Naked Conduct

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Naked Conduct

bigalphillips 30 Dec 2013 20:34

We were discussing in chat the practicalities of doing a run without equipping anything. It's something that I've thought about on and off for a long time, but never actually done. I previously thought that Lo's quest was possible but I don't think you can find anything that will give you Eclipse Residue. So it'd have to be Hel and David then.

Some considerations so that I don't forget stuff later on.

• University Quest will either involve {beating the trio of guards without a Third Eye Shirt, and then beating Shard}, or {Dr. T quest}. You can throw off the Hammer if you lose to him enough times apparently.

• Getting a containment suit is doing to be difficult, but possible. Can't buy it because you need a slags ID for that, or unlock the equipment bay though hacking so would have to fight them. Might be difficult to kill quickly enough without tearing the suit to shreds but armory can help with that.

• No diving ability means helping the mushroom people instead. No PDA but you can salvage plushes manually. Need Fae Sight.

• Hel's quest is possible but you need 7 SP and 20+ Reflexes/Strength to get in the lab. Inspired Movements, Steady Hand and Vile Camouflage should gets you to six, and then either Smiling Sneak if it's in season, or Icy Demeanor, which would require ~6-8 old coins for a chipdeck.

Combat

Easy to find buffs:

• Hound Dust (+4 MP)
• Steady Hand (+2 RP)
• Wrecker (+4 MP for short term fighting)
• Maybe Matsuo if you already have a chipdeck? (+4 MP)
• Hot Chocolate (+2 MP)
• Various Inspired Buffs (+2 MP/RP/etc.)
• Pugilism/Gunslinger?
• Red Toadstool (+3 EP)
• Blood of the Stone (+4 EP)

Melee does look like it would be better than Ranged on the surface?

Crushing Punch, Brutality, Ghoul Bite, Throttle maybe?
Evil Eye (and/or Summon Spider) would be decently strong Etheric attacks

Am I overlooking anything?

Last edited on 31 Dec 2013 23:08 by bigalphillips Show more

Re: Naked Conduct

Vholes 30 Dec 2013 21:20

I'm probably missing something but can't you buy a chemistry kit & make your own liquified Eclipse for Eclipse residue? Or does the bookstore have a "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service" policy?

Gathering old coins for a chipdeck & icy chip sounds rough. Easiest if a couple cooperators are online (1 to take control of an area, the other to make clones that can't deal damage.)

The only usable unearthly items I can think of besides skillbooks are mysterious puzzle box, antique floor mirror, & toad statue, so season probably makes a big difference. Box & toad are both available in season 25.

(Although if earthly, Hel's quest is still barely possible naked, but requires Gaze Beyond which might take some guesswork.)

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In the beginning, men were mortal.

Last edited on 30 Dec 2013 21:21 by Vholes Show more

Re: Naked Conduct

Magnifico 30 Dec 2013 22:18

I'm probably missing something but can't you buy a chemistry kit & make your own liquified Eclipse for Eclipse residue?

You need Experimental Chemistry to make liquified Eclipse. To unlock the ability to get that skill, you first need to equip a Myers sampling kit…

(Although if earthly, Hel's quest is still barely possible naked, but requires Gaze Beyond which might take some guesswork.)

Unless we're missing something, the Gaze Beyond effect only lasts for the current combat, so wouldn't help you catch the van.

Re: Naked Conduct

Vholes 30 Dec 2013 23:47

Ah right, thank you. I've never used Gaze Beyond or Experimental Chemistry I guess you won't buy that last one, will you? >_>

It's odd that the player is the only person in the game who's thought to make liquified Eclipse. Unless, who knows, maybe the art student gives you that recipe but none of us are ever eligible for it!

Barring something undiscovered like that, this would be the first conduct that requires unearthly content.

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In the beginning, men were mortal.

Re: Naked Conduct

Magnifico 30 Dec 2013 23:53

It's odd that the player is the only person in the game who's thought to make liquified Eclipse.

Well, unless we can make good on your claim from years ago to have gotten a chemistry recipe for liquified Eclipse in Midgard Biotech. Although even then that probably requires having the scrubs outfit on, and so won't work for a naked conduct.

EDIT: Looks like I never asked about that on a podcast like I was meaning to. Gonna go remedy that right now.

Last edited on 31 Dec 2013 00:29 by Magnifico Show more

Re: Naked Conduct

Vholes 31 Dec 2013 00:37

February 2009 and no confirmation since then? Yeah, that's probably not still around.

Even if the art student did give a relevant recipe, you can't gather the code for his quest without a computer or salvaging tools.

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In the beginning, men were mortal.

Re: Naked Conduct

bigalphillips 31 Dec 2013 16:57

Hm, I was about to suggest that we should be able to try analyzing Sugary Eclipse, but I just realized that that kind of runs counter to Lo's request to get as pure a sample as possible.

Re: Naked Conduct

bigalphillips 01 Jan 2014 15:00

Day 1 & 2 of equipmentless run so far: Slower going than my normal speedrunning pace, but it's been interesting - seeing a lot of encounters I don't normally bother with. Spending a lot of time resting and backtracking. Most early enemies (gangers/bums) can be taken down with 5-10 HP loss, though I feel like I am almost always nearly running out of moves (I think I'll have to start stocking more than 15 techniques in my deck soon).

I trained with the golden glove a few times to get some decent melee attacks. Now punching as much as I can to get Pugilism before I make a legitimate run through the sewer hideout. I don't have the 6 Perception I need to follow the Couriers yet, but my Mushroom Guide has been handy to sidestep that. Next challenge is to get past the Security Hole. I tried a couple times to sneak through with the 2 SP from anxiety medication, but that doesn't seem to be enough to pass even the first checkpoint. Once I get Dr. T I guess I can start fighting again, or distract the guards with burning huts and the like.

I had a vague plan at the back of my mind to use the cracked baseball bat to get let in, but it looks like that has to be equipped to work. So I guess now I either need more stats, or make it to the checkpoint with Vile Camouflage active, or summon a Creepy Sketch.

Without an unearthly coin or other stat-boosting gear, some foods are a lot more valuable now. High Brow (from Truffles) in particular seems like it will be handy. The nice thing is that Cut Nova isn't accessible this run, so I don't feel like I'm wasting too much body when I take Eclipse or Blitz Poppers. I am looking forward to Caffeine Powder once I get to the University if I can get my hands on some Black Coffee though.

An interesting side effect of having no equipment is that chain position become a lot more important. Lash Out goes from 2 to 5 base damage as closer, whereas in a normal run it might go from 6 to 9 instead (with a +4 MP weapon). So a lot more powerful when used right.

Last edited on 01 Jan 2014 15:03 by bigalphillips Show more

Re: Naked Conduct

bigalphillips 03 Jan 2014 16:58

Days 3 & 4: Some Vile Camouflage and anxiety medication give me enough Stealth to get past the first checkpoint. Picked up Dr. Thomas's contact information. (I got a modified encounter that gave 10 Vile Camouflage instead of the normal five? Same text though.) I was going to go get Pugilism before I dealt with the hideout, but since I was already in there, I figured I might as well carry on. Burned two huts of guards and killed the rest. Taking on three guards at once is just barely survivable if I'm lucky. Let the gang boss go instead of futilely fighting him. Just barely got out of the hideout by the end of day 3.

Now time to pick up some skills. Fae Sight first and Pugilism. I was going to get Focused Mind from the Eye in the park but after it didn't show up after twenty turns I checked my inventory and found that I had killed the skittish bum for some reason. I'm not sure what I was thinking - Bloody Solution would have been a handy Strength boost but I don't think I can get it without equipping the amulet. I'd like to get Quantum Mechanics soon here for +3 HP.

A couple Nitro I found have helped quite a bit with combat, as well as the Jab opener. Now that I have Pugilism, things aren't quite so bad. Starting to get some better moves like Cruel Slash and a Brutality or two.

Started work on the protest - can't equip the sampler kit so I'll have to deal with it in person. No protest sign either, so I'm randomly fighting people or unconvincingly trying to tell them to give up the fight. Also delivered a couple crates for Dr. Thomas.

Next up: finishing the quad, and then off to see how rusty my pool skills are. (Stats are 7/7/8/5 right now. I will need 20 Strength and Reflexes by the time I get to the buried lab. With Fae Sight/Blessing (+3), Pep in my Step (+3), Sugar Rush (+1) and Whiskey (+3), Rum (+2), Pumped up? (+3), Brain Staples? (+2), I'll need about 13 base Reflexes and 10-12 base Strength, so about a third of the way there. I don't think stats will be a problem. Still trying to summon a creepy sketch for the Stealth Power.)

Re: Naked Conduct

bigalphillips 05 Jan 2014 14:34

Woke up this morning from a dream that a new unearthly item came out, the unencumbered axe (whatever that means), and I equipped it before thinking about the run. I panicked. The descent into madness begins. Gotta finish this run quick before I get arrested for walking down the streets without pants….

Days 5 & 6: Dissuaded people from protesting on the quad for a while until they gave up. In retrospect I probably could have done this quicker if I had planned to do that from the start, instead of just picking options at random yesterday. Took probably ~12 tries to discourage them? Would have been easier to do with a protest sign I suppose.

In the Happy Hour, the drunk third eye showed up after only ~5 energy, but it took 6 games of pool til the pool shark showed up. Chased him in the quad three times, and killed him for the anxiety meds. VIP girl and Happy Hour lieutenant get Eclipse and I have David and Dr. A back! (Also a tome of binding, which won't do me any good in run but I know regret not having it post-run.)

I choose 3 smuggles of luxury food today so that I can eventually cut down my spending on caramel bars. I can't really use crates of drugs so much because no Experimental Chemistry so that seems like a decent use for them. I've been using most of my body on caffein powder, which I can get once a day from the computer lab.

Quantum Mechanics evened out my stats and brought up my HP a bit - now sitting at 8/9/10/9. 337 energy.

On to the Slags - started Larry's quest but ran out of energy trying to find a warehouse badge. Ugh, I just realized I can't just buy a containment suit because I can't equip a slags ID. Some tough fights in store tomorrow I think. I have a couple detailed sketches which will help out a bit, and will probably use some platelet boosters too. At least I got a couple decent melee techs from the Hammer.

Last edited on 05 Jan 2014 14:44 by bigalphillips Show more

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