Fax machine strategy
The fax machine, located in the Clan VIP Lounge, allows players to fight one photocopy of a monster per day, potentially including any monster copied by users connected to their clan's fax network. This page lists some of the most effective fax targets ("faxes") in the game for pathless ascensions. Special challenge path runs may benefit from different strategies, or may block access to the fax machine altogether; see the appropriate path strategy page for details. See copying strategy for targets that would need to be faxed multiple times.
The player-sponsored CheeseFax and Easyfax accounts retain copies of most of the interesting fax targets, and can deliver them on demand to your clan's fax machine by sending them a private message with the desired monster's name (/msg CheeseFax <monster>). CheeseFax or Easyfax must be whitelisted into your clan for this to work.
Fax-like Mechanics
Over time, other fax-like sources of on-demand monster summoning have entered the game. Keep in mind that in Standard-restricted runs, the Fax Machine and most of these mechanics are unavailable. As of 2020, Calculate the Universe and the Cargo Cultist Shorts are the only fax-like mechanics available in Standard.
Skills:
- Calculate the Universe: A possible outcome for Doing the Maths is combat against a War Frat 151st Infantryman. Daily uses limited to the number of Manuals of Numberology read, up to 4.
- Rain Man (Heavy Rains path only): Rainy Fax Dreams on your Wedding Day allows combat against any copyable monster you have encountered in any Heavy Rains run, in addition to any copyable monsters with at least 1 factoid unlocked, if you have a Monster Manuel installed. Costs 50 rain drops, not usable when falling-down drunk.
Items/Other:
- Chateau Mantegna: The painting leads to combat with the last monster you've painted with an Alpine watercolor set, persisting through Ascension. Usable once per day.
- Time-Spinner: The Travel to a Recent Fight option allows combat against any copyable monster in the combat queues in all locations. Costs 3 minutes (out of 10 minutes per day).
- genie bottle or pocket wish: Wishing for a fight allows combat with almost any copyable monster, with some exceptions. Wished fights limited to 3 per day.
- Cargo Cultist Shorts: Reaching into a pocket may lead to combat against certain monsters, many of which are ascension-relevant. The resulting combat is a free fight, but is considered uncopyable for its duration, disabling copying and other mechanics that only work on copyable monsters. Limited to one pocket per day, and each pocket can be reached into once per ascension.
Turn Efficiency
These faxes directly reduce the number of turns required to complete quests.
| Monster | Availability | Purpose | Needs Copying? |
Other Requirements? |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mountain man | No restrictions Available from Cargo Cultist Shorts (565) |
Level 8 Quest | Yes | +150%/+900% Items, or Yellow ray | Drops up to 2 of each ore (40% and 10%), alternative to mining or clovering ores |
| ninja snowman assassin | Cannot be wished for | Level 8 quest | Yes | Survival | Saves ~12 turns (or 3 pulls) when copied twice |
| smut orc pervert | Only available from Cargo Cultist Shorts (666) Cannot be copied |
Level 9 Quest | N/A | None | Drops a smut orc keepsake box, worth 5 bridge segments |
| War Frat 151st Infantryman | Calculate the Universe | Level 12 quest | No | +900% Items/Yellow ray | Drops the Frat Warrior Fatigues (10% for each item) |
| lobsterfrogman | No restrictions Available from Cargo Cultist Shorts (220) |
Sonofa Beach quest | No | None | Saves ~4 turns (and lots of RNG swing) over finding each one manually (per copy, up to a total of ~20 turns for 5 copies) |
| Green Ops Soldier | No restrictions Available from Cargo Cultist Shorts (589) |
Level 12 Quest, free runaways | Yes | +1900% Items/Yellow ray | Progresses the War when fighting on the Frat side, drops a green smoke bomb (5%, 90% chance of a free runaway) |
| ghost | No restrictions | digital key | Yes | +150% Items | Drops up to 5 white pixel |
Niche / Quality of Life
These faxes can be helpful, even if they're not strictly optimal.
| Monster | Purpose | Needs Copying? |
Other Requirements? |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bailey's Beetle | Level 12 Quest, quality of life | No | Yellow ray | A multi-purpose quality of life fax; provides some substats, the full War Hippy Fatigues, and a powerful shield |
| sleepy mariachi | Item drops | No | Mad Hatrack or Fancypants Scarecrow, and +900% Items or Yellow Ray | Spangly equipment for converting either familiar into a strong Fairy/Potato combo. |
| Blooper | digital key | No | Olfaction 67% items |
To kick off Olfaction; hugely inferior to Fear Man's Level or the ghost fax, but does not require any extra IotMs |
| Semi-Rare Monsters: | Varies |
|
In case you weren't able to structure your SRs around them, or if your path blocks fortune cookies | |
| modern zmobie | The Defiled Alcove | Yes | None | Saves several turns in the Alcove over encountering them directly, cannot be wished for |
| remains of a jilted mistress | antique hand mirror | No | 150% items | Saves several turns hunting for One Nightstand (Wooden) for Myst classes, if powerleveling in the Haunted Bathroom is desired. |
| Bad ASCII Art, rampaging adding machine |
A Quest, LOL | Varies | None | For players who want the Meat from this quest or want to copy the ASCII art for 31337 scrolls |
| Witchess monsters | Substats, item drops | Possibly | Survival | Free fights that give epic-quality consumables Sacramento wine or Jumping horseradish with +item or +meat bonuses |
History
- The smut orc pervert used to be the best turn-saving fax target until it become uncopyable on August 14, 2013.
- The writing desk and dirty thieving brigand also provided turn-saving shortcuts until they were made uncopyable at the start of 2019.
See Also
| Ascension Strategy | |
| Rankings: | HC Skills - HC Familiars - HC IotMs |
| General: | Class selection - Familiar usage - Semi-rares - Clovers |
| 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 |
| IotMs: | Tomes - Faxing - Copying - YR - Garden - Correspondent - Workshed - Tea party - Florist |
