View source for WereProfessor

{{Challenge Path Description
|image=monstermoon.gif
|name=WereProfessor
|season=Spring 2024
|date=February 15th, 2024
|desc=You are a kindly professor inflicted with a horrible curse.}}

==Restrictions==
* None of your permed skills are available.
* Skillbooks cannot be used, with a message appropriate for your current form:
{{useitem|text=You only trust skills you research yourself.}}
{{useitem|text="Arrg, roar, book!?"}}
* You don't play as any of the six basic classes and have no guild access or access to any area requiring guild access.
* Differing restrictions depending on whether you are currently a WereProfessor or WereBeast.
* [[The Campground]] is replaced with [[Your Humble Cottage]].
* 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.

==Divergences==
* Your adventure begins with "[[The coffee was *gasp* decaf!]]"

===Class===
* You play as a hybrid class of professor and beast. 
** In your first ascension, you start as a beast in [[The coffee was *gasp* decaf!]].
** After that, you start as a professor for one combat, allowing you to spend research points on beast upgrades.
* After at least 50 turns as a beast, you transform into a professor at the end of the next combat via a chained non-combat [[Hang On to Yourself]].
* You then have 50 turns as a professor. After at least 50 turns, you transform into a beast at the end of the next combat via a chained non-combat [[Ch-ch-ch-ch-chaaaanges]].

As a WereProfessor:
* You have the intrinsic [[Mild-Mannered Professor]]
** -25% Combat Frequency modifier
** Your stats are limited to 1 Muscle, 5 Mysticality, and 1 Moxie.
*** Despite the higher Mysticality, Muscle is your [[Advancement|primary stat]].
*** Although your stats are capped by the Intrinsic, minimum stat requirements are still observed. Although the outfit-equipping commands will not work, you can still equip individual parts if you have the required stat values.
** Your HP is limited to 1 and cannot be raised by any means.
** You can't use basic attacks or skills in combat.
** You can always run from combat
* Collect 1 research at the start of every combat.
* With the right Tinkering Bench equipment, you can spend a round to gain extra research points once from each monster species.
* Your normal campground is replaced by [[Your Humble Cottage]]:
** Beast skills must be unlocked at [[Research Bench]]. Most skills are only active as a beast, except for organ size increases.
** You can build professor equipment at [[Tinkering Bench]] from [[smashed scientific equipment]].
** You can use an adventure to produce 5 research in the cottage.
** You can rest in your bed.
* The crafted equipment allows increased research and survivability while a professor.

As a WereBeast:
* You have the intrinsic [[Savage Beast]]
** +25% Combat Frequency modifier
** Regenerate 1 HP per Adventure
** After winning combats against [[:Category:Beasts|beasts]], heals 25% of your max HP: 
*** ''You feast on the corpse of your prey.''
** You cannot run away from combat. (This includes free runaways and banishes, which will keep you in the fight)
*** A beast doesn't run.
** Any upgrades you research as professor are added to the intrinsic effects.
* You can't access most NPC stores: "As you approach the store, someone slams the door, flips the sign to closed and scurries away."
** Stores with non-standard interfaces, such as [[The Hermitage]] and the level 12 war camps, are still accessible (although you must purchase {{plural|chewing gum on a string}} as a professor).
** The beast can complete the quests to open [[The Trapper's Cabin]] and [[The Organic Produce Stand]], but only the professor can shop at them.
* You can't access [[Your Humble Cottage]].
** That coward has locked you out of your own house. Curses!
* [[Smashed scientific equipment]], the quest item currency for the Tinkering Bench, must be collected as a beast from [[The Antiscientific Method]] found in different zones.

===Consumption===
* To start out with, you have only 5 stomach and 4 liver.
* Stomach and liver capacity can be upgraded as a professor, up to 14 stomach and 13 liver.
* The [[steel margarita]] can be obtained and consumed and grants the skill [[Liver of Steel]] as usual, bringing maximum liver capacity to 18.

===Skills/Research===
WereProfessor learns no skills; instead, the Mild-Mannered Professor researches upgrades to the Savage Beast intrinsic. Research is available at Your Humble Cottage via a non-apparent system of three trees, unlocked by spending Research Points. Most of the upgrades will only affect your Savage Beast form; the exception are the skills that upgrade liver and stomach capacity.
* At the start of every combat as the Mild-Mannered Professor, you gain 1 Research Point.
* With a [[Biphasic molecular oculus]] equipped, [[Advanced Research]] can be cast once per ascension against each monster, granting +5 Research Points.
* With a [[Triphasic molecular oculus]] equipped, Advanced Research instead grants +10 Research Points.
** Monsters you've already researched with the biphasic oculus cannot be researched again with the triphasic one.
* Completing a [[Ascension#Normal Difficulty|normal]]-difficulty WereProfessor ascension grants +50 starting Research Points, [[hardcore]] WereProfessor ascension grants +100 starting Research Points, and each [[research fragment]] used grants 50 immediate and starting Research Points. Start-of-the-run bonus is limited to 1150 total Research Points.
In the following table, learning any research is dependent on having learned all research directly above it of the same stat.

{| style="text-align:center" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1px" align="center" class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+ '''Research'''
|- | style="background:#EFEFEF"
| '''Research Points'''
! colspan="3" style="background:pink"| Muscle
|----
! 10
| colspan="3"|+20% Muscle
|----
! 20
| colspan="3"|+30% Muscle
|----
! 30
| colspan="3"|+50% Muscle
|----
! 20
|| '''[[Rend|Claw]]''' Attack
| colspan="2"|+20% HP
|----
! 30
|| More '''Claw''' damage
| colspan="2"|+30% HP
|----
! 40
|| '''Claw''' restores HP
| colspan="2"|+50% HP
|----
! 40
!↓
||5 DR
||3 stomach capacity
|----
! 50
!↓
||10 DR
||3 stomach capacity
|----
! 60
!↓
||15 DR
||3 stomach capacity
|----
! 100
||'''[[Slaughter]]'''<br/>(devastating and instantaneous physical attack)
||+8-10 HP regen
||The Beast consumes additional phyla<br/>(Dudes, Hippies, Hobos, Humanoids, Orcs, Pirates)

|- | style="background:#EFEFEF"
| '''Research Points'''
! colspan="3" style="background:lightblue"| Mysticality
|----
! 10
| colspan="3"|+20% Mysticaltiy
|----
! 20
| colspan="3"|+30% Mysticaltiy
|----
! 30
| colspan="3"|+50% Mysticaltiy
|----
! 20
|| Elemental '''[[Bite]]'''
| colspan="2"|+2 prismatic resistance
|----
! 30
|| Second '''Bite''' element
| colspan="2"|+2 prismatic resistance
|----
! 40
|| More '''Bite''' damage
| colspan="2"|+2 prismatic resistance
|----
! 40
!↓
||+25% Item Drop
||+10 Monster Level
|----
! 50
!↓
||+25% Item Drop
||+15 Monster Level
|----
! 60
!↓
||+25% Item Drop
||+25 Monster Level
|----
! 100
||'''[[Howl]]'''<br/>(3-turn stun)
||'''[[Hunt]]'''<br/>(Olfaction-like)
||Regenerate more HP after consuming a monster (50% instead of 25%)

|- | style="background:#EFEFEF"
| '''Research Points'''
! colspan="3" style="background:lightgreen"| Moxie
|----
! 10
| colspan="3"|+20% Moxie
|----
! 20
| colspan="3"|+30% Moxie
|----
! 30
| colspan="3"|+50% Moxie
|----
! 20
|| Weakening '''[[Kick]]'''
| colspan="2"|+50% Combat Initiative
|----
! 30
|| '''Kick''' delevels more
| colspan="2"|+50% Combat Initiative
|----
! 40
|| '''Kick''' stuns
| colspan="2"|+100% Combat Initiative
|----
! 40
!↓
||+25% Meat Drop
||3 liver capacity
|----
! 50
!↓
||+50% Meat Drop
||3 liver capacity
|----
! 60
!↓
||+75% Meat Drop
||3 liver capacity
|----
! 100
||'''[[Punt (WereProfessor)|Punt]]'''<br/>(40-adv banish)
||+5 Stats from fights
||Everything will Look Red for less time
|}

===Bosses===
In WereBeast form, you encounter bestial versions of the usual bosses:

* Instead of the [[Boss Bat]], you fight the [[Boss Beast]].
* Instead of the [[Knob Goblin King]], you fight the [[Knob Goblin Beast]].
* Instead of the [[Bonerdagon]], you fight the [[Curséd Bonerdagon]].
* Instead of [[Groar]], you fight... uh, [[Just Groar]].
* Instead of [[Lord Spookyraven]], you fight [[Lord Beastlyraven]].
* Instead of [[Protector Spectre]], you fight [[Protector Beast]].
* Instead of [[Dr. Awkward]], you fight [[Were-Dr. Awkwarder, ew]]
* Instead of [[The Big Wisniewski]], you fight [[The Beast Wisniewski]]
* Instead of [[The Man]], you fight [[The Beastman]]
* Instead of the three forms of [[The Naughty Sorceress]], you fight [[The Naughty Wolferess]] alone
** [[The Naughty Wolferess]] does not remove your beneficial effects, nor is the [[Wand of Nagamar]] required to defeat her.

As a WereProfessor, the bosses are unchanged.

After freeing King Ralph, your adventure ends with "[[Moonlighting]]"

==Text==
The path council text was briefly unavailable at the launch of the path. It has not been changed from the vanilla text. It is unknown why this is.

==Strategy==

===Combat===
* For the first 50 turns of your first run, you are quite limited in power with no skills, no access to NPC shops, and no campground.
**If you get beat up, you may need to heal by using A Comfy Sofa in the [[Clan Rumpus Room]] (if available) or [[A Relaxing Hot Tub]] in the VIP lounge. 
**Otherwise, you have to spend turns at a low level area, your moon sign area's trainer, or even [[The Odd Jobs Board]].
* Professors are very limited in combat and must either use combat items, research, or flee.
** If you can survive a round, remember to research before fleeing, if you are fleeing.
* Running high amounts of +ML (>25) will cause elemental monsters to knock out the professor immediately, so watch out!
** [[The Copperhead Club]] will also knock out the professor immediately, unless you [[Behind the 'Stache|cut loose the gong]].
* Beasts gradually become more powerful and unlock strong skills, potentially including a banish and a psuedo-olfaction.
* There are several ways to kill monsters as a Professor:
** The [[Everfull Dart Holster]]'s darts can be used normally.
** A [[cosmic bowling ball]] can be used once per combat to deal 100 physical damage, which is doubled by [[Crimbuccaneer bombjacket]].
** A [[Mini-Trainbot]] is an attack familiar that deals 4x weight {{element|hot|}} damage on average, is guaranteed to attack in the first round and has a +25 weight familiar equipment, dealing about 100 damage as well.
** A [[beehive]] that can be acquired during the [[Quest for the Holy MacGuffin]] is a multiusable combat item that deals 24-30 damage, and the first use per combat [[stagger|staggers]] the monster. Higher-tier [[Tinkering Bench|exoskeletons]] give more rounds to use the beehive.
** The [[electric boning knife]], if found, can also be used to deal 8-10 damage per round.

===General===
* Low-progression ascensions should be planned around gathering research for the professor and unlocking useful skills first. 
** In particular, the expanded liver and stomach are high-priority for players who want adventure generation.
* Remember that you don't transform until you enter a combat.
** This means you can spend extra turns as a professor researching at the Cottage. 
** While less effective than researching in combat with the right equipment, there are no limits to how long you can sit down and research.
* As the beast has very increased combat encounter frequency and the professor has very reduced combat encounter frequency, special care will need to be taken when you're aiming for a non-combat.
* Several NPC shops are unavailable as the WereBeast including quest relevant shops, so plan ahead accordingly. Make sure to pick up the following as a professor:
** At [[The General Store]]: [[chewing gum on a string]], [[hermit permit]], [[Dramatic™ range]], [[Desert bus pass]] (if needed), [[hair spray|cans of hair spray]] as necessary
** At [[The Armory and Leggery]]: [[sweet ninja sword]] (if needed for [[Slay the Dead]])
** At [[The Black Market]]: [[forged identification documents]], [[can of black paint]], [[Red Zeppelin ticket]], any buff items you want for later
** At [[The Hidden Tavern]]: multiple [[Bowl of Scorpions|Bowls of Scorpions]], [[Cursed Punch]]
** At [[The Shore, Inc. Gift Shop]]: [[UV-resistant compass]].
* The professor can't equip outfits directly due to stat requirements, but this can be circumvented by wearing pieces of the outfit individually.
* [[Smashed scientific equipment]] needs to be picked up as a beast, so some additional routing might be helpful if you want any of the equipment.
* Resting at [[Your Humble Cottage]] removes negative effects, so be careful if you have [[pygmy shaman]] curses you need for [[The Hidden Apartment Building]].

===Moon Sign===
* The [[Degrassi_Knoll#Friendly|Friendly Degrassi Knoll]], aside from it's usual easy desert access, offers access to [[The_Degrassi_Knoll_Gym#Friendly|The Gym]], which is possibly of note to professors struggling to fight and level up. The Vole does not give the professor any extra HP, however.
* The [[The Gnomish Gnomads' Camp]] offers easy access to [[Torso Awareness]], which may be of most interest to those with a [[Jurassic Parka]].
* [[Little Canadia]] has the free [[logging hatchet]], which can help with the Orc Chasm quest (Softcore players could just pull for one instead).

===Astral gear and consumables===
* With low progression or even no progression, the [[astral hot dog]] might be a good choice to help with early leveling. Players used to using the model train set should also consider the hot dogs.
* The [[astral pilsner]]s are a solid choice for those with enough progression to level up easily.

* The astral pets can help you fill in holes before you've unlocked "skills" via Research.
** The [[astral mask]] can help with you with item drops before you unlock your passive item drops, and remains useful even after then.

===IotM===
* Neither [[Just the Facts]] from [[book of facts]] nor the [[model train set]] are available.
* While a professor, combat skills from equipment and familiars can't be used, so be aware when trying to use skills from the [[cursed monkey's paw]], the [[Patriotic Eagle]], the [[Chest Mimic]], etc.
* The [[Cincho de Mayo]]'s cincho must be recharged while a professor.
* The [[Everfull Dart Holster]] is completely usable as a professor.
* The [[S.I.T. Course Completion Certificate]] can be used to obtain a skill.

===Softcore-specific advice===

* Equipment items like the [[Flash Liquidizer Ultra Dousing Accessory|F.L.U.D.A]] can help you with your lack of skills before you've researched them.
* As hermit access is delayed, a [[11-leaf clover]] can be pulled if you need one earlier.
* You could pull a combat item if you need to fight as a professor but have no other method of combat. 
** There are a few reusable combat items, although many like the [[Gnomitronic Hyperspatial Demodulizer]] and the [[time shuriken]] are a bit low on damage.
** Other items like [[Zombo's empty eye]] have their own restrictions to be wary about.


==Rewards==
* Finishing a WereProfessor run while it is the current special challenge path -- between February 15th, 2024 and May 14th, 2024 -- gives players 50 (in Normal) or 100 (in Hardcore) extra karma points the next time they visit Valhalla. 
* Finishing a run will grant you 50 (in Normal) or 100 (in Hardcore) permanent research points to start with on your next WereProfessor ascension, allowing up to 1150 points in total.
* A class [[tattoo]] is obtained when starting the path.
* The corresponding hardcore tattoo was not available until some time on or before March 14 2024.
* Players will receive a [[Thwaitgold wolf spider statuette]] upon defeating the final boss.

==References==
* The path is inspired by ''[[Wikipedia:Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde|Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde]]'' and its [[Wikipedia:Adaptations_of_Strange_Case_of_Dr._Jekyll_and_Mr._Hyde|many many adaptations]].

{{Ascension Paths}}