The Source (path)
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The Source is the Summer 2016 special challenge path, introduced on May 15, 2016. This path adds variant rules and restrictions to an ascension run. Its description in The Bureau of Reincarnation reads "Take the red pill, and peek behind the curtain of what you thought was the real world."
Restrictions
- Stat gains from monsters at the end of combats are reduced to (one-third)? their original value, including ML.
- Stat gains from Source Agents and "+X (Attribute) Stats Per Fight" effects appear to not be reduced.
- Consumables (food, booze, spleen items) do not grant stat gains, except for the browser cookie and hacked gibson.
- Resting in Chateau Mantegna does not grant stat gains.
- The stat gain cards (The World, The Empress, and The Lovers for Muscle, Mysticality and Moxie respectively) from the Deck of Every Card, do not grant stats either, with the following message replacing the normal text:
- You cannot adventure in The Sea. Attempting to talk to An Old Man gives the following message: That shack you saw on the main map was just a picture of a shack drawn on the ground.
- The Feast of Boris does not give bonus fullness:
Today is the Feast of Boris. But everything tastes like chicken and you don't feel celebratory.
Divergences
- When starting a The Source run, the introductory encounter One Pill, Two Pill gives you the skill Source Punch.
- The Council of Loathing has different text reflecting the situation in the Kingdom.
- The Oracle appears on the Wrong Side of the Tracks.
- Source Agents will periodically appear by insta-killing a monster, with an after combat link leading to a Source Agent fight.
- The insta-killed monster does not take an Adventure if it would have otherwise, and drops stats, items, and Meat normally. Autoattack fires in that combat, but just for the first round.
- Agents cannot appear from monsters that are immune to instakills, and also cannot appear from monsters that lead to other encounters, such as the nightstands in The Haunted Bedroom.
- Agents appear after enough combats have been finished, though combats in zones from where the Oracle has asked for a no spoon do not count toward this.
- Digital rain (falling green characters) will appear during combat when an Agent is about to appear, with the intensity increasing until the Agent is fought.
- Agents can only be affected by path-unique skills, all other actions (attacks, skills, items) fail and waste that round, and most sources of Passive Damage do not work. Familiars are also disabled during the fight.
Your normal tricks aren't going to work against this guy.
That item would be hacked out of existence faster than you could use it.
<name> cowers, terrified.- Agents hit multiple times per round. Some hits can be blocked by path-unique passive skills.
- Agents give much greater stat gains (5x?) after combat, compared to other fights.
- Defeating an Agent increases the stats and attacks per round of future Agents.
- After defeating 3(?) Agents, Agents give 1 turn of Latency at the start of combat, which reduces attributes and elemental resistance based on how many Agents have been defeated that ascension.
- During combat, you will see 'digital rain' and occasional 'Source' script in green (shown below).
- familiar.randomize_meat
- One Thousand Source Agents are fought at the top of The Naughty Sorceress' Tower, instead of The Naughty Sorceress.
Skills
You retain your regular permanent skills.
You start with one special skill, Source Punch. You obtain extra skills by gaining Enlightenment from giving no spoons to The Oracle. You start with one Enlightenment for each previous The Source run (two points for hardcore runs). To use Enlightenment, visit the ringing phone 
on the first floor of Spookyraven Manor.
These skills can only be used against Source Agents. They cannot be made permanent, but are kept into Aftercore, where they are decidedly less useful.
| Name | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|
 Source Punch |
Combat 25 MP |
Deal moderate damage to Source Agents |
 Overclocked |
Passive | +200% Combat Initiative against Source Agents |
 Bullet Time |
Passive | Lets you dodge 3 ranged attacks from Source Agents |
 True Disbeliever |
Passive | Lets you disbelieve 3 hack attacks from Source Agents |
 Code Block |
Passive | Lets you block 3 melee attacks from Source Agents |
 Disarmament |
Combat 50 MP usable once per fight |
Reduce the number of attacks a Source Agent can perform in a round Briefly stuns the Agent |
 Big Guns |
Combat 50 MP usable once per fight |
Deal tremendous damage to a Source Agent Briefly stuns the Agent |
 Humiliating Hack |
Combat 50 MP usable once per fight |
Weakens a Source Agent by 50% Briefly stuns the Agent |
 Source Kick |
Combat 50 MP |
Deal significant damage to Source Agents |
 Reboot |
Combat 75 MP usable once per fight |
Remove debuffs caused by Source Agents Briefly stuns the Agent |
 Restore |
Combat 75 MP usable once per fight |
Restores all your HP |
 Data Siphon |
Passive | Makes Source Punches and Source Kicks restore MP |
Some Source Terminal skills are enhanced in this path.
- Duplicate may be used five times per day instead of one, and multiplies the monster by three instead of two.
- Portscan summons a Source Agent instead of a government agent.
Text
Council Text
Strategy
- See The Source/Strategy for a discussion of speed strategies.
Rewards
- Finishing a The Source run that began while it was still the current special challenge path -- that is, between May 15th, 2016, and Aug 14th, 2016 -- gives players 100 (in Hardcore) or 50 (in Normal) extra karma points the next time they visit Valhalla.
- Players will receive a Thwaitgold moth statuette upon defeating One Thousand Source Agents.
