In ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN, combat is not just about skill. It is also about building the right support system. Bastards act as zombie-like allies that can turn difficult fights into manageable ones. However, players do not unlock them through a standard skill tree. Instead, they plant, harvest, and fuse them.
This guide explains how to cultivate Bastards, how to harvest them properly and how Bastard Fusion works.
What Are Bastards?
Bastards are summonable allies that support Romeo during combat. Enemies occasionally drop large seeds, and these can be planted in the garden aboard the Space-Time Ship, also known as the Last Night hub.
To access the garden, players need to walk down the main corridor of the ship and head into the long right-hand hallway. This is where Luna handles cultivation and fusion.
After planting a seed, it takes 10 minutes to ripen. When ready, the blue hand sticking out of the soil turns red. That is the signal to harvest the Bastard.
Players can equip Bastards from the pause menu. At first, only one slot is available, but this expands up to four as progression continues. Bastards are summoned by holding RB or R1 and pressing the assigned button. After use, they enter cooldown before they can be summoned again.
How to Cultivate Bastards
Cultivating Bastards is done in the garden with Luna’s help.
There are multiple soil plots available for planting Bastard Seeds. Players can spend 1,000 Emerald Flowsion to unlock two additional plots, up to a maximum of eight.
After Luna appraises a seed, players can plant it. From there:
Wait 10 minutes for it to mature and gain more power
Or harvest immediately
Or spend Emerald Flowsion to speed up growth
In most cases, waiting is the better option since the timer is short and the power boost is worth it.
How to Get Bastard Seeds
Seeds are obtained in several ways:
Random drops from enemies
Collectible items in stages
Resulting seeds from Bastard Fusion
Seeds come in three main rarities: Common, Rare, and Epic. Legendary Bastards cannot be found directly. They must be created through specific fusion combinations.
How Bastard Fusion Works
Bastard Fusion is unlocked by speaking with Luna in the garden.
Fusion allows players to combine two harvested Bastards into a new one. Both original Bastards are permanently consumed in the process, but the resulting Bastard is stronger.
When selecting two Bastards, the game previews the outcome. Fusion produces a new seed that ripens instantly when planted, meaning no 10-minute wait.
There are two main fusion types:
Same-type fusion – Fusing two identical Bastards results in a stronger version with improved stats such as attack power, range, and cooldown.
Specific combination fusion – Certain Bastards only exist if two exact types are fused together. These combinations are required to unlock some Epic and all Legendary Bastards.
The Bastard system is designed to reward players who stay active in the garden. Regularly planting seeds, waiting for full growth, and experimenting with fusion will keep combat manageable as difficulty increases.
Players who ignore cultivation will feel the gap in later fights. Those who invest time into fusion and upgrades will have access to stronger summons and better synergy in battle.
Keep planting. Keep fusing. That is how Bastards become one of the most important systems in ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN.
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