Yellow ray strategy
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Introduction
Named for the He-Boulder familiar's disintegration ray, which marked the introduction of this mechanic, yellow rays (YR) destroy the current enemy and force all of its non-conditional items to drop. (It is important to note that conditional drops (like The F'c'le items) can still drop following a yellow ray, but with the usual odds.)
All YRs give many turns of the Everything Looks Yellow effect, which prevents you from using any yellow ray until it wears off. Everything Looks Yellow goes away at rollover, and spending enough adventures will remove it like any other debuff, but it cannot be removed by A Relaxing Hot Tub or SGEEAs.
Sources of yellow rays include:
- He-Boulder: Using Point at your opponent when your He-Boulder's eye beams are yellow. Inflicts 150 turns of Everything Looks Yellow, or 100 if your He-Boulder has quadroculars equipped.
- Nanorhino: Using Unleash Nanites while you have 40 or more turns of the Nanoballsy effect, gained by using a Moxie class's combat skill with the Nanorhino out. Inflicts 150 turns of Everything Looks Yellow.
- Crimbo Shrub: Using Open a Big Yellow Present after decorating your Crimbo Shrub with Big Yellow-Wrapped Presents. Inflicts 149 turns of Everything Looks Yellow.
- Intergnat: 20 BACON dropped after combat can be traded in for a viral video, which inflicts 149 turns of Everything Looks Yellow.
- Red-Nosed Snapper: 11 tracked constellations give a micronova, which inflicts 149 turns of Everything Looks Yellow.
- Garden: Using a pumpkin bomb, crafted from a gardened pumpkin and a Knob Goblin firecracker. Inflicts 150 turns of Everything Looks Yellow.
- The Mayo Clinic: After installing a portable Mayo Clinic in your workshed, you can purchase a mayo lance for 2,500 Meat. It won't be consumed when you use it, but instead vanishes on rollover. Inflicts 150 turns of Everything Looks Yellow, but first consumes your blood-mayo to reduce that number by 5 turns per mg/dL.
- Spacegate access badge: Using the Disintegrate skill (150mp), acquired from using the Spacegate emergency disintegrator, which can be bought for 5000 Spacegate Research at the Spacegate Fabrication Facility inside of the Secret Underground Spacegate Facility. Inflicts 100 turns of Everything Looks Yellow. It is also tradeable.
- Eight Days a Week Pill Keeper: Selecting Explodinall when choosing to Take your Pills will disintegrate the next monster you defeat. Inflicts 29 turns of Everything Looks Yellow. The first use of each day is free, but subsequent uses require 3 spleen.
- Tomes: Using the unbearable light (Summon Clip Art) or Golden Light (Summon Smithsness) combat items. Inflicts 150 turns of Everything Looks Yellow.
- Cargo Cultist Shorts: Pocket 517 contains a sizzling desk bell. Using it to fight and defeat the Burning Daughter will yield a flame orb, which inflicts 100 turns of Everything Looks Yellow.
- While adventuring underwater, you can YR with the pulled yellow taffy combat item. Yellow rays don't normally work underwater, since all underwater drops are conditional items, but pulled yellow taffy will force almost all underwater items to drop. Inflicts 75 turns of Everything Looks Yellow.
- In the KOLHS challenge path, you can craft and use a yellowcake bomb. Inflicts 75 turns of Everything Looks Yellow.
- In the Avatar of Sneaky Pete challenge path, you can install an ultrabright yellow bulb on your motorcycle, which acts as a yellow ray when flashed. Inflicts 100 turns of Everything Looks Yellow.
- In the Heavy Rains challenge path, you can learn the YR skill Ball Lightning. Inflicts 99 turns of Everything Looks Yellow.
- In the Actually Ed the Undying challenge path, you can learn to channel the Wrath of Ra. Inflicts 100 turns of Everything Looks Yellow.
- In the Avatar of West of Loathing challenge path, Cow Punchers (or those who have lived past lives as Cow Punchers) can learn how to Unleash Cowrruption. Inflicts 149 turns of Everything Looks Yellow.
- In the Path of the Plumber challenge path, you can learn the skill Fireball Barrage, which will additionally obliterate your opponent when upgraded to Level 3. Inflicts 50 turns of Everything Looks Yellow.
- Similar disintegration actions
The following actions cause all non-conditional items to drop, but do not inflict Everything Looks Yellow.
- Space Jellyfish: Consuming spooky jelly or toast with spooky jelly causes all items to drop from the next enemy you defeat.
- Asdon Martin: Firing the Asdon Martin: Missile Launcher defeats your opponent and causes all items to drop. Costs 100 Fuel and can be used once per day.
- Fourth of May Cosplay Saber: Using the Force on a monster allows you to obtain all its non-conditional items. This works like a free runaway, not a combat victory, so conditional items will never drop.
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 a the bean as well. Often used following a Guano Junction clover. |
| Knob Goblin Harem Girl | Knob Goblin Harem Girl Disguise (20% drop each) | If you're not taking the KGE semirare route. |
| 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 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. |
| 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. |
| filthworms | hatchling gland, drone gland, royal gland (10% drop each) | Can also be forced with Pickpocketing (especially peppermint crooks and "hugpocketing"). |
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. |
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 conditional, 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 an infinitely 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 |
