Hardcore Skill Analysis

This article is written with Hardcore players in mind, but much of it is also applicable to Softcore ascenders. For a different way of organizing the skills, see Hardcore Skill Analysis (by type).

Introduction

This is a listing of all the skills available in the game, arranged into tiers based on how useful they are at speeding up a hardcore ascension. In general, these recommendations are aimed at no-path ascensions, with no restrictions on food, booze, or item use. Players who plan to do pathed runs should pay attention to restrictions that will limit or prevent a skill's application.

That said, players planning pathed runs might want to pick up the Tier 1 skills anyway. Skills like Pastamastery speed up no-path runs so much that they'll save you a lot of time in building up the skill base for your Oxygenarian runs. For Tier 2 and beyond, it may be better to focus on skills that you will be able to use on your intended path.

Skills whose value is regularly debated are marked with a *, and you should read the Controversial Skills section for additional information about their rankings.

Tier 1

Skills generally considered to be essential for Hardcore
Skill Name	Class (Level)	Type	MP Cost	Description
Advanced Cocktailcrafting	Disco Bandit (5)	Passive and Non-Combat	10	Allows you to create little paper umbrellas, coconut shells, and magical ice cubes (3 random per day) at the cost 10 MP each, and to use these ingredients to make advanced drinks. This skill is a must for all no-path and -- of course -- Boozetafarian ascenders.
Superhuman Cocktailcrafting	Disco Bandit (15)	Passive	N/A	Increases the number of cocktail items you can summon from 3 to 5 per day, making it possible to fill up your liver with high-quality drinks every day, and increasing your chances of making drinks that target your desired stat. If you're playing a Moxie class, you can also improve basic booze and mixers up to 10 times a day. This allows you to make superhuman cocktails, and to upgrade soda water to tonic water, which restores up to 10x as many MP.
Pastamastery	Pastamancer (5)	Passive and Non-Combat	10	Allows you to create dry noodles (3 per day) at the cost of 10 MP each and to cook noodle dishes. Noodle dishes are an amazing improvement to any ascender's diet and give many more adventures than most other foods you can cook in-run. Allows you to make even better dishes when combined with Advanced Saucecrafting or Transcendental Noodlecraft (Reagent dishes and chow mein, respectively).
Advanced Saucecrafting	Sauceror (5)	Passive and Non-Combat	10	Allows you to create scrumptious reagents (3 per day) at the cost of 10 MP each, and use them to cook reagent dishes and potions. Reagent dishes are generally considered a better use, but strategic use of potions can be very helpful for Safe Adventuring in high level areas.
The Ode to Booze	Accordion Thief (12)	Buff	50	Gives you 5/7/10/15/20 adventures of the Ode to Booze effect, which gives you extra adventures from booze at a rate of one adventure per drunkenness, but reducing the buff by one turn per extra adventure. It is an extremely costly buff and may be impossible to cast early in a run for players without Mojo Melody or MP increasing passives, especially since getting full use of it requires multiple castings. Despite that, it can easily generate 15-29 adventures a day, depending on how over-drunk you get (highest being with bucket of wine).
Amphibian Sympathy	Turtle Tamer (3)	Passive	N/A	Increases familiar level by 5. With Sympathy, pet-buffing spray and irradiated pet snacks, there is no reason to use the arena for the NS' tower familiars. The only familiar skill that can be in effect during the Naughty Sorceress battle.

Tier 2

Skills that make combat or quests dramatically easier
Skill Name	Class (Level)	Type	MP Cost	Description
Mad Looting Skillz	Disco Bandit (8)	Passive	N/A	Increases item drops by 20%. One of the better passives in the game, as it will dramatically speed up several quests and gives you more items that can be autosold for meat.
The Moxious Madrigal	Accordion Thief (1)	Buff	2	Gives +10 Moxie for 5/7/10/15/20 turns. This buff is the cornerstone of the plinking strategy that nearly every player uses through the first few levels.
Fat Leon's Phat Loot Lyric	Accordion Thief (7)	Buff	11	Increases item drop rate by 20% for 5/7/10/15/20 turns. Improving the drop rate is a very useful ability, and is usually worth a song slot.
Leash of Linguini	Pastamancer (11)	Non-combat	12	Gives 10 adventures of the Leash of Linguini effect (+5 familiar level). Less expensive than Empathy of the Newt and does not require a totem, though self-buff only.
The Magical Mojomuscular Melody	Accordion Thief (2)	Buff	3	Gives you 5/7/10/15/20 adventures of the Magical Mojomuscular Melody effect (+10 Myst, +20 maximum MP). Allows casting expensive buffs during the early turns of play, such as Ode to Booze on day one. The increase in max MP also allows for greater use of MP restorers such as tonic waters.
Smooth Movement	Disco Bandit (14)	Non-combat	10	Gives you 10 adventures where the likelihood of non-combat adventures is increased by 5%. Speeds up numerous quests, such as the Friars or the Beanstalk. You will also get more stat noncombats while powerleveling in the Spookyraven Manor. Cheaper than Sonata, and doesn't take up a song slot. On the flip side, you can't shrug off Smooth Movements until you've permed Musk of the Moose.
The Sonata of Sneakiness	Accordion Thief (13)	Buff	20	Gives you 5/7/10/15/20 adventures where the likelihood of non-combat adventures is increased by 5%. See description for Smooth Movement for notes on where this skill is useful.

Tier 3

Skills that improve survival or otherwise aid a run
Skill Name	Class (Level)	Type	MP Cost	Description
Entangling Noodles	Pastamancer (2)	Combat	3	Prevents an opponent from attacking for 2-4 rounds, including the round Entangling Noodles was cast. Casting noodles is usually cheaper than healing damage after a battle. Extremely useful for tough fights and especially when flyering.
Tao of the Terrapin	Turtle Tamer (15)	Passive	N/A	Doubles the power of your hat and pants for calculating Damage Absorption and specialized Turtle Tamer attacks (doesn't double stat increases and other enchantments). Particularly useful in Turtle Tamer runs if combined with Headbutt and Kneebutt. This is the best damage absorption skill available, especially at higher levels, significantly reducing the damage taken from every monster hit.
Hero of the Half-Shell	Turtle Tamer (14)	Passive	N/A	Calculates damage reduction based on your Muscle instead of your Moxie when you have a shield and your Muscle is higher. This dramatically decreases damage for Muscle classes, allowing them to adventure at higher monster levels. This skill supports shieldbutting due to both skills requiring a shield, and can allow adventurers to focus solely on their muscle as not only muscle, but often mysticality classes as well.
Torso Awaregness	Gnomish	Passive	N/A	Allows the use of shirts. With the Valhalla revamp, having this skill permed will allow the player to take astral shirt, which gives bonus substats after combat and some Prismatic Damage, dramatically speeding up the run as well as providing some help in combat (particularly against physical immunes like protector spirits). When enough skills are developed to handle astral belt instead of taking the shirt, this skill still allows more ML from a hipposkin poncho, or the same substat bonus from a sugar shirt (albeit only temporarily), as well as more defense in general.
Powers of Observatiogn	Gnomish	Passive	N/A	10% item drop rate increase. Not as useful as Mad Looting Skillz, but still a beneficial skill to have, even if you purchase it with extra Meat in the middle of your run.
Inigo's Incantation of Inspiration	Traveling Trader	Buff	100	Grants 5/7/10/15/20 turns of Inigo's Incantation of Inspiration, which exchanges 5 turns of that buff for 1 turn of crafting. The expensive cost means The Magical Mojomuscular Melody and Wisdom of the Elder Tortoises are both recommended in order to cast this early on. Inigo's can save many turns over a run since a player may be able to forgo farming a bartender and/or chef, instead using Inigo's to craft their consumables.
Ur-Kel's Aria of Annoyance	Accordion Thief (15)	Buff	30	Gives you 5/7/10/15/20 adventures where monster level is increased by 2*your level, which increases stat gains. Not advisable for those without the combat skills to handle high-ML monsters. However, it can be useful for backfarming in low-level areas.
Springy Fusilli	Pastamancer (6)	Non-combat	10	Gives you 10 adventures of the Springy Fusilli effect (+40% combat initiative). This combat initiative is VERY helpful for fragile Mysticality classes. It can also indirectly increase item drops for Moxie classes and others who are able to pickpocket.
Shieldbutt	Turtle Tamer (10)	Combat	5	Attack that always hits and weakens your opponent, but only if you have a shield. This is a very powerful combat skill due to its auto-hit ability, allowing adventurers to fight above their usual level. Combining this with Entangling Noodles makes a simple and powerful combat suite, and is greatly improved with additional weapon damage.
Rage of the Reindeer	Seal Clubber (11)	Non-combat	10	Gives you 10 Adventures of the Rage of the Reindeer effect (+10% Muscle and +10 melee damage). Combine with Shieldbutt for a deadly force. When using Shieldbutt to kill high-HP monsters, Rage's 10 MP cost can easily pay for itself.
The Power Ballad of the Arrowsmith	Accordion Thief (4)	Buff	5	Gives you 5/7/10/15/20 adventures of the Power Ballad of the Arrowsmith effect (+10 Muscle, +20 HP). +10 Muscle can allow the player to hit with a melee weapon rather than resorting to an expensive combat skill. The great increase in HP can also help with survival for those making the transition from plinking to Shieldbutting.

Tier 4

Skills that make some game portions easier or faster
Skill Name	Class (Level)	Type	MP Cost	Description
Cannelloni Cannon	Pastamancer (4)	Combat	6	Deals 10-16 + 16% of Myst damage in a random element. Cannon becomes an extremely efficient spell for use against elemental monsters when combined with Flavour of Magic or a cookbook. Jackasses' Symphony and certain astral gear can drastically increase the spell's power.
Flavour of Magic	Pastamancer (14)	Non-Combat	1	Specifies the type of elemental damage dealt by Pastamancer spells, and additionally adds 10 damage to all spells. Correctly setting the correct element will allow you to deal double damage in elementally-aligned locations. Though it does not change the element of Sauceror spells, the +10 spell damage bonus is helpful for Sauce Synergy especially since it only costs 1 MP to activate.
Singer's Faithful Ocelot	Vending Machine	Non-Combat	15	Increase item drop rate by 10% for 10 turns. More expensive than Leon and only half as effective, but more item drop increase is always helpful.
Musk of the Moose	Seal Clubber (14)	Non-combat	10	Gives you 10 adventures where you are 5% more likely to have combat adventures. Not as frequently useful as the skills that increase noncombats, but it can help speed up quests like Sonofa Beach, farming Dungeons of Doom potions, and the F'c'le, as well as many lucre bounties.
Carlweather's Cantata of Confrontation	Accordion Thief (14)	Buff	20	Gives you 5/7/10/15/20 adventures where you are 5% more likely to have combat adventures. See description for Musk of the Moose for notes on where this skill is useful.
Wisdom of the Elder Tortoises	Turtle Tamer (11)	Passive	N/A	Passively increases your maximum MP by 50%. Wisdom can free up a song slot from Mojo Melody earlier, reducing song juggling and saving MP in the process.
Nimble Fingers *	Disco Bandit (6)	Passive	N/A	Meat drops from monsters are increased by 20%. Extra meat not only helps when returning meat to the nuns, but also offers extra resources for casting buffs or combat skills.
Overdeveloped Sense of Self Preservation	Disco Bandit (2)	Passive	N/A	Increases combat initiative by 20%. Improved initiative is a huge advantage, especially for Muscle and Mysticality classes. This will help you get the jump on bosses and the Shadow, and give Moxie classes an edge with Pickpocketing.
Slimy Shoulders	Slime Tube	Passive	N/A	Gives up to +20% combat initiative. It's a second Overdeveloped Sense of Self Preservation, essentially.
Pulverize	Seal Clubber (15)	Passive	N/A	Lets you smash items into powders, nuggets and wads. Muscle classes can combine powders/nuggets into nuggets/wads at The Malus of Forethought. When combined with The Way of Sauce and Transcendental Noodlecraft, this can be moderately useful for Myst classes who can make hi mein, mostly at higher levels where higher power weapons are available. See Hardcore Pulverizing for more information on this topic. Elemental powders offer elemental resistance to use against Lord Spookyraven's elemental attacks or to access Guano Junction.
Natural Born Scrabbler	Hobopolis	Passive	N/A	5% item drop rate increase. Not as useful as Mad Looting Skillz or Powers of Observatiogn, but still a beneficial skill to have, however minor the item drop increase.
Unaccompanied Miner	Uncle P's Quest	Passive	N/A	Saves at least 5 Adventures per ascension during the Mt. McLargeHuge Quest (Level 8). Also allows additional farming for ores from the Itznotyerzitz Mine and The Knob Shaft for Super-Advanced Meatsmithing or Armorcraftiness.
Impetuous Sauciness *	Sauceror (12)	Passive	N/A	Increases the duration of reagent potion effects by 5 adventures. With this, no-path players need only a single potion of milk of magnesium per day.

Tier 5

Very useful skills
Skill Name	Class (Level)	Type	MP Cost	Description
Ambidextrous Funkslinging	Disco Bandit (12)	Passive	N/A	Lets you use two items per round of combat. Using two divine items or love songs can quickly dispatch most bosses. Funkslinging two gauze garters or filthy poultices for two rounds will defeat your Shadow, remove the need for red pixel potions or scented massage oil.
Snarl of the Timberwolf	Seal Clubber	Non-Combat	10	Adds 10 Spooky damage to your physical attacks for 10 turns. Useful against the protector spectres of the Hidden City, and for that matter, any monster that isn't of the Spooky element.
Saucy Salve	Sauceror (2)	Combat	4	Heals 10-15 damage in combat. Preferred over Lasagna Bandages because the first casting is a free combat round, and up to two more can sometimes be used without the enemy attacking. Useful against the Gremlins.
Cannelloni Cocoon	Pastamancer (12)	Non-Combat	20	Heals all HP for 20 MP. With 80+ HP, this healing skill is the most economical. Especially helpful for Muscle classes who have lots of HP. [Caveat, If going for a low skill (Scope/High ML level 30/speed dungeon run) this is the single best cost-efficient skill/item by a lot and should be rated top tier for these instances]
Armorcraftiness	Turtle Tamer (5)	Passive	N/A	Allows for the creation of a huge range of useful hats, pants/kilts, shields, shirts, and accessories. The only downsides are the turn-cost of smithing, stat requirements on the best items, and some animal skins aren't easy to acquire. The main uses are for making an early shield and/or hipposkin poncho, thus the skill is better if the adventurer also is aware of their torso.
Disco Power Nap	Disco Bandit (9)	Non-Combat	12	Heals 40 HP and removes various detrimental effects. The skill also grants the ability to rest twice per day without using an adventure, which can provide significant free MP each day.
Empathy of the Newt	Turtle Tamer (8)	Buff	15	Gives 5/10/15 adventures of Empathy effect (+5 familiar level). More expensive than Leash of Linguini. Because non-Tamers are unlikely to have an upgraded turtle totem, this skill is usually only cast when the player is using a fairy or has an excess of MP.
Slimy Synapses	Slime Tube	Passive	N/A	Gives up to +10 maximum MP. This is fairly good on Day 1 and 2, where most characters may be limited to what buffs they can use. Synapses can free up a song slot from Mojo Melody earlier, reducing song juggling and saving MP in the process.
Jackasses' Symphony of Destruction	Accordion Thief (6)	Buff	9	Gives you 5/7/10/15/20 adventures of the Jackasses' Symphony of Destruction effect (+12 melee, ranged, or spell damage). This buff has a lot of flexibility, useful for both spellslinging and shieldbutting.
Astral Shell	Turtle Tamer (12)	Buff	10	Gives you 5/10/15 adventures of the Astral Shell effect, with +80 Damage Absorption and Slight Elemental Resistance.

Tier 6

Skills for special situations
Sauce Synergy skills are grouped at the top. After that, skills are ordered alphabetically.
Skill Name	Class (Level)	Type	MP Cost	Description
Jabañero Saucesphere	Sauceror (10)	Buff	10	Gives you 5/10/15 adventures of the Jabañero Saucesphere effect. Provides 5 DR, deals damage when monsters attack you, and returns 25-33% of Sauceror spell MP costs. Part of Sauce Synergy.
Wave of Sauce	Sauceror (8)	Combat	16	Deals (20-24 + 30% of buffed Myst) damage of cold/hot. When used as a Sauceror with +26 or more bonus spell damage, the caster receives either Burning Soul or Soul Freeze, which can be used to regain lots of MP on the next cast spell. Part of Sauce Synergy.
Saucegeyser	Sauceror (11)	Combat	28	Deals (35-45 + 35% of buffed Myst) cold/hot damage (scales with Mysticality). This skill appears to be expensive at first, but when used with a Bandersnatch and Jabañero Saucesphere, this skill becomes a mere 5-7 MP for any class. Part of Sauce Synergy.
Immaculate Seasoning	Sauceror (14)	Passive	N/A	Sauceror spells automatically change to either Hot or Cold, whichever is more effective, to double damage against temperature-sensitive monsters. Useful for Sauce Synergy when you can't afford a cookbook.
Intrinsic Spiciness	Sauceror (9)	Passive	N/A	+1 damage per level to your Sauceror spells (maximum bonus of +10). Very useful for Sauce Synergy, but relatively useless for non-Saucerors, who will rarely cast Sauceror spells in Hardcore.
Claws of the Otter	Seal Clubber (2)	Passive	N/A	Increases your weapon damage by 3. Minorly helpful, but extra passive damage output is still very useful. A nice addition to shieldbutting, or plinking as a Moxie class, but a fairly low priority.
Claws of the Walrus	Seal Clubber (8)	Passive	N/A	Increases your weapon damage by 4, the same as Claws of the Otter except a bit better. A nice addition to shieldbutting, or plinking as a Moxie class, but a fairly low priority.
Clobber	Seal Clubber (0)	Combat	1	An auto-hit skill that does damage based on weapon power and bonus damage. Toss will do more damage early on in an ascension, but Clobber can surpass Toss in damage when provided with a good weapon and bonus damage sources. Monsters that have been softened up by Shieldbutt or Cannon can be killed swiftly and efficiently with Toss or Clobber.
Curiosity of Br'er Tarrypin	Traveling Trader	Buff	10	Gives 5/10/15 adventures of Curiosity of Br'er Tarrypin effect (+1 familiar experience per combat).
Disco Face Stab	Disco Bandit (10)	Combat	10	Does 15-18 damage and reduces monster power by 9. Useful for plinking and for Disco Combos. Combine with Stealth Mistletoe for for double deleveling!
Drescher's Annoying Noise	Vending Machine	Non-combat	40	Increase Monster Level by 10 for 20 turns. Costs more MP than Ur-kel's and is generally quite a bit less effective, though it doesn't take up a song slot. Can speed up a few areas in the game slightly and give a bit more stats in general, but excessive MP cost hinders its use.
Elemental Saucesphere	Sauceror (4)	Buff	10	Gives 5/10/15 adventures of Elemental Saucesphere effect (so-so protection from all elements).
Expert Panhandling	Sauceror (3)	Passive	N/A	Increase Meat drops by 10%. Extra meat not only helps when returning meat to the nuns, but also offers extra resources for casting buffs or combat skills.
Fashionably Late	CRIMBCO Handbook	Passive	N/A	Gives one extra adventure a day. Won't make or break a run but extra adventures are always useful. Better in HCO runs, due to their increased length.
Gnefarious Pickpocketing	Gnomish	Passive	N/A	Increase Meat drops by 10%. Extra meat not only helps when returning meat to the nuns, but also offers extra resources for casting buffs or combat skills.
Holiday Weight Gain	Crimbo Carol	Noncombat	10	Increases HP by 5 per level (max 55 HP). Useful for surviving a hit or two when pushing +ML.
Kung Fu Hustler	Traveling Trader	Passive	N/A	Grants special intrinsic effects for keeping your hands free in combat. Equipping any weapon will cause the effects to be lost. Not highly recommended for lower-skilled players, you have to give up 2 equipment slots in order to keep the skill going. These effects will not be removed by The Naughty Sorceress however. This advice does not apply if you're doing a special challenge path that requires you to have your hands free like Way of the Surprising Fist, where this skill has incredibly useful synergy and should be a high priority.
Master of the Surprising Fist	Way of the Surprising Fist	Passive	N/A	Grants various bonuses to unarmed characters. The to-hit bonus, bonus weapon damage, and bonus damage reduction paired up with a Tome of Clip Art and Kung Fu Hustler prove to be very powerful combo early in a run for characters. Can be continued later into a run if a character forsakes their hand slots for a spell-slining combat suite.
Lunch Break	CRIMBCO Handbook	Non-Combat	10	Gives one free random food item a day for 10MP. Useful on the first day or two of a run if you didn't manage to max out your fullness.
Skin of the Leatherback	Turtle Tamer (2)	Passive	N/A	Reduces enemy damage by (level/2), rounding up DR. Not particularly powerful, but when stacked with a decent shield and good DA it takes the brunt off a lot of damage.
Slimy Sinews	Slime Tube	Passive	N/A	Gives up to +20 maximum HP. It makes you feel invincible for the first few levels.
Spirit of Ravioli	Pastamancer (9)	Passive	N/A	Increases your maximum HP by 25%. It's extra HP. That's helpful no matter what your class.
Stealth Mistletoe	Crimbo Carol	Combat	5	Any Disco Bandit skills that are used in the same combat have their deleveling effects doubled. Casting this does not take a combat round!
Stream of Sauce	Sauceror (1)	Combat	3	Does 3-4 + 10% of Myst cold or hot damage. With Immaculate Seasoning and +10 spell damage, this spell can be used to cheaply deal the last ~40 damage to an elemental monster. Watch out for the splashback if you aren't a Sauceror!
Stringozzi Serpent	Traveling Trader	Combat	13	Deals 39-60 + 25% Myst physical damage, which cannot be tuned. Then deals decreasing poison damage. At lower levels that is greater than the damage of Saucegeyser for less than half the cost.
Thrift and Grift	Hobopolis	Passive	N/A	Increase Meat drops by 10%. Extra meat not only helps when returning meat to the nuns, but also offers extra resources for casting buffs or combat skills.
Toss	Turtle Tamer (0)	Combat	1	An auto-hit skill that does damage based on familiar weight. With a few familiar weight skills, can deal decent damage for minimal MP. Will do at least 9 damage with only Amphibian Sympathy active. Monsters that have been softened up by Shieldbutt or Cannon can be killed swiftly and efficiently with Toss or Clobber.
Transcendental Noodlecraft	Pastamancer (15)	Passive	N/A	Can make very expensive chow mein dishes if you're a Myst class and have Pastamastery. The high cost and difficulty of farming for ingredients makes this a difficult skill to utilize, and it's only useful at all for 2/6 of the classes in the game even then, and don't forget the level requirement! It also allow you to summon 2 extra dry noodles per day, which allows more basic Pastamastery dishes to be made - useful before reagent pasta is available, and on Teetotaler ascensions.
The Way of Sauce *	Sauceror (15)	Passive	N/A	Allows making hi-mein and Fine Potions. More importantly, allows you to summon 5 scrumptious reagents per day, which means you'll have extra philter of phorce or serum of sarcasm to use in tough fights. Allows transmutation of elemental wads, which is occasionally useful if you also have Rainbow Gravitation.
Walberg's Dim Bulb	Vending Machine	Non-combat	5	Increase initiative by 10% for 10 turns. The difference it makes is rather small, but it doesn't compete with any buffs, and costs very little to use. Speeds up alcove slightly and can potentially make a difference against high initiative monsters, or when running very high ML.

Tier 7

Very limited use skills
Note that these skills are kept in alphabetical order, rather than in order of usefulness.
Skill Name	Class (Level)	Type	MP Cost	Description
Abs of Tin	Hobopolis	Passive	N/A	Increases HP by 10%. Not really worth taking as a Hardcore permanent unless you want to maximize your passive bonuses.
Aloysius' Antiphon of Aptitude	Accordion Thief (11)	Buff	40	Gives you 5/7/10/15/20 adventures of the Aloysius' Antiphon of Aptitude effect (+3 experience after battles). The high cost of this buff detracts from its usefulness; however, if one has access to magical mystery juice (as either an Accordion Thief or a Mysticality class) or to purple snowcones, then this may be a worthwhile use of MP.
Brawnee's Anthem of Absorption	Accordion Thief (8)	Buff	13	Gives you 5/7/10/15/20 adventures of the Brawnee's Anthem of Absorption effect (Damage Reduction that scales with your level). This buff is not very useful because -- although the damage reduction can be significant -- it is seldom worth using a valuable Accordion Thief buff slot with it. A notable exception is the Gremlins, where a cast of Brawnee's will significantly reduce the damage from their auto-hit attacks.
Cletus's Canticle of Celerity	Accordion Thief (3)	Buff	4	Gives you 5/7/10/15/20 adventures of the Cletus's Canticle of Celerity effect (+20% combat initiative). This is a waste of an Accordion buff slot, as Overdeveloped is available as a passive skill with the same effect, and there are many sources of initiative boosting in the game. The only real use is to help find more modern zmobies during the Undefile the Cyrpt Quest.
Cold-Blooded Fearlessness	Turtle Tamer (13)	Passive	N/A	Adds so-so Spooky resistance. Reduces damage in the Cyrpt and the Spookyraven Manor.
Cosmic Ugnderstanding	Gnomish	Passive	N/A	Increases MP by 5%. Not worth taking as a Hardcore permanent unless you are a fan of trophies.
Diminished Gag Reflex	Sauceror (13)	Passive	N/A	Adds so-so Stench resistance. Saves some MP if you have it instead of casting Elemental Saucesphere. More valuble than the other passive elemental resistance skills, as it allows immediate access to Guano Junction without casting skills or waiting for a Harem Veil.
Double-Fisted Skull Smashing	Seal Clubber (12)	Passive	N/A	Allows using two one-handed weapons at the same time. The weapon enchantments and damage all stack. Oddly, the best use is for plinking. Holding a scratch 'n' sniff crossbow in one hand and a curdflinger in the other can make the early monsters cry! A muscle or mysticality class would probably prefer a shield or a cookbook, respectively.
Dirge of Dreadfulness	Accordion Thief	Buff	9	5/10/15 turns of Dirge of Dreadfulness (+12 Spooky damage and +12 damage to Spooky spells. Useful for Shieldbutting in the Hobo Sewers since there are few helpful songs for that area. Otherwise, there are too many songs competing for the three spots and Dirge can't compare.
Disco Fever	Disco Bandit (11)	Passive	N/A	Adds +1 damage per player level when using a ranged weapon. A good skill for dedicated plinkers.
Disco Nap	Disco Bandit (3)	Non-Combat	8	Heals 20 HP and removes a few bad effects. Disco Power Nap is more efficient and removes more effects. This skill also grants the ability to rest once per day without using an adventure (stacks with Disco Power Nap for a total of three). Perm Power Nap first!
Executive Narcolepsy	CRIMBCO Handbook	Passive	N/A	Gives one free rest a day, stacks with both Disco Nap skills for a total of four rests.
Eye of the Stoat	Seal Clubber (6)	Passive	N/A	Thrust-Smack and Lunging Thrust-Smack will miss less often, you fumble less often, and you have more critical hits. Also useful for Moxie classes who often defeat foes with repeated ranged attacks and thus have many more chances to fumble.
Ghostly Shell	Turtle Tamer (4)	Buff	6	Gives you 10 adventures of the Ghostly Shell effect (+80 Damage Absorption). Not very useful by itself, as a small amount of damage absorption has little effect. However, it's cheap and stacks easily with other TT buffs for significant reduction of damage. Can be useful against Gremlins.
Gnomish Hardigness	Gnomish	Passive	N/A	Increases HP by 5%. Slightly aids survival.
Heart of Polyester	Disco Bandit (13)	Passive	N/A	Adds so-so sleaze resistance. Most helpful for making The Hole in the Sky easier and fighting the Frat Orcs in The Battlefield.
Hide of the Otter	Seal Clubber (1)	Passive	N/A	+20 Damage Absorption. Not very useful, as a small amount of damage absorption has little effect.
Hide of the Walrus	Seal Clubber (7)	Passive	N/A	+40 Damage Absorption. Not very useful by itself, as a small amount of damage absorption has little effect. However, stacking these two passives with Astral Shell gives slight protection against all elements and almost 30% reduction of damage in combat.
Jalapeño Saucesphere	Sauceror (7)	Buff	5	Gives you 5/10/15 adventures of the Jalapeño Saucesphere effect. Provides 3 DR, deals 1-5 damage when monsters attack you, and returns 100-125% of Sauceror spell MP costs as HP. Makes survival with Sauce Synergy slightly easier.
Jingle Bells	Crimbo Carol	Buff	5	For 5/10/15 turns, familiars that act in combat are more likely to act in combat! Useful for starfishing.
Marginally Insane	Hobopolis	Passive	N/A	Increases MP by 10%. Slimy Synapses and Wisdom of the Elder Tortoises should provide a large enough max MP pool, but some adventurers may still wish to increase it further.
Offensive Joke	CRIMBCO Handbook	Combat	15	Reduces monster power by 20 and deals 30-40 points of sleaze damage. Good for de-leveling in a hurry, but its high cost and inability to be put in a combo makes it less useful.
Reptilian Fortitude	Turtle Tamer (9)	Buff	10	Gives you 5/10/15 adventures of the Reptilian Fortitude effect (+30 maximum HP). Most useful when fighting monsters well above your stat level so that you won't be killed by a single hit when losing initiative. Because it requires a totem, this skill is usually too expensive to use as a non-Tamer. Holiday Weight Gain is an alternative for +HP.
Salsaball	Sauceror (0)	Combat	1	Hits for 2-3 Hot damage. With +5 bonus spell damage and against a Spooky or Cold, this can be an extremely efficient spell, dealing 14-16 damage for a single MP. However, unless the monster is physically-resistant, Toss and Clobber are better options.
Saucestorm	Sauceror (6)	Combat	10	Deals (14-18 + 20% of buffed Myst) cold/hot damage (scales with Mysticality). Poor Hardcore permanent because of its low damage relative to its MP cost. The splashback effect increases spell damage, which helps with Sauce Synergy.
Spirit of Rigatoni	Pastamancer (7)	Passive	N/A	Allows the equipment of chefstaves. But (with the exception of the Staff of the November Jack-O-Lantern) chefstaves can only be crafted by Mysticality Classes, so it will not help other classes. However, this skill allows a Myst-class player access to the most powerful magic weapons in the game, and for Saucerors it frees up an accessory slot.
Stevedave's Shanty of Superiority	Accordion Thief (10)	Buff	30	Gives you 5/7/10/15/20 adventures of the Stevedave's Shanty of Superiority effect (+10% all stats). This can allow you to plink at higher levels, but the MP cost and the song slot are prohibitive.
Summon Crimbo Candy	Crimbo Candy Cookbook	Noncombat	3	Summons 3 random Crimbo candies, once per day. Each candy gives 5 turns of Sugar Rush and 5 turns of a +5 boost to Moxie, Muscle, or Myst. Can be useful for meeting minimum stat requirements for a zone, or plinking, etc.
Super-Advanced Meatsmithing	Seal Clubber (5)	Passive	N/A	The only application for SAM in speedy Hardcore runs is in having a chrome sword more regularly.
The Polka of Plenty *	Accordion Thief (5)	Buff	7	Gives you 5/7/10/15/20 adventures of the Polka of Plenty effect (+50% Meat drops). Inexpensive skill that pays for itself in most combat areas. Useful when fighting Beefy Bodyguard Bats and Dirty Thieving Brigands.
Tenacity of the Snapper	Turtle Tamer (6)	Buff	8	Gives you 5/10/15 adventures of the Tenacity of the Snapper effect (+8 melee damage). While low in MP cost, it requires an upgraded turtle totem to be really useful.
Tolerance of the Kitchen	Pastamancer (13)	Passive	N/A	Adds so-so Hot resistance. Saves some MP if you have it instead of casting Elemental Saucesphere.
Tongue of the Walrus *	Seal Clubber (9)	Non-Combat	10	Heals 30-40 HP and removes Beaten Up. More efficient than Cannelloni Cocoon when healing smaller amounts of damage, but only marginally more efficient than Disco Power Nap. Since DPN allows for free rests, DPN is the suggested mid-range healing skill.

Tier 8

Generally useless or redundant skills
Note that these skills are kept in alphabetical order, rather than in order of usefulness.
Skill Name	Class (Level)	Type	MP Cost	Description
Candyblast	Crimbo Carol	Combat	6	Deals 8-16 + 15% of Myst damage. 25% chance of dropping candy. Because the skill cannot be elementally tuned and because most of the candy can't be autosold, this is just a worse version of Cannelloni Cannon.
Chronic Indigestion	Food	Combat	5	Does a range of (current fullness + 5-10) Hot damage. This can be useful because it will always hit and will do double damage to Spooky and Cold monsters. However, because the skill has limited damage and will only deal hot damage, perming Cannelloni Cannon and Flavour of Magic is a better choice for most ascenders.
CLEESH	Strange Leaflet	Combat	10	Turns most enemies into a very weak monster. When combined with Advanced Saucecrafting, can make semi-useful potions, but by the time a chef-in-the-box is available, the potions are less useful. You also receive it every run at level 9, so perming this skill isn't too attractive.
Cringle's Curative Carol	Crimbo Carol	Buff	5	Gives you 5/7/10/15/20 adventures of the Cringle's Curative Carol effect (regenerate 5-10 HP per adventure). The song slot ruins any chance of being used that this buff probably didn't have in the first place.
Disco Aerobics	Disco Bandit (0)	Non-combat	1	Gives you 5 adventures of the Disco State of Mind effect (+2 Moxie). Can be useful for meeting the minimum stat requirements of a zone or for simple plinking.
Disco Dance of Doom	Disco Bandit (4)	Combat	5	Does 4-6 damage and reduces monster power by 5. This skill is largely useless as Disco Face Stab and Disco Dance II accomplish the same goal more efficiently. However, it is somewhat useful for the Naughty Sorceress in her first form as she automatically removes negative levels in excess of 5, making her immune to Disco Dance II and Disco Face Stab. If you are using it for this purpose, it is often more efficient to buy it during your run.
Disco Dance II: Electric Boogaloo	Disco Bandit (7)	Combat	7	Does 8-10 damage and reduces monster level by 7. It gives you a good advantage over a monster for a relatively low MP cost. The choice between this and Disco Face Stab should depend on the power of your equipment and the level of the monster. It is also somewhat useful for the Naughty Sorceress in her second form as she automatically removes negative levels in excess of 7, making her immune to Disco Face Stab.
Disco Eye-Poke	Disco Bandit (1)	Combat	3	Does 1-3 damage and reduces monster power by 3. This skill is a very poor choice for a Hardcore permanent compared to Disco Face Stab and Disco Dance II.
Fearful Fettucini	Pastamancer	Combat	24	A spooky version of Weapon of the Pastalord. Deals 32-64 + 35% of Myst damage. Very powerful, but a high MP cost. Saucegeyser is an equally powerful spell that has uses in Sauce Synergy, and should be considered for perming before Fearful.
Headbutt	Turtle Tamer (1)	Combat	3	Follows up a successful attack with a headbutt against your opponent. Deals extra damage if wearing a helmet turtle. Coupled with the power-doubling of Tao of the Terrapin and bonus damage of turtle helmets, this is a cheap way to add large amounts of damage to your close combat attacks. Particularly useful for a Muscle class with easy access to turtle pheromones.
Iron Palm Technique	Traveling Trader	Non-combat	1	Buff that causes swords to function as clubs. Could be useful as a seal clubber, to use a two-handed sword as a two-handed club, with which a Lunging Thrust-Smack attack automatically hits; or when fighting infernal seals or hellseals. It costs 1 MP to activate for the duration of a run and as an intrinsic, it won't be removed by the Naughty Sorceress.
Käsesoßesturm	Traveling Trader	Combat	10	A Stench clone of Saucestorm that lacks a splashback effect, but retains the awfully-bad-deal-ness of the original.
Kneebutt	Turtle Tamer (7)	Combat	4	Adds an attack whose strength is based on your pants. It is more accurate than a normal melee attack and has a 45% chance to stun the opponent. Deals significantly more damage with Tao and high-power pants from Armorcraftiness.
Lasagna Bandages	Pastamancer (3)	Combat or Non-Combat	6	Heals 10-30 HP out of combat and 10-20 HP in combat. This spell would be more useful if Saucy Salve didn't exist.
Lunging Thrust-Smack	Seal Clubber (10)	Combat	8	Once the most powerful combat skill. Nerfs with NS13 have greatly reduced the usefulness of LTS. LTS deals triples your weapon's damage, but does not affect bonus damage such as Claws of the Walrus. Eye of the Stoat increases the accuracy of LTS and increases damage with LTS by at least 30 points.
Manicotti Meditation *	Pastamancer (0)	Non-combat	1	Gives you 5 adventures of the Pasta Oneness effect (+2 Mysticality). Can be useful for meeting the minimum stat requirements of a zone or for increasing max MP.
Moxie of the Mariachi	Accordion Thief (0)	Non-combat	1	Gives you 5 adventures of the Mariachi Mood effect (+1 Moxie and +4 maximum HP). Can be useful for meeting the minimum stat requirements of a zone or for simple plinking.
Natural Born Skeleton Killer	Field Guide to Skeletal Anatomy	Passive	N/A	Increases damage to skeletons by 10. While there actually are some skeletons, their seldom appearance makes this skill rather unimportant. It also increased the skeletons kill-rate during the Valhalla Invasion by 10%, which is of no use anymore.
Northern Exposure	Seal Clubber (13)	Passive	N/A	Adds so-so Cold resistance. The only cold damage that an adventurer will experience is from Lord Spookyraven and Ninja Snowmen, thus this is the least useful elemental resistance skill. At the very least, it helps in completing the Mt. McLargeHuge Quest if taking the path of the Lair of the Ninja Snowmen.
Patience of the Tortoise	Turtle Tamer (0)	Non-combat	1	Gives you 5 Adventures of the Patience of the Tortoise effect (+1 Muscle and +4 maximum HP). Can be useful for meeting the minimum stat requirements of a zone or for increasing melee accuracy and HP.
Pinch Ghost	Ghost Pinching Quarterly	Combat	5	Deals damage to ghosts. There are many better spells or elemental damage options available.
Ravioli Shurikens	Pastamancer (1)	Combat	4	Deals 3-8 damage (damage scales with Mysticality). Useful only when combined with a kickback cookbook or like item; mostly used by Pastamancers against the Naughty Sorceress. Low damage output makes this spell a poor choice for a Hardcore permanent.
Really Expensive Jewelrycrafting	Little Canadia Jewelers	Non-combat	N/A	Lets you create advanced jewelry. Since elemental gems are extremely rare and in-run jewelrycrafting requires access to Little Canadia, which is less useful for ascension than Degrassi Knoll or The Gnomish Gnomad's Camp, perming this skill is not very useful.
Sauce Contemplation *	Sauceror (0)	Non-combat	1	Gives you 5 adventures of the Saucemastery effect (+1 Mysticality and +4 maximum HP). Can be useful for meeting the minimum stat requirements of a zone or for increasing max MP.
Seal Clubbing Frenzy	Seal Clubber (0)	Non-combat	1	Gives you 5 Adventures of the Seal Clubbing Frenzy effect (+2 Muscle). Can be useful for meeting the minimum stat requirements of a zone or for increasing melee accuracy and HP.
Scarysauce	Sauceror	Buff	10	This skill gives you so-so protection against cold and sleaze damage, and any monster that attacks you is dealt 2-10 Spooky damage.
Sing	Accordion Thief (0)	Combat	1	Hits for 2-3 damage per round for 2-3 rounds. Trivial combat skill, no real need to take unless you're absolutely out of skills to perm.
Spaghetti Spear	Pastamancer (0)	Combat	1	Hits for 2-3 damage. Trivial combat skill, no real need to take unless you're absolutely out of skills to perm.
Spectral Snapper	Turtle Tamer	Combat	20	Does 10-40 + 20% of Muscle in spooky damage. Because it does not receive bonus damage from sources such as Snarl of the Timberwolf, it is not difficult for skills such as Shieldbutt to deal more damage and at a much more efficient cost.
Stuffed Mortar Shell	Pastamancer (8)	Combat	13	Deals 39-60 + 25% Myst damage of a random element, unless tuned with Flavour of Magic or a cookbook. Cannelloni Cannon is usually more efficient for use in combat.
Suckerpunch	Disco Bandit (0)	Combat	1	Delevels opponent by 1 while dealing 1 damage. Trivial combat skill, no real need to take unless you're absolutely out of skills to perm.
Summon "Boner Battalion"	The Necbronomicon	Noncombat	200	Deals passive elemental damage. However it can be used once per day, and the MP cost is prohibitive for the effect.
Surge of Icing	Crimbo Carol	Combat	10	A physical damage clone of Saucestorm that does 1.5x damage with the effect Sugar Rush. Unfortunately, it's still horribly overpriced and lacks the semi-useful splashback effects.
Tango of Terror	Disco Bandit	Combat	8	Does 15-18 spooky damage and delevels the opponent by 8. Because it is not useful for Disco Combos, this dance is not as desirable.
Tattle	The Snitch's Manifesto	Combat	7	Delevels enemies. This means this skill is redundant with every Disco Bandit combat skill. And those can combo for bonus effects. And deal damage simultaneously.
The Psalm of Pointiness	Accordion Thief (9)	Buff	15	Gives you 5/7/10/15/20 adventures of the Psalm of Pointiness effect (enemies that attack you suffer 4-8 damage and delevel by 1-5). This skill would be good for plinking because of the deleveling effect, but it suffers from the 3 song limit.
Thrust-Smack	Seal Clubber (4)	Combat	3	When TS hits, it doubles your weapon's damage, but not bonus damage. Eye of the Stoat gives 20 more muscle points of accuracy to TS. Shieldbutt is more dependable because it is a guaranteed hit.
Tongue of the Otter	Seal Clubber (3)	Non-Combat	7	Heals 10-20 HP and removes Beaten Up. When removing beaten up is the prime motive, such as when casting Cannelloni Cocoon, Tongue of the Otter is 3 MP cheaper than Tongue of the Walrus.
Torment Plant	The Thorax's Codex of Tormenting Plants	Combat	5	Deals physical damage to Plants. You will see at most 6 monsters that are plants in a run. None of them are particularly threatening.
Weapon of the Pastalord	Pastamancer (10)	Combat	24	Deals 32-64 +35% Myst damage. Very powerful when combined with spell damage modifiers, but its massive MP cost makes this skill a poor choice to make a Hardcore permanent. If a large spell is needed to relieve a sticky situation, Saucegeyser is suggested since it also has a use in Sauce Synergy.

Tier 9

Skills that have no possible use during a hardcore run
Hobo attack skills: Awesome Balls of Fire Eggsplosion Grease Lightning Raise Backup Dancer Snowclone Toynado	Hobopolis	Combat	120	Each skill can deal a huge amount of damage in a single element. In an HC run, they are almost always either too expensive to use, or utter overkill. (One exception: They have been used as part of a strategy to defeat the normally invincible Tower monsters. Extensive preparation is required.)
Hobo relaxation skills: Conjure Relaxing Campfire Creepy Lullaby Inappropriate Backrub Maximum Chill Mudbath Wassail	Hobopolis	Combat	30	Each skill deals single-element (or physical) damage similar to Cannelloni Cannon and Saucestorm at 2-3x the MP cost. They can also cool down angry hobos and fish, which is useless in a normal hardcore ascension.
Hobo accordion buffs: Benetton's Medley of Diversity Chorale of Companionship Elron's Explosive Etude The Ballad of Richie Thingfinder Prelude of Precision	Hobopolis	Buff	50	These spells can only be cast on recipients of level 15 or higher. By the time you reach this level you could already have beaten the sorceress.
Aquatic skills: Deep Saucery Tempuramancy Harpoon! Summon Leviatuga Salacious Cocktailcrafting Donho's Bubbly Ballad	The Sea	Varies	Varies	These skills are only useful underwater, or with rare crafting ingredients that are only found underwater. Underwater access is only possible after obtaining the makeshift SCUBA gear from the Naughty Sorceress's Lair. These skills may be of interest to PvPers, as at least one aquatic minigame has been part of every PvP season to date.
Frigidalmatian	Brushfires Event	Noncombat	300	Grants a buff which deals massive Cold damage every round of combat for one adventure. Extreme high cost plus extremely short duration means no use in Hardcore. (However, like the Hobopolis 120 MP attacks, above, this can be used as part of a strategy to kill Tower monsters, with extensive preparation.)
Managerial Manipulation	CRIMBCO Handbook	Buff Other Player	5	Gives another player the effect Employee of the Month for 20 turns (+10 to all attributes). Since you cannot use it on yourself, there is no use for this during a hardcore ascension.
Volcanometeor Showeruption	unearthed volcanic meteoroid	Combat	0	Casting this spell requires a volcanic ash, which is consumed by the spell. It's theoretically possible to get the ash in hardcore (from a Pottery Barn Owl), but nothing in a Hardcore run requires that much damage.

Mr. Tier

Extremely valuable skills you purchase, as you happen to afford them, rather than ascend to acquire
Skill Name	Class (Level)	Type	MP Cost	Description
Summon Snowcones	Mr. Store	Non-Combat	2	The oldest and most expensive of the Tomes. Because of powercreep, Snowcones is generally believed to be outclassed by the newer Sugar and Stickers. Snowcone buffs only last for 20 turns and cannot be stacked. Black snowcones have a rare chance of being summoned, and offer all 5 effects for 20 turns!
Summon Stickers	Mr. Store	Non-Combat	2	Apple stickers give an impressive stat bonus at the beginning of a run and unicorn stickers provide a notable increase in item drops. The large meat drop bonus from UPC stickers makes the Nuns a breeze while wrestler stickers can provide a phenomenal stat boost at higher levels, even against the Naughty Sorceress.
Summon Sugar Sheets	Mr. Store	Non-Combat	2	The Sugar sheet allows you to specifically choose items to make, avoiding RNG screwage. If you have Torso Awaregness and make the sugar shirt, you can get +3 stats per combat turn for 30 turns. The Sugar shield gives a hefty +10 lb boost to a fairy (or any other) familiar. The Sugar shorts give an impressive 25% bonus to all stats. After any of these items wear off in 30 combat turns, the resulting Sugar shard gives a nice restoration of HP and MP.
Summon Clip Art	Mr. Store	Non-combat	2	Summons a long list of potentially useful items including very good food and drink, buffs, stats and combat items. Of especial interest are the unbearable light, which is a handy source of Yellow Rays, the bucket of wine as a 10 drunkenness nightcap and the box of Familiar Jacks which gives you familiar items without needing to spend turns and meat in The Cake-Shaped Arena.
Summon Candy Heart	Mr. Store	Non-Combat	Varies	Increases stats and adds a variety of very helpful effects. While not quite as powerful as snowcones, you can get a lot more of them each day and they stack nicely. White hearts increase experience gained from fights for both your character and their familiar, while orange hearts provide an excellent source of early MP.
Summon Party Favor	Mr. Store	Non-Combat	Varies	Summons a variety of miscellaneous useful objects that do a variety of things like stat-based damage and stat gains, adding MP gains to booze consumption, deleveling and pickpocketing, and running away for free and "scaring" a monster off for five adventures.
Summon Love Song	Mr. Store	Non-Combat	Varies	Can heal HP, heal MP or temporarily increase a stat, familiar weight, item or meat drop rate, or various types of damage to opponents.
Summon BRICKOs	Mr. Store	Non-combat	Varies	Summons Brickos, which can be used to make monsters to be used for training and outfit components without stat requirements.
Summon Dice	KoL Con	Non-combat	Varies	Summons dice that can be used in combat to stun, delevel, or do damage, or can be used out of combat to get healing items, gain buffs, or gain stat points. Helpful, but other Librams are generally considered more useful in a Hardcore ascension.
Summon Resolutions	Mr. Store	Non-combat	Varies	Summons resolutions, which are potions that provide buffs or extra adventures.
Summon Hilarious Objects	Mr. Store	Non-combat	5	Summons a set of mostly useless objects, thus this skill is not needed, even for fast ascension. The bag of airline peanuts is a combat item that deals a small amount of damage, the clown hammer is a low-power weapon and the Wind-up chattering teeth is an attack familiar. These items can usually be purchased from other players in the /trade channel.
Summon Tasteful Items	Mr. Store	Non-Combat	5	Usable once a day to summon five random items. You will often receive a Personal massager which will automatically remove beaten-up and heal a few HP when you lose a fight. Two of the items will absorb damage in combat for a few rounds before being destroyed. Flavored foot massage oil will grant a significant stat gain to a randomly-selected stat for a few turns. The three campground items work well when paired with free Disco Power Naps. The last two items are purely hearty.
Summon Alice's Army Cards	Mr. Store	Non-combat	5	Summons a Ye Wizard's Shack snack voucher which can be exchanged for an MP-restoring potion or a good quality food or booze. Moderately helpful, but not essential.
The Smile of Mr. A.	Mr. Store	Buff Other Player	0	Gives another player a box of sunshine if they have ascended at least once or The Smile of Mr. A. if they haven't. This skill won't help your hardcore runs any, but boxes of sunshine do make nice gifts.
Transcendent Olfaction	Bounty Hunter	Combat	40	Increases the chance of encountering a particular monster from On the Trail effect. Ridiculously useful throughout an entire run, from hunting goats to beating up girls. This is not a true "Mr. Skill," but like those skills, it is automatically marked Hardcore Permanent when the item is used.
Thick-Skinned	PvP	Passive	N/A	Gives +10 maximum HP and MP. This is fairly good on Day 1 and 2, where most characters may be limited to what buffs they can use. It can free up a song slot from Mojo Melody earlier, reducing song juggling and saving MP in the process. Thick-Skinned also adds to your survivability during the first few days.
Rainbow Gravitation	Traveling Trader	Non-combat	30	Allows creation of prismatic wads. Adds up to 18 adventures over elemental wads per day near the end of runs and gives more stats. Requires Pulverize even to be used in hardcore and oftentimes you won't have enough items to make many prismatic wads. This is not a true "Mr. Skill," but like those skills, it is automatically marked Hardcore Permanent when the item is used.
Vent Rage Gland	Crimbo Town (2008)	Non-combat	15	Grants an effect which deals passive damage but gives -10% to one stat for 5 adventures.
Chip on your Shoulder	PvP	Passive	N/A	+5 PvP fights/day. Useful for collecting Swagger with which you can acquire other PvP swag.

Controversial Skills

While most experienced players rank the skills similarly to the way they're grouped on here, a few of them are controversial. Depending on your game experience level, equipment, and goals for playing, you may have different priorities for a couple of skills. Here are the most contested rankings:

Impetuous Sauciness and The Way of Sauce both allow considerably more use of Reagent potions to make parts of the game easier. Using those potions regularly can decrease real-life playtime and make the game less stressful to play, especially for beginners. The combination of these two skills even allows the player to spend an entire Oxygenarian run under full reagent potion coverage, provided he or she can obtain the other ingredients. Reagent potions allow players to beat bosses and adventure in high-level zones like The Haunted Gallery earlier than would otherwise be practical, which greatly speeds advancement. With potions, adventures above the beanstalk can be done more easily with monster level increasers like the hippo whip and the goth kid t-shirt equipped. However, some players can survive in the required zones without relying on stat-boosting potions. For these players, Impetuous Sauciness would be of much lower priority than it is ranked here. The Way of Sauce, of course, has its uses relating to food, even ignoring any debate over potions. Impetuous Sauciness does have the advantage of providing 5 extra turns of Got Milk.
The Polka of Plenty and Nimble Fingers are the best skills for increasing the amount of Meat you obtain from monsters. Beginner players may find that Meat farming is a major drag on their progress in the game, especially those who are using a regular blood-faced volleyball instead of the improved Mr. Store versions that also increase Meat drops (Nervous Tick, Cymbal-Playing Monkey, Cheshire Bitten, Hunchbacked Minion, and Chauvinist Pig). Those players may consider skills like Polka much earlier than they are suggested here. If you are doing a lot of Oxycore runs, meat is less of an issue because you can sell all of your booze and food.
Tongue of the Walrus is the most efficient early game healing skill, but its main benefit is curing Beaten Up efficiently. The skill allows you to push the monster level you can take on a little past what would be wise, with only a minor penalty if you make a mistake. Some players feel that you should not do that, and that learning a skill just to avoid Beaten Up is a waste. Others (especially more casual players) appreciate the ability to recover easily from pushing through a run faster than they should, and would rank the skill higher than it appears here. It considerably lowers how frustrating some portions of the game are to play. There are areas where becoming Beaten Up is either mandatory (e.g. the first encounter with Dr. Awkward) or likely (e.g. Level 11 Hidden Temple subquest), and this skill provides more flexibility of response to those parts of the game, regardless of how combat Beaten-Upness is weighed. Also note that Beaten-Up is removed by using A Relaxing Hot Tub.
Manicotti Meditation and Sauce Contemplation give minor boosts to Mysticality and MP. That can be useful at several points in the game. They boost Mysticality without using an Accordion Thief slot, helping to wean you off of the Magical Mojomuscular Melody more quickly, thus allowing you to use a better buff (stat gains, damage, or Meat) in its place.

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