Project L'Arc Scenario
Table of Contents
- Basic Information
- Scenario Link and Character-specific Events
- Project L'Arc Members and the Star Gauge
- Stars' Matches (SS Matches)
- Supporter Points and the Expectation Gauge
- Overseas Expedition and Overseas Aptitude
- L'Arc Representative Exhibition Races
- Character Objectives and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
- Skill Evolution and Scenario-specific Skills
- Base Training Values
- Unique Skill Level-Ups
- Training Facility Levels
- Scenario Factors
- Stat Caps
Basic Information
Reach for the stars: Project L'Arc (for short: Project L'Arc, or L'Arc) is the sixth permanent training scenario introduced to the game. It was released on August 24, 2023.
As with other scenarios, it builds on the game's core mechanics, so this guide will assume you have a basic understanding of how to play. If you do not, or you'd like a refresher, please read the Beginner's Guide before proceeding with this guide.
Project L'Arc is the first scenario to focus on races held on the global stage - specifically those in France.
The story revolves around the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, also known as the Gaisenmon Sho (凱旋門賞) in Japanese, which a great number of horsegirls aspire to run in, and perhaps even win, once in their lives.
Regrettably, however, no horsegirl from Japan has yet managed to win this race, so the URA and Tracen Academy have banded together to start a new project to fulfill this long-standing dream. Led by Satake Mei (佐岳メイ, VA: Horie Yui), a very close friend of the chairman Akikawa Yayoi, they call this Project L'Arc.
You will face two new rival horsegirls in the culminating race of Project L'Arc - Venus Park (ヴェニュスパーク, VA: Orihana Hina) and Rigantona (リガントーナ, VA: Iryo Aira).
Scenario Link and Character-specific Events
Gold Ship, Satono Diamond, El Condor Pasa, Nakayama Festa, Manhattan Cafe, Sirius Symboli, Tap Dance City, Orfevre, and the new character Satake Mei are scenario-linked for Project L'Arc.
Being linked will raise various event values and cause the fixed late June training event in the third year to award you with a gold skill instead of a normal skill, the skill you receive being based on a fixed early January event in the second year.
For Satake Mei, the link additionally causes her to randomly give one extra Star Gauge block to 5 members in her post-training event when training in Japan, or 50 additional Overseas Aptitude points during Overseas Expeditions.
Character-specific events cannot trigger in this scenario.
Characters who normally obtain the 大逃げ (Great Escape) strategy through character-specific events get a special secret event in Project L'Arc. By winning the Japan Cup (y2) and the Takarazuka Kinen (y3) using the Runner strategy, you can obtain an 大逃げ skill hint. Again, this only works for characters who can get it through normal means in other scenarios.
Project L'Arc Members and the Star Gauge
During Project L'Arc, you will be joined by the scenario link characters, the characters from your support cards, and various other random characters. Each of these (aside from Friend-type supports) will have a "Star Gauge" (スターゲージ), which can be filled by carrying out training together with them. Star Gauges also have individual levels, the effects of which are currently unknown.
One training will fill the gauge by one block, and three trainings are needed to complete it. Friendship training (rainbows) will fill the gauge by one additional block per "rainbowing" character. So, a single rainbow will fill two blocks, and a double rainbow will fill the Star Gauge fully.
Additionally, each team member has a stat specialization marked by the stat icon on the top and a special bonus, marked by the icon in the left-side bubble on the screen of the stat training facilities.
For stat specializations, all of the usual stats (Speed, Stamina, Power, Guts, and Wisdom) exist. A character's stat specialization seems to be random, so a character from a Speed support can get a Wisdom specialization.
Special bonuses include various effects and will change after every SS Match (i.e., after every time their Star Gauge level increases). You can see a preview of the next two special bonuses a character will have by clicking on the blue 「SSマッチ情報」 button on the top left of the training facility screen, under the name and level of the training facility.
It seems that every character has an individual, fixed set of special bonuses, independent of which of their support cards you use. For example, El Condor Pasa's first three bonuses are the "Good Practice ○" condition, followed by a Skill hint, and lastly, Overseas Points. Leveling her Star Gauge to level 2 moves the list up by one, revealing her fourth special bonus to be another Skill hint.
Listing the special bonus set of every single character in the game would be far too lengthy, but here's a table listing all varieties of special bonuses and their respective icons:
| Icon | Effect |
|---|---|
 | Skill Hint |
 | Energy Recovery |
 | Energy Max Increase and Recovery |
 | Motivation Increase and Energy Recovery |
 | Star Gauge Refill |
 | Overseas Aptitude Points |
 | Good Conditions |
 | Extra Stats or Extra Skill Points |
Once a team member's Star Gauge has been filled, they will be available for a new kind of training facility - the Stars' Matches (for short: SS Matches, or SSマッチ in Japanese).
Stars' Matches (SS Matches)
The Stars' Matches are a new, sixth training facility available only in the Project L'Arc scenario, positioned to the right of the Wisdom facility. It is only visible from the third turn onwards.
To participate in one such match, at least one (and up to five) of your Project L'Arc team members must have their Star Gauge filled to the maximum. Once they do, they will appear in this new training facility. Characters can appear in SS Matches and other training facilities at the same time.
You can see the number of participants in an SS Match before clicking on it via the 「vs x人」 text on top of the button, where the "x" stands for a number between 1 and 5. Carrying out an SS Match will empty the Star Gauges of all participants and increase their gauge level by one.
The training you do in this facility raises all of your stats - from Speed to Wisdom as well as Skill Points and Support bonds - and takes the shape of a race against the members participating. For each member you win against, you will receive a bonus corresponding to their stat specialization (the icon on top of their Star Gauge) and their special bonus (the text below their portrait on the SS Match screen).
Next to the 「勝率」 text, you can see an indicator of how likely you are to win against each specific member. As usual, a (double) circle is best, a (filled out) triangle is average, and a cross is worst. The reliability of this indicator is currently unknown.
In addition to the stat and special bonuses, SS Matches will also give you Supporter Points. These will be explained in the next section.
If you gather a total of five characters for one SS Match (i.e., have 5 Star Gauges maxed at the same time), you'll have the chance to trigger a Super Stars' Match (aka SSS Match). An SSS Match allows you to receive much greater bonuses than you would from a regular SS Match. The special match will be marked visually by a pulsating pink glow around the button and the member list on the top left.
Based on extensive testing done by players, the most likely theory for triggering SSS Matches is that the chance for a 5-member SS Match to turn into an SSS Match depends on how many team members have participated in an SS Match since the last SSS Match.
The base SSS chance seems to be around 10-15%, increasing to about 40-50% with five members who have participated in an SS match, and 100% with eight or more members.
Supporter Points and the Expectation Gauge
Lore-wise, Supporter Points (サポーターPt) represent the "expectations of the fans''. Fittingly, gathering Supporter Points will raise the so-called "Expectation Gauge" (期待度ゲージ). Increasing this gauge will then give a bonus to the stats gained in training. In other words, you will gain the "Training Bonus" effect, its strength depending on the fill level of the gauge.
Supporter Points can be acquired through SS Matches, via L'Arc Representative Exhibition races, and from normal races.
The other members of your Project L'Arc team who randomly participate in races with you can also gain Supporter points. They will be awarded points depending on their placement in the race, just as your main character is.
The distribution between race placement and Supporter points is as follows:
| Placement | G1 | G2 | G3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 1300 | 900 | 700 |
| 2nd | 700 | 450 | 300 |
| 3rd | 450 | 300 | 200 |
| 4~5th | 300 | 200 | 100 |
| >=6th | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The L'Arc Representative Exhibition races instead award 1500, 900, 600 and 400 points respectively for the same placement distribution as above. For both the Prix Foy and the Prix Niel, these numbers are 2000, 1000, 600 and 400. Finally, in the L'Arc race, you get 3000, 1800, 1000 or 800 points respectively. Getting 6th or below in any of these will get you 0 points, just like in the above table.
How many Supporter Points you and your team members currently have in total (and how filled your Expectation Gauge is) can be seen on the top left of the main training screen. The percentage on the bottom image is the fill grade of the gauge, and the below number is the exact number of your points.
Clicking on the "i" button on the top right will summarize exactly how much Training Bonus you are currently receiving from your gathered Supporter Points and the fill grade of the Expectation Gauge.
Overseas Expedition and Overseas Aptitude
In the Project L'Arc scenario, the summer training camp that happens between early July and early September in other scenarios is replaced with an overseas expedition. Specifically, a trip to France!
During these expeditions, you cannot participate in any Twinkle Series races. That is to say, you cannot participate in any Japanese races. Star Gauges also can't be raised, and SS Matches can't be triggered.
Instead, Overseas Expeditions will allow you to perform new kinds of training and outings unavailable otherwise. Here, you can gather large numbers of "Overseas Aptitude Points", with which you can raise a second, separate set of aptitudes exclusive to the Project L'Arc scenario. You can also acquire Overseas Aptitude points through the SS Matches.
These separate "Overseas Aptitudes'' (海外適性) are required for horsegirls to effectively participate in the 2400-meter medium-distance races held on the French Longchamp racecourse and can be acquired and raised independently of their usual aptitudes. Each Overseas Aptitude has up to three levels, with increasing point costs per level.
This means that even characters specializing in Mile or dirt races (or both, like Haru Urara) will be able to run these 2400-meter turf races effectively without worry.
The complete list of Overseas Aptitudes, their initial unlock condition, effects per level, and the points to level them up is as follows:
 | Overseas Turf Aptitude | |
|---|---|---|
| To unlock: Win twice in SS Matches | ||
| Lv1 | - | Guts Bonus +3 |
| Lv2 | 50pt | Challenge "Unfamiliar Turf" cleared Turf Aptitude raised to "A" |
| Lv3 | 200pt | Expedition Guts Training +50% |
 | Longchamp Aptitude | |
|---|---|---|
| To unlock: Win twice in SS Matches | ||
| Lv1 | - | Stamina Bonus +3 |
| Lv2 | 50pt | Challenge "Unknown Course" cleared Medium-distance Aptitude raised to "A" |
| Lv3 | 200pt | Expedition Stamina Training +50% |
 | Everyday Rhythm | |
|---|---|---|
| To unlock: Win ten times in SS Matches | ||
| Lv1 | - | Power Bonus +3 |
| Lv2 | 100pt | Challenge "Jet Lag" cleared Power in races +200 |
| Lv3 | 200pt | Expedition Power Training +50% |
 | Nutrition Management | |
|---|---|---|
| To unlock: Win ten times in SS Matches | ||
| Lv1 | - | Speed Bonus +3 |
| Lv2 | 100pt | Challenge "Overseas Cuisine" cleared Speed in races +100 |
| Lv3 | 200pt | Expedition Speed Training +50% |
 | French Fluency | |
|---|---|---|
| To unlock: Participate in an Overseas Expedition | ||
| Lv1 | - | Wisdom Bonus +3 |
| Lv2 | 100pt | Challenge "Language Barrier" cleared Wisdom in races +100 |
| Lv3 | 200pt | Expedition Wisdom Training +50% |
 | Overseas Expeditions | |
|---|---|---|
| To unlock: Participate in an Overseas Expedition | ||
| Lv1 | - | Skill Point Bonus +10 |
| Lv2 | 100pt | Challenge "Long-distance Travel" cleared Stamina in races +200 |
| Lv3 | 200pt | Skill Point Bonus +10 |
 | Boldness | |
|---|---|---|
| To unlock: Win one G1, participate in Prix Niel | ||
| Lv1 | - | Stamina Bonus +3 |
| Lv2 | 200pt | Challenge "Away-Game Feeling" cleared Stamina in races +200 |
| Lv3 | 300pt | Expedition Energy Discount 20% |
 | Mental Strength | |
|---|---|---|
| To unlock: Win one G1, participate in Prix Niel | ||
| Lv1 | - | Guts Bonus +3 |
| Lv2 | 200pt | Challenge "Extreme Stress" cleared Guts in races +200 |
| Lv3 | 300pt | Friendship Bonus +20% |
 | L'Arc Hopes | |
|---|---|---|
| To unlock: Win 40 times in SS Matches, Win 4th Exhibition race | ||
| Lv1 | - | All Stat Bonus +5% |
| Lv2 | 200pt | Challenge "Jinx" cleared |
 | L'Arc Domination Dreams | |
|---|---|---|
| To unlock: Win the L'Arc race | ||
| Lv1 | - | Activates in the L'Arc race Gain 3 green skill hints |
| Lv2 | 150pt | L'Arc race Stat Gain Up |
By acquiring and raising these, you can clear a set of challenges (課題) that form the requirements for participating effectively in overseas races. The button to access the Overseas Aptitudes and challenges is located between the Outing and the Race buttons and will also show your current point balance.
You can also view a summary of your status regarding challenges and their effects via a new tab in the character summary. You can open it with the 「能力詳細」button on top of the skill point counter.
As you can see in the above image, a total of nine different challenge types exist. Here's a list of their names, the related Overseas Aptitude to clear them, and the debuffs you will receive in overseas races if not cleared:
| Challenge Name (JP) | Challenge Name (EN) | Related Aptitude | Debuff |
|---|---|---|---|
| 慣れない芝 | Unfamiliar Turf | Overseas Turf Aptitude | Turf Aptitude lowered to "G" |
| 未知のコース | Unknown Course | Longchamp Aptitude | Medium-distance Aptitude lowered to "G" |
| 時差ボケ | Jet Lag | Everyday Rhythm | -200 to Power stat |
| 海外の食事 | Overseas Cuisine | Nutrition Management | -200 to Speed stat |
| 言葉の壁 | Language Barrier | French Fluency | -200 to Wisdom stat |
| 長距離移動 | Long-distance Travel | Overseas Expeditions | -200 to Stamina stat |
| アウエー感 | "Away Game"-Feeling | Boldness | -100 to Speed, Stamina, Guts |
| 極度の緊張 | Extreme Stress | Mental Strength | -100 to Speed, Power, Wisdom |
| ジンクス | Jinx | L'Arc Hopes | -250 to all stats |
To clear a challenge, you must raise the related Overseas Aptitude to level 2.
You must clear these challenges before participating in overseas races. If you don't, you will suffer the above-listed penalties. Which race requires which challenge can be found on its race info page. Here's an example:
The grayed-out challenges with red text on the right are fulfilled, while the others have not yet been. If there are Overseas Aptitudes you can raise (even those unrelated to the current race), a window will prompt you about this after you attempt to move onto the race screen. You can click the bottom checkbox to not show this pop-up anymore, but be aware that you also won't be warned about unfulfilled challenges.
L'Arc Representative Exhibition Races
During the Project L'Arc scenario, a total of four interleague races, so-called "L'Arc Representative Exhibition Races'' (L'Arc代表交流戦), will be held. They do not take up any turn on their own, but simply happen in between two turns. Winning them will award Supporter Points.
Lore-wise, these races are held within a VR environment that replicates the race conditions of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (which takes place on the 2400-meter Longchamp turf racecourse in Paris).
The interleague races take place in late December of the Junior year, late June of the Classics year, and late March and June of the Senior year.
A counter for how many turns remain until the next such race is displayed on the top left, under the objective counter.
Character Objectives and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
In addition to the above-mentioned interleague races, every character will follow a fixed regimen of training objectives in Project L'Arc. These are as follows:
- Participate in the Junior Make Debut
- Collect a total of 7000 Supporter Points (by Late December of the 1st Year)
- Place 3rd or better in the Japan Derby (Late May of the 2nd Year)
- Participate in the Prix Niel (Early September of the 2nd Year)
- Participate in the 2nd year L'Arc race (Early October of the 2nd Year)
- Collect a total of 42.000 Supporter Points (by Late March of the 3rd Year)
- Place 3rd or better in the Takarazuka Kinen (Late June of the 3rd year)
- Participate in the Prix Foy (Early September of the 3rd Year)
- Participate in the 3rd year L'Arc race (Early October of the 3rd Year)
As you may have noticed, the last objective is set in Early October of the 3rd year. So, compared to the previous scenarios, the training will end roughly ten turns earlier. This also results in certain nicknames not being obtainable, as they may require you to participate in races after Early October of the 3rd year.
In both Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe races, held in early October of the Classics and Senior year, you will encounter the two scenario rival horsegirls Venus Park and Rigantona.
Skill Evolution and Scenario-specific Skills
In the Project L'Arc scenario, every character has an additional set of evolution conditions for their two awakening rare skills. These conditions only exist in this scenario and are the same for every character - they act as an alternative for the normal evolution conditions (but don't replace them). Fulfilling either the skill's original evolution conditions or these new scenario-specific ones will allow you to evolve the skill.
For the first rare skill, the condition is either to win the Tokyo Yushun (Japan Derby) or to raise the Expectation Gauge to 100%.
For the second rare skill, the condition is either to win the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe or to raise your Overseas Aptitudes 20 times.
As for scenario-specific skills, you can receive a hint for the skill in the 「ロマンを求めて」 event after the final Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in early October of the third year, either at level 3 for winning the race both times or level 1 for winning once. You can also obtain a hint for the normal version of the skill, , in the 「フォワ賞の後に・勝利」 event, which triggers after winning the Prix Foy.
You'll also be presented with a selection of five choices, each representing one scenario-linked character, during the 「With」event in early January of the second year. Each of these will give you a skill hint in the fixed training event that triggers in late June of the Senior year, depending on your choice. One part of the character's name will appear in the name of the event awarding the hint (although for Mei, "Speed" is displayed instead of a name).
The choices you get are based on the character you are training, the support cards you are using, and some randomness.
The first choice will depend on the trained character. Every character in the game has a fixed first choice. Training scenario-linked characters will also guarantee the gold skill associated with that choice.
For example, training either Vodka or Nakayama Festa will guarantee Tap Dance City to appear as the first choice. However, this choice will only grant the corresponding gold skill when training Nakayama Festa (because she's scenario-linked).
Listing all characters' options would be far too extensive, but the corresponding choices of scenario-linked characters are listed in the table at the bottom of this section.
Apart from the trained horsegirl, using a support card of a scenario-linked character will guarantee their choice to appear (in deck order from left to right). Skills obtained from these choices will also be of gold rarity.
If you're already training a horsegirl who guarantees that respective character's choice (e.g., training Manhattan Cafe, who guarantees El Condor Pasa's option, and also using an El Condor Pasa support card), the choice will appear in the first slot.
The remaining slots will be chosen randomly from any scenario-linked characters you're not using. These will always give the normal rarity of their associated skill.
Let's take the above setup as an example. We're training Gold Ship, and from the scenario-linked characters, there are Satake Mei and El Condor Pasa support cards (in that deck order).
- The first choice will be Nakayama Festa (training Gold Ship guarantees that).
- The second choice will be Satake Mei (from her support card).
- The third choice will be El Condor Pasa (from her support card).
- The fourth and fifth choices will be randomly picked from any remaining options.
Now, assume we were instead training Manhattan Cafe with the same support cards.
- The first choice would be El Condor Pasa (training Manhattan Cafe guarantees that).
- The second choice would be Satake Mei (from her support card).
- The third choice can't be El Condor Pasa again (because she's already in the first slot), so it would be randomly picked.
- The fourth and fifth choices would be randomly picked again.
Here's a list of which character gives which hints when trained or used as a support card. You can also consult the entry for the event in the training event helper.
| Character | Playable linked skill | Support linked Skill | Support non-link skill |
|---|---|---|---|
| Satake Mei | n/a | ||
| El Condor Pasa | |||
| Sirius Symboli | |||
| Manhattan Cafe | |||
| Nakayama Festa | |||
| Gold Ship | |||
| Satono Diamond | |||
| Tap Dance City | |||
| Orfevre | not playable yet |
Furthermore, after the last of the four L'Arc Representative Exhibition races, you may receive a hint for the skill. Its hint level and the exact conditions to get this hint are currently unknown, but are believed to relate to the number of victories in the four races.
Base Training Values
Here is a table listing all of Project L'Arc's facility training values at level 1 without any supports on the training and without character growth bonuses calculated in:
| Facility | Stat gains | Energy |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | +10 Speed, +3 Power, +6 SP | -21 |
| Stamina | +9 Stamina, +4 Guts, +6 SP | -19 |
| Power | +5 Stamina, +11 Power, +6 SP | -20 |
| Guts | +3 Speed, +2 Power, +10 Guts, +6 SP | -21 |
| Wisdom | +2 Speed, +9 Wisdom, +6 SP | +5 |
Unique Skill Level-Ups
The number of fans or other conditions of previous scenarios are irrelevant to leveling up your unique skill in the Project L'Arc scenario. Instead, winning the L'Arc Representative Exhibition races will raise its level. For every victory in one such race, apart from the first, your character's unique skill will be increased by one level.
Training Facility Levels
In Project L'Arc, facilities will rise in level for every four turns spent on them, as usual. So, training Speed four times will raise its level from 1 to 2, another four turns raise it from 2 to 3, and so on.
Additionally, every time you hit certain thresholds in the Expectation Gauge, the levels of all training facilities will increase by one. These thresholds are 20%, 60%, and 100%.
Scenario Factors
The Project L'Arc scenario factor is called "L'Arc Scenario" (L'Arcシナリオ) and raises Stamina and Power when triggered during inheritance events.
The scenario also features a range of other factors that you can acquire. Based on their names, these are believed to be related to leveling up respective Overseas Aptitudes, but exact conditions are still being tested.
| Name (JP) | Name (EN) | Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| 海外洋芝適性 | Overseas Turf Aptitude | Power |
| ロンシャン適性 | Longchamp Aptitude | Skill Pt |
| 生活リズム | Everyday Rhythm | Guts |
| 栄養管理 | Nutrition Management | Stamina |
| フランス語力 | French Fluency | Wisdom |
| 海外遠征 | Overseas Expeditions | Speed |
| 強心臓 | Boldness | Stamina, Guts |
| 精神力 | Mental Strength | Power, Wisdom |
| L'Arcの希望 | L'Arc Hopes | Speed, |
| 凱旋門賞連覇の夢 | L'Arc Domination Dreams | Skill Pt, |
Stat Caps
The Project L'Arc scenario has the following base stat caps:
| Stat | Cap |
|---|---|
| Speed | 1600 |
| Stamina | 1600 |
| Power | 1500 |
| Guts | 1500 |
| Wisdom | 1300 |
