Yellow ray strategy

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Introduction

Yellow rays (YR) refer to a family of skills and combat items that share a similar mechanic:

  • Instantly kill the current enemy
  • Force all of its Pickpocket eligible (but NOT Pickpocket Only) items to drop
  • Apply X turns of the Everything Looks Yellow effect on the player

You cannot use any yellow ray ability while Everything Looks Yellow is active. It effectively acts as a shared cooldown for all yellow rays. This effect can be worn off normally by spending adventures, and is removed during rollover. However, it cannot be removed by any other means; A Relaxing Hot Tub or soft green echo eyedrop antidote does not remove it.

Some monsters, including bosses, cannot be yellow-rayed. Most yellow rays (except for the pulled yellow taffy) also cannot force drops while underwater, since most underwater items are pickpocket-immune.

Yellow rays are named after the disintegration ray of the He-Boulder, which is the first of its kind introduced to the game.


When pickpocketing was originally implemented, all conditional drops were marked as non-pickpocketable. This, however, is no longer the case for newer content, with pickpocketability and conditionality being set for each drop separately. Because of the overlap between the two drop flags, for the longest time it was believed that Yellow Rays only affected items with no drop conditions. The actual flag that matters for Yellow Ray eligibility is no-pickpocket.

You can YR conditional drops, provided they are pickpocketable, but only if the condition is met. So you can, for example, YR an evil eye during the Cyrpt quest, but not after its completion.

Sources

Sources of yellow rays include:

Limited-time content
2022 or older content No longer available in in-season challenge paths.
2023 content Will not be available in in-season challenge paths in 2026 or later.
2024 content Will not be available in in-season challenge paths in 2027 or later.
2025 content Will not be available in in-season challenge paths in 2028 or later.
Yellow Ray Source Duration Notes

spitball
(combat item)
April Shower Thoughts shield
(off-hand) 		100

Blow the Yellow Candle!
(skill)
Roman Candelabra
(off-hand) 		75

Ask %fn to go down in flames
(skill)
Emberiza Aureola
(familiar) 		49
  • Requires 100 familiar XP to use, but reduces familiar XP to zero

Spit jurassic acid
(skill)
Jurassic Parka
(shirt) 		99

yellow rocket
(combat item) 		Underground Fireworks Shop
(Clan VIP Lounge) 		75
  • Costs 250 Meat each.

Unleash the Devil's Kiss
(skill)
unwrapped knock-off retro superhero cape
(back item) 		100
  • Must be configured to Heck General with the washing instructions "Kiss Me".

flame orb
(combat item)
Cargo Cultist Shorts
(pants) 		100

micronova
(combat item)
Red-Nosed Snapper
(familiar) 		150
  • Dropped by the Red-Nosed Snapper after tracking and defeating 11 constellations

Eight Days a Week Pill Keeper
(accessory) 		30
  • Is primed by selecting Monday - Explodinall when choosing to Take your Pills
  • After priming, the yellow ray effect is fired when defeating the next monster you fight. It will not insta-kill the monster for you; you must kill it normally for the effect to occur.
  • First use of each day is free, but subsequent uses require 3 spleen

Disintegrate
(skill)
Spacegate emergency disintegrator
(usable item) 		100

viral video
(combat item)
Intergnat
(familiar) 		150
  • Can be acquired by trading 20 BACON, which are dropped by the Intergnat after combat

mayo lance
(combat item) 		The Mayo Clinic
(workshed) 		150 - Mayo
  • Can be purchased at The Mayo Clinic for 2,500 meat, once per day
  • Upon use, consumes all remaining units of blood mayo
  • ELY duration is 150 - 5 × (consumed unit of blood-mayo)

Open a Big Yellow Present
(skill)
Crimbo Shrub
(familiar) 		150
  • Your Crimbo Shrub must be decorated with Big Yellow-Wrapped Presents

Golden Light
(combat item)
Summon Smithsness
(tome) 		150

pulled yellow taffy
(combat item)
Summon Taffy
(libram) 		75
  • Yellow ray effect works only underwater
  • Unlike other yellow rays, this will force almost all underwater items to drop
  • Standard restrictions are practically meaningless, since most underwater zones are either inaccessible or impractical during a run

Unleash Nanites
(skill)
Nanorhino
(familiar) 		150
  • Must be used while you have 40 or more turns of the Nanoballsy effect, gained by using a Moxie class's combat skill with the Nanorhino out

unbearable light
(combat item)
Summon Clip Art
(tome) 		150

pumpkin bomb
(combat item) 		A Pumpkin Patch
(garden) 		150

Point at your opponent
(skill)
He-Boulder
(familiar) 		150 / 100
(see notes)
  • Must be used while your He-Boulder's eyes are yellow
  • ELY duration becomes 100 turns if the He-Boulder has quadroculars equipped

yellowcake bomb
(combat item) 		Chemistry Class (After School) 75
  • Can be acquired and used only within the KOLHS challenge path

Flash Headlight
(skill) 		Sneaky Pete's Gate
(as Avatar of Sneaky Pete) 		100

Ball Lightning
(skill)
lightning milk
(usable item) 		100
  • Can be acquired and used only within the Heavy Rains challenge path

Wrath of Ra
(skill) 		The Book of the Undying 100

Unleash Cowrruption
(skill)
Tales of the West: Cow Punching
(usable item) 		150
  • Can be acquired only within the Avatar of West of Loathing challenge path, if you are the Cow Puncher class or have skill points for Cow Puncher

Fondeluge
(skill)
The Cheese Wizard's Companion
(usable item) 		50
Level 3
Fireball Barrage
(skill) 		Mushroom District Badge Shop 50
  • Can be acquired and used only within the Path of the Plumber challenge path
  • Acts as a Level 2 Fireball Barrage with ELY already active

Similar disintegration actions

The following actions cause all pickpocketable items to drop, but do not inflict Everything Looks Yellow.

Action Source Notes

mixed berry jelly
(spleen item)
Möbius ring
  • Acquired by choosing "Teach hippies to make jams and jellies" in Time is a Möbius Strip choice adventure, after having previously chosen "Plant some trees and harvest them in the future."
  • Forces all items to drop from the next enemy you defeat after consuming. Costs 1 spleen.

Northern Explosion
(skill)
April Shower Thoughts shield
  • Equipping the shield modifies the skill, turning it into a disintegration.
  • Only disintegrates once per day.

Shocking Lick
(skill) 		battery (9-Volt)
battery (lantern)
battery (car)

Feel Envy
(skill) 		Emotionally Chipped
(passive skill)
  • Does not Insta-kill; you must still win the fight after casting the skill for the effect to occur
  • Usable 3 times per day

Use the Force, %playername!
(skill)
Fourth of May Cosplay Saber
(weapon)
  • Takes you to Using the Force, where you can choose to force all non-conditional items to drop and end the combat without spending an adventure
  • This works like a free runaway, not a combat victory, so conditional items will never drop
  • Unlike most of the mechanics on this page, Using the Force needs the item to not have a condition and doesn't care about its pickpocket availability.

Asdon Martin: Missile Launcher
(skill) 		Asdon Martin
(workshed)
  • Costs 100 fuel and can be used once per day
  • Is a Free Kill

Spooky Jellied
(effect) 		spooky jelly
toast with spooky jelly

Strategy

Planning out your run's YRs in advance can save you a lot of hassle and heartache later on. If you have the resources to generate two YRs per day, one plan is to YR something at the start of each day and at the end of each day, letting rollover clear Everything Looks Yellow for you. Depending on your path, it may be difficult to generate 150 turns on day 1, so be wary.

If you haven't planned a YR "route", ask yourself this question before each YR: "Am I going to hit any YR targets in the next 150 turns that are more valuable than this one?"

Most Effective

Disintegrating these monsters will usually provide the most bang for your YR buck. Monsters are very roughly listed in the order you'd encounter them during a run.

Monster Purpose Notes
beanbat sonar-in-a-biscuit (10% drop), enchanted bean Better than YRing in Guano Junction because you need the bean as well.
Knob Goblin Harem Girl Knob Goblin Harem Girl Disguise (20% drop each) If you're not taking the KGE lucky adventure.
banshee librarian killing jar (10% drop) Gives +15% exploration for the Desert/Oasis part of the level 11 quest.
hippies Filthy Hippy Disguise (5% drop each) For drink mixers and makes it easier to get an outfit for the war. If you intend to farm it without a YR, wait until the level 9 noncombats if possible.
mountain man 2 each of asbestos ore, chrome ore, linoleum ore (10% drop) For level 8. A good target that lets you use wishes or lockets and yellow rays to save clovers and headaches.
bearpig topiary animal, elephant (meatcar?) topiary animal or spider (duck?) topiary animal rusty hedge trimmers (15% drop) To advance the Twin Peak portion of the level 9 quest.
Burly Sidekick Mohawk wig (10% drop) For use in the Top Floor to complete the level 10 quest.
Quiet Healer amulet of extreme plot significance (10% drop) For use in the Castle Basement to continue in the level 10 quest. You probably won't be able to YR both the Healer and the Sidekick on the same day, so consider sniffing the Healer instead (since she also drops SGEEAs), or do the Airship over two days to get two YRs.
Blackberry bush blackberry (20% drop) Makes blackberry galoshes in the non-combat. Saves a couple of turns if you have nothing better to YR.
pygmy janitor book of matches (20% drop) Allows purchase of items from The Hidden Tavern: Bowl of Scorpions to banish drunks, Cursed Punch as a fallback in case you don't encounter three pygmy shamans in time, and Fog Murderer as a potential nightcap.
Tomb rat king
(SEE NOTES) 		multiple tomb ratchets (20% drop) Tomb rat king is a boss, so insta-kills don't work on him, which includes all yellow rays and most similar effects. Mixed berry jelly is an example of something that works.
War Frat or War Hippy or War Frat 151st Infantryman Frat Warrior Fatigues or War Hippy Fatigues (10% drop or lower) For starting the war. The 151st Infantryman is accessible through Numberology, accessible on day 1 if you have the tools, which makes this option significantly more valuable.
filthworms hatchling gland, drone gland, royal gland (10% drop each) Can also be forced with Pickpocketing (especially peppermint crooks and "hugpocketing"), burglarizing, or Perpetrate Mild Evil.

Honorable Mentions

Might not save as many turns as the monsters above, but still worth a mention.

Monster Purpose Notes
blur drum machine (30% drop) For the Desert/Oasis part of the level 11 quest. Wormriding is not always required, and 234% item drop is often achievable by An Oasis.
swarm of scarab beatles mojo filter (10% drop) In case your strategy requires additional spleen usage in a given day.
Bob Racecar/Racecar Bob stunt nuts (30% drop) For level 11. Listed as an honorable mention because 234% item drop is often achievable by The Palindome.
mad wino Psychotic Train wine (10% drop) One of the best nightcaps available in run. The pie (another 10% drop) can also be used as Asdon Martin fuel.

Aftercore

This page is tailored for ascension, but forcing all of a monster's item to drop is useful outside of ascension as well. Note that some items held by tempting aftercore targets, like the giant sandworm (spice melange) or the scary pirate, are not pickpocketable, and thus will not be forced by a yellow ray.

Monster Purpose Notes
Mer-kin researcher Mer-kin darkbook Drops an untradeable skill-granting item that provides one of the words for the Mer-kin dreadscroll, as well as two more word-providing items.

Note: As an underwater target, these drops can only be forced with pulled yellow taffy.
unholy diver rusty broken diving helmet, rusty porthole, rusty rivet All relatively low-rate drops. Over half the items necessary to construct a rusty diving helmet.

Note: As an underwater target, these drops can only be forced with pulled yellow taffy.

Notes

  • If you just need to kill a tough non-boss monster and don't necessarily need its drops, consider an insta-kill effect (such as Handsome Devil), or a large plus damage effect (such as Song of Sauce or Pisces in the Skyces from tobiko marble soda) to avoid Everything Looks Yellow.
  • The pulled yellow taffy is believed to operate differently from other YR sources, because it can force some item drops that other YR sources do not force.
    • There is an unproven theory that the pulled yellow taffy acts as a large +item modifier instead of a traditional YR. This needs more spading.
    • For certain drops from certain monsters, if a traditional YR does not work on them, the taffy still might. This can be achieved by copying the monster with either an Obtuse Angel or Reanimated Reanimator, starting the countdown, then adventuring underwater when the copy window is active and using the taffy when the wandering copy shows up.
    • Conditional Drops with unsatisfied conditions will still not drop, even for taffy.
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
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