Familiar strategy

One of the most difficult things to manage during an ascension is your familiar. This page attempts to make the "what familiar should I use?" decision less intimidating.

Familiar Logic

Before each turn (or at least before each quest), it is helpful to consider what familiar will be the most useful for the task at hand. A logic flowchart like the one below can help with this decision.

This list references many functions exclusive to Mr. Store familiars, but the general idea applies to a non-IotM'd terrarium as well.

1. Do you need an unusual familiar function? (these generally take priority over other familiar functions)
   • If you're fighting a boss, you might want the Knob Goblin Organ Grinder out for a badass pie
   • If you're copying a monster, remember to bring an Obtuse Angel or Reanimated Reanimator
   • If you're yellow raying a monster with your familiar, remember the He-Boulder, Nanorhino, or Crimbo Shrub
   • If you're banishing a monster in the next 10 turns via Nanobrawny, you'll need the Nanorhino
   • If you need free runaways for the current zone, use the Stomping Boots or Frumious Bandersnatch (with Ode)
   • If you need free combats (Desert exploration, quest counters, etc.), use a Mini-Hipster or Artistic Goth Kid
   • If you're completing the Nuns quest, you'll want a Hobo Monkey or some kind of Leprechaun
   • If you're looking for modern zmobies (or need it for Twin Peak), use the Oily Woim (or, less effectively, the Happy Medium)
2. Are you trying to max out your item drops? (for 30%, 25%, or 20% drop rates)
   • The Fancypants Scarecrow and Mad Hatrack are ideal if you have the sleepy mariachi items (or, in some paths, the frilly skirt on a low-weight Scarecrow)
   • The Steam-Powered Cheerleader is an effective "superfairy", along with the Mutant Fire Ant if the moons are right
   • The Jumpsuited Hound Dog is also a good superfairy, especially if you need +combat (i.e. The F'c'le), but obviously not if you need noncombats too
   • The Slimeling's pickpocketing ability is very effective when looking for equipment and the target monster has no more than two possible equipment drops
   • The Slimeling is also usually the best choice for players without access to the above familiars, as it generates lots of MP while looking for items
3. Do you need a small amount of +item drops and another function at the same time? (for 40% drop rates or areas with useful incidental drops)
   • The Stomping Boots can provide runaways and paste if the wrong monster turns up
   • The Angry Jung Man is useful in this situation if you don't yet have a jar for Fear Man's Level
   • The Obtuse Angel provides item drops if you are hunting for a monster to copy (especially if that monster has items you need)
   • The Fist Turkey will drop high-quality booze which also provides 25 turns of a useful effect
   • The Slimeling will grant valuable MP
4. Do you need MP to fuel buffs/combat/etc.?
   • The Slimeling is one of the game's most consistent MP-restoring familiars
   • The various elementally-aligned starfishes (Midget Clownfish, etc.) work well in areas that are weak to them, and they require no fueling
   • The Stocking Mimic and Mini-Hipster, among other familiars, will restore MP and perform other relevant tasks if you can stasis combats
5. Have you maxed out the following familiar drops/actions, if relevant?
   • The various spleen familiars are generally used for three (and sometimes more) turn-generating items per day
   • The Knob Goblin Organ Grinder and Happy Medium are often used for one or more pies/cocktails per day
   • The Gelatinous Cubeling is often used for exactly 12 turns per run to produce helpful Daily Dungeon items
   • The Angry Jung Man is often used for exactly 30 turns per run to unlock Fear Man's Level (for a digital key)
   • The Grimstone Golem's grimstone mask, obtained after 40-45 combats, is useful for fancy oil paintings and possibly the ornate dowsing rod
   • The Stocking Mimic randomly produces very valuable Polka Pops (and sometimes-valuable BitterSweetTarts and Piddles)
   • The Mini-Hipster and Artistic Goth Kid's free combats are a valuable source of stat gains if you have no more quest counters to advance with them
   • The Rogue Program's tokens can generate finger cuffs for use in combat emergencies
   • The Llama Lama's gongs can generate valuable +item or +meat potions
6. Do you anticipate needing stat gains to avoid power leveling?
   • The Mini-Hipster and Artistic Goth Kid's free fights, if not exhausted, usually provide the best overall stats per turn of familiar usage
   • The Baby Bugged Bugbear with the bugged balaclava is the next-best statgain familiar if you can handle the extra ML
   • The handful of Sombrero-type familiars provide effective statgain against high-level foes
   • The Frumious Bandersnatch, when tuned to your mainstat with its familiar equipment, also provides good stat gains
   • The various Volleyball-types provide anemic stat gains after the first few levels, but are better than nothing
7. Do you not need any of those things?
   • Using your primary "superfairy" from no. 2 just to fatten it up is an effective strategy (except for the Cheerleader, who will lose steam)
   • The Wild Hare, Squamous Gibberer, Temporal Riftlet, and Reagnimated Gnome can provide extra Adventures if really needed

Notes

• As mentioned, the above list is heavily skewed toward Mr. Store familiars. The Slimeling is a very powerful familiar that can be obtained for a much more modest fee, and is strongly recommended for new players. Ask around in your clan or the /trade chat channel.
• Remember to maximize your familiar's weight to make it more effective. Don't forget about pet-buffing spray!

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