View source for Zombie Slayer/Strategy

==Mr. Store Items==
Without most familiars or permed skills available, there are very few '''[[Mr. Store]]''' items that have a direct impact on Zombie Slayer runs in [[Hardcore]].  These are some of them:

*'''[[Box of bear arms]]''': A powerful one-handed weapon and off-handed pseudo-shield specifically tailored for Zombie Slayer, and usable in Hardcore. Provides +20% Muscle, +30% Weapon Damage, and +30 HP. Skill-wise, provides one of the following per fight: an auto-hit / auto-crit, a very powerful percentage-of-health attack, a delevel, a self-heal that stuns the same turn (ala [[scented massage oil]]), an 10/day instant-kill that swells your Horde, and a 10-turn stat gain buff. When the instant-kill runs out, it is replaced by a simultaneous heal / delevel / attack. The only way to get a Mr. Weapon in Hardcore Zombie Slayer.

*'''[[Reagnimated Gnome]]''': The only "pure" fairy-type familiar available in a Zombie Slayer run.  It can also block or delevel enemies, or give bonus adventures.

*'''[[Reanimated Reanimator]]''': Acts as a volleyball by default, can boost item drops, block attacks, increase meat drops, and attack (multiple times) with a combined total of 50 pounds. Also lets you make 3 wandering copies of a monster once a day. Probably the best familiar for this path.

*'''[[Clan VIP Lounge key]]''': All furnishings are usable in Zombie Slayer:
**'''[[A Looking Glass]]:''' Useful Hatter buffs include +10 Muscle ([[bum cheek]], [[lihc face]], [[eyepatch]]), +50 HP ([[helmet turtle]], [[viking helmet]]), +10 elemental damage ([[Knob Goblin elite helm]]), and +30% weapon damage ([[Crown of the Goblin King]]).
**'''[[A Fax Machine]]:''' Fax in the usual suspects ([[Knob Goblin Elite Guard Captain|KGE]], [[Lobsterfrogman|LFMs]], [[ghost]], etc.)
**'''[[April Shower]]:''' Five [[Shard of double-ice|shards of double ice]] can be made into a [[double-ice cap]], which provides a one round stun upon being hit. This is a very useful function when you're not killing things in one hit yourself. Shards are also useful in a pinch in combat. Otherwise, +5% Muscle gains will serve you well.
**'''[[A Pool Table (VIP Lounge)]]:''' You'll mostly want [[Hustlin']] for +10% items, but [[Billiards Belligerence]]'s +50% weapon damage can come in handy as well (and also provides +item via the Reagnimated Gnome).
**'''[[An Olympic-Sized Swimming Pool]]:''' Use [[Silent Running]] to its full effect before you get [[Disquiet Riot]]. Make sure you can handle the +ML of [[Lapdog]] if you plan to take it. If you happen across a [[lost key]], [[The Lost Glasses]] help you deal more damage and [[The Lost Pill Bottle]] can give you [[munchies pill]]s, [[synthetic dog hair pill]]s, and [[distension pill]]s.

*'''[[A Pumpkin Patch]]''', '''[[A Peppermint Patch]]''', '''[[A Bone Garden]]''', or '''[[A Winter Garden]]''': Mutually exclusive, but all are useful.
**'''[[Pumpkin|Pumpkins]]''' make good booze without needing base booze and provide the only [[Yellow ray strategy|yellow ray]] in Hardcore. The need for yellow rays is mitigated somewhat by [[Smash & Graaagh]].
**'''[[Peppermint sprout|Peppermints]]''' make the best possible booze, but require base booze. [[Peppermint crook|Crooks]] serve no purpose if you have [[Smash & Graaagh]]. Free runaways from the [[Peppermint parasol]] can speed up some zones, but you'll save fewer adventures than you can get from peppermint drinks. [[Cane-mail pants]] will noticeably enhance your survivability in combat and give a small, but useful bit of HP regen.
**'''[[Skeleton|Skeletons]]''' can be used to make some nifty items that reduce turn count. By making a [[Skeletal skiff]], you can gain access to the Mysterious Island without spending any turns vacationing. [[Crystal skeleton vodka]] gives [[Aykrophobia|a nice effect]], but costs a whole day's load to make one drink. Installing a [[Lazybones™ recliner]] can give you a great bonus if you need to recover, but is not very useful since you do not have access to [[Rest#Free_Rests|free rest skills]] in Zombie Slayer runs. [[Bonestabber]] and [[Skeletal scabbard]] work great if you don't have a [[Box of bear arms|pair of bear arms]], but are useless otherwise. [[Skeleton skis]] are largely redundant if you have [[Hunter's Sprint]]. Overall, you can save quite a few turns with the help of [[A Bone Garden]], but the options are a bit limited for Zombie Slayer runs.
**'''[[Winter Gardening]]''' lets you potentially skip [[The Orc Chasm]] with [[snow boards]], and the [[Ice Island Long Tea]] is a great nightcap.  May turn out to be the best choice, but is not well understood yet.

*'''[[My Own Pen Pal kit]]''': Not insanely powerful, but the [[giant clay ashtray]] autosells or functions well if you don't have the [[left bear arm]]; [[Pokëmann band-aid]]s restore HP and provide DR without consuming zombies; the [[orange leather lanyard]] is a very helpful +15 damage accessory; and the [[monster pants]] provide a 57% crit rate with [[Virulence]], which can trigger [[Skullcracker]].

*'''[[Camp Scout backpack]]''': These items really shine in this path. The [[CSA fire-starting kit]] provides a bit of HP regen, particularly helpful before [[Indefatigable]]; [[CSA scoutmaster's "water"]] is a decent nightcap, especially in the absence of garden drinks; the [[CSA obedience grenade]] can help when killing bosses or hunters; the [[CSA cheerfulness ration]] is a fantastic 4th drunkenness following [[pumpkin beer]]; and perhaps most useful is the [[CSA bravery badge]], which is invaluable in completing higher-level quests as a lower-level, low-skilled Zombie Master.

*'''[[Model Train Set]]''': The Trackside Diner lets you double or even triple the hunter brains you find, for a huge increase in turngen. The trick is you have to avoid finding any other food between the initial hunter brain drop and the train reaching the Diner - from zero to seven turns. Other kinds of brains do not count as food for the Diner. Food from a Smash & Graaagh does not count as a food drop. Some zones have no food drops so you can just adventure there as usual. Other zones have food drops from non-critical monsters - you can banish them or run away from them. Then there are zones where the specific monster you are looking for drops food - avoid those during brain time. If another hunter shows up during brain time, run away and it will show up again later.

In Normal runs, most of the equipment you would choose to pull still works.  The biggest exceptions are shirts (which you cannot wear at all), and the [[Crown of Thrones]], because most of your familiars are dead.

A high-budget Zombie Slayer may wish to use some of these wonderful toys:

* [[Can of Rain-Doh]]: The combat items are incredibly useful.  The [[Rain-Doh red wings|red wings]] give initiative and damage, and the [[Rain-Doh black box|black box]] lets you copy monsters.
* [[Operation Patriot Shield]]: Gives substats, weapon damage, HP, and HP regen.  [[Throw Shield]] gives a 1-turn stun followed by a guaranteed critical hit.
* [[Juju Mojo Mask]]: The Zombie Master skills trigger the [[Gaze of the Volcano God]] intrinsic, for massive Muscle substats, bonus damage, elemental damage, and HP regen.  [[Wrath of the Volcano God]] can be used against spectres if needed.
* [[Greatest American Pants]]: Free runaways!  The Super Structure buff can help you survive tough fights, and the Super Vision is +25% items.
* [[Boris's Helm (askew)]]: +ML for substats and better brains; +weight for your familiar; also gives initiative, weapon damage, and HP regen.

==Moon Sign==
All of the signs are gutted by the zombie plague, but [[The Degrassi Knoll Bakery and Hardware Store]] remains intact, making [[The Mongoose]] the best sign for Zombie Masters. You have little or no need for the removed Innabox or mushroom plot, and the zero-turn meatcar, [[detuned radio]], [[frilly skirt]] (for [[The Infiltrationist]]), and [[meat maid]] parts outweigh anything other signs might provide.

If you wish to take an un-[[Degrassi Knoll#Friendly|friendly Degrassi Knoll]] sign for some reason, the +5 Familiar Weight from [[The Platypus]] is probably your best bet. If you must take a [[Gnomish Gnomads' Camp]] sign, consider [[The Blender]], as +5 turns/day may exceed the use of +10% Muscle gains over the course of a long run.

==Astral Consumables==
As you can't consume astral hot dogs, they're not recommended. [[Astral pilsner]]s can be used as normal, but since your liver capacity is very low, you shouldn't have trouble filling up on high-quality booze. [[Astral energy drink]]s are one of very few sources of [[Lucky!]] in the path, and likely worth considering.

==Astral Gear==
'''Speed'''
* The [[astral belt]] is the ideal choice, and even low-skilled Zombie Masters can use it from turn 1 with [[Kodiak Moment]] -- assuming you have the bear arms.  Not only does the belt give you more stats, but it also gives you access to ''better brains'' earlier in the run (though softcore Zombie Masters may be able to pull enough +ML to compensate).
* The [[astral mask]] comes in a distant second to help out in areas where Smash & Graaagh can't or won't always save you (F'c'le, Airship, etc.)

'''Convenience'''
* The [[astral shield]] is available to everyone, and it provides a Muscle boost, HP regen, and a lot of DR, which can be useful early in the run.  Can be useful with an [[Infectious Bite]] strategy for horde-building, until you find a decent weapon.
* The [[astral bludgeon]]'s critical hit multiplier makes it possible to kill hunters when you'd otherwise have no chance, and its +Muscle and +damage are useful for the entire run.  Note: unlike the [[Brimstone Bludgeon]], this is two-handed.
* The [[astral mace]] is an excellent one-handed weapon with bonus damage, making early combat much easier.  Useful with a "kill them before they can hit me" strategy.  Works with a [[giant clay ashtray]] shield, if you have a [[My Own Pen Pal Kit|Pen Pal]].  It can also be given to your [[Disembodied Hand]], if you have one, to free up your hands for other gear.  Gives [[Extra PvP Fights]] too.  However, it must be unlocked (and Zombie Slayer runs don't count toward the unlock).
* The [[astral trousers]] provide several useful abilities, but can't be used during the [[Mysterious Island Quest]] (including while you [[Recover the Sisters' Meat]], when the meat bonus would be most useful), or in [[Barrrney's Barrr]] or [[The F'c'le]], or when fighting the [[Knob Goblin King]].

'''Other'''
* While Mysticality is useless in Zombie Slayer, the [[astral statuette]] (or [[astral bracer]], if the statuette is unavailable) gives extra adventures per day, which may be useful to players who expect their runs to take many days.

==Skills==
The following is an analysis of all the skills available to a [[Zombie Master]]. Some skills will be more desirable after you bank skill points.

===Most Effective===
Generally speaking, the five most powerful skills in Zombie Slayer (where "power" is a function of turngen and turn savings) are:
*'''[[Neurogourmet]]''': +20-30 adventures per day.
*'''[[Ravenous Pounce]]''': +10-20 adventures per day (or more), and a critically useful combat skill.
*'''[[Howl of the Alpha]]''': Unlimited [[Banishing]] (presumably up to 3 monsters at a time), leading to huge manipulation of quests.
*'''[[Smash & Graaagh]]''': Forces items to drop. Trivializes certain quests and makes <strike>all</strike> most item drops much easier (the exception being [[The F'c'le]]).
*'''[[Disquiet Riot]]''': -20% combat rate. Speeds up many quests and leveling by a large factor.

===Intrinsic===
*[[Infectious Bite]]: Infects monsters and deals passive damage every turn (damage can be improved with certain skills) and can turn them into zombies for your horde. In the first few levels when you can one-shot monsters with the bite alone, you will gain zombies easily. This method becomes less practical later, as tougher monsters require more bites, and trying to infect tougher monsters may result in a huge loss of HP.
*[[Recruit Zombie]]: Spends adventures to add zombies to your horde. Adventures are scarce enough in Zombie Slayer, and there are much more efficient ways to recruit zombies. Do not use.

===Hunger of the Zombie===
Hunger of the Zombie focuses on adventure gains and defensive skills. Naturally, this skill tree is extremely important since brains don't generate as much turns as normal food, so it's vital for reducing day count. This skill tree also contains some passive skills that will heal you and reduce damage taken overall, and with Doc Galaktik gone, you will need them to keep your HP up.

*[[Bite Minion]]: Restores 10% of your HP, or a minimum of 10 HP. The basic healing skill. With [[Devour Minions]], it will cure pretty much every status effect you'll encounter (including [[Beaten Up]]).
*[[Lure Minions]]: Exchange brains for zombies. Once you have [[Skullcracker]], decent and good brains are an excellent and free way to fuel your horde.
*[[Undying Greed]]: +25% Meat drops. Won't really speed up your runs on its own, but helps fuel [[Summon Minion]] and [[Summon Horde]].
*[[Hunter's Sprint]]: A massive boost to combat initiative. Makes combat immensely easier, saving tons of HP and hassle, and makes +ML a possibility. Also boosts [[modern zmobie]] appearance.
*[[Insatiable Hunger (skill)|Insatiable Hunger]]: +5 stomach capacity. That's an extra 10-20 adventures per day, depending on decent vs. good brains and [[Neurogourmet]].
*[[Devour Minions]]: Restores 50% HP for 4 minions, and can be used in combat. More cost-effective than Bite Minion for pure healing, and makes combat stasis possible in [[The Junkyard]]. Also improves Bite Minion to heal negative effects (read: [[Beaten Up]], [[Cunctatitis]], etc.)
*[[Indefatigable]]: Provides tons of passive HP regen. Before level 10 or so (and with minimal +ML), this should cover almost all of your healing needs.
*[[Skullcracker]]: Doubles brain drops, and critical hits occasionally stuns opponents. This skill will make it possible to fill your 25 or 30 fullness each day; it's difficult to do otherwise, especially on crappy or decent brain turngen. Provides lots of fuel for [[Lure Minions]], and the stunning happens more than you'd think.
*[[Neurogourmet]]: More adventures gained from brains. This will provide you with +(fullness) points per day, and +25 adv/day over 4 or more days provides more turns than almost any other skill will save.
*[[Ravenous Pounce]]: +5 stomach capacity, and an incredibly powerful combat skill. You can one-shot pretty much anything in the game with Ravenous Pounce while sitting at 0/25 or 0/30 fullness. A critical part of the Zombie Master's combat suite.

===Anger of the Zombie===
Anger of the Zombie focuses on combat effectiveness. Unlike the [[Avatar of Boris#Divergences|Avatars of Boris]] who get all the combat prowess they need from their other skill trees, it may be worth investing some points into this skill tree to make combat easier.

*[[Distracting Minion]]: Uses 1 zombie for an unblockable regular attack. Very effective when compared to normal attacks (especially because you can [[Fumble]]), but requires lots of [[Summon Horde|Meat]] or [[Lure Minions|brains]] to make it sustainable. Good for bosses and especially hunters.
*[[Plague Claws]]: Delevels opponents and increases the infection damage from [[Infectious Bite]]. Helps Infectious Bite swell your horde, if you're trying to do that, and the deleveling can help you kill harder monsters with normal attacks.
*[[Flesh Mob]]: Deals greater damage for 3 zombies, but doesn't always hit. Not a terribly useful skill when compared to [[Ravenous Pounce]] or normal attacks with Hunger-tree skills and/or [[Vigor Mortis]].
*[[Elemental Obliviousness]]: Gives passive elemental resistances. Mostly a convenience skill, but saves farming stench resistance for [[Guano Junction]] and can help save turns at [[The Mist-Shrouded Peak]] if you have +combat and can scrounge up a few more levels of cold resistance.
*[[Vigor Mortis]]: A passive 30% boost to Muscle. Makes many fights much easier, and helps against the Naughty Sorceress. Generally lets you do things sooner than you would have without it.
*[[Virulence]]: Boosts critical hit chance and critical hits improve infections. Critical hits synergize with [[Skullcracker]], and with an [[astral bludgeon]] you're looking at a 34% critical hit rate.
*[[Bilious Burst]]: Uses 5 zombies to deal elemental damage. Very expensive for the effect. Helps with [[ancient protector spirit]]s, but you can generally [[double-ice cap|make]] [[Fan-Cooled|do]] [[grungy bandana|without]].
*[[Unyielding Flesh]]: Passively boosts DA and DR. Makes [[Infectious Bite]] a little more feasible, and generally reduces healing costs.
*[[Corpse Pile]]: Uses 3 zombies to stun monsters and deal damage. You can always use stunners, especially when [[Rock band flyers|flyering]] or fighting tough bosses.
*[[Howl of the Alpha]]: [[Banishing|Banishes]] monsters, or deals heavy damage to unbanishable monsters. Just like [[Banishing Shout]], this provides a way to manipulate the [[Adventure Queue]] without [[Transcendent Olfaction]], and saves tons of turns on many quests. Very powerful.

===Master of the Zombie===
Master of the Zombie is a utility-oriented skill tree. It provides skills that provide useful buffs, and saves turns where Hunger generates them.

*[[Summon Minion]]: Summons a zombie for 100 meat. You don't use Meat for much in this path, so this skill and [[Lure Minions]] will be your primary sources of zombies. Later, you'll use [[Summon Horde]] for zombies and this skill for +combat.
*[[Zombie Chow]]: Sacrifices a zombie for 10 turns of +5 familiar weight. Effectively +~10% items or 0.5 - 1 stats per fight. A good skill to keep on all the time once you have it, since it's relatively cheap.
*[[Smash & Graaagh]]: Sacrifice 2 zombies to steal an item in a fashion similar to [[Rave combos|Rave Steal]] -- '''NOT [[Pickpocket]]!'''. This skill forces (i.e. a 100% chance!) any one of the current monster's non-[[Conditional Drops|conditional]] items to drop. Trivializes the [[Exterminate the Filthworm Infestation|Filthworms]] and [[Stomach of Steel]] quests, and makes any situation where you're collecting non-conditional items immensely less painful. Very powerful.
*[[Scavenge]]: Sacrifice 2 zombies for 10 turns of +20% items. +Item is useful in any path; this skill's usefulness is self-explanatory.
*[[Meat Shields]]: Your zombies will block incoming attacks for the rest of the current combat. A very useful skill for levels 11, 12, and 13 for those without access to [[Ravenous Pounce]] or similar combat skills. The block rate is very, very high, though you lose a zombie for every block. Very good for the Naughty Sorceress and final boss.
*[[Summon Horde]]: Summon 11-14 zombies for 1000 Meat. More cost-efficient than Summon Minion, and makes Summon Minion provide +20% combat; this singlehandedly makes [[The Lighthouse]] much less painful, and has [[The F'c'le|several]] [[The Hidden City|other]] uses as well.
*[[His Master's Voice]]: Passively boosts familiar weight by 5. Another +10% item or 0.5 - 1 stats per fight.
*[[Ag-grave-ation]]: Sacrifice 3 zombies for 10 turns of +30 ML. Once you can handle the ML, this skill (and the [[astral belt]]) are the best ways to increase the utility of combat adventures.
*[[Disquiet Riot]]: Sacrifice 5 zombies for 10 turns of -20% combats. Arguably saves more turns than any other Zombie Master skill, especially with how much it speeds up [[The Haunted Gallery|Gallery]] leveling. Very powerful.
*[[Zombie Maestro]]: Passively lowers all skill costs by 1 zombie (min. 1) and provides a combat skill. You won't use the combat skill if you have [[Ravenous Pounce]], but the -1 zombie cost makes Pounce itself immensely more sustainable. Worth getting, especially if you'll have it early in a run where horde fuel is scarce.

==Familiars==
Before ascending into a Zombie Slayer run, consider the functions that your familiars can provide:
*'''Item drops:''' Currently provided by the [[XO Skeleton]], [[Reagnimated Gnome]], [[Ghost of Crimbo Carols]] and the [[Reanimated Reanimator]] (collecting legs), and the latter only if you keep him as your active familiar most of the time.  Having one of these is extremely helpful for improving item drops.
*'''Stat gains:''' The [[Hovering Skull]] can provide early-game [[Blood-Faced Volleyball|Volleyball]] stats, and the [[Hovering Sombrero]] may take over later.  Or you could use the Reanimator the entire time.
*'''HP restoration:''' After combat from the [[XO Skeleton]] or [[Ghuol Whelp]] (50% of the time) or during combat from the [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|NPZR]] (rarely).
*'''Combat:''' The [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|NPZR]] is helpful, and the [[Hovering Skull]] and [[Reagnimated Gnome]] will help while performing their primary functions. The Gnome, NPZR, and Mini-Skulldozer can block attacks, a very useful function when you're not killing things in one hit.
*'''Copying''': The [[Reanimated Reanimator]] can copy monsters, producing three wandering copies which appear over time.
*'''Meat drops''': The only familiar which can do this in Zombie Slayer is the [[Ghost of Crimbo Commerce]]. While you can alternatively use the Reanimator (if you order it to collect skulls), doing so will interfere with its leg (+item) collection, so this is not a recommended strategy for typical runs.
*'''Turn generation''': The [[Reagnimated Gnome]] with the [[gnomish housemaid's kgnee]] occasionally generates adventures after combat.

Currently, no familiars are available in Zombie Slayer which provide banishing, free runaways, yellow ray disintegration, combat frequency modifiers or free fights.

===List of available familiars===
{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="text-align:center;" class="sortable"
|+
|-
!style="background-color: #EEEEEE" |Image
!style="background-color: #EEEEEE" |Familiar
!style="background-color: #EEEEEE" |Type
!style="background-color: #EEEEEE" |Full Effect
!style="background-color: #EEEEEE" |Availability
!style="background-color: #EEEEEE" |Notes
|-
| [[File:Cghost carols.gif]]
| [[Ghost of Crimbo Carols]]
| Items + Special
| Increases item drops<br/>Gives buffs during combat
| [[Mr. Store]]
| 
* Has a max base weight of 40, shares familiar exp with other Crimbo ghosts, cannot wear familiar equipment
* Gives a buff during combat based off of the opponent monster [[Monster Types|phylum]].
|-
| [[File:Cghost cheer.gif]]
| [[Ghost of Crimbo Cheer]]
| Stats + Special
| Increases stat gains<br/>Increases damage dealt
| [[Mr. Store]]
| 
* Has a max base weight of 40, shares familiar exp with other Crimbo ghosts, cannot wear familiar equipment
* Sometimes increases cold damage done during combat
|-
| [[File:Cghost commerce.gif]]
| [[Ghost of Crimbo Commerce]]
| Meat + Special
| Increases meat gains<br/>Provides occasional substat bonuses
| [[Mr. Store]]
| 
* Has a max base weight of 40, shares familiar exp with other Crimbo ghosts, cannot wear familiar equipment
* Provides a lump substat bonus every 10 fights with this familiar (upon purchasing an item from the [[Mall of Loathing]]).
|-
| [[File:Xoskeleton.gif]]
| [[XO Skeleton]]
| Items + Combat + Special
| Increases item drops<br/>Restores HP/<s>MP</s> after combat<br/>Drops [[X|Xes]] and [[O|Os]] after combat<br/>Lets you steal an item from your opponent
| [[Mr. Store]]
| 
* Dropped Xes and Os can be used to purchase a [[Bridge truss]] or two to speed up the Orc Chasm and [[pair of candy glasses|pairs of candy glasses]] for more +item, among other things.
* [[Hugs and Kisses!]] allows you to steal a non-pickpocketable item from your opponent once per combat 11 times per day.  This cannot be used in conjunction with [[Smash & Graaagh]] to steal multiple items.
|-
| [[File:Frankengnome.gif]]
| [[Reagnimated Gnome]]
| Items
| Increases item drops<br/>Blocks, attacks, delevels, or gives +adv via equipment
| [[Mr. Store]]
| 
* IotM for the first few weeks of the path.
|-
| [[File:Reanimator.gif]]
| [[Reanimated Reanimator]]
| Stats + Special
| Depends on setup
| [[Mr. Store]]
|
*[[Copying|Copies]] monsters.
*Can be built up to fit a role of your choice.  Legs (+item) are recommended.
|-
| [[File:Babyzrex.gif]]
| [[Baby Z-Rex]]
| Stats + Combat
| Increases stat gains<br/>Attacks enemies ({{element|Spooky}})
| [[Twitch]]
| Similar to Hovering Skull, but Spooky-aligned.
|-
| [[File:Talkskull.gif]]
| [[Hovering Skull]]
| Stats
| Increases stat gains<br/>Attacks enemies
| Common
| Available in [[The Defiled Nook]] in-run.
|-
| [[File:Familiar18.gif]]
| [[Hovering Sombrero]]
| Stats
| Increases stat gains
| Common
| Created from items found [[South of the Border]].
|-
| [[File:Ggg.gif]]
| [[Gluttonous Green Ghost]]
| Stats
| Increases stat gains<br/>If given food, <s>restores MP and</s> attacks enemies
| [[Mr. Store]]
| There is no MP in this path.
|-
| [[File:Ghobo.gif]]
| [[Spirit Hobo]]
| Stats
| Increases stat gains<br/>If given booze, <s>restores MP and</s> attacks enemies
| [[Mr. Store]]
| There is no MP in this path.
|-
| [[File:Familiar24.gif]]
| [[Jill-O-Lantern]]
| Stats
| Increases stat gains<br/>Attacks enemies
| [[Mr. Store]]
| Prohibitively expensive for most players.
|-
| [[File:Npzr.gif]]
| [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot]]
| Combat
| Restores HP/<s>MP</s><br/>Delevels enemies<br/>Gives Meat in combat<br/>Attacks enemies
| Requires rare item
| There is no MP in this path.
|-
| [[File:Animskel.gif]]
| [[Misshapen Animal Skeleton]]
| Combat
| Attacks enemies ({{element|Spooky}})<br/>Delevels enemies
| Common
| While "common", still takes lots of effort to make.
|-
| [[File:Minidozer.gif]]
| [[Mini-Skulldozer]]
| Combat
| Attacks enemies ({{element|Spooky}})<br/>Blocks enemies' attacks
| Uncommon
| Acquired indirectly from [[A Bone Garden‎]].
|-
| [[File:Familiar19.gif]]
| [[Ghost Pickle on a Stick]]
| Combat
| Attacks enemies<br/>Delevels enemies
| Uncommon
| Same as Misshapen Animal Skeleton, but does less damage.
|-
| [[File:Familiar7.gif]]
| [[Spooky Pirate Skeleton]]
| Combat
| Attacks enemies ({{element|Spooky}})<br/>Delevels enemies
| Common
| Similar to Misshapen Animal Skeleton, but less effective.
|-
| [[File:Familiar14.gif]]
| [[Ghuol Whelp]]
| Combat
| Restores HP/<s>MP</s> after combat
| Common
| There is no MP in this path.
|-
| [[File:Orb.gif]]
| [[Scary Death Orb]]
| Combat
| Attacks enemies ({{element|Spooky}})<br/>Attacks you
| Common
| Only useful for masochistic 100% familiar runs.
|-
| [[File:Dishand.gif]]
| [[Disembodied Hand]]
| Special
| Provides buffs via equipped weapon<br/>Attacks enemies
| [[Mr. Store]]
| Can equip any 1-handed weapon (except chef-staves and accordions) regardless of whether the weapon's stat requirements are met.
|-
| [[File:Blackbird1.gif]]
| [[Reassembled Blackbird]]<br/>& [[Reconstituted Crow]]
| Special
| Nothing
| Common
| Required for the level 11 quest.
|}

==General Tips/Tricks==
* In the early zones, always use [[Infectious Bite]] instead of attacking. This reduces meat/brain costs to recruit zombies for your horde later on.
* Synergetic skills:
** [[Summon Minion]]/[[Summon Horde]] + [[Undying Greed]]: More meat with which to summon zombies.
** [[Skullcracker]] + [[Virulence]]: More stunning criticals
* As the Hermitage does ''not'' provide any [[11-leaf clover]]s, your options for getting [[Lucky!]] are sharply limited.
** [[A Speakeasy]] still offers the [[Lucky Lindy]] drink, but its size is greater than your liver capacity. Consider drinking one as your nightcap, as a single Lucky Lindy is enough to make you overdrunk. 
** Using an [[astral energy drink]] works as normal.
** The "Surprise Me" option on [[Take your Pills]] (from the [[Eight Days a Week Pill Keeper]]) also offers an option that will grant you the intrinsic.
* Some potential uses of [[Lucky!]] include:
** Visiting [[The Haunted Kitchen]] for [[brains casserole]]s, which are much better than the [[crappy brain]]s you are otherwise stuck with early on, and can help you reach 10 Mysticality to start wearing accessories.  '''Only do this if you are desperate''' (probably just the first run or two).
** [[The Misspelled Cemetary (Post-Cyrpt)]], which will get you the [[disembodied brain]] you need to finish a [[Meat maid]].
** Speeding up both [[Itznotyerzitz Mine]], [[The Smut Orc Logging Camp]] and [[A Mob of Zeppelin Protesters]].
** Getting a potion to aid with one of the [[Test Your Might And Also Test Other Things|Contest Registration Desk]] tests.
* [[Ravenous Pounce]] users should keep their [[Fullness|stomachs]] empty as much as possible. If you find your Ravenous Pounce is no longer a one-hit-kill, it may be better to finish off your food and drink and save the adventures for the following day.
* Don't forget that Zombie Masters can operate [[A Fax Machine|fax machines]].
* If you find yourself lost in the [[Violet Fog]], grab a [[munchies pill]]. They work to their full effect with good or worse brains.
* [[:Category:Group Monsters|Group Monsters]] are potentially the most effective and rewarding recruitment means if you have uses of [[Bear Hug]]s remaining.  They swell your horde size by the size of the group (up to 20) when defeated with [[Bear Hug]].  However, note that they only give one horde size when turned using [[Infectious Bite]]. Group monsters appearing in Zombie Slayer path:
*Level 2:
** [[bunch of drunken rats]], size 5
** [[clan of cave bars]]: size 10
*Level 5:
** [[swarm of Knob lice]]: size 20
*Level 7: 
** [[swarm of ghuol whelps]]: size 15
** [[big swarm of ghuol whelps|big]] and [[giant swarm of ghuol whelps|giant swarms]]: size 20
** [[swarm of lowercase As]] or [[swarm of killer bees]]: size 6
*Level 9:
** [[Big Wheelin' Twins]], [[Bubblemint Twins]], [[Mismatched Twins]], [[Troll Twins]]: size 2
*Level 10:
** [[Irritating Series of Random Encounters]]: size 20
** [[Family Jewels]]: size 2-3
** [[Twig and Berries]]: size 3
*Level 11:
** [[pygmy assault squad]]: size 2
** [[pygmy orderlies]]: size 3? (Better to [[Howl of the Alpha|banish them]] if you can.)
** [[Flock of Stab-bats]]: size 4
** [[swarm of scarab beatles]]: size 4
** [[swarm of fire ants]]: size 20 (Alas, one can't hug them while wearing the [[UV-resistant compass]].)
*Level 12:
** [[War Hippy Dread Squad]]: size 2
*Level 13:
** [[Rag-tag band of survivors]]: size 4

==Quests==

===Level 4===
There are many possible ways to get [[stench]] resistance for the Junction in hardcore.
*Spend the points for [[Elemental Obliviousness]]. Unfortunately that isn't a good idea unless you start with a lot of zombie skill points.
*If you get your first semi-rare at the Sleazy Back Alley during turns 70-80 you can try to get a [[bum cheek]] from a Rushing bum. The upside is that you get some epic booze, but the downside is that you are in a very low level zone.
*Try to get a [[Pine-Fresh air freshener]] from a pine bat. You don't get the chance of epic booze, but the monsters give slightly better stats than in the Sleazy Back Alley
*Wait until level 5 and use a [[Knob Goblin harem veil|harem veil]]. This is awesome if you can reach level 5 without spending turns leveling. If you have to level up, the downside is obvious.
*Wait until level 9 and hope for [[Whoompa Fur Pants]] or [[Polysniff Perfume]].
*Wait until level 11 and use a [[can of black paint]].
*Fax a [[screambat]] after receiving the quest, bypassing the Junction altogether. Unfortunately many people consider this a waste of a fax. (Since you could fax a 1000 ML butt and kill it with bear hug for enough stats to get from level 1 to 4 it seems easy to wait for level 5 and the harem veil.)

None of that really matters much in softcore since two of the commonly used IOTMs offer elemental resistance: the [[Greatest American Pants]] (super structure buff), and the [[Loathing Legion pizza stone]].

===Level 5===
[[Avatar of Boris]] players will want to remember that the [[Knob cake]] route is a possibility here.

===Level 6===
[[Smash & Graaagh]] makes collecting [[bus pass|bus passes]] and [[imp air|imp air]] a snap.

===Level 7===
Don't forget to grab the [[talkative skull]] if you are so inclined.

===Level 8===
You won't have [[Unaccompanied Miner]], so mining will take actual turns (in addition to turns spent getting the outfit).  In softcore, you can skip this by pulling ores.  In hardcore, you can skip it by using 3 [[ten-leaf clover|clovers]] to get the ores.  This also bypasses the need for the mining outfit.  A variant of this strategy is to use a single clover for 1 of each ore, then [[zapping|zap]] the undesired ones into the ones that you're looking for.

If you wish to bypass [[The eXtreme Slope]], you'll need the [[ninja snowman assassin]] items and 5 levels of cold resistance.  In softcore, the Super Structure buff from the [[Greatest American Pants]] will grant enough resistance.  In hardcore, you could get 2 levels from [[Elemental Obliviousness]], 2 from a [[can of black paint]], and 1 from [[Oil of Parrrlay]] (if [[The F'c'le]] gives you one) or a [[titanium assault umbrella]] ([[The Penultimate Fantasy Airship|Airship]]).

For low-skill hardcore runs, you'll almost certainly have to go up the slope instead.

===Level 9===
<strike>[[Avatar of Boris]] players will want to remember that [[A Fax Machine|faxing]] can be used to bypass part or all of this quest.</strike> Revamped!

With low +item availablity, you may want to clover for clues on [[A-boo Peak]].  Without [[Elemental Obliviousness]] you may have trouble surviving the full gauntlet of elemental damage when redeeming them, so delay as long as possible and remember your Muscle-class HP bonus.

Use [[Brother Flying Burrito's Blessing]] for the +item test in [[Twin Peak]].  You'll still need another +20% which can come from [[Scavenge]] if you have the skill points; otherwise, +10% from [[Baron von Ratsworth's monocle]] and +15% from [[Knob Goblin eyedrops]].  Stench resistance could be an issue since [[Elemental Obliviousness]] is in the tree you're most likely not to touch.  Pray for [[pec oil]] or [[Oil of Parrrlay]] and postpone until [[can of black paint]]?  Initiative for the end of Twin Peak is no problem ([[Hunter's Sprint]]). [[Smash & Graaagh]] can grab [[rusty hedge trimmers]] to speed things along.

Boosting +ML for [[Oil Peak]] is simple if you brought the [[astral belt]].  Otherwise, you may have [[Ag-grave-ation]] in high-skill runs.  Softcore players can of course pull ML boosters.

===Level 10===
Run +item in the Airship, and use [[Smash & Graaagh]] (if possible) against the Princess (until you get a [[titanium assault umbrella]]), Healer (until [[amulet of extreme plot significance|amulet]]) and Burly Sidekick (until [[mohawk wig]]).  Once the Airship is complete, if you missed some of these, they're probably ''not'' worth backfarming.

If you have the bear arms, hug the [[Irritating Series of Random Encounters|ISOREs]] for 20 horde apiece.

Running +item in the basement of the Castle can help you pick up some [[pec oil]], [[Squat-Thrust Magazine]]s, and [[open sauce]], which one of the better nightcaps available in hardcore, along with [[Ye Olde Meade]] (from the ground floor) and [[crystal skeleton vodka]].  You'll want even more giant booze if you aren't getting free booze from the Camp Scout Backpack, but they're probably not worth delaying completion of the zones for.

If you get [[Cunctatitis]] on the ground floor of the Castle, remember that [[Bite Minion]] will cure it once you also have [[Devour Minions]].

===Level 11===
When killing [[ancient protector spirit]]s, [[Bilious Burst]] is the obvious choice, but is deep into the final tree.  Other good sources of elemental damage for Hardcore include [[Lapdog]], the [[grungy bandana]], various [[Tea party strategy|Hatter buffs]], the [[stylish swimsuit]], the [[double-ice cap]], the [[imp unity ring]], the [[hot plate]], and possibly your [[Misshapen Animal Skeleton]].  If that fails, you can level up and get a war outfit.

If you have a [[right bear arm]], [[Kodiak Moment]] deals substantial elemental damage, but can only be used once per combat.  If you have [[The Florist Friar's Cottage|Florist flowers]], you can plant Skunk Cabbage, Deadly Cinnamon, or Celery Stalker.

===Level 12===
Fighting for the frats, as usual, is the speediest route. Hardcore Zombie Masters should not try to complete the [[Recover the Sisters' Meat|nuns]]. No, not even with an [[Mick's IcyVapoHotness Inhaler|inhaler]]; it's not worth the turns without a Leprechaun. In softcore, your mileage may vary.

[[Smash & Graaagh]] trivializes the filthworm quest.  [[Meat Shields]] can help with flyering -- remember that you can build up several turns of it by casting it multiple times in a fight.  ([[Corpse Pile]] would also work, when you've got the points for that.)  Using [[Plague Claws]] ''without'' [[Infectious Bite]] will delevel opponents, which should help against the gremlins.  (The [[Reagnimated Gnome]] with the [[gnomish athlete's foot]] also delevels, as does the [[Bear-ly Legal]] skill.)  And of course, [[Summon Horde]] gives you the ability to increase combat rate (by casting [[Summon Minion]], not Summon Horde) for [[Sonofa Beach]].

===Lair===
You don't need the [[Wand of Nagamar]] to beat the Sorceress's third form, so you can skip the letter hunting.  However, you ''will'' need all the keys.  Since you can't eat key lime pies, for softcore this means you will either need to do the [[Daily Dungeon]], [[The GameInformPowerDailyPro Dungeon]], or somehow get access to 5 [[fantasy bandit]]s in a single day. If you make your first Daily Dungeon run with the [[candy cane sword cane]] you can still get all the keys in two days.

For the star key, you can open the Hole in the Sky and adventure for the stars and lines manually.  In softcore, you can also wish for a [[skinflute]] and copy it several times.

[[Devour Minions]] doesn't work in the fight against your shadow, so bring combat-usable healing items like [[gauze garter]]s or [[red pixel potion]]s.  [[Meat Shields]] ''does'' work here, but is not required.

[[Meat Shields]] makes the Naughty Sorceress fight significantly easier. It goes away after form 1 (unless you have cast it more than once so it has more than one turn in effect), but it remains in place at the end of form 2, so you get it "for free" on form 3.

{{Ascension Strategy}}

[[Category:Ascension Strategy]]