Advanced Farming
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Contents
Adventures Are A Currency Of Their Own
Your Camp, Clan, P.J.s, and Diet are all Important!
Your Cuckoo-clock (+3 adventures) goes off, and you wake up in your camp, roll over and wave at your Clockwork Maid (+8 adv).
It's 11 a.m. so that you can be Fashionably Late (+1 adv).
You take off your P.J.s setting your Hairpiece on Fire (+4 adv) on the bed stand, folding your Paperclip Pants (+2 adv), removing General Sage’s Lonely Diamonds Club Jacket (+3 adv), and you put up your Staph of Homophones (+5 adv) that you have a weird habit of cuddling.
The clan you’re in has a bunch A Shelf of Help Books (+5 adv), as well as not one, but two whole calendars, The Calendar of Loathing (+3 adv) and An Inspirational Desk Calendar (+1 adv) all of which are nice now that you’re not in Ronin and not running Hardcore.
You’ve already got a huge leg up on other adventurers who forgot to put on their p.j.s last night and those who aren’t part of such lovely clans.
The more adventures you have the more turns you have to farm for items or meat!
Diet
Unlike the items above you’ll need to purchase the food you use each and every day or acquire it by some other means. Maybe you’ve already farmed it or perhaps you pulled it from your clan's storage. Before you decide on your diet you need to find out just how much you are making on average per adventure in the area you plan to farm in. You can do this by adventuring in an area for x number of adventures, then divide the meat by that number. Keep in mind that the more adventures you spend calculating this the more accurate your average will be.
Once you have figured out this average you can use an optimal diet counter such as this one by tehtmi. List your class. Make sure to note if you have an organ of steel (liver of steel, Spleen of Steel, or Stomach of Steel). And if you have any of the following skills; Saucemaven, Impetuous Sauciness, Pizza Lover, Spaghetti Breakfast, Grab a Cold One, or Ancestral Recall be sure to list them. If you have any of the following; a tuxedo shirt, a mafia pinky ring, a mime army shotglass, or a tiny plastic sword, these will affect things as well. The Mayo Clinic also changes things up. Be sure not to drink your nightcap right away, or you'll find yourself in a Drunken Stupor and unable to properly adventure.
Passive Skills
These skills cost thousands of meat, but are bought once and stay constantly in effect. If you plan to peak for a while, these are far more cost-efficient than using buffs or effects. Getting all of these will require multiple ascensions. For each skill, you must decide whether you want it enough to either ascend with it, stay in that class or sign, or not bother. Based on just passive skills in an attempt to get all of them, the Disco Bandit is the best class to settle under for peaking because you don't have to ascend with Nimble Fingers nor Mad Looting Skillz. Staying under a moxie sign removes the need to ascend with Gnefarious Pickpocketing and Powers of Observatiogn. Of course, there are other factors to consider for which class or sign to stay under or whether to just continue ascending.
- Passive skills are sorted by payoff.
| Name | Meat Bonus | Weight Bonus | Item Drop Bonus | Price | Payoff | Cost-Effective After | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amphibian Sympathy | n/a | +5 lbs | n/a | 3000 meat | 50 mpa | 60 adv | A Turtle Tamer skill |
| Expert Panhandling | +10% | n/a | n/a | 1800 meat | 20 mpa | 90 adv | A Sauceror skill |
| Nimble Fingers | +20% | n/a | n/a | 6000 meat | 40 mpa | 150 adv | A Disco Bandit skill |
| Gnefarious Pickpocketing | +10% | n/a | n/a | 5000 meat | 20 mpa | 250 adv | Offered under a moxie sign |
| Mad Looting Skillz | n/a | n/a | +20% | 8000 meat | 15.72 mpa | 508 adv | A Disco Bandit skill |
| Powers of Observatiogn | n/a | n/a | +10% | 5000 meat | 7.86 mpa | 636 adv | Offered under a moxie sign |
| Thrift and Grift | +10% | n/a | n/a | ~1000000 meat(mall) | 15 mpa | 66667 adv | Obtained from Hodgman's journal #2: Entrepreneurythmics |
| Natural Born Scrabbler | n/a | n/a | +5% | ~400000 meat(mall) | 6.6 mpa | 60606 adv | Obtained from Hodgman's journal #1: The Lean Times |
Once a Day Buffs
These buffs can only be obtained once per day. Effects with the same source are exclusive, thus you can obtain Techno Bliss OR Material Witness in one day.
| Name | Meat Bonus | Weight Bonus | Item Drop Bonus | Duration | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preternatural Greed | +100% | n/a | n/a | 30 | Obtained from the Summoning Chamber |
| Clyde's Blessing | n/a | n/a | +50% | 20 | Using The Legendary Beat |
| Dances with Tweedles | +40% | n/a | n/a | 30 | Using a "DRINK ME" potion, wearing a filthy knitted dread sack, and visiting The Mad Tea Party |
| Quadrilled | n/a | n/a | +20% | 30 | Using a "DRINK ME" potion, wearing a bubblewrap bottlecap turtleban, and visiting The Mad Tea Party |
| Winklered | +40% | n/a | n/a | 20 | 'Bust a move' in the Mysterious Island Arena |
| Optimist Primal | n/a | +5 lbs. | n/a | 20 | 'Join a drum circle' in the Mysterious Island Arena |
| Dilated Pupils | n/a | n/a | +20% | 20 | 'Investigate a curious cloud of smoke' in the Mysterious Island Arena |
| Material Witness | +10% | n/a | n/a | 10 | Play 'Material Orc' on a clan Jukebox |
| Techno Bliss | n/a | n/a | +10% | 10 | Play 'Boom Boom Boom Boomboom Boom' on a clan Jukebox |
Equipment
Equipment function similar to passive skills, except you need to use equipment slots for them to work.
- Ascending is difficult to value and is different for every player; you will have to decide whether it's worth it yourself.
- Since you can resell most equipment later, the most cost-worthy equipment for peak farming are the ones with the highest payoff per adventure.
- Items which increase familiar weight are exceptional in that they boost whatever your current familiar boosts. Which is almost always exactly what you want out of the gear you're looking for. Very versatile and perhaps reducing the number of items you seek to purchase.
- A typical meat finding outfit(which is reasonably attainable and doesn't include IotMs) includes the following:
| Slot | MFind | Name |
|---|---|---|
| Familiar | 151.75 | 35lb. Leprechaun |
| Head | 10 | ancient turtle shell helmet |
| Shirt | 20 | duct tape shirt |
| Pants | 25 | poodle skirt |
| Weapon | 25 | Coily™ |
| Accessory | 20 | natty blue ascot |
| Accessory | 11 | Order of the Silver Wossname |
| Accessory | 15 | pulled porquoise pendant |
| Fam Equip | 0 | ittah bittah hookah |
- See: Maxing your Meat and Maxing your Items for listings.
Familiar Choice
Before this guide does anything else, I think it is necessary to first explain which type of familiar should be used. By default everyone seems to use a leprechaun-based familiar, but is this really the right way to go about farming? Which is better, Leprechaun or Gravy Fairy?
Let's look at the math:
- A Leprechaun (at 35lbs) grants a boost to meat drops of 151.7% which translates (using the Castle in the Sky's average raw meat worth per combat of 152.2) to an extra 230.9 meat per combat adventure.
- A Gravy Fairy (at 35lbs)grants a boost to item drops of 75.87% which translates (using the Castle in the Sky average raw item worth per combat of 132) to an extra 97.5 meat per combat adventure.
This means that without any doubt, Leprechaun-based familiars are far better than Gravy Fairy-based familiars when farming the castle.
A Coffee Pixie, Hobo Monkey, Slimeling, Hound Dog or a similar Mr. A. familiar is better, of course. Consider it an investment, if you don't already have one.
Familiars which 'produce meat' or 'produce items' should not be overlooked though. These familiars almost always net results independent of the adventured zone, thus are useful for those conscious of the bottom line who are questing in poor yielding zones. Of these familiars which are available to you, find it's average value per turn in meat by multiplying its chance to function per turn by the value of what is produced.
- The Cocoabo is cheap to obtain yet (at 35lbs) yields around 136.9 meat per combat turn that lasts at least 10 rounds.
- While the more expensive Rock Lobster (at any weight) yields 2% the value of floaty sand per combat which is currently around 190.
- The also expensive NPZR (at 35lbs) yields around 242 meat per combat turn that lasts at least 10 rounds... plus toast!
When selecting a zone for farming look up the individual familiar's benefit table for its exact value, if it is an item boost, multiply it times the zone's "worth of IFind in comparison to MFind". Then compare that value to your meat or production based familiar's exact boost to determine which is better. To compare these results to production based familiars, multiply it times the zone's average raw meat value.
Zone Analysis
When analyzing a zone the first step is to find the true value of each item which may drop. Check the mall, if several stores list it for the minimum value then assume the value is its autosell price(but check and see what it smashes into first, list the value of what it pulverizes into if the value of the nuggets/wads is greater than the autosell price). Then for each combatant multiply that value times the chance of it dropping without boosted IFind. Do that for each of that combatants drops, add the results together to determine that combatants raw item value. Once complete, add all the raw item values together and divide by the total number of combatants(if all combatants are equally likely). This will give you the zones average raw item value per combat.
If the zone includes unequally likely combatants the value of each combatant needs to be weighed against its frequency. The current listing of frequencies can (oddly enough) be found at On the Trail. For each combatant multiply its individual raw value by its frequency (of combat encounters only, not including non-combats). This will give you the zones average raw item value per combat.
Next is to look up the average of each combatants meat drop. Add them all together and divide by the number of combatants (if all combatants are equally likely) to determine the zones average raw meat per combat.
Determining the combat frequency is often as simple as looking at the wiki, but some zones may have non-combats which may be skipped. This complicates things.
Calculate the average noncombat using the same method as for combatants. Often the chance of item drops is 100% and the math is much simpler.
To determine the worth of IFind compared to MFind, divide the raw item value by the raw meat value. This percentage is useful for determining what equipment to use. For example in the castle in the sky, this number is 86.78%. So an Order of the Silver Wossname is easily identified as being better in this area than a pulled porquoise pendant.
To make things clear, IFind stands for '+item% drops'. Do not treat it as a percentage for the following formulae. And MFind stands for '+meat% drops'. Again, treat it as a whole number and not a percentage. The only percentages used in the following formulae are frequencies.
So with the first 4 solutions and your current IFind and MFind we can calculate your expected yields with the following formula:
(([avg raw meat per combat]*(MFind+100)/100) + ([avg raw item value per combat]*(IFind+100)/100)) * [Combat Freq] + ([Noncombat Freq]*[avg noncombat value]) = [TOTAL EXPECTED YIELD]
Note that your IFind and MFind do not multiply any of the noncombat variables. This has big repercussions when evaluating the cost/benefit of buffs.
Example
An example for determining total yield; in The Castle in the Sky with +300 MFind and +60 IFind without boosted combat rates:
(((152.12*(300+100)/100) + (132*(60+100)/100)) *82%) + (18%*423.75) = 748.41
So one could expect 748 meat per turn. Now lets try boosting that combat, +285 MFind, +60 IFind, +5% combat: ((152.12*(285+100)/100) + (132*(60+100)/100)) *.86 + (.14*423.75)=744.63 .
So at these levels in this zone, 15 MFind is superior to +5% combats.
Odor Extractors & Transcendent Olfaction
Quite simply, Transcendent Olfaction is the holy grail for farmers. It is a skill which allows you to manipulate the combat queue in your favor, to single out a combatant and make it much more likely to appear. Its effects can be duplicated using a consumable Odor Extractor, but for any serious farmer, saving up for the auto hardcore permanent skill is the only option. With access to this skill, most zone results can largely be ignored in favor of the single combatant which you are On the Trail of.
Pickpocketing for Farmers
Pickpocketing offers large gains for the farmer, but the math is difficult and time consuming. The chance to pickpocket is not increased with +IFind according to the Pickpocket formula. But several items will increase it or add a second chance. When pickpocketing fails, Disco Bandits can still use Rave Steal to ensure one item will be gained(if any are possible).
As an extremely crude guide, .3 can be multiplied by your raw item value and added directly to your base expected yield per pickpocket. (Any mathematicians want to derive a more accurate magic number here?)
Rave Steal can even force low chance items to drop at a rate of 1/x with x being the total number of items which are possible to pickpocket (excluding pickpocket only items). If a combatant has several items but the highest valued item has the lowest chance to drop, it is recommended to not attempt a pickpocket and instead rave steal. The effect of rave steal changes the standard yield formula.
For each combatant you use rave steal on, reduce its average raw item value by ([raw avg item value]*([number of possible drops]-1))/[number of possible drops]. Note that you are taking IFind partially out of the grand equation here. But in doing so you gain a separate absolute bonus to your yield of this combatant of the average value (different from the avg RAW value as this is unaffected by drop rates & at 100%!!) of all its pickpocketable items (not including pickpocket ONLYs).
For example an Alphabet Giant has 2 drops, a 135 value item with a 39.3% and another item worth 143 at 41.3%. Its average raw item value is 112.114. Using rave steal you get a bonus to your final yield of its average value (143+135/2)= 138.5. But your raw avg item value will then instead be set to 112.114-(112.114*(2-1)/2) = 56.5. And for this alphabet giant, you would expect to gain an absolute 138.5 in items plus another 56.5 worth of items which can be magnified by IFind(capped at 100% drop rate of course). That's 112 versus 195, a substantial gain.
Note that rave steal is not adjusted by drop rate and thus can open up some truly odd possibilities for zone selection. High value items, beware.
Rave Combos & MP Regen
Disco combos can dramatically increase both your IFind and MFind but at a cost of MP. This MP can be recovered with consumables but, in almost every case, it is more efficient to instead equip MP regenerating gear. MP reducing gear/affects are also available but are generally VERY expensive and only become better than MP Regen when attempting to use 18+ mp consuming skills per turn(when compared to a sponge helmet for MP regen).
Advanced Farming+
Because of the fluctuating market, it is difficult to place absolute values on items and thus determine the true worth of a zone for farming. All items have an absolute base autosell value, yet some items should always maintain a higher than autosell value. These items generally include consumable items, items which pulverize into nuggets/wads, and ingredients for superior consumables.
The Velvet / Gold Mine (Mining)
Average raw item value per adventure: ~3500
Volcano Farming is started by first getting the High-temperature mining drill and having 15 levels of Hot Resistance and having access to That 70s Volcano, either from the charter or the one-day ticket. When mining in the Velvet / Gold Mine, you are looking to find 1,970 carat gold, which can be auto-sold for 19,700 meat, and is as such extremely profitable. See here for more details on mining.
Here are some tips for mining in the mine:
- Only mine in squares that are twinkling, as these are the only squares that have a chance of obtaining the 1,970 carat gold.
- Once you have mined a 1,970 carat gold in a mine, you should immediately find a new cavern, as the odds of the mine having another 1,970 carat gold piece is only 25%.
- If you do not see any twinkles in the first row, mine in a random spot to open up the map and switch to a new cavern if there are still no twinkles spotted
- Equip a HP Regeneration item as you will lose a lot of HP from cave-ins.
The biggest advantage to this zone is that the meat gained comes from the sale of 1,970 carat gold and is unaffected by both +Item Drops% and +Meat Drops%, making it the most profitable area for farming meat for those who do not have the items to boost Meat Drops. It is estimated that around +1300% meat drops is required for Barf Mountain to be more profitable than Volcano Farming. See Maximizing Your Meat Drops on how to increase your meat drops.
The biggest disadvantage is the price of admission is extremely high, the one-day ticket typically costs around 300k and the price of obtaining the items required to mine in the volcano can also be costly if you do not have them (although this is only a one-time purchase), so you would need to already have a lot of meat to begin farming here. Be sure to subtract the cost of the ticket from your expected earnings when determining whether to farm here.
Barf Mountain
Average raw meat per combat: 250 Average raw item value per combat: 79? Average value of non-combats: 1750 Worth of IFind in comparison to MFind: 24.3%? Combat frequency: ~95% (see note)
The biggest disadvantage to this zone is the price of admission: the one-day ticket to Dinseylandfill typically costs around 200K. Be sure to subtract the cost of the ticket from your expected earnings when determining whether to farm here.
The zone has a single non-combat, which occurs about every 20 adventures and cannot be skipped. (Two other non-combats appear one time only, so their effect on these calculations is negligible.) Two items give a substantial bonus to Meat drops in this zone only: cheap sunglasses, an accessory that gives +60% Meat drops--you may not equip more than one--and How to Avoid Scams, a potion-type item that gives +300% Meat drops for 20 adventures. Another item, the bag of park garbage, gives an average of 200 Meat when used; don't autosell these!
If you plan to farm here regularly, you might consider collecting 25 FunFunds™ to purchase a garbage sticker at The Dinsey Company Store (or two, if you have Double-Fisted Skull Smashing). Its +30% Meat drop bonus is one of the highest available for a weapon. Consult the Dinseylandfill Employee Manual for more details.
The Castle in the Sky
Average raw meat per combat: 152.12 Average raw item value per combat: 132, see note Average value of non-combats at D setting: 423.75 Worth of IFind in comparison to MFind: 86.78%
This zone has a 75.5% chance of combat, but because 1/3 of the non-combats can be skipped, the following is the TRUE frequency(verification needed) when the wheel is left at D:
+0 combat, 81.8% combat & 18.2% non-combat +5 combat, 85.71% combat & 14.29% non-combat.
There are 4 items in this zone you should not autosell: mask(444), needle(448), and whistle(290) which can be smashed for nuggets or sold in the mall. The values listed are fairly firm and shouldn't fluctuate much without a change in the system. The gift certificate(450.5) should be used for 450.5 meat. A spreadsheet containing the total average meat drops, including any modifiers, can be found at http://tinyurl.com/castle-meat-drops-calculator .
The Icy Peak
Average raw meat per combat: 134.7 Average raw item value per combat: 46.56 Average value of non-combats: 778 Worth of IFind in comparison to MFind: 34.56% Combat Frequency: 85.2%
Currently factored with: ram stick and ga-ga radio being smashed for fractions of a 500 meat wad, crown (489), cheet-o's (941), lager (110), burrito (890), & snow crown (489). When calculating this zone note that the snow queen appears less often than the other two. Item values will vary widely based upon market prices.
Spookyraven Wine Cellar
Average raw meat per combat: 50 Average raw item value per combat: 180 Average value of non-combats: 0 Worth of IFind in comparison to MFind: 360% Combat Frequency: 100%
High efficiency consumable wine ensures a steady demand. Value of wine was calculated at 300. Prices have historically been stable with this item.
Orcish Frat House
Average raw meat per combat: 31.5 Average raw item value per combat: 137.585 Average value of non-combats: ? Worth of IFind in comparison to MFind: 427% Combat Frequency: ? Pickpocket only drops will add to base combat value ->(hard numbers are being spaded but assumed to be around 380
Two high demand items; Deodorant and a packet of beer nuts(pickpocket only) currently sell for 2k each making this quite possibly the best farming spot in the game for moxie classes without access to olfaction or high MFind/IFind. Results may vary considerably with market fluctuations.
The Haunted Library
Average raw meat per combat: 0 Average raw item value per combat: *special* Average value of non-combats: 2000 Worth of IFind in comparison to MFind: 99999999% Combat Frequency: ~99% (when skipping books)
This zone has several peculiar factors which defy the standard yield formulas. The pieces of the scroll of ancient forbidden unspeakable evil are worth more when assembled(2700) than individually, thus your yields could be factored in 2 different ways. Assembled and individual.
With rave steal, disco combos, and pickpocket, 95%+ drop rates can be attained thus leaving open the possibility of using a familiar which produces meat or items and thus increasing your yields beyond the zones typical maximum. LIMIT BREAK! When approaching maximal IFind one could simply assume the value of each turn is 1/3 the current price of the scroll of evil + the average value of familiar procedures + ~14(for autoselling the extra quill and snifter) + ~20(for the tomes).
The Black Forest
Average raw meat per combat: 79 Average raw item value per combat: 177 Average value of non-combats: 0 Worth of IFind in comparison to MFind: 224% Combat Frequency: 100% (when skipping only non combat)
Items from the black knight which pulverize into wads boost the worth of this zone way up. Currently factored with black armor=900, blackberries=140, and basket=700. Results may vary slightly with market fluctuations.
