View source for Avatar of Boris/Strategy

This guide will list some tricks and tips for an [[Avatar of Boris]] run.

==Mr. Store-based goodies==
Without familiars or permed skills, there are very few '''[[Mr. Store]]''' items that have a direct impact on Boris runs, especially in [[Hardcore]].

These are the Mr. Store items which can directly affect a Hardcore Avatar of Boris run:
*'''[[Boris's Helm]]''': Designed for and a special free pull in Boris runs.
*'''[[Clan VIP Lounge key]]''': Allows access to several Mr. Accessories worth of clan furnishings.
*'''[[A Pumpkin Patch]]''', '''[[A Peppermint Patch]]''', '''[[A Bone Garden]]''', or '''[[A Beer Garden]]''': Mutually exclusive.
*'''[[My Own Pen Pal kit]]''' or '''[[GameInformPowerDailyPro subscription card]]''': Also mutually exclusive.
*'''[[Camp Scout backpack]]''': Great source of food and booze, in-and-out-of-combat HP & MP regen, meat and survivability.
*'''[[The Florist Friar's Cottage|Florist Friar]]''': These plants are useful to Boris's Avatar, as they are to everyone else.

Normal runs can also pull Mr. Store items, though much are unusable. In particular, familiars, skillbooks, shirts (unless [[Torso Awaregness]] is acquired in-run) weapons, off-hand items, and familiar equipment are unusable, and Boris's Helm is the most suitable Mr. Store item for the head slot. This leaves pants and accessories.

===Boris's Helm===
Designed to favor an Avatar of Boris run, anyone who can afford it would do well to get '''[[Boris's Helm]]'''.  Not only do its stats complement Boris well, but it can be pulled from [[Hagnk's]] even in Hardcore.  

===Garden===
;[[Pumpkin]]s
*Only way to have access to the [[Yellow ray strategy|Yellow Ray]] mechanic in hardcore. Notable YR targets are: Harem Girls, Filthy Hippies, War Hippies and Frat Warriors.
*Provides a good source of booze ([[pumpkin beer]]) without the need to upgrade to a [[Queue Du Coq cocktailcrafting kit]] or invest a turn, but the booze is not as nice as peppermint drinks.
*Also provides a good food source ([[pumpkin pie]]), though this requires either the [[Bugbear Costume]] or a moon sign with access to [[Degrassi Knoll#Friendly|friendly Degrassi Knoll]].

;[[Peppermint sprout]]s
*Provides superior booze, but you not only have to upgrade to a [[Queue Du Coq cocktailcrafting kit]] at the cost of 1000 meat, you also need to come across base booze with which to mix it and spend a turn mixing it.
*Easiest way to generate free runaways with the [[Peppermint parasol]].
*[[Peppermint crook|Peppermint crooks]] are useful for gaining low-droprate items such as filthworm glands.
*[[Peppermint patty|Peppermint patties]] are a pretty swell thing to make if you don't need any of the above.

;[[Skeleton]]s
* ''(Someone with experience using a bone garden as Boris's Avatar please weigh in.)''

;[[A Beer Garden#When .22Used.22|Hops and barley]]
* ''(Someone with experience using a beer garden as Boris's Avatar please weigh in.)''

===Pen Pals and Walkthrus===
;'''My Own Pen Pal kit'''
*Not too powerful in Boris, though the day 1 item is worth 200 meat for a faster start.

;'''GameInformPowerDailyPro subscription card'''
*As an Avatar of Boris cannot take advantage of a [[Gelatinous Cubeling]] to provide shortcuts for the revamped [[Daily Dungeon]], [[The GameInformPowerDailyPro Dungeon]] offers a potentially less painful and much more profitable (in food, booze, meat and stats) method of acquiring a fat loot token for roughly two to three times the Adventure cost.
*Some of the [[Raiments of the final boss#Equipment|boss's drops]] would serve Boris well, such as the Gauntlets, Cloak, or Boots.
**Those not so useful (e.g., Shield, Sword, or Helm if you also have Boris's Helm) still have an autosell price of 2000 meat.
*If nothing else, the once-per-day free [[dungeoneering kit]] isn't to be sneezed at, even if you intend to just autosell its contents for 318 meat for a faster day 1 start.

==Astral Consumables==
* In hardcore, you will have no other source of turn-generating spleen consumables, which may make the [[astral energy drink]]s the most desirable choice.
* However, some may choose the [[astral hot dog]]s to help get past the early levels, particularly since there is no [[Ur-Donut]] option.

==Astral Gear==
*You will not have [[Torso Awaregness]], even if it has been permed already, unless you ascend under a Gnome sign and re-purchase it for 5000 meat.  So taking an [[astral shirt]] with you as your gear is questionable at best, and pointless in non-Gnome signs.
*Since you're not allowed to equip any off-hand items, or any weapon other than [[Trusty]], taking any of the astral weapons or off-hands doesn't make much sense either.
*Additionally, since you do not have access to familiars, the [[astral pet sweater]] is useless as well.
*Of the remaining items, only the [[astral belt]] and [[astral trousers]] boost your Muscle, and both must be unlocked before they can be selected.
*If you have access to it, the [[astral belt]] will give you the most stats, but only if you can handle the +ML.
*The [[astral mask]] will increase item drops and survivability, which may turn out to be more beneficial in hardcore (remember, you won't have your +item skills or your super-fairies, or any fairies at all until level 7 for that matter).
*For lesser-skilled players, [[astral shorts]] require no unlock, can dramatically aid survival, and provide MP for various skills.
*The [[astral bracer]] can make for easy MP management for combat skills, dropping your cost per action to only 2 MP.  The extra MP can easily be converted to HP with [[Laugh it Off]].

==Avatar of Boris Skills==
The following is an analysis of all of the skills available in Avatar of Boris. Some skills will be more desirable after you bank skill points.

===Intrinsic===
* [[Mighty Axing]]: This skill is equivalent to your regular attack, except you can never fumble and it gives you +1 Muscle substat on kill. You should be using this whenever possible.
* [[Laugh it Off]]: Avatars of Boris will need HP more than they need MP, so you will be using this the most out of any other skills. The amount healed is small, but it heals nonetheless.

===Feasting===
The Feasting tree contains a lot of very powerful passives and also generates a lot of extra adventures. If it is your first Boris ascension or you are looking to make things easier, then it is advised that you put a lot of skill points into this tree, as it will lower daycount and can make combat significantly easier and cheaper.

* [[Demand Sandwich]]: Gives you 9 fullness worth of food per day. The quality of the food summoned increases as you level up and are for the most part better than most other food you will eat during the ascension. A very strong skill.
* [[Legendary Girth]]: Gives you passive elemental resistances. This will reduce the damage you take in some combats and [[The Daily Dungeon]], and is an easy source of resistance for [[Guano Junction]] and [[The Icy Peak]].
* [[Song of the Glorious Lunch (skill)|Song of the Glorious Lunch]]: The Avatar of Boris's [[Got Milk]]. Will generate between 20 and 30 turns each day. A very strong skill.
* [[Big Boned]]: The extra HP may help combat survivability but more importantly will make your full heals from the hot tub go further, saving a lot on healing costs.
* [[Legendary Appetite]]: An extra 5 Stomach capacity. This will allow you to generate a significant number of extra adventures each day. A very strong skill.
* [[Heroic Belch]]: With 30 fullness, deals about 80-120 Stench damage and always hits. Very strong in the middle levels but starts to become less effective near the end of the ascension. Will make short work of the spirits in [[The Hidden City]], as well as the friar's demons and most anything in [[Spookyraven Manor]].
* [[Hungry Eyes]]: +100% Food drops. Makes [[Fruit Golem]] farming a worthwhile possibility, but also speeds up getting [[goat cheese]] and [[wet stunt nut stew]].
* [[More to Love]]: A passive +3 [[Clancy (companion)|Clancy]] level is the equivalent of roughly ~22% item drops throughout the ascension when using the lute that stacks with all other modifiers, and also makes the other instruments a bit better. A very strong skill.
* [[Barrel Chested]]: +50% Muscle. This passive will single-handedly remove all of the difficulty from almost every combat. Especially useful for [[The Naughty Sorceress]] who can otherwise be very tough. A very strong skill.
* [[Gourmand]]: A passive Got Milk which stacks with Glorious Lunch. Gives you ''even more'' adventures, but until you bank a sufficient amount of skill points, it's not something you need to rush.

===Shouting===
The Shouting tree contains a large number of skills that will save a large amount of turns during your ascension. Some of the skills are very powerful especially towards the end of the tree, but they also require a fair amount of MP. Requires more effort than the Feasting tree but will lower turncount significantly.

* [[Intimidating Bellow]]: Reduces monster attack and defense by 15% of the monster's attack. Can only be used once per combat. Will make the gremlins and bosses easier but this skill does not come into its own until [[Louder Bellows]] later in the tree.
* [[Legendary Bravado]]: +10 to all stats. Makes the lower levels a breeze and allows you to run +10 monster level from the start of the ascension, as well as giving you +10 max mp allowing you to use big skills much sooner. Powerful early on and nice to have throughout the ascension but becomes less useful later.
* [[Song of Accompaniment (skill)|Song of Accompaniment]]: Worth ~22% item drops when Clancy is using his lute. Nice to have, but obsoleted by [[Song of Fortune (skill)|Song of Fortune]] later in the tree if you're using the lute. However, this song is still definitely worth running when you're using the crumhorn and can't handle or get song of cockiness, or if you really need more returns from the sackbut.
* [[Big Lungs]]: Passive HP regen. Reduces healing costs by a sizable amount throughout the ascension. Far more useful if you do not have a VIP key.
* [[Song of Solitude (skill)|Song of Solitude]]: A huge 20% -Combat modifier. An extremely powerful skill that will save an enormous number of turns in the ascension. A very strong skill.
* [[Good Singing Voice]]: Doubles song durations which will save some MP costs. Not terribly useful.
* [[Song of Fortune (skill)|Song of Fortune]]: Gives slightly more item drop than [[Song of Accompaniment (skill)|Song of Accompaniment]] after Clancy reaches level 5, but most importantly makes your first strike of each combat a critical hit. This will make most non-boss combats in the ascension very easy when combined with the next skill, and the extra meat gains will help fund the times when you want to use another song instead. A very strong skill, and is especially powerful before Clancy gets his lute.
* [[Louder Bellows]]: Doubles the effectiveness of [[Intimidating Bellow]] but also stuns the monster for 1 round. Will solve most of your combat issues throughout the ascension. A very strong skill.
* [[Song of Battle (skill)|Song of Battle]]: Gives 20% +Combat, which makes the Lighthouse quest faster, makes normal attacks guaranteed to hit and +100% weapon damage. Saves some turns in an ascension and makes bosses and very high ml enemies easier.
* [[Banishing Shout]]: Permanently banishes up to 3 monsters at a time. If you try to banish a fourth monster, the first monster you banished will return. Has a huge MP cost but will save a massive number of turns in a large number of areas throughout the ascension if you can afford it. Think of it as the Boris equivalent of [[Transcendent Olfaction]]. A very strong skill, but don't bother picking it up until you have 50 max mana available.

===Fighting===
The Fighting tree gets the short end of the stick as most of the skills are based around making combat easier, but the other two trees contain skills that give you all the combat effectiveness you need. While the combat skills in this tree are necessary to handle the extra ML this tree contains, this requires a significant skill point investment and is not as useful as the other two trees. As a result this skill tree is mostly an "all-or-nothing" endeavor and is not worth investing in until you can master the other two trees.

* [[Cleave]]: A combat skill that gives extra damage and to-hit chance. Pretty strong, but unnecessary until you are running lots of extra ML.
* [[Ferocity]]: +5% critical hit chance. Its unreliability makes it almost worthless, but it can be useful if you have [[monster pants]] or the like.
* [[Broadside]]: Stun for 4 rounds. The 10MP cost makes it expensive to use every combat, but will trivialize it when used. A very strong skill, especially for bosses.
* [[Sick Pythons]]: Passive weapon damage and higher hit chance. The weapon damage boost is quite large and will make it easier to 1-hit kill many enemies and the accuracy helps when running higher ML. It can also help significantly with the otherwise difficult NS fight. A very strong skill.
* [[Pep Talk]]: A toggleable +30ML. Will give a significant number of stats per combat but is very hard to handle unless you have [[Legendary Impatience]].
* [[Throw Trusty]]: Will stop enemies from triggering retaliatory damage and on-hit status effects such as [[Cunctatitis]]. Very limited use.
* [[Legendary Luck]]: Makes critical hits better. Nice when using [[Song of Fortune (skill)|Song of Fortune]] but is otherwise unreliable.
* [[Song of Cockiness]]: Another +30ML. Gives a lot more stats than song of accompaniment with the crumhorn, but would be very hard to handle as you can't use [[Song of Fortune (skill)|Song of Fortune]] or [[Song of Battle (skill)|Song of Battle]]. Has its uses for backfarming.
* [[Legendary Impatience]]: Almost a prerequisite for handling a lot of the bonus ML available earlier on in this tree, and therefore enables you to take advantage of the bonus substats, and will make the [[The Cyrpt]] a bit faster. A very strong skill.
* [[Bifurcating Blow]]. An instant kill on a cooldown. Will make the occasional combat a bit cheaper, or let you fight a monster way above your current level, but won't really kill most of the things you'd really want it to. If you have spare stone wool, [[Clan of cave bars]] is probably the most practical target. However, if it is used against a tower foe or boss, it cuts their current HP in half. Not that great a skill.

==Clancy==
* Clancy acts as a volleyball with the crumhorn, which costs 2500 meat and requires access to the Beach.  So, for speed purposes, you'll want to get the meatcar built (or the bus pass bought) and scrounge up 2500 meat ASAP.
* Clancy acts as a fairy with the Lute at level 7, but you must do his first two quest in the Tavern and Knob Shaft before you can get it. If you can stand to wait, get his lute before going for steel stomach or the skeleton part of the crypt.

==General Tips/Tricks==
In hardcore boriscore filling your stomach with good food is a tough challenge. Your main foodsource will most likely consist of semirares, fortune cookies, sandwiches from [[Demand Sandwich|demand sandwich]] and pies. <s> [[Flower petal pie|Flower petal pies]] are not only easy to acquire but provide a small boost to stats when you want to adventure in zones that are a little tougher then your current stats allow.</s>  Flower petal pies and [[flower schnapps]] were modified shortly after the AoB season.

It may also be worthwhile to spend a few clovers in the [[The Hippy Camp]] with a [[Filthy Hippy Disguise|filthy hippy disguise]] to acquire [[fruit basket|fruit baskets]]. These provide [[lime|limes]] for [[Boris's key lime pie|Boris's key lime pies]] (and cherries for [[Cherry pie|cherry pies]]). Keep in mind that this is a calculated risk since you are not guaranteed to get these greater fruits. So if your clover days are stingy, it may be a good idea to save them for more important things that shave turns.

Another strategy to fill your stomach in hardcore is to unlock the [[Menagerie Level 1]] and use an [[Odor extractor]] on the [[Fruit Golem|fruit golems]] to acquire [[lime|limes]] and [[cherry|cherries]] a la [[Bad Moon]] strategy. This is probably not worthwhile until you have [[Clancy's lute]] and [[Hungry Eyes]], not to mention an acceptable finished [[Bounty]] on days 1, 2 or 3. If you farm just before rollover you can have 20 turns of the friars food buff before, and 20 the next day to go with your 40 turns of On The Trail.

[[Chronic Indigestion]] can be a very useful skill for AoB runs, becoming potentially lethal to low-level monsters if your stomach is full. It can also be used as a (somewhat) useful alternative to [[Heroic Belch]] against physically-immune monsters like the [[Ancient protector spirit|protector spirits]].

[[Double-ice cap]] can be an extremely useful hat though the entirety of an AoB run. It's one of the only sources of good MP regeneration aside from Pork Elf jewelry, which are very situational. It's also great for its effect of stunning an opponent that hits you. Once you're at a point where you can't one-shot monsters, the stun will allow you to avoid one round of damage.

It can be worthwhile to spend a few turns obtaining the Spookyraven Manor skill [[Snarl of the Timberwolf]]. This helps when fighting monsters that are resistant to physical damage, in particular the Protector Spirits in the Hidden City.

Remember that you can still make a [[meat maid]], even in an AoB run, [[Rolling the Bones| at the cost of a clover]].

Boris has a big stomach, and since you'll most likely be eating only 3-fullness foods plenty of spare room for fortune cookies. [[Semi-Rare Adventures|Semi-Rares]] you should look into are Tasty Tarts, Lunchboxes, Scented Massage Oils, Cyclops Eyedrops, and Inhalers.

==Healing==

So, you have gobs of HP and MP. Even more if you're [[Big Boned]] and [[Barrel Chested]]. How are you going to heal up the damage you're tanking?

Well, it really depends on a few things. Before [[The Black Market]] unlocks, you'll be better off buying from [[Doc Galaktik's Medicine Show|Doc Galaktik]]. You should buy ailment ointments unless you completed [[Doc Galaktik's Quest for Herbs|his quest for herbs]].

If you've made it to Level 11, you'll be better off spending your meat on [[black cherry soda]] and [[Laugh it Off|laughing off your wounds]].

===MP Restorers===
[[Laugh it Off]] restores 1.5 HP per MP spent.

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1px"
|- | style="background-color: #EFEFEF"
! Source
! MP Gain
! Cost
! Meat per MP
! Notes
|----
|[[black cherry soda]]
|9-11 (10 avg)
|80 Meat
!8
|Requires access to [[The Black Market]], opens during the [[Quest for the Holy MacGuffin|level 11 quest]].
|----
|[[Doc Galaktik's Medicine Show|Fizzy Invigorating Tonic]] (post-[[Doc Galaktik's Quest for Herbs|quest]])
|Any Amount
|Varies
!8
|&nbsp;
|----
|[[Doc Galaktik's Medicine Show|Fizzy Invigorating Tonic]] (pre-[[Doc Galaktik's Quest for Herbs|quest]])
|Any Amount
|Varies
!11.333...
|&nbsp;
|----
|[[soda water]]
|3-5 (4 avg)
|70 Meat
!11.666...
|&nbsp;
|----
|}

===HP Restorers===

For meat: 

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1px"
|- | style="background-color: #EFEFEF"
! Source
! HP Gain
! Cost
! Meat per HP
! Notes
|----
|[[Laugh it Off]] fueled by [[black cherry soda]]
|1.5 per MP
|8 Meat per MP
!5.333
|After opening [[The Black Market]]
|----
|[[Doc Galaktik's Medicine Show|Curative Nostrum]] (post-[[Doc Galaktik's Quest for Herbs|quest]])
|Any Amount
|Varies
!6
|&nbsp;
|----
|[[Doc Galaktik's Ailment Ointment]]
|8-10
|60 Meat
!6.67
|&nbsp;
|----
|[[Doc Galaktik's Pungent Unguent]]
|3-5
|30 Meat
!7.5
|&nbsp;
|----
|[[Doc Galaktik's Restorative Balm]]
|13-15
|120 Meat
!8.571
|&nbsp;
|----
|[[Doc Galaktik's Medicine Show|Curative Nostrum]] (pre-[[Doc Galaktik's Quest for Herbs|quest]])
|Any Amount
|Varies
!10
|&nbsp;
|----
|[[Doc Galaktik's Homeopathic Elixir]]
|18-20
|240 Meat
!12.632
|&nbsp;
|----
|}

===Other===
*[[box of Pokëmann band-aids|Band aids]] received from a [[My Own Pen Pal kit|pen pal]] can greatly increase your survivability by providing HP and leveled damage reduction.
*[[Big Lungs]] can greatly reduce your healing bills.
*[[Double-ice cap]] is a fantastic hat for Boris in general if you have access to an [[April Shower]].
*[[The Lost Glasses]] provide a 15% reduction in enemy defense, allowing you to hit monsters with more ease. They can be obtained with a [[Lost key|lost key]] that is sometimes found in your clan's [[An Olympic-Sized Swimming Pool|Swimming Pool]].

==Quests==
Avatar of Boris was released before the level 8+ quest revamps, so this section is being backfilled.

*'''[[The King of Cobb's Knob Quest]]'''
**Since you can't equip the [[Knob Goblin elite polearm]], you'll have to go as a harem girl.  This also means you get no access to the potions in the [[Dispensary]].
*'''[[Mt. McLargeHuge Quest]]'''
**[[Ten-leaf clover|Clover]] for [[Either Ore|ore]].  If you get a [[zapping|zap wand]] early enough, just use one clover, and then try to zap the undesired ores to the desired ores.  On the last day of the run, if you still haven't got 3 desired ores, finish it off with more clovers.
**If you're not clovering ore, [[Mountain man|Mountain men]] are the only alternative in Hardcore.  [[Banishing Shout|Banish]] the dwarves if you can.  Mountain men are quite the meatshields -- you will need a combat strategy which can dish out around 300 damage while surviving a few hits. [[Heroic Belch]] with a full stomach is an effective means of accomplishing this. You can fuel your belches with a [[Double-ice cap]]. Another good option is [[Broadside]] and two or three [[Cleave|Cleaves]], provided you have the MP supply.
*'''[[Orc Chasm Quest]]'''
**In softcore, pull {{plural|smut orc keepsake box}}. In Hardcore, [[Ten-leaf clover|clover]] for extra bridge parts in [[The Smut Orc Logging Camp]].  Try to judge how many clovers you'll need for the lair and other quests, and use every remaining clover here.
**[[Legendary Girth]] gives 2 points of elemental resistance; you can use a [[can of black paint]] for the other 2 points when examining the body in [[Twin Peak]] (postponing this part of the quest until level 11) if you don't happen to find any other stench resistance items by then.
**[[Hungry Eyes]] (+100% food drops) is a free pass for searching the pantry in Twin Peak.
*'''[[Quest for the Holy MacGuffin]]'''
**You cannot equip the [[Frat Boy Ensemble]] (weapon), and you cannot unlock [[Whitey's Grove]] for a [[mullet wig]] until you've already done the pirates (catch 22), so the ''only'' way you can get past [[The Infiltrationist]] is with a [[frilly skirt]] and 3 [[hot wing]]s.
*'''[[Mysterious Island Quest]]'''
**For speed purposes, it's preferable to do this quest as a Frat Orc. The main reason is because Clancy doesn't provide any +Meat modifiers, which means [[Recover the Sisters' Meat|recovering the sister's meat]] will most likely make you waste turns, unless you're in Softcore and can pull +Meat modifiers. On the down side, you can't rely on [[Heroic Belch]] to fight Hippies, and getting enough +combat for [[Sonofa Beach]] can be difficult early on without sacrificing skills you'll need against the Naughty Sorceress.

[[Category:Ascension Strategy]]