Kingdom of Exploathing/Strategy

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This guide will provide some additional information to aid with a Kingdom of Exploathing ascension.

Astral Consumables & Equipment

Astral consumables work as normal, but take into account the missing locations that may limit sources of possible turngen. Pick what suits your purposes best.

Astral equipment is trickier in comparison, for using any of the low-pressure oxygen tank, signal jammer or space shield will leave you strapped for slots. Accessory slots are difficult to spare in particular.

No access to Monster Aggravation Devices will mean having 10-11 less ML to work with, which makes the astral belt a reasonable possibility. Otherwise, the astral pet sweater is safest in order to utilize a slot that is unlikely to be occupied.

Moon Sign

This path is unique in that none of the zones associated with moon signs are available, so the only part that matters would be the passive benefits.

Given that The Hermitage is not available, ten-leaf clovers will be harder to come across. This makes The Marmot's daily clover an excellent choice to remedy this. The Opossum and The Blender come in a distant second due to their extra daily adventures.

• Note that you can still buy lucky-ish pills for 20 rare Meat isotopes each.

Mr. Store Items

Most of the usual applications for various items from the Mr. Store exist. However, some are more important than others under these restrictions, while others have their effectiveness reduced (or are not usable at all). Key divergences will be listed here.

• Spacegate access badge - The Secret Underground Spacegate Facility is not accessible due to the lack of mountains in this path.
  • The Disintegrate skill that comes from this IotM remains usable.
• Asdon Martin - You do not have access to any of the NPC stores that sell wads of dough (The Bugbear Bakery, The Gift Shop, The Degrassi Knoll Bakery and Hardware Store), making the usual loaf of soda bread not viable for topping off fuel levels. This means you will have to make do with what you find, cook or mix, and you will have to be far more selective with what you use your fuel for.
  • An easy solution in softcore would be to pull pies men were not meant to collectively eat.
• Neverending Party - The gas can dropped here offers an easy way to the defeat the invader. They can also be pulled in softcore.
• genie bottle - Several zones are unavailable, so wishing to fight specific monsters make it possible to obtain items not otherwise obtainable during a hardcore ascension. Some examples include the amulet of extreme plot significance, mohawk wig, lion oil and bird rib.
• Distant Woods Getaway Brochure - Conveniently, Your Campsite Away From Your Campsite is floating on its own island, and thus remains accessible despite the lack of The Distant Woods.
• Eight Days a Week Pill Keeper - Taking sneakisol can force the Rationing out Destruction non-combat to occur outside its set schedule.

Quest Progression

In this challenge path, all council quests are unlocked from the start, as are most locations. This shortens some areas, but removes some features to speed up others. One quest is also changed significantly.

Level 2

• The Hidden Temple begins unlocked, so once you obtain the mosquito larva, you do not need to spend any more time here.

Level 4

• Although minor, you do not need an enchanted bean due to the lack of The Penultimate Fantasy Airship.

Level 5

• Cobb's Knob begins unlocked, so you do not need to bother with The Outskirts of Cobb's Knob.

Level 7

• As wandering skeleton astronauts drop evil eyes, it is best to delay clearing The Defiled Nook until later in the run.

Level 10

• The Penultimate Fantasy Airship does not appear, so you can go straight to The Castle in the Clouds in the Sky.
• The problem, however, is that you do not have an opportunity to get any of the model airship, amulet of extreme plot significance, mohawk wig or titanium assault umbrella, which eliminates most of the shortcuts in the Giant Trash Quest. You will have to adjust accordingly.
  • Alternatively, the mohawk wig and amulet of extreme plot significance can be pulled in softcore, or those with a genie bottle may expend two wishes to obtain each of these from their source monsters.

Level 11

• Although you can adventure in The Black Forest immediately, it is best delayed until you have the 60 moxie required to equip the blackberry galoshes.
• Turning the forged identification documents to the council will yield your father's MacGuffin diary, which will unlock all relevant quest locations as expected. Of note, The Red Zeppelin's Mooring will appear on the main map directly.
• You cannot get the UV-resistant compass due to The Shore, Inc. not being available, so The Arid, Extra-Dry Desert exploration will take longer than usual.
• Although The Palindome is immediately visible, you still need to obtain the Talisman o' Namsilat through the usual means in order to adventure here.
• Whitey's Grove is not unlocked upon speaking to Mr. Alarm. The wet stunt nut stew must be obtained by adventuring in The Palindome to obtain it directly.
  • Alternatively, the wet stew can be pulled in softcore, or those with a genie bottle may expend two wishes to obtain each ingredient from their source monsters.

Level 12

• Although you can adventure in The Exploaded Battlefield immediately, it is best delayed until you have the 70 mysticality & moxie to equip either War Outfit.
• There are no sidequests to worry about. Your main goal is to obtain your preferred war outfit as soon as possible (Disintegrate is effective for this), then stockpile high level food or booze (depending on the side you choose to fight for), for the Rationing out Destruction noncombat can speed up the war in this path.
  • This noncombat occurs on a schedule, but can be forced by taking sneakisol from the Eight Days a Week Pill Keeper.
• Wielding a haunted paddle-ball or a Jacob's rung while fighting in the battlefield will eliminate an extra soldier in each combat.
• Fighting as a Frat Warrior is slightly preferred, since dishes that eliminate 15-20 combatants at a time are easy to cook with Pastamastery. Some examples include crudles, agnolotti arboli and spaghetti with ghost balls. Similarly effective booze is more difficult to find or mix in comparison.
• pies men were not meant to collectively eat also work, eliminating 25 War Hippies at a time. Another choice for 25 kills is the Deluxe layer cake, if you're not eating it yourself.
• If you choose to fight as a War Hippy and have used a book of matches to unlock The Hidden Tavern in The Hidden City, you can purchase the 6-Potency good booze Fog Murderer--which eliminates 15 Frat Boys--if you don't have anything better.
• In both cases, the consumables from Cosmic Ray's Bazaar each eliminate 20 combatants at the cost 5 rare Meat isotopes.

Level 13

• Neither the 8-Bit Realm nor the The Crackpot Mystic's Shed are available. To obtain the digital key, you need to defeat invader bullets, which drop the necessary white pixels that can be turned in at Cosmic Ray's Bazaar. 30 are still required.
  • The invader also drops 10 such pixels, and is a mandatory boss for this path.
  • Alternatively, if you have a genie bottle, you can wish to fight ghosts to obtain pixels that way.
• If you missed the chance to make a skeleton key while undefiling the Cyrpt, you can get the necessary components from one of the wandering skeleton astronauts.
• You cannot obtain extra gauze garters nor filthy poultices beyond those dropped from the monsters themselves, and red pixel potions cannot be made in this path. This limits your options for fighting your Shadow. The most reliable strategy is to use a semi-rare to grab some vials of scented massage oil from Cobb's Knob Harem.
  • The second best option is to craft plaid bandages.
  • If you have a genie bottle, you can wish to fight a Naughty Sorority Nurse to get some extra gauze garters in a pinch.
• The Wand of Nagamar cannot be pasted manually; some of the necessary letters are unavailable, nor is Bear Verb Orgy. You must either use a clover at the Basement of the Castle or purchase it from Cosmic Ray's Bazaar.

Miscellaneous

• Gnollish pie tins are not readily available, nor are jabañero peppers, which will limit your diet options if you do not have Pastamastery available.
• No Hippy Store means that you will have less fruit to work with, limiting your selection of reagent potions as well as advanced cocktails.
• The lack of soft green echo eyedrop antidotes means that you cannot easily remove On the Trail, so you will have to space your castings of Transcendent Olfaction more carefully than usual.
• Despite that The Hermitage is unavailable, you can still buy lucky-ish pills for 20 rare Meat isotopes each. This makes clovers easy to acquire as needed after you've done a few runs (or if you have Meat to spare).
• Torso Awareness cannot be learned in run, for The Thinknerd Warehouse and Fragnk, the Regnaissance Gnome are both unavailable.
• Be sure to spend all of your rare Meat isotopes before freeing the King, as Cosmic Ray's Bazaar will disappear and the isotopes are quest items that cannot be carried over to another Ascension.
  • When in doubt, space chowder and space wine are solid candidates.

Ascension Strategy
Rankings:	HC Skills - HC Familiars - HC IotMs
General:	Class selection - Familiar usage - Lucky adventures
Paths:	BHY - Fist - AoB - BI - ZS - AoJ - BIG! - KOLHS - CA2 - AoSP - SS - HR - Picky - Ed - Random - AoWoL - Source - NA - GN - LtA - L.A.R. - PF - G-Lover - DD
Additional Paths:	DG - 2CRS - KoE - PotP - LKS - GG - Y,Robot - QT - WF - GY - JM - FotD
IotMs:	Tomes - Faxing - Copying - YR - Garden - Correspondent - Workshed - Tea party - Florist