Hardcore Happenings

2006-08-29

55% and counting

Finding time to play is harder. My stash is up to 55%, so that's looking well. I've also got two extra brownies down me gullet, so that ain't bad either.

While I've got the meat, I'm so tempted to sink it in stuff like the Halls, or red balloons, but it would just be folly to do so. It's way smarter to first get the Golden Meat Stack, break the prism and then continue meatfarming, wearing stainless slacks.

I'm back to the question of: which skill to keep? I've already got Moxious Madrigal, now it's wondering which is next.

The contenders:
Moxie of the Mariachi (P) - Maybe later, but right now its minor usefullness is dwarfed by the other skills
Aloysius' Antiphon of Aptitude - Expensive to keep going, but bonus stats are never rotten
Cletus's Canticle of Celerity - Great to get the initiative, but Muscle classes will have the wind-up clock option, disco bandits have the passive skill, pastamancers have fusilli.
The Polka of Plenty - Meat is always useful, but it's rarely the big bottle neck. On the plus side, this buff is easy to keep up.
Fat Leon's Phat Loot Lyric - Nothing ever drops! Useful to have this buff to counter that. Massive item+ bonus.
Jackasses' Symphony of Destruction - Apparently this is really useful in combination with high ML. I mostly play hardcore with not such high ML and can use Tenacity and Rage as damage increasers. It's MP cheaper than Rage, and cheaper than Tenacity with a Legend, it's also slightly more effective. Then again, it takes an AT song slot.
The Ode to Booze - Extra adventures from drinking! Woot! Kind of expensive though.
The Sonata of Sneakiness - Extra non-combat adventures, mostly for usage above the beanstalk. High MP cost.

Jackass looks really good, but I've got similar skills already, so it would make my runs efficient by replacement, not by innovation.
Phat Loot and Polka are boosts on top of boosts I already have.
Antiphon has great promise, but high requirements.
Which means it's down to the Ode or the Sonata...

The skill project has my options rated from most preferred to least preferred as follows:
Phat Loot (#4), Antiphon (#5), Ode (#7), Sonata (#12), Jackasses(#14), Polka (#17), Moxie (#21), Celerity (#22).

As overall, only Phat Loot makes the cut of being rated (#11). Although Ode to Booze and Antiphon do get some marks.

Originally, I was tending to go for Sonata, now I'm way tempted to go for Phat Loot, although it might be too basic for my non-marginal skillset. Will I end up with the Ode, instead?