Legacy of Loathing

Legacy of Loathing is the Summer 2023 special challenge path, introduced on May 15th, 2023. This path adds variant rules and restrictions to an ascension run. Its description in The Bureau of Reincarnation reads "Play with replica items from the past 20 years of Mr. Store!"

Restrictions

• Your Familiar-Gro™ Terrarium is empty.
• You cannot use non-replica familiar hatchlings:

You can't use non-replica familiars right now.

• You may not pull equipment from Hagnk's Ancestral Mini-Storage:

  Only food, booze, potions, combat and usable items may be pulled on this path.

• Your IotMs don't auto-pull.
• And IotMs that are usable items (like the potted power plant) can't be pulled manually either.
• The Standard restrictions are expanded with items and skills derived from the IotMs replicated in this path.
• You cannot enter The Sea:

  That shack you saw on the main map was just a picture of a shack drawn on the ground.

Divergences

• Your adventure begins with "Starting Your Legacy."
• You start the run with a replica Mr. Accessory. You loot another from every main boss you defeat.
  • You start with one additional replica Mr. Accessory for each standard Legacy of Loathing run you've completed, and two additional for each completed hardcore run
  • If you have a Cincho de Mayo, you start with yet another additional replica Mr. Accessory.
• Replica Mr. Store is available in Market Square.
  • Within this store you can purchase one of three replica Items of the Month (IOTM) for each year. The years start with 2004 and end in 2022.

• Only one year's IOTMs are available at a time. When you purchase one, the next year's items become available instead.

• Exception: If you have already purchased and used the May 2023 IOTM, the Cincho de Mayo, a replica version will be additionally available below the older year's section.

• When you purchase an item from 2022, the items from 2004 become available again, and so on.
• You are not stopped from purchasing a second of the same item, even where that makes no sense.

• Most bosses are replaced with their original/past versions.
  • Instead of the Boss Bat, you fight the Classic Boss Bat.
  • Instead of the Knob Goblin King, you fight the Weirdly Scrawny Knob Goblin King.
  • Instead of the Bonerdagon, you fight the Orignial Bonerdagon.
  • Instead of Groar, you fight a Flock of Groars?.
  • Instead of Dr. Awkward you fight Jr. Awkwarj.
  • Instead of Lord Spookyraven you fight Little Lord Spookyraven.
  • Instead of Protector Spectre, you fight a Protector Spectre Candidate.
  • Instead of The Man you fight The Boy.
  • Instead of The Big Wisniewski you fight The Little Wisniewski.
  • The Naughty Sorceress, Ed the Undying, Ron "The Weasel" Copperhead and Baron von Ratsworth are unchanged.

Aftercore

• All replica familiars and equipment disappear immediately upon freeing the King, as does Replica Mr. Store.

Council Text

See The Council of Loathing/Legacy of Loathing.

Strategy

General advice

• Remember to set up your breakfast muffin before you ascend, so you can get a muffin tin to use in-run -- bran muffin is probably the best.
• With low progression, getting enough stats to level may be difficult. Consider drinking two meat muck with Cincho: Dispense Salt and Lime for 150 to each substat per drink from level 4 onwards.
• You can powerlevel your Bandersnatch by casting Saucestorm against a monster immune to elemental damage -- Spawn of Wally is a good pick for a Seal Clubber, as you'll probably be opening the guild anyway to get Ticking Clock.
• Seal Clubber is likely the best class choice, for fighting seals (as mentioned above) and because you have access to a banishing skill. Moxie classes do get to Pickpocket, though.

Astral gear and consumables

• The astral pet sweater makes all your familiars better, and in particular gives +2 free runs from the Frumious Bandersnatch.

Replica Mr. Store choices

• Making good purchases from Replica Mr. Store is key to having an enjoyable time in this path. Below is a first draft of a shopping list, which will need to be expanded and revised over the course of the season.
• Remember that you only get eight replica Mr. Accessory from fighting bosses, four of which come from the level 11 and level 12 quests. For your first few runs, pick items with immediate utility. Planning becomes more important as you progress through your runs.

Year	Recommended purchase	Commentary
2004	replica crimbo elfling	Item drop bonuses are universally useful, so you really want a Fairy-type familiar as soon as possible. You don't need the Volleyball-type familiar here, as you'll always get the Bandersnatch from 2009.
2005	replica miniature gravy-covered maypole	Not an impressive year. If you have an astral pet sweater, you might as well get the shaman instead. Otherwise, the item drop bonus is nice to have.
2006	replica Tome of Snowcone Summoning	Also not an impressive year. The snowcones only provide minor bonuses, so if you don't have any familiar equipment yet, consider the pumpkin basket.
2007	replica navel ring of navel gazing	Free runaways are extremely useful for delay-burning. However, if you plan to get the Greatest American Pants later, then the V mask is a better choice here.
2008	replica haiku katana	If you still don't have a familiar equipment, get the box of fireworks. Otherwise, the katana has some utility, especially if you also got the V mask.
2009	replica Apathargic Bandersnatch	Another source of free runaways, and a Volleyball-type familiar if you need the experience gain. This one is an obvious pick.
2010	replica organ grinder	Leprechaun-type familiars are useful in exactly three [The Fungus Plains|spots]], and the pies are a nice bonus. If you didn't pick the navel ring above, you should take the Greatest American Pants here, because they use the same counter for free runaways. Alternatively, you could pick the robortender in 2017, the Greatest American Pants here, and the V mask in 2007.
2011	replica cute angel	Fire a badly romantic arrow is the first source of copying monsters available on this path, which is vital for lobsterfrogman farming and useful in some other spots. Other sources become available later, but since the alternatives for 2011 are not particularly exciting, you probably still pick the angel.
2012	replica deactivated nanobots	Unleash Nanites with Nanoballsy active provides a yellow ray effect that can be used with very little setup. Once you have access to other yellow ray effects (e. g. from the Smith's Tome), the Libram likely becomes the better pick.
2013	replica Smith's Tome	The Smith's Tome was an infamously powerful item in its day, providing access to high-quality equipment, food and booze, as well as banishers and yellow rays.
2014	replica Little Geneticist DNA-Splicing Lab	Provides a wide variety of buffs, including elemental damage and meat/item drops. The grill also drops useful items, but it's likely not worth running a comparatively weak familiar to get them.
2015	replica Pack of Every Card(?)?	This year offers a genuinely difficult choice, as Chateau Mantegna lets you fight copies of certain important monsters. However, the Deck of Every Card is generally considered to be the best IotM of its year. This needs to be explored more.
2016	replica Source Terminal(?)	Another infamously powerful IotM that provides everything you could possibly want - buffs, monster copies, and EPIC-quality food/booze.
2017	replica Genie bottle(?)	While the robortender provides powerful booze and a very useful +Meat drop bonus, it doesn't measure up to the genie bottle, which provides the ability to summon monsters for you to fight.
2018	...	...

Rewards

• Finishing a Legacy of Loathing run while it is the current special challenge path -- between May 15th, 2023, (and August 15th, 2023) -- gives players 50 (in Normal) or 100 (in Hardcore) extra karma points the next time they visit Valhalla.
• Players will receive a Thwaitgold splendor beetle statuette upon defeating the Naughty Sorceress.
• Players in Hardcore gain the stainless steel equipment for their class.

Notes

Ascension Paths
Boozetafarian	Teetotaler	Oxygenarian
Special Challenge Paths
Spring Summer Fall Winter 2011 None Bees Hate You Way of the Surprising Fist Trendy 2012 Avatar of Boris Bugbear Invasion Zombie Slayer Class Act 2013 Avatar of Jarlsberg BIG! KOLHS Class Act II: A Class For Pigs 2014 Avatar of Sneaky Pete Slow and Steady Heavy Rains Picky 2015 Actually Ed the Undying One Crazy Random Summer Community Service None 2016 Avatar of West of Loathing The Source Nuclear Autumn None 2017 Gelatinous Noob License to Adventure Live. Ascend. Repeat. None 2018 Pocket Familiars G-Lover Disguises Delimit None 2019 Dark Gyffte Two Crazy Random Summer Kingdom of Exploathing None 2020 Path of the Plumber Low Key Summer Grey Goo None 2021 You, Robot Quantum Terrarium Wildfire None 2022 Grey You Journeyman Fall of the Dinosaurs None 2023 Avatar of Shadows Over Loathing Legacy of Loathing A Shrunken Adventurer am I None 2024 WereProfessor 11 Things I Hate About U Avant Guard None 2025 Z is for Zootomist Hat Trick 11,037 Leagues Under the Sea None