The Cake-Shaped Arena
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The Cake-Shaped Arena is located on the Right Side of the Tracks and is run by Susie, the Arena Mistress. You can send your familiars here to compete with the House Familiars for "experience, prestige, and fabulous prizes".
Entering your familiars in an event costs 100 Meat and one Adventure. There are five House Familiars that they can compete against each day, in any of four different events:
If your familiars win, they will gain experience based on their margin of victory:
- 5 or fewer: 5 experience
- 6: 4 experience
- 7: 3 experience
- 8 or more: 2 experience
The above formula changes slightly for the Ultimate Cage Match, which uses the number of battle rounds, not margin of victory, to calculate how much experience will be gained:
- 15 or more: 5 experience
- 14: 4 experience
- 13: 3 experience
- 12 or fewer: 2 experience
Usually, for every five Arena wins by your familiars, you will receive a piece of Familiar Equipment as a prize; the item that you get will often be specific to the familiar that got the fifth win (this means that it can only be used by that one familiar). However, if the winning familiar does not have a specific piece of equipment associated with it, then you will usually receive a lead necklace instead.
Maximizing Your Familiar's Experience
Your familiar's performance, as well as the house familiar's performance, will always be displayed as one of five possible numbers. Therefore, there are 25 possible outcomes for any given matchup.
If two familiars of equal ability (see the Strengths and Handicaps section below) are facing each other, you should make sure that your familiar is 3 pounds heavier than the house familiar. This will lead to a 96% chance of victory, as well as an average gain of 4.64 experience for your familiar. If your familiar is 4 or more pounds heavier than the house familiar, you will always win, but your familiar will only gain an average of 4.60 experience.
Below is a chart that pits the ability of your familiar against that of the house familiar; it shows how much more than the house familiar your familiar should weigh. The first number in any box will get you the maximum possible experience, but not always a victory, and the second number will always get you a victory, but not the maximum possible experience.
| House Familiar | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weak | Average | Strong | ||||||||
| You | Weak | 3 | / | 4 | 6 | / | 7 | 9 | / | 10 |
| Average | 0 | / | 1 | 3 | / | 4 | 6 | / | 7 | |
| Strong | -3 | / | -2 | 0 | / | 1 | 3 | / | 4 | |
The weight of your familiars can be altered in many different ways; see Familiar Weight for more details.
Strengths and Handicaps
Familiars have one of four possible levels of competence in each of the four events. This level determines how effectively they can perform in that event, compared to another familiar of the same weight. The four levels are:
- Strong: Familiars will receive a bonus equal to (their weight + 3). This means that they will perform as if they were three pounds heavier than they actually are.
- Average: Familiars will receive a bonus equal to (their weight). This means that they will perform normally; their weight is not affected in any way.
- Weak: Familiars will receive a bonus equal to (their weight - 3). This means that they will perform as if they were three pounds lighter than they actually are.
- Unable to Perform: Familiars will not receive a bonus. They will perform as if they had a weight of 0, regardless of their actual weight.
If a familiar is are unable to perform in an event, this fact will be stated if it is entered in that particular event. Many familiars have at least one event in which they are unable to perform, and some have more; for example, the Comma Chameleon is unable to perform in three events, and the O.A.F. is unable to perform in all four. Many common familiars will have one event in which they are strong, one event in which they are average, one event in which they are weak, and one event in which they are unable to perform. Many rarer familiars, such as the Snowy Owl, have multiple events in which they are strong.
Low-weight familiars can still lose to a familiar that is unable to perform in a certain event. This is because familiars that are weak in an event will perform as if they are three pounds lighter than they actually are. So, it is possible for a familiar that is weak in an event and has a weight between 1 pound (-2 effective weight) and 6 pounds (3 effective weight) to lose to a familiar that is unable to perform (0 pounds) in that event. Familiars that are average in an event and weigh between 1 and 3 pounds can lose to a familiar that is unable to perform in that event (0 pounds). This is because the weight difference between the familiars must be at least 4 to guarantee a 100% chance of victory.
Familiars' competence levels
Notes
- A tie in any event will always be considered as a win for your familiar.
- If you are falling-down drunk, then Susie will tell you, "You're too drunk to even tell the difference between your familiar and the House Familiar. Come back when you sober up."
- If you do not have an familiar with you, then Susie will tell you, "In order to compete, you need a familiar. Come back when you've got one."
- Effects and current equipment worn by the player that increase familiar experience per fight also increase your familiar's experience gain in the Arena.
- Certain familiars have special Arena relationships:
- The Bulky Buddy Box, Holiday Log, Pet Rock, Stocking Mimic, Toothsome Rock, and Software Bug cannot compete in the Arena.
- The Comma Chameleon will always receive a random piece of familiar equipment; it does not have its own specific equipment. Also, it will receive an item after every other win, instead of after every fifth win.
- Elemental Gravy Fairies cannot get their specific equipment from the Arena, although the Comma Chameleon can still get these items. They will always receive a lead necklace, along with the following text:
- Susie looks at your familiar oddly.
- "I've never seen one of those before. I don't think we have any stuff in here that's specifically geared for this familiar..."
- The familiars that do not have their own specific equipment are the Black Cat, Disembodied Hand, El Vibrato Megadrone, Fancypants Scarecrow, Mad Hatrack, and Ragamuffin Imp. They will get a lead necklace except for the ~ 20%-25% of the time they get a vicious spiked collar.
- The Reconstituted Crow will receive the Reassembled Blackbird's specific equipment from the Arena, but it cannot be equipped with this item.
- The Baby Bugged Bugbear cannot compete in the Arena. Instead, once a day, you can receive its specific equipment immediately upon entering the arena, but only if that item is not equipped, present in your inventory, and/or present in your closet.
- The Reagnimated Gnome cannot compete in the Arena. Instead, once a day, you can pick up one of its five fallen body parts from the Arena, each of which functions as the Gnome's specific equipment.
- Using a Box of Familiar Jacks will create the familiar specific equipment for your currently active familiar as well. A lead necklace will be created for familiars without specific equipment.
