View source for Actually Ed the Undying/Strategy

This page describes strategies for the [[Actually Ed the Undying]] challenge path.

==Mr. Store Items==
The following are path tie-in items with special effects:
* '''[[The Crown of Ed the Undying]]''' (HC): The path-specific IOTM, provides a good boost to early-game survival with bonus HP and Initiative, the bonus MP lets you run your Evocations faster. The configurable enchantment is notable for being one of the few ways for Ed to get bonus ML in Hardcore. Occasionally also provides Ka from undead monsters, among other purposes.
* '''[[bottle of lovebug pheromones]]''' (HC): Passively helps speed up several zones. Gives you a 0 MP [[stunning]] skill and a 0 MP damage-over-time (physical + Stench) skill, which allow you to postpone learning Evocations, or just as MP-free damage.  Ed can ''[[Summon Love Scarabs]]'' instead of [[Summon Love Mosquito|Love Mosquitos]], which restore MP instead of HP, giving Ed more MP to work with. All 3 of these skills can be used once per Undying, allowing you to maximize the utility of the skills.

These are the remaining choices that were [[standard restrictions|available]] at the time of release:
* '''[[airplane charter: Conspiracy Island]]''' (HC): Gives access to [[The Secret Government Laboratory]] which is helpful for Ka coin farming and powerlevelling.  Synergizes with [[bottle of lovebug pheromones|love bugs]], giving you free [[Coinspiracy]] while adventuring here, which you can use to buy [[Jungle Juice]] if you spend enough turns in the Lab.
* '''[[airplane charter: Dinseylandfill]]''' (HC): By design, more useful than Spring Break Beach but less useful than Conspiracy Island. The Ka farming at [[Pirates of the Garbage Barges]] is slightly better than at CI's Lab, but there's no Omega Device to boost their level. [[FunFunds™]] from lovebugs or [[garbage tourist]]s can be spent on a [[Dinsey food-cone]] for the nuns, or [[Dinsey face paint]] for ML.
* '''[[airplane charter: The Glaciest]]''' (HC): For those who can't afford [[Dinseylandfill]] or [[Conspiracy Island]] then [[The Glaciest]] isn't a terrible choice for a scaling zone. [[VYKEA]] has entirely 2 Ka Dudes and you can make [[VYKEA]] companions for more substats/items/meat/MP regen. Also the Ice Hotel is available for making perfect drinks for nightcaps.
* '''[[Chateau Mantegna room key]]''' (HC): Gives you free stats and MP.  Gives you some potions or meat each day (including [[cyclops eyedrops]] on day 3).  Lets you "fax" a single monster prepped before the run, or [[copying|copy]] a monster encountered during the run. Popular copy targets include [[Bram the Stoker]] for the -Combat% accessory, [[mountain man]] for its ores, [[ninja snowman assassin]], [[dirty thieving brigand]] (Mantegna is the only way to do the Nuns trick in HC), or even the [[lobsterfrogman]] to save Ka on a [[talisman of Horus]].
* '''[[Clan VIP Lounge invitation]]''' (HC): Assuming you have whitelist access to a clan with all of the furniture and all of the consumables unlocked, this gives you access to the [[Hot Dog Stand]] and [[A Speakeasy]], plus the Hot Tub for removing negative effects that the Underworld doesn't clear (removing [[Thrice-Cursed]] after finishing the Apartment Building).  Some of the food/booze buffs are helpful, but this is not the Must-Have IOTM that it used to be when the fax machine was available. That being said, [[sleeping dog]] becomes extremely important for people with Chateau Mantegna, [[optimal dog]] is still as good as ever at forcing [[Mick's IcyVapoHotness Inhaler]], while [[Bee's Knees]] and [[Ish Kabibble]] are quite useful for survival while filling organ space with high-quality consumables.
* '''[[Order of the Green Thumb Order Form]]''' (HC): Lets you boost +item or +ML in several zones (including [[Oil Peak]]).  Lets you boost initiative in [[The Defiled Alcove]].  Gives MP regeneration in several zones.  You can also plant elemental damage flowers for zones with strong opponents (like [[The Secret Government Laboratory]]) if you need them.
* '''[[GameInformPowerDailyPro subscription card]]''' (HC): Gives a daily [[soft green echo eyedrop antidote|SGEEA]], [[scroll of Protection from Bad Stuff]] and [[scroll of Puddingskin]].  The dungeon has scaling monsters, but they are Constructs who drop no Ka coins.  Not the best pick for power-leveling, but also not the worst.

These items had to be pulled to be used, but were still usable in Normal difficulty even while the path was in Standard:
* '''[[Folder Holder]]''' (SC): Configurable. Enchantments like the HP regeneration may not work for Ed, but the MP regen and bonus Damage Reduction can be valuable.
* '''[[Jarlsberg's pan]]''' (SC): Although this item was made for Avatars of Jarlsberg, it happens to help Ed out since he's also a spellcaster. Everything about the pan except extra food conjuration benefits Ed well. Due to Ed's low metabolic capacity, he can turn food/booze he can barely fit into his gullet into [[Cosmic Calorie]]s for powerful +resist, +item, and +com or -com potions.
* '''[[Pantsgiving]]''' (SC): The 5 daily banishes are the main benefit, but it also gives +item, elemental resistance, extra turn generation, a few stats, and an elemental damage combat skill.  Extremely handy.
* '''[[Sneaky Pete's leather jacket]]''' (SC): Only useful if you ascend in a Gnome sign so you can buy [[Torso Awaregness]].  You can pop the collar for +ML and +init.
* '''[[Thor's Pliers]]''' (SC): Gives stats and MP regeneration, and lets you perform physical attacks.  Low priority.

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* '''[[Smithsness]]''' (SC): [[Hand in Glove]] for ML.
-->

==Astral Consumables==
Despite the warnings at [[The Bureau of Reincarnation]], the {{plural|astral pilsner}} and {{plural|astral hot dog}} are the viable options. As always, the {{plural|astral pilsner}} give superior turngen to pretty much anything accessible in the game, and are the obvious choice for an ascension faster than 3 days, as the Replacement Stomach will only fit one [[astral hot dog]] per day (3 full out of 5). However, the {{plural|astral hot dog}} can help with gaining stats, and free up liver space for drinks from the [[a Speakeasy|Speakeasy]] or [[the Canteen|the Conspiracy Island Canteen]].

==Astral Gear==
For low-skill runs:
* The [[astral ring]] improves Ed's spellcasting power and grants enough MP regen to get you through the early game. With the [[Staff of Ed (Actually Ed the Undying)|Staff of Ed]] equipped, [[Fist of the Mummy]] alone can get you through most of the run until the last third or so of the quests.
* The [[astral shield]] increases Ed's durability significantly, allowing Ed to whittle down his enemy over a few fights.
* As usual, the [[astral mask]] is viable for its item drop and Moxie bonuses.

For high-skill runs, you probably need the [[astral belt]] for the +ML.  Ed has very few +ML sources (just the aggravation device, [[Blessing of Serqet (skill)|Blessing of Serqet]], Florist Friar plants, and [[The Crown of Ed the Undying|his crown]], plus drops like the [[badge of authority]], [[serpentine sword]] + [[snake shield]]), so you'll need every source you can get.

==Moon Sign==
Ed can't summon Smithsness, gains little benefit from Innabox, and doesn't need a [[bitchin' meatcar]] or [[meat maid]]. So for once, the main benefits of [[Degrassi_Knoll#Friendly|Knoll]] signs are completely moot. It does still save a few turns when you need to [[Untinker Quest|retrieve the Untinker's screwdriver]].

Bonus adventures from [[The Opossum]] and [[The Blender]] are equal whichever you pick, so choosing between those two is a matter of whether you want access to [[Little Canadia]] or [[The Gnomish Gnomads' Camp]]. Gnomish skills are still available and are likely a good choice -- especially as their usual perms are disabled, and the Desert is open from the start to immediately set the MCD (unlike in other paths).  If you can't afford the meat for those skills or even the boat to Mystery Island, Canadia's [[Camp Logging Camp]] may be useful in the early game as it is guaranteed dudes (2 Ka) for farming Ka coins (see explanation below).

==Skills==
Each of the three "trees" contains 7 skills. See [[Actually Ed the Undying#Skills|here for a full table of all skills]]. Invocation mostly deals with versatile buffs for questing, Evocation with combat and loot, and Curse with endurance and encounter manipulation.

The '''Invocation''' tree contains powerful buffs of various kinds, culminating with +ML, -combat and +item buffs.  The early skills speed power leveling, [[Prayer of Seshat (skill)|Prayer of Seshat]] gives +3 Myst stats per combat, and [[Wisdom of Thoth (skill)|Wisdom of Thoth]] gives +50% Myst buff which may against scaling monsters. Thoth and [[Power of Heka (skill)|Power of Heka]] allow you to hit much harder than otherwise possible, but to make the most of these buffs you will need [[Fist of the Mummy]] (or greater). [[Hide of Sobek (skill)|Hide of Sobek]] aids survival. For more experienced players the finishing skills are excellent; [[Blessing of Serqet (skill)|Blessing of Serquet]] provides even more [[substat]]s, while [[Shelter of Shed (skill)|Shelter of Shed]] is almost mandatory for saving turns and makes most quests (2,6,7,8,10,11) a lot faster while item drop makes most of the other quests faster (4,5,7,8,9,12, some can be compensated for with talismans of Renenutet with low skills). Overall, the skills in this tree are versatile ways to quest faster and quicken your ascensions. 

The '''Evocation''' tree contains mostly direct-damage combat spells, but does culminates in the +servant level buff, Rave Steal-analogue and [[Yellow Ray]].  At least the first skill, [[Fist of the Mummy]], is essential as these spells do take advantage of Mysticality (for example, Wisdom of Thoth), but past that the higher skills are lower priority than other skills. When possible it may be better to undie twice, and repeatedly use these lower skills or even weapons; but stronger skills may be useful for battling tougher monsters, or when the Love Bugs start to lose effectiveness at the end of the day. For example, if you are unable to [[Safe Adventuring|dodge monsters]], [[Roar of the Lion]] does provide uncapped hot damage which can one-hit enemies. Finally [[Lash of the Cobra]] and [[Wrath of Ra]] can give you guaranteed item drops, which is good for targeting and getting specific items in as few turns as possible to optimise your ascension run.

The '''Curse''' tree grants various types of skills to weaken monsters. It culminates into the +meat buff, and the banishing and pseudo-Olfaction skills. Ed's ability to delevel synergises with his ability to un-die, because you get to keep the delevelling from before, and then you can cast these skills again when you resurrect. Another example is that the second skill is a 3-round [[stunning|stun]] and can be cast every time you un-die, but it is probably not worth 2 skill points if you aren't going for the final skills in this tree. However, this comes with the downside of needing MP regen items to sustain all the curses.  [[Curse of Yuck]] is already rather inefficient compared to Fist of the Mummy because Yuck takes many rounds before it's worth it, and becomes even more inefficient by needing to be recast when you undie. You can skip this tree in your early runs but on later runs, the olfaction-lite ability of [[Curse of Stench]] will be somewhat helpful (the inability to handle queue rejection is a big downside the more monsters are in a certain zone and detracts a lot from this skill), as is the daily banish. These skills are interesting in some zones, but do not save as many turns as simply having -combat and +item early in the run to begin with.

You get 8 skills for questing through most of your run, at levels 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 and 11 (you instead get servants on the levels divisible by three).  That's enough for one full tree + one more skill.  You may choose either of the first two trees, and take the top skill from the other tree, and do well enough.  Spreading points across all 3 trees is not recommended until you have more starting points. The last 3 skills in each tree are powerful utility skills (+ML, -combat, +item, +servant level, Rave Steal-analogue, Yellow Ray, +meat, banish, Olfaction lite), while the first 4 assist with other areas. If you decide to stick around you get up to two more skill points at 13 and 14, up to a total of 10 from the run plus any from previously completed runs.

In some cases you can select your servants to compensate for missing skills.  For example, if you do not get [[Lash of the Cobra]] from the second tree for pickpocketing, you can use a [[Belly-Dancer]] to substitute (and {{plural|talisman of Renenutet}} are also helpful for the task of encouraging stubborn item drops). See the other section for details.

==Ka coins==
Ka is important for Ed because it lets him generate turns with spleen, develop his upgraded body, and gives him his seven [[talisman of Renenutet]]s per day for item drops. When going through the Council Quest zones, most monsters drop at least 1-Ka; Hippies drop 2-Ka (Orcs count as humanoid and only drop 1-Ka), and there is the notable exceptions of Spookyraven Manor, and The Crypt, which drop 0-Ka without the Crown IOTM. Some other shorter zones such as the Friars and Hole in the Sky also contain 0-Ka Constructs.

===Farming===
Choose zones with a high concentration of monsters in phylums that count as ''human'' -- in other words Dudes, Hippies, Hobos or Pirates -- these zones allow farming much more Ka than typical zones.  In order of difficulty/accessibility:
*[[The Sleazy Back Alley]] has 4 monsters, two of which are 2 Ka Hobos, and two of which drop 1 Ka.  Most noncombats are skippable, but it does have a few one-time unskippable noncombats. However, with the undying ability it is not necessary to always survive the fights and the monsters here grant far less substats. Consider pushing the envelope and getting access to one of the 30 ML zones (Camp Logging or Hippy Camp).
*[[Camp Logging Camp]] is all 2-Ka Dudes, but has a 20% chance for unskippable noncombats.  It is accessible when you ascend under a Canadian sign (for comparison, note that the Gnomad sign's [[Thugnderdome]] zone features ''humanoids,'' which are only 1-Ka). If you can't afford the boat to Mysterious Island, this zone is still better than the Alley and can be somewhat useful, however at very low levels the -5 muscle from [[Axe Wound]] can be an issue, as it reduces your HP until removed (and when you undie, the removal happens simultaneously with the healing, so at the time of writing you will still miss a portion of HP when you come back). Overall, even if you can adventure here you still want to try and get the meat for the Hippy Camp instead.
*[[The Hippy Camp]] is all 2-Ka Hippies, and is 100% combat prior to level 9.  You have to sink 9 turns at the Shore unlocking the [[The Mysterious Island of Mystery]] to get here, but since you have to build a boat eventually you might as well do it early. You have to be able to survive, but the Hippy Camp is similar in difficulty to the Logging Camp with the hardest monster being 40 ML (but at the Hippy Camp, the monsters' initiative and MLs average a bit higher).
**All of the pirate zones are 100% 2-Ka Pirates at 45 suggested substat.  The Cove, Barrr and F'c'le all have unskippable noncombats. However, due to the reshuffle of the [[Talisman o' Namsilat]] pirate zones are no longer ascension relevant.
* [[The Secret Government Laboratory]], accessible to players who've purchased and used an [[airplane charter: Conspiracy Island]], has 4 monsters, 3 of which are 2-Ka Dudes, and one of which is a 1-Ka Beast. The only noncombats in the zone are the introductory one and one that occurs after 40 turns. The monsters are very tough, but since they have 0 initiative they are simple to defeat even at very low levels. With [[Storm of the Scarab]] or [[Roar of the Lion]] they are very easy to defeat, even with bonus 150 Attack and Defense from the [[A Mysterious Control Panel|Omega Device]].
* [[Pirates of the Garbage Barges]], available to players who've used an [[airplane charter: Dinseylandfill]], is stocked entirely by 150-ML pirates who never win initiative. This makes it a decent alternative to the Laboratory if you need Ka (or the [[perfume-soaked bandana]]) more than substats, or if Conspiracy Island is outside your budget. Do not activate the [[flashy pirate]] in the maintenance tunnels, since it gives 0 Ka due to being a construct. Fortunately, unlocking the option takes long enough that you'll probably have already finished your business at the Barges, so don't bother. The same strategy as the laboratory with regards to high-level spells applies here, as the monsters also have 0 initiative.

In short, the early-ascension-relevant zones in [[The Mysterious Island of Mystery]] are populated exclusively by 2-Ka Hippies and Pirates, making them great farming zones. The [[Filthy Hippy Disguise]] for the produce stand is much less useful (as you have no access to [[Advanced Cocktailcrafting]]), but getting it early means you won't need to spend turns at the noncombats later. However, if you have IOTMs, these are generally far superior.

[[The Hidden Temple]] should be avoided if you need to do some early-level powerleveling because there are no monsters that drop Ka coins. Fortunately, [[The Haunted Gallery]] is a lot better in this regard, since only one monster out of 3 (or 5, if you want to fight the Knights) doesn't drop Ka coins.

Using an [[ice house]] before starting your ascension can improve Ka farming in several zones by removing a monster with lower Ka drops.

===Consumables===
[[Everything Under the World]] sells a number of items. As the larger items become available, try to avoid figs as they are vastly more inefficient than either of the other two items in both per-spleen and cost. [[Mummified loaf of bread]] works well enough, but [[mummified beef haunch]] are ideal as they are effectively epic quality at 5 adv/spleen and also the most efficient Ka to size ratio.

Ideally you do not need to bandage as you can simply un-die, which is completely free most of the time. You probably don't need MP or MP regen either.

[[Talisman of Renenutet]] are very useful when trying to find quest items, functioning as similar to a non-guaranteed [[Yellow Ray]] (much like Pete's [[Fix Jukebox]] skill). [[Talisman of Horus]] can be useful for +combat but it is not really worth using it while Ka farming

As with stomach and liver on other runs, you should make an attempt to fill your spleen if possible, but this may not always be useful because of the Ka coin requirement to buy these items. If you farm 2-coin dudes you can get the consumables in 5/8 turns, making back your time spent, although consider that some players would advise against unnecessary extra turns farming non-quest areas.

===Upgrades===
A full table of upgrades and effects is available [[Actually Ed the Undying#Body Upgrades|here]]. The priority is to generate turns from his spleen, which starts extra-small, thus the first several [[Ka coin]]s should be used to fix this. After that get upgrades that help Ed become self-sufficient in combat, as well as those that save valuable turns.

First, about expanding the spleen. Ed has easy access to a 5 advs/spleen consumable (equivalent to epic quality). On top of that, spleen capacity gained early will count again after rollover on all subsequent days. Therefore the earlier the spleen upgrades are purchased, the more capacity and turns they provide across the length of the run. This is philosophy similar to the acquisition of a [[steel margarita]] for other paths. However, as your run get more and more efficient, the more Spleen you buy, the more Ka coins you'll have to farm to fill it up, which may not be worth the time.

Because Ed is very fragile early, [[Upgraded Legs]] are useful because it prevents monsters from killing you as you undie and come back from the underworld. To some players without the right equipment, this is likely a viable upgrade even before your Stomach/Liver. Init becomes useful for [[modern zmobie]] hunting, and later on it's an easy way to pass the Initiative test in Twin Peak and the Sorceress Contests.

Ed also starts with an inability to eat or drink. The sooner you can get your Stomach/Liver, the turngen resources are available to you, such as dropped items. However, upgrading Spleen before buying a Stomach/Liver is more cost-efficient until the third Spleen upgrade. The [[Replacement Liver]] should be taken first -- before the [[Replacement Stomach]], because it allows you to nightcap (liver first also works well with being under [[The Blender]] sign).

The first [[Elemental Wards]] upgrade competes with [[Hide of Sobek (skill)|Hide of Sobek]]. Either one lets you forego trying to farm a [[bum cheek]] or [[Pine-Fresh air freshener]] for the Bat Hole quest. Later on, further Elemental Wards upgrades can be used for other resistance tests like [[The Haunted Kitchen]], [[A-boo Peak]], the body at [[Twin Peak]], and the Sorceress's [[Hedge Maze]]. However, the third one may not be worth it without a priest for triple/3-Ka drops.

Regarding the remainder of the upgrades: Armor Plating may be useful at the start of low-skill runs, as 10 DR is in some ways like 9-10 flat Moxie and somewhat cheap, but most monsters should not need more than 3 casts of Fist of the Mummy and ideally, you shouldn't really need to take this. The Arms/Spine Muscle and Moxie upgrades are situationally useful for survivability, but not really worth 20 Ka. The Melee upgrades are really only useful if you run out of MP (and apart from the fun of building Ed around melee attacks and strength, it would probably be better to carry consumables for that). The scarabs are almost completely useless due to Ed's ability to undie back to full HP, for free, anyway.

==Servants==
Every 3 levels, Ed can release a Servant for use. Servants can gain experience and levels like a regular familiar. They don't benefit from +familiar experience or +weight buffs, but Ed has one skill to boost their effective level ([[Purr of the Feline (skill)|Purr of the Feline]] +5 servant levels), and once all the skills are unlocked, you can eventually start ascensions with "imbue points" that let you level up your servants for free. [[The Crown of Ed the Undying]] will double the speed at which servants gain experience. As level is the square root of experience, level 7 is about 50 fights, level 14 is about 200 fights, and level 21 is about 450 fights. Without imbuement it is rather unlikely that any servant skills will be obtained.

*[[Priest]] from level 14 gives you 1 extra [[Ka coin]] per fight (except against enemies with no souls).  This is the most desirable bonus, especially once you have 2 starting imbue points to reach that level instantly.  The Ka can be used to buy [[Talisman of Renenutet|talismans of Renenutet]] which can be used when you need +item and may be better than the Cat for certain quests. Ka can also be used to buy more spleen consumables and MP regen as required. Its other abilities are far less relevant for speed ascending. 
*[[Cat]] gives +item (starting at level 7), and [[deleveling|delevels]] monsters (starting at level 14).  At level 21, it gives you a passive +item skill.  You can use this as your main familiar if you don't have a high level Priest, as +item is almost always useful, and the deleveling allows safer combat or even melee attacking.   The deleveling can be a huge boon when hunting for Gremlin tools.
** Put the Cat away if you want to undie during a fight -- ''unless'' you bought Bone Spikes and are worried the enemy will kill itself before it "kills" you. Hitting round limit does send you to the Underworld, so spamming the [[dictionary]] is all it'll take in this case.
*[[Belly-Dancer]] gives ''massive'' MP regeneration (every round of combat) starting at level 7, and pseudo-pickpockets enemies starting at level 14.  If you don't learn [[Lash of the Cobra]], you ''want'' this, at least for the filthworms and the warehouse clerks/guards.  Her pickpocket has a daily limit, so only use her in strategically chosen combats after you've leveled her up. Consider buying [[Holy spring water]] if you need MP or MP regen.
*[[Scribe]] gives +stats (presumably like a volleyball?).  May be useful if you don't have good power-leveling choices such as scaling monsters or +ML. Spell crit is nice but as swingy as anything to do with crits ever is, and bonus spell damage sounds good but will probably never be needed with Ed's powerful Evocations. Low-skill runs skipping 6/7 of the Evocations tree might find it useful, though. However, at higher skill counts, imbuing the Scribe 5 times and learning [[Gift of the Scribe]] gives a huge amount of Mysticality substats over the course of the run.

The following servants are less useful:
*[[Maid]] gives +meat, which is only relevant if you are going to do the nuns/brigands side quest. (You will need ''much more'' +meat than what the Maid gives to break even on that side quest, so you may be better off skipping it until you can add on other +meat sources.)
*[[Bodyguard]] blocks attacks, which is pretty much only relevant if you ''really'' need to avoid getting one-shotted, and is redundant with a sufficiently high-level Maid anyhow. It eventually learns to attack enemies, another function duplicated by the Maid.
*[[Assassin (servant)|Assassin]] attacks enemies, which is rarely helpful. It later learns to delevel (which the Belly Dancer and Cat can also do) and stagger (which the Bodyguard can do faster if you really need it, and the Maid can do with the same amount of servant experience and it has better other benefits). It and the Bodyguard are both about as good as pure combat familiar-likes can get, which is to say, not very.

==Undying tips==
Undying affects Ed's gameplay a lot. This is because undying fills you back to up max HP (at least twice for free), Ed gets triple value from bonus HP, including muscle. Undying also restarts the combat, so [[initiative]] is important. As long as Ed can take an action before undying, he has powerful spells and stuns/curses to win the fight over several incarnations of undying.

Never go to [[The Underworld]] from the gate in your pyramid.  Purposefully lose a fight to get there (repeatedly using or macroing a useless item, for example).  Then use whichever services you require before returning to the combat for free.

==Quests==
* While veterans usually hold off doing the [[Typical Tavern Quest]] until late as possible, remember that it's not necessary to wait in this run since you don't even have to open up the Bottom of the Pyramid in this run. This also means that the only reason to hunt [[drunken rat king]]s is for [[PvP]].
* It should be noted that for the Pirates Quest, reviving lets you use [[The Big Book of Pirate Insults]] again, allowing you to finish the quest faster than usual. As long as you can both use the book then deal damage before losing all your HP, you can triple the rate of insult acquisition.
* Similarly, you can use the [[rock band flyers]] and [[jam band flyers]] again after reviving, speeding up the [[Mysterious Island Arena]] sidequest.
* Reviving allows you to get cursed multiple times from [[pygmy shaman]] in the [[Hidden Temple]] side quest. This means being able to get [[Thrice-Cursed]] by a single shaman, and then potentially banish it in order to prevent further turns of the debuff.
* [[A-boo Peak]] is a pain, because if [[The Horror... (A-Boo Peak)|The Horror...]] reduces you to 0 HP and you haven't bought any bandages, you're forced to waste an adventure taking the portal to the Underworld. Buy bandages before you buff up. Even if you just buy 3 of the 1-ka bandages, you can spend a turn advancing some other quest and intentionally get beaten up to gain the rest of your HP.
* [[Sonofa Beach]] has the same problem; if you're beaten up by [[Zerg Rush]], you'll need to heal before you can return to hunting lobsterfrogmen. In this case, the 1-ka bandages are definitely the best choice, since you only need the smallest amount of healing to let you continue the quest. However, unlike A-boo Peak where the noncombat is forced, multiple bandages may need to be kept in order to prevent getting hit by consecutive zerg rushes.
*[[Lash of the Cobra]] will speed up the acquisition of filthworm glands and {{plural|warehouse inventory page}} and {{plural|warehouse map page}} in the Epilogue quest (4 of each combined with the total 8 combats allow you to progress through the quest).

{{Ascension Strategy}}
[[Category:Ascension Strategy]]