My previous “best” Hardcore run was a hefty 21 day run. I didn’t have much Mr Stuff (I believe it was just the bugbear, which isn’t always very helpful), and was collecting lucre too. As far as runs go, I didn’t care about it taking too long but at the same time haven’t done it since because it was sort of miserable.
Now, a year later, I have 5ish more skills (2 are mr store skills, 1 is olfaction, and I upgraded the pasta and reagent skill) have a wider range of Mr Stuff (mostly in the form a VIP lounge) and am blowing though the run. I really have no idea how much longer it will take, but I estimate that the war will take 1-2 days, with the tower taking <50 turns. Oh, I still have the pyramid to do, so I guess that’s another 60ish turns.
I’ve been faxing lobster frog men, and am in Fist, so I think my best bet is to do the war as a frat. Obviously, I’ll skip the nuns. I’m worried about getting the glands from the filthworms, and not sure how to approach the farm. I’ll probably be able to muster about +250% from disposable sources for 10 turns, and I’ll make sure that I get the jump. With pickpocket, i have a 10% chance to pp a gland, and then (1-.10)*(0.1*(1+(250/350)) = .315 chance to get it to drop normally, for a total of 41.5%, or on average 2.41 turns per gland.
So, if i’m doing a 4 sidequest war, it’ll take 8 turns to get to the Filthworms. Once there, it’ll take 25 more to get to the farm. IF I do the farm I’ll need to spend 16 more turns on the battlefield. IF I skip the farm, I’ll need to spend 67 turns (total) on the battlefield.
With farm: 49
Without farm:67
difference: 18 turns
Now, I know that with the shortcut, I’ll only need to fight 5 ducks in each of the 3 side areas, plus 5ish more per non-combat, for a grand total of 20-40 ducks. Clearly, skipping the farm is the most effective way to do the war, but doing the sidequest would add only a few turns and open up some farming opportunities for aftercore.
One more thing that I’m worrying about is the Tower Familiars. I need to get 20 lbs on mine to defeat them, and I’d rather not level them in the arena. I can get 5 from the furry halo. I can get 5 from the pool table. I can’t access the knob lab store to buy pet buffing spray, nor do I have +weight skills permed. I can use the beaded headband for +5 lbs from the hatter, and I might be able to get lucky with Resolution summons and get a Kinder. I also have a lead necklace (+3) and Beast paste (+3).
Things to use
+5 Furry Halo
+5 Pool Buff
+5 Hatter ( Reinforced beaded headband)
+5 Kinder resolution
+3 Beasty Paste
+3 Lead Necklace
It might be worthwhile to use the friars buff and spend a turn or two with each tower familiar on the battlefield to get them to base 2 so I could simply use {lead necklace, Pool Buff, Hatter, Furry halo} and not worry about getting Kinder to drop or having room in my spleen for a beasty paste.
I still have to worry about getting a guitar and defeating the shadow.
