Basement Diving Guide

Data on this page needs confirmation. Check for truthiness. Many aspects of the basement are not yet known confidently: there are reports that a 5% padding is not quite enough. Add more ideas. The when to start/Meat cost are pretty much empty.

For Loathers wanting to do a basement dive to upgrade their telescopes, the present article aims to provide strategies for doing so efficiently. While the focus will be on reaching floor 500, the strategies will also be applicable for those who want to go beyond.

Challenge Overview

Fernswarthy's Basement consists of several different types of challenges, which get more and more difficult the deeper into the basement one goes. Every fifth level is a reward (usually a stat reward, whose magnitude scales to your main stat).

Combat Challenges

Monster Level in the basement scales roughly as twice the basement level (BL) to the 1.4^th power. That is,

 ML = 2 × BL1.4

Monster	Notes
The Beast with n Ears
The Beast with n Eyes
A n Stone Golem	Has some Physical Resistance
A n-Headed Hydra	Can do cold and stench damage Subsequently, it may be safer to remove elemental forms prior to fighting one -- Coldform, however, will not suffer from double damage
The Ghost of Fernswarthy's n great-grandfather	Has 100% Physical Resistance Can be defeated easily using a scroll of ancient forbidden unspeakable evil
n Bottles of Beer on a Golem	Blocks a high percentage of spell attacks, so spellslingers may need to use stunning items Spectral Snapper (uncapped spooky damage based on Muscle) isn't blocked
A n-Dimensional Horror	Blocks a high percentage of attacks that use weapons Can be most easily defeated using uncapped spells (scaling with Mysticality) like Fearful Fettucini, Saucegeyser, or Weapon of the Pastalord Moxious Maneuver also works

Elemental Challenges

There are five different Elemental Resistance challenges, which test two elements at once. The same amount of damage is done in both elements; failure results if HP is reduced to 0. As with the combat challenges, the damage scales with basement level:

 Elt = 4.48 × BL1.4 + 8

To repeat, the above damage is applied using both elements of the test, so the total raw damage is twice the calculated value. Additionally, there appears to be about a 5% variation in the equation, so having exactly enough HP and resistance to survive the damage indicated does not guarantee the test will be passed. This also means that it is possible to pass the tests with fewer HP than implied by the equation. Note that the elemental powder potions' effects (e.g., coldform) force elemental damage rules to be followed, so that one of the two prongs (the elemental forms cannot stack) of each test can be reduced to one point of damage. However, care must be taken to choose the form which won't double the damage received from the other prong. Damage Absorption has no effect on these challenges.

Elemental Test	Elements	Optimal Elemental Form
Singled Out	cold and sleaze	Coldform (phial of coldness)
Peace, Bra	sleaze and stench	Sleazeform (phial of sleaziness)
Still Better Than Pistachio	stench and hot	Stenchform (phial of stench)
Unholy Writes	hot and spooky	Hotform (phial of hotness)
The Unthawed	spooky and cold	Spookyform (phial of spookiness)

Attribute Tests

The remaining challenges are passed or failed based on buffed Muscle, Mysticality, Moxie, HP, or MP.

The stat tests are thought to scale as:

 Stat = BL1.4 + 2

The HP test probably scales like:

 Phys = 10 × BL1.4

The MP test likely scales as:

 Drain = 1.67 × BL1.4

It is believed that like the elemental tests, all attribute tests have a 5% variation.

Attribute Test			Notes
Lift 'em!	Push it Real Good	Ring that Bell	Muscle tests
Gathering: The Magic	Mop the Floor with the Mops	Do away with the 'doo	Mysticality tests
Don't Wake the Baby	Grab a cue	Put on the Smooth Moves	Moxie tests
Throwin' Down the Gauntlet			HP test Damage Absorption applies, so maximizing DA and Muscle/HP helps
A Festering Powder			MP test Maximizing your Mysticality/MP helps

Number-Crunching

Assuming that the combat challenges can be handled, the major hurdle for divers will be the non-combat tests. The question of whether basement diving is feasible can be asked in two related ways:

• How much damage is done/how big do player attributes have to be to pass the non-combat tests at a given basement level?
• Knowing the stat/damage results, what main stat will be required to reach a particular basement level, given the buffs a player is willing to run at all times?

Table of Test Strengths

Knowing the approximate values of the tests as discussed in the outline, it is useful to have a reference of the stat strength/damage done at several common stat levels.

The following table calculates two series of numbers for every 25^th level of the basement. The first set of numbers is the requirement/damage done for the equations as listed in the overview; the second pads using a 5% safety margin. The HP test is calculated at 0% DA, 60% DA (easily achievable with the armor parts of the Antique Arms And Armor outfit, plus publicly available TT buffs Astral Shell and Ghostly Shell), and 90% DA (which requires Tao of the Terrapin). Elemental damage is calculated at the 0%, 60%, and 80% levels, assuming a powder potion has been imbibed to reduce the optimal element to one point of damage -- hence the number listed is the expected damage under the appropriate resistance for the unpowdered element.

BL	Stat	Phys (0% DA)	Phys (60% DA)	Phys (90% DA)	Drain	Elt (0% Res)	Elt (60% Res)	Elt (80% Res)
24	88	856	343	86	143	392	157	79
24 (5% padding)	92	899	360	90	151	411	165	83
49	235	2325	930	233	389	1050	420	210
49 (5% padding)	247	2441	977	245	408	1102	441	221
74	416	4140	1656	414	692	1863	745	373
74 (5% padding)	437	4347	1739	435	726	1956	783	392
99	625	6222	2489	623	1039	2796	1119	560
99 (5% padding)	656	6533	2613	654	1091	2935	1174	587
124	855	8527	3411	853	1424	3829	1532	766
124 (5% padding)	898	8954	3582	896	1496	4020	1608	804
149	1105	11028	4411	1103	1842	4949	1980	990
149 (5% padding)	1160	11579	4632	1158	1934	5196	2079	1040
174	1373	13702	5481	1371	2289	6147	2459	1230
174 (5% padding)	1441	14387	5755	1439	2403	6454	2582	1291
199	1656	16535	6614	1654	2762	7416	2967	1484
199 (5% padding)	1739	17362	6945	1737	2900	7787	3115	1558
224	1954	19515	7806	1952	3259	8751	3501	1751
224 (5% padding)	2052	20490	8196	2049	3422	9188	3676	1838
249	2265	22630	9052	2263	3780	10147	4059	2030
249 (5% padding)	2379	23762	9505	2377	3969	10654	4262	2131
274	2590	25874	10350	2588	4321	11600	4640	2320
274 (5% padding)	2719	27167	10867	2717	4537	12180	4872	2436
299	2926	29238	11695	2924	4883	13107	5243	2622
299 (5% padding)	3073	30700	12280	3070	5127	13762	5505	2753
324	3274	32717	13087	3272	5464	14665	5866	2933
324 (5% padding)	3438	34353	13741	3436	5737	15399	6160	3080
349	3633	36305	14522	3631	6063	16273	6509	3255
349 (5% padding)	3815	38120	15248	3812	6366	17086	6835	3418
374	4002	39997	15999	4000	6680	17927	7171	3586
374 (5% padding)	4202	41997	16799	4200	7014	18823	7530	3765
399	4381	43789	17516	4379	7313	19626	7851	3926
399 (5% padding)	4600	45979	18392	4598	7679	20607	8243	4122
424	4770	47678	19071	4768	7963	21368	8547	4274
424 (5% padding)	5009	50062	20025	5007	8361	22436	8975	4488
449	5168	51659	20664	5166	8628	23152	9261	4631
449 (5% padding)	5427	54242	21697	5425	9059	24309	9724	4862
474	5576	55731	22293	5574	9307	24976	9991	4996
474 (5% padding)	5854	58517	23407	5852	9773	26224	10490	5245
499	5991	59889	23956	5989	10002	26838	10736	5368
499 (5% padding)	6291	62883	25154	6289	10502	28180	11272	5636

Main Stat Requirements

Knowing the stat/HP/MP requirements for the tests at particular basement levels allows for the conversion of the challenges into statements about main stat.

The three stat equalization potions first treat the off-stats as if they were equal to the unbuffed potion stat, and then calculate percentage boosts of off-stats as if they were the potion stat. Hence stat tests of all three stripes are really tests of main stat, which is in practice highest.

• oil of stability -- equalizes base Moxie and Mysticality to base Muscle, and calculates percentage Moxie/Mysticality boosts as if they were equal to Muscle
• oil of expertise -- equalizes everything to Mysticality
• oil of slipperiness -- equalizes everything to Moxie

For the elemental tests, given a resistance level, the expected damage can be calculated, and HP can be related to the Muscle stat, which can be related to main stat as above. Similar reasoning applies to the HP/MP tests.

For the purposes of generality, the following assumes the equipment available to a diver is of negligible help. Since percentage boosts are much better than absolute boosts at the stat levels being discussed, and it is tedious to layer on many buffs at once, only common, cheap percentage buffs will be assumed for the following discussion. A complete list of percentage buffs can be viewed at the appropriate sub-page of the Dressing For Success project.

The important potion buffs include:

• 200% single-stat potion
• 100% single-stat potion
• 100% potion of temporary gr8tness
• 100% (approximately) for 30 turns of the six wad effects -- this requires the use of three mojo filters to free up spleen if Spleen of Steel is unavailable
• 50% tomato juice of powerful power
• 25% Dungeons of Doom potion
• 20% Worm Wood item:
  • bellhop bell -- +20% Muscle, -20% Mysticality
  • bottled inspiration -- +20% Mysticality, -20% Moxie
  • sensitive poetry journal -- +20% Moxie, -20% Muscle
• 10% Black Market item
• 10% Flower Power -- this requires available fullness or drunkenness
• 10% Stevedave's Shanty of Superiority

This totals to +625% from "easy stat buffs" anyone can maintain. The following table then calculates the required main stat for every 25^th basement level according to the equations listed previously, as well as the required stat with a 5% safety margin, given the easy buffs shown. Because of class differences, several common scenarios need to be spelled out for the HP, MP, and element tests.

• Class differences do not affect Muscle, Mysticality, or Moxie tests, and thus there is only one column.
• Muscle classes get an innate 50% HP bonus. Tao of the Terrapin enables a large boost in DA. Hence the HP test has four columns.
• Mysticality classes get an innate 50% MP bonus. The MP test can be divided into Mysticality/non-Mysticality.
• Mysticality classes cap their elemental resistance at 80%, whereas other classes cap at 60%. The innate HP bonus again has an effect. Moxie classes lose out on both the HP and 80% cap, so in practice there are three elemental categories: Muscle (60% resistance, +50% HP), Mysticality (80% resistance), and Moxie (60% resistance). The numbers in the table assume that the correct powder potion has been imbibed to reduce one element to negligible damage.

While the above does not capture the full range of possibilities given the passive skills available, it gives a good idea of what is possible.

BL	Stat	Phys (Mus, 60% DA)	Phys (Mus, 90% DA)	Phys (Other, 60% DA)	Phys (Other, 90% DA)	Drain (Other)	Drain (Myst)	Elt (Mus)	Elt (Mys)	Elt (Mox)
24	13	32	8	47	12	20	14	15	11	22
24 (5% padding)	13	33	8	50	12	21	14	15	11	23
49	33	86	21	128	32	54	36	39	29	58
49 (5% padding)	35	90	23	135	34	57	38	41	30	61
74	58	152	38	228	57	96	64	69	51	103
74 (5% padding)	61	160	40	240	60	101	67	72	54	108
99	87	229	57	343	86	144	96	103	77	154
99 (5% padding)	91	240	60	361	90	151	101	108	81	162
124	118	314	78	471	118	197	131	141	106	211
124 (5% padding)	124	329	82	494	124	207	138	148	111	222
149	153	406	101	609	152	255	170	182	137	273
149 (5% padding)	160	426	107	639	160	267	178	191	143	287
174	190	504	126	756	189	316	211	226	170	339
174 (5% padding)	199	529	132	794	199	332	221	237	178	356
199	229	608	152	912	228	381	254	273	205	409
199 (5% padding)	240	639	160	958	240	400	267	287	215	430
224	270	718	180	1077	269	450	300	322	241	483
224 (5% padding)	284	754	188	1131	283	472	315	338	254	507
249	313	832	208	1249	312	522	348	373	280	560
249 (5% padding)	329	874	219	1311	328	548	365	392	294	588
274	358	952	238	1428	357	596	398	427	320	640
274 (5% padding)	376	999	250	1499	375	626	418	448	336	672
299	404	1076	269	1613	403	674	450	482	362	723
299 (5% padding)	424	1129	282	1694	424	708	472	506	380	759
324	452	1203	301	1805	451	754	503	539	405	809
324 (5% padding)	475	1264	316	1895	474	792	528	566	425	850
349	502	1335	334	2003	501	837	558	599	449	898
349 (5% padding)	527	1402	351	2103	526	879	586	629	471	943
374	552	1471	368	2207	552	922	615	659	495	989
374 (5% padding)	580	1545	386	2317	579	968	645	692	519	1039
399	605	1611	403	2416	604	1009	673	722	541	1083
399 (5% padding)	635	1691	423	2537	634	1060	707	758	569	1137
424	658	1754	439	2631	658	1099	733	786	590	1179
424 (5% padding)	691	1841	460	2762	691	1154	769	825	619	1238
449	713	1900	475	2850	713	1191	794	852	639	1277
449 (5% padding)	749	1995	499	2993	748	1250	834	894	671	1341
474	770	2050	513	3075	769	1284	856	919	689	1378
474 (5% padding)	808	2152	538	3229	807	1348	899	965	724	1447
499	827	2203	551	3304	826	1380	920	987	740	1481
499 (5% padding)	868	2313	578	3469	867	1449	966	1037	777	1555

The last row, 499, is most informative. It shows that all classes really need Tao to survive the HP test. Muscle/Moxie classes really need Wisdom of the Elder Tortoises in order to make diving feasible. Mysticality classes fare best against the elemental tests. Moxie classes are the worst in every category.

Strategy

From the information above, conclusions can be drawn about configurations that are very useful to have in a basement dive.

Permed Skills

Doing a dive without these skills can significantly increase the time and Meat costs of reaching level 500.

• For most of the combat challenges, an uncapped combat spell will help: Fearful Fettucini, Saucegeyser, or Weapon of the Pastalord. Pastalord normally does only physical damage, which can be a problem for the ghost, but this can be rectified by using powder potions.
• Spectral Snapper helps against the beer golem if spells aren't getting through. However, if one must choose between an uncapped spell or Snapper, the spell is a better choice, because it scales to a larger portion of main stat, and there are percentage-based spell damage increasers.
• It's difficult to maximize DA without Tao of the Terrapin, and it helps with combats as well as the HP test.
• Wisdom of the Elder Tortoises gives a 50% MP bonus, making the MP test much easier.
• Spirit of Ravioli provides a 25% HP bonus.
• Impetuous Sauciness gives five extra turns when drinking Sauceror potions, driving down costs.

Several buffs help in diving, but are available via buffbots and do not need to be permed.

• Stevedave's Shanty of Superiority grants +10% to all attributes.
• Elemental Saucesphere gives +20% resistance.
• Astral Shell gives +10% resistance, and helps to reach the 1000 DA cap.
• Ghostly Shell helps with DA.
• Empathy of the Newt provides +5 familiar weight if familiars are a part of the diving strategy.

Several other skills are not "must-have" like the above, but do simplify a dive.

• The five passive resistance skills can free up equipment slots for more Muscle/HP buffing.
• Torso Awaregness allows the wearing of shirts to help maximize resistance/DA.
• Spirit of Rigatoni enables the wielding of chefstaves, the bonus spell damage of which is nothing to sneeze at.
• Rage of the Reindeer gives a 10% Muscle boost.
• Gnomish Hardigness and Cosmic Ugnderstanding provide modest HP and MP percentage bonuses.
• Amphibian Sympathy and Leash of Linguini increase familiar weight.
• Springy Fusilli and Overdeveloped Sense of Self Preservation help with winning initiative.
• Entangling Noodles provides a low-cost way of getting free hits as monsters get tougher.
• Cannelloni Cocoon heals all HP; scrolls of drastic healing accomplish much the same thing pretty cheaply.

Class Choices

As noted previously, there are several innate differences between character classes that can help one decide whether to do a dive on the current ascension.

1. Mysticality classes have a resistance cap of 80%, and also an MP bonus of 50%. Saucerors get a five-turn duration bonus when imbibing saucecrafting potions (on top of any Impetuous Sauciness bonus), and additionally cook potions at a 3:1 product-to-ingredient ratio. For this reason, Saucerors are accepted as the cheapest class to dive.
2. Muscle classes have a lower resistance cap of 60%, which is somewhat ameliorated with an intrinsic 50% HP bonus. Those needing to level and unwilling to clover their stats due to expenses might prefer Muscle classes to Mysticality ones, because of the Louvre Muscle reward speeding level-grinding.
3. Moxie classes have neither HP nor MP bonuses, and have a 60% resistance cap. They are the worst classes to use in a dive.

Familiars

Given that there are no item or Meat drops in the basement, and monster levels ramp up so high so quickly, very few familiars are actually useful in a dive.

• An Exotic Parrot helps with the elemental tests, without taking up an equipment slot.
• A Levitating Potato can block attacks, which may be particularly helpful against the beer golem.
• A Hovering Sombrero may be a good choice for increasing the already large stat gains at deep basement levels.

Equipment Choices

The Dressing For Success pages offer many hints on how to raise stats high enough to defeat the attribute challenges. However, several pieces of equipment are very useful in a dive and deserve explicit mention.

• The Ascension Rewards for Hardcore, HCO, and Bad Moon runs give very good stat buffs, often among the best of any equipment available.
• Due to the way that spell damage is calculated, a longhaired hippy wig (+5% Mysticality) may be a better choice for spellslinging than regular spell damage increasers.
• A battered hubcap gives 20% resistance, as well as Muscle and HP increases.
• Those lucky enough to own a navel ring of navel gazing can use it to good effect. Not only does it offer a hefty percentage of Bonus Spell Damage, but its intrinsic dodging ability can help against high-level monsters.
• Divers having problems with combat encounters at the end of their dive may need to resort to shrinking powder, which can be expensive.
• In practice, maximizing elemental resistance is easy even without passive skills and great equipment. Sans dietary effects, 60% can be achieved with public buffs and readily available potions. An Exotic Parrot of 40 lbs will add an additional 20% to reach the 80% cap for Mysticality players.
• If the elemental tests are proving difficult, the 90% resistance semi-rares can let off some pressure. They are not affected by resistance caps. Again, this could get expensive:
  • SPF 451 lip balm (hot)
  • bottle of antifreeze (cold)
  • black eyedrops (spooky)
  • Dogsgotnonoz pills (stench)
  • donkey flipbook (sleaze)
• Stunning items can be a help if monsters cannot be killed quickly.

General Strategy

• Characters willing to use up their fullness can drink Jumbo Dr. Lucifers to cheaply refill their MP for the MP tests.
• Those having trouble passing the tests should save the diet buffs (e.g., wad effects, Flower Power) for basement diving later in their KoL day, after they've had a chance to raise their main stat some more.
• The attribute and damage tests are not necessarily constant; due to the variations, one can pass a test with the exact same stats that have failed previously.
• Doing the Mysterious Island Quest's side-quests as a Frat will be helpful. Mysterious Island Arena's Frat reward includes the Elvish buff, and the Nunnery's Frat reward heals up to 3,000 HP and MP per day.

Optimal Time to Start a Dive

Many players choose to do their dives concurrently with attaining their level 30 class trophies (e.g., the Seal Clubber's Scourge of Seals), as the high main stat at level 30 makes for an easier dive. However, a dive need not start at level 30, because the stat rewards over the course of finishing 500 basement levels are considerable, due to monster levels scaling exponentially. At level 100, 300 stats per combat are expected, roughly half of which will be distributed into the main stat. At level 400, over 2000 stats per combat will be earned.

Yeah, this section is kinda gonna be left incomplete since the distributions of combats versus stat tests are currently unknown.

Cost Expectations

Another question of interest concerns the expected buff costs for the various potions required for a successful level 500 dive. It is possible to calculate a cost ceiling for a dive, by summing over the potion costs of sustaining the buffs listed in the number-crunching section. While it is not necessary to be fully buffed all the time, the equalizing potions, xform effects, and healing/effect removal costs do eat up some of the overestimate.

It'd be kinda neat to have this estimate, but as before, it's difficult to calculate.

Notes

• The original spading and strategizing for basement diving was largely done in the HCO forum.