Information about unlocking and upgrading the Recreation Quarter in Fire Emblem Three Hopes.
(1 of 3) The two major functions of the Recreation Quarter are cooking,
Unlocking the Recreation Quarter in Fire Emblem Three Hopes¶
When you reach the Base Camp in Chapter 4 you’ll unlock a variety of facilities, including the Recreation Quarter, which actually consists of two different activities - Cooking and Volunteering. You’ll be forced to participate in both before you can progress during Chapter 4.
Aside from the aforementioned activities, there’s really not much else to the Recreation Quarter, but upgrades for Expeditions are also lumped in, presumably to fill out the upgrade screen somewhat. Volunteering and Cooking both raise Morale for the participants, who also earn Support Points with each other. Cooking also imparts passive buffs for diners that persist for the entire Chapter, while Volunteering earns you Renown, which makes Volunteering our favorite way to burn Activity Points, as there’s an awful lot of items you can buy with Renown once you unlock New Game +.
The Recreation Quarter doesn’t have a whole lot of upgrades… and few of them are worth prioritizing.
Upgrading the Recreation Quarter in Fire Emblem Three Hopes¶
After clearing a few Side Quests in Chapter 4, when you return to the Base Camp you’ll be pestered by one of your companions, who will tell you about expanding facilities, directing you to speak to the Facilities Master for more information. Check out the page How to Expand Facilities in Three Hopes for general information about upgrading facilities.
Expanding the Recreation Quarter takes two different types of materials, Building Materials and Furnishings, each of which comes in three tiers (Basic/Humble, Quality/Basic and Lavish/Luxurious). These materials are progression gated, so you won’t be finding the mid-tier and high-tier variants until you’ve progressed the main questline. When they do become available, you can regularly find them by exploring Surveying Spots and by buying them from the Supply Depot.
Below you’ll find a list of all the upgrades for the Recreation Quarter:
| Upgrade | Prerequisite | Resources/Gold | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy Basic Cooking Utensils | – | Basic Building Material x10, Humble Furnishings x10, 1,000 G | Expands the number of dishes you can cook. |
| Learn Basic Culinary Arts | Buy Basic Cooking Utensils | Basic Building Material x10, Humble Furnishings x10, 1,000 G | Slightly increases the chances of successfully cooking a meal. |
| Learn the Basics of Cleaning | Buy Basic Cooking Utensils | Basic Building Material x10, Humble Furnishings x10, 1,000 G | Slightly increases the chances of succeeding when volunteering. |
| Survey Wooded Surroundings | Learn the Basics of Cleaning | Basic Building Material x10, Humble Furnishings x10, 1,000 G | Allows you to visit the forest on expeditions. |
| Buy Specialty Cooking Utensils | Buy Basic Cooking Utensils | Quality Building Material x10, Basic Furnishings x10, 1,500 G | Slightly expands the number of dishes you can cook. |
| Learn Intermediate Culinary Arts | Learn Basic Culinary Arts | Quality Building Material x10, Basic Furnishings x10, 1,500 G | Increases the chances of successfully cooking a meal. |
| Learn the Basics of Organizing | Learn the Basics of Cleaning | Quality Building Material x10, Basic Furnishings x10, 1,500 G | Increases the chances of succeeding when volunteering. |
| Survey Wet Surroundings | Survey Wooded Surroundings | Quality Building Material x10, Basic Furnishings x10, 1,500 G | Allows you to visit the waterfront on expeditions. |
| Buy the Latest Cooking Utensils | Buy Specialty Cooking Utensils | Lavish Building Material x10, Luxurious Furnishings x10, 2,000 G | Greatly expands the number of dishes you can cook. |
| Learn Advanced Culinary Arts | Learn Intermediate Culinary Arts | Lavish Building Material x10, Luxurious Furnishings x10, 2,000 G | Greatly increases the chances of successfully cooking a meal. |
| Learn the Basics of Teamwork | Learn the Basics of Organizing | Lavish Building Material x10, Luxurious Furnishings x10, 2,000 G | Greatly increases the chances of succeeding when volunteering. |
| Survey High-Altitude Surroundings | Survey Wet Surroundings | Lavish Building Material x10, Luxurious Furnishings x10, 2,000 G | Allows you to visit the mountains on expeditions. |
Cooking Utensils¶
There are three Cooking upgrades in the Recreation Quarter upgrade tree, the first of which is your mandatory starting point on this facility and increases the recipes you can choose from. At the very best these upgrades are moderately useful, and that sadly makes them some of the best the Recreation Quarter has to offer. More meals means better passive effects, and more characters who will end up liking particular dishes. It’s not bad, but compared to what other facilities offer, it’s not really worth prioritizing.
Culinary Arts¶
Increases the chances of successfully cooking a meal, which, in effect, determines how many Support Points the participant diners will receive. It’s a meager upgrade, and worse, one that can be save/loaded.
Achieving a Great or Perfect result when Volunteering will yield 2 Renown, which arguably makes it the best use of Activity Points during your first playthrough.
Volunteering¶
Pretty much the same as above, increasing the success rate of Volunteering increases the Support Points participants earn. Unlike Cooking, however, Volunteering nets you Renown, and you need a Great or Perfect result to gain 2 Renown per Volunteering session (Nice results only earn 1 Renown). You can save scum these results, but if you’re like us and plan to spend a lot of time Volunteering to build up Renown, these upgrades will at least make the process go faster.
Survey Surroundings¶
This line of upgrades allows you to go to different places when taking characters on expeditions. If you want some new scenery in the background as you ogle your companions, then these upgrades are for you. If you want something that’s actually useful… not so much.
Which Recreation Quarter Upgrades to Unlock First?¶
The Recreation Quarter doesn’t have a lot to recommend it in terms of upgrades, so you should frankly neglect it until you’ve purchased everything else of interest from other facilities. After that, if you have spare building materials, you should start purchasing the “Cooking Utensils” upgrades to unlock the better late-game recipes and the “Volunteering” upgrades to reduce the save scumming you have to do to earn those juicy 2 Renown per Activity Point. As for “Culinary Arts” and “Survey Surroundings”, they’re arguably the last facility upgrades you should purchase in the game, and even then, only for the achievements doing so yields.
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