Which rare do you want? Contest

[seventhcross]

So, I'm ready to announce my next contest. It will be my first retcon contest and I have a confirmed agreement from Ryme to verify the winners as there is currently no way for me to verify them on my own.

The Game: Build up your stats higher than anyone else.
The Rules:

• 1) You must retcon at the beginning of the contest
• 2) Your retcon must contain the no items and no skills restrictions
• 3) You have one week to complete the challenge
• 4) You must not end restrictions before verification of the winner
• 5) You must register for the contest so I have a list of entrants.
• 6) Winner will be determined by the highest total of Strength, Reflex, and Intelligence from among all entrants.

Since October is a big month for TH and since I want everyone to be prepared sufficiently for it, the contest will begin on Oct 1st and will end on Oct 7th. Please post your totals when you finish your day on the 7th and don't play any further turns until the winner has been verified, which will happen ASAP.

With that, allow the registration to commence!

Oops, forgot prizes.
1st place gets two rares from Wa7erproofs display case (1st and 3rd choice)
2nd place gets one rare (2nd choice)
3rd place gets one rare (4th choice)

Yeah Harry, the Ebon Eye is still in there. ;P

List of entrants:
Mara
Sykzen
Cristiona
Acidcat
Nommy
Jesus
Dresden II (Harry)
Garfnobl

[Cristiona]

6) Winner will be determined by the highest total of Strength, Reflex, and Intelligence from among all entrants.

Highest total, hmm? Interestink.

[acidcat]

Hooray! A non-speed run contest!

I'd like to play, let's see how things go

[Cristiona]

Do the 15 zillion chip pieces count as 15 rares or 1 rare?

[seventhcross]

The 15 zillion chip pieces are actually not a rare, but if that is the prize you want I will give them all to you as one item.

as for not being speed... you retcon on Oct 1st then have one week to see how high you can get your stats. You do not have to reach the end of the retcon, in fact you should not remove the restrictions until after the winners have been verified. It is somewhat of a speed contest as leveling will be the biggest way to gain stats, but there are other ways. You do not have to complete all the quests, skip whichever ones you like. Having the highest total stats with the restrictions in place will be all that matters at the end of the contest.

[Nommy]

Oooh, so I can play? So exciting. :}

[Cristiona]

You do not have to complete all the quests, skip whichever ones you like. Having the highest total stats with the restrictions in place will be all that matters at the end of the contest.

Score. I'm totally in.

[Jesus]

I'm game for some goofiness.

One question, though...
Buffed stats, or base stats?

[Cristiona]

begin on Oct 1st and will end on Oct 7th.

Which? On server time, the "Oct 1st" rollover is 2110 September 30th. So... rollover going into the 1st and 7th or going out?

[seventhcross]

I'm game for some goofiness.

One question, though...
Buffed stats, or base stats?

Buffed Stats will count. As it is no items/no skills you should all have the same opportunities to buff stats.

begin on Oct 1st and will end on Oct 7th.

Which? On server time, the "Oct 1st" rollover is 2110 September 30th. So... rollover going into the 1st and 7th or going out?

Hmmm... Starting rollover on the 30th of sept, as that will "begin" the day for the 1st, and end on the rollover on Oct 7th. Make sense? Going into the 1st, going out of the 7th. a full 7 days for the contest.

[acidcat]

Just to check - if we do the level 11 quest and defeat the mick we become able to do free pulls and use skills freely. Doesn't that screw up everything? Is it a don't beat the mick, or a don't do any pulls/use any skills or we can just pull and buff freely after beating the mick?

[Harry Dresden]

The Rules:

• 1) You must retcon at the beginning of the contest
• 2) Your retcon must contain the no items and no skills restrictions
• 3) You have one week to complete the challenge
• 4) You must not end restrictions before verification of the winner
• 5) You must register for the contest so I have a list of entrants.
• 6) Winner will be determined by the highest total of Strength, Reflex, and Intelligence from among all entrants.

[seventhcross]

What Harry said... Though, he should really sign up for this contest too, just for fun if nothing else...

Also, this:

as for not being speed... you retcon on Oct 1st then have one week to see how high you can get your stats. You do not have to reach the end of the retcon, in fact you should not remove the restrictions until after the winners have been verified. It is somewhat of a speed contest as leveling will be the biggest way to gain stats, but there are other ways. You do not have to complete all the quests, skip whichever ones you like. Having the highest total stats with the restrictions in place will be all that matters at the end of the contest.

[Cristiona]

Just to check - if we do the level 11 quest and defeat the mick we become able to do free pulls and use skills freely.

Actually, you don't drop restrictions until you talk to Susan.

[Jesus]

Just to check - if we do the level 11 quest and defeat the mick we become able to do free pulls and use skills freely.

Actually, you don't drop restrictions until you talk to Susan.

So the Camp will be a possibility?

I was wondering whether 11 counted as 'done' when you talked to Rand or when you talked to Susan and dropped restrictions. Or if the Camp will open up regardless of whether or not you finished 11.

[Cristiona]

Assuming everything's working the way it's supposed to, you should be able to:

1: Beat the Mick
2: Visit Rand
3: Level to 12
4: Visit Rand
5: Finish Brutes
6: Visit Susan

Thus doing the brutes while under restrictions.

[Harry Dresden]

Go ahead and add my alt Dresden II to the list. I'll race Nommy for last place.

[Jesus]

Day 1:
10h 30-something m

~200 chips from level 5 (have the XP for it already)
Scored 2 broken PDAs from the riot, and managed to snag a short end of the stick when I misclicked on the Casino. So computer building should go a little smoother.
Sold 2 gold foil and made a poncho, kept 2 in reserve. Want to get a crown and embossed emblem.


Day 2:
21h 2m 0s

Made level 7, and bought a Lexura. Only had a few turns to spend on the quest, though.
Finished my computer and all quests up to level 7, and opened the Zion's Tears building.
Have a PDA and an underpowered PDA. Made a Garcia's. Have a bunch of extra mangled plates.
Have a Xelor watch for a Hammer Time down the road.
Didn't unlock villains yet, though :/
Don't have super-jump yet either.

My Charges weren't connecting with the Troutmaster, so I nailed him with power paks.


Since I'll finally have access to Nocturne's on day 3, I'm torn between getting consumables or the Murkshirt. Gloam's is good for the +FT, but I dunno if I'd be able to handle it and I'm shooting for the crown anyway. The Serpent pants are good too, but Murk has the -time. And -1 to skill cost, but mainly I want it for the -time. Probably won't be able to wear it until day 4 or 5 anyway. Also wondering about the cost-benefit of equipping the upgraded talisman... +15% strength is quite a bit... but -5% intelligence might keep me from being able to make the cut at the Unborn base...

As a Naturalist, I'm finding the International agent of intrigue to be my MVP. Without HP restore - which is costly at the Hospital - this guy is saving my bacon. Before this, I only used him when I wanted the special items. I am *not* used to having this much trouble in combat.

[Harry Dresden]

I totally suck at contests. End of day 2, I'm still level 5. Total stat points - 98.

On the other hand, I'm winning in the race for last place! Yay!

[Cristiona]

End of day 2, I'm still level 5.

Me too!

[Jesus]

Day 3:

Into the level 8 quests. Got Quincy's rental coupon and later the keycard without going out of my way. *Just* managed to pass all of the bonus skill point challenges... I did end up swapping talismans after after nailing the Demiurge, which cost me 1181 XP.

Got a pre-coffee, but I was too jittery by the time I got it to use it. Mostly I was drinking doses of X-presso today, since I spent a while getting that taut sinew. But I did unlock villains... got a golem's Glock, which would be fantastic if I were a Gadgeteer... but also a Chuck van Arnolde's tank top, which could come in handy later for the +15% str. Dectypted some more data plates, now I have Gigantofirm for the times when -combat does nothing worthwhile. Unlocked the rooftops, although I haven't got to spend any time there yet.

3,472 short of level 9 (though I still have to wrap up both level 8 quests...)
1d 5h 3m 50s

I totally suck at contests. End of day 2, I'm still level 5. Total stat points - 98.

Yikes! At the end of day 3, between equipment and buffs I'm always running, my strength alone is 111. Although with the stuff I'm usually wearing, that drops to 91. But then, the RNG can smile on anyone at any time. She's fickle like that.

[Jesus]

Day 4:

1d 14h 37m 50s

Went with the Murkshirt. Kinda regret that, since I got a xentrium breastplate pretty quickly. Managed to score an embossed emblem and foyal crown too. Finished the level 8 and 9 quests easily. 864 XP to level 10. Spent the last bit of the day in the Rooftops trying and failing to get some sneakiers. Swapped out my hammer time at some point for a morning star to keep my buffs up.

Villains today...
Got a Tenderizer's hammer (yay +str), mysterious glowing green marble (yay +ref), firefly gloves, and Slime's snuggie.


Day 5

2d 2h 11m 0s

Finished the level 10 quest. Think I'll try to power to 12 or 13 before tackling NCI since I'll have to do that without a sidekick. Or maybe I'll just skip NCI altogether... I'm currently level 11 with 3,566 XP until 12.

Ran into The Slime again, and Doctor Worm and Cappy Capi. So nothing useful there.


Day 6

2d 12h 13m 28s

I'm level 13 going into NCI. Beat Leon Idas, but haven't gotten a stapler. 10,291 XP from Level 14.
Got a couple Sophocle's monocles and a Terce's memo. Not that those help.

[Nommy]

We're nearly at the finish line, so I thought I'd check in to make you all feel better about your stats.

Day 1 I just did the normal quests, finishing off about level 3 and halfway through the sewers. I spent days 2 and 3 getting strength at the protest until I leveled up to 5. Day 4 I did the casino to have chips for leveling up and I spent all of day 5 getting a sinew. Day 6 I opened the rooftops and learned how to fly a chopper to the mountains.

As I clock in, my base stats total up to 140. At least in last place I don't have to sit through the awards ceremony-I can just go straight for the buffet.

[Harry Dresden]

Hah! Shows what you know. I'm easily in last place. I get a prize for that, right?

I gave up on this contest a few days ago and just started playing through the quests as normal to try and finish this run as soon as possible. I don't know why I even selected the consumables, since I'm barely finding any sugar at all and the Ginger is all that's ever available in the black market.

[Cristiona]

298 base stats. Rawr!

[Jesus]

Day 7
Final stats:

Strength: 414 (160)
Intellect: 175 (77)
Reflexes: 205 (104)

Total: 794

Got to the Camp too late, and failed to get some of the really big-ticket strength boosters.
Like, say, the suspicious syringe. With that... I would still be 2 points shy of Mara. But it'd be closer!

[Cristiona]

Was afraid my grand plan wouldn't work. I forgot about all the insane shit I put in the level 12 quest.

Strength: 75 (45)
Intellect: 342 (268)
Reflexes: 57 (27)

Still. Not bad for a level 5 Naturalist, huh? 474 total.

Okay. Enough frivolity! Time to finish packing!

[Harry Dresden]

You people suck. I'm not even going to post my stats, because I'd rather you think they're higher than they actually are.

[seventhcross]

You people suck. I'm not even going to post my stats, because I'd rather you think they're higher than they actually are.

so, without knowing you are in last place, how could I give you a prize for it?

So far it looks like bmara is in first, with Jesus in second, and Garfnobl in third. Nommy and Harry have both pretty well declared themselves lost, so I just need to hear from Sykzen and Acidcat before rollover and let Ryme check them for me. Then the contest will be closed. Thanks for playing and posting your strategies guys! I've enjoyed following along on your adventures.

[acidcat]

Sorry for not reporting in earlier, it's slight gamesmanship.

Strength: 713 (176)
Intellect: 277 (106)
Reflexes: 292 (126)

I'll admit to huge luck with RNG this run. I've had brewmeister's potion drop plus the suspicious syringe. I'll post some more of my in depth strategy if anyone is interested, but I think a lot of it was dumb luck at my drops.

[seventhcross]

All right, pending verification from Ryme, we have our winners:
1st: Acidcat
2nd: Sykzen
3rd: bmara

Do ahead and either post what you want or send the message to me in game. Prizes will be sent out as soon as I get the verification from Ryme, as well as the item that you guys want...

Thanks again for playing!