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Harmony Stone, without any goals achieved
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Harmony stone with all goals achieved and song fragment returned
Harmony is an important aspect of Grow: Song of the Evertree, and a central theme to the entire game.
Lore
Myora, the source of all life in the Cosmos, is shaped by use of the Song of Myora, a song created by the most ancient of beings, and placed into the heart of the Evertree, where it creates seeds of life to grow in its branches and spread throughout the Cosmos. The Song exists in the hearts of all creatures, but only a few can hear it, and only the Aerum are known to be able to shape it. The power of Myora, however, is not infinite, and requires balance. The Everheart Alchemists understood this, and worked hard to maintain Harmony with the Evertree, monitoring the flow and needs of the Tree and the people who lived beneath its branches with Harmony Stones.
The methods of the Everhearts were not popular, however, and they became outcasts. When other alchemists began to use too much Myora, the efforts of the Everhearts were not sufficient, and discord began to creep into the Song, darkening the heart of the Evertree. Eventually, the discord was too much, and the Song itself shattered. When that happened, the Tree cried out - but only the Everkin heard and they fled, moving their home, Where-Ever, far enough away to be safe. Dark vines of The Withering began to creep across Alaria, destroying everything in its path, and those who survived fled in their ships back into the Cosmos. All except for the Apprentice.
The fragments of the Song remained behind as well, hidden in Vaults to protect them, perhaps in the hopes they would someday be found and reunited with the Evertree's heart.
Gameplay
In Grow: Song of the Evertree, the Apprentice has remained behind to find a way to repair the Song and heal the Evertree. In addition to using Alchemy to craft new World Seeds to help restore the flow of Myora, the Apprentice must reconnect with the Song of Myora, and restore Harmony and balance to the land of Alaria. This is accomplished through the use of Harmony Stones located in the center of the Town Square in each District. In order to push back the Withering and help heal the Tree, the Apprentice must accomplish three tasks in each District: locate a missing fragment of the Song, place the missing Song Fragment in a special chamber in the roots of the Evertree, and raise the Harmony level of the Town for that District.
Harmony levels are measured at the Harmony Stone, and are also reported by Book at the beginning of each day. The Harmony Stone is also used to track various goals that can be accomplished to increase Harmony significantly. The Apprentice must raise Harmony to 100%, which can be done both by completing the Harmony stone goals, and by meeting the needs of the Residents of the Town. Once Harmony has reached 100%, the Apprentice can sing to the Harmony Stone, which then pushes the Withering back further, unlocking the next District.
Ending
Harmony Stone Goals
Each Harmony Stone has between 6 and 8 goals, each of which is marked as 1, 2 or 3 stars. The stars indicate how much of a boost to Harmony is gained by completing that particular goal, with 3 star goals granting the highest percentage boost. Not all Harmony Stones list the same goals, so check the individual Districts to see what goals apply to that District.
Harmony stone goals become available on the 5th day of tree-tending, introduced in a cutscene by Elderkin
- Variety - Have x/x of unique buildings built - Must be different TYPES of buildings, so 3 small houses would count as 1, but 1 small and one large house would count as 2.
- Beautification - Customise x/x buildings x times - This means adding wallpapers or other decorations and tokens to the building in the building management interface. Note how many times each building must be modified to count towards the goal.
- Reclamation - Remove x/x blockers from the District - These are the giant piles of rubble, junk or Withering scattered around a Town area.
- Decorator - Place x/x Decorations around town - These are placed from the Decorations menu of the Build interface, so Trees, Shrubs, Flowers, Statues, Gazebos and Street Lamps all count.
- Town Size - Have x/x residents in town - This includes any Resident who has a home assigned - they do not have to be employed.
- Guardian - Complete x/x resident requests - A "Request" in this case is one that causes a"
" to appear above the Resident. - Artisan - Match x/x level 6 or higher jobs - Put residents in jobs where their skill for that job is 6 or more. Does not have to be a Dream Job.
- All Thumbs - Match x/x level 3 or lower jobs - Put residents in jobs where their skill is 3 or less for that job.
NOTE: Goals which require X/X of anything only need this to be true long enough to redeem the goal at the Harmony Stone. Reducing below this limit after redemption has no impact besides those documented in the minor district harmony impacts section below.
Minor District Harmony Impacts
Several minor actions can add up to major impacts to district happiness/harmony ratings. Opportunities to raise district happiness will be mentioned on the district management screen when examining specific residents. A non-comprehensive list of actions and impacts follow, it is assumed that undoing an action (e.g. removing a resident from a job or house) where possible reduces by the same percentage:
- Housing a resident: -(1-2%)* (Note that, due to the Resident starting with negative happiness from being unemployed, adding a Resident will actually cause the Harmony level to drop 1-2%)
- Employing a resident: 1-2%
- Employing a resident in their dream job: 1-2% on top of standard employment
- Housemate compatibility: 1% per happy pair, -1% per unhappy pair
- Giving an outfit-impacting gift: 2-3% (once per resident, cooldown unknown)
- Giving any gift: 1-2%
- Resolving a "!" Quest: 1%
- Resolving a Resident desire: 1-3%
- Upgrading a residence to 1/2/3-star quality: 0% (unless requested)
- Upgrading a business to 1/2/3-star quality: 0% (unless requested)
- Chatting with a resident: 0-1% (once per resident, cooldown unknown)
- Visiting/Living in a building w/ Good Times token: ???%
Many of these factors can overlap one another (e.g. a Resident desire from the resident management screen, quests, etc.) so exact percentage of impact to town happiness is difficult to calculate. Total impact of resident interactions also becomes more diluted as the resident population in a district increases.
Once Harmony has reached 100%, further increases are not displayed, the value caps at 100%, however, it is possible for District Harmony to drop below 100% after the Harmony Stone has been sung to.