Foreword
First up, thanks for taking a minute to read this short guide! Well, guide is a stretch.
Second up, Quintar racing and breeding is exceptionally expensive.
Races cost 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 silver respectively, and award five times that on a 1st place showing. You need 1st place showings for breeding better Quintar. It's a vicious, expensive cycle.
Save your game! Run lots of tests on races you have not run, and reload your save. You'll blow through money so fast otherwise your head will spin- But once you have them down, you can make a great deal of gold in 20-30 seconds.
Quintar Breeds
Red/Blue/Aqua/River- You wont be getting much if any assistance from their special abilities if they have any. Plan to run them as they are, and expect to need tight jumping reflexes to win consistently.
Desert- Very fast, but also screwy loose and floats on its movement. You are going to be winning by a mile and suddenly losing by a mile after you bungle the controls on this dude a few times in a row, but that's the price you pay for speed.
Black- Actually worse at racing than standard Quintar if you do not make use of its floating as much as possible. Powerful on Undersea Trail (Race 4), but will likely give you conniption fits in every other race due to slower jump reset and height gain.
Highland- Straight up the best racer. The jump height of 2 actually makes every race but Undersea Trail a cakewalk. Due to it bonking its head in that race, Undersea Trail will be harder instead. Such as it goes.
Golden- Slightly worse than the Highland in my opinion due to slow height gain, but if you've gotten this far you are blowing through races and making bank.
Race 1- Northern Stretch:
Your first race in the snowy highlands. A short race overall, but you have a couple opportunities for skipping ahead. The first will be this cliff here;
https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/1861683640389283540/73483F4098A6D6E461C4A15E2A9A42EC426CFCA4/?imw=256&&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false
You want to jump and land in the snow between the trees, and use it to your advantage. This gives you a solid early lead, as long as you can navigate the ruins without bumping your head too much. Once you get into the loop cave, you have another option, assuming you're in 2nd or 3rd and need a boost- If you're in first, just keep running.
https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/1861683640389294075/4A67A431F63AB7F97FB7C23E61D4AE3883F02985/?imw=256&&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false
You can quite literally catch a ride on top of one of your opponents. In fact, if you do this correctly you can ride them to other spots... In this case, jump from their head to the right and you pretty much win. In case you are not, though...
https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/1861683640389298125/F3B4839B0080BFDCAB63A6D0E6A538E0CDE72F04/?imw=256&&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false
These pillars will help you if you can nail them, but you are more than likely going to scuff it by this point. No harm in trying, though. The first race is super easy to abuse with any species.
Race 2- Eastern Chasm:
This race is likely the most frustrating one to screw up on, due to falls being so long you will never win if it happens. The leading racer you square up against is a Highland Quintar, but he doesn't take any shortcuts, so he's not too bad.
The entire trick to this race is actually taking your time learning the jumps and getting comfortable with practice... Or breeding a Highland Quintar of your own. Cutting every corner will get you in the lead easily, and when near the end of the race you can take advantage of "Accidents" by preventing the Highland Quintar's jumping path and jumping into him. He should fall off the railing, and this works on any spot you could fall yourself, really.
https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/1861683640389302244/7CCA6B16EE21E376B05F00D1F787D8B8AF0C79C8/?imw=256&&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false
If you have a Highland yourself, this little shortcut will lead you north straight to the finish line. The Black Quintar does respectably well here too, making most jumps comfortable.
Race 3- The Chalice Of Tar:
This dreaded race eluded me until i noticed something rather funny...
You don't have to follow the other racers. While this might apply to other races as well, here it is a near requirement to win if you are not a Desert Quintar rider. Simply follow the path until you arrive here...
https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/1861683640389320514/D9C984DB3BDA3ADA7426347CA7363EF58CC310E3/?imw=256&&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false
Run and jump north, avoiding the tar until you spot this little climbing spot.
https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/1861683640389319648/545EB59D106023F0D26A26422E0B64B0FCA91469/?imw=256&&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false
Climb up, run to the right, and finish first.
Or run the gambit against the Desert Quintar and pull your hair out, your choice. You can actually ride him in most of the last part of the race if you can get ON him. Then just steal first.
Race 4- Undersea Trail:
I'm afraid we are at what I would consider the hardest race, bar none. There is no easy cheese, no real shortcuts, and a couple traps only affect YOU, not even stopping the other racers when they take a spike bath.
Honestly, you have to just learn this map. The other racers often bork their jumps enough for you to get ahead and maintain first with one or maybe two accidents, but more than that or when you are behind should just be reset.
When you come to the bouncing mushrooms, my only advice is to play it cool. There's enough of the race left to make up for any slowdowns you suffer in the hell that is bouncy mushrooms over spikes.
However, the Black Quintar absolutely shines here- Using one here can seriously make you wonder how you thought this race was hard at all... Until you run something else, like an Aqua, and smash your head against the wall till it breaks.
Race 5- Quintar Reserve:
The final race is actually only about as hard as you make it. There are so many shortcuts and strategies to use, you can skip most if not all of the races most dangerous falls. Highland, looking at you buddy. Go make me some more money.
The thing that's going to kill you is the Tree Jumping. Seriously. If you have a way to skip it, jumping on another racer and letting them do it for you, jumping off them north to skip the trees, anything- Do it. The trees are deceptively tall and spaced to where your regular jumps are going to fail most of the time. The area you fall into usually isn't salvageable, and you'll spend the timer trying to find the right path- Just dismount.
Later in the race is four pillars over spikes, but these are rather simple to clear if you've already done the other races to death. If you can get the tree jumping down, this becomes a super easy and fast race worth a good chunk of gold. I wish I could be more helpful with the shortcuts, but I'd be posting about ten pictures... And I don't got time for that, I'm broke and this is fast gold!
Thanks!
I know this isn't the most informative guide for the racing, but it should get you started or help you in a pinch for a couple races. This is just what I found out racing my butt off for five hours straight, so I hope it helps!
If you know other good shortcuts or just straight up know I'm wrong, let me know. Especially for Undersea Trail. If you have a shortcut for that I know everyone would appreciate it.
Source: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2790475635
More Crystal Project guilds
- All Guilds
- Things I wish I knew when I started the game
- Craftwork Equipment Locations
- Summon Locations
- Class Quick Reference Sheet
- Overworld & Caves Map
- Optimal Stat Growth Guide
- Class Overview
- Spoiler-Free Hints for Rough Bosses
- Quintar Breeding
- Basics of the game [Spoiler free edition]