Achievements in games are often challenging, but some of the ones in Nier Replicant are borderline sadistic. One achievement is particularly annoying: The Legendary Gardener trophy, which is earned by growing and harvesting a Lunar Tear. The game’s gardening and cultivation systems are relatively straightforward, but actually getting a Lunar Tear involves both work and time.
How to grow a Lunar Tear in Nier Replicant
To get a Lunar Tear in Nier Replicant, you’ll need to cross-pollinate two other hybrid flowers: Peach Moonflowers and Pink Moonflowers. Together, those two will grow a Lunar Tear, otherwise known as the White Moonflower.
Unfortunately, that is far easier said than done. Peach and Pink Moonflowers are themselves the result of cross-breeding other flower varieties. Even getting a few of these seeds in your inventory requires fair amount of time spent with gardening and cultivation.
In other words, you’ve got your work cut out for you. But, given enough time and patience, you’ll be able to grow a Lunar Tear without breaking a sweat. Here’s how the process works.
Step One: Grow Peach Moonflower Seeds
The first step in the process is to get yourself some Peach Moonflower seeds. By now, you should have a basic grasp of the game’s gardening mechanics. If not, here’s the scoop: To cross-pollinate flowers, you need to need to plant them in alternating patterns next to each other in your garden.
In the case of Peach Moonflower seeds, you need to plant Red and Gold Moonflower seeds next to one another. They’ll take a full day to grow, at which point you’ll be able to tell if any hybrids spawned.
However, you don’t want to harvest them immediately after they flower. Instead, you want the plants to wilt and die in order to claim their seeds. That, of course, means waiting a whole extra day.
With a bit of luck, a full plot of Red and Gold Moonflower seeds will wield one or two Peach Moonflowers. Each of these should drop between two and four Peach Moonflower Seeds after they die. To have enough to grow a Lunar Tear, you’ll want to cultivate at least ten Peach Moonflower seeds.
Step Two: Grow Pink Moonflower Seeds
Now that you know how basic cross-pollination works, you’ll need to grow some Pink Moonflowers. Unfortunately, these are hybrids of a hybrid. Before you can get Pink Moonflowers, you must harvest Indigo Moonflowers.
Follow the same process as with Peach Moonflowers, but instead of Red and Gold seeds, use Blue and Gold. When placed alongside one another in your garden, Blue and Gold Moonflower seeds will spawn an Indigo Moonflower hybrid.
Once you have Indigo Moonflower seeds, you need to plant them in your plot alongside Red Moonflower seeds. Red and Indigo seeds have a chance to spawn Pink Moonflower seeds. Repeat this process as many times as needed until you have about ten of the Pink variety.
Step Three: Combine Pink and Peach Moonflower seeds to grow a Lunar Tear
If you’ve made it this far, your work is almost done. The Lunar Tear, also known as the White Moonflower, is the lightest of the bunch. Considering that Pink and Peach are the other lightest colors, cross-pollinating the two will result in the lightest, purest flower in the entire game.
Again, fill out your plot, alternating Peach and Pink Moonflower seeds. With a bit of luck, one of the seeds will blossom into the White Moonflower. This is the legendary flower known as the Lunar Tear.
There’s just one more catch: To unlock the Legendary Gardener achievement/trophy, you need to harvest the Lunar Tear flower. Unlike with previous steps, you don’t want it to wilt and die to claim the seeds. The achievement will only be unlocked if you harvest a Lunar Tear flower straight out of your garden.
It will take quite a lot of time, but you should be able to grow a Lunar Tear without too much actual difficulty. The challenge really comes from how tedious it can be waiting for flowers to cross-pollinate, combined with the random number of seeds each flower will drop. Be patient, and you’ll unlock the Legendary Gardener achievement before you know it.
While you’re waiting for your Lunar Tear to grow, be sure to check out our guide on how to unlock 15 Nightmares, a crucial step to unlocking Nier Replicant’s new Ending E. Or, if you plan on spending a lot of time gardening, we’ve also got details on the game’s max level cap and how long it might take you to get there.
