Quantum Terrarium
From A KoL Wiki
Quantum Terrarium is the Summer 2021 special challenge path, introduced on May 15th, 2021. This path adds variant rules and restrictions to an ascension run. Its description in The Bureau of Reincarnation reads "A quantum event has collapsed all of the Kingdom's Terraria into one!"
Restrictions
- 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 run begins with an introduction by Dr. Gordon Stuart, a Scientist in the Quantum Terrarium.
- The Quantum Terrarium replaces the Familiar-Gro™ Terrarium at your Campground.
- Your familiar will be randomly assigned from the pool of familiars from all players. Its name will be the same as the name given by the donating player.
- The familiar type is assigned first and the familiar name is assigned second, meaning that all familiars are equally likely of being assigned.
- Familiars change every 11 adventures. This is quite frankly ridiculous, and not even funny.
- The change occurs at the start of a fight with the text: The quantum waveform of your terrarium has coalesced into the form of <source playername>'s <familiar type>.
- Using the Q.F.I.D.M.A. at the Quantum Terrarium, you can choose your next assigned familiar, keeping the same next-familiar-time as the current setting. Once used there is a cooling off period of 111 adventures before you can use it again; this cooldown persists across rollover.
- A queued familiar that is replaced by using the Q.F.I.D.M.A. will not be available for selection again.
- You can only use each familiar once, chosen or otherwise, until each familiar has been used. Afterward the cycle begins anew.
- The following familiars are not available:
- Black Cat
- Comma Chameleon
- Crimbo Shrub
- Disembodied Hand
- Fancypants Scarecrow
- Left-Hand Man
- Mad Hatrack
- O.A.F.
- Stocking Mimic
- Trick-or-Treating Tot
- All familiars exclusive to the Pocket Familiars path
- You cannot adventure without a familiar.
- Generic familiar equipment functions as normal.
- Familiars drop their usual items after combat.
- It is possible to compete in The Cake-Shaped Arena, prizes are given out as normal.
- All items sourced from a familiar that would be restricted by Standard are now allowed, including pulls, even if that familiar is not your current familiar.
- All familiars gain a passive weight bonus of 2*Your Level, capped at level 10 (+20 pounds).
Progression
Each normal (softcore) Quantum Terrarium ascension decreases the initial Q.F.I.D.M.A. cooling off period by 3 adventures. Each hardcore Quantum Terrarium ascension decreases the initial Q.F.I.D.M.A. cooling off period by 6 adventures. The minimum cooling off period is 78 adventures (at 11 ascension "points").
Strategy
Strategy will ostensibly be similar to that of a pathless run, albeit with unpredictable familiar reliability.
Familiar strategy will likely revolve around:
- Maximising combats with familiars who drop desired items or provide useful abilities such as increased item drops.
- Minimizing for familiars who offer no value (or are potentially detrimental).
- Notably, items dropped by familiars are *not* subject to Standard restrictions. For example, adventure-granting Spleen items such as Powdered gold, Unconscious Collective Dream Jar or Stomping Boot pastes can be used to gain adventures and substats. This source of turn generation is not normally available in a standard run.
- These items can also be pulled in a softcore ascension, offering some extra versatility for one's pulls.
- As many spleen items are tied to older familiars, this gives extra ways to make use of one's Spleen during your ascension. This is especially noteworthy for those without the Eight Days a Week Pill Keeper.
- A powerful familiar with a daily counter of some kind, such as free runaways or dropped items per day, can be held over rollover to effectively double its usage during your ascension
It may be profitable to request certain types of familiars at certain times. Some examples of familiars of note (in no particular order):
- Gelatinous Cubeling : Provides daily dungeon gear, which is especially useful in a hardcore ascension. Needing 12 combat for the three primary drops with an availability window of 11 adventures means requiring free combats to acquire all of its drops or relying on skeleton keys to compensate for the missing final drop.
- Frumious Bandersnatch / Pair of Stomping Boots : Both familiars' primary ability is to offer free runaways each day based on their weight (along with their other bonuses, such as the boots' spleen drops). Additionally, having two familiars that provide the same function (with a shared counter between them) means that such free runaways can be utilized over two (or more) days without issue.
- Pocket Professor : The window for using the valuable lecture in relativity is small, but can still be utilized with the Kramco Sausage-o-Matic™ for extra scaling free fights (preferably to burn delay) or to fight a desired monster multiple times reliably.
- Reanimated Reanimator / Obtuse Angel : Each of Fire a badly romantic arrow and Wink at (Familiar Name) causes the target monster to appear 2-3 more times as a wandering monster. Ideal for burning delay or maximizing time spent in an undesirable location, especially since the wanderers will continue to appear even after access to the familiar is lost. Additionally, having two familiars that provide the same function (with a shared counter between them) means that such roaming fights can be utilized over two days without issue.
- Machine Elf : Provides free fights in (and access to) The Deep Machine Tunnels. Also provides access to various powerful spleen items in the process, either dropped from the familiar itself or from monsters in the unlocked tunnels.
- Robortender : Drops mixers to make various powerful cocktails, either for high adventure gains or powerful enchantments such as increased item drops, increased meat drops or anything needed for the Contest Registration Desk.
- The drinks can also be pulled and consumed in a softcore ascension, especially if the required mixers could not be acquired during the Robortender's short availability.
- Space Jellyfish : Extracts elemental jellies from monsters, most notably stench jelly (forced NC and item drops bonus), which are easiest to obtain from Mysterious Island War. Can also lead you to a reliable Astronomer in The Hole in the Sky if it is available at the time.
- Such jellies can also be pulled in a softcore ascension; handfuls of stench jelly are particularly valuable for this, especially if the Space Jellyfish ends up being available before level 12.
- Although hot jelly is usable, the associated Breathe Out skill is not (at least while the path is under standard restrictions); this is likely an oversight.
- Mini-Hipster / Artistic Goth Kid : Allows you to encounter scaling monsters (with no adventure cost) as you adventure. Although unreliable, any fights encountered can be utilized to burn delay or make use of time spent in undesirable locations, while providing significant substats in the process. Additionally, having two familiars that provide the same function (with a shared counter between them) means that such free fights can be utilized over two days without issue.
- XO Skeleton : Although you are unlikely to get much at the XO Shop, you can still use its Hugs and Kisses! skill for easy pickpocketing.
While some other familiars are more situational to request, they may have some value, especially for if/when they end up as random familiars on their own:
- Melodramedary : Useful for speeding up The Arid, Extra-Dry Desert exploration. Using it to spit on enemies is difficult to do, but possible through free combats such as versus the dense liana.
- Stooper : Useful for drinking a bit more with your nightcap if it ends up being available at the end of the day.
- God Lobster : Provides 3 free scaling fights per day to help with advancement, each of which end with an extra reward (most notably a lump of extra substats).
- Fist Turkey : Drops epic-quality drinks with useful enchantments, notably the Agitated Turkey's item drop bonus and the Ambitious Turkey's meat drop & initiative bonuses.
- Exotic Parrot / Mu : Provides some extra elemental resistance if needed for the Haunted Kitchen, A-boo Peak or The Hedge Maze.
- Jumpsuited Hound Dog : Provides increased combat frequency (helpful for finding assassins) as well as a higher item drop bonus than most fairy-type familiars.
- Disgeist : Reduces combat frequency, which is helpful in a large variety of locations.
- Imitation Crab / Mu / Shorter-Order Cook : Any of these familiars deals multiple instances of damage during combat, making them ideal for fighting the wall of skin without the beehive.
- Such familiars can interfere with fighting the wall of bones without the electric boning knife, however.
Rewards
- Finishing a Quantum Terrarium run while it is the current special challenge path -- between May 15th, 2021, and August 15th, 2021 -- gives players 50 (in Normal) or 100 (in Hardcore) extra karma points the next time they visit Valhalla.
- Finishing a Quantum Terrarium run also gives a quantum of familiar.
- Players will receive a Thwaitgold quantum bug statuette upon defeating the Naughty Sorceress.
- Players in Hardcore gain the stainless steel equipment for their class.
- Ending the challenge path either by completion or drop will reset the familiar experience of all familiars, and no familiar experience accumulated during the Quantum Terrarium run is kept.
