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'''Halberds''':
Halberds are probably the second closest to high tier in this list 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.
==Varient Weapons==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.
SilverSliver's Guide to Ivan (view source)
Revision as of 02:54, 18 October 2023
, 02:54, 18 October 2023→Money, Merka, and Murder
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 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.
Enjoy ;p (and mind the humor, I don't mind)
==Literal Keys==
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 changing game*'''
'''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.
'''''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 asingle area. On a larger keyboard, the numpad can also be used for movement. '''.''': This Wait. Similar to 's'earch, but takes a turn rather than a tick. Could be useful, but rather niche use. Still, scroll down to look at the 's'earch button to see how useful it is. '''g''': Go. Allows a player to quickly traverse terrain. I suppose if you want to speedrun IVAN, this is the key to keep track of. The way it works is after pressing g, you can choose a direction (including diagonals!) to continuously run in until you '''>'''See a hostile enemy of any kind '''>'''Discover a trap '''>'''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.
==Figurative Keys==
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==
'''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, making axes better.
'''Beast Claws''':
'''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''':
'''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 plant plants (wait, they aren't????), are often outclassed.
'''Spears''':
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''':
'''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, you do not want any enemy to get enemies getting thiscan 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 and are arguably the best throwing weapon when cloned in mass production. On the other hand, any enemy equipped with it becomes a major painbecause 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 panicks the enemy. If you don't have a horn of fear or all horns of fear are chargingdoes unblockable sound damage, can provide much like a good panic button for not just flaming sword. Slightly inferior due to the enemy, but also for you. Very mediocre beyond that, as late game enemies rarely get panickedlower stats.
[[Dagger of venom]]: A dagger that covers itself in poison, good throwing weapon, but be careful can cause daggers made of metals that 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 Swordsand bastard swords''':
Unlike hammers, swords are the real jack of all trades, balancing attack and maneuverability. Larger swords such as the bastard sword or two handed sword come with more damage at the cost of higher weight, which can be offset with higher arm strength. Basically just an all rounder weapon, with the largest swords being the closest to potentially end game weapons.
'''Scimitars''':
'''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''':
'''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]]==
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''':
'''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'''
='''[[Armor]]'''=
'''[[Telecontrol]]:''' Provides the simple ability of being able to choose where to teleport when you get teleported, and the range is based on the user's current intelligence. This sounds simple, but can be innumerably helpful later on (see RUN AWAY). To get it permanently, a ring of telecontrol would do the trick, but it is much easier to remember the phrase "friends, and food". By making [[Blink Dog|blink dogs]] teleport around either as a friend or foe, they generate more of their kind. Killing and eating three of them in quick succession will give you telecontrol permanently.
'''[[ESP]]:''' Enables the user to detect intelligent enemies, no matter their location or current visibility status. However, if their [[intelligence|int]] is below 5, they cannot be detected (including veteran kamikaze dwarves, golems, and [[Invisible Stalker|invisible stalkers]]). Killing and eating three [[Floating eye|floating eyes]] will grant permanent ESP, though it might be difficult to find three at once. consider leaving their bodies on other floors to prevent rot.
'''[[Levitation]]:''' In contrast to [[haste]], nearly no strong enemy has levitation except for One-eyed Sam, but it practically serves as it's own psuedo-aols (see wishes for a larger rant). You could get unbelievably lucky on a fountain, but it's often not worth the risk, so you are forced to either get a [[belt of levitation]] or a cloak of flying, both rare, rare items.
'''[[Fearless]]:''' Prevents panic. A new ability, and also the least needed one, assuming you get strong enough. However, if you don't, or if somehow [[Petrus]] chops off 3 limbs, it helps to deal just a little more damage, or to run away. Can only be acquired permanently with a ring of bravery or the [[Filthy tunic of martyr Bessica]], but a horn of bravery usually works better and doesn't take up a ring/armor space.
'''[[Invisibility]]:''' If they can't see you, that's good. It decreases their accuracy against you, and increases your accuracy against them. About 50 zaps of wands of invisibility are required for permanent invisibility, but be careful that it, as its own drawback to go with it. I personally would just go with a ring of invisibility off an elite guard (which can be acquired with a prayer to Dulcis, having fun figuring out how to do that). You could also choose to tame a mage or light frog and have them cast invisibility on you until it becomes permanent.
'''[[Haste]]:''' Haste will speed up everything you do, from combat to reading, so acquiring it is a '''top-tier priority'''. Every strong enemy in the game has some form of haste. [[Petrus]] has the [[Justifier]], [[Ischaldirh]] can haste himself, [[Sherarax]] has inherent haste, the rulers of [[Aslona]] have mystic frogs, [[One-eyed Sam]] has the ring of ludicrous speed, etc. Again, you could get lucky on a fountain, but you could also get permanent slow, so forget that. With approximately 70 zaps with wands of haste will do the trick, or a bit less with 'a'pplying wands or prayers to Cleptia. Also, mages and light frogs can once again come in to help you. This buff has no drawbacks, so get it.
'''[[Regeneration]]:''' A recent and decent ability added that greatly speeds up your healing rate and even eventually grows back limbs. Concurrently the only source of permanent regeneration is found in a belt of regeneration, but its the help it provides is unmistakabledecently strong.
'''[[Life Saved]]:''' There are only 3 ways to acquire this power: Body swap to an archangel, the [[Blessed Shield of the Phoenix]], and an Amulet of Life Saving. While the first one is just stupidmeme tier, the other two provide the ability to survive death itself and regenerate to full health instantly. If your character gets really strong, '''you want this'''.
='''Victory and values'''=
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 quite literally have a back backer that can absolutely whoop youhard 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]]==
