View source for The Source (path)

{{Challenge Path Description
|image= sourcepc.gif
|name=The Source
|season=Summer 2016
|date=May 15, 2016
|desc=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 Agent]]s 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.
<center>Source code dances behind your eyes, making your sleep less restful.</center>
* 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:
<center>You look at the card and contemplate what true strength is.</center>
<center>You look at the Empress and realize that she is a fraud, just like everything else in this simulation.</center>
<center>You look at the Lovers and weep.</center>
*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:
:<center>'''Today is the Feast of Boris.'''</center>
:<center>But everything tastes like chicken and you don't feel celebratory.</center>

==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 [[The Council of Loathing/The Source|different text]] reflecting the situation in the Kingdom.
* [[The Oracle]] appears on the [[Wrong Side of the Tracks]].
* [[Source Agent]]s 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.
<center>Your normal attacks aren't nearly fast enough to make a difference here.<br>
Your normal tricks aren't going to work against this guy.<br>
That item would be hacked out of existence faster than you could use it.<br>
[[File:homemadebot.gif]]<name> cowers, terrified.</center>
:*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 [[Template:SourceCodeLine|'Source' script]] in green (shown below).
*:{{SourceCodeLine|1}}
*[[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 spoon]]s to [[The Oracle]]. You start with one Enlightenment for each previous The Source run (two points for [[hardcore]] runs). To use Enlightenment, [[The Call is Coming from Outside the Simulation‎‎|visit the ringing phone]] [[file:srphonering.gif]] on the first floor of [[Spookyraven Manor]].

These skills can only be used against [[Source Agent]]s. They cannot be made permanent, but are kept into Aftercore, where they are decidedly less useful.

{| border="1px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" class="wikitable"
|-
! align="center" |Name
! align="center" |Type 
! align="center" |Effect
|-
| align="center" | {{StackItem|Source Punch}}
| align="center" | Combat<br>25 MP<br>
|Deal moderate damage to Source Agents
|-
| align="center" | {{StackItem|Overclocked}}
| align="center" | Passive
| +200% Combat Initiative against Source Agents
|-
| align="center" | {{StackItem|Bullet Time}}
| align="center" | Passive
|Lets you dodge 3 ranged attacks from Source Agents
|-
| align="center" | {{StackItem|True Disbeliever}}
| align="center" | Passive
|Lets you disbelieve 3 hack attacks from Source Agents
|-
| align="center" | {{StackItem|Code Block}}
| align="center" | Passive
|Lets you block 3 melee attacks from Source Agents
|-
| align="center" | {{StackItem|Disarmament}}
| align="center" | Combat<br>50 MP<br>''usable once per fight''
|Reduce the number of attacks a Source Agent can perform in a round<br>Briefly stuns the Agent
|-
| align="center" | {{StackItem|Big Guns}}
| align="center" | Combat<br>50 MP<br>''usable once per fight''
|Deal tremendous damage to a Source Agent <br>Briefly stuns the Agent
|-
| align="center" | {{StackItem|Humiliating Hack}}
| align="center" | Combat<br>50 MP<br>''usable once per fight''
|Weakens a Source Agent by 50%<br>Briefly stuns the Agent
|-
| align="center" | {{StackItem|Source Kick}}
| align="center" | Combat<br>50 MP
|Deal significant damage to Source Agents
|-
| align="center" | {{StackItem|Reboot}}
| align="center" | Combat<br>75 MP<br>''usable once per fight''
|Remove debuffs caused by Source Agents<br>Briefly stuns the Agent
|-
| align="center" | {{StackItem|Restore}}
| align="center" | Combat<br>75 MP<br>''usable once per fight''
|Restores all your HP
|-
| align="center" | {{StackItem|Data Siphon}}
| align="center" | 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===
:See [[The Council of Loathing/The Source]].

==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 [[Beyond the Pale|Valhalla]].
*Players will receive a [[Thwaitgold moth statuette]] upon defeating [[One Thousand Source Agents]].

{{Ascension Paths}}