User:Kurg

Background

I started with 4 accounts, one per class.

• Kurg(naturalist, now my main)
• Zap(elementalist)
• Kalios(psion)
• Zorzos(gadgeteer)

I wanted to play each of them 'fully' and with the same effort, with no preferences. That's also why I had a different forum/wiki handle(=Edivad, but finally decided to change that to avoid confusion/awkardness). However, as time went on and retcon went in...I realized that trying to play that many turns each day would drive me crazy. So I made Kurg my main, and I just don't bother to check with the other 3 - although I might use them to help spade stuff, if there's need to.

Useful items

Good stuff that is relatively easy to get(or even simply 'the best' for its level).

Note that I mostly do no item restrictions run, so this isn't a 'real' pull list, more like suggestions on what you might want to use at each level(and some items stay useful until much later..or until the end of your run).

Level 1
This includes stuff which stays useful through all of your run.

• Talismans

Swedish Navy Wrench: Something nice and simple if you just want to shoot stuff and not get hit too often - unless you happen to use melee weapons, the penalty just doesn't matter.

Thunder in a Bottle: -2 PP on all skills is awesome, not just for spellslinging but also if you have a lot of buffs to mantain. The +10% Max PP doesn't hurt, while the -3 melee damage can isn't too bad(and that's *IF* you actually bother to attack with melee weapons, anyway).

special wooden cup: Quite nice nice for a Naturalist.

• Transport

paradime device: +1 HP & 2 PP per turn and +5 dodge makes this quite nice if going for comfort rather than speed. Range 3 which should be enough on day 1 Emmett McFlie's hoverboard: range 3 and +8 FT, if you want some extra XP.

• Shirt

hip-t shirt: +10 FT is +5 xp per fight if you can handle it.

golden poncho: +2 PP regen is quite nice, also highest power of the non-IoTM level 1 shirts.

• Pants

golden leggings +2 HP regen is (usually) not as useful as the +PP from the poncho, especially if you have a healing skill, but they're still a good option. Also, just like the poncho, very good power for their level.

• Hat

filigreed foil hat: High power, +3 to weapon *and* spell damage. Certainly better than going around hatless.

• Offhand

rolled doll dahl: +noncombat will be useful for most of your run

number one fan: +3 PP per turn *and* +6 spell damage. Very powerful for its level, and can be useful later on too.

sock puppet: cheap UR, +15 FT is nice if you can handle it. No fumbles makes fights overall safer - don't you hate it when you fumble and lose the fight because of it?. +10% Strength doesn't matter too much - if you bother with melee weapons, it should just be a few extra points of damage at the higher levels.

• Computers/Software

2 positronic computers: Remember to exchange for electronics before retconning(and that you can't exchange them if they're decrypting)

personal copy of the internet

I Blog myself

Garcia's traffic avoider

MacRuff's Mercantile Monitor software: Not as important as Garcia's, but can speed up the University and Casino quests.

• Temporary Sidekicks

clockwork spider: Lots of XP(up to 20 at the higher levels), and pretty cheap as it lasts 180 minutes. Definitely worth using before you get your permanent sidekick, and perhaps after that too.

• Accessories

silver stars: Donation but relatively easy to get two, the +20 max PP/HP particularly useful if you have lots of regen to avoid wasting resources.

gold star: Maybe not as 'cool' as the IoTMs you could get instead, but equipping one or two gold stars makes fights *way* easier. The +10 dodge/hit stays relevant at higher levels too.

supersolid/heavy mettle medal: +8/+4 to stats. Better than nothing and they're free pulls anyway. Remember they have to be disassembled before spending.

kneepads: cheap +2 damage absorption.

• Boots

cleats: +2 reflexes. Not much, but better than nothing, there aren't many interesting non-IoTM boots choices at this level anyway.

• Ranged Weapon

dark arts: Best non-IoTM level 1 ranged weapon, and possibly better than the level 2 ones too.

• Melee Weapon

hedge slammer: Best non-IoTM level 1 melee weapon.

Level 2

• Pants

Toxic rocker pants: If you want to do lots of damage quickly.

• Melee Weapon

Icicle: Strong melee weapon.

Level 3

• Ranged Weapon

Boomstick: Ultra-rare, amazingly powerful at this level and remains a pretty good option until level 8/9.

ball bearing cannon : Not much to say, a significant upgrade from the dark arts.

• Melee Weapon

Digital rapier: The +10 to-hit is very good, and the +initiative and decent power are nice too.

Level 4

• Accessories

embossed emblem: +4 XP per turn and 3% chance of stunning. Useful if you want more XP and sometimes gives you a free round.

Ali C bling: Can save some turns during the University quest - and in the Casino later on.

• Melee Weapon

foil foil: +10% to hit *and* dodging.

• Transport

sub-ma-car: Gives water breathing, and thus a good replacement for the harbor pearl(you might want the offhan for something else, like rolled doll if doing the quest here), scuba set(takes 3 slots AND gives horrible penalties), or being an Elemental. Although you get the Bay quest at level 6, you can use this before then as a Naturalist to level up by taming.

Level 5

• Gloves

gnat gloves: Super-jumping, small +item(+2%), and -2% fumbles. Not bad, stays useful later on by letting you use your boots slot for something other than the high-jump ones.

badger gauntlets(Naturalist only): +10 to-hit *AND* damage.

• Helmet

Zion's helm: +2 XP per turn. Makes you just a bit faster at levelling up.

Mecha Nist's Night-vision Helmet: From Nocturne's, unlocked with a Gadg run(mettle 7+). +10 ranged damage AND +10% crits make this very useful if you have trouble with fighting.

• Ranged Weapon

recoil foil rifle: Ranged version of the foil foil, and thus has the same useful enchantments.

• Melee Weapon

channeling blade(Psion only): Low-ish power for its level, but gives +10 to melee and spell damage, which might be better.

Shadow Mist's Iron Scythe: From Nocturne, unlocked with a Nat run(mettle 7+). 80 power, +10 melee damage AND debuffs by 5.

Level 6
At this level, you can start equipping some stuff that reduces your turn duration...

• Pants

datapants: +5 XP/turn and reduces turn length by 5 seconds. Obviously excellent.

• Accessories

shoehorn: -5 seconds to turn duration.

karma charm: +20% spell damage is pretty good for spellslingers, and the -1 PP to skill costs helps everyone.

databelt: +4 HP/PP regen. If you like your runs slow but comfortable.

verse of the dodo: +3 XP per turn. If you really want more XP.

• Melee Weapon

Hammer time: -5 seconds to turn duration.

• Ranged Weapon

Zeno's bow: -5 seconds to turn duration.

Level 7

• Boots

Xentrium boots: -5 to turn length.

jack boots: +8 melee damage. If you really like hitting stuff hard.

stamped boots of stamping: +2 DA and makes your attacker take 6 damage. If you like strikeback damage/having lots of DA to outlast your foes.

• Offhand

Rook of the Cataclysm: +20 FT is an extra 10 XP from fights...*IF* you can win. This can make you faster than the Sock Puppet, but is significantly risker(not just because of the +5 FT, but because of the lack of 'no fumbles')

• Accessories

Queen of the Apocalypse: From Nocturne's, requires 14 runs to unlock. Reduces turn length by 5 seconds AND gives +5% crit.

Level 8

• Helmet

foyal crown: +7 XP per turn.

• Boots

sneakiers: +noncombat will speed your quests, although you might still want to use the xentrium boots and get the extra +NC(remember it's capped at +20%) from other sources.

• Gloves

black gloves: +4% crits. Better than gnat if you just care about defeating your foes fast.

• Ranged Weapon

the golem's glock: +10 ranged damage, +8 to hit, +1 ranged attack. Only 2 power and 5 bonus damage overall than the boomstick, and probably better because of the attacks/+to hit.

• Melee Weapon

archron's staff: -5 to turn durationn and +10 to spell damage. An improved hammer time for spell casters, basically.

Level 9

• Shirt

xentrium breastplate: -10 seconds to turn length.

• Ranged Weapon

Umbra's Shadow Blaster: From Nocturne's, unlocked with a Gadg run(mettle 11+). +5% crits, +20 ice damage, +3 attacks. It's that amazing - definitely the best non-IoTM ranged weapon to use in run.

• Melee Weapon

pandimensional scepter: -1 PP to the cost of combat spells, +10 spell damage. For spell slinging, although you might prefer the archron's staff for the -turn length.

Level 10

• Boots

prefontane: -10 seconds to turn length. An upgrade from the xentrium boots.

relaxing flats: +5 HP/PP. If going slow and you don't care about -time

Skills

Got all skills permed - will eventually write some thoughts on each.

Aura: Magnetism More versatile than Stealth or Sinus - at the cost of taking an aura slot. At lower levels, giving up to use this might make fights fairly harder especially if using significant +FT, but it seems to be worth the saved turns.

Aura: Mystery +2S + level/2 spell damage, -1 PP to cost of combat spells. For 8 PP. The +spell damage could actually save a lot of PP, by letting you use weaker spells.

Aura: Vim +10+S bonus to to-hit and dodge. And for only 4 PP. A must get!

Aura: Vigor Not exactly high priority, although the +HP% bonus can be significant. I'd rather use Vim to take less damage(and deal more), and heal with First Aid.

Battle Armor + 30 + level*(1+S) bonus to defense. An amazing passive which scales pretty well with points in it, and has no cap so it's useful in aftercore too. With 10 points in it, it provides an extra +11 defense per character level - compare this to equipment. It's pretty high.

Sniper +5 + 2S ranged damage, +10 + 2S initiative Very good for ranged weapon users, not useless for others - you still get +init.

Basic Martial Arts +10+S to-hit Decent passive, I think, but Upgrade weapons: Frickin' Sharp can give a better bonus at a decent cost.

Shock Grenade 5-15 + 3 S +level/2 electric damage, delevels to-hit and offense by 20 + 2S. Costs 13 PP. A personal favorite, with 10 skill points it delevels foe offense and to-hit by 40. It's expensive, but after weakening the foe, you can just attack with a PP-draining weapon to cover some of the costs.

Trample of the Bovine At 9 PP, I think this is a a good compromise between Maul and Charge. With a PP draining weapon, you will get back some of the costs...

Stealth +NC is very important. This is not as flexible as Magnetism, but does NOT take an aura slot and is way less expensive.

Sinus of the Shark +combat isn't needed often in run, but there are excetions, such as trying to get VIPs to show up comes to mind or levelling in the park.

Firestorm 15-30 + 10S + 2*level damage. If you like doing LOTS of damage, this looks good. Might actually be be unneeded to max this, especially with decent sources of +spell damage.

The Fire Within +(10+S)% Max PP, +S% spell damage. The bonus spell damage requires you to spend points. The extra PP capacity might be good if you have PP regen and want to store up excess PP for later. Basically, lets you store more PP, which is good if you have a source of PP regeneration.

First Aid Most efficient healing skill(usually). Although Lifeblood Manipulation might be worth it if you have lots of HP, and Knit Flesh/Bone also heal some bad conditions.

Armadillo Armor Way more DA than you can get from Upgrade Armor.

Echolocation Passive +(10+S)% item drops. Might let you grab a few useful items in run, or even just junk you can sell for more chips.

Sundowner Breeze A source of extra FT, however it is quite expensive. Not high-priority unless you're sure you have both the PP and the equipment/skills to handle all that FT I think.

Proper Hydration Might look small, but shouldn't be dismissed. Remember with First Aid or another healing skill, you can turn those to HP.

Starfish Regen Passive, which is a plus. Nice for runs where you can't afford a lot of healing, but if you have a healing skill, Hydration will be better. If you have First Aid, Hydration is better - that 1 PP can be turned to way more than 2 HP.

Fire Shield Cheap, can do lots of damage, especially if you rely on high DA/defense to outlast your enemy attacks. Might work well with a finisher - a 1 PP combat skill or reusable combat item - for when the enemy is critically injuried.