FK, concerning the drop of the rift crystal:

Take that as you wish.

Thank you DiGs, I had kind of gone snooping around for that bit of info myself and wasn't successful. Unfortunately I ran across another spoiler which is the sort of thing I like to avoid, but what's done is done.

Oh, and my sis caught the Wealth mouse with String Brie. In case anyone was wondering.

I guess I'm the first one who nabbed the Goliath Field Mouse

I did so with my Chronster, Gold Base and an Ultimate Power Charm.

I need to nab a Raw Diamond mouse, and then I'll have caught all the mice in this area.

I can put a hold on that for now. Heading back to the warpath to farm as much gold as possible before Ronza's (hopefully) imminent visit.

I haven't really spent any time in the new area yet... I got so involved with my LG run that I don't want to leave just yet... I did get a few pieces of cheese so I may go in there to take a peak, but my main purpose in the LG areas was to work on trap upgrades...

That being said, I should be saving up for Rhonza... is the Warpath or the LG better for that than the Catacombs? I'm not worried about points.

46 pieces of Dewtheif Camembert left to burn through... I have 36 Dreamfluff herbs, plenty of Magic Essence and 84 Duskshade Camembert ready to go... I also still have 17 Graveblossom Cambert left from last trip... Not really focusing on the mini games though I may in the Sand Crypts as I still need both those mice... But currently I'm converting essences as I can.

That being said, I should be saving up for Rhonza... is the Warpath or the LG better for that than the Catacombs? I'm not worried about points.

Furoma, actually, if you've got the Kitty. Otherwise, I would say Warpath without buying charms. I find I don't really make money in the LG because of how expensive everything is.

ETA: Decided to max out my supplies on this first run and see where it takes me; after that I'm ditching for the LG. I might actually have to go to the LG and farm for Aleth essences to craft MagicalSC for the Riftago conversion, lolz. I recently converted all my essences up to see where I was at in my quest for the GAT and yeah, I don't have that many.

Stats, in case anyone was wondering. Trap setup is Monstro/Gold.
50 BSC: 9 Riftago Pots; used Ancient.
50 SSC: 0 Riftago Pots; used Super Power Charms
46 MSC: 7 Riftago Pots; used Super Power Charms

Using the MagicSC recipe to convert the pots. That's about 80 Riftago cheese? It's late; I can't do the math, lol. Using Champs for the Riftago; gives me more luck than Extreme Lucks and I'm not using Ultimate Luck charms here. Sorry, but no. And I won't be using any Ultimate Charms because, I, uh, will not have any for a very, VERY long time? Lol!

Top three money-making locations in the game as far as I'm aware....
1. Furoma, especially if you use King's Credits to buy crates of student tokens. Arm the Kitty and Wealth Charms and farm away.
2. Claw Shot City/Gnawnian Express. I made an enormous profit in these locations once I had my SLAC II and the train traps. It's the fastest I've ever personally built up a gold supply.
3. Fiery Warpath. The nice thing about the Warpath is that it also helps you progress in leveling and points, whereas the other two areas really don't. So this is usually the one I default to if I need gold.

The Living Garden is not a profitable location in terms of gold. I think I broke even there. Probably even lost money if you count the amount needed for traps and the Rift Base.

Re: Ronza. I'm not looking for her. If she shows up, great, but I don't see how they're going to slot her in between now and the next big expansion that will probably arrive mid to late May. My opinion might be different if I had lots of traps/bases to buy and not a lot of gold, but as soon as I can get the Rift Trap, I'm buying it.

Personal Rift Experience. I started off doing great. My first 24 hours I got quite a few potions, immediately got the 3 grass, 3 seeds, and 3 dusts with little leftover. But then my luck ran out and I crashed and burned. Tried again for a Shattered Carmine in the hopes of getting an Ultimate Charm but I never even attracted her. Went back and tried for the Goliath Field Mouse but got 0/4 catch rate. And then my potion drops slowed way down (I think I got 3 yesterday?) and I'm not getting as many grass as seeds and dust. Sooooo yeah.

I did look up catch rates on Horntracker. The Gold Tournament Base and Ultimate Power Charm are DEFINITELY the way to go. I didn't see another setup that even came close. So if I can get a third grass, that's the setup I'll be using this time around.

Oh, and I still need the Dream Drifter and Wealth Mice. They're playing hard to attract.

I'm taking a short break from the rift. I've set up to farm Mojos for a bit. I'm going to be hunting in absentia a lot today and tomorrow, so I figured that I'd set up in a spot that I could just focus on gold for a bit.

No kitty for me... I guess it's between the Warpath and Claw Shot City, though I do have a Furoma assignment... I shall have to think on this one... Thanks for the advice though

23 pieces of Dewthief left, 3 Dreamfluff Herbs, still more than enough magic essence. My supply of Duskshade now stands at 128 pieces.

Edit:

In regards to Rhonza: I'm saving due to the hype going on, also last few times I remember she was released around this time. Finally I wouldn't be surprised if the May release is tied to her visiting, just as the Rift was tied to the birthday. And no, this isn't wishful thinking. This is actually Wolfy dreading this impeding feeling of visitation because she is no where near ready, and is so caught up in current stuff she doesn't want to leave. XD However, the only reason I have the Trex trap is because of some help from a very generous mh friend, I'd like to return the favor

I totally understand. Good luck saving money for Ronza!

Once upon a time when MH was young and full of inexperienced hunters, Ronza came all the time to bring the best traps and bases. But since the game has outpaced the need for her uber wares, her visits have slowed to 1 year +. Her last few visits look like this....

March 2013
Jan/February 2012
January 2011
December 2009

So based on the pattern of about 13 months apart, perhaps she will appear sometime in April? We will see...

Well, I snagged my Goliath Field Mouse. I'm staying in the Rift for two reasons...One, I haven't caught two mice yet and I don't consider myself done with an area until all the mice are caught. Two, I'd like to get a small stash of Riftiago and Resonator Cheeses in anticipation for Easter Eggs.

Interestingly enough, my catch rate is now 100% so far, but because my luck is so low, I haven't had a single potion drop. Go figure...

People have different conceptions ... someone complained in the Cheese and Whine Forum that the area was far too easy.
It turned out he had caught the Goliath mouse with an Ultimate Charm. If he wants a challenge, then why use the UC?

I'm doing my gild Mojo project. 382 at the moment. When it's done, it's FW and MM - I think it's time to spend three of my 30 mil gold on a Sandtail Sentinel for the Rift after all. Or see if my 3rd FW run would give me a 2nd Metal ...

The Egg Hunt is going to interrupt this, of course.

Rather than keep spending gold on charms, I decided to try out some others. I've been using the lucky power charms in the rift and just had a streak of three catches in a row. I was rather surprised.

Make that four in a row. I've not done this well with any other charm and rifatgo so far. Current stats: 5 out of 7 mice caught using rift ago + monstro + lucky power + gtb

I would be in the 'far too easy' group Varna. Balack's Cove was a much bigger pain-in-the-rear than the Rift, and it's lower level.

I caught the Dream Drifter and Wealth Mice yesterday so I'm done with the Rift area as far as mice catches are concerned. I do think I'd like to get a few more potions in anticipation for Easter.

Taking a break from the Rift to finish up our treasure map. The last three mice are Z's Tower mice so I'm hoping I can snag them in one run. Most of the time I do, but sometimes I just get a rotten, unlucky run. Maybe I'll get Zugzwang's Left Sock...

I guess this is only one Rift area, and that there will be others - but it seems that the hardest part of it is getting the correct trap, then, and things are easier from there?
Perhaps the next Rift area will be harder, and even require more traps?

I'll find out later - I think I'll do some other things first, before I go back to the Rift.
But I'm glad they made it available from event items, otherwise I would have had to wait even longer

Finished up our treasure map (No Chesla trap ) so now I am in full-on Easter Egg prep mode. My to-do list is short, but could be made quite long.

~Catch the Chessmaster that's eluding my trap.
~Catch the Spice Merchant on my M400 assignment, and the mouse after that, which are the last two before the M400. I'll then hang onto the assignment in case of a M400 Easter Egg.
~Gather at least 2 more Riftiago potions.
~Optional: Spend a little bit of time in the Gauntlet. I anticipate a Tier 6 or Tier 7 egg. I have enough lower level cheese and potions, but they're lower level and will eat up a lot of hunting time if I have to do it during the egg hunt.
~Optional: Max out my Tower amplifier in case they add a new Tower egg.

I see on the news ticker that another Toxic Spill is imminent. I personally suspect it will overlap the Easter hunt and there will be Toxic eggs. My goal for the next spill was to get four more Canister Rings and upgrade to the Large Waste Barrel, but that may be hard to do if I'm hunting Easter Eggs at the same time.

I don't know when to expect the start off the egg hunt. Easter is much later this year.
2013: Spring Egg Hunt March 25 - April 22 ; Easter March 31
2012: Spring Egg Hunt April 4 - April 23 ; Easter April 8
2011: Spring Egg Hunt April 14 - May 10 ; Easter April 24 =
So I guess 2011 may be the model year.

ETA: I just had a gruesome thought. If the Gnawnia Rift took every Meadow mouse and made a Rift version of them, and the two new mice thus far are S.S. Huntington mice, that means there's going to be a Rift Shelder. AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

ETA April 1 @ 5:08pm CDT:
Updating my list...
~Got my Chessmaster, no sock.
~Got the Spice Merchant and the Gate Guardian after it. Ready for the M400.
~Had pretty good luck in the Rift so not only did I get more potions, I got a full set of Resonator Cheese (five pieces total) and I have about 30 Riftiago.
~And after doing great with that, I headed to the King's Gauntlet to burn through some cheese and remembered how much I hate this area (Sorry Paul ). I told myself I want at least 4 Tier 4 potions before leaving. I'm at 3 and I'm definitely out of here for the time being once I get that last potion.
~I think rather than the Seasonal Garden, I'm gonna head to the Living Garden area to work on the treasure map. I'll hit up the SG once the map is done.

Finally got the Goliath mouse. Bought the trap. I'm back in the warpath to try and recoup gold.