Frequently Asked Questions

System

How are the PS3 and 360 versions different?

Some of the DLC released for the 360 version is included in the PS3 version from the start. There are other small changes like Quintet Lives being possible in more situations. Also including the anime OP, an "Extra Episode" where Ryuugu Komachi play the leading part, and additional songs, all together there are more than 30 additions to the game.

In the PS3 version DLC, Hatsune Miku herself can appear on stage, and the contents of the DLC have changed in general.

More detailed information is gathered here (Japanese).

What should I do about teaming up the idols?

Fundamentally, it doesn't matter if you just team them up however you like.

Of course, depending on the idol, their beginning abilities are different, so if their parameters are average, that's fine, and if some parameters stand out, that's fine too. Choosing solely on appearance should be problem either.

However for your first play, it might be good to avoid anyone with a particular parameter above all the others.

I'm having trouble earning money...

You should make use of reporters.

This should be especially valuable in the beginning of the game when funds are scarce.

My sales don't increase

Understand how sales works in the game.

There are four factors which determine sales: buying power, high score, sales bonus and sales coefficient.

There is nothing you can do about the last two of these, so you might as well ignore them.

"Buying power" is computed from the fan count × attention rate in each respective area. In other words, even if the fan count is high, if the attention rate is low, you won't sell much. Also, even if the fan count is low, attention rate can relatively easily be raised via a National Audition, so you should proactively challenge these in the week or weeks leading up to release.

"High score" is, like it sounds, the highest score obtained in the 4 weeks between the announcement and release of the song. You should try to make effective use of amulets.

In order to get a Keep after entering the rankings, you should proactively hold lives.

Suddenly Skipping Out

If the status is "sad", then even if you're doing well, there are times when the idols will suddenly skip work.

It is not definitive, but more so than other bad statuses such as "fatigue", "sad" is not a great situation to be in, and even skipping work can occur when their happiness statistic is too low.

Not just with the leader, you should make sure to keep moderate contact with the sub-members of the unit as well.

Also, for your second and subsequent playthroughs, if you leave Lessons, Auditions, Festivals and the like to the idols, fatigue will build up until it reaches a limit, and then they will skip work due to fatigue.

Fatigue can even build up during evening communication (verification required)

※ Erased for now as there are many opinions that evening communication is unrelated.

How are song sales calculated?

sales amount = ((buying power ÷ 2) + (high score × 4)) × sales bonus x sales coefficient

• Buying power: for each area, fan count × attention rate coefficient. Attention rate coefficient = Red: 0.95, Amber: 0.90, Green: 0.85, Blue: 0.80
• High score: the high score for that song
• Sales bonus: a bonus you get for the 2nd and subsequent songs. Sales bonus = 2nd song: 1.05, 3rd song: 1.10, 4th song: 1.15, 5th song: 1.20
• Sales coefficient: a decay in sales you get as weeks pass following release. Sales coefficient = (1 - (weeks passed since release - number of Keeps achieved) × 0.25)

My scores are higher than others in the rankings, but I'm not in the rankings...

By saving a video when you get this score (check from the start menu: Album (アルバム) - Video (ビデオ)) the corresponding video will be registered in the rankings.

※ The deal is that by registering a video, the high score for that song will be registered. If you get a high score on "GO MY WAY!!" during a Live, and then use "relations" for the encore, then save a video only for the encore, the high score for "relations" will be registered but the high score for "GO MY WAY!!" will not.

Is the increase different for normal lessons and "super" lessons?

The effects are identical.

Does the Image Level degrade?

In this version it does not.

I can't cause a Break or Revival

You should carefully read the conditions in the manual.

On stage, when getting PERFECT for general appeals, more Lucky Star appearing makes it more likely to occur.

Can I get more Lucky Stars?

Have your members sing their personal songs. Otherwise, equipping accessories in sets also makes it easier for them to appear.

What is that mobile phone mark in the upper right?

It's the DLC mail boost. While the mark appears, the voltage gauge becomes easier to build up.

※ In the Xbox360 version, there are reports of there being no noticeable effects.

What effect do fan letters have?

Your Unity Score will increase.

Is there a compatibility between unit members?

There is not.

Does success at Auditions, Festivals and Lives raise the Image Level or Unity Score?

It raises neither.

Unity Score can be raised during the cheer before appearing on stage.

Can I get a Keep by holding a Quintet Live?

Only if the invited guest idols don't appear. This probably also means you can't get a super break if they don't show up.

In the Xbox 360 version it is supposedly impossible to earn a keep at all.

Can I get a Break or Revival by leaving it to the idols?

Even if you leave it to the idols, you can cause a Break or Revival.

What is the Affection Score?

The Affection Score is a measure of the relationship between the producer and the idol. It also appears to have an effect on status.

Can the Affection Score decrease?

It decreases with a Bad Communication. When it decreases, status will decrease as well, so be careful.

What is the Intimacy Score?

The Intimacy Score is a measure of the closeness of the idols with each other. It changes through things like morning greetings or evening communication. As with the Affection Score, it has an effect on status.

I can't make it into the top 20 in time! Am I out of luck?

You're not. There are measures in the game which will help you out and even if you get the sad ending, it should be valuable experience.

Just try to do your best until the end.

Produce Mode

What are the conditions for a Perfect End?

Win all awards at the IA Awards (Get the IA Grand Prix plus all regional awards. There is no need to win the regional festival in the Capital region)

I can't beat the first battle with Ryuugu Komachi...

The first event battle is a definite loss.

Even if you hold as many lessons as possible and enhance your costume and somehow end up winning, it will be treated as if you lost, so just give up and let them win.

Consider it practice for how to perform at Festivals.

Tell me how to win the Grand Award and regional awards.

For the Grand Award, you need rank 10 or above in the Dotop TV Ranking and 300,000 or more total fans (rank 5 and 500,000 fans in hyper mode).

For regional awards, excluding the Capital Area, you must get 100,000 (150,000 in hyper mode) or more fans in each area and then beat the Utahime-Utaōji Festival which will appear.

After beating this Festival, it's OK to let the fan count in that area drop again.

I can't seem to win the Difficulty ? VESPERIA Festival...

It is extremely difficult, but possible to beat.

For preparation, bring your Memory Level to 5, use a "voltage up" type amulet and reporter and choose a high BPM song. You should also research how to use Appeals.

If your image level is sufficiently high and you have a powerful costume and accessories equipped, leaving it to the idols at "full power" has also been known to succeed. However, you can't leave the Vesperia festival to your Idols on the PS3 version.

What do I get if I beat VESPERIA?

At the current point in time, this is not confirmed.

I can't seem to choose Ritsuko for a Quintet Live...

It appears that your selected responses during scenes with Ritsuko are the key.

If you pick the appropriate responses, she will appear on the guest selection screen.

The BK MANIAC store in the Kamigata region doesn't seem to appear...

After increasing the fan count in the Kyoto area to some extent, go to LUCKY RABBIT in the Capital area.

After two or more visits to LR, if the above requirement is fulfilled, you will be told about BK MANIAC after leaving the store.

It appears to be the case that the second time can be with a different idol unit (there is no requirement for a second visit.)

When are the BK MANIAC sales?

BK MANIAC sales occur randomly each time you visit the store.

Because of this, by repeatedly resetting and reloading the game, you can force them to occur.

BK MANIAC's sales are 10% off.

LUCKY RABBIT's sales are 30% off.

Tell me about changing the leader

You get the option to change the leader first on week 10 and again (your last chance) on week 18. After that, you cannot change them again.

The story segments proceed based on the leader, so when you change the leader, they become the centre of the story.

The unit status is a total of all three, but the leader's status has a greater effect on the unit, so depending on the change in leader, the status of the unit as a whole can change.

What is the penalty for getting the rollback on weeks 21 and 54?

There is no penalty to the story itself, but it has an effect on your producer evaluation at the end of the game.

• Disadvantages:
  • Because of the activities on the (week 20 or 53) being rolled back, this cancels out changes of fan count, attention rate and high score, as well as reporter effects
  • Negative effect on the producer evaluation
• Advantage
  • Without the week progressing, you can raise status and memory (btw: the counter for Hell Trainings stops at 20)

I can't beat the Utahime-Utaōji Festival

From the second playthrough onward, you could try leaving it to the idols, but only on the XBox version.

There 3 methods that help a lot in winning festivals:

1. Get more memory appeals by doing promotions
2. Use an amulet that increases voltage gain, most notably Mushaharu's Secret Charm (むしゃはる秘符) or Sugamo-chan's Amulet (スガモちゃんお守り)
3. Get a reporter that increases voltage gain: Ataka Jun (安宅 純) or Yamahara Tarō (山原 太郎)

After the Utahime-Utaōji Festival, do I need to maintain the fan count above 100,000?

You don't have to worry about it.

As long as you best the Festival, no matter how much the fan count in that area decreases, you will get the IA regional award for that area.

Can I check afterwards, which Utahime-Utaōji Festival I have won?

You cannot.

You have to decide for yourself which order you will tackle them in, or keep notes on which ones you have won.

At morning or night the Vo,Da,Vi gauges seem to slightly decrease... is there stat decay?

Unlike the arcade version or SP, in this version the stats do not decay by themselves.

Stage

I can't seem to get PERFECT during a stage performance...

Basically, in time with the beat of the song, the circles will get bigger.

The timing never slips, so if you hold a four-beat rhythm, it is relatively easy to get mostly Perfect.

Also, if you're playing on an LCD display, there is a possibility that the display is causing some delay.

This can be improved from Delay Settings (遅延設定) under options in the title menu.

What status is used when I leave the stage performance to the idols?

It appears to be based on the high score for that song.

If your ability scores are high, even without a high score there are times when they can win.

It seems to also be effected by the unit image level.

Details are unknown at this point in time.

No specific formula is known, but it appears that the values for Vocal, Dance and Visual, including the amount added by costume, accessories and the song, along with the Unity Score, are used. It is thought that from these values above, the score for leaving it to the idols is computed and then they win if the score exceeds some set score for that stage.

The following method exists for confirming this score.

1. When there is no manual score, or it is lower than the score for leaving it to them, the score for leaving it to them is recorded as the high score for the song so you can check it on the Song Information (楽曲) screen.
2. When the manual score is higher than the score for leaving it to them, clear some random stage by leaving it to them and then if you save the PV, you can check the score in the video album. However, in order to save the PV it is necessary to save the game on that week so it is a good idea to copy your save game to another storage medium in advance.

The idols I invited to the Quintet Live didn't show up...

As you gather and produce more and more idol units, the idols' heart marks on the Activity Information (活動報告) screen will get bigger and bigger.

The bigger it is, the more likely they are to come.

It also appears to have a relationship to the producer level.

How are Burst Appeal scores decided?

They are dependent on the appeal multiplier and your unit's Unity Score. The image you can appeal during a burst varies from character to character, so it is effective to raise the multiplier of the image with the highest number and then burst.

I can't get a higher score...

For now, you should practice getting perfect appeals until you are able to get a full combo. The increase in score from the chain bonus is ridiculously high, so even if you messed up a little with the unit's status, just by getting a full combo, you can expect quite a good score.

The other way is to use amulets. In particular, whether you are holding a multiplier-affecting amulet or not can make quite a difference.

Also, burst appeal just before the end of the song.

Particularly in the opening game, depending on your amulet, in addition to the lower score you will get due to a lower Unity Score, if you use the burst appeal in the middle of the song, the multipliers you took all that trouble to raise will go back to their initial state, and this often causes you to get a lower score instead.

Therefore, it is probably good to take a look at the List of Songs, and remember at what point the appeals end for each song.

Just by being aware of these three things, I think you can remarkably improve your scores.

Items

What kind of effects do amulets have?

You can gain a wide range of effects at auditions, festivals and the like.

Basically, effects advantageous to the idols will appear, so you should quickly put them to use.

Details of the effects can be found at the List of Amulets.

Tell me about the effective amulets.

For Lives and Auditions, "rate decay down" (レート減少量DOWN)

For Festivals, "voltage gauge increase up" (ボルテージゲージ上昇量UP)

How do I get the Danchou (団長) amulet?

Get the fan count in the capital over 100,000 and beat the Utahime-Utaōji Festival.

How do I get Project Fairy's and Ryuugu Komachi's costumes?

For Project Fairy's costume, clear the game three times, using each of the three girls from THE iDOLM@STER SP's Project Fairy (Miki, Takane and Hibiki) as leader. (In the case of the Xbox 360 version you only need to clear the game with one of them.)

For Ryuugu Komachi's costume, choose the right responses in Ritsuko-related events throughout the main game, invite Ritsuko to a quintet live and then after that, clear the game (according to the official guidebook.)

For spoilers on the correct choices to make, see Ritsuko's communication page.

Stage For You Mode

I can't choose SMOKY THRILL...

First, you should clear Produce Mode once.

As a reward, this will unlock the song.

Other

This time, does Miki "awaken"?

You'll figure it out if you make her the leader, but the Miki in this game has already awakened. However, her hair hasn't been cut or dyed brown.

By the way, if you make her the leader, from about half way through the game she will start calling the producer "Honey".