Insta-kill

An insta-kill is a combat action that immediately defeats a monster regardless of how many hit points it has.

Eligibility

The following monsters are immune to being insta-killed and will usually take some damage instead:

• bosses
• Peanut
• Eldritch Tentacle

Disintegration

Main article: Yellow ray strategy

Disintegration will automatically kill enemies and force all of their (non-conditional) items to drop. None of these can be used while you have the Everything Looks Yellow effect. See yellow ray strategy for a full list of disintegration sources.

Combat Items

Using these items doesn't force item drops like disintegration, but they do not have any cooldown period. Most of these items will instead deal damage when used against enemies it can't insta-kill.

• The Bomb blows up anything.
• Sharpened hubcaps have a small (perhaps 25%) chance of decapitating your foe, even if they don't have a head.
• An exploding cigar is just an exploding cigar.
• A Handsome Devil takes your opponent to Hey Deze and grants a +100% bonus to item drops alongside a +200% bonus to meat drops.
• A space invader will steal all of your opponent's quarters.
• The world's most dangerous birdhouse renders anything less cohesive, including tower monsters. (KOLHS only)
• A power pill lets your Puck Man eat your opponent in one gulp, without spending an adventure.
• A glob of superduperheated metal reduces your foe to ashes, at no adventure cost.
• A nuclear stockpile only works in aftercore during Crimbo of 2015, but it will blast your opponent to fallout, at no adventure cost.
• A replica bat-oomerang knocks out a foe three times a day and is not expended on use, at no adventure cost.
• A droppable microphone will either deal damage or immediately drop your foe.
• A Daily Affirmation: Think Win-Lose inspires you to win any fight at no adventure cost.
• A powdered madness causes a foe to lose their sanity at no adventure cost (up to 5x a day).
• A groveling gravel lets you get down on your knees and beg the enemy for mercy where it will beat itself up giving you meat and exp, but no items.
• A shadow brick annihilates your enemy at no adventure cost (up to 13x a day).

Monster-specific Items

The following items only work on specific monsters or in a single location.

• 4:20 bombs annihilate Hippies.
• An antique hand mirror shatters The Guy Made Of Bees.
• A beehive defeats the wall of skin.
• Bobcat grenades tear Beasts to shreds.
• Boozebombs take care of Orcs.
• Boxes of hammers destroy Constructs.
• Holy bombs, batman obliterate the Undead.
• A cigarette lighter burns any enemy in A Mob of Zeppelin Protesters as well as 5-7 other protesters.
• An electric boning knife deconstructs the wall of bones.
• A mime eraser instantly kills cheerless mime functionary in The Cheerless Spire (Level 1).
• An opium grenade defeats a pair of burnouts and eliminates two additional pairs in the White Citadel Quest.
• A plus-sized phylactery vanquishes the Gargantulihc.
• A drone self-destruct chip dissolves a liquid metal bugbear. (Bugbear Invasion only)
• A quantum nanopolymer spider web removes a bugbear scientist. (Bugbear Invasion only)
• In the old Sorceress' tower, each of the monsters could be insta-killed by a specific combat item. See this page for a full list of tower monsters and their associated items.
  • Similarly, a glob of dumb mud would also defeat any tower monster. (Heavy Rains only)
• A scroll of ancient forbidden unspeakable evil eliminates some physically-immune ghosts.
• A Bowl of Scorpions knocks out drunk pygmies, at no adventure cost. It works automatically if you have one in your inventory. Doing this eleven times in one day will also banish the drunk pygmy until rollover.
• An antique machete, when equipped, lets you cut through a dense liana, at no adventure cost.
• A glark cable fries any non-boss enemy in The Red Zeppelin, at no adventure cost.
• A groveling gravel can be used in combat to make the enemy beat itself up, giving you meat and exp but no items.
• The Elf Guard tinsel grenade insta-kills Crimbuccaneers encountered in Crimbo Town (2023). It also takes out additional enemy soldiers, scoring more points for your side.
  • Its counterpart, the Cannonbomb, does the same thing against Elf Guards.

Combat Skills

Similar to insta-kill items, these skills do not force item drops like disintegration. In fact, some of them destroy the monster so thoroughly that neither items nor meat will drop.

Skill	Source/Requirements	Cost	Item drop	Meat drop	Adventure cost	Notes
Slay the Dead	Back: unwrapped knock-off retro superhero cape Configured to Vampire Slicer trench cape with the washing instructions "Kill Me" Must have a Sword equipped	None	Yes	Yes	Normal	Only works against the Undead Decreases evil by 1 additional point when used on monsters in The Cyrpt
%fn, deliver your thesis!	Pocket Professor with at least 400 familiar exp	200 familiar exp	No	No	Normal	Does not awards substats Rewards bonus adventures proportional to the monster's initial stats Usable once a day
Batter Up!	Seal Clubber wielding a club	5 fury	No	No	Normal	Monster is also banished until rollover or subsequent use of Batter Up Awards substats but prevents meat and item drops.
Carbohydrate Cudgel	Skill learned from The Machine	30 MP dry noodles	No	No	Normal	Deals a large amount of damage against inapplicable monsters. Awards substats but prevents meat and item drops.
Chest X-Ray	Accessory: Lil' Doctor™ bag	None	Yes	Yes	Free	Can be used three times per day. Deals a large amount of damage against inapplicable monsters.
EXTERMINATE SPANT	Weapon: murderbot plasma rifle	None	Yes	Yes	Normal
Fire the Jokester's Gun	Weapon: The Jokester's gun	None	Yes	Yes	Free	Can be used once per day
Gingerbread Mob Hit	Skill learned from My Life of Crime, a Memoir	30 MP	Yes	Yes	Free	Can be used once per day
Implode Universe	Skill learned from The Imploded World	50 MP	Yes	Yes	Normal	Can be used once per day for each copy of The Imploded World read, to a maximum of 13.
Release the Boots	Familiar: Pair of Stomping Boots	None	No	No	Normal	Creates delicious paste (see Release the Boots for paste details) Prevents substats, meat, and item drops. Deals a weight-based amount of damage against inapplicable monsters.
Science! Fight with Rational Thought	Familiar: Intergnat suffix: WITH SCIENCE!	None	No	No	Normal	Grants 11 adventures of Rational Thought Awards substats but prevents meat and item drops.
Shattering Punch	Skill learned from training scroll: Shattering Punch	30 MP	Yes	Yes	Free	Can be used three times per day. Deals a large amount of damage against inapplicable monsters.
Trap Ghost	Back item: protonic accelerator pack	None	Yes	Yes	Normal	Can only be used against non-boss ghosts after using Shoot Ghost three times. Grants a bonus of +20 substats
Bifurcating Blow	Challenge Path: Avatar of Boris	10 MP	?	?	Normal	Has a 20 adventure (removable) cooldown counter between uses Deals half their HP in damage against inapplicable monsters.
Bear Hug	Challenge Path: Zombie Slayer Equip: right bear arm and left bear arm	None	?	?	Normal	Usable ten times per day, insta-kills and adds current foe(s) to your zombie horde
Walk Away From Explosion	Challenge Path: Avatar of Sneaky Pete	30 MP	?	?	Normal	Grants Bored With Explosions for 30 adventures, which banishes the monster and acts as cooldown counter for the skill Deals half their HP in damage against inapplicable monsters.
Lightning Strike	Challenge Path: Heavy Rains	20 bolts of Lightning	Yes	Yes	Free	Deals a large amount of damage against inapplicable monsters.
Free-For-All	Challenge Path: Avatar of Shadows Over Loathing	50 MP	Yes	Yes	Free	Only available as a Pig Skinner Gives 25 turns of Everything Looks Red to act as a cooldown (cannot be used with this effect)