Day 7: Delicious & Spicy Preparations

Gathering for bat wing chow mein just takes to long, so I already precooked 4 delicious spicy noodles. I also presmithed a Chrome Helmet Turtle. I'll gather one more spice tomorrow as well, to make it 5.

Then I'll get the linoleum.

Drink of choice is IPA or a good special.

Why such a low-adventure approach to food&drink? Because I want to save up adventures for Moxie Day. I'm going to save at least 50 today. And that's a promise. I can continue with the Trapper Quest calmly, at least to get some more stats, before confronting the Bonerdagon. I want to beat him, so I can make a badass belt from his parts. I can save his chest 'till Moxie day. Seeing as "gently" is the word, I can pick a different skill than Powers of Observatiogn. Entangling Noodles would help against the bonerdagon (if, at least, he doesn't block that).

From there on, I just complete the trapper's quest and go for level 9, trying to save as much adventures as possible for Moxie Day.

Basically, after getting that final piece of linoleum ore, there are no major challenges until Moxie Day hits. The most important thing to look out for is that my chef might asplode.

Wishlist:
Entangling Noodles (2000)
eXtreme Ray of Something (4000)
Kickback Cookbook (4000)
Powers of Observatiogn (5000)
Springy Fusilli (6000)
Torso Awaregness (5000)

Day 6: Miner Setback

Today, the gods of random were kind of unkind to me.

Starting off with farming for chow mein, I noticed the drop rates for knob mushrooms are atrociously low. I got dry noodles and spices and what not from the kitchen, but hardly any mushrooms. In fact, I got so little that for the last one, I cheated and used a clover for a grab bag.

The bat wings drop weren't as rare, but not proliferant either. Still, 3 chow meins filled my gullet and I could check for booze. There I got the major break of the day, namely, the Microbrewery sold eggnog. Eggnog is fantastic, especially on a stat day. Good adventures, major stats and for a low low price. So, I reached level 8, purely on the eggnog. Which gave me access to the tr4pz0r.

And from there on, it was terrible. I have 8 asbestos ore, 9 chrome ore, got 6 meat stacks and tonnes of cave-ins. So that's 20 adventures of non-stat adventuring right there. And that's not including the 8 to 10 or so cave-ins, which beat me up. During which I tried to make the most of it by levelling familiars or getting stuff from the sewers or resting, or adventuring in very low-level area's. I did get 2 linoleum ore, so I have good hopes I will complete it tomorrow, but stat and adventurewise, today was such a waste.

After my last getting beat up by a cave-in, I decided to put on my harem outfit. Slap on some perfume, put some hairspray in my coiffe and go talk to a certain King. Having eaten 3 chow meins, I was able to use my Chronic Indigestion to my advantage and his disadvantage.

A fine note to end the day, I thought, feeling a final eggnog slithering down my throat on its own volition.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 8
Vermicelli Enchanter
Turns Played (this run): 776
Days Played (this run): 6

Skilled to the Core

This is a personal list of the skills I think are most useful in hardcore. There are two tiers. "Essentials", which is the best/must-have skill from every class and "Cool", which is the two runners-up. The ones marked with a *, I already possess. Those marked with a +, I only have gathered in softcore.

Essentials:
Amphibian Sympathy (TT)+
Eye of the Stoat (SC)
Pastamastery (PM)
Advanced Saucecrafting (SA)
Mad Looting Skillz (DB)*
Moxious Madrigal (AT)
Powers of Observatiogn (G)+

Cool:
Armorcraftiness (TT)*
Empathy (TT)*
Super-Advanced Meatsmithing (SC)
Tongue of the Walrus (SC)
Springy Fusilli (PM)
Leash of Linguini (PM)+
Elemental Saucesphere (SA)
Impetuous Sauciness (SA)
Overdeveloped Sense of Self-Preservation (DB)
Crossbow Fever (DB)
Moxie of the Mariachi (AT)
Fat Leon's Phat Loot Lyric (AT)
Gnefarious Pickpocketing (G)+
Torso Awaregness (G)+
Chronic Indigestion (Misc.)

Now, this list is, of course, debatable and mostly based on what I currently think, rather than know. Mostly with the runners up. Some might find that Disco Face Stab is more useful than Crossbow Fever. Others would like to see a damage-dealer included, because that would help the AT's, who have none of their own. Or they think that a different healing spell from the Tongue of the Walrus should be in there. That's mighty fine, and might even be true, but this is MY list.

Day 6: Mysticality Day Already?!

So, I check the Moon Phases list, and it's Myst Day already. Apparently the interleave between Muscle and Myst and then Moxie day is shorter than the interleave between Moxie, Myst and then Muscle Day.

So, it's tomorrow. Damn skippy that I already saved up a whopping 18 adventures today. That said, I do have Pastamastery now. So, I have the choice: adventuring for bat wing chow mein ingredients, or making delicious spicy noodles. If it's not a clover day, I could be limited in my spices, and it makes me want to opt for the former. Bat Wing and Knob Mushroom are relatively easy ingredients to get, after all.

That said, I'm also starting to crave a bartender. If the special from the Microbrewery is not a good drink (myst or moxie), I'll farm for one tomorrow. Because mixing schnapps and fine wine is easy, is a great stat boost/drunkeness, and would give relatively good adventures/drunkeness, if it didn't cost one adventure to mix them. It would also be good to have an Orcish Frat Boy Ensemble. So I could just get and use a roll of drink tickets.

There's also still that Goblin King. Even though I'm bleeding his treasury dry and can raid his kitchens and harem at my whim, he still technically rules that Knob and still threatens to move his Elite Guard to run over Sea-Side Town. I want his Crown!

The big breakthrough would be, however, if I can reach the Mine and consequently the Goatlet. So, I do need to make a balanced mix between farming, questing and statgaining.

Plan:
The Day starts in the Kitchens, with my itemdrop familiar, to get Knob Mushrooms. Next, to the Bat Hole (Batrat and Ratbat Burrow) for chow mein ingredients.
After that, the options are a bit more open.
If there's no good booze at the Microbrewery, I use my itemdropfamiliar to adventure at the Orcish Frat House. To get the ensemble and a decent stash of quality spirits.
If there *is* good booze at the Microbrewery (or I've gotten the ensemble and a decent supply), I'll use my Cheshire Bat to adventure at the Friar's Gate for stats. I could use the deodorant, to make sure I mostly get monsters.
Once I reach level 8, I can entertain myself with the quests from the trapper, and, at the end of the day, should make sure to give "bopping the King on the head" a try.

If I can spare the meat, I might want to spend it on the following (semi-prioritized).

Wannahave List:
Powers of Observatiogn (5000)
eXtreme Ray of Something (4000)
Kickback Cookbook (4000)
Meaty Helmet Turtle (1000 + 1 turn)
Torso Awaregness (5000)

(Note: Powers of Observatiogn is a skill I use/want/get so universally in all my hardcore runs, I should make a meta-list of hardcore skills and put it on there).

Day 5: Stir-Fried Fries

No, I didn't actually eat any stir-fried fries. I did eat a stir-fry though. The Pirates were too strong for me, so I dabbled around a bit in the Hippy Camp, the sewers, the Frat House and the Treasury.

I don't get it, even with my stainless steel pants and a 30-pound Cheshire Bat, the Orcs still don't drop much meat. I realize they're students who spend all their meat on booze, but they didn't drop much of that either. They dropped ice-cold beers and foties, but only two bottles of the good stuff. So, I mostly drank IPA.

From the treasury, I got beans, for burrito's. Not that I need more muscle, but it's better than nothing. Adventuring for the items for a stir-fry (or even chow mein) was trickier than I thought. Basic pasta dishes might be more my thing. It was only at the end of the day, that I scraped enough meat together for Pastamastery. I had eaten to fullness and drank to near fullness by then, so I just pre-emptively conjured up the dry noodles.

I also got this new item "deodorant", from the frat house, but I've kinda gotta figure when that's going to be handy. I did not get reodorant from the hippies.

In conclusion, my adventuring was a bit too fragmented today to be spectacularly efficient, but at least I got Pastamastery.

So, I thought, "Screw today!", and downed vodka mixed with orange juice.

[edit] I almost forgot: Sneaky Pete's Key from the Dungeon. Hurray, that's done!

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 7
Macaroni Magician
Turns Played (this run): 603
Days Played (this run): 5

Day 5: Planning Pasta Classes

The meat shortage is still breaking me up. Even with the stainless pants and a 30-pound bat, I'm running low and actually was forced to autosell stuff on day 4. My wishlist hasn't decreased, except for the Island Acess, and the fact that I don't particularly want a meaty helmet turtle that badly, now that I've found a Knob Goblin Visor.

I'm not going to repeat the wishlist, as it's absurd to keep it up, if I can hardly afford stuff from it. Combat Spell-wise, the Chronic Indigestion is pretty good, especially if I stuff myself with burrito's.

There's no pressing need to adventure much tomorrow. Rather, I can save up turns and/or focus purely on improving equipment and skills. I'll try to see if I'm strong enough to hit up the pirates, or otherwise the frat boys, to both get a small supply of booze and also meat. Meat which will be spent on Pastamastery. I should do this before eating, so that I can fully switch to farming for chow mein, before I commit to burrito's.

And oh yeah, the Daily Dungeon still needs to give up that final key. Should be a wee bit easier, now that I have infernal insoles.

Day 4: No Noodles...

...but a lot of other stuff.

The Daily Dungeon gave me a Jarlsberg Key. Hurray. Only one more Dungeon key to go. Time to go for the shore and 'lo and behold, I got a barbed-wire fence on the fifth trip. Meaning that I opened up access to the Island as well.
I was a bit overzealous in my trinket-hunting, mostly so I have some ten-leaf clovers if Sneaky Pete's Day hits before the end of my run. I'll add a few more to the stash later. Or, I can use them for emergency spices.
I ate 4 spicy enchanted bean burrito's and topped that off with an insanely spicy enchanted bean burrito, so I got Indigestion. That would prove useful later.

From here on, I got beat up, quite a bit too much. Except for yesterday, I've been overly beat up. The King proved too strong, as did the monsters in the Cyrpt. The Cyrpt? Yes, the Cyrpt opened up. Mostly due to the mysticality boost from 5 enchanted -type burrito's.

I had planned to visit the Island, and hit hippies for their dreadsacks and such. I was low on meat and adventures and decided to make an attempt at helping the Friar's. That worked! With the help of my Flaming Gravy Fairy (much used, today), I even managed to make the Ruby W and wussiness potion drop.

With the improved liver capacity, I downed a few more Tequila's (with training wheels) and went on to the hippies. They were so kind as to drop both the Dreadsack and Corduroys within a handful of adventures. If only I had a Tenderizing Hammer, I could make my crossbow a Kentucky-fried one.

I used my second-to last adventure to gather some meat to pay for a permit, so I could use the other to get spices.

One last round of tipping the shotglass and biting the lime ended the day.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 7
Macaroni Magician
Turns Played (this run): 496
Days Played (this run): 4

Day 4: Into the Middle Phase

The wishlist got updated and extended.

Luckily, it's the Middle Phase of the game, so I could actually start buying things on it, if things go alright.

To recoup on the three threads:
Story Progression:
- Nemesis. No use, no way.
- Goblin King. I can farm for the stuff required to beat him. I need to improve my stats and skills a bit to actually *beat* him.
- Deep Fat Friars. A useful Quest, with a little self-improvement I can start dipping my toe into these waters.

Self Improvement:
- Stats. My muscle has gotten a nice boost over the past few days, nothing wrong with my Myst, especially with that Jarlsberg Earring. The goal will be to improve moxie, although I'll farm for enchanted bean burrito's.
- Equipment. One more moxie and I can wear the Stainless Steel Slacks. My hat is a bit underpowered, but for 1000 meat I can make a meaty helmet turtle. Access to the Island should give me a kentucky-fried meat crossbow. I also put a Kickback Cookbook accessory on the wish list.
- Skills. See the wish list. Man, do I want a lot of skills. And stuff.

Tie-ing Ends Up:
- Lair Keys. I already have 50% of the keys. I'll take a trip to the daily dungeon to go for that extra 16.6%.
- Tower Items. On backfarm order: spider web, disease, baseball.

Wishlist:
Island Access (2500)
Powers of Observatiogn (5000)
Pastamastery (5000)
Tenderizing Hammer (1000)
Meaty Helmet Turtle (1000 + 1turn)
Kickback Cookbook (4000)
eXtreme Ray of Something (4000)
Entangling Noodles (2000)
Torso Awaregness (5000)
Lasagna Bandages (3000)
Gnefarious Pickpocketing (5000)
Springy Fusilli (6000)

Plans and considerations:
Next stat day is a Mysticality Day. I would like to make a big whopper out of it, so I need to save adventures. On the other hand, I can eat AND drink, so I don't need to be that frugal. Tomorrow I'll spend all my adventures.
First I'll hit up the Dungeon. Then I'll fight in the harem, 'till I'm buff-free. Switching back to the Treasury if I get the items for the King's Quest.
I'll spend my buff-free turns shoring for moxie (barbed wire fence!), till I get the plans.
If it's a clover day, I can do a few spice runs, as well as get the planks.
Time to farm for enchanted beans.
Spend the remaining adventures smashing hippies for pants and dreadsacks.

Then Day 5 is probably the day for Advanced Cooking and saving up adventures.

Day 3: Down in the Knob Goblin Harem

My plan d'attaque worked. I could manage to adventure in the Treasury and slowly gained some stats and a decent amount of meat, and even a few beans. I grew a bit tired of it and decided to take a shortcut through the kitchens. It meant I could spice up the bean burrito's that I had (no clovers), as well as that I could switch two more burrito's that I needed for knob sausage pizza's.

The Daily Dungeon was next. It went pretty well, until I met the Apathetic Lizardman who gave me apathy. So I adventured a bit in the hauntred pantry and got the razorsharp can lid AND the Dolphin King's map. That crown actually was an improvement over my asshat. I finished the Daily Dungeon for the grand reward of a Jarlsberg earring.

Next up, I dropped by the batcave. I got myself two sonars-in-a-biscuit. One to break the final wall and one for the Tower. Confronting the Boss Bat went okay. He damaged me, but I damaged him more. Had I brought a healing potion, it would have been even less close.

Which meant I could go on collecting pixels, which went the way it always goes. A boring exercise in left-clicking. I started drinking IPA because I ran out of adventures, but when all was said and done with 4 red pixel potions and a Digital Key, I had a handful of them left.

So, I decided to pre-empt tomorrow's challenges, by diving into the Harem. I got pants.

The day was finished by buying a bloody mary (brewery special). Long may she bleed!

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 6
Spaghetti Sage
Turns Played (this run): 359
Days Played (this run): 3

Day 3: Where's the beef?

Considering it's muscle day and considering I need meat, lots of it, I like the "planning" headline.

As I slowly get ready to move from the Early Phase to the Middle Phase, my needs and options can be split into 3 major threads.
Story Progression, Self-improvement, Tie-ing Ends Up.

Story Progression:
- Boss Bat. I think I can take him on, in my current condition.
- Nemesis. I don't particularly feel like farming for Fairy Gravy. Especially considering the reward is the Colander of Emeril. A hat that boosts mysticality. Whoop-de-doo.
- Goblin King. I can't face him, yet. His minions are a bit too strong as well.

Self Improvement:
- Stats (Muscle, Mysticality, Moxie)
I can improve muscle by eating ((insanely)spicy) bean burrito's, which I get from fighting in a profitable place, namely the Treasury. Mysticality can wait 'till Mysticality day, while Moxie can wait 'till the day after Muscle day.
For advanced food (and drinks), I need to secure Island Access. This seems to be more of a priority for the day AFTER tomorrow.
- Equipment
If my moxie increases 6 points, I can wear the Stainless Steel Slacks. If I gain Island access, I can replace my crossbow with a Kentucky-Fried one. That way I have tonnes more moxie, and can safely use my spells to kill the monsters. Other equipment is not paramount at the moment. I could aim for a better hat. Maybe a Visor will drop at the treasury. Or I could whip up a meat helmet, but only if I have the meat to spare for a tenderizing hammer. Or I could get an enchanted eye-patch. Or a balloon helmet. Oh well, we'll just see, it doesn't matter much.
- Skills
See the (prioritized) skill wishlist. I need meat. Lots of meat, for this list.

Tie-ing Ends Up:
- Lair Keys
I already have the skeleton key and Boris Key. I think I can withstand an extended pixel hunt, so I could go for a digital key (and red pixel potions). I should of course try the Daily Dungeon.
- Tower Items
I need to backfarm a razorsharp can lid, a spider web, a disease and a sonar-in-a-biscuit.

Skill (and item) Wishlist:
Powers of Observatiogn (5000)
Pastamastery (5000)
eXtreme Ray of Something (4000)
Entangling Noodles (2000)
Torso Awaregness (5000)
Lasagna Bandages (3000)
Tenderizing Hammer (1000)
Gnefarious Pickpocketing (5000)

Plan d'attaque: Adventure in the Treasury until I can cook up a total of 5 bean burrito's. I'll spice 'em up, if it's a clover day. I should also get a shitload of meat this way, which can be spent on skills. I should equip the Stainless Pants as soon as possible, of course. After this , I try my hand at the Daily Dungeon. Then I deal with the boss bat, if possible. Aftr that it's Pixel Hunting time. Drink of the day will be IPA or the special.

Backfarming, Shoring, and all that jazz is left for Day 4.

Day 2: Loathing-Mexican

Today, I didn't feel like I played in an organized way, yet I basically got my list done. And it wasn't moxie day, but muscle day. Sadly, I found this out, only just now, when starting to write up this post.

Meat-wise, I spent it too much. On MMJ and soda water, hermit permits, a cocktail crafting kit, meat paste and meat stacks for combining. I did afford (in the last part) myself a minor ray of Something spell.

I did get my meat maid and chef-in-the-box. Because I thought it was moxie day, I even went South of the Border and fetched some jumping beans, for a (spicy, because of clovers!) jumping bean burrito.
Way too many adventures were spent at Fernswarthy's tower and a decent amount at the Cemetary. A pleasant side-effect of Fernswarthy's is that you not only get a lot of dough from there, but the lesser fruit golem is pretty liberal with it's fruits. The few bottles of booze I got from South of the Border (tequila) and from the "Fun House" (rum), could immediately be mixed up into a strawberry daiquiri and tequila sunrise. I also ate some enchanted bean burrito's (one spicy) and chorizo taco's. I can always fill up with fruit I suppose, but this decent meal was easy to get. Two beers and a bloody mary (microbrewery special) filled up my limit.

On another pleasant note, I did complete the Daily Dungeon (Boris Key!).

All in all, an interesting, useful day and I'll hopefully make as useful plans for tomorrow. For muscle day.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 5
Carbohydrate Cognoscenti
Turns Played (this run): 249
Days Played (this run): 2

Day 2: Moxious Macaroni?

Planning the second day?

Well, let's see. We're in the "Early Phase". Although I'm on the verge of breaking through, I feel.
"- In the Early Phase, you are low on meat, any skill and piece of equipment is precious. Food/Drink is scarce. Quests are easy or out of your league."

Goals
1) Meat. I need meat for spells, like a low-level damaging spell. I also need meat for MMJ, although I should gain access to my guild shop first, then.
Powers of Observatiogn and Torso Awaregness are also desirable.
I think meat will be the most limiting factor, and there's nothing much that can be done about this tomorrow. Having that smile-sharpening stone for the Cheshire Bat should make a minor difference, though.
2) Food & Drink
Drink is easy, I can drink IPA. If I start to make serious meat, I could buy all-purpose flower. For now, I'll have to adventure at Degrassi Knoll, and hope for dough. I'll slay beanbats for now, for burrito's.
3) Chef-in-the-box
I already have the hat, the oven and a spring. I still need a box, smart skull and a brain.
4) Meat Maid
I already have the skirt, the ingredients for a meat engine and a maiden wig. Still need a brain and a skull.
5) Daily Dungeon
At the end of tomorrow, I might have stats which give me a chance in the Dungeon. I already have stench resistance and decent mysticality.

Most important of all, I need to start off tomorrow drinking the two remaining bottles of single-barrel whiskey. After that I aim to farm for enchanted burrito's first. I should not forget to check for clovers (and hence, spices) at the Hermit. My main drink will be IPA, and later in the day I can attempt to farm brains and skulls, as well as perhaps test my performance in the Daily Dungeon.

Day 1: Pasta Spooning

So I chose to be a Pastamancer. Wombat sign, no less. And, again, hardcore, but no path. My extra harcore skill was "Mad Looting Skillz", which I oddly hadn't taken in softcore yet.

The first order of business was revelling. I opened the letter from King Ralph and was greeted by three tattoo's (hardcore DB, hardcore Boozetafarian, hardcore III), a pair of stainless steel slacks, three bottles of single-barrel whiskey and a pork elf goodies sack.

Then I pondered. Spend turns today, or save them for Moxie day? The game is too much fun to keep the turns corked, so I started spending, in the usual dicking about on the first day style, that has become so familiar to me. Tomorrow I can be serious.

I did end up with a bitchin' meat car, drank one of the bottles, took the chance to stock up on IPA, and even got to eat a bowl of cottage cheese, some rat-appendix kabobs and an enchanted bean burrito. Somewhere along the way, I got an eye-patch as well. I got beat up a bit too much for my liking, mostly by rats and bats. I used the turns beat up to start leveling my Tower Familiars already, and also got a smile-sharpening stone for my Cheshire Bat.

I only have to level up the familiars to level 5, because I already have Empathy and also plan on getting Leash in the course of this run. Which means that combined with a familiar item, the total bonus poundage will be 15!

One of the funniest moments of the day was when I autosold an excess frilly skirt. "You sell your frilly skirt to a miniscule suffragette for 40 meat." So apt.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 4
Starch Savant
Turns Played (this run): 127
Days Played (this run): 1

Day 15: Disco Dancing to my Doom!

Actually, not my doom, unless ascending is considered being doomed.

First of all, indeed no Sneaky Pete Day. What sadness, but other affairs trumped the matter.

My moxie had been thus increasing that I was able to easily stand my ground in the Castle. I turned the wheel and completed the Giant Castle Map Quest. Which gave me access to the hole. I didn't even need to PvP people. Spiky Hair and Sugar Rush, combined with Disco Face Stabs got me through the hole in a decent amount of time and with no too many beatings. Once I got the Star Crossbow, things started going even better.

I did have to adventure some in the Hole still, after reaching level 11, but it was of little consequence. I had amazing luck with the hedge maze puzzle. The first Topiary Golem I met dropped a puzzle and no golems showed up to steal it back, at all! So I solved the hedge maze in one adventure.

The tower was routine. I did get the enraged cow, which kind of vindicates my extra trips to the shore, I suppose. The trickiest bit was leveling my familiars, but thanks to the tool from Xylpher, it went pretty smooth.

I faced the Naughty Sorceress with worries. I had enough meat to buy 20 Homeopathic Elixirs and I equipped myself with the furry suit, the wand, a goth kid shirt, a flaming talon, dirty hobo gloves and the ITLAPD Pirate Hook. I still was worried. JLE however gave me a golden piece of advice: "Disco Dance of Doom". I autosold a bunch of penguin skins, which I still had hold of (I planned to sell them to the Bounty Hunter Hunter) and got this skill. It had always seemed so usesless to me, but hey, I don't know much about Disco Bandits.

It worked like a charm against the Sorceress. The Disco Dances luckily connected. Her first incarnation hit me for 4 HP, when she hit me, and the second for 6 or 7 HP. Cracking her skull with the wand and helped by attacks from the dodecapede I made pretty short work of her. With a blocking rate of 66% or so, I could still easily heal, when necessary, and didn't use any other item than the Elixirs. It was far more easy than I had worried about. Hurray!

I spent a handful of turns I had left farming the Peak, and then jumped into the gash.

Keypunch (#30036)
Disco Bandit
The Packrat
Ascended in: 1,339 turns spread out over 15 days
Hardcore, Boozetafarian

Day 15: Simple Plans

Well, no DD anymore. I could check for clovers. Not that I need them for green beer, as rumoured. I should try to drink them, though.

More castling, more stats and turning the wheel counterclockwise once more. It's about time to face the Creatures from the Hole in the Sky. If it doesn't work out, I'm saving the adventures for Moxie day. So I can PvP some people and drink the flower schnapps that date, having exhausted my supply of Advanced Cocktails and other assorted quality booze.

Day 14: Drink and Run

I didn't have much chance today to play, so I basically just created my drinks, poked my head into the Giant Castle a few times, and did NOT forget the Daily Dungeon. Hence my proud ownership of a Jarlsberg Key. Which means that set is complete.

I also got a chaos butterfly, thin black candle and furry fur. So I still need an awful poetry journal, Heavy D, a giant needle, and some wheelluck.

I can dodge the furry, procrastination, goth and possibility giant. I still need facestabs for the Raver (one) and the Alphabet giant (two). I did some minor math, and I can, statwise, quite likely ascend tomorrow. Or else, definitely on moxie day.

In other, more terrible news, unconfirmed reports have stated that St. Sneaky Pete's Day will not be held tomorrow, but has been moved to Starch 3 (October 6th!). Major meh!

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 10
Vibe Robber
Turns Played (this run): 1,153
Days Played (this run): 14

Day 14: Hitting on People?

First priority: Daily Dungeon. I'm rooting for that final key.
Second priority: Clovers. I still want 4 extra of them.

Instead of Disco-Face stabbing, I could, perhaps, also take a few shots of flower schnapps. I could make room for 4 to 5 of them within my drinking regime. The 20% stat increase could be just the edge that I need.

On the other hand, Face-Stabbing is working just fine, so it might better be saved for the Hole in the Sky, where I'm at least guaranteed that every flower-powered adventure will be spent in an actual fight.

Yup. That seems to be the ticket.

Items to keep an eye on tomorrow:
For the Lair/Sorceress: Heavy D, Chaos Butterfly, thin black candle (plot holes)
For the Hole in the Sky: furry fur, awful poetry, giant needle

Day 13: Drinking in the clouds

I did as planned. The Daily Dungeon gave me an extra Boris ring. The hermit didn't have clovers. But farming for booze was very efficient.

After the Yeti, it was up the beanstalk. I managed to land a photoprotoneutron torpedo and a Metallic A for the Tower Collection. I did get beat up a couple of times and sadly wasted frigid ninja stars trying to stave off one of those defeats. When confronting the sorceress, I should maybe stack up first a bit on combat items. I used the time beat up to level up my Goat and Mosquito a bit. It's a gamble, but it could help. The castle does require me Face-Stabbing my opponents, although the wheel has been turned to moxie, and I might soon be able to dodge them, no problem.

I used the drinking plan to my advantage and it's looking good. I hope I get some more tiny paper umbrella's tomorrow. And clovers.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 10
Vibe Robber
Turns Played (this run): 1,119
Days Played (this run): 13

Day 13: Entering the End Phase

I think one could reasonably divide a KoL run into 3 pieces.
Early Phase: Levels 1-5
Middle Phase: Levels 5-9
End Phase: Levels 9-11

- In the Early Phase, you are low on meat, any skill and piece of equipment is precious. Food/Drink is scarce. Quests are easy or out of your league.
- In the Middle Phase things start to get interesting. All sorts of options and choices open up. Food and drink are proliferant and you start to be able to spend a little meat on various things. All kinds of complex quests can be taken care off.
- In the End Phase the gameplay becomes more linear and is a simple set of progressions. Food and booze availability drops off in regular adventuring, so you have to farm for it, or tap into your acquired sources. Meat, however is pretty abundant.

I have now entered the Late Phase. Basically, all I have to do is hit Yeti till I gain level 10, fight in the Airship till I reach the castle, fight in the Castle till I can fight in the Hole in the Sky, go back to the Castle till I hit level 11 and finish the tower and Sorceress.

So, that's what I'll do. If I'm effective, I could finish this run before next stat day, so no saving of adventures is planned.

What is interesting is my boozing patterns. With my current stock of advanced garnishes taken into account, I can make a total of 13 advanced cocktails 'till (and including) St. Sneaky Pete's Day. In honour of St. Sneaky Pete, I plan to drink 5 of them on that date. Assuming that the Microbrewery doesn't give out eggnog or especially salty dogs in the coming days, this is what my boozing pattern will look like. (The - sign indicates it's drinking past my limit of drunkeness)

Day 13: 3 advanced cocktails, 2 spiced rum, shot of schnapps - advanced cocktail
Day 14: 3 advanced cocktails, 2 spiced rum, shot of schnapps - advanced cocktail
Day 15: 4 advanced cocktails, spiced rum - advanced cocktail, 3 green beers (+4 green beers?)

Which means that my plans for Day 13 are in chronological order:
1) Scrounge up 3 garnishes
2) Defeat the Daily Dungeon
3) Fish for a worthless trinket
4) Check if it's clover day: Fish for 4 extra clovers.
5) Farm 7 more bottles of booze (Menagerie)
6) Hit Yeti till I reach level 10
7) Do the Airship/Castle thing

Day 12: Vanishing Act

I basically got everything done from the list. Maybe not in the exact order, and maybe not 100% efficient, but it's all done. I'm level 9, with all my farming up to date (including barbed wire fence) and all quests completed. I'm making mincemeat out of yeti's to reach level 10, ASAP. I also put 15k meat into the Hall of Legends. And I didn't sacrifice to any old legend, but to Sneaky Pete, because I got his key from the Daily Dungeon!

I already stashed 11k meat into my closet for the Crossbow Fever skill, which opens up later in the game.

One of the most important lessons I learned today was that when you have access to the Hippy Store, you can have the best drink for only 140 meat. Schnapps. Their adventure to drunkeness ratio is one of the best. So for 3 drunkenness, you pay 420, which is pretty steep, but now I can farm the Yeti, it seems worth it. Especially since they give good stats as well.
I should have known for a long time that schnapps were basically the muscle and mysticality variety of fine wine. With tomato schnapps being the exception, of course.

Time to make all new plans!

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 9
Groove Filcher
Turns Played (this run): 1,020
Days Played (this run): 12

Day 12: Mystical Plans

Issues for Myst Day:
1) Meat & Skills
The wishlist has made some progress, namely the removal of Cocktailcrafting and meaty helmet turtle. Top priority is Mad Looting Skillz. The rest can be achieved in due time. Meat is flowing these days.
2) Daily Dungeon
I still need Jarlsberg and Sneaky Pete Key. The Dungeon only poses minor problems. Mostly, I've got a lack of resistances, although the eXtreme cold-weather outfit might help me in the future.
3) Rofl'Mao & 1337 H4X0R & Strange Leaflet
I'm pretty hopeful, that I can reach level 9 and open up these quests. Both the h4x0r and the Leaflet are a great stat boost with nice miscellaneous rewards. The Rofl'mao quest gives great amounts of meat.
I could take a headstart by bothering pirates, in order to get that particular outfit all set up, so I can get the bridge the moment I hit level 9.
4) Trapper Quest
Already halfway there, with 4 pieces of goat cheese in my possession, completing this quest gives a nice monetary reward and means I'll have a cold-resistant outfit to boot.
5) Cyrpt-Quest
The Cyrpt needs to be cleared of the Bonerdagon. I am in a position to clear out the nooks and crannies. If I could manage to defeat the Bonerdagon, that would be great, considering the stat and meat rewards.
6) Booze
I can fight in the Menagerie to get booze, and I already have 3 myst-type advanced cocktails. Drinking nothing but 5 of these (and a filler regular myst cocktail) would be a great way to gain adventures and stats.
7) Items to farm: lowercase n (2x), meat vortex, frigid ninja stars, barbed-wire fence

Skill Wishlist:
Mad Looting Skillz (8000)
Overdeveloped Sense of Self-Preservation (2000)
Torso Awaregness (5000)
Gnefarious Pickpocketing (5000)
Disco Eye-Poke (1000)
Disco Power Nap (9000)
Nimble Fingers (6000)

Day 11: Daily Drudgery

First off, I forgot the Dungeon, again. Dagnabbit!

Secondly, I did quite well, managed to level up my goat and get a smile-sharpening stone for my Cheshire Bat. Also, it was clover day, so I have three clovers in storage.

I crafted a Roll-in-the-Hay for tomorrow and drank some IPA, a dry vodka martini (microbrewery special), a fuzzbump and finished off with a rockin' wagon. Had to visit the Frat House for the latter (it requires vodka), but I didn't go for a drink-ticket just yet, because I didn't have the Frat Boy Ensemble.

Soon, I might have enough moxie to rather tangle with the Booze Giants on menagerie level 3, although I'm tempted to test the drink tickets for Guide purposes.

After drinking myself silly, I smithed a Chrome Helmet Turtle. Maybe I should change my outfit to a moxie one tomorrow. I have 135 adventures saved :-)

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 8
Jam Horker
Turns Played (this run): 783
Days Played (this run): 11

Day 10: Going Down Smoothly

The Daily Dungeon gave a Jarlsberg Earring. Woohoo! Err...well, it complements the collection, I suppose. This time I got the final piece of linoleum ore and had a grand old time with the goats.

I have prepared a Roll-in-the-Hay for stat day and downed two Fuzzbumps, combined with IPA. In my quest for booze, I also gathered 3 of the 6 prerequired pieces of cheese. No clovers were to be gotten from the hermit and I also still don't have a barbed-wire fence. The number of turns in storage is getting significant.

I had miscalculated and not tomorrow, but he day after is mysticality day. Gives me some wiggle space on saving turns and myst boosting booze.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 8
Jam Horker
Turns Played (this run): 739
Days Played (this run): 10

Where to go for Booze in the Kindgom?

The modern-day adventurer has a 24-7 booze need. Softcore people can just rely on pulling their booze which they can buy from the mall. In hardcore, you can always vpick moxie sign and visit the Microbrewery. But what if you want something else than IPA for a change? Like hard liquor for mixing your own fine cocktails? I present thee...

A Boozetefarian's Guide to the Kingdom's finest.

Here are the top places to get booze. In parenthesis is the moxie you need to avoid getting hit in that place.
Barrel of Barrels (24): Bottles of gin, rum, vodka, whiskey. (Beware the exploding barrels!)
The "Fun" House (29): Bottles of gin, rum, tequila, vodka & boxed wine. Look for shaky clowns.
South of the Border (34): Bottles of tequila. Try asking a mariachi.
Whitey's Grove (48): Boxed wine. Just lying about.
Frat House (53): Bottles of gin, vodka, whiskey. Foties also avaiable. Beer in cans and six-packs. Obviously not a BYO party.
Pirate's Cove (78): Bottles of rum. Yo-ho-ho.
The Goatlet (78): Bottles of whiskey. With cheese to go.
Menagerie Level 3 (88): Bottles of whiskey, rum, tequila, vodka, gin & boxed wine. Just poke a booze giant.

Special note: If you have a ten-leaf clover, you can get a roll of drink tickets when visiting the Frat House. Use the ticket while you have the Frat Boy disguise on and you receive a variety of boozes.

Mixing ingredients:
A great place for mixing ingredients is the Hippy Store on the Mysterious Island. Rob a hippy from his filthy clothes and go there in disguise.

Day 9: Hardly Easy

I spent most of this day beat up. It took a few turns to get the gear, but I made enough meat of the Dwarves to afford the Advanced Cocktailcrafting.

Seeing as how mining turns don't generate stat points anyway, I thought I'd breeze through that. Except for the cave-ins and bad luck. I had also heard the (superstition) that carryin a ten-leaf clover would reduce cave-ins. So, after a chrome and some asbestos ore, the roof came down, and I was beat up. I thought I'd spend my adventures in the sewer...bye-bye clover!

Anyway, I did take the opportunity to gather 3 worthless trinkets, so I'll have my trinket supply ready come next clover day. I alternated getting beat up by cave-ins by getting beat-up by exploding barrels, to gather the bottles of booze for the cocktails. If only I could reach those goats.

I currently am drunk past my limit, beat up for a few turns and have 2 pieces of linoleum ore.

I also forgot to run the Daily Dungeon. At least I have 24 adventures saved up.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 8
Jam Horker
Turns Played (this run): 702
Days Played (this run): 9

Rundown tomorrow, first in list is first to be done, if possible:
1) Daily Dungeon
2) Create Advanced Cocktails
3) Fight goats
4) Gather linoleum ore (max of 3.)
5) Go on moxie holiday!
6) Raid the Goblin Treasury

Saintly Day Sneaking Up..

Also reminder: Any chance to grab clovers should be taken to make a stash of at least 3.

I can drink to 19 drunkenness with regular booze, take an Advanced Cocktail to get me at 23, and then need 3 green beers to get to 26 and St. Sneaky Pete stupor.

Day 9 & 10: Easy does it?

My plans for day 9 and 10 are simple. Nothing. Completely nothing? Well...I might want to maximize turns by drinking and there's that Daily Dungeon affair, that needs to be taken care off. And oh yeah, Advanced Cocktailcrafting would be neat to have. And to maximize turns, I'd also want bottles of booze to take advantage of that skill. And the Mad Looting Skill might make the bottles drop faster.

Okay, I might rather make an easy does it plan.

First of all, I want the Advanced Cocktailcrafting skill. Fighting the goats will give fast meat and booze, if lucky. But I need to get through the mines, first.
Right.
Basically, I have two options:
1) Raid the Treasury.
Advantages:
- Quick, assured way of getting Advanced Cocktailcrafting
- extremely minute chance of ultra-rare encounter
Disadvantages:
- No booze to actually mix with
- minor stat gains only
b) Help the Trapz0r.
Advantages:
- decent stats
- needs to be done anyway
- chance of booze
Disadvantages:
- meat might not be gained so fast
- costly in adventures, which I want to save for stat day

All in all? I'm executing plan B. But I should remind myself that the second I hit 5k meat, I should buy Advanced Cocktailcrafting. And from there on, I'll only adventure to get booze.

Extra note: Since my main booze will be bottles of whiskey, my little paper umbrellas should be used to make Roll-in-the-Hay's. These drinks should be saved for myst day as well, and be compensated by drinking from the Microbrewery.

Day 8: Shaken, not stirred

Today was hardly as eventful as yesterday, but then again, I had no turns saved up. Also, even with the extensive list, I had no clear goals. The Daily Dungeon rewarded me with Apathy and a Boris Ring. Some adventuring at the "Fun" House gave me a much-wanted disease.

Next I thought I'd hit up the Island. I took me 10 (!) turns to fetch a trinket (one of them returned spices, though). The hermit didn't have clovers, not that I particularly wanted to spend more time doing spice cycle, but still, a pity. I got the planks and set sail for the Island, where I wavered a bit between the frat house and the hippies. For a long time I only got corduroys and decorative fountains, but at last, I got some herbs, as well. I realized I needed to buy an oven to cook those with spices, which I did, and consequently sold again. A costly affair, but the kentucky-fried meat crossbow is mine!

I tried my hand at the Cyrpt, but even with a wussiness potion spent, I got beat up by the Ghuol mini-boss, so I took a moxie vacation and hit up the Island again. I did get some booze and also the final part of the hippie outfit, but no feng shui. Drinking dry martini's from the Microbrewery and also soda water to keep the Empathy going had been a bit of a drain on my resources. I spent my final adventures at the Knob Goblin Treasury, to gain the meat for Advanced Cocktailcrafting, but I didn't get enough meat to be able to have my last drink be home-mixed.

I did, however, gain level 8 in the final adventure, so I will be mixing it up with the goats tomorrow.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 8
Jam Horker
Turns Played (this run): 626
Days Played (this run): 8

Day 8: Drunk Deliberations

So, with all that jazz happening on day 7, I need to take a good look at my goals and options for day 8.

First of all, the diamond studded cane might be giving Moxie +9, but suddenly I'm striking with my muscle, which is decent, instead of my moxie, which is excellent. I've had a few "fight too long" versus the hellions. I'm aiming for a crossbow instead. Also, my campground house sucks a bit. Of course, a power-player should not even need to rest at all, but I'm not such a power-player. I want a comfy place. Upgrading to cottage or barskin tent would be nice, but costs adventures. A pagoda is right out for a Boozetafarian. I can set my hopes on success with the hippies, I'd like to have a beanbag as well as good Feng Shui. Then all I have to do is get to level 9 for the House.

Goals-wise, I have adjusted a little, but not much.
1) Meat & Skills
The wishlist is a bit absurd, even though I struck off the first two. It requires so much meat, that I might just as well announce already that it won't happen 'till I finish the level 8 and 9 quests. Also, the level 8 skill (Mad Looting) is a new priority. I'll still post the wishlist, but it's to be taken with a grain of salt. Luckily, meat is starting to drop in more serious quantities from regular adventures.
2) Daily Dungeon
I still need Jarlsberg and Sneaky Pete Key. The Dungeon only poses minor problems. Mostly, I've got a lack of resistances and a somewhat low mysticality.
3) Clovers & Spices
I need a serious amount of clovers, mostly for Sneaky Pete's day...I just don't want to waste a stat day on them. I still need at least 3 more. If I do get them, I should combine them with spice cycles for the possible spiced rum/eggnogg jummyness.
4) Cyrpt-Quest
The Cyrpt needs to be cleared of the Bonerdagon. I do have a chance at adventuring there and undefiling the nooks and crannies, but the Bonerdagon is a real tough cookie. I might be better off attempting to make a start with the Trapper quest before confronting him.
5) Shore & Island: I have the dinghy plans. With the planks I can visit there. It gives great access to cocktail ingredients (boozes and fruit). The island also provides herbs for the kentucky-fried meat crossbow I want.
6) Items on backfarm: I don't have a disease, nor the barbed-wire fence

Skill/Item Wishlist (Prioritized):
Kentucky-Fried Meat Crossbow. (herbs)
Advanced Cocktailcrafting (5000)
Mad Looting Skillz (8000)
Torso Awaregness (5000)
Overdeveloped Sense of Self-Preservation (2000)
Gnefarious Pickpocketing (5000)
Meaty Helmet Turtle (1000 + 1 turn)
Disco Nap (3000)
Disco Eye-Poke (1000)
Nimble Fingers (6000)

Day 7: Bartender!

The first adventure of the day meant the demise of the Boss Bat. We hardly knew ye. The second adventure was at the Tavern and gave me two beer lenses. The hunt for the bartender-in-a-box had begun.

I wanted to help the Deep Fat Friars, but got beat up by an archfiend and needed an extra mysticality point before I could equip the Breath Spray. So, I would go farming for items, but first I wanted Power of Observatiogn, which I could afford by raiding the treasury. With the help of that skill and Flip, the Crimbo Elfling, I got the skull and brain in no time.
Time to try the Daily Dungeon. I got beat up by a spooky skull and a refridgerator, but that just meant excuses to visit the Shore. In the end, I did get the Boris Key. Hurray!

The next step for the bartender-in-a-box was the box. I spent some time at the Fun House, secretly hoping to get a disease and some booze as well. Maybe even an acid-squirting flower, for the final fight. Too bad, I got two boxes. The bartender-in-a-box was nearly complete, except for the cocktailcrafting kit.
With the Breath Spray, I could handle the monsters at the Copse. The first two items were gotten easily, but the last really required some persistance. I also suffered some "throwback to main map" here. On the upside, I gathered a lot of wussiness potions, Imp Ale and a ruby W at the last place, which will serve me later in the game, especially at the Sorceress. At last, I had already been visiting the Microbrewery for IPA, I got dodecagrammage! A Liver of Steel owner is me! Next up on my hit list: The Goblin King.

Just a handful of adventures in the harem gave me at least the items I needed to kick his butt. I kinda did overkill, by drinking a shot of flower schnapps (Microbrewery Special), but better safe, than sorry. He did get the jump on me, but he didn't get a single shot in. Now I had the meat to buy that cocktail crafting kit, and a bartender-in-a-box proudly adorns my campsite.
I spent the two other flower power adventures fighting Cyrpt lihcs. No lihc face, sadly. I thought I could safely swith to fighting a few skeletons, but I immediately got confronted with the boss skeelton (or however it's misspelled). Two wussiness potions and a lot of smacking with my diamond-studded cane shut him up, which means 20% of that Quest has been completed, as well.

I used my final adventure to do a spice cycle (eggnogg is nigh) and drop one ten-leaf clover in the stash. A final IPA sealed this day of many accomplishments. I can happily and thoroughly revise my plans for tomorrow and the coming days.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 7
Move Buster
Turns Played (this run): 524
Days Played (this run): 7

Day 6: Drunk Dead

One adventure in the Treasury was enough for the Frontes. And, hurray, the Daily Dungeon had no mysticality challenges. My rewards was Sneaky Pete's Breath Spray. Not that useful, but oh well, I might *zap* it later.

The Microbrewery had the choice between IPA and White Lightning...I spent a handful of adventures in the Treasury to pay for the IPA. My supply of ice-cold beer is actually running a bit low, especially because I want to save some to get to drunkenness 26 at St. Sneaky Pete's day.

I'm reasonably confident that I will have achieved the Liver of Steel by then.
All the rest of the adventures were saved for tomorrow, moxie day.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 6
Sample Swindler
Turns Played (this run): 369
Days Played (this run): 6

Day 6: Lyrical about the Future

So, day 5 went pretty well, and day 6 has all kinds of promise. I can reorder and reprioritize the ToDo-list as well as the Item Wishlist. Also some striking off has happened and some new stuff added.

1) Meat & Skills: I'm able to take on the Treasury. So I could adventure there and gain a few of the skills on my wishlist.
2) Daily Dungeon: I still need all the keys. I'm starting to have a chance with the Dungeon, statwise. Mysticality is a weak point.
3) Clovers & Sewers: If it is a clover day tomorrow, I would like to make a small stash of clovers, for various purposes (including possibly spice-farming, as I might get the opportunity to make eggnog, later in the game)
4) Quests: I should be able to take on the Boss Bat, the Goblin King is only a problem in the items I require, while the Fat Friars Quest might be a bit too tough, but hey, they need my help and will allow me to drink more! The quests are prioritized in this order, though.
5) Shore & Island: A few trips more to the shore are required to get the Dinghy plans. After that I have access to the Island (Booze & Fruit!). I also would like to have a barbed-wire fence. This is the lowest priority. In fact, I don't mind if I have to wait 'till moxie day to complete this task.

Skill/Item Wishlist (Prioritized):
Ye Olde Golden Frontes (1500)
Cocktailcrafting Kit (1000)
Powers of Observatiogn (5000)
Advanced Cocktailcrafting (5000)
Torso Awaregness (5000)
Overdeveloped Sense of Self-Preservation (2000)
Gnefarious Pickpocketing (5000)
Meaty Helmet Turtle (1000 + 1 turn)
Disco Nap (3000)
Disco Eye-Poke (1000)
Nimble Fingers (6000)

Looking at it all, I could just save tomorrow's adventures mostly. If it's a clover day, I should gather a handful (5) or so loose clovers, and stash them. After that, I should raid the treasury for at least 1500 meat (or kill the Boss Bat), buy the Frontes and take on the Dungeon. Success or fail, the rest of the adventures can be spent the next day.

Day 5: Disco Magnifico!

The day started off good enough, by making a meat crossbow (to be upgraded to Kentucky fried-meat crossbow in a few days).

Then, I discovered it was clover day at the hermit, so I did 3 spice-cycles and got the banjo strings, as well as a loose clover, for the Disco Banjo.
Time to start back-farming. Sadly, I had accidentally visited the Pretentious Artist, so got those two adventures as well. In the end, a razor-sharp can-lid and two (just lucky) spider webs could be thrown into my closet.

One adventure at Fernswarthy immediately gave me the brain I had coveted the days before.

Some unfinished business in the 8-bit realm had to be taken care of next. In a reasonable amount of time, I gathered all the pixels for the final red pixel potion, as well as all 30 white pixels for the Digital Key. I even had some spare pixels left for MP-providing blue pixel potions!

Speaking about keys, I tried my luck at the Daily Dungeon next. Of course, at the first fight, I got apathized. Luckily, all other encounters, up to room 8, were fights as well, which I could manage. Room 8 was a troll, who, even after wearing the apathy off in the Knob Goblin Treasury, still proved too strong for me to armwrestle. Having run out of adventures and nearly drunk (monkey wrenches at the brewery), I spent my final sober adventure on gaining access to the Shadowy Store. I should add "ye olde golde frontes" to the wishlist :-)

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 6
Sample Swindler
Turns Played (this run): 353
Days Played (this run): 5

Day 5: Careful Planning

I'm finally getting the feel that I'm having options and choices.

For tomorrow, day 5, I have several options and also loose ends.

1) Backfarming: I don't have a razor-sharp can lid, nor a spider web for the Tower monsters. And I still want that brain!
2) Meat & Skills: I'm able to take on the Treasury. So I could adventure there and gain a few of the skills on my wishlist.
3) Clovers & Sewers: If it is a clover day tomorrow, I would like to make a small stash of clovers, for various purposes (including possibly spice-farming, as I might get the opportunity to make eggnog, later in the game)
3a) If it's a clover day, I shouldn't forget to take the opportunity to make Disco Banjo.
4) Quests: I might be able to take on the Boss Bat, and I should make a start with preparing to deal with the Goblin King
5) Daily Dungeon: I need all the keys. I'm starting to have a chance with the Dungeon, statwise. Except for mysticality.
6) Pixels: I still need a few pixels for the last red pixel potion and also the Digital Key.
7) Shore & Island: A few trips more to the shore are required to get the Dinghy plans. After that I have access to the Island (Booze & Fruit!). I also would like to have a barbed-wire fence.

Skill/Item Wishlist (Prioritized):
Powers of Observatiogn (5000)
Cocktailcrafting Kit (1000)
Advanced Cocktailcrafting (5000)
Torso Awaregness (5000)
Overdeveloped Sense of Self-Preservation (2000)
Gnefarious Pickpocketing (5000)
Meaty Helmet Turtle (1000 + 1 turn)
Disco Nap (3000)
Disco Eye-Poke (1000)

This should give me a few things to do tomorrow. Prioritizing the various options, I'm thinking: 3a,6,1,3,4,5,2,7
Although I can't possibly get them all done in one day. Nor when doing 2 should I continue until I've finished the complete wishlist...

Day 4: Pixel Picking

Eventually, I gave up on the brain and turned my attention elsewhere.

First, I opened up the Bat Cave and took an extra sonar-in-a-biscuit for Lair purposes. Then I went Pixel-Hunting. I have gathered 3 pixel potions, and quite a few white pixels for the key as well. I also dipped my toe in the Daily Dungeon challenge, but I got stuck on the second room.
The good thing is that I can cast Empathy now, so for only a few soda water, I have 5 extra pounds of familiar.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 5
Beat Snatcher
Turns Played (this run): 291
Days Played (this run): 4

Day 3: Brain Aches

Well, my goal yesterday was to open the cemetary (level 5) and get a skull and a brain. In the end, I did get the skull, but no brain. I have reached level 5, but no meat maid yet. It's pretty depressing.

Luckily, the Microbrewery served margaritas to help me get over the worst of it.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 5
Beat Snatcher
Turns Played (this run): 221
Days Played (this run): 3

Day 2: Oh, Canadia!

My goal was mostly to reach the Shore. One has so few turns as Boozetafarian. I was succesful, although it took 8 turns fishing the sewer to get rims. The good news is that the special was White Canadian, so I bettered my PvP options at a low, low price, and increased my muscle stat at the same time.

I am still only a measly level 4, so no cemetary, yet. I really want to have a meatmaid, for the extra turns. And a watch. I've been tempted to buy skills with my minimal amount of meat, except that I see no immediate pressing need. For example "Over-developed Sense of Self-Preservation" is a cool skill. Except that being a moxie class, with sticky meat pants, so far nothing has been able to hit me, and I've only taken damage from fumbling...

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 4
Jiggy Grifter
Turns Played (this run): 159
Days Played (this run): 2

Day 1: Booze It Up

09/11/05 06:26:16 AM - Welcome back to the Kingdom of Loathing. Noob.

So, I did take the Boozetafarian DB approach.

A downside is the fact that I have no use for the pate I got by ascending teetotal. Oh well. It meant I had to do everything from the scratchiest scratch.

So, I set out adventuring a bit in the sleazy backalley, then went over to the distant woods to get larva, followed by a *tough* battle with the rats. In the meantime, I did manage to get Dr. Hobo's scalpel and smith a sticky meat kilt. My campground has a spiff Newbiesport tent.

My drink diet consisted of downing Mad Train Wine. Ugh. Once I get that meat car running (probably tomorrow), I'll be happy to be drinking IPA, once more.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 4
Jiggy Grifter
Turns Played (this run): 95
Days Played (this run): 1

St. Sneaky Pete

September 25th is St. Sneaky Pete's Day. It's possible, but unlikely that I'll have finished a teetotal hardcore ascension by then. So that's out. Boozetafarian, on the other hand, is something I still need to do, and on which Pastamancery will have no influence.

I could also go for the Gourdcore Trophy, if I picked Disco Bandit.

*tempting* *tempting*

Muscle Day

Little special happened today. The bonerdagon died, the trapper quest was completed, yeti's fell, the baron of rofl'mao was helped, more yeti's died, garbage started falling from the sky, four immateria's were collected.

The Mr. Store stuff is great. I used both the Jekyllin belt and the Bugbear Shaman to my advantage against the Valley denizens. I gained so much meat from fighting Yeti, thanks to the Cheshire Bat that I donated to the Hall of Legends to get rid of it.

I've already fullfilled my Muscle stat requirement for the Naughty Sorceress :-). Tomorrow I will break Ronin (44 ads left), and surely will quickly gain access to the Castle. My idea is to turn the wheel clockwise, for extra mysticality, and reach level 11 as fast as possible. I'll buy my extra moxie from the Hall of Legends if I have to.

I'm quite convinced I'll ascend tomorrow. Then I can begin my 3rd hardcore run. As a pastamancer. I'm wondering whether I should teetotal it. And if I do that, I could pick a non-moxie sign. After all, I still have one Muscle Sign Mushroom familiar I want to get.

The Day Before Muscle Day

Eating my alloted amount of chow mein, I reached level 7. Happily I started cleaning up the Cyrpt, which went smoothly enough, even if the boss monsters were a bit on the tough side.

A few tries on the Bonerdagon however, proved I was not quite ready to face him. Defeating him always seems to be a tipping point for me in this game. Still on the adventure saving, I spent the rest of my adventures having an easy time at the Pirates.

I used up a few pulls to try various approaches to the Dagon, but I still have some pulls left. I have a hard time coming up with what I could spend them on.

I'll be a chat monkey for the rest of the day.

Three-Tiered Teetotaller

Today, I was hoping to be able to bank my turns a bit for upcoming muscle day. Mostly, because it's busy IRL.

So, when I saw it was Feast of Boris, I groaned. I would have to spend a LOT of turns. Wanting to know the exact amount of chow meins I could eat, before pulling them, I decided to read the Forums. What a wise move! Somebody had discovered you could eat three-tiered wedding cake on this day. But only if you had the Stomach of Steel and not eaten anything. And it gives a trophy. I couldn't have done it better if I had been _planning_ to get this trophy! Hurray!

And the beneficial side-effect: No need to spend adventures, I can simply bank them for tomorrow.

Pastamagncer: This Time It's For Real!

I did the whole first day thing. You know. Get a screwdriver and build a meat car. Go on vacation. Kill the King and the Bossbat, traipse through the woods, till you get to the Friars. That sort of stuff.

Actually, I was quite lucky with the level 6 Friar's quest. After shoring a few times, I was able to adventure at the Frat House and gain stats quick enough to reach level 6. With 26 adventures left, and being a teetotaller who had already eaten till he was stuffed, I had only small hopes I would be able to get the Stomach of Steel. First adventure at the Dark Neck netted me the dodecagram. First adventure at the Dark Elbow, the butterknife! Less than a dozen adventures at the Dark Heart was enough to get the birthday candles. A Stomach of Steel owner was me!

I didn't have such a good idea where to go next, so I kept adventuring at the Orcish Frat House. Equipped with a Jekyllin belt that's a lot of booze. Which I can't drink. I generally had quite great fortunes with stuff dropping (such as a frilly shirt). Weerily enough, I had the most trouble getting sprockets for the car and the Pine-Fresh Airfreshener for the Bat cave. Or low-level pants.

The belt's a neat Mr. Store item, if you ask me.

Day 4: Sorceress O'Naughty

Well, the easy ride really started after getting a few smiles of Mr. A. The giants were no trouble whatsoever that way. Mostly it was a boring exercise in gaining stats. Up the Entrance, Courtyard and Tower was another easy ride. Even though the Topiary Golems were quite snatchy. Solved the puzzle in one go, beat the familiars without getting beat up.

I had theorized there might be a Trophy for fighting the NS with a non-combat familiar. There's no Trophy for beating her with a Leprechaun. The fight basically consisted of alternating Streams of Sauce (the weakest spell attack) with using Doc Galactik's. I had a surprisingly high rate of succes with both. Three enchanted toothpicks meant that each succesful hit did slightly under 60 points of damage. Doc Galactik's healed me for about 17-19 HP, while her hits only hurt me for 6-9. Easy. Peasy.

After defeating her, I spent the remaining 70 or so turns farming the Peak. A nice 50k or so to refill the warchest. I did forget to put a Tiny Plastic Sauceror extra into the museum, or to untinker my meat car. Oh well, I reincarnated as Pastamancer, taking the Gnomish Hardigness skill. Four down, one to go!

Day 3: Laggity Lag

Today started so promising. I had gotten the linoleum staff, breezed through the goat cheese gathering, made enough meat to buy myself Elemental Saucesphere, followed up by killing the Bonerdagon, making level 9, being able to both plugh and 31337 H4x0r my way to close to level 10.

Then I slew some Yeti. I slew a lot of Yeti. And lag started setting in. Damnable lag. Thick, fat, juicy lag. I took me over 4 hours to play 100 turns. That's 25 turns per hour, that's less than a turn per 2 minutes.

I still did get far though, but also frustrated. And out of Ronin! That didn't help much. The sheer amount of stats required simply prevented me from making this a 3-dayer. Even with it not being stat day tomorrow, it sure does look like I can make it, having already reached the castle (and finished that quest). Would be nice to have some favourable wheel turning, as well.

I like the Sauceror as a class. After getting the Pastamastery skill hardcore, I could go for a Sauceror skill. Either the reagents or the saucesphere, for Hardcore. Still in the future, though.

Correction: Sauceror

Whoops, shows how much I've been paying attention, I ascended as Sauceror, not a Pastamancer. It's tied in to my tabletop RPG style, I always find all those spellcasters way too complex and just appreciate the elegant simplicity of going "Smashy, smashy".

Well, I can at least aspire to take a teetotal pastamancer for the next run. And let's be fair, in a "live-on-pulls" straight-forward softcore run, there's not much stylistic difference between the two.

Softcore 1&2: Pastamagncer

Before doing the new Hardcore run, I want to get the Gnome Trophy. And to get a bit of a feel for the pastamancer, I might as well do it with at least one softcore Pastamancer run.
I already have three of the skills, so one regular attempt and a teetotal one under the moxie sign should be enough.

I've been toying a bit with the Gingerbread Bugbear, and I like him at certain points. The mana offset can be compensated with magical mystery juice, but you do need to have a Cheshire Bat as well then, to pay for the juice.

On the first day, I couldn't get all I wanted done before roll-over, due to masssive lag. Basically, I would've liked the stomach of steel before roll-over, but no such luck. With "system down within one minute", I simply chugged my remaining pulled Sangria del Diablo, put on my roll-over gear and it was called a day. Not bad to reach level 6, though.

On the second day, I decided it might be wise to save some adventures for tomorrow, stat day. I did make the stupid mistake of pulling grog and lime, instead of sangria and cherries. The Friar's quest was completed and Stomach achieved, but what next? I spend some time at the Hippy Camp for Feng Shui and a bean bag chair, but they wouldn't drop anything. I ended up pulling both :% Basically, the RNG was against me. I had taken a lot of time against the Friar's already, the hippies were unwilling and I haven't got far in the Cyrpt, either. What is also weird, is that nowhere in my adventures has a powerful weapon dropped. Right now my strongest options are "little paper umbrella" and "skeleton bone", both power 30. One might think that a goblin pole-arm or spiked femur would've dropped too.

With over a hundred adventures in the bank, I'm looking forward to tomorrow and see if I can ascend. I haven't crunched the numbers, but I think I might possibly break Ronin then. I've already reached level 8 today, with the wrong drinks, so level 11 seems more than possible on a stat day and with all the various major stat boosters still in the game.

Days 14-20: Recap

Actually, I didn't do much these days, for I was away. I got to play just a few turns once while away. I mostly made and ate three lucky surprise eggs then.

After I had returned, I had 200 adventures left. I just did the snapper + moxie-it-out approach to the Hole. I even started running away from tough Hole denizens, so I could just heal a turn and return, instead of having to spend a fortune I didn't have on recovery. The astronomers were tough, but the combination of Flip, Spectral Snapper and loads of moxie and absorption did work. I first fixed the star crossbow, for even more moxie and then the other two items (buckler and Key).

With not too many adventures left, the first part of the Sorceress lair was easy. The hedge maze went surprisingly well, too! Of course I had forgotten to buy hairspray for the tower and got the Ice Cube monster. I also got the Vicious Easel, for which I didn't have the item.

At the top of the Tower, I figured out the code in two tries, deflected the bolt, killed my shadow and faced the familiars. For some reason I had been convinced that I needed the goat, and accidentally leveled that one up, instead of checking which familiars I would face first. I spent a few precious adventures at the arena, but as a turtle tamer, especially one with 3 tiny plastic familiars, it isn't so much of an issue to get great poundage, as long as you get the familiar item. Or even a lead necklace. After all. Familiar weight bonus = 5 (AS) + 5 (EMP) + 3 (TPF) + 3/5 (necklace/item). So that makes 18 in the best and 16 in the worst case scenario. Which means that in the worst case scenario, you need 4 pounds of familiar. Required kills = 4 (level) squared. So, that means 16 kills. The minimum amount of experience you get at the arena is 2, so you'll get at least 20 kills anyway.

Sorry for that bit of number crunching. Anyway. My main concern was that I needed meat to actually fight those battles at the arena, but also to buy Doc Galactik elixirs for the final confrontation. I adventured a bit at the Peak and went in with a handful of adventures left. The Battle itself was a bit standard, so to say, although a bit tense in the sense that I ran a bit low on HP in the final stages versus the second form. Two succesful Doc Galactik's solved that.

In the end it took 20 days, but even with my slack approach this last day, I spent about 100 turns less than during my other run. I chucked down a handful of brownies before reascending and took the Armorcraftiness skill. Next Hardcore run is going to be Pastamancer!

Keypunch (#30036)
Turtle Tamer
The Packrat
Ascended in: 1,707 turns spread out over 20 days
Hardcore, No Path