4901 op before doing so and set up 5 machines, 4 @ normal 2 ops per item and 1 @ normal 4 ops per item. Total items set up was for 631 items and op taken was 901 leaving me with a straight 4000 left, an average of 1.5 op per item. The times for each machine were between 1 hour 50m to over 6 hours. I opened up this morning and all items had been made and no more op taken. So I think that's a pretty good deal. Lots to sell or make into other things for very little op. I assume from this you could put all machines on for 24 hours! I paid 88 green and 22 purple tickets.

Magic Bunny
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The Magic Bunny, like many of the items originally purchased in the Market, now is found in the Building Plot area.  It is tied therefore to the specific expansion of the Building Area on which it is placed.  Once you unlock the expansion, you can move the Magic Bunny to any position either on the Building Area or on your farm.  Other items that are tied to Building Area expansions now are the Warehouse, the Cooking Stand, the Water Well and the Order Board.  Once unlocked by unlocking the appropriate expansion, you can move them freely as well.

The Magic Bunny has two separate screens.  The first is for special messages from the game in the form of Game Activity.  This announces new bases and sometimes special sale offers.

It is the second of the two screens, found by tapping the second tab that is more significant really. This one has the icon of Bunny Ears in a Hat on it.  It is the place where you can activate any current 'Weekly Activity'.  The Weekly Activity now appears to be bi-weekly so make certain that you do not miss one.  Often it is tied to a material needed to complete a seasonal Base.  The ordinary Reward for completing any Weekly Activity, however, is 10 Yellow Mystrons.  With a total of 100 Yellow Mystrons, you can buy special Decorations that were won in the past by completing time-restricted Quests.  Some are cleanable and some are not, but all have Charm point values.

Upgraders
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There are two Upgraders, one for Holstein Cow and the other for the Cheese Maker.  You will find a new tab in the Animal Menu for Upgraders and the same in the Machines Menu.  The Cheese Maker Upgrader costs 2000 Coins and the Holstein Cow Upgrader costs 1000 Coins.

The Upgraders are similar to Bases.  You need to first choose the Move tool and then the jigsaw icon to place the proper item (Animal or Machine) on its Upgrader.

You can buy other items for your Upgrader.

For the Cow Upgrader, these are:

Super Milk Container: 35 RC
  This is a Level 2 item that will allow you to add and collect 2 more products

Extra Milk Gadget: 25 RC
  This is a Level 5 item that will give you extra products 'by chance'... in other words, randomly.

For the Cheese Master Upgrader:

Super Cheese Container: 35 RC
  Level 2 item that allows you to add and collect 2 more products

Extra Cheese Gadget: 25 RC
  Level 5 item that will give you extra products 'by chance', i.e. randomly.

Note that the Upgraders can be stored.

Upgrading the Upgraders
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The upgraders can themselves be upgraded:

To upgrade any Upgrader, you need to use the Move Tool and then tap on the icon of the House with arrows that go in two directions.  It is the last icon.  You then will see what is needed for the upgrade.

Level 1 Cow:
Produce 100 Milk
5000 Coins
3 Soil (1 RC each)
Production speed increase of 10%

Level 2 Cow
Produce 250 Milk
8000 Coins
10 Soil Shovels (1 RC each)
30 Soil Rakes (Buddy gift)

Level 1 Cheese Master Upgrade
Produce 100 products (Cheese)
10000 Coins
3 Red Bricks (1 RC each)

Level 2 Cheese Master Upgrader
Produce 250 Milk Cheese
16000 Coins
10 Red Bricks (1 RC each)
30 Cheese Mould (Buddy Gift)

You will find some Level 5 Gadgets available in the Blue Mystron Shop now, including:

Low Fat Gadget: 100 Blue Mystrons
  Level 3 Item, allows Holstein Cow to produce Low Fat Milk

Milk Powder Gadget: 150 Blue Mystrons
  Level 5 item:  Allows Holstein Cow to produce Milk Powder randomly

Cheese Container: 50 Blue Mystrons
  Level 2 Gadget:  Add and collect 1 more product

Low Fat Cheese Gadget: 100 Blue Mystrons
  Level 3 Gadget:: You now can produce Low Fat Cheese

Blue Cheese Gadget: 150 Blue Mystrons
  Level 5 Gadget:  Get Blue Cheese randomly

Mozzarella Gadget: 500 Blue Mystrons
  Level 3 Gadget:  Produce Mozzarella (randomly I expect)

Other Items for Upgraders in Mystron Shops:

Winter Theme (Holstein Cow) 150 Purple Mystrons
Winter Theme (Cheese Master) 150 Purple Mystrons

Warning about Upgraders
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The basic Upgrader takes more space on your Farm than the item it houses, whether it is the Holstein Cow or the Cheese Master.  Unfortunately, each progressive upgrade of an Upgrader is larger, requiring more space.  If you have no clear space on your farm and you upgrade an Upgrader, you may see the horrible situation shown in the photo above.

This is a photo of the Level Editor.  The game will force you into it when any situation arises where the items on your Farm do not all have a space to be placed.  You then will be forced to sell something before the Menu will close.  The easiest solution is to sell some plots and then move items about until you can place the Item that caused the problem.  In this case, as previously indicated, it was the upgrade of an upgrader that required more space than the original.

It is a very good idea to keep some vacant space on your farm always to avoid this situation.  Harvest Moon FDC and Rosewood Farms now are so overcrowded that I have experienced this nightmare situation on both farms.  Try to avoid it if you can!

Message from Felicia
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There is a new tab in your Requests for Messages that has the icon of a gold envelope.  Access this to find a letter from Felicia with some Farm Aids attached to it.




Other New Mystrons
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Festival Mystron Shop is no longer available.

We now have a total of 5 Mystery Shops in Seaside.  The first is Coins, then Green Mystrons, Purple Mystrons, Yellow Mystrons, Blue Mystrons and Red Mystrons.

You will unlock the Red Mystron Mystery Shop when you have a Grade 1 or Level 1 Buddy.

Blue Mystrons formerly could be obtained only by players who had completed the entire Reward Path for the Daily Order Board.  Now all players can earn them daily.  You earn one for every Daily Order that you complete.  As indicated above, you now can pay RC to refresh your entire Order Board a few times each day.   The first one costs 1 RC and the second may cost 1 or 2 RC and so on. Players now appear to be able to refresh three times each day for the most part.

You will find that materials used to upgrade some of the new items now will appear randomly in the various Mystron Mystery Shops.

Buddy System in Detail
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A Simple Introductioin
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As some readers know, I have a group on Facebook named Family Farm Seaside Freyashawk and since the Buddy System was introduced, our page has been bombarded with questions from group members as well as a great deal of confusion.  We all are learning how to use this new option, but I feel I may be able to help by providing a quick, simple introduction as how to begin to interact with it.

First of all, you need to have a few Buddies... 15 is the maximum number and the reason why you might prefer to have that number is mainly in order to be able to request 15 of the special Buddy Gifts per day. Note, however, that the Buddy System only really becomes active when at least one of your Buddies reaches Level 1 with you.  Until then, all you can do is rack up points by visiting your Buddies' Farms daily to fertilise/harvest and clean 1 Decoration.  When the Cooking Stand Contest is active, you can earn 1 Point by eating at your Buddy's Cooking Stand.

When one Buddy reaches Level 1 with you, all sorts of new options will become available.  You will find the Red Mystron Mystery Shop has been unlocked to allow you to purchase your first Buddy Tree.  Place that on your farm immediately.  To grow it, you either will need 5 Fences or 5 RC or a combination of these.  Do make the effort to grow it as quickly as possible because your Level 1 Buddies cannot interact with a baby Tree.

The other option that became available was the Snow Bench and the Gift Mailbox.  You now cannot buy these any longer but you still can interact with existing Benches and Mailboxes that still are on your Buddy's farm.   Unlike the Buddy Tree, which will vanish when it has been upgraded to 100% by your Buddies, the Bench and Mailbox will continue to grow to another level.  Why do you want these items?  They did give Festival Mystrons but now they only increase Buddy Points both for you and for your Buddies.    It is the Buddy Tree that will continue to be an active part of the Buddy interactions now that the Bench and Gift Box no longer are being sold.  As of 21 January, you will not be able to craft the special items used for the two holiday Buddy items nor interact with them... in fact, they may simply vanish even if incomplete.

You could begin to craft Buddy Items even before you have reached Level 1 and I have given the Recipes below.  Two were made in the Beauty Shop on your original Seaside Farm and the other one is made on the Island using both the Glass Factory and the Workshop there.  These no longer are available either.

A free Gift that can be used to tend ANY size of Buddy Tree is the Magic Stick.  If you do not wish to use Fertiliser, Watering Cans or RC to tend Buddy Trees, request the Magic Stick.  The number of Magic Sticks that you need to use will depend on the type of Buddy Tree.  The ordinary Buddy Tree requires only 1, but the Mega Buddy Tree requires 3.

NOTE THAT THE NUMBER OF TIMES THAT YOU CAN TEND ANY BUDDY ITEM WITH HEART ACTIONS DEPENDS ON YOUR LEVEL WITH THAT BUDDY.  In other words, if you are Level 1 with a Buddy who has a Mega Buddy Tree, you can tend it once and it will require 3 items for that single action, but if you are Level 2 with that Buddy, you can tend it TWICE and it will require a total of 6 items.

It is at Level 2 in the Buddy System that you will be able to access the Lucky Wheel on any Buddy Farm and purchase items that the Buddy has placed in the 'Share' box.  Items that you have placed in your 'Share' box will be available to your Level 2 Buddies.  When you reach Level 2 with any Buddy, you will be able to perform 2 'Heart' actions on his/her Farm.  At Level 3, you can perform 3 Heart Actions I believe.

Note that items that are purchased from your Share Box, even if the price is an RC price will give you only Coins and 1 Lucky Wheel Token for each item purchased.

When a Buddy has purchased an item from your Share Box, please remember to clear that item from the Box.  This makes it less frustrating for other Buddies who access the Box (as they no longer will see the item there) and it allows you to collect the Reward.

A nice little benefit of having Buddies at Level 1 or above is that you can request both a Buddy Gift and a regular Free Gift from each of them on a daily basis.

Share Box Items
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Players are asking which items should be placed in the Share Box.  I personally advise players to place the Trees that can be purchased only for RC but more importantly, the Decorations that are included as Theme Items in the current Farm Beauty Contest.  These are the Ice Swan, Ice Cat, Ice Dolphin and the Polar Bear on Igloo.  I believe the price of each is 15 RC but they ARE Theme items.  Remember that duplicates do not count in terms of theme but only for Charm Points.  I suggest that players do not purchase duplicate Decorations until all Buddies have had a chance to acquire the Theme Decorations.  It is not that easy to obtain them on the Wheel.

Other items that players may want are the little Avatars.  Fertiliser and Watering Cans are always useful to some players but can be purchased easily enough from the Market.  The RC sometimes is discounted.  For example, in the Share Box, 7 RC can be purchased for 6 RC.  That's a good deal.

Ordinary Neighbour Actions and Buddy Heart Actions
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The ordinary Neighbour actions that you perform when you visit any Neighbour are the same actions that you need to perform whenever you visit a Buddy's farm but beyond this, there are special 'Heart' actions that can be performed once you reach Level 1 with any Buddy.  The 'Heart' actions help to grow a Buddy Tree or a special Buddy item like the Snow Bench or Gift Mailbox.  At Level 0, you will not be able to perform any Heart actions.  At Level 1, the default number of Heart actions you can perform is 1 action per day, although the game sometimes will allow double that on special weekends or holidays.  It is when you reach Level 2 with a Buddy that the default number of Heart Actions increases to 2.

Tips for Buddy Interactions
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The Buddy System has been the subject of far too many posts, but I promised to address it again. First of all, it takes considerable time, energy and even cash sometimes to build a Buddy Relationship first to Level 1 and then to Level 2. If some one has made that investment, please do try to keep the relationship alive. As a host, please try to keep at least two out of the three Buddy Trees on your Farm so that your Buddies always can interact with an item for 'heart' points. If you still have a Bench or Mailbox, please add the Trees as well. If your Buddies have items still that can be used to upgrade them, they WILL do that first, but many no longer have any items they can use, so please make certain you have trees on your farm as well. When unlocked, you can have one of each type of Buddy Tree. For low level farmers, it often is easier to interact with the ordinary Buddy Tree that requires only a single item. You will increase your Buddy Level faster with the Mega Buddy Tree, but some farmers cannot afford to give 3 items or, at Level 2, 6 items... so try to keep a regular or Super Tree on the farm as well. If you are the visitor in the Relationship, even low level farmers can visit daily to clean a decoration, tend or harvest Crops and eat at the Cooking Stand. Finally, please, please make certain that you have cleanable Decorations on your Farm. Even at low levels, you can buy some of the Coin Decorations and although they are not worth much in terms of rewards when cleaned, they have the same value as any Decoration that gives a Blue Box in terms of increasing Buddy Points. Send Buddy Gifts to your Buddies daily... if you keep three Trees on your Farm, you need 15 Buddy Fences for that. If you have a Buddy who does not have 15 Buddies, he/she may need Fences desperately and low level farmers really really need the Magic Sticks. In terms of special gifts, two of the paths have a coin cost... if you need to increase Buddy Points, send those back and forth.

Finally, COMMUNICATE with your Buddy if you are unhappy with him/her before you delete that Buddy!  By sending a Special Gift to the Buddy, you not only earn Buddy points but you have an opportunity to send a personal message to him/her.  If the Buddy has no Tree on his/her farm, let the Buddy know by attaching a message to that effect to your Special Gift.   Even at Level 1, you can send the Stone and Flower Path for 500 Coins or the Forest Road for 800 Coins.  You can send each of these every hour to a Buddy so take advantage of this both to communicate with your Buddies and to increase your Buddy Level especially when you are trying to reach Level 2.

Gift Mailbox and Snow Bench Expiration
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The Gift Mail Box and Snow Bench were set to expire on Twelfth Night, the traditional last day of Christmas on 6 January but were extended.  They now no longer can be purchased.  You can interact with them if they still are on a Buddy's Farm but the prizes you will receive now contain Green Mystrons instead of Festival Mystrons for the most part.

 Buddy System
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The new Buddy system is quite different from the Neighbour Menu.  This is a situation where there will be many new options and any Buddy chosen must accept.  At present, there is a limit of 15 Buddies for any farmer.  To choose a Buddy, you need to go to the Neighbour Menu and find the second (lower) tab, then tap on it.  You will see a list of your neighbours.  You can choose up to 15 if you have no Buddies and then send Requests to them all at once by filling the little box next to the farm name.  Neighbours thus chosen must accept your request before you can become Buddies.

Note that when a Buddy increases his/her Level from 0 to 1, you must Confirm the Buddy relationship again.  At Level 1, real interactions begin in the form of tending Buddy Trees on Buddy Farms and,  during the holiday season, tending the Snow Bench and Gift Mailbox.

The Snow Bench and Gift Mailbox are temporary Buddy items released in order to allow players to earn more Festival Mystrons.  One only earns a few through these Buddy interactions, however and now, none at all.

There are Levels to the Buddy system and these will be available as time goes on.  You can see the special Gifts you can send and receive at specific levels by accessing your Gifts Menu and choosing the second tab.

You receive 1 Buddy Point for each of the 5 ordinary actions you can complete on a Neighbour's farm if that Neighbour is your Buddy and you will receive 1 Buddy Point for cleaning that Neighbour's Decoration as well.  If you eat at your Buddy's Cooking Stand, you gain 1 Point as well.   You therefore can receive 7 Buddy Points for one visit in some instances.

From the game itself:

Here is all the information you need about the Buddy system:  Grade up by collecting Buddy Points from helping on this buddy's farm.  Reach Buddy Grade 1 and discover many new activities!  For buddies on Grade 0, if you do not help each other for 3 days, your Buddy Connection will be cancelled.

Getting Rid of a Buddy
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A member of my group posted that, if you should find yourself removed as a Buddy, it does not necessarily mean that you were a 'bad' buddy.  I suspect there are many players who would like to have their personal friends as their Buddies.

There are two ways to get rid of a Buddy.  One is if the person does not interact with your farm for three days.  The other is more pro-active.  Simply go to the Buddy List in your Neighbour Menu and hold down that Neighbour's icon until it begins to shake and displays an 'x'.  You then will be able to remove that Buddy and any others you do not wish to keep.

I personally would advise players to be patient with their Buddies.  Sometimes a player who wants to be a good Buddy cannot access the game.  During the Holiday season, people are busier than usual.  Delete a Buddy and you will have to start at zero points with any new Buddy.

Here are some tips, however, on being a good Buddy:

Being a Good Buddy
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A Good Buddy will make his/her farm Buddy-friendly by making certain that there are sufficient Crops and Trees to be tended by ALL his/her Buddies.  If you have 15 Buddies, you need to have options for 5 ordinary actions (fertilisation or harvest) by each every day.  Furthermore, you need to have sufficient cleanable Decorations for all of your Buddies to clean as that action is worth 1 Point. For this purpose, the Decorations that can be purchased for Coins are as good as any.

Finally, Buddies can obtain 1 Point by eating at a Buddy's Cooking Stand.  At present, the current Contest is coming to an end, but when the next Contest begins, remember this option.

Perhaps this is too much effort for some farmers.  There is no need to engage in the Buddy option if you find it too demanding.  Simply do not accept Buddy invitations and if you have, remove all your Buddies from your List if you feel you cannot be a 'Good Buddy'.

It is similar to the Friendship Flower option.  Although many players actively seek Friendship Flowers from Neighbours, there is the option to place an X on your Friendship plots to let Neighbours know that you do not want any more of them.

To visit your Buddies, first choose the second Tab in the Neighbour Menu.  This screen shows all your current Buddies and the three icons beneath each will show you what actions currently can be performed on their farms.

Remember that many of your Neighbours/Buddies have two farms.  If you cannot find any way to interact with Crops and Trees on the original Seaside Farm, go to the Island instead.

N.B.  The Buddy option appears to be a permanent addition to the game and there is NO time-restriction to it.  Players are being rather impatient about Buddy interactions and tend to delete their Buddies quickly if the Buddy's total points are below specific values each day, but remember that this may not be the Buddy's fault.  It may be his/her Buddy who has been inactive!

It is only when a Buddy reaches Level 1 with you that you can take full advantage of the system by tending his/her Buddy Tree or, during the holiday season, the Snow Bench and Gift Mailbox.  When these items are fully grown or upgraded, both you and your Buddy can receive a Gift Bag.  In the case of the Buddy Tree, it will contain Red Mystrons, Coins and Farm Aids.  In the case of the Snow Bench and Gift Mailbox, it will contain a few Festival Mystrons, Coins and some Farm Aids.

You need 100 Buddy Points to go from Level 0 to Level 1.  You need a total of 1100 Points to go from Buddy Level/Grade 1 to Buddy Level/Grade 2.

At Level 2, the Share box for the Lucky Wheel becomes available to you.  You can purchase special items then that your Buddy has 'Shared' from the Wheel.

Delaying the Upgrade to the Buddy Tree
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At Level 1, there appears to be a limit as to the number of Buddy Trees you can buy on any given day.  You only can purchase one Buddy Tree apparently.  What this means is that, should you perform the upgrade when it reaches 100% through the actions of one or more of your Buddies, the Tree will vanish and you will not be able to place and grow another until midnight.

I noticed, however, that if you do NOT Claim the upgrade instantly, other Buddies can continue to perform their actions on the Tree and after you have claimed the current Tree, those actions (percentages for the upgrade) will go to the next Tree.  Furthermore, to delay the upgrade is kinder to your Buddies who are trying to increase their Points and Rewards.  At present, my Buddy Tree on Rosewood is at 160%.  Instead of claiming it now, however, I will wait until a point that is closer to midnight.  What possible advantage can it be to me to claim it earlier if I cannot plant another earlier?  At midnight, however, the game will reset as far as the Mystery Shop is concerned, and I will be able to purchase and grow another Buddy Tree.

When to place two Buddy Trees
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The number of Buddy Trees that you have grown to harvest determines the ability to unlock the next Level of Buddy Tree.  When we temporarily were given the option to perform two 'Heart' actions on ANY Buddy's farm, I suggested that we all place both a regular Buddy Tree and a Super Buddy Tree on our Farms to enable each Buddy to perform 2 Heart Actions.  At this point, however, having both may retard your ability to unlock the Mega Buddy Tree as you need to have grown a total of 10 Super Buddy Trees to unlock the final Level.

If most of your Buddies are at Level 1, the default number of Heart actions for them to perform is only 1 per day.  It is only when 15 Buddies each have two Heart Actions available that it benefits THEM if you place two Trees.  It does not really benefit you much as you really want as many points as possible to go to the Super Tree to complete its upgrade.

Easiest Buddy Actions
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Easiest Buddy Actions: It is difficult for low level farmers to participate in the Buddy System fully and higher levels need to help them.  The BEST way to help your low level buddies is by trying to keep a Buddy Tree on your farm at all times. Once you unlock a Super Tree, you can place TWO Trees, one an ordinary one and the other the Super Tree. Some may not have enough space for this, but if you do, I urge you to do this. The Buddy Trees can be helped with nothing more rare than Watering cans and Fertiliser, but for low level Farmers, it is the Magic Stick that you can request as a Buddy Gift that you can use to tend Buddy Trees without any cost at all in Farm Aids.

For a Buddy who does not wish to spend RC, obviously the first step is to bring 15 buddies to Level 1 at least so you can request gifts from them on a daily basis.  If you have 15 Level 1 Buddies, I suggest at this point in time that you request 5 Fences and 10 Magic Sticks per day.  If your Buddies are active players, they should be logging into the game on a daily basis and you should be able to receive all 15 items.

Buddy Trees
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The game declares that:  You can help Buddy Trees a limited number of times.  Get your Buddy Grade higher to increase the limit.

Help your Buddy Tree with different items. It could give the Tree some Tree Hearts and Buddy Points for you also.

The Buddy Tree is a Level 1 option.  You reach Level 1 when you have a total of 100 Buddy Points in the game.

The game states:  Once you reach Buddy Grade 1, you will be able to unlock the Red Mystrons tab.  From here, you will be able to purchase such items as the Buddy Tree.

ALL YOU NEED IS ONE BUDDY AT LEVEL 1 TO UNLOCK THE BUDDY TREE AND RED MYSTRONS SHOP.

After purchasing the Buddy Tree, you will need to build it by tapping on it.  It takes a total of five Buddy Fences to 'build' a Buddy Tree. After that, you will need Buddy Hearts to grow it.  You will receive Buddy Hearts when your Buddies tend the Tree.  After it is grown, it will give a Reward to both you and all the Buddies who helped to tend it and then it will disappear.

Specifically, you need 5 Buddy Fences to build it.  These can be requested or you can spend 1 RC for each, making a total cost of 5 RC.  Once the Tree is grown, any Buddy who has not exhausted his or her allotment of activities on your Farm can tend the Tree.  There are different items that give different amounts of Hearts to a Tree.  A total of 100 is needed to fully upgrade it and deliver the Reward.  By spending 1 RC, you can upgrade any Buddy Tree instantly.

Buddy Tree Rewards:
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When you go to your Buddy's Farm and tap on a Tree with the Heart icon, you will see a list of the following items or tools that can be used with their effects and the sort of Reward that you will receive for using each:

For a Magic Wand: 5 Hearts, 2 Buddy Points, 1 silver Gift Bag containing 1 Red Mystron, 10 Coins, with a chance to receive 1 Green Watering can and 1 Blue bucket

For 1 Organic Fertiliser: 10 Hearts, 5 Buddy Points, 1 Red Gift Bag containing 2 Red Mystrons, 100 Coins, chance for Green Watering Can and 2 Buckets

For 1 Watering Can: 20 Buddy Hearts, 10 Buddy Points, 1 Blue Gift Bag containing 3 Red Mystrons, 100 Coins, change to get 3 green Watering Cans and 3 Buckets

For 1 RC: 100 Buddy Hearts, 50 Buddy Points, 1 Gold Gift Bag containing 6 Super Watering Cans, 10 Red Mystrons, 1 Power, 100 Coins, and a chance of 5 Green Watering Cans and 5 Buckets

You can grow any regular Buddy Tree to maturity with 5 Buddy Tree Fences or you can opt to use 5 RC (1 for each Buddy Tree Fence).

YOU NEED A TOTAL OF 100 BUDDY HEARTS TO COMPLETE A BUDDY TREE'S UPGRADE.  YOU CAN DO THIS IMMEDIATELY FOR A NEIGHBOUR BY SPENDING 1 RC.

The problem with this is that a Buddy is limited to the number of Buddy Trees he/she can purchase in a day and with 15 Buddies, each one should have the opportunity to interact with Buddy items every day.

Limit to Actions
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At Level 1, the developers temporarily allowed us to interact twice with any Buddy item on any Buddy's farm per day.  On my Level 1 Buddy's Farm, on the little Buddy Tree icon on the top right, it showed 2/2 when I had performed two Buddy Heart actions.  The prompt states that: You can help Buddy Trees a limited number of times.  Get your Buddy Grade higher to increase the limit.

Now, however, the default number of actions has become 1.  You will see this reflected in the little tree bar on your screen.

Heart actions now are limited to the Buddy Trees.  At higher Buddy Levels, you will be able to perform more Buddy Heart Actions.     When you have performed one 'Heart' actions on any given day, you will not be able to perform more at Level 1 on any Buddy Farm.

It looks as though you need 1100 Points to go from Buddy Level 1 to Level 2 or Grade 1 to Grade 2.

Some items for the Buddy Trees and Upgraders now are found in the Mystery Shops.  They include:

Buddy Tree Sign: 2 Blue Mystrons
  4 available:  These are used to build a higher type of Buddy Tree

Soil Shovel: 5 Blue Mystrons
  83 available:  These are used for the Cow Upgrader

Milk Container: 50 Blue mystrons
  These are used for the Cow Upgrader

Low Fat Gadget: 100 Blue Mystrons
  This is used for the Cow Upgrader

Milk Powder Gadget: 150 Blue Mystrons
  This is used for the Cow Upgrader

Red Bricke: 5 Blue Mystrons
  This is used for the Cheese Upgrader

Cheese Container: 50 Blue Mystrons
  This is used for the Cheese upgrader

Low Fat Cheese Gadget: 100 Blue mystrons
  This is used for the Cheese Upgrader

Blue Cheese Gadget: 150 Blue Mystrons
  This is used for the Cheese Upgrader

Mozzarella Gadget: 500 Blue Mystrons
  This is used for the Cheese Upgrader

Other Items are available in the special new Buddy Free Gifts Menu, but not until you reach a higher Buddy Level than zero.  They include:

Buddy Tree Fence
  5 of these are needed to grow any ordinary Buddy Tree

Magic Stick
  This is an item used to upgrade a Buddy Tree on a Buddy's Farm.

Soil Rake
  Used to upgrade a Cow Upgrader

Cheese Mould
  Used to upgrade a Cheese Upgrader

Broom
  No longer available

Cement Bag

Note that some of these items are for the new Upgraders.

Special Gifts
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There now are a total of three options in the Free Gifts Menu.  The first is for the ordinary gifts that can be requested and sent to Neighbours.  The other two are strictly for Buddies.  Tap on the Buddy tab and you will see two choices.  One is for regular Buddy Gifts and the other for Special Gifts.  The Special Gifts are NOT free, but some can be pirchased with Coins or Green Mystrons.

Note here that there is an advantage to sending Special Gifts even if the recipient does not need them.  Every Special Gift has a Buddy Point value and increases your Buddy rating.

At present the list is:

20 Lucky Tokens: 10 Green Mystrons
Super Fertiliser: 1 RC  (3 Buddy Points)
Super Fertiliser (25): 3 RC (9 Buddy Points)
Super Watering Can (25): 6 RC  (18 Buddy Points)
Organic Fertiliser (1) 100 Coins  (1 Buddy Point) (Must be Grade 4 to send)
Watering Can (1) 100 Coins  (1 Buddy Point)  (Must be Grade 4 to send)

Rose Fence: 1 RC  (1 Buddy Point)
Christmas Fence: 1 RC  (1 Buddy Point)
Big Snow Flake Fence: 1 RC  (1 Buddy Point)
Flower Hedge: 1 RC  (1 Buddy Point)
Macaron Road: 1 RC  (1 Buddy Point)
Elephant: 10 RC (30 Buddy Points)
Stone and Flower Path: 500 Coins  (1 Buddy Point)
Forest Road: 800 Coins  (1 Buddy Point)



All Special Gifts set a timer when sent.  You have to wait until the timer expires before you can send another.

Extra Reward for Buddy Tree
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Before your tree is fully upgraded by any Neighbour, you have an option to choose an extra Reward.  The options depend on how many of the Trees you have grown.

For the first Tree, the option is to choose between 700 Coins or 15 Red Mystrons

For the 2nd Tree, the option is to choose between 15 Festival Mystrons and 2200 Coins

Tap on the little i to access the Menu.

There appears to be a limit as to the number of Buddy Trees you can buy per day.   You should be able to buy another after midnight though.


Transport
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Note that any items made on the Island like the Crystal Giftbox have to be transported to the Seaside Farm before you can use them to tend Buddy Items.

Super Buddy Tree
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When you have grown and upgraded 5 regular Buddy Trees, you will unlock the Super Buddy Tree in the Mystron Shop.  To build the Super Buddy Tree, you will need:

2 Buddy Tree Signs
 Blue Mystron Shop for 2 Blue Mystrons each

5 Tree Fences
  Request to Buddies or pay 1 RC for each

5 Blue Buckets
  This can be obtained as a Reward for tending Buddy Trees or as a Request to ANY Neighbour.or pay 1 RC for each

When the tree is grown, you will need 400 Buddy Hearts before the upgrade is complete.

Mega Buddy Tree
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When you have purchased the Super Buddy Tree ten times, you will unlock the Mega Buddy Tree for 3000 Coins in the Mystery Shop.  It is build with the following:

4 Buddy Tree Signs:
  Buy in Blue Mystron Shop (Buy 4 for 2 Blue Mystrons) or pay 1 RC for each
  N.B.  You only can buy 1 set of 4 per day from the Mystery Shop

5 Buddy Tree Fences
  Ask from Buddy or buy for 1 RC each

5 Green Watering Cans
  Receive in Buddy Reward Bag from helping other Buddy Trees or buy for 1 RC each

The Mega Buddy Tree needs 1200 Heart Points to upgrade.

REWARDS
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RC Reward had 2 Festival Mystrons and 1000 Coins,
Reward had Shellbox Festival Mystrons 3 and 600 Coins

Gold Buddy Tree Reward: 100 Coins, 1 Power, 10 Red Mystrons, 5 Blue Buckets
Blue Buddy Tree Bag Reward: 100 Coins, 3 Red Mystrons

Note that I believe all these to be the BASIC guaranteed Reward... you have a chance of obtaining a bonus in each case.


Super Buddy Trees and Mega Buddy Trees
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After you have purchased 5 Buddy Trees, the Super Buddy Tree will be unlocked.

The Blue 'Bucket, a Reward found in some of the Bags given for helping your Buddies with their Buddy Trees  is used on the Super Buddy Tree.

The Green Watering Can, a Reward found in some of the bags given for helping your Buddies with their Buddy Trees is used on the Mega Buddy Tree.



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