Hey Howdy Hey Tappers!
Cecil Terwilliger has returned to Springfield to make amends…not almonds, despite what Homer thinks. And in an effort to save himself from being ridden out of Springfield on the back of a horse he’s convinced the town to let him build a Monsarno Research Campus right in Springfield! This way the residents of Springfield can benefit from all the advantages of GMO veggies!
So, now that you have the back story let’s talk about Monsarno Research. Monsarno is basically the key to the entire event. Once you build it you’ll unlock the event in Springfield, including the ability to craft items. To craft items you’ll need Corn and Fertilizer. One way you’ll get more Corn and Fertilizer is by sending characters on various tasks for these items. And the way to unlock these character tasks? Leveling up your Monsarno Research Center! Whew! I feel like that took a really long time to get to that point…
Now that Act 2 has arrived it’s opened up a TON of Leveling up options for Monsarno…an infinite number in fact! So we gave you a quick breakdown of what each level does in the Act 2 Rundown Post. But I know you guys are all about the bass details…so it’s time to get more specific (before the angry mob shows up at my door for not posting this any sooner!). So let’s take a closer look at what it takes and what happens when you Level Up Monsarno during Act 2…
Before I get into the Act 2 Level Up Details…let’s quickly recap the Leveling up basics for those that have may have forgotten…
How Do I Upgrade?
Well it’s pretty simple really. You have two ways to upgrade your Monsarno Research Center. You can either tap on the event menu (remember you access that via the Knife Trophy on the bottom right of your screen…icon looks like this: 
). And the last item listed is the Monsarno Upgrade screen:
See the Research Center Icon? That’s the one you’ll want to be on.
You can also upgrade by tapping on Monsarno Research and hit the upgrade button. This will take you right to the Event Guide and the Upgrade screen.
What’s Needed to Upgrade?
Fertilizer and Corn. The same stuff needed for Crafting. Different amounts are needed to upgrade to a new level. (we’ll get to that in a minute)
And now…let’s look at the new stuff….
What Happens When I Upgrade?
Well, at each upgrade point you’ll unlock more stuff. This stuff could be tasks to earn items, new craftable items or higher payouts on existing tasks. Here’s a look at what you’ll earn at each Level:
Remember for a list of who’s in which group check out Bunny’s post on Cecil’s Daily tasks.
For a recap of Levels 1-7 check out the Act 1 Level Up guide
Level 8 will unlock a task for High Rollers to get DNA
Level 9 will increase your Corn payout for tasks
Level 10 will unlock a job for Kooks to get Fertilizer
Level 11 will increase Fertilizer rewards
Level 12 will unlock a job for Brainiacs to get DNA AND award the Monsarno Library for free
Level 13 will increase DNA rewards from jobs
Level 14 will unlock a job for Civil Servants to get Corn AND award Monsarno Human Resources for free.
Level 15 will increase Corn Rewards from Jobs
Level 16 will Unlock a Job for Celebrities to get DNA
Level 17 will increase Fertilizer Rewards from Jobs
Level 18 will increase Corn Rewards from Jobs
Level 19 will increase DNA Rewards from Jobs
Level 20 + will increase Fertilizer, Corn and DNA Rewards from Jobs
There is no cap on level upgrades for Act 2…so you won’t reach the max.
How Much Does It Cost to Upgrade at Each Level?
Here’s the breakdown…
| Level | Fertilizer | Corn | Reward |
| 8 | 1050 | 175 | Highrollers for DNA |
| 9 | 1200 | 200 | Increases Corn Payout from jobs |
| 10 | 1350 | 225 | Kooks for Fertilizer |
| 11 | 1500 | 250 | Increases Fertilizer Payout from jobs |
| 12 | 1650 | 275 | Brainiacs for DNA + Library |
| 13 | 1800 | 300 | Increases DNA Payout from jobs |
| 14 | 1950 | 325 | Civil Servants for Corn + Human Resources |
| 15 | 2100 | 350 | Increases Corn Payout from jobs |
| 16 | 2250 | 375 | Celebrities for DNA |
| 17 | 2400 | 400 | Increases Fertilizer Payout from jobs |
| 18 | 2550 | 425 | Increases Corn Payout from jobs |
| 19 | 2700 | 450 | Increases DNA Payout from jobs |
| 20 | 2850 | 475 | Increases DNA, Fertilizer & Corn Payout from Jobs |
| 21+ | 150 Each lvl | 25 Each level | Increases DNA, Fertilizer & Corn Payout from Jobs |
What Are the Payouts for the Character Tasks?
Here’s the breakdown, broken out by item (otherwise the chart would be huge)
Fertilizer Tasks
| Task | Length | Earns Lvls 7-10 | Earns Lvls 11-16 | Earns Lvl 17-19 | Earns Lvl 20 | Earns Lvl 21 |
| Dimwits for Fertilizer | 8hrs | 14  |
18 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
| Pessimists for Fertilizer | 4hrs | 8 |
10 |
13 |
13 |
14 |
| Senions for Fertilizer | 2hrs | 5 |
6 |
8 |
8 |
9 |
| Kooks for Fertilizer | 1hr | 3 (unlocks Lvl 10) |
4 |
5 |
6 |
6 |
Corn Tasks
| Task | Length | Earns Lvls 7-8 | Earns Lvls 9-14 | Earns Lvls 15-17 | Earns Lvl 18-19 | Earns Lvl 20 | Earns Lvl 21 |
| Gluttons for Corn | 16hrs | 9  |
14 |
18 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
| Youngsters for Corn | 8hrs | 5 |
8 |
10 |
13 |
13 |
14 |
| Criminals for Corn | 4hrs | 3 |
5 |
6 |
8 |
8 |
9 |
| Civil Servants for Corn | 2hrs | n/a | 3 (unlocks Lvl 14) |
4 |
5 |
6 |
6 |
DNA Tasks
| Task | Length | Earns Lvls 7-12 | Earns Lvls 13-18 | Earns Lvl 19 | Earns Lvl 20 | Earns Lvl 21 |
| Highrollers for DNA | 12hrs | 5  |
8 |
10 |
11 |
11 |
| Brainiacs for DNA | 6hrs | 3 (Unlocks Lvl 12) | 5 |
6 |
7 |
7 |
| Celebrities for DNA | 3hrs | n/a | 3 (Unlocks Lvl 16) |
4 |
5 |
5 |
What Happens When I’ve Reached the Max Level?
There is no Max Level in this one…so be careful and don’t burn all your resources on upgrading to get to the Max, cause you won’t reach it.
If There’s No Max Level, When Should I Stop?
That’s really up to you. You’ve got to decide which tasks/payout upgrades you want & what’s worth it to you. However, I do recommend NOT upgrading past Level 19. As you can see the increase from 19 to 20 and 20 to 21 are pretty small, and IMO not worth the resources to upgrade there.
So Fertilizer and Corn Are Required for BOTH Crafting and Upgrading, Which Should We Focus On?
I’ve been saying it since Act 1…Upgrade, Upgrade, Upgrade! The more tasks/characters you have earning for you the better off you’ll be.
However, there was one exception to this…and it involved the Farmer’s Market. My advice was, if you were close to getting the Farmer’s Market (like a couple thousand away), I would continue working towards crafting that to get it out of your way and then you can focus on the new items. BUT that was just my opinion and what I would do. At the end of the day, you’ve got to do what you think is best for you.
What About the New Monsarno Buildings, How Do I Craft Those/What’s Up With Them?
As noted above Levels 12 and 14 will unlock new Monsarno Buildings.
At Level 12 you’ll unlock the Monsarno Library:
You’ll be given one for free once you reach Level 12…
And you can craft additional ones via the crafting Menu. Here’s what’s required to craft more Libraries…
1,600
200
At Level 14 you’ll unlock Monsarno Human Resources
You’ll also be given one for free once you reach Level 14…
And you can craft additional ones via the crafting Menu. Here’s what’s required to craft more HR Buildings…
4,250
2,100
So if you like them and want more than 1 you can continue to craft after you’ve gotten your free ones.
And that my friends concludes the info on the Monsarno Research Upgrades for Act Two!
What are your thoughts on upgrading? Have you upgraded yet? Thoughts on the character tasks associated with earning more fertilizer, DNA and corn? What are your thoughts on the event overall so far? Sound off in the comments below, you know we love hearing from you!
Actually doing pretty well and saved my stuff so could upgrade the building. Enjoying playing not as frenzied as Family Guy. The leaderboard, although it is nice to see where you are, I am fith out of 99 max friends, so happy with that, but one of my neighbours at the top seems pretty unbelievable, my top neighbour is at 118691, which as only 2nd stage and well, well above me and my 2nd placed neighbour at 28,000 is pretty unbelivable, or they are very wealthy. So forget it and enjoy the game.
Ok so I have an A,B, & C game. I like act 2. I’ve done much better. I get an average of 20 seeds a day on my A game. Before act 1 was giving my A game 6 seeds. Anyways I leveled up before reading the post like an idiot. So I stopes on my B& C game at level 13. I’m at level 17 on my A game. Doing better on A game. I don’t know if it’s cuz on A game I am a premuine player. But I feel like in better leveling up. I have more than half the event items with 0 donuts spent since act 2 started. Ps I like sideshow bob. I find more than act 1.
Thank you Addicts for another fine post.
I was able to craft the Farmer’s Market and one Cane Field before Act II (and its’ additional Upgrade availability) started. Since yesterday I’ve hit L11 on my Research Facility, and expect to get L12 some point today.
Looking at your list, I think I’ll go with other posters here, and stop at L17. That seems to be the sweet spot that opens up the most job possibilities (at 16) while eking out that one more Fertilizer Output upgrade.
Is it possible to get all the craftable items and characters in this event before it is over?
It depends on how many characters you have that can earn the craftable items and how often you play
Im not doing to well on this event.. Dont care either, its too much kinda like Family Guy( deleted app). Sorry neighbours!! I tried, i need my life!
More than understandable.
The comparison to Family Guy seems a bit harsh ;), I don’t get massively stressed from Tapped Out and I’m certainly not setting my alarm for the middle of the night to get required event currency or risking failure if I miss a few taps or sleep an extra couple of hours at the weekend.
I even get to see the storyline in this game, that’s nice.
My butt cheeks are sore from sitting on the fence between “grinding for the market” and “upgrading for the long run” with 14,000 ferts in my pocket. Oh fine, dump the decision on us based on what WE want to do… If this keeps up I will buy stock in tubes of Preparation H… FINE!… I am going to upgrade to level 11, come hell or high water, and God help me for my blunders in life! I know I am so close, but the grass is greener over there… And if nothing else, I am due for an upgrade if I blast my phone against the wall… Right!…
Seriously…. What an interesting chess match with EA and the games they play…
Is it me or are those Sideshow Bob veggies really gross!!
They absolutely creep me out every time I see them. Swore it was just me lol
I am with you Sandra …defo feeling that it’s all a bit too much sometimes.! Plus (and please correct me if I am wrong) I can’t believe that those of my neighbours who aren’t at level 22 yet might not even get sideshow bob …that’s disgraceful!
My advice keep tapping keep smiling we will get there in the end (fingers crossed) : )
😳 Do you mean level 21 in the game or of Monsarno? Please say it’s the former!!!
Thanks for keeping me company on the “worry train”…. I’m definitely going to keep on tapping and will try to work on the smiling part. 😉
Hi. Ok I play all the time and I know this is going to sound dumb and I’m Gonna go Duh, slapping forehead, but what is the sprayer you are talking about? Thanks
The Herbicide Sprayer, won’t unlock until you’ve finished both of Bart’s 24hr quests…
http://tstoaddicts.com/2015/04/28/terwilliger-act-2-is-upon-us/
Aaaannnnd now the question that has not been asked (at least I haven’t seen it yet) how far should we upgrade the sprayer, or should we go for the farmers market first before doing that.
Post coming in the morning… 🙂
I’m sitting at 17.
Plan is to grind up to craft the Fair.
I think that’ll be in 6ish days, already at 3.5k
From there I might upgrade to 19 or 20 depending on how the DNA collection is going.
I’m a new player only about 1 month, but I was definitely thinking of stopping the upgrades around Level 17. Currently about 12. Wondering what are your scores on the friend leader board? I’m only keeping neighbors who have a score of 2000 & above.
What about u guys? My score is 12000+, the highest score on my board is 67000.
That leaderboard is basically meaningless though. If you had my neighbours you’d be ditching about 15 very good neighbours. I won’t be doing that!
Also, you’d be 3rd on my leaderboard, ahead of many experienced and dedicated tappers. IMHO you read too much into that leaderboard.
I am not deleting anyone until after this event because my playing does not depend on their playing. Many of my neighbours seem to have opted out of this event for whatever reason. That is their choice and I won’t penalise them for it. I think it is nice that EA has made neighbour participation unnecessary for events. But after the event, those no longer playing will be deleted because my ability to tap will then depend on having something to tap on and my income depends on how many are returning the tapping.
So basically you are only keeping players who spend donuts to get blob seeds and the rest of us fremium players who can’t are out of your list? Seems unfair : (
I don’t think u need to spend donuts to be above 2000 on the leaderboard I’ve not spent donuts coz I’m freemium and I’m just under 11000 and I’ve been hoarding my seeds so I must just have generous neighbours 😀 personally on the first round I started getting rid of neighbours that weren’t collecting many spades apart from a couple I let off cos they were on holiday. At the weekend I will again might have to start deleting people that haven’t got many masks 😱 it’s harsh but I’m sure people would do the same if I weren’t playing much either
Just for comparison, I am a several times daily tapper and I am at 5190 on the leaderboard, at the median of my friends. My five highest friends on the board are at 34k, 25k, 24k, 14k, and 13k (freemium player). No Way would I ditch loyal friends who visit my Springfield often and have beautiful towns. Many of my friends are freemium players with a lot of creativity. Happy tapping!
o.0? I only delete friends if they haven’t logged in for a week or more since I can’t log in an tap every thing some days from being exhausted from school and work. but it is your decision in the end how you want to play.
Annoys me a bit how there is still a chunk of people in Springfield who aren’t put into a category so they can slave away at Monsarno, especially those that obviously fit into established categories (Grimey and Miss Hoover for cynic, Mrs. Bouvier for old person, Artie Ziff for high roller, Don Vittorio for high roller/old person, Mindy for glutton, etc.).
At least I know to stop bothering to upgrade my building anymore in an attempt to potentially employ all those slackers.
Let’s not forget the Matt Groening character. Why isn’t he a celebrity???? I mean come on. One of his tasks is: “meet with fans”. Don’t celebrities have fans? Sheesh.
I’m feeling guilty (well, maybe “concerned” is more accurate) about staying put at Level 11 for now… Really want the farmer’s market, so I was afraid to deplete my fertilizer resources any further than that. But I’m worried that I’m being too short-sighted by not upgrading further and that I’ll come to regret this decision down the road, when I don’t have enough DNA to get other cool stuff.
I think this event is definitely the most stressful one I’ve done so far. With all of the other events, I felt that, if I worked hard and was pretty diligent about tapping, I’d be able to eventually get at least one of every freemium item that I wanted (and I did). But with this event, I definitely do not have that secure feeling. I know there’s quite a bit of time left and I’m hoping that, as things continue, I’ll start to feel better, but right now, I think I need a hug! Lol 😉
*HUGS : )*
(((hugs))) I am feeling not very secure either. This event is making edgy with worries that i wont be able to craft everything I want in time.
Big Hug 😀
Hug to you from a fellow tapper!
i am mad at them, because they use the same currency for upgrading and crafting without setting a maximum upgrade. If there was a maximum, it would be a no brainer to max those upgrades and then focus on crafting, this way, its way too unpretictable… I upgraded monsarno to lvl 17, so i have all the jobs and the 17th level for fertilizer (which is the hardest to get), im not going any further as i dont see much of a difference in payouts… i just hope i’ll get everything i want by the end of the event
Your plan is the exact same plan I have been playing… I upgraded to level 11 to unlock that fertilizer task for kooks and stopped there. I am hoping it pans out… I didn’t want to use up ALL my fertilizer. We will see how it works out, but if it doesn’t know you are not alone!! 🙂
I am thinking about picking up Moleman to have another kook to help out.
Moleman’s a good pick! He’s a fun character to have around.
I’m at level 17 too. But there’s something on the Corn Task table that makes no sense at all; On level 17 Civil servants earn 4 corn for the 2hr task but on levels 18-20 they only earn 2. How is that right?
Just a typo, it’s fixed.
Charts, Charts and more Charts!!!
Thank you for Alissa for all the hard work creating these informative charts to help us decide to CRAFT OR UPGRADE?
You and Bunny are truly amazing!
~ Jayne
🙂
spatrowvels
sideshow cob
jelly blobs
phew …feel much better now lol …sorry for being a whingy woo *hugs*
What are random things you say on TSTO Addicts?
Oh wait, we’re not playing Jeopardy?
Love those jelly blobs! Hope we get one permanently at end of event.
*knock, knock, knock*
“Who’s there?”
“Angry mob.”
“The Monsarno level-up post is up!”
“Oh, sorry…never mind.”
*sound of many footsteps receding off into the distance*
Good job, Alissa! 😉
lol anything to get that mob off my porch 😉
Good job, Alissa! We appreciate you!!! 🙂
🙂
I did pretty good on the last event and I have tons of characters. I will stop upgrading at 16 and see how that works.
This event is mind boggling …so much to it…I would be lost without you!
I also think that EA have set the crafting items well out of reach for newbees with less characters and indeed the freemium players too. Boo! Bad form. I for one will not be forced into playing or paying for them.
*takes a deep breath*
…ok rant over …goes back to tapping game every hour god sends!!! groan…
Maybe you guys can give me some advice, I’m in doubt.
There are two prices I want to have: 1. The farmer market and 2. The Tankstation.
Needed for these two together is 15.250 fertilizer, 9200 corn and 8300DNA.
I currently have this: 1.Fertilizer=10.254 2.Corn=5848 and 3.DNA=951
I have 14 children who can get corn for me. I’m level 8 on the Mosarno Research and therefore I get 5 corn for every 8 hours of work they do.
The next update will give me more corn (investment is 1200 fertilizer and 200 corn). Every 8hours I will get 3 corn more.
Do you think that I should do this (and maybe even more) Mosarno upgrade to get more corn for my jobs or should I not upgrade and try to work my way up to the two prices the wat I do it now.
I’m in doubt if I should spend the resources. Will the investment pack back in getting the prizes quicker.
Thanx for your help
How much fertilizer do you currently have?
Corn seems to come fairly quick, if you’re close to the Market and you want it I’d upgrade first and then continue to upgrade monsarno..
At the moment I have 10.724Fertilizer, 6084 corn and 1053DNA
My 2 hour “Don’t Care About the Future” task is no longer a highlighted quest task, so it no longer pops to the top of the task list nor do characters with that task pop to the front of the character picker. Makes it too easy to miss putting everybody to work. Also, the revolving package task that went through all the Monsarno tasks has disappeared. Are these two things normal or is my game broken?
Whoops, never mind about the package task, found it in another post (lol, sometimes you guys produce TOO much info!). Would still appreciate an answer regarding the 2 hour task though if you have any info on it…
This is going around…not sure what’s causing it honestly. As they’re still in yellow in my game..
I had to level up to 16 because the thought of not utilizing Mr.Teeny was driving me Bananas! I had to do it, I needed to get that monkey off my back.
Thanks so much for this…really clear! I personally will push to upgrade to level 17 as it offers a bonus for fertilizer and then stop and save my fertilizer for crafting from then on. : )
what no jellybeans today? 😉
*jelly blobs* lol …
haha attack of the jelly blobs!
I’m glad I upgraded instead of holding out for the market because I love my monsarno campus. I’ve only gone as far as level 14 and now I’m grinding away building up fertiliser again and got to 2000 again so maybe in a week or so I can get the market.
Has anyone noticed that now since Act 2 started when visiting friends the mutant seedlings actually make noises now? It’s the same noise that the aliens made during the Halloween event. Interesting!
Great post btw, as well as your other posts. I’m constantly on this site; you guys are amazing!
I noticed that, too. Grosses me out. I hate that noise.
Speaking of gross, anyone notice the bob veggies spreading butter on their bellies?
Mmmmmmmm steamed veggies with butter n a dash of pink sea salt.
In your opinion, is it worth upgrading past level 16? I can’t decide whether the extra fertilizer earned will be worth that paid out in the long run.
You’ve got to look and see if the payouts are worth it to you based on how many characters you personally have that can do the tasks. For me, it’s worth it because I have every character. Some people, it’s not worth it because they only have a few.
So, as I’m only missing the two presidents, you’d recommend I upgrade.
Like I said…I am. But it’s your call as to what you want to do…
Level 17 gives a general increase of fertilizer earnings, I think by 30%, so all Characters who earn fertilizer will benefit from it. I wouldn’t go higher though, 18 gives you a increase of corn earnings, which is IMHO not worth yet.
I opted to upgrade Monsarno the moment Act 2 was released (well, 7am EST that day!); going from Level 7 to Level 14 all at once. Yes, this burned through my pile of fertilizer — I think I was sitting right around 11,000 that morning, and after all that upgrading, I recall I was left with about 600. I also got the HR Building and the Library that same day as a result; I really like my Monsarno island campus!
While this set me way back on the Farmer’s Market progress, it did create many more jobs that earn event currency, and as a result, 24 hours later, I’d re-collected at least 2,500 fertilizer. (I’m now at 3,800 fertilizer, so I can clearly replenish my spent ~10,500 fertilizers, in about 4-5 days.) Which is fine — while the Farmer’s Market was a neat enough lure when it arrived — I’m now much more keen on getting the Gas n Grub (or perhaps a prize yet to come in Act 3.)
PS — unrelated. Because I play on iphone and ipad each day — I ended up getting 3 more free rakes, and 200 more free fertilizer… I’d received them once, on my phone, then got them again, at home that night, on my ipad!
Ok, you suggest not upgrading monsarno after level 18, what is the max upgrade on the pesticide sprayer you suggest?
19 on Monsarno will increase DNA payouts…so it might be worth it. You have to look at the increase for yourself and see if it’s worth it in your town.
On the sprayer I wouldn’t go past 15…but remember not every level increases the payouts. Post on this is coming as well.
What’s the Sprayer upgrade situation look like? After Level 4 do we get any benefits besides larger radius?
Payouts still increase, but not with every level. Post on this is coming as well, just finishing it. (since most people won’t get there until tomorrow)
Payout seems to be around every 3 levels, with radius every level.
Brilliant. Thank you. I had a heap of questions and you’ve answered every single one of them!
I went to level 17 and it looks like that’s where I’m going to stay. I’ll double check the numbers though!
Thanks again
I’m pretty sure level 17 is going to be my sweet spot as well. I’m sitting pretty at 15 currently, and I have noticed that the fertilizer and corn are coming in quicker than before. It also looks like I’ll have the minimum security prison tonight! The joys of being unemployed 😛