Combat Style

Welcome intrepid soul! This article is intended as a place to collect useful ways of efficiently completing combat adventures. The changes that accompanied NS13 have eroded the dominance of strategies that use permanent combat skills like Lunging Thrust Smack for Moxie and Mysticality classes.

This page is specifically not intended for such strategies, but rather for collecting ways that individual classes are "meant" to fight, using their own class skills and strengths, and the (relatively) accessible items they find around them. MacGyver fighting. Ideally, these strategies should be accomplish-able by a brand new character, or in a Bad Moon ascension. That said, any useful combat strategy is welcome, but this article is not aimed at the person with two-dozen ascensions under their belt, because such a person most likely does not need advice. The audience of this page is the new player, or the person playing a specific class for the first time. Now then...

Basic Combat Styles

The Path of Boris - Muscle

Muscle has 4 features: it determines accuracy of melee attacks, it boosts attack damage, it increases maximum HP, and it determines which melee weapons and shields you can equip. Boris teaches us that HP allows you to survive the attacks of your opponent, but defeating them as quickly allows you to control that damage. The true disciple of Boris should maximize his damage with powerful Melee Weapons, and enchantments giving additional Muscle and Bonus Melee Damage. Use your HP like a gas tank, and try to make it last several fights. Rely on your shield, hat, and pants to further limit damage, and refill when necessary with the incredible healing powers of Medicinal Herb's medicinal herbs available from The Smacketeria. Ben-Gal™ Balm is available from The Market and is always good for a quick, cheap boost to your Muscle.

The highest perfection of The Path of Boris is to hit so hard that you defeat the enemy in a single blow, giving them only one opportunity to attack you. You can eliminate even this chance by boosting your Combat Initiative, which raises the chances of you hitting your enemy first. In the words of Boris, "One hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the highest victory. Killing your opponent before he gets to attack you by maxing out your Melee Damage and Initiative is the highest victory."

Prioritize:

1. Enough Muscle to hit your target reliably.
2. Then high power weapons and anything with bonus melee damage.
3. Finally, defensive power or combat initiative, whichever lets you take less damage.
4. Consider using a one-handed weapon with a shield for Damage Reduction.

The Way of Sneaky Pete - Moxie

Moxie boosts both your chance to dodge attacks, and your defense against them if you are hit. It also determines accuracy with ranged weapons. Sneaky Pete values Moxie above all else because it allows both accuracy and evasiveness. Who needs balance when you can get offense and defense in one stat?

Always use a ranged weapon. In your equipment look for Moxie boosts and Bonus damage more than weapon power. You can completely neglect defense power and HP to satisfy these needs. If you need more Moxie, the Market Demon in the Market Square sells cans of hairspray, which will give you a 15% boost.

The ultimate goal of Sneaky Pete is perfect evasion. Using the tables in Safe Adventuring, boost your Moxie until you are "safe." You will still be hit by the occasional critical-hit, but remain stalwart. Damage may not be high, but by dodging almost all attacks you can methodically wear your opponent down while they can do little to retaliate. Even bosses will fall to this method if your heart remains truly Moxious. Heed the advice of Sneaky Pete, "If you know your enemies [safe evasion limit] and know your[own Moxie], you will win a hundred times in a hundred battles."

Prioritize:

1. Moxie! Boost Moxie to get past the limit for Safe Adventuring.
2. No seriously, Moxie. At the expense of anything else. Really.
3. A ranged weapon, and any bonus melee or elemental damage you can scrounge up.
4. Elemental items or skills like Chronic Indigestion may be needed to deal with physical immune monsters.

Skill Based - The Arcane and Mysterious Esotericism of Jarlsberg

Jarlsberg has shown us that Mysticality plays no direct role in combat. Rather, it determines MP which in turn fuels skills. Skill-Based combat is the combat style preferred by Mysticality Classes, as well as those who have completed a number of Ascensions. It generally consists of using skills that will always hit the Monster, such as Shieldbutt or any of the Mysticality Spells. The advantage of this is that the character's Stats in relation to the Monster's are largely irrelevant, allowing the player to adventure at any area he or she has access to. However, skills are expensive to acquire, and they require the expenditure of MP, which can be expensive to refill. In addition, two major bosses can block combat skills leaving these characters at a disadvantage.

The only true specialty of Myst. classes is Elemental Combat. Using the correct element against elementally weak monsters will do double damage, often letting you get a one-hit kill. Several spellbooks exist which allow you to control the element of your spell. Though somewhat expensive, these items can often be a better investment than new spells or flashier equipment.

In areas where the monsters are not weak to any element, you may have to resort to more subtle methods. Skills like Entangling Noodles can prevent the enemy from attacking, while skills like Jalapeno Saucesphere heal damage while you attack. The Way of Jarlsberg is to use these skills strategically to get an edge on your attacker.

Prioritize:

1. Anything that increases damage for the skill you are relying upon. e.g. Bonus Spell Damage for myst. spells, or helmet turtles for Headbutt.
2. Something to help you decrease/avoid damage. Combat Initiative and high Moxie are good choices. Failing that Damage Reduction and Damage Absorption can pick up some slack.
3. Any method of reducing skill MP cost, or MP regeneration. Failing that, a way of making enough meat to pay for MP Restorers.

Sustainability

The beginning and ending of all styles of combat is sustainability. That is, gaining enough meat per adventure to (at least) cover any healing or MP recovery items you might need. While it may be worthwhile to operate at a loss temporarily in order to get certain items or complete a quest, ordinary leveling should be done where you can adventure comfortably. It is far less efficient to adventure at the hardest area you have access to, than to fight in a slightly easier area that allows you to control the damage you take. If you use all your meat up on healing, you can't afford new class skills and equipment. Even worse, turns spent sleeping at your Campsite or Beaten Up are turns wasted. This is true even if you fall behind on your quests. If you can't beat the Goblin King right now, just move on. You can always come back in 20 adventures. Or 40.

Class Specific

Seal Clubber

Lunging Thrust-Smack + Eye of the Stoat provides a bonus to hit, which is increased for a Seal Clubber. In addition, the Lunging Thrust-Smack provides triple damage from the main weapon. Skills such as Claws of the Walrus, Claws of the Otter, Snarl of the Timberwolf, and Rage of the Reindeer provide a melee damage bonus, which can make attacks quite lethal (Rage also boosts Muscle). Double-Fisted Skull Smashing allows two one-handed weapons to be used, which can also increase the damage. Pulverize also provides a source of Muscle and Damage boosting enchantments from Wads received from it. Altogether, the Seal Clubber provides an opportunity to max out the damage done with each melee attack.

Turtle Tamer

Head+Knee+Shield Combo

The Turtle Tamer's "-butt" skills provide an excellent way to both connect with the Monster and deal it significant damage. The Headbutt adds power based on your Hat, with bonus power added if it's a Helmet Turtle based hat. Kneebutt does something similar, except for pants. Additionally, it provides a bonus to hit (believed to be about 20 Muscle), and has about a 45% chance of stunning your opponent. Shieldbutt does something similar with your shield. It ALWAYS hits, and additionally delevels your opponent. It should be noted that Tao of the Terrapin doubles the power of Hats and Pants, which is taken into account when using the appropriate "-butt" skill. These three skills can also be combined into a "Combo." If playing as a Turtle Tamer, if you have more than one of the "-butt" skills, you can use two (or even three) of them at the same time by adding up their total MP costs and adding one. The highest of the combat modifiers amongst them is the one that is used (so any combo with Shieldbutt will always hit. Head/Knee combo will have the +20 Muscle to hit). This can provide a devastating attack wherein the Turtle Tamer Attacks (always hitting), Headbutts for additional damage, Kneebutts for even more additional damage and the chance of stunning, and finally Shieldbutts for even MORE additional damage and some deleveling. Though this is fairly MP-intensive (13 MP per attack), it will make short work of even the highest level Monsters, and with a little luck, stun them with the Kneebutt repeatedly, preventing them from retaliating.

Turtling

True to their name, the Turtle Tamer also excels at defense. They have three different skills (Tao of the Terrapin, Ghostly Shell, and Astral Shell) that increase their Damage Absorption. Astral Shell also increases Elemental Resistance. Skin of the Leatherback increases Damage Reduction. And Hero of the Half-Shell changes it so that Muscle is used instead of Moxie to determine how much damage is recieved from attacks (though it does not change the monster's chance of hitting you). Armorcraftiness alows earlier access to high-power Hats, Pants, and Shields, that also can boost Muscle, HP, MP Regeneration, or Combat Initiative. A combination of these skills can allow a Turtle Tamer to adventure even at high-level zones without (much) fear of dying, since the damage dealt to him/her will be so little.

Combat Familiars

The Turtle Tamer has two skills that increase the Weight of their Familiars: Empathy of the Newt and Amphibian Sympathy. These two skills make using a Familiar for Combat more of an option. A familiar with the properties of a Star Starfish is a good choice, as it restores MP to fuel "-butt" combos. A familiar with the properties of a Ghuol Whelp restores both HP and MP, which can be useful for a Turtling Strategy (though Ghuols don't attack). A NPZR restores HP and MP and also attacks, stuns, and delevels. Any of the Elemental Baby Gravy Fairies can be used to attack and increase item drops. They also can be chosen to deal double damage against whatever enemy you are fighting.

Pastamancer

Use the Spellbooks

There is really no such thing as Mysticality based combat. The specialty of Myst. classes is Elemental Combat. The Codex of Capsaicin Conjuration and Gazpacho's Glacial Grimoire are available in your guild store. These items allow your spells to always do Hot or Cold damage respectively. Using the correct element against elementally weak monsters will do double damage, often letting you get a one-hit kill. Though somewhat expensive, these items can often be a better investment than new spells or flashier equipment. Hot damage is useful early on in the Undefile the Cyrpt Quest and at the Icy Peak. Cold damage comes into play later, dominating both sides of the Mysterious Island Quest and helps at The Hole in the Sky. The truely cunning might team this advantage up with Springy Fusilli and/or Entangling Noodles as outlined below.

Springy Fusilli + Entangling Noodles

Before combat use Springy Fusilli and equip any +initiative equipment to raise combat initiative. Using Entangling Noodles after you get the jump on an opponent, you can buy yourself two rounds of freedom from any damage it would have dealt. When you can kill the opponent in two turns but not one, this skill can save you a fortune on healing. It is especially useful from the Giant's Castle onward. In particular, casting Entangling Noodles and then eXtreme Ray of Something twice costs less than one casting of Cone of Whatever, while usually doing more damage.

Sauceror

• Early On: Before you get many skills, the Sauceror is basically a weak Muscle class. Even if you have some of the weaker spells, without Bonus Spell Damage you may find that melee attacks actually do more damage. Saucy Salve can help out a lot here. It heals 10-14HP in combat, and the first time it's used, your opponent doesn't get a chance to act that turn. It's a great way to increase your longevity, and get some use out of your MP early on when you're forced to trade blows. Try to keep your HP topped off. You'll more than make back the 800 meat cost in not buying as many healing items. Repeat use in a single combat is not advised as subsequent attempts have less of a chance of blocking your opponent's turn. You'll still be weak during this part. Be patient and methodical, little duckling, and eventually you will blossom into a beautiful swan. Or whatever. If you really want to make a stab at using spells, the shiny butcherknife can be of help.

• Melee Saucecrafting: Advanced Saucecrafting is unquestionably the best skill the Sauceror has at its disposal. Get it as quickly as possible once you reach Level 5. Make tomato juice of powerful power and philter of phorce and you can fight as well as or better than Muscle classes. For a reliable source of ingredients, unlock The Hippy Store. Just use your 17-Alarm Saucepan if you made it, and maybe the Crown of the Goblin King and you can melee almost anything. This method can handle everything up to the The Bonerdagon. Possibly beyond, but eventually your low base Muscle will make it difficult to keep up-to-date on weapons. You can also boost Moxie and go with a ranged weapon if that's your thing. Once you can make potions, you should almost always have at least one up.

• Rudimentary Sauce-slinging: The damage of sauce spells tend to be unimpressive until you acquire some items with Bonus Spell Damage. If, however, you can get hold of the 17-Alarm Saucepan and a Codex of Capsaicin Conjuration, the combo will let you get down to the business of antagonist annihilation. Hot spells won't do you much good during the Level 6 Deep Fat Friars' Gate Quest, so you'll have to find another way. But they'll positively devastate the Spooky monsters of the Level 7 Undefile the Cyrpt Quest. Stream of Sauce will let you two hit most everything there, and Saucestorm will clean house. Or at least clean Cyrpt. Hot spells can dominate again at the Lair of the Ninja Snowmen and the Icy Peak in Level 8, and against various Spooky monsters found thereafter. There is little compelling reason to change your spells over to Cold until Level 12, unless you feel you are doing too much damage. Boosting your moxie with serum of sarcasm and tomato juice of powerful power can provide particularly good defenses, allowing you to two-hit or even three-hit monsters with impunity. Your weaker spells can last you a long time this way, and they're more MP efficient than the higher level spells. Saucestorm can probably last you until Level 10.

• Jalapeño Saucesphere: Jalapeño Saucesphere returns the MP you spend back as HP. Once you get to Level 10, and begin using spells like Wave of Sauce regularly, you should keep this up constantly. Its cheap to cast, and it can counteract, or even completely negate, any damage the enemy can do to you, eliminating almost all need of conventional healing. This can be particularly helpful in places like the Giant's Castle where no monsters have elemental weaknesses and you just have to slog your way through.

• Wave of Sauce + Wave of Sauce/Saucegeyser: When you exceed +25 Bonus Spell Damage while casting Wave of Sauce, you will gain the effect Burning Soul or Soul Freeze depending on whether the spell was hot or cold. This effect returns 1/3 of the damaged done by the next spell of that element as MP. Follow this up by another Wave of Sauce or a Saucegeyser to gain back as much MP as possible. Using a spellbook to always cast the same elemental type, and Jalapeño Saucesphere to regain HP, you can cast this combination nearly free of cost, while effectively taking little or no damage. If you also use Jabañero Saucesphere and a chefstaff such as the Staff of the Greasefire it is possible to make back more MP you spend per adventure. This strategy can be so effective that you may intentionally not use the element an opponent is weak to, in order to not kill it in the first turn.
  • You may find the baconstone pendant, blackberry slippers, Enchanted toothpick the 17-Alarm Saucepan, chefstaves, and Intrinsic Spiciness useful in exceeding the cap. Bonus to spell % will not trigger the overflow effect.

Disco Bandit

The advantages that the Disco Bandit has for Moxie-Style play are Ambidextrous Funkslinging, which allows the use of two combat items per combat round, and the Disco Dance moves (Disco Eye-Poke, Disco Dance of Doom, Disco Dance II: Electric Boogaloo, Disco Face Stab, and Tango of Terror), which each automatically hit, deal some damage, and delevel the enemy. Either of these can be used to delevel the opponent quickly at the beginning of a fight, and then use Combat Items or Ranged Weapons can finish the opponent off. In addition, Disco Combos can allow for beneficial damaging effects to speed the combat process along, and Crossbow Fever turns Crossbow-based Ranged Weapons into a force to be reckoned with.

Accordion Thief

The Accordion Thief casts buffs. Buffs make you stronger. Therefore, Accordion Thieves are awesome. At Level 9 they also get access to the guild stores of the Chef-magi and the Brotherhood of the Smackdown, giving them access to cheap healing from medicinal herbs, and cheap MP recovery from magical mystery juice.

• Moxie Evasion Method: Using the tables in Safe Adventuring, boost your moxie until you are "safe." Buy Moxious Madrigal from your guild as soon as you have 200 meat. It will boost your evasion, accuracy, and defense. Keep it up constantly. Always use a ranged weapon. In your equipment look for moxie boosts and added damage more than weapon power. You can completely neglect defense power and max. Hp to satisfy these needs. If you need more moxie, the Market Demon in the Market Square sells cans of hairspray, which will boost your moxie by 15%. Later on, the skill Stevedave's Shanty of Superiority can further boost your Moxie. With this strategy you may kill slowly, but you will kill without taking much damage. This method is so useful, you should have few/no problems until you reach the Naughty Sorceress who will cancel your buffs, making her considerably harder. Level up and focus on equipment to get Moxie near to or over 207.
  • Useful and Cheap Equipment: Sneaky Pete's breath spray, Tap shoes, Chintzy accordion pin,

• Squeezebox of the Ages: The Squeezebox of the Ages, the Accordion Thief's Legendary Epic Weapon, boosts Moxie and has great bonus damage. You can get it around Level 4, and there is no reason not to use it, unless you are looking for a challenge. It can easily last you until the Level 12 quest, during which you can find a few more powerful ranged weapons. Even then, its top-of-the-line Moxie boost prevents it from ever truly being made obsolete.

• Additional Accordion Buffs: Ordinarily, only three songs can be played at a time. Jackasses' Symphony of Destruction can increase your damage, Brawnee's Anthem of Absorption reduces damage taken, Fat Leon's Phat Loot Lyric increases item drops, and Polka of Plenty increases meat drops. Use these skills to cover your weaknesses and fine tune your combats. Later on, Aloysius' Antiphon of Aptitude can be used to increase stat gains, and get you those last few levels you need to challenge the Sorceress. Be careful though. It can get expensive.