Seriously, '''MASSIVE''' spoilers ahead. It would in your best interests '''only''' to read this when you reach a point where '''despite your best efforts, you cannot win'''. I did not spend hours writing this to ruin your IVAN experience before you began, I wrote it to enhance your current one with tips and general knowledge that I hope you might not know. '''Please''', click away if you're new.                                  

Many, many years after the creation IVAN, I have decided as to also add my 2 cents on the topic of how to progress through Ivan. Despite me being generally new around the community, I believe even the best of players can learn something from this. It also will be a compilation of several pages of other work, so if you're ever feeling too lazy to search up a specific page, you can take a look here. This is meant to be a generalist guide detailing my opinions on literally everything and tips/trick for progressing through stages. I will go through each topic with its corresponding subtopics, then add a unhelpful TL;DR for lazy people. This guide doesn't not contain exploits, save scumming and code modification, which I don't bother to link as it completely takes the fun out of the game (I consider exploits are addressed like this: If the devs knew about it, would they allow it?)

Many of these general tips are applicable through all versions. Remember, wiz mode is great for testing out all your odd ideas (note that wiz mode in later version may allow some rules that aren't possible normally, such as negating intelligence requirements for changing materials or cloning certain scrolls, so do be careful). There are other interesting but mostly useless tips labeled as '''''Source Code Facts:''''', which hopefully teach people some things they don't know (and gives more reason to pore through this massive document hehe). Oh yeah, speaking of tips, a certain cerise Australian mammal would like remind everyone that in newer versions, the F1 key (located in the top left of the screen), provides a lot of helpful information, especially if you are new to a feature. You can use it at various moments to view detailed explanations.

Though many people may simply not mention them because of how simple they are and that they can be accessed simply by clicking the '?' button, I feel that all certain keys need to be mentioned because not having the knowledge about one important one can hurt a run a lot.  Also, you can view most if not all of them here: [[Commands]]. I just tried to put some details in mine. That said, let's go through the most important keys. These are the keys that's function might be unknown, or have some useful aspects that aren't commonly known/are often forgotten. They are organized in the same order as the keyboard layout descriptions in the game. '''*Please message me in the forums If I get any key wrong, or I missed some vastly game changing key*''' '''Home and End''' (Located in the top right corner of the keyboard), '''Page Up and Page Down''' (Located in the bottom right corner of the keyboard):These keys allow you to move diagonally. Homes moves you up and left, End moves you down and left, Page Up is up and right, and Page Down is down and right. Importantly, it's counted as a single move. Even more importantly, it allows you to interact with otherwise non-interactable objects, most notably being 2 of [[Haathbar]]'s bookshelf. '''MOST IMPORTANTLY''', and I cannot stress this enough because it makes your run so much safer, being at a diagonal greatly decreases damage from certain entities, including trapped door explosions, zaps from [[Wand of Fireballs]] and [[Wand of Lightning]], and the [[Enner Beast]] scream.

'''*Please message me in the forums If I get any key wrong, or I missed some vastly key changing game*''Source Code Fact''''': Alternatively, you can use the keys 789uiojkl keys for movement (the directions being rather easy to figure out), which is good if you want to have all your movement in a single area. On a larger keyboard, the numpad can also be used for movement.

'''up.''': Wait. Similar to 's'earch, downbut takes a turn rather than a tick. Could be useful, leftbut rather niche use. Still, and right Arrowscroll down to look at the 's'': Self Explanatory, Movement keysearch button to see how useful it is.

'''Home and Endg''' (Located in the top right corner of the keyboard), '''Page Up and Page Down''' (Located in the bottom right corner of the keyboard): Not so self explanatoryGo. These keys, which aren't mentioned for whatever reason, allow you Allows a player to move diagonallyquickly traverse terrain. Homes moves I suppose if you up and leftwant to speedrun IVAN, End moves you down and left, Page Up this is up and right, and Page Down is down and right. Importantly, it's counted as a single move. Even more importantly, it allows you the key to interact with otherwise non-interactable objects, most notably being 2 keep track of [[Haathbar]]'s bookshelf. '''MOST IMPORTANTLY''', and I cannot stress this enough because The way it makes your run so much saferworks is after pressing g, being at you can choose a diagonal greatly decreases damage from certain entities, direction (including trapped door explosions, zaps from [[Wand of Fireballs]] and [[Wand of Lightning]], and the [[Enner Beast]] scream. diagonals!) to continuously run in until you

'''>'''See a hostile enemy of any kind '''>'''Discover atrap ''': This key >'''Reach a corner in which there is used another possible path to take that leads in another direction. '''>'''Hit a wall or an immovable object These make sure that you won't take dumb damage while running, but be careful, as using 'g' too much will often lead to running unintentionally into traps or get the player too close to apply objectspotentially lethal enemies. More specificallyIf you have ESP, use it to the fullest before you run ahead. '''d''': Drop. Self-explanatory, should be frequently used later on to not be burden or stressed. It is also good to leave your important scrolls and some backup wands in other floors so they won't go up in flames at the first trap you meet. '''t''': Throw. Throw an item. Very strong if you have plenty of weapons to throw, particularly daggers and short swords early game, and poisons and magical weapons late game. Throwing ability is based on arm strength though, so don't expect that adamantium halberd to go too far. Throwing wands will also often break them. '''a''': Apply. The game's interaction with wands, tools, and certain miscellaneous items (chests , traps, and trapskeys). With wands, 'a' '''will not zap''', a wand and instead break, releasing all their stored energy onto the user, namely you. This is most useful for the wand of teleportation , but is also applicable with the wand of cloning and mirroring. Careful with offensive wands and prepare good resistance or good armor, as they hit you the hardest in their explosion radius. Apply can also be used with traps to activate them on the spot you are standing on. Do not activate a backpack of gunpowder without a very good reason, as it will instantly detonate on you. Can use with magical items or keys to activate their abilities or open chests and doors, respectively. Finally, use 'A' (capitalized) to repeat the last 'a'pply action, which can save time.  '''z''': Zap, use a wand in a certain direction. Most common form of wand use. '''r''': Read. Uses scrolls, just so you know. '''e''': Eat. See nutrition '''D''': Drink. Consumes liquids. Some food that seem like you eat them are actually liquids, such as chicken soup and pea soup, so you might have a bit more food than you think.  '''C''': Chat. What is used to sci-talk with various entities, but also to find some interesting lore. Holding down 'C' will let you chat to the entity you previously talked to, as long as they are still in the 1 block radius, very good for when surrounded by multiple creatures. '''T''': Taste. In a similar fashion to dip, taste allows you to consume only a small portion of one container. This makes potions of healing several times more effective especially in the early game, but later on when your health increases with your [[Endurance]], drinking the whole potion is fine. '''!''': Dip. A supremely useful tool that enables a player to transfer liquids from one container to another. Given that cans cannot break, it's a prime target for moving healing liquids into. On the other hand, dousing flames requires only a tiny bit of liquid, so moving liquids to vials to cover your flaming scrolls in is sufficient to quickly extinguish the flames while saving much liquid. '''c''': Close. Closes doors. More useful that one would think, as only closed doors can be locked. Good for fleeing and gaining time. Many early game enemies will lose track of you if you r'u'n around a corner and close a door behind you. '''s''': Search. Top tier key that makes the player check their surroundings (a one block radius) for traps. The trap checking, while useful, is not the main benefit from searching, but instead the singular tick a search takes. For reference, IVAN is split into turns, with each turn having 10 ticks. Every entity in the game can only move so many ticks per turn, which is improved by agility. Since entities usually move at the same tick each turn, This can be somewhat exploited by the search key, as staying slightly far enough enables players to stay just out of range, search til an enemy moves in, attack them, and run to the next block. This method, known as kiting, is enough to kill most enemies in the game with enough time, though it falter against spellcasters or a certain queen. '''l''': look (with a lowercase l). Also self-explanatory, but people need to do it more. If you have the whole map unlocked, instead of running around looking for the way up or down, just look to remember places you've been to before, saving time and energy, literally. You can also see enemy equipment to make decisions about before fights by 'l'ooking at them and using certain keys, or what items are on a faraway block that you can see. '''I''': issue commands (with a capital i). Very useful and '''instantaneous''' command that enables a player to order allies around. The functions of who to command are relatively self-explanatory, but you can make allies run away, stop following you, prevent them from changing equipment, and enable them to consume valuable items. With proper managing of your team, you can effectively move your allies around to better synchronize their attacks. '''O''': Offer. When standing on an alter, you can offer items to the god of that alter. Better items make gods happier, or items associated with them (like lanterns for [[Legifer]], very useful). You can see who is associated with what in [[List of Material Values]] '''p''': See gods sections. '''h''': Rest. Allows the player to heal up while staying in one place, very fast. Still takes in game time though. Also note that a player heals twice as fast on a couch and a whooping five times as fast on a bed. '''k''': Kick. Kicks stuff. While the damage from kicks falls off very quickly as the game continues due to the lack of damage, kicks can be used to knock enemies back in desperate situations, bust open locked doors (be careful that they aren't trapped), and open locked chests. If you have the strength to kick a chest at least a block, you can kick the chest up to and then against the wall, which greatly increases the changes of breaking the lock. This is particularly useful for the meteoric steel chest in the not so secret secret room. '''V''': Vomit. Removes some nutrients from your body in the form of a short range projectile vomit. Does poison enemies, but don't use this as a weapon unless you're at death's door with no options. Vomiting is mainly for getting rid of tape worms that can infest your body when you eat rotten food.

Ironically, although these keys are one of a kindrarer, unlike the common keys, they are guaranteed to spawn in a game, but end up being much harder to get because of how strong their wielders are.

'''Hexagonal and Octagonal Shaped Key:'''

When you entered the Cathedral, and you tried to go straight up, you might have hit an invisible wall. Well, that's These two specials keys may not actually a wallbe very helpful in opening normal dungeon doors, but instead the Master Guard of [[Attnam]], [[Sir Haedlac Galladon VII]]provide much help in unlocking certain helpful items and areas. He hold the The hexagonal keycan be used for all doors in the cathedral, but there's no simple way to get it outside of killing him outright and angering Attnam (do note that I said 'no simple way', not 'simply no way', so which may help if you truly understand how IVAN works, you might get the key another way)wish to start a rebellion. With the Hexagonal The octagonal keyis more useful, you being able to unlock 2 useful areas, the Treasury, which holds a bunch of unique weapons and armor-that you can't steal, and a not so secret door to a dungeon in the infamous [[AslonaLower Gloomy Caves|mage room]] (see and some certain certain [[Ivan 0.58Chest Rooms|hidden chests]],also by me). '''Octagonal Key:''' In comparison to the Hexagonal Keyolder versions, the Octagonal Key is arguable much easier to get, you'll only need to kill one enemy. Killing that one enemy also nets you a scroll of wishing, dragon hide boots of agility, wands of cloning, keys can be found on [[Sir Haedlac Galladon VII]] and so much more! Oh yeah, that enemy is [[Ischaldirh]]. '''Never''' consider bumping your danger level high enough to fight him just for the key. Otherwiserespectively, if you get stronk enough to take him outwhich is kind of a yikes, but now they can be found much more easily in the key has 2 good uses, the first being able to open all cathedral in the possession of [[Secret Rooms|hidden, high value chestsMoonrise Stealing Dark]], and far more importantlywho still provides a challenge, being able to quickly unlock the [[octiron]] door to the mage roombut much less so.

Where do you get this? ARGH itA rather obscure key located in the basement of [[Aslona]] in the inventory of a trapped angel. Is not used for anything important, and a hexagonal key is required to gain access to [[Aslona]]'s not on basement unless you wish to anger [[Aslona]] by breaking down the wiki do i gotta find it myself? ARGH Help someonedoor.

If you end up lucky enough, you might find a glowing key with the shape of a skull on a dungeon floor. The skeleton key, as it's called, can open any lock mentioned above, even broken locks that others not other key can open cannot. While this seems obvious enough from the name, it is important to note 2 things:

'''1.''' If you have the other types of keys, you can and should sell the Skeleton key for an amazing price, but the skeleton key is unbreakable while the others aren't

Weapons are an invaluable component in IVAN, dictating how much damage you are able to do to your enemies (unless for some reason you want to smack people with a frog head or wield 2 shields).That said, there is no single superior item, but certain items are better than others, and this section will dictate various weapon's pro and cons over the course of the game, and an artifact section with my personal opinion on weapons. The way I have grouped these is based on each weapon type's overall gameplay, and whether they can serve as late game items or not. This section will not take material quality into perspective, so it's up to you whether an [[octiron]] dagger is better than a [[Pig Iron|pig iron]] [[sword]], but otherwise will provide information on the weapon efficiency itself, in alphabetical order no less. The weapon descriptions will talk about wieldiness, roundness (how good an object is at blocking), and damage. I am also considering letting other players from the wiki write their opinions on weapon, giving a more balanced perspective. Read the page on [[Weapons]] for sure, it provides some tips that I might not have included here! ==Alternative Weapons== An interesting little tidbit in this game is that you don't necessarily have to use your fists if you have no weapons. The two items below can serve as surprisingly decent stats training items. '''Cloaks''': Their incredibly high weight and roundness help to train arm strength while being very easy to block with. '''Banana peels''': Their incredibly low weight and whip category make training dexterity top tier. ==Fallout Weapons== No weapon here is outright bad, but the farther you get into the game, their value trails off with better weapon availabilities. '''Axes''': A simple stat based weapon that unfortunately doesn't provide enough possible benefits. Axes are commonly made of metallic materials that can be hardened without too much difficulty to decent materials through scrolls or [[Loricatus]]. They are heavy, around 2000 grams, but have good early game attack that really help out. Low roundness doesn't help much with blocking though. '''Battle-Axes''': Bigger axes that aren't necessarily better. Lighter materials can be wielded uncomfortably in one hand, and the roundness is much better due to its size (about double), but the overall damage dealt is lower due to low accuracy and heaviness. This can be mitigated through enchantments, but there are better weapons to enchant. '''Beast Claws''': Beast Claws almost makes me want to take my overshadowing statement back. It is better than using your fists, but it's better to get one of the alternative weapons to train with. Beast claws always spawn in pairs, with one going on each hand. They train the unarmed skill, used by no other weapon, have low stats even when made of [[valpurium]] (2-5 damage per claw). This is the type of weapon to use if you have absolutely nothing else. '''Daggers''': A deceptive weapon. Their very small size allows many accurate attacks at the price of low damage. Their low roundness is countered by their maneuverability, making their blocking capabilities decent. They even usually come with enchantments to further improve their damage and accuracy. However, the later a player gets in a game, the damage of daggers falls far under other weapons, even when highly enchanted, and since they start so accurate, don't gain as much with further enchantments. '''Hammers''': The jack of no trades, master of forges. Hammers are generally pointless weapons that are often ditched for an axe or an enchanted dagger. They are more round than daggers with slightly more damage (think 1-4 instead of 1-3), but blocking is bad nonetheless. Their main use is to be better for crafting and forging than some other weapons. '''Non-magical Whips''': They come in either a completely normal variety or are runed, which increases their total damage without an enchantment. In older version of the game, whips could not break, making them overpowered when coated with poison or sulfuric acid, but now with low level material whips, break easily. They are too strong to train agility with, yet too weak to serve as good weapons without good materials. Technically they serve as fine weapons when highly enchanted, but the allure of a magic whip greatly overshadows normal whips. '''Pick-axes''': Pick-axes should be used purely for digging with the exception of the artifact pick-axe mentioned below. They are heavy and hard to maneuver with low damage, and breaking a pick-axe prevents its many possible uses. '''Quarterstaffs''': Similar to polearms, quarterstaffs are big chunks of usually wood meant to be wielded with 2 hands. Their size leads to very good blocking at decent maneuverability, but quickly fall off in their wooden forms from a lack of damage. However, if you are lucky enough to get quarterstaffs made of [[arcanite]] or other light, good quality materials, they can serve as a mid weapon, becoming surprising dexterous. '''Sickles''': The worse short swords. Their lightness takes off a bit of damage in compensation for their better defending ability, but that lost damage hurts them a lot. They do have a 50% damage bonus to plants, but since most enemies are not plants (wait, they aren't????), are often outclassed. '''Spears''': Spears are alright damage on a stick. They have good roundness, but are too heavy for most early game players, forcing them to 2 handed weapons. When a player is strong enough to use just one hand for them, they become outclassed by other weapons. '''Scythes''': Sure, wielding a scythe is cool. They have high roundness and alright damage, and their magical versions off terror (fearing enemies) and corroding (more easily destroying armors) aren't half bad (in fact, scythe of corroding is the closest weapon to mid tier). But, they are simply to unwieldy to use while providing low damage compared to other unwieldy weapons, and the magical variants are incredibly rare. At least they have a 50% damage bonus to plants, which helps in UT03. '''Warhammers''': Bigger hammers that are necessarily better. War hammers are larger, rounder, and more damaging hamemrs, and can be wielded relatively comfortable in one hand. The only reason they fall off is due to the lack of magical weapons and artifacts in their category. ==Mid Weapons== The starting weapons you can carry for a long time if you don't find anything shockingly good. Many can and should be enchanted to +5 before you have found an end game weapon. This is the section where if you ended a game with these weapons, they are good, but could be better. These weapons don't necessarily have to be the ones you carry, but can also be the additional weapons that can be thrown or utilized in unique ways. '''Maces''': Maces are just a simple weapon that can be wielded uncomfortably in one hand with common materials (think iron and meteoric steel, not adamantium). Their high roundness combats their low attack speed, and are generally just a well rounded, balanced weapon. '''Magical Axes''': There are 3 axes that fall into the magical category, all providing additional beneficial effects outside of their base damage. Funnily enough, these weapons are far more dangerous in an enemy's hands rather then yours. The [[axe of sharpness]]: Will sometimes deal extra damage to an enemy, very beneficial if you have to go through long fights. Will also immediately sever limbs if the axe damages them, which is highly beneficial early game, but can fall off later on as enemies' dexterity dodge limb shots or don't require limbs. Avoid close combat with enemies carrying this. Are arguably the best throwing weapon when cloned in mass production, and can be used to derail an enemies' plans. The [[chilling axe]]: Will sometimes slow an enemy, '''very''' beneficial late game, but damage falls off with several alternative method of slow. On the other hand, enemies getting this can be a lethal threat. The [[dark axe]]: Will sometimes cover itself with liquid darkness, which drains the stats of the enemies it hits. The stat loss may seem nominal, but are very good for either hit and run strategies. On the other hand, any enemy equipped with it becomes a major pain because of permanent stat loss. '''Magical Short swords''': There are also 3 shorts swords that fall into the magical category. [[Banshee sickle]]: A sickle that occasionally does unblockable sound damage, much like a flaming sword. Slightly inferior due to the lower stats.  [[Dagger of venom]]: A dagger that covers itself in poison, good throwing weapon, but can cause daggers made of metal to easily rust. [[Weeping blade]]: Dagger of venom's cooler cousin. A short sword that covers itself in sulfuric acid. Despite the low damage, the sulfuric acid is a very lethal weapon, and is arguably the best throwing weapon when cloned. '''Non-magical long Swords and bastard swords''': Unlike hammers, swords are the real jack of all trades, balancing attack and maneuverability. Larger swords such as the bastard sword or come with more damage at the cost of higher weight, which can be offset with higher arm strength. Basically just an all rounder weapon, being the closest to potentially end game weapons. '''Scimitars''': Very comparable to halberds, except they fall into the sword section. However, due to their high prime material density, even when changed to light materials, they still weight much, causing them to be slightly inferior, but can be offset with high arm strength just like halberds. '''Short Swords''':  I should start by saying that I am very hesitantly putting short swords in the mid section. Truthfully short swords are a sort of trap that people fall into thinking that a light, strong, and fast weapon is the superior long term option. They are, kinda, but their damage greatly falls of in comparison to larger weapons, and they won't train arm strength much either, causing the player to fall further behind. If you must use short words, it would be best to use large weapons first to train arm strength and switch later to maximize dexterity. '''Staff of wondrous smells''': Smells good for you, smells bad for them. Wondrous smells can do to things when fighting, spawn red clouds, which give negative effects, on enemies, or spawn blue clowns, which give positive effects, on you. This can heavily turn the tides of battle over the long run. However, they can backfire if you are pushed back, as the clouds are impartial and can both benefit enemies or hurt you. The staffs are also quite heavy anyways. '''Taiaha''': A polearm with much more versatility, also holding the power of a wand of striking that can be 'z'apped, more useful than both because a Taiaha won't release its energy on you when broken. Taiaha damage is subpar to other options, but they should always be carried for the striking charges that can save lives or blow up [[kamikaze dwarf|kamikaze dwarves]]. '''Thunder Hammer''': A unique hammer that mimics the power of a wand of thunder. I say mimic because the hammer cannot be 'z'apped, but instead only proc randomly when attacking an enemy. This can be taken advantage of with the proper setting, especially knowing that a thunder hammer has infinite uses, but it cannot blow backpacks up, instead being able to destroy walls. The damage is low without the aid of thunder, so it's not a suitable long-term option, and the resulting thunder can bounce back and hit you, commonly in the groin. ==High Tier Weapons== The good stuff. There is no shame if you don't finish your run chalk full of artifacts if you can land one of these weapons, because they are strong enough to be considered psuedo-artifacts. These weapons might start out weak, but with enchantments and enhancements to better materials, can turn the player into a powerhouse. '''Chameleon Whip''': Wait, if whips are fallout weapons, why is there a whip in the high tier category? It's because the magical abilities they hold. The chameleon whip has the chance to polymorph most enemies it hits. Although this is initially considered a weapon to avoid despite its high stats (usually 3-6 when made of ommel hair), the value of turning a pesky veteran dark knight into a harmless spider in invaluable. When made into golden eagle feather, it packs a serious punch that can hit enemies multiple times before they have a chance to strike back. The incredible lightness helps blocking capabilities as well. Can be cloned too, theoretically doubling the chances of polymorphing your enemy when dual wielded. '''Flaming Sword''': A jack of all trades sword-except it's on fire. What's not to like? Not only does it serve as a permanent light source, the sword will also burn enemies on contact, providing one of the few sources of unblockable, hardly resistible damage in the game. The roundness and the lightness are strong together, and they can easily be wielded in one hand, and since they aren't artifacts, can be cloned, meaning you only have to focus on one, then make another rocking flaming valpurium sword+10 (wait...) '''Halberds:''' Halberds are stronk despite their lack of magical variants. Their sole ability is high damage and roundness at the cost of extreme heaviness and low attack speed. Halberds provide very good damage on average while allowing the player to train their arm strength hard. However, most are far too heavy to use with one hand until arm strength in the 40-50s, but with socm to higher level materials, become far more manageable due to their secondary materials usually being a lightweight wood. Their pure power and highest damage overall of a weapon are a consistent threat. '''Rune Sword''': A sword that does 0-1 damage on hit. Has no magical ability except that a scroll of enchant weapon will always work on it. That's it, but this has to infinite potential. With enough cloning of scrolls, the rune sword can become stronger than the justifier. However, use a bit of caution when pumping its level, as going to high will usually cause even the weakest of enemies to one shot you through any armor (see danger level for more). Getting the sword to around +50 or at most +60 is best. Also unfortunately cannot be cloned. '''Whip of Thievery''': Another casual whip with an incredible magical benefits. The whip of thievery, though it starts worse than the chameleon whip due to being made of nymph hair and being very fragile, has the ability to have a chance to steal an enemy's weapon. This is very powerful, as many late game enemies fully rely on their weapons to deal damage, and several named entities only have one weapon. Ur-khan? More like Ur-Gone. Golgher Dhan? more like Lolgher dhan. Petrus? More like... still a big threat with Attnam's backing, but you get the point. Even removing a singular weapon can make fights infinitely safer in comparison. Can be cloned too. '''Two-handed swords''': Very big roundness with surprising light weight (for such a large weapon), providing strong attack and good defense. With light and strong metals like [[arcanite]] or better, they can be wielded with one hand, maximizing their potential. They can serve as endgame weapons because of their above average statistics, but their lack of magical capabilities do make them slightly inferior to other weapons here. ==[[Artifacts]]== '''Asa'marum''': High Tier. '''Bone of Ullr''': Mid Tier. '''E-numa sa-am''': High Tier. '''Epytron''': High Tier.  '''Gleipnir''': High Tier. '''Gorovits' family weapons''':  Mid-Tier. '''Grand Stollen knife of Attnam''': Meme-Tier '''Justifier''': Meme Tier. Worst weapon in the game. Pre-enchanted to +16 so you can basically never enchant it. Made of [[Valpurium]], which cannot be hardened, and since it's an artifact an socm cannot be used either. Cannot be cloned, disappears if mirrored. Cannot be sold. Ridiculously light which doesn't train arm strength much. Gives [[polycontrol]], preventing fun rng factor of turning into a rabbit. Gives [[telecontrol]], removing fun random teleport factor. Gives haste, infravision, and esp, making invisible enemies almost always visible, therefore removing possible fun from being bodied by that which one can't see. High roundness combined with low weight prevent hits to the body, decreasing the chance of improving endurance. Cannot be wielded in two hands without very low arm strength, preventing fun challenges. On the positive side, the sword only appears in [[Petrus]]'s hand, and you must defeat him somehow to obtain it. I'm sure you can do it. '''Lost ruby flaming sword of Xinroch''': High Tier. '''Mjolak''': High Tier. '''Neerc Se-ulb''': High Tier. '''Pica''': Mid Tier. '''Pick-axe of Kharaz-arad''': High Tier. '''Saal'Thul''': Mid Tier. '''Turox''': High Tier. '''Vermis''': Mid Tier. '''Y'yter Durr''': Mid Tier. ==Varient Weapons== Varient versions such as LIVAN and CLIVAN contain some items unique to just them. I have less knowledge about some of these weapons, but I'll provide what I can. '''Great Axe''':   '''Katana''':   '''Knight Sword''':   '''Main Gauche''':   '''Rapier''': 

WIP'''Spetum''':   '''Tip Sword''':   '''Vacuum Blade''': ==Varient Artifacts== '''Aethier''': '''Bone of Ullr''': '''Cronus''': '''Defender''': '''Demonhead''': '''Lynslag''': '''Muramasa''': '''Masamune''': '''Rescue the Peasant''': '''Smite''': '''Sunsword''': '''Vormav''': '''Zulfiqar''': ===Unadded Varient Artifacts=== '''Belederiver''': '''Hammer of Loricatuses' Smithwork'''

This unusual appearance of strong enemies despite your apparent weakness is known as Danger Level, which spawns enemies for you based on how strong the system thinks you are. The code behind it is very complicated, but it basically compares how long it would take for a monster to kill you compared to how long it would take you to kill them. The better your armor, weapons, and proficiency are, the more dangerous monsters are spawned. This '''does not''' mean you should avoid getting stronger, as enemies naturally get stronger over time, and once you get strong enough, you basically become invincible. '''Virtually all''' items are worth picking up, beside the ones listed below (most of which have to do with boosting your [[endurance]]), with the least danger-level increasing at the top and the most lethal at the bottom. Later in this guide, I will also include a section on how to beat the danger curve and what you can use when you do so (see miscellaneous).

As the last paragraph began insinuating, alignment and relation are critical in praying to gods. Each god has it's own alignment, and their relationship with you will be based on how lawful/chaotic you are yourself. You can usually pray safely with other gods of similar alignment. Obviously, the [[Valpurus|Kings of Gods]] and the [[Mortifer|Destroyer of Worlds]] will be pissed for having affairs with the other, but even if gods are the same alignment, they can become displeased with you. It is best to limit gods to only 2-3 at most 5 levels away from each other (for example L++ to LN+,L- to NC+ [a common situation amongst veterans], or C+ N- to C--) to ensure positive relations with all of them, knowing that more is possible but risky. By positive relations, or a god's happiness, ranging from being 'A champion of the cause!' to extremely angry, dictate their rewards/punishments, the latter of which can be quite severe. Praying to a happy god will increase not only your relationship with them, but also closely aligned gods. As is such, this allows you to slowly change your alignment over time, shifting from lawful to chaotic and vice verse.

Nefas is a somewhat of an exception to chaotic gods, as she is the only one that provides allies outside of angels and archangels: [[Mistress|mistresses!]] At the beginning, she only offers bottles of vodka, which are provide a small but good source of income, or just an infinite supply of bottles for [[Mellis]], but later on she gifts a [[mistress]], or when very happy a mistress torturing chief, which can provide for the armor you lack, or just serve as strong temporary allies. Her aligned materials are unnoteworthy, with the exception of [[white jade]].

Cruentus is a strong god that just keeps getting buffed. It's crazy. His main purpose now is providing an infinite source of troll blood, occasional rain, to put out fires (don't count on that though), and weapon enchants. However, he has a somewhat hidden buff compared to other gods, which lies in his [[angel|archangel]], Gladius. For some strange reason, while other angels only carry a book of their respective god or little else (Salubris has some rather pointless food and Leguluis has 50 million roubles worth 2 units) for you to take, Gladius holds a '''PERMANENT RUBY TWO-HANDED SCIMITAR + 4 (10-17 DAMAGE, *Update here*)!?!''' Outrageous. It's likely an unbalanced oversight, but a it's a strong weapon of good quality material that can be wielded even in one hand without too much trouble. His aligned materials are bone related, so it's possible for you to get a bone limb early on, wait for it to rot, then replace it later on.

='''Scrollsand Wands'''=

It is by far more important to stay alive and weak then dead and strong. Here are some different types of traps and how to minimize the damage taken. The ones listed here are what I would consider the most dangerous, but you can also pull up this page on [[Trap|traps right here]] for more, less dangerous, traps.  As a general note, the superior method of avoid traps is the [[levitation]] effect, which makes it impossible to step on traps, the only way to activate them then being other entities stepping on them. The searching effect, which can be acquired through various means, can help find mines, but provides no protection against them. ===Mines=== The most common form of death, mines are embedded in the ground and hidden from the player's view. If you can see a mine, it might have a explanation mark on the bottom right (meaning it's active and dangerous), or if not, is harmless and even able to be picked up. Mine explode with massive fire damage, so the most common defense is a ring of fire resistance. A single ring will let you survive (albeit very hurt) while 2 rings can survive most damage. However, for the big mines, even 2 rings isn't enough, even assuming your armor is around [[phoenix feather]]/[[meteoric steel]] level. A cloak of fire resistance is sufficient enough for small mines, and the cloak and 2 rings makes you virtually impervious to all explosive mines. Unfortunately, there are few to no alternatives to surviving mines, with the exception of really good armor. There are only a few guaranteed rings of fire resistance in the game, and they can be found on [[Ikiros]] and [[Petrus]], which are mostly a moot point to get. If you truly want to be cautious around a space, 's'earching with the 's' key 16 times will near guarantee there are no mines right next to you, but this is very time consuming. The most obscure method I know is with [[Dulcis]] and a horn of fear, where you get allies, betray them, and make them run away into possible mines. ===Gases=== A different kind of danger from mines, gas traps are also undetectable mines on the ground that release not fire, but various vicious vapors, explained below increasing danger. All types of gas traps can be avoided with an amulet of gas immunity, and avoid walking into spaces with clear swirl effects around them. '''Mysterious Blue Gas''': Gives random positive effects. '''Ectoplasm''': Makes the player temporarily [[ethereal]]. '''Brown Gas''': No negative effects, most enemies will not follow a player through brown gas. '''Smoke''': Does literally nothing, midpoint between good and bad results. '''Raw Vaporized Magic''': Gives random effects. '''Warp Gas''': Teleports the player if they don't have [[telecontrol]]. '''Laughing Gas''': Gives the [[Status Effects|hiccups]] effect. '''Skunk Smell''': Poisons entities that walk through it. '''Mysterious Red Gas''': Gives random negative effects. Certain ones like [[teleporting]] and [[Polymorph|polymorphitis]] can be beneficial if used correctly. '''Sleeping Gas''': Puts entities in it to sleep. Stepping on the mine is usually not to dangerous, as with the 3x3 radius the gas is in, other creatures usually also fall asleep instantly, but do not step in the edge of one, as it mimics the effects of a [[floating eye]] and is likely lethal. [https://attnam.com/posts/24423 I hope this gives you an idea of the consequences, even if you can't see the pictures.] '''Mustard Gas'''. Troublesome gas that acts like poison, hurting the player with differing severities depending how long they stayed in the gas. If you trigger such a trap and have a spare teleport wand/prayer (not scroll, as without really high intelligence it will take too long), use it. Otherwise, 'r'un out of the gas as fast as possible. Cannot be cured with [[antidote liquid]] or [[panacea]]. 'T'aste healing liquid to survive. '''Burning Vapors'''. Literal fire except as a gas. Will not likely kill you if you get out quickly, but will set many things like your scrolls and limbs on fire. Use vials to put out the fire with various liquids (see misc for a short passage), as get out asap like mentioned in Mustard Gas. '''Caustic Fumes''': Gaseous sulfuric acid. Might kill you if very unlucky with acid dissolving your head, but survival is likely. However, the acid destroys a lot of armors instantly and rusts metal based ones hard. Metals like the [[arcanite]] family are best in these situations, though you can't exactly expect these situations. Get out '''as fast as humanly possible'''. ===Bear Traps=== Bear Traps are yet another type of undetectable trap hidden within the ground, yet thankful are usually far more tame then mines. They can be found as early as UT1, and are comprised of various metals, with the strength of the beartrap being dependent on the strength of the material. The danger of a bear trap comes from it snapping shut on your limbs, preventing movement much like a spider web. Stronger traps can hurt limbs and even directly sever limbs off, though only usually your legs, as your head hardly walks onto a bear trap. Most of the time, simply trying to move around will free you from the bear trap, but with low [[dexterity]], you may also end up trapping other limbs onto the bear trap. If you can see a bear trap, you can 'k'ick it out of the way to harmless deactivate it ('''don't try this with mines, they'll immediately activate'''). If you end up in one, don't immediately try to break out and consider the following options: '''Low Danger/Risk:''' No enemies around, a weak to mid strength material (If when the trap activated, a limb turned bright red with black stripes or worse, or if the material is top tier like [[Octiron]], that's a strong material in relationship to you, see mid or high danger), you can just keep struggling against the material until you break free. As long as no enemies are nearby, you can constantly rest and 'h'eal until you escpae. See Mid danger if you trap more limbs '''Mid Danger/Risk:''' An enemy nearby, a mid strength to high strength material, or your head stuck in a trap. Consider both the danger of the enemy (can it kill you in very few turns? Do you sense danger?) and the strength of the material (can I break out of it before the enemy can get to me?) before struggling your way out.  '''High Danger/Risk:''' Multiple enemies/a strong enemy nearby and a top tier material trap. The latter is not necessarily dangerous with high tier armor, but [[valpurium]] bear traps and similar materials can just be nearly impossible to remove, even with dexterity in the mid 30 (this is coming from experience). If multiple limbs are unusable, teleport away if possible with wand, or scrolls/[[Sophos]] if both arms are binded. On an unrelated note, if even if your stats are double [[Sherarax]]'s, an unusable arm or leg will easily result in your defeat. ===Additional Scenarios=== There are a few special locations that house these traps, all of which will appear in every game, and are a high risk high reward game (unless you acquire the levitation, which just goes to show how strong the effect is).  '''The dwarven minefield:''' The single largest room in the game, found between GC2 and GC4 filled with loot and a lot of mines, both big and small. Some [[Backpack Full of Gunpowder|backpacks full of gunpowder]] may appear also. The loot is usually pretty good in comparison to what you have, so you'll definitely want to get to it. As always, levitation or searching are best. It is in fact not advised to try to tank the mines with high fire resistance because many mines can set off chain reactions that blow up other mines, you, and much of the loot. Since there is only 1 door to the minefield, it can be a good idea to simply lock the door and come back later when prepared.  '''''Source Code Fact:''''' The dwarven mindfield is has randomly generated material with a set chance to spawn, with a maximum of 24 items, each with a 50% spawn rate, a maximum of 40 mines with a 25% spawn rate, and a maximum of 20 big mines with a 25% spawn rate. This mean that theoretically a minefield could spawn in with all mines and no items, and vice versa a minefield with all items and no mines. '''Secret Rooms:''' Secret room are far smaller in comparison, but their loot becomes much more valuable (unless you get a bunch of useless gemstones, which arguably could be sold). In comparison however, the traps can become stronger, with [[mithril]] bear traps in the secret room and [[octiron]] beartraps in the super secret room. Due to their far smaller size, you can just 's'earch a lot until you find beartraps, then 'k'ick them shut. It's also possible for the secret rooms to have no traps, but that's about a 1/16 chance. '''Aslona Route:''' There's not much to say about Aslona other than the frequency of gas traps is much higher, so having [[Status Effects|gas immunity]] can be a higher priority. ==How to use== Let's be honest, you probably knew all how to avoid the traps already, and blatantly ignored the advice to see if you could learn something from here instead (and I know you're here to see if I post any good tips here, because why would you read this otherwise _-_). Anyways, here I will discuss some possible uses of the traps you've expertly disabled and gathered over your travels. '''General usage:'''  To use traps, 'a'pply them and chose the one you want to use. It will be placed on the ground, and you will be able to see it activated with a explanation in the bottom right corner. 'A'pplying backpacks full of gunpowder will instantly detonate them on yourself. The later you get into the game, the more effective bear traps become, with the exception of levitating enemies. Most high stat enemies are too strong to be impacted by mines (though mines still have uses, see below), while the ability to change the material of bear traps dramatically increases their strength. [[Valpurium]] bear traps are strong enough to trap all enemies, and if lucky can even sever limbs. Levitating enemies are on both sides of the spectrum, either too weak to waste explosives or hardly damaged by explosives. However, using [[kamikaze dwarf|kamikaze dwarves]] as allies allows you to attack floating enemies with less chance of hurting yourself. Just make sure it doesn't backfire on you. '''Stacking:''' The simplest method is often the most effective one. Dropping all your traps onto one square greatly increases their firepower. Keep your whites and your colored shirts separate though, as mines and other explosives can break bear traps before they have a chance to activate. If placing mines, you'll also want a decently high dexterity, as a backfiring mine will blow up your whole pile. '''Stacking V2:''' There is no need to stop at just traps, as they are a host of other materials that can buff up your explosive power. This is where the power of mines come from, as they can activate and explode other items. Useful tools to explode include used wands (wand of [[Wand of Fireballs|fireballs]], [[Wand of Lightning|lightning]], [[Wand of Striking|striking]], [[Wand of Acid Rain|acid rain]], [[Wand of Polymorph|polymorph]], [[Wand of Slow|slow]], [[Wand of Webbing|webbing]], and [[Wand of Soften Material|soften material]]) , the [[Holy banana of Oily Orpiv]] (assuming you don't want to eat it and haven't zapped it 6 times already), and harmful liquids ([[Dwarven Gas Grenade|mustard gas]], [[sulphuric acid]], [[poison]], acidous blood, frog blood, liquid fear, and [[Liquid Darkness|liquid darkness]]). '''Bait:''' A slight extension of stacking. Many have noticed that no bombs can be placed in the [[Attnam|catherdral]] because they get automatically get teleported into the [[kamikaze dwarf]] corner of the building. This can be useful for exploding the dwarves, but [[Petrus]] and his cronies will all be unharmed and very annoyed as a result. However, you or an ally can hold explosives without any issues. Therefore you can stack enough equipment onto an ally next to [[Petrus]] to mimic the [[thaumic bomb]] and watch the world light on fire. It is best to chose a weak ally, as they become overloaded more easily and won't try to kill you if they survive (which would be terrifying, who did you tame?). In fact, with enough explosives and weak allies, you can chain reaction and kill everyone with the possible exception of [[Inlux]]. A master necromancer is your best bet, as they give tons of weak fodder that you can use to hold your bombs. ='''Nutrition'''= Nutrition, or how full you are, is a surprisingly important yet often overlooked aspect of [[IVAN]]. While this often becomes negligible if you have a happy [[Seges]] to pray to, it's important to know certain things about being too hungry or too full. ===Hunger States=== Most know about this, but it's actually not optimal to be at a satiated state. Instead, you don't want any state at all. Being at satiated, bloated, or overfed will lead to losses in agility, and overfed even causing constant vomiting that can lower all stats. On the other hand, being hungry, very hungry, and starving will lead to a loss in arm and leg strength, and starving leading to fainting spells that speed up your death and leave you vulnerable to attacks. It is okay to be satiated (and bloated in the scenario of fighting [[Huang Ming Pong]], but avoid staying in these states for too long. This means that it's okay to let food rot away. In fact, leaving food at entrances to levels will preserve them indefinitely in time to be eaten later. ===Where to get more food=== Usually runs have enough food to not be an issue. However, if you find yourself low on food, here are some options: - Shops: all shops, with the possible incredibly unlucky exception of [[Merka]], will provide some amount of food. Sell some stuff to buy more food. - Gods: [[Seges]] obviously provides food, but 4 other gods also provide a sustainable method of acquiring food. [[Silva]] and [[Nefas]] will feed you if you are very hungry, but you '''have''' to be very hungry or starving, just being hungry won't prompt their attention. The mistresses a happy [[Nefas]] gives you also can hold a banana (I wonder what they use it for?) or rarely the [[Holy Banana of Oily Orpiv]] (I wonder what they use that for????????). [[Mellis]] will constantly fill your cans and bottle with possible foodstuffs (and can replace banana peels with uneaten bananas!), and [[Cruentus]]'s constant bottle of troll blood serve as nutrients. - Levels: certain levels have a higher amount of creatures that can serve as food. The carnivorous plants of UT03 drop kiwis to eat, and [[Genetrix Vesana|Jenny]] drops 3 pineapples. UT04, a.k.a. the [[Crystal Cave|crystal caves]], hold some bears and lions than can easily satiate you. The wolf room, found randomly from GC2 to GC4, provides a lot of food.  ===What to avoid=== I considered putting this section at the end of this topic, but knowing how people are, I need to say this first. Do not eat poisonous creatures (unless you're abusing some exploit somehow) like spiders, snakes, and skunks. These will not only give little to no nutrition, but also badly poison you, and even with poison immunity you will constantly throw up, losing much more nutrients than you gain. Frogs are an '''absolute last resort''', as they offer little nutrition while also decreasing all your stats and making all gods angry with you. Also, just because there is a liquid in a bottle doesn't mean you should drink it. Remember to look for the keep away from children tag in size 18 gullible font in the corner, and avoid acidic drinks like vinegar, sulfuric acid, napalm, and liquid mustard gas. ===What to normally eat=== As you run around in the world, eat the food that are either heavy or rot quickly, like fruits or corpses. Most normal sounding creatures are safe to eat, including all dog variants, lions, bears, meese (wait, the plural of moose is moose? and the plural of sheep is sheep? not shoop?), buffalo, magpies, hedgehogs, cats, rats, bats, mammoths (though they usually serve better pets), and ostriches. Goblins and Gibberlings are also safe to eat, but be careful that you don't eat the zombie of one. If there isn't a scrumptious corpse nearby, meats and breads provide great nutrition while being long lasting. Finally, eat the food in cans last (pun intended?), as they last forever. Troll blood also gives great nutrition, but since it also heals the user and gives regeneration in future versions, you'll probably want to use it at a more vital time. For foods that increase stats or give effects, such as [[ommel]] excrements, [[Carrot|carrots]], [[Blink Dog|blink dog flesh]], and [[Floating eye]], you may consume it whenever you want, or you might want to save it to clone/mirror to increase the overall stat gains or gain effects permanently ===What to unnormally eat=== Occasionally, you might be getting desperate from the lack of food, so what should you eat/do? Besides making sure you're not burdened or stressed, here are the unfortunate options you may end up deciding on if you can't do any of the above. -'''Rotten food''': As time goes on, your food will rot away if it's not in a can or isn't holy. Eating slightly spoiled food is a non-issue, since it at worse will give you confusion for a short while, but carefully consider if terribly spoiled food is worth it, because it can cause poisoning that vomits out the nutrients you just acquired. If its a fruit, bread, or meat, you can risk it, but corpses also carry the added risk of giving you a parasite, which you will have the vomit multiple times to get rid of, otherwise risk it sapping constant nutrition from you. -'''Odd Creatures''': This entails most of the other creatures in the game you can eat, many of which conifer negative effects. Antidote liquid is a great drink for any meal, but since it's a rarity, here are your options for a meal. <div class="row"><div class="col">{| style="border:2px solid #000;" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="336"! colspan="2" style="background:#369; color:#fff; padding:4px;"|Funny Tasting mobs|-| width="36" | [[Image:Mushroom.png]] || width="500" | [[Mushroom]], gives random effects|-| [[Image:Jester.png]] || Humans, triggers [[DoEvilDeed]]|-| || [[Siren]], gives [[confusion]]|-| [[Image:Werewolf.gif]] || [[Werewolf]], gives [[lycanthropy]]|-| [[Image:Bunny.png]] || [[Carnivorous Mutant Bunny]], gives [[Polymorph|polymorphitis]]|-| [[Image:Chameleon.png]] || [[Chameleon]], gives [[Polymorph|polymorphitis]]|-| [[Image:MutantAss.png]] || [[Mutant Ass]], gives [[Polymorph|polymorphitis]]|-| [[Image:Kobold.png]] || [[Kobold]], causes fainting|-| [[Image:ZombieFull.png]] || [[Zombie]], gives [[leprosy]] |-| [[Image:OrcOfficer.png]] || [[Orc]], gives [[leprosy]]|-|} -'''Cannibalism''': If you don't have any of those mobs around, at least we'll always have Paris- and yourself. If you have a method to chop off your limbs, preferably a bear trap, you can snip off your limbs to provide a meal. As you're eating human flesh, it's considered a [[DoEvilDeed]], but also wastes possible precious healing or gives an artificial limb that many older members of the community dislikes. -'''Praying''':

The whole point A common question is this: how do you become as overpowered as possible? Of course, on of the very nice things about IVAN is not just boosting your stats through the roofthat no matter how strong you are, somebody out there can whoop you, but also getting as many special effects as possiblethere is an acceptable general equipment. Even with hundreds While weapons are too much of points worth a hot topic to argue about, A perfect loadout will probably have the following (excluding the obvious idea of high statsand highly enchanted valpurium/GEF/psypher gear): Multiple Permanent Status Effects, especially ESP, Infravision, Polycontrol, Telecontrol, and Haste (see status effects for how to get them), A method of flight (Cloak of Flying/Belt of Levitation), certain enemies can stuff An Amulet of Life Saving (or as many as you harder than that bald guy with 10 jobs. fancy), A high attack weapon is niceBelt of Regeneration (Inferior to the belt of levitation, but useful otherwise), Gauntlets of strength/dexterity (the latter more preferable), Boots of strength/agility (the latter more important are preferable), A copy of all your gear (or at least a decent backup), some form of teleportation and a lot of it (wands preferred), Some forms of fire, electricity, and magic resistance (can be your abilities. Hererings), Antidote Liquid/Panacea/A happy Seges, Scrolls of repair/ A happy Loriacatus, Some form of bravery (horn of bravery preferable), quick healing (Horn of Healing/Happy Seges preferable), some form of invisibility (Happy Cleptia/Wands Preferable), food (Troll Blood preferable), good allies (think permanent angels, Ivan, Vladimir, elite guards, necromancers, mages, mystic frogs, mistresses, resurrected named enemies, kamikaze dwarves ['''careful!'''s stuff that ]), and an overall unburdened status (really high stats or [[Sol Stone|sol stones]])  Basically, you really should wanna look like [[One-eyed Sam]], but have: more stuff.

You'll thank me for this. No matter how strong you think you are, if you sense danger, probably run. If the strong allies you receive from prayers or the journey are dying, unless you're much stronger than them or much more prepared (and you have to be very late game to do that), run. The point of the game, despite the title, is about surviving and earning glory. The best methods to live and fight another day are listed below. 1. The most effective method of escape is a wand of teleportation with [[telecontrol]] to get yourself out. 2. If not [[telecontrol]], still use a wand of teleport to get yourself away, not the enemy (many later enemies have telecontrol and its far better for you to know where the enemies are and not vice versa). If you don't have any charges left on your wand, it's still a good idea to break the wand using the 'a'pply key to teleport both you and the enemy. Another alternative of equal value is a prayer to Sophos. 3. If not a wand of teleport, read a scroll. Hopefully you have enough [[Intelligence]] to read it in time. 4. If you can't teleport... don't panic. As long as the enemy isn't too strong, you can still get away. Use a wand of invisibility on enemies without [[infravision]] '''and''' [[esp]]. Use a wand of [[polymorph]] with very hopefully [[polycontrol]] to turn into something that's fast/invisible/hard to hit. R'u'n with 'u' key to gain extra speed for a short while. Move diagonally around corners for a tiny boost. If the enemy starts hacking off limbs, pray to happy gods to hopefully get flexible limbs to help you run away. 5. If you can't do any of that... at least you lived up to the game title...

==MoneyEventually, you'll start getting a lot of pretty decent loot that you might want to save in case you can clone it, or just hold in reserve for a rainy, bloody, night. The problem is that you can't hold that much, and leaving it behind to constantly organize is a waste of time and food. This is compounded by the fact that even if you can hold onto items, the fragile ones often break from screams and mainly explosions later on, which is quite the nuisance.  The solution to this is to create a stash, or a safe location to store your most precious items (mainly scrolls and wands). The most common application of this is chests, which cost a bit of extra weight but a lot of protection. If you can lock said chests, you can even leave them on the ground at the start, because enemies won't go them. However if you want to keep the heavy chests with you, a [[sol stone]] is the best thing to hold with it, as its indestructible and has negative weight. With a [[socm]], sol stones become even more useful, become insanely large negative weight to the point of being practically weightless. The best materials for this in order with their respective required intelligence are [[Neutronium]] (requiring 45 int), [[Slade]] (23 int), and [[Solarium]] (35 int, which hardens into neutronium at 40 int).You can find a [[neutronium]] [[Sol Stone]] on [[Nihil]] if you're powerful enough, and clone sol stones for the maximum results. The better alternative to chests are lockboxes, which are nigh indestructible compared to chests. However, this comes at the drawback that they can hold much less material. Regardless of the material, unless it's at least the quite good (such as [[orichalcum]]), it will be broken with relative ease by mages. [[Ischaldirh]] will destroy anything with enough luck, and the [[MerkaEnner Beast]]can break all locks. ==Money, [[HulboMerka]], and Murder==An important factor in the game is being able to sell trashy material for less trashy material. However, with most shops scamming people, you want to make the most of the small things. There are 2 main paths to take here, either minimize loss through thrifty spending or maximize gain through murder. For the former, this is done by increasing [[charisma]] and pawning off duplicate items. Even a single point of [[charisma]], if it were to increase the selling price of that horrible bronze dagger by 1 gold, and you had several of those daggers, would make quite the profit when taking into consideration that [[charisma]] (henceforth referred to as charm) also lowers the prices of shop goods. Praying to [[Dulcis]] is currently the most effective method of this, as she can shoot your charm up permanently to about 29, but you can also utilize [[ommel tears]] well. An obscure method is to polymorph into a siren, giving you 75 charm temporarily, but don't waste a wand of polymorph on this. You may also consider the recently added wand of alchemy, which turns materials into pure currency regardless of charm, which can be game breaking with the right materials (namely gold, which can be found without too much difficulty). For the latter, it's easier said than done, really. Killing the well armed guards and the honestly very strong shopkeepers are a challenge regardless of who they are. If you have an archangel of any type (with the possible unlucky exception of [[Amatrix]]), [[Merka]] and the rest of the shopkeepers can be killed with ease. However, they have a backer that can absolutely whoop you hard than a fart cushion. If you so choose to kill [[Merka]] or another dungeon shopkeeper, do not dare venture into the [[Black Market]] without an army or a will (I'll make an exception for the one man army, but that man better be Petrus or stronger). The guards there are strong and fast enough to rip through just about any armor you might be wearing. As for [[Hulbo]], the [[attnam]] shopkeeper, he's well spoken for. This may seem discouraging, but I promise you, unless you can seek to gain from that pick-axe all shopkeepers hold, accept their scams instead. ==[[scar|Scars]]==Scars are a unique feature added to the game in I believe 0.50.9 (Don't quote me) which are caused when you take a strong attack that doesn't outright destroy your limbs. It will reduce that limb's health, and also may reduces attributes depending where it hit (see [[scar|this]] for more details). Scars are annoying because they are basically permanent stat downs, but worry less. All you need to to is lose a limb, then regrow it using different means. This is easiest by wearing armor around all limbs but the one you want to lose and fighting. Be careful of panicking tho, and have an escape plan if SHTF. Sometimes, it may even be beneficial to become scarred because it lowers your danger level, preventing stronger enemies from spawning. However, trying to abuse this can often lead bad situation. Take scars as just an interesting addition, and play as if they don't exist. ==Healing== Pretty short section here. Just small tidbits on the different healing you can get and which is most effective in the short and long term. Before than though, even with it being mentioned in the keys section, to 'T'aste a bit of liquid in newer updates. Compared to drinking the whole thing, this is supremely useful. You may also dip with the '!' key to split liquid 50/50 in older updates, which required at least one other empty bottle. '''Troll Blood:''': Lesser healing than healing liquid, but high amount of nutrition. (About nutrition, see miscellaneous) '''Belt of Regeneration:''': Gives the user regeneration, in which they will heal much more quickly and even possibly regrow limbs, unique type of armor. '''Healing Liquid''': Generalist healing, just brings hp up with small amount of nutrition.  '''Antidote liquid''': Doesn't regenerate health, but instead has a decent chance of removing negative effects. '''White Unicorn Flesh''': Removes all negative debuffs and gives decent nutrition at the price of [[DoEvilDeed]]. Can only be acquired by killing a '''white''' unicorn or rarely in a can. '''Panacea''': The elixir of immortality, at least metaphorically, heals and removes negative effects with high efficiency.

'''Horns of Healing''': A heavy object that instantly heals the user when 'a'pplied and has a cooldown of several ingame hours. The superior choice of healing late and end game. Cons can be mitigated with [[sol stone|sol stones]]/socm for weight and higher mana stat for cooldown. '''[[Seges]]''': The only god to provide healing to the player. Only effective when really hurt, otherwise might feed player or remove negative debuffs. ==ScarsFire==Fire is another unique feature added by Fejoa (chill guy) that causes flammable materials to burn away over time, most notably scrolls and your own limbs. It is heavily advised to have a chest/strongbox (see your stash above) to protect your items, as an unlucky explosion may outright instantly destroy your precious [[socm]]. If you don't have such protection and your stuff get lit on fire, a top tip is to use a vial, not a bottle, to dip ('!' button) the burning object into. For the love of the [[Holy Handgrenade of Antioch]] , '''do not''' dip your scrolls into napalm or sulfuric acid, as these will instantly destroy said scrolls. Alternatively, a few liquids don't extinguish flames well, such as vodka. Experiment with this, but most common sense liquids will work effectively. On the other hand, if your limbs are set on fire by a pyromaniac or an incendiary device, you cannot dip your limbs into liquids (to prevent limb removal exploitations). In fact, it is impossible to pull out flames on your limbs, much to the chagrin of many, so you will have to left the fire burn your limbs off or let the fire go out. During this process, you may talk with a [[priest]] to put out burns while on fire, or to heal burn wound. Note that these two treatments have to be payed separately. You may also pray to [[Seges]] for a chance to heal your burns for free.

[[Amulet of Lifesaving]]: The fabled AOLS, need I say more?

If you have a wand of mirroring, place a stack of '''4''' items underneath you and hold '''2''' more items in your hands. Zap the wand on yourself and take the two items in your clone's hand, leaving you with 6 temporary items. Virtually everything can be mirrored, but as the name implies, they won't last. Like the wand of cloning, you can 'a'pply the wand for a final 6 5 more items.  ==Power Curve== ==Named Enemies==