Combat Frequency
From TheKolWiki
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When adventuring in a location, the game first decides whether you will receive a combat or non-combat encounter. Each location has a preset percentage of yielding a combat encounter.
Modifiers
This is a comprehensive list of everything in the game that can modify a location's preset combat frequency percentage.
- Each modifier directly alters the chance by 5% in the appropriate direction. For example, using monster bait in an area normally having a 50% chance of combat will result in a 55% chance of combat.
- There is one exception: the Jumpsuited Hound Dog boosts combats encounters relative to its weight, up to a maximum of 5% at 30 pounds.
- These effects stack, so it's possible to have 5 combat increasers for a +25% combat bonus or 5 non-combat increasers for a +25% non-combat bonus.
- You can mix combat and non-combat modifiers; the result is handled by simple arithmetic.
- It is possible in some areas to completely eliminate one type of encounter. For example, the Penultimate Fantasy Airship has 80% combat; using four combat increasers will give you a 100% combat rate, eliminating the Random Lack of an Encounter adventure and any Immateria that you don't have yet.
- A Shimmering Portal is a unique location in that it has non-combat adventures with a 100% combat rate. To receive these non-combat adventures, one must use one or more non-combat modifiers.
Superlikely Adventures
There are certain non-combat adventures that are not affected by combat frequency modifiers. These have been labeled "superlikely" adventures and have a percent chance to occur every turn. This is a list of all known superlikely adventures.
- All Bad Moon-specific adventures are superlikelies.
- It is unknown what the frequency of Bad Moon adventures are.
- It is also unknown if all Bad Moon adventures share the same frequency.
- Most of the NS13 superlikelies are still being spaded.
The following are believed to be superlikelies:
Scheduled Quest Adventures
There are yet more adventures not affected by combat frequency modifiers. Upon ascension, these adventures are predetermined to occur on a given adventure within the defined range and nothing can speed up their occurrence.
| Location
| Adventure Name
| Description
| Occurrence
|
| Outskirts of Cobb's Knob
| Code Red
| Receive Knob Goblin encryption key
| Always occurs within 3-15 adventures
|
| The Haunted Pantry
| The Manor in Which You're Accustomed
| Unlocks Spookyraven Manor
| Always occurs within 3-14 adventures
|
| The Defiled Nook
| giant skeelton
| One of The Cyrpt bosses
| Always occurs within 4-15 adventures, but only if you've received Skull, Skull, Skull already
|
| The Defiled Cranny
| huge ghuol
| One of The Cyrpt bosses
| Always occurs within 4-15 adventures, but only if you've received Go Slow Past the Drawers already
|
| The Defiled Niche
| gargantulihc
| One of The Cyrpt bosses
| Always occurs within 4-15 adventures, but only if you've received Urning Your Keep already
|
| The Defiled Alcove
| conjoined zmombie
| One of The Cyrpt bosses
| Always occurs within 4-15 adventures, but only if you've received Turn Your Head and Coffin already
|
| The Haunted Conservatory
| Polo Tombstone
| Receive Spookyraven gallery key
| Always occurs within roughly 2-12 adventures
|
| The Deep Fat Friar's Gate
| We're on a Bridge!
| Receive Azazel's unicorn
| Always occurs on the 10th adventure spent in this area
|
| The Deep Fat Friar's Gate
| It's a Good Ship!
| Receive Azazel's lollipop
| Always occurs on the 20th adventure spent in this area
|
| The Deep Fat Friar's Gate
| Going Ballet Up
| Receive Azazel's tutu
| Always occurs on the 30th adventure spent in this area
|
| The Deep Fat Friar's Gate
| Bureaucracy of the Damned
| Azazel, Ma Belle quest completion
| During its quest, always occurs every 7 gate adventures or upon returning from 7 adventures spent anywhere; see below.
|
| The Worm Wood
| All non-combats
|
| Always occurs with 7-9 adventures of Absinthe-Minded, 4-5 adventures of Absinthe-Minded, or 1 adventure of Absinthe-Minded; see the Worm Wood Done Quickly
|
- Bureaucracy of the Damned is unique in that its adventure counter will still be decremented when you adventure somewhere other than the Friar's Gate. And even if you spend more than 7 adventures in a different location, Bureaucracy of the Damned will always be encountered as soon as you return to the Friar's Gate. Therefore, the optimal way to do the quest is to leave as soon as you receive the tutu, coming back after 7 or more adventures for the reward.
Advanced Mechanics
While the previous information should be adequate for a novice, there are advanced mechanics to combat frequency that all speed-ascenders should be aware of.
Delay()
The underlying mechanic behind most of the scheduled quest adventures has been labeled "delay". Most of the community refers to it specifically as delay().
- Delay() is a function that artificially extends every ascension by a set number of turns. This number, while still unknown, is the same for everyone.
- This set number is randomly distributed over various quest locations in 0-9 increments.
- When a location is delayed, any quest related adventure is rejected and a new adventure is rolled, regardless of whether the quest adventure was superlikely, non-combat, or combat.
- It is unknown exactly which locations are affected by delay() and which are not. For the most part, however, delay() is assumed to affect almost all quest adventures that cannot be skipped by softcore pulls. For more explicit information, see the AllianceFromHell link below.
- Remaining delayed turns are not decremented by skipped non-combats, but can be decremented by combats that don't take a turn (like if you use a tattered scrap of paper, for instance).
- Since there is no way to determine if a zone has been delayed or not, the strategy implications from understanding the delay() mechanic are minimal (since you will always assume a zone is not delayed). However, for example, if you have both an extremely long Friar and Crypt quest, you can reasonably assume that the majority of your delay() was invested within those two quests. Using this knowledge you will be able to play slightly more aggressively later on.
- Delay() was implemented to provide a hard floor that would stop new items or strategies from breaking the softcore game. Jick has stated that he does not like this mechanic and that he is working on a better solution to this problem.
Notes
- Jick had said that combat modifiers will not go higher than 25% either way.
- The most up-to-date data on superlikelies/scheduled adventures/non-combats and delays can be found on this post on the AllianceFromHell forums.
- Jick confirmed the existence of superlikelies in this post.
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