Oh noes, my flower!

Here's a little something I found in my kmail-box.

From Dotts (#332346) [reply] [quoted]
Date: Tuesday, October 31, 2006, 05:29PM
Best flower I have ever gotten.

Which makes sense if you read the following summary of PvP fights:

Dotts initiated a PvP attack against you. Your PvP Ranking decreased by 19 points. Your opponent took a pretty flower from your campsite.
Dotts initiated a PvP attack against you. Dotts was unable to backstab you.
Dotts initiated a PvP attack against you. Dotts was unable to backstab you.
Dotts initiated a PvP attack against you. Dotts was unable to backstab you.
Dotts initiated a PvP attack against you. Your PvP Ranking increased by 1 point.
Dotts initiated a PvP attack against you. Your PvP Ranking increased by 1 point.
Dotts initiated a PvP attack against you. Your PvP Ranking increased by 1 point.
Dotts initiated a PvP attack against you. Your PvP Ranking increased by 1 point.
Dotts initiated a PvP attack against you. Your PvP Ranking increased by 1 point.
Dotts initiated a PvP attack against you. Your PvP Ranking increased by 2 points.
Dotts initiated a PvP attack against you. Your PvP Ranking increased by 2 points.
Dotts initiated a PvP attack against you. Your PvP Ranking increased by 3 points.
Dotts initiated a PvP attack against you. Your PvP Ranking increased by 4 points.
Dotts initiated a PvP attack against you. Your PvP Ranking increased by 8 points.

What can I say besides: "Congrats, Dotts! Those who persevere will be rewarded."

Muscle Man

Finally, play-time. I was held back by the RNG. It took aeons before I got to consult the Oracle, then another aeon to actually get the mimic. It just took incredibly long for goat cheese to drop, I had to excavate a lot of the mine before I got the asbestos ore I wanted.

The pirates wouldn't drop their pants, and the dictionary took more than half a dozen turns. At least in the Valley they were kinda cooperative, letting me get a 31337 scroll. Up the Beanstalk, the immateria were slightly disappointing as well, I've gathered 3 before I ran out of adventures. I really would like the +non-coms now.

I did go on a smashing spree, which is excellent fun. It only really works when you've got Malus access, though. And statwise it went pretty well, too, I've got a decent way into level 10. I smithed a Sword Behind Innapropriate Prepositions, so I'll have a few more adventures tomorrow and possibly the day after.

Basically, it was all a bit uneventful, if a bit slow. Too bad I didn't get to Halloween Trick or Treat. I'll do that with the multies :-)

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 10 Moose Harasser
Turns Played (this run): 537
Days Played (this run): 11
Sign: The Mongoose
Path: Oxygenarian (Hardcore)

p.s. PvP went 25/25

Monday Morning

Blegh, lost 4 (!) fights...that's a crapload of stats.

Why do I make things so hard on myself?

And the Klaw gave me nothing.

Tomorrow, I will play!

Sunday Clubbing

Two more days to muscle day. I got a stuffed owl from the Klaw. Managed to summon and smash some crap. And PvP went 25 out of 25, which was good, because I hadn't lost any rank overnight.

PvP:
Fights Left Today: 0
Ranking: 96
Fights Won: 187
Fights Lost: 45

Not a bad track record!

Home Improvement

No, I didn't get an upgraded campground dwelling, although the TP has disappeared. It's just that I spent my time doing RL-improvement and it is looking good!

Gamewise I got another WWSPD?-bracelet, some snowcones, some hilarious items (smash!). I got 24 out of 25 flowers (grrr, bad mini's on one...another stat setback).

And I pondered on my future Ascensions. I think I want to take a shot at level 30 as soon as possible. For that I need the skills I elaborated in my previous post.

In the end, this is the plan I came up with:
Current run: Keep: Snarl of the Timberwolf
Next run: HC Boozetafar, Seal Clubber, Marmot sign, keep Claws of the Otter
Next: HC Boozetafar, Disco Bandit, Marmot sign, keep Smooth Movements
Next: HC Boozetafar, Sauceror, Oppossum sign, go for Level 30 after beating her Naughtiness, keep Impetuous Sauciness

After getting two out of five resistances, I'm thoroughly disenchanted with those, that I don't really care about completing the set soon. Actually, I'd rather get straightforward passive defenses (Skin of the Leatherback, Hide of the Otter and Walrus).

Six New Trophies!

Spoiler Alert.

So, for these new trophies, you need to reach level 30. That's 845 mainstat. Which equals 714025 substat.

Yikes.

Especially considering the following:
1 06/10/05 28 DB (none) 47,980 431 Normal, No Path
That's right, my first ascension, the day after Ascension was implemented, took me more than a year, the better part of 50k turns and only took me to level 28.

Granted, most of that run was sub-optimal and large swathes of it were spent in absentia. I mean, suppose you could spend about 200 adventures a day. That's still 250 days of adventuring to spend 50k adventures. Of course it will take a lot less, but how much less?

The leveling is best done out of Ronin, of course, and with as much buffs as possible. Lemme make a list. Considering one would go for the Gallery as prime leveling place:
Buffs:
Antiphon of Aptitude (AT)
Ur-Kel's Aria of Annoyance (AT)
Sonata of Sneakiness (AT)
Skills:
Smooth Movement (DB)
Leash of Linguini (P)
Potions:
Big Veiny Brain (Knob Goblin)
Heavy Petting (Knob Goblin)
Green Tongue (Snowcone)
The Cupcake of Wrath (Cupcake)
Papowerful (Potion of Papower)
Fresh Scent (Deodorant)
Mysteriously Handsome (Handsomeness Potion)

And also:
Rage of the Reindeer
Tenacity of the Snapper
Snarl of the Timberwolf
Saucespheres of all sizes and sorts
Astral and Ghostly Shell
And who knows what more.

Equipment:
Plexiglass Pith Helmet
Grimacite Guayabera
Ice Sickle
Ice Sickle
Travoltan Trousers
Hockey Stick
Hockey Stick
Ring of Conflict

Sign: Oppossum, set MCD to 11.
Familiar: Hovering Sombrero with either Wax Lips, or a Pumpkin Basket, once +ML gets above 173 or so. (which would probably be around level 18 or so)

Something like that.
It still would take a significant chunk of time, in the order of a month, at least.
I'd need to borrow the hockey sticks and ice sickles, as well as the guayabera.
Also, I'd like a few extra skills for this. Most notably: Snarl of the Timberwolf, Smooth Movement and Impetuous Sauciness.

That said...here I come softcore!

Although...I think I'll get those skills HC perm'd first. So, at least this gives me an impetus and direction for my Ascension order.

The Long Wait

So, today I spent my last adventures before going into the "long" wait till Muscle Day(s). I actually expect to be able to ascend then. Two-hundred adventures should be enough to do my thang.

I used my adventures for the day to pick up a Jarlsberg Key and traipse around the Gallery, managed to pick up a pitchfork, which made fighting a lot easier (as did the Wereseal Muscle Boost). Managed to get all the way up to level 8 and managed to get the full Miner's outfit. I figured I might get 12 extra turns, if I mined Chrome Ore. It seemed worth a shot and indeed, I found it in 5. I didn't find any other ore (need 3 asbestos), so that still stands. I used my remaining few turns to explore the Giant Greater Than Sign and got a "plus".

Now I've got 3 days of doing nothing ahead of me. Except PvP and summon snowcones and hilarious items. Actually, I lost 2 PvP fights today. That's a setback, I might not even PvP all that much, as it is stat costly.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 8 Otter Crusher
Turns Played (this run): 325
Days Played (this run): 7
Sign: The Mongoose
Path: Oxygenarian (Hardcore)

p.s. Smashy Smashy Smashy! Smashing is so much fun... :-)

The Long Wait

So, today I spent my last adventures before going into the "long" wait till Muscle Day(s). I actually expect to be able to ascend then. Two-hundred adventures should be enough to do my thang.

I used my adventures for the day to pick up a Jarlsberg Key and traipse around the Gallery, managed to pick up a pitchfork, which made fighting a lot easier (as did the Wereseal Muscle Boost). Managed to get all the way up to level 8 and managed to get the full Miner's outfit. I figured I might get 12 extra turns, if I mined Chrome Ore. It seemed worth a shot and indeed, I found it in 5. I didn't find any other ore (need 3 asbestos), so that still stands. I used my remaining few turns to explore the Giant Greater Than Sign and got a "plus".

Now I've got 3 days of doing nothing ahead of me. Except PvP and summon snowcones and hilarious items. Actually, I lost 2 PvP fights today. That's a setback, I might not even PvP all that much, as it is stat costly.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 8 Otter Crusher
Turns Played (this run): 325
Days Played (this run): 7
Sign: The Mongoose
Path: Oxygenarian (Hardcore)

p.s. Smashy Smashy Smashy! Smashing is so much fun... :-)

Questus Interruptus

Heh, I did get lucky, Antique Greaves on the first turn. A few gallery turns later, and I was level 7. Quickly, I cut through the defiled nooks and crannies.
I prepared myself extensively for the confrontation with the bonerdagon. I equipped a frozen gravy fairy with a lead necklace for fighting, put on Elemental Saucesphere, bought a few Homeopathic Elixirs, used a clock for initiative. I sprinkled on some twinkly powder for Twinklebritches...basically, I was ready to duke it out!
I get the jump...what to do? I decide to just jump straight into it: Lunging Thrust Smack! And he's dead.

Kinda anti-climactic.

At least I could adventure in the Gallery now. I could even equip my stainless steel scarf. The problem is, though, that with +25 ML, the monsters in the gallery can't be one-hit. I did get the Louvre adventure, and luckily immediately found the way to the Muscle Boost, but fighting the monsters is prohibitively costly.

So, I've interrupted my adventuring for today and will, instead, wait for tomorow, when Blood of the Wereseal will give +50% muscle boost.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 7 Narwhal Pummeler
Turns Played (this run): 278
Days Played (this run): 6
Sign: The Mongoose
Path: Oxygenarian (Hardcore)

Gallery Play

So, I unlocked the Gallery yesterday, but wasn't able to enter. Today, I focused on getting my spleen, and afterwards...I still wasn't able to enter. I ended up fighting in the Menagerie Level 3.

Then I figured out a neat trick. You know how smashing basic meat swords doesn't help much to get wads? Smashing 5 summoned cocktail garnishes is a far better way to get twinkly powder. Enough twinkly powder to finish that Wad. And with that wad...I still didn't have enough muscle to get into the Gallery. But 8 turns in, I did. And I had 1 adventure left for the day.

My choice became somewhat complex.
a) Clover in the Gallery, gain a substantial muscle bonus
b) Fight in the Gallery, on the offchance an Armor will drop an antique.

I chose fight, and indeed, was confronted by a piece of armor. Alas, no antique dropped. Although, perhaps, I should've used a blue snowcone, but I hadn't realized my snowcone buff had run out.

For tomorrow, I still have 1 adventure in the Gallery, so the ssame choice still stands, but with the knowledge that there's already an Armor in my qeue.

I don't want to waste the clover, mostly, so I'll think I'll go for the long shot. I won't bother with the blue snowcone, because I'm quite close to level 7 and taking on the Cyrpt. Before too long, I should have enough stats to adventure in the Gallery without the use of Wads.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 6 Malamute Basher
Turns Played (this run): 245
Days Played (this run): 5
Sign: The Mongoose
Path: Oxygenarian (Hardcore)

p.s. 25 out of 25 for flowers, woohoo!

Keeping it steady

I opened up the Gallery, yet was more than a dozen muscle points short. And that was with Rage active. Bashy suggested making Bjorn's Hammers, which are +7 each. But that would only give me +8 over my current weapons.

Wereseal would be useless, with a 75% penalty...

So, I picked the Menagerie, instead, which was more than survivable, although a little wind-up clock help was needed to avoid the jump damage from the beasties.

Quickly, I reached level 6, swiftly farmed a skull, so I now have a meat maid, and got on the case of the Friars. Sadly, no ninja hot pants dropped, even though I got to face a lot of demoninja's. There goes my chance to upgrade my cardboard sword.

At the end of the day, I wondered if smashing would get me extra adventures. I thought I could use a trick, by having Innabox meatsmith basic swords, pulverizing them, and using the malus to turn it into wads. This is too expensive though, since it will cost 5000 meat (100 for a hilt, 100 for a meat stack) for an extra turn.

PvP was glorious, 25 wins. Granted, I just trawled the bottom of the pond.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 6 Malamute Basher
Turns Played (this run): 200
Days Played (this run): 4
Sign: The Mongoose
Path: Oxygenarian (Hardcore)

p.s. Will this turn out to be true? Wonder where the TP will have gone tomorrow.

Two Bit Plan

The next 2 days I'm free to adventure. Reach that level 6 and make the meat maid, dammit.

After that I'm best served saving my adventures, as frustating as that is, in order to get the most out of muscle days.

So, for tomorrow: Open up the gallery.
Basically, I put on my buffs, wear down the chalkdust wraiths with cans of hairspray, or preferably simply scratching them with a seal tooth, and play that game of pool. Although I'd like a 5-ball to pulverize, so I could make that flaming cardboard sword.
Afterwards, I'll see if I can move through the library.

Once I gain level 6, it's of the utmost importance however to make a meat maid. Ten percent extra adventures, per day!

Also, I'll try to snowcone myself more.

Of Snowcones and Meatsmiths

So...again, I forgot snowcones for the entire day. I preemptively put on an Orange Snowcone for tomorrow.

I got a brainsweeper and brain on the first adventure. After that, farming pixels went quickly enough, so that I had some slack in adventures.

Considering where to adventure, I realized that the plunger and flyswatter were getting a bit underpowered. Then I remembered "Innabox". Looking through the meatsmithing on the Wikipedia, I realized that I could make a Pesto Blade (ingredients: sword hilt, meat stack, dry noodles, spices). I also thought that now I had the option to deal elemental damage, I could try to make another sword with a packaging material from the mine.

I was lucky and got cardboard! All I need now is a bit of hot powder, maybe the Hey Deze Ninjademons will drop a pair of pants? Right now I'm wielding a pestoblade (50 power) and cardboard sword (60 power), which give me a combined bonus of +6 muscle, +3 stench and +3 melee damage.

In the end, I decided to get 3 moxie holidays done on moxie day, and spent the reserve 2 adventures I had opening up the spookyraven manor and, as it turned out, getting a pool cue.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 5 Penguin Frightener
Turns Played (this run): 160
Days Played (this run): 3
Sign: The Mongoose
Path: Oxygenarian (Hardcore)

Rotten Food

I discovered that I had missed one Trophy. I still have to attain the Red Balloon Trophy, but also, surprisingly, the Ghuol Cup, for eating a bunch of ghuol guolashes.

I've only got 3 down, so that will be my thing to remember to do when I finish this run.

Lessons for today:
- Don't attempt your guild (twice) when aren't sure you've got enough stats, it's a waste of your turns
- Don't forget to use your snowcones, you only have 40 turns, and more snowcones than that.
- Killing the Goblin King early is nice, but you won't be able to wear his crown.

stuff I could do tomorrow:
- Shore. This will hurt my PvP, but I will get the benefit of moxie day shoring. I've got enough meat. Would waste a lot of buffed turns
- Unlock that guild. I've got the stats now.
- Pixel Farm. No quests to do.
- Farm a brain. The earlier I can get a brain, the earlier I can make that meat maid.

My tentative plan:
Use the frozen gravy fairy for a brain. I might use the Shaman...he requires 9 MP/turn. I should remember that I've got two turns of purple snowcone left. Use that MP to equalize my buffs.
Pixelfarm for the remainder of my buffed turns. (33 turns)
Moxieshore twice.
Unlock the guild.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 5 Penguin Frightener
Turns Played (this run): 120
Days Played (this run): 2
Sign: The Mongoose
Path: Oxygenarian (Hardcore)

Wealth Abuse

Running up the tower went just fine. I did waste a bunch of turns on trying to desperately get goat's milk, that was not so smart, also tussling with the Booze Giants, while I shoul've stuck to the Barrel.

And I rested a few times at the campground...sue me.

Anyway, 5/6 tower items weren't in my possession so at the end of the run and defeating her Naughtiness, I had 91 turns left...to get about 9500 substats for level 13.

Which, thanks to a certain generous someone meant that all I had to do was eat a few wads and spend about 95 adventures at the library with ten-leaf clovers :D Boring, waste of meat, but effective!

The Spookyraven-manor is the ultimate single-stat booster place. I ascended, taking Diminished Gag Reflex as skill. Now I'm stench resistant!

Ascending as Seal Clubber Oxy, with Mongoose sign, I did spend my early adventures in an mostly acceptable manner. A handful went to exploring the "rift", where I would otherwise have been fighting on the Knoll, no doubt, but it wasn't really worth it, so I stuck to fighting Bean Bats.

For tomorrow, I should research what the toughest monsters at my current level are, fully unlock my guild (gotta love the fact that spending only 1k means on Hide and Claws of the Otter means that I have all skills up to level 12, besides Tongue and Hide of the Walrus)

Reaching level 4 as it is ain't bad, I think. Next run, I'll have Air. Too bad this Oxy thing means I'll miss out on the next St. Sneaky Pete Day.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 4 Ermine Thumper
Turns Played (this run): 80
Days Played (this run): 1
Sign: The Mongoose
Path: Oxygenarian (Hardcore)

Dinner Plans

Just a small aside, but when doing the math on my dinner, I realized that making a stir-fry would give me lower yield than eating carob chunks (which I've got in inventory).

And eating a Manetwich + Carob chunks is equal to eating Delicious noodles.

Next time you find yourself chefless, spiceless, Still-less, in need of a 1-fullness food and with no dehydrated caviar, turkish delight, gingerbread bugbear or hot wings in inventory, you'll know what the best food is :-)

Mixing it up!

I wasted a *lot* of turns getting a Hippy Outfit. I have my doubts whether it was worth the turns, but, oh well. Ended up using a zap for it too.

Which means that I have to be careful with my zaps tomorrow. It's not a bad idea to "do" the Daily Dungeon. If I get a key I don't have, that means just one zap spent on the Keys, rather than two, so that I have at least one spare zap available, for example to zap a wolf mask. I've already got a barbed-wire fence, luckily.

My main concern now is getting my offstats properly upped :-) My stats right now are 104/65/65, which means I can't get the "Star Key" stuff. I've got moxie boost spaded out in the gallery, so all I need now is the muscle boost too, and otherwise, I'll surely get the stats from fighting the Gallery monsters.

I might also get a goat cheese and a knob sausage to make the proper reagent foods. My goat's milk is used up as well, so maybe I'll get lucky.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 11 Bay Leaf Brujo (Hardcore)
Turns Played (this run): 791
Days Played (this run): 4
Sign: The Platypus

p.s. Another 25 flowers. And yes, the flower market is crashing :-)

Heavenly Thoughts

With the progrees going so well, I was already thinking ahead. The skill I'll take from this run is the elemental protection from stench. At least useful when entering the batcave ;-)

So, yeah the Elemental resistances are a bit lame, it's better than nothing...or anything else from Sauceror that I don't have (I'm just not a Saucesphere type of person). Anyway, I was thinking of the next run, and specifically which zodiac to take.

Since I might end up doing the "Oxy Loop", I'll start as a Seal Clubber. Every Seal Clubber skill is useful, so adding one of those is good too. So, what sign to take? My first instinct was "Mysticality sign", for the added stats and special drops. On second thought though, from the 4 "boss drops", only the Boss Bat and Bonerdagon give a really useful drop for a muscle class with the Mystical device cranked. And ever since I got Armorcraftiness and Tao, the Boss Bat drop really is more of a nicety than a necessity. The Bonerdagon necklace is also not so obligatory when wind-up clocks are available.

The added stats amount to a...let's guess here 1000 substats? (assuming 500 combats, and 2 bonus stats from each such a fight). If I pick a muscle sign, I'll be able to make a Meat Maid. +4 Adventures per day, for more than a dozen days, spending those adventures in a place like the Gallery, that's more than enough to compensate. It will keep down my meat expenditure too, make fights more easy, and, to top it all off, I won't have to dally around on DeGrassi Knoll.

Muscle zodiac seems like a winner for HCOxy. Only question left, which of the three. With Vole merely adding extra critical hits (who needs 'em?) and the jury still out on Wallaby (I still think it's a +initiative thing), I'm best of going for Mongoose, compensating that bit more for lost stats due to the unavailability of the MCD.

This has become a longer post than I planned, but expect to see Keypunch, Seal Clubber, Hardcore, Oxygenarian Path, Mongoose Sign, somewhere soon in the Kingdom.

Bigger, Faster, Harder

I was about to bitch yesterday that speed was not as much as I expected, as I "only" went up one level. Today mysticality day hit, I wasted quite a bunch of turns (and some spices) fuxx0ring up, but I've made nice headway into level 10. Bonerdagon chest and leaflet are nice, but the real boost is in the Mysticality adventure of the Louvre-Mapper. A straight 300 substats...neat.

That said, I skipped quite some content. Most notably, the Rofl'Mao quest. Didn't want to risk getting prematurely drunk on myst day. So, that's the first priority tomorrow. I also didn't get the zapper yet, which I am going to need.

Another issue is the "Rumpus Room". The way it's set up, I get +15 PvP fights. Which is nice, except that for Oxycore, this increases my chance of losing stats :-/ It'll probably spoil the flower market too. Anyway, it takes away any dependancy on Hatorade :-) I've got more than 2k flowers picked at this point. That mini seemed pretty safe from noobs (200 days of flowerpicking), now that's somewhat reduced (only 80 days).

So yeah: speed, all of a sudden. I expect this to be a 5-dayer.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 10 Coriander Conjurer (Hardcore)
Turns Played (this run): 590
Days Played (this run): 3
Sign: The Platypus

On a side note:
If I ever wanted a spell-slinger skillset, I'd do consecutive Sauceror runs:
- Immaculate Seasoning
- Intrinsic Spiciness
- Some Sauce-spell.
- Or two.

A High Tolerance

Not starting on a stat day probably slows you down a lot.

At least, I'm level 6 (nearly 7) and I've got my liver, but I'd somehow, expected things to go smoother perhaps.

Anyway, I got a lot done. Heck, I've even got some pixels farmed, but I was running low on meat.

Farming for foodstuffs also tends to cost turns, even when your diet is just reagent food: whatever. Another weird thing is how I ended up with two hot buttered rolls.

Anyway, best to look at tomorrow and mostly focus on my farming plans.
I should barrel immediately, and hopefully get some cocktails down before my Ode expires. After that, fetch me some food, hopefully reach level 7 and then focus on the meat-providers of the Cyrpt (ghuols and zobmies).

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 6 Thyme Wizard (Hardcore)
Turns Played (this run): 216
Days Played (this run): 1
Sign: The Platypus

Slightly Stupid

I could easily have ascended today, if I had been a bit less dumb about the leveling up.

Somehow, I didn't want to bother with the buffbots and such, and thought I'd make it really easily (after defeating the Sorceress in the first 10 turns) for myself.

I did come a long way, but only when I took out those two hockey sticks, and made a real effort.

Oh well, there's always tommorow. And it means a few more white canadians, as well.

I've lost my fear of the Sorceress completely. My new outfit to take her down is not the trusted furry suit, but rather furry pants with the star hat (630 power with Tao) that absorb a lot of damage by themselves. Armed with a pitchfork and a wand, and perhaps one or two useful accessories, she's a cinch.

I think I'll go Sauceror, pathless, after taking Tolerance of the Kitchen.

Consumption records

It's annoying how "favourite" food and booze stays static. I mean, I can look up what I ate drank the most, it's in my records, what I ate and drank the most "in recent days" doesn't show.

To have a look in my records, here's a sampling of stuff that I drank 10 or less of.

10 rockin' wagon, especially salty dog
9 shot of tomato schnapps, tequila sunrise
8 redrum, wine spritzer, ice-cold fotie, rum and cola, vodka stratocaster, salty dog
7 rabbit punch, prussian cathouse
6 white lightning
5 tomato daiquiri, Mon Tiki, mandarina colada, Neuromancer
4 bottle of tequila, tangarita, grog
3 bottle of gin, beertini, eggnogtini, teqiwila slammer, grogtini
2 bottle of Pinot Renoir, old-fashioned, Petite Porter, sangria, boxed wine, tequila sunset, candycaine, salty slug
1 cherry bomb, mimosette, flute of flat champagne, gimlet, snifter of thoroughly aged brandy, Divine, papaya slung, Ferita Del Petto Zinfandel, bottle of Lieutenant Freeman, parisian cathouse, Acqua Del Piatto Merlot, bottle of Domesticated Turkey

Reviewing the day

I got stuck in the tower, farming for items and such. I'm a few points short on moxie as well, but it's quite clear that I'll ascend tomorrow.

I did forget to premix a nightcap, so instead of the usual Advanced Cocktail, I cherished that thoroughly aged brandy.

As for ascending, before going into Oxy, I will do the next run as a Sauceror, but either pathless, or Boozetefarian, since it's no use taking the Plexi reward into a Seal Clubber run, while a Stainless Steel Scarf will be interesting. I might achieve the highest +ML in Hardcore I've managed to got yet that run!

Pathless makes the most sense, or even a Teet-drop, as I'll not be able to use the bottles of Whiskey in Oxy. Then again, the sheer amount of adventures to be played scares me. On the other hand...it'll be over in a short number of days. On the third hand, it'll be a long wait for muscle day in that latter case.

I think I'll go Boozetafar, I can always sell the whiskey.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 11 Manicotti Magus
Turns Played (this run): 728
Days Played (this run): 6
Sign: The Platypus
Path: Boozetafarian (Hardcore)

p.s. Another 13 flowers!

Culture and Personal Growth

I spent most of today painting in my home and not so much bothering thinking about KoL.

Still, I played and advanced exceptionally fast...I suddenly realized it had not been my KoL skills improving, but rather the introduction of the gallery. Well, the combination of in-game skills I picked up, in combination with the Gallery makes the Ascension lifestyle easier.

In fact, I had drunk up to 19, so I decided, rather than risk ruining my day by picking up drunkeness at the Pirates, I would stay at the Gallery. Not only did I reach level 9, but also level 10. Right now I've gone into the Castle and turned the wheel once.

Tomorrow I should do the Pirates. Who knows, I might Ascend!

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 10 Ravioli Sorcerer
Turns Played (this run): 577
Days Played (this run): 5
Sign: The Platypus
Path: Boozetafarian (Hardcore)

p.s. I'm thinking about going into Oxycore, to reduce my to-be-played turns.

Blogging Trouble

Still having problems.

So, I ascended Pastamancer (Boozetefarian, HC), under the pressure of an impending mysticality day, a 30-myst requiring stainless reward and a generic "haven't been one of those" sensation.

Playing it as either a weak moxie or a weak muscle class doesn't really work all that well. And as far as it works, it's very costly, so costly that I'm unable to buy new skills. I have also been playing a bit more loosely than previous times.

I'm having trouble deciding which skill to keep, but I might as well start ahead on the "Resistances" cycle, so let's say it will be "Tolerance of the Kitchen."

I'm advancedly level 8 on day 4 of HC, have won 20/20 PvP fights, but am somehow dissapointed with how stuff is going...I'm seriously becoming a speed ascender :-)

I do wonder how long it will take to ascend, hopefully not to much in advance of (and definitely not past) the next mysticality day. Because if I'm doing the resistances run, I'll go Sauceror next.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 8 Vermicelli Enchanter
Turns Played (this run): 449
Days Played (this run): 4
Sign: The Platypus
Path: Boozetafarian (Hardcore)

A controversial record!

So, yeah, I did it! Wahoo!

Boozewise, I summoned not a single icecube. Still, I decided to go for it, make 4 supercocks and a supercock base. Divine, two vodka stratocasters, a rabbit punch and a teqiwila slammer.

Time to rock. I got plenty of stars and lines, but the third Astronomer really let me wait on him. Then I opened the bedroom and used the various "stat" nightstands to neatly work my stats up to the required level. With quite some adventure (close to 60, I think) left, I started the tower. It had the usual hairy moments, with the need to get a broken skull, farm an NG, a razorsharp can-lid that took ages and unwilling frigid ninja stars.

Once I reached the top, I had only 6 adventures left. And no furry suit. I did make a furry kilt. After all, all absorption helps. Wearing a (Star Hat + Furry kilt)*2 from Tao + 100 from the goth kid shirt is quite the absorption.

When I checked my turncount, it was 667! I managed to avoid the devil ;-)

After this, comes the controversy, about which the heated debate can be read here. The thread is named "Old whine", because I think this debate was had before. Last time I got slaughtered, defending the exact same position as this time. The forums are a hostile place for your sanity. It has a chance in hell of being implemented, especially after the matter has become controversial, but I like my idea.

Then again, I also still like my other idea of having the option to ascend to "Hey Deze", and have a run in which you get one accessory slot permanently filled with a "demonic blessing". The blessing being an unremovable bonus (or malus), like demonwings.

Anway:
I ascended as a level 12 Accordion Thief, under the marmot sign, using 733 turns before jumping into the gash and 667 before breaking the prism. The restrictions I operated under were Hardcore and Boozetafarian.

One White Canadian down the hatch, and I'm now a Pastamancer. I've gotten a smile-sharpening stone for my Cheshire Bat and am biding my time before I drink my boozes on Mysticality day tomorrow.

Day 4: Report (and Day 5: Plan!)

I'm into the Hole! That is, my last adventure was spent fighting an Astronomer and he was so kind to provide me with a star chart.

Basically everything went according to my plan, except that the plan didn't agree to being posted on this Blog, so you still don't know what it all means.

The summary: I got a Jarlsberg key, mixed up my reserve boozes (not entirely as intended, but 4 Super, 1 Advanced and a Superbase isn't all that much worse than 5 Supers and an Advanced Base).

I also ended up not using ranged weaponry, and having to Cleesh twice, but that's also due to the fact that I found Serpentine Swords. These are really cool, because they give +10 Monster Level. The valley was a cinch with a dictionary in 1, easy-dropping scrolls and lowercase N from the first pr0n. With all the added ML I got into a kind castle, and quickly got to don a goth kid shirt as well, so that I now have +36 ML.

In order to be able to slay my opponent beasties, I do have 3 damage-buffs going. (Tenacity of the Snapper, Rage of the Reindeer, Symphony of the Jackass), and I also had to switch out my miner's helmet (+drop) for the Goblin King Crown (+10 strength).

For the Hole-in-the-Sky I should readjust my strategy again. I'll probably drop the badass belt (+5 all stats) for the Hamethyst Necklace (+4 muscle, +5 melee). I also will drop Madrigal for Celerity, and sneak into the Brotherhood of the Smackdown store for cheap wind-up clocks.

I'll start off with Menagerie Level 3, with my itemdrop familiar to get an assortment of boozes and mix those up. I currently have a single bottle of booze, and I need 6 total.

Then the real job can begin: an attempt at making this a 5-day HC run. It will begin in the Hole. Once I've met the third Astronomer, I'll have to make a Strategic choice in regards to how I plan to level.
A) Keep at it in the HitS. All combat-adventures, high gains. (No meat)
B) Switch to the Castle. Wheel-fun.
C) Back to the Gallery. All combat-adventures, Louvrebonus.
D) On to the Bedroom. Mostly combat adventures and big stat-bonuses.
If I plan on B, C or D, I should switch to an itemdrop-familiar and make haste.
A puts me off, because of the meatlessness, the high cost of living in the Hole and no "big" gains.
The choice of C is very tempting, because of the neat drops and decent meat.
Choice B, however, has only a single wheel-turn to moxiousness, and is a nice go between.
Choice D provides with *very* tough monsters, but keeps giving meat to support my survival It does require a few adventures in the Library to open up.

I'll think I'll go with D, and if it's too costly, I'll switch to the Gallery.

Once I reach level 11: The whole Naughty Sorceress shuffle begins, with possible lowercase N, white picket fence and other items to be farmed. Let's cross my fingers and hope for the best.

Another choice is whether to keep my dodecapede for fighting the Sorceress, or perhaps, instead, use Peanut, while he's a Pickle. He would only be an 11-pound pickle, though...I'll go with the dodecapede.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 10 Sub-Sub-Apprentice Accordion Thief
Turns Played (this run): 541
Days Played (this run): 4
Sign: The Marmot
Path: Boozetafarian (Hardcore)

And again...

...for some reason, Blogger won't let me post my planning posts. Still I had one, which I simply saved as a text-file and followed up on it. I had pretty good luck in the execution and only made a few minor bumbles.

What I like about the Gallery route and the New Peak is, oddly enough, being so relatively low on meat. It forces me to pause and think.

My achievements were numbersome as I completed the following achievements in order:
1) Menagerie Level 3 (booze for 2 days!)
2) Opeming up the Dungeons of Doom
3) Mining 3 chrome ores and shaking some cokcktails (2 vodka stratocasters, 2 Neuromancers, eggnogg and a Tangarita to top off)
4) The Daily Dungeon (Jarlsberg Earring :-/)
5) Icy Peak Quest
6) Bonerdagon (My Comma Chameleon helped me out as a GPoaS)
7) Zapping Wand (Jarlsberg Earring -> Sneaky Pete's Key)
8) Pirates
9) Unlock the darn gallery. Finally!

I'm one moxie point short of level 9 and have a decent supply of meat. I'm considering buying Symphony of the Jackass, to have a cheaper alternative to Rage to up my damage. Selling the dictionary will bring me right back into the meat after that.

PvP was 13/13 as well, yay!

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 8 Button Box Burglar
Turns Played (this run): 401
Days Played (this run): 3
Sign: The Marmot
Path: Boozetafarian (Hardcore)

Booze Hunt

I had written an entire planning post yesterday detailing my booze strategy, but Blogger was uncooperative. I'll give you the highlights here. Weighing all ups and downs, I eventually settled on going for supercocktails by opening up the Island, and using the Booze Giants as basis. It would be very tight, but manageable, with a bit of (clover) luck.

And tight it was, I was a bit inefficient with my summoned snowcones, as well as very low on meat (borderline broke), but I pulled it off. I eventually had to barrel for booze instead of dealing with the Giants, because it was just too tight. I ended up drinking a Vodka Stratocaster, a Tangarita, Perpendicular Hula (Advanced Drink), Teqiwila Slammer, Bottle of Domesticated Turkey, and will finish off with another Vodka Stratocaster. From the first two drinks I got about 30 adventures, slightly less than half of which I subsequently spent on mixing and gathering the other booze. It's obvious I need Ode to compensate for that effect!

I've managed to clear the Cyprt, except for the Big Boss. I might have had a shot at taking him on, but failure would've been costly. Since I can't outmoxie him, I should've relied on 1 or 2 LTS coming through. Maybe it was not a smart move, but hey, conservatism is worth something.

Another annoying thing is that I haven't been able to open up the library. Lots of pooltergeists and chalk dust wraiths, but no "Minnesota Incorporeals". I might give up, which will have made the whole excercise a bit of a waste.

I've reached level 8 and have the Miner's Outfit, but not enough turns left to farm pieces of chrome. I will do that tomorrow. I'm still no fan of going up the Peak, and would rather slied through the Gallery, but it is as it is.

I'll make a planning post after this.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 8 Button Box Burglar
Turns Played (this run): 271
Days Played (this run): 2
Sign: The Marmot
Path: Boozetafarian (Hardcore)

P.s. PvP was a struggle as well, lost 2 fights, which hurts stats...Blegh.

Moxie Day a Go Go, Part Deux:: Electric Boogaloo

During lunch, I got attacked once, and lost (won 2 stat matches, though) :-/.

After that I ascended, but the title is somewhat misleading, as I ascended as Accordion Thief, not Disco Bandit, but it'll have to do.

Remember how I described the starting day of my previous run as the prelude to a record-breaker? Well today is DOUBLE that. Seriously.

A fun discovery, that gives a nice synergy: The Magical Mojomuscular Melody and Superhuman Cocktailcrafting. You can improve "soda water" to "tonic water", and because of Magical Mojomuscular Melody, you won't have to spill a drop. This allowed me to keep a lot of buffs going, right from the get-go, with a minimum of meat expenditure. And, with the boosting powers of three single-barrel whiskeys, this gave me an enormous head start. Another fun benefit is the ability to summon 5 garnishes, which serve a nice dual function as equipment. Right up to the Goblin King, the best hat I had was the coconut shell, many fights were fought with magical ice cubes, and darn-it, my luck didn't provide me with a little paper umbrella, or it would've been my mainstay weapon. Now, I actually had to buy a sweet ninja sword to compensate.

On top of that the boozes provided by the Typical Tavern, and shortly thereafter availing myself of a Liver of Steel made my day complete. In fact, I think I had to backtrack there to the Knoll for the meat car. After disposing of the Boss Bat and Goblin King in between (and finding some Larvae), I had a bit of a void going on. Luckily, I remembered to pixel farm, and managed to keep in the meat just for long enough to get the digital key. My final handful of turns were spent in a vain attempt to gain entrance to the Gallery. I did get a pool cue, and a lot of chalk dust, but my final achievement of the day was reaching level 7 (!).

Well, that, and winning all my PvP fights, of course.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 7 Concertina Con Artist
Turns Played (this run): 159
Days Played (this run): 1
Sign: The Marmot
Path: Boozetafarian (HC)

Moxie Day a Go Go.

So, yeah, flawless victory!

It took me the better part of all those turns, though.
Then I PvP'ed myself some extra flowers and rank, and am now waiting with breaking the prism/ascending till after lunch.

I'm keeping Advanced Cocktailcrafting and going AT for Ode to Booze, but I'm pretty sure I'll be doing another DB run in the not-too-distant future. I want that self-preservation.

To your health!

Saving up for moxie day tomorrow has been going well, I expect to start the day with 199 turns at my disposal.

With the proceeds from Booze (of quality) and several wads, being at the start of level 9 means possibility of Ascension. Either today, or next moxie day.

In a perfect universe, I might take the chance, to switch to softcore and put a personal best down. In this universe, I've got time constraints. Work on friday and home improvement during the weekend.

In fact, I see my future as thusly busy, that I'm pondering staying in HC Boozetafarian. It's got a good pace of progress and stuff to do, while not costing as much time as no-path.

If that's the case, I will drop the plan to get the level 15 Pastamancer and Sauceror Skills, though. More sensible to get other skills first.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 9 Groove Filcher
Turns Played (this run): 642
Days Played (this run): 7
Sign: The Marmot
Path: Boozetafarian (HC)

Saving for a Rainy Day

Actually, I didn't feel much like playing my turns today, so I banked for moxie day.
I did drink 5 Superdrinks and a TPS base :-)

I was getting to good at PvP, so in the end, I had no more targets at level 6,7 or 8. I PvP'ed some level nines, and lost two out of three. Then I discovered I was wearing my hippy outfit, instead of the Goblin King and Stainless Slacks. Heh.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 8
Jam Horker
Turns Played (this run): 551
Days Played (this run): 6
Sign: The Marmot
Path: Boozetafarian (Hardcore)

Improved Spirits

I'm doing slightly better, although it was a proper meatgrind, to get through levels 6 and 7.

I left the Bonerdagon be, for the time being, and focused on the Gallery to get my stats, dabbled a bit in the menagerie, but now had steady progress and am level 8, with the yeti quest finished. I keep avoiding the Peak, and stay on course at the Gallery, for some odd reason. Mostly, I'm avoiding Snow Queens, I think.

Now that I can *properly* mix, the booze part is getting fun. My "diet" is eclectic, but of quality. I should mix that lime for my 3-drunk drink. (4*4 drunk + 3 drunk + 4 drunk nightcap)

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 8 Jam Horker
Turns Played (this run): 524
Days Played (this run): 5
Sign: The Marmot
Path: Boozetafarian (Hardcore)

p.s. PvP is getting to kick ass as well. Hurray for Hatorade.

Comedy of Errors

Well, any ideas about records should be put on hold for a while, as I've started bumbling.

I forgot to make tonic waters yesterday. Completely. My excuse is that I was preoccupied with painting my house.

Today, I learned a lot. The hard way. For starters, that in the early part of a run, with little to no access to fruit or garnishes, it might actually be more profitable to go for the middle rows of the Barrel, because using the basic booze that drops there to make improve spirits has a better adventure gain than the advanced cocktailcrafting bases of the top row.

e.g. A bottle of Definit has better adventure gains than a screwdriver.

Also, the lemon party slot is not a good place to farm for fruit, really. In 10 adventures, I lost 100 meat and gained: a lime (unuseable for superhuman or advanced drinks), a lemon, and a orange. Next time I'll try the menagerie.

I also made a few *true* errors, which probably cost me my Liver. For example, I continued to farm at the dark elbow of the woods after I had gotten the butter knife for quite a few turns. I ran out of turns before I could get the dodecagram, after discovering this.

All of this also means no DD item (although I did get a Boris Ring yesterday). And to add insult to injury, I only discovered I wasn't wearing my Stainless Steel pants when I started PvP!

At least I will have my Liver of Steel tomorrow.

Keypunch (#30036)
Level 6 Sample Swindler
Turns Played (this run): 278
Days Played (this run): 3
Sign: The Marmot
Path: Boozetafarian (Hardcore)