Well, as my brother has been exploring, he's been puzzled about what stats effect the exploration requires.

We know that power effects breaking objects, but beyond that, we're unsure.

What is good for areas you need to search? Skill? Int?

What about some pathways? Do only specific monsters have the ability to go into certain areas (like the volcano bridges, is that golem only?)?

Any help would be appreciated.

Actually none of that is really true. All areas of every map are accessible by any monster. For obstacles, higher INT -or- POW will make them easier. There aren't even any search areas since the objects found in each place during each season are pre-determined. Only the Red crystals have randomness to them. Each season, there is one red crystal that will be a monster fight. All the others will be objects. All Blue crystals will be a fruit (specific to that area). All orange crystals are events or obstacles and are pre-determined. Only the events that unlock monsters will require some specific conditions to be met. We have outlined them already.

Thors right. The only major factor other than Int/Pow is the species, though Im still testing my theory.

Well, I can say there is need for stats when searching. For example, on the Durahan task, my brother had a golem with over 700+ Life but less then 100 Int. He searched until the Golem was exausted but NO MATTER WHAT, he could NOT find the sword or sheath.

However, his next monster, a Xenon, has 999 Int. On the Durahan event, he found BOTH the sword and sheath in single tries.

Alternativly, the phoenix mission is proving to be impossible as there is nothing i nthe southeast corner of the map. He got the phoenix sighting and the golden peach, but the phoenix is nowhere on the map.

Also, is the central pyramid supposed to be inacessable? None of his monsters have yet been able to do anything with it, AKA, no crystal.

...except that the Durahan event requires no searching whatsoever. All it requires is that you show up in the right time frame. The same is true for the central pyramid in the volcano, which is a Zodiac event.
Something tells me that you're simply not following correct procedure and not showing up at the right time, meaning that your conclusion is based on an incomplete fact picture.

All right, so the time of year is important to finding monster unlocking items?

Well, then that would be important to list in the unlocking procedure as the only ones who DO have the unlock timeframe are the Henger and the Beaklon.

I'd stop asking these questions, but I can't seem to find the correct place on this site for the answers. No insult ment, I just must be rather poor at looking.

You might want to try here:

Monster Rancher Metropolis: Monster Rancher DS Archive (DS): Monster Rancher DS: Monster Rancher DS FAQ: Unlocking the 12 Locked Breeds

Sorry, but that didn't tell me anything I didn't already know.

I'm asking if TIME OF YEAR matters for, say, finding the durahan sword and sheath.

Why could my brother's Golem NOT find them, yet his Xenon found them instantly (he was ALWAYS searching the correct spots).

If it isn't listed, it doesn't matter.

You still have to do each spot in the correct order in many cases (like Durahan, Zan, Xenon).

Hmm... Well, here is an example, the best I can give.

Golem goes on the snowy expedition. See's the durahan. Goes into areas and searches spots for the sword and the sheath.

Cannot find sword.

Cannot find sheath.

Burns out 700+ health searching.

Xenon goes on the snowy expedition. See's the durahan. Goes into areas and searches spots for the sword and the sheath.

Finds sword instantly.

Finds sheath instantly.

I'm just wondering what caused THAT ^^.

Why could the Xenon find them, but the Golem could not?

Is the Golem of high enough Rank to find them?

I just translated the book again and it clearly states that the only requirement for finding the sword and the scabbard are finding the first Durahan. You can get the two items in any order, too. You only need a monster Rank B and breeder Rank B.

I have yet to have any kind of trouble getting this. I have played 4 different games. I have never needed a monster of any real power to do it. I use a piddly monster to get these unlocks. I only use a powerful monster for the ones that require a battle (like Joker, Hengar, and Xenon). Hell, even Phoenix required almost no effort.

Sounds like effects of some of the randomness built into the game. It can seem like a pattern, but, it's not.

I would agree with the randomness factor. I've had multiple kinds of monsters go out on the expeditions to unlock the rare breeds (Abyss, Falco, Pixie, Tiger, and Lesione), all of them found the required items on the first try. The only constant factor I had between all my monsters, if it even matters, was that they had Wits at Popular, Loyaly at Soulmate, and Form at Even.

Abyss isnt rare