Table of Contents
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How to Use This Guide
The Rankings
Unearthly Coin (Always Available)
Seasons Remaining: Always Available | |
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Recommendation | Buying and keeping one is strongly recommended unless you are done with your initial run and never plan on resetting, but more than one is overkill. |
If you're speedrunning, you'll probably want an unearthly coin equipped for much of the early going. The +3 to all attributes is immensely useful when you're weak and newly reset. In addition, "coinfishing" gives you access to one giant pike a day, which is an excellent way to fill your Hunger and ensure you have enough energy to meet your milestones.
Once your attributes are relatively high, the bonus becomes less significant and you'll probably be using this to fish for giant pike and/or mud eels once a day.
The coin effects from making morally fraught choices with the coin equipped are more interesting than useful except in rare circumstances.
Season 51 Items
Wispy Hospital Pants
Seasons Remaining: 1 - LEAVING SOON | |
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Recommendation | Highly recommended. Well worth having for the bonus Eclipse Duration alone. In addition, these pants are absolutely jam-packed with content, including an avatar. |
The third member (along with the dusty clipboard and orbital watch) of a trio of related items, the wispy pants also stand up pretty well on their own. No other pants give a bonus to Eclipse Duration, and the bonus for these is substantial — great for conserving Body both in-run and in aftercore. That's a good thing, because the many encounters these pants unlock require you to be Etheric.
In run you probably won't be getting many of the dusty encounters, but they don't take Energy so they might at least get you some free XP. There are better pants for Etheric Defense, but you won't have them available from the get-go in a reset run.
There is enough content associated with the hospital pants to keep you busy for literally weeks in aftercore, and that's not even taking potential interactions with the other dusty items into account. You have to devote a fair amount of Energy to getting all the way to one of the untradeable item rewards, but with a bit of planning you can combine doing that with other tasks (at least, ones that don't require specialized pants).
There's no question that there's unfound content lurking somewhere in these, but even if you aren't interested in looking for it you won't want for something to do with your turns if you have these. In a game that's more or less all about Eclipse you'll be taking a fair amount of it, and you'll want to be wearing these pants when you do.
Bloodied Coat
Seasons Remaining: 2 | |
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Recommendation | The only game in town if you want Ranged Power from a shirt. A solid offensive item for Ranged-focused reset runs with some decent defensive uses as well. |
For starters, this coat is the best (currently, the only) shirt for Ranged Power. If you are going the Gunslinger route (or maybe just dabbling with firearms) while resetting, the offensive boost will be significant, especially early in your run. Even if you are planning to use a different combat style, though, the Etheric Defense and Will this coat grants as base bonuses will be welcome in a reset run.
Bloodied Dodge is a moderately useful defensive technique for resetting, marred by not defending against Ranged techniques. Still, at chain 5 it combos with Dive for Cover, letting you start a chain with two Evasion techniques in a row. Alternatively, it can free up the chain 4 spot for an offensive technique without leaving you a sitting duck. If despite the coat's defensive advantages you fall below 50% of your maximum HP, it'll only make the coat's techniques stronger. Thanks to Bloodied Draw, the coat pairs well with a pistol, so this season the smoldering gun (see below) is a nice complement to it.
Kinak hasn't said whether there's unfound content associated with this item.
Smoldering Gun
Seasons Remaining: 3 | |
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Recommendation | A fairly weak weapon for resetting, but could be handy to have when Metroplex Day rolls around. |
As a pistol, this is obviously most helpful for Ranged decks, but many of the opponents you'll be fighting in a reset run are human, so the gun will give small bonuses for other combat styles. That said, even for Ranged fighting, and even against humans, the smoldering gun is outclassed in terms of Ranged Power by midgame weapons like the Midgard MK9.
You will have to be careful getting Etheric with this equipped, as the Shot Specter can be a tough opponent in-run. If you can beat one, though, the reward is a substantial amount of XP and the powerful Spectral Smoke technique. Getting Smoldering Shot requires a mix of Ranged and Fire, which is tricky to get early in a run. It gets most of its power for following other techniques, so you'll need to get some kind of chain 3 defensive technique (Shield Block?) or use it in descending chains that don't kick off with an Evasion technique to have access to its most damaging forms.
This item does not have enough raw power to stand out as a weapon for aftercore uses, but as a source of smoky techniques it could potentially be very useful for defeating the Smoke Dragon come Metroplex Day.
No word from Kinak about whether there's unfound content associated with this item. Two techniques and an opponent is comparable to content from other one-coin items, but there may be more.
Encyclopedia of Bugs
Seasons Remaining: 4 | |
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Recommendation | Recommended. Good for Will XP and strong, long-lasting buffs both in and out of run, plus a shot at equipment, furniture, and techniques. |
Using this item gives you the Eye for Bugs skill permanently. Once you have it you'll have access to it regardless of season, so like all unearthly skills it's a particularly good value for the money.
At the start of your run you won't be have access to what you need to buy or make bug cages. But since trying to catch a bug doesn't cost Energy, you'll be building up your skill at catching bugs while getting free XP in Will while you're waiting. Since Will is the hardest attribute to build up early in a run and is usually what holds back your HP total from growing, even this is pretty handy.
Other than choosing to get Etheric or stay sober, you don't have much control over which bugs you encounter. But while you can't count on encountering any particular bugs, all of the encounters are good. The Etheric-only bugs are just particularly exotic catches, not combat encounters, so you don't have to worry about this skill getting you beaten up.
The rarer bugs give techniques, furniture, or equipment. (The shield bug is notable for being tied for best in slot for Melee Defense, and unlike its competitors doesn't require additional effects or other equipment to get there.) These items are a nice bonus in-run, but you can't plan your run around getting one. Post-run you only need to catch the equipment and furniture bugs once, so the skill's real value is in the effect-granting bugs. The effects are long-lasting and useful, and, unlike effects from some other unearthly skills, quite friendly about switching around. The 25 credits for a cage (or an energy and a frayed cable crafting one) is a relatively modest cost. And if you don't want to pay it, you always get the free Will XP.
If you collect a complete collection of bugs in your bug display and then view it with a bug net equipped, you will unlock the Bug Catcher avatar.
Raider Mask
Seasons Remaining: 5 | |
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Recommendation | Packs a lot of Ranged punch early in a run, and a source or high-chain stealth techniques |
The base bonuses on the mask and the techniques it gives are all about offense. Raider Ambush is pretty easy to learn even early on, and the Raider Targeting effect it gives is a massive boost to your Ranged Power. The effect only lasts for your current fight and won't kick in until at least the second round of combat, so you'll mostly notice it in longer, tougher fights. Happily, that's also when you'll need it most. Raider Shooting is not hard to learn if you are siding with Carlos (which you probably are if you're using this item, since it doesn't boost Melee at all), and gives you a chain 7 technique you can use to start making longer chains.
Post-run the base bonuses aren't bad: tied for best-in-slot for Ranged Power and competitive on Stealth Power. None of the techniques it grants are hard to get post-run and they open up some possibilities for combination Ranged/Stealth decks. This is more an item for resetting than high-end gang warfare, though.
Kinak hasn't weighed in on whether there is unfound content associated with this item. Three techniques is about par for a one-coin item, but it's possible there's more content to be found here.
Legacy Items
Antique Floor Mirror
Seasons Remaining: Legacy Item - Available This Season | |
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Recommendation | Months in the making and well worth having. This item is packed with content and still has unplumbed depths. |
The first unearthly item that costs three coins, this item is loaded with content. In-run, where furniture is scarce, there's essentially no downside to installing it. The stat boosts from the various "perspective" buffs are large and potentially useful. If you are willing to spend energy playing around with the mirror, you can gain stats quite quickly. This may not be optimal for minimizing day- and turncount, but it can definitely help with some of the more arduous conducts. The mirror-handled pistol and the postapocalyptic spear are good weapons in their own right and can yield the Mirror Shot and Mirror Strike techniques respectively, but getting the empty shards to make them in-run would be difficult.
Post-run, this item is a fountain of stats. It's also the source of a fair number of craftable items, some of which are extremely powerful, e.g. the ruby apple, or the mislit rusted sword and the amazing Clashing Blow technique it grants.
There are at least three items and one technique still to find in this item, and possible more.
Tattered Horror Paperback
Seasons Remaining: Legacy Item - Available This Season | |
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Recommendation | A good source of cyberware in aftercore if you are willing to be patient |
This item grants a skill, Patchwork Dreams, that will be available even when the tattered horror paperback is out of season. Even, so, it is unlikely to be of much help in-run unless your run lasts for an unusually long time. Making cyberware in the Massive Glass Tube takes several steps, and even getting an experimental beaker requires at least two trips to the lab.
Even post-run, deliberately trying to make the lab show up is somewhat slow and frustrating, but if you are content to go about your normal aftercore business and visit the lab when it happens to show up, you will gradually acquire the lab's special cyberware (and, if you install it, associated techniques) at an extremely modest cost. Some record-keeping would be helpful if not absolutely required if you want anything other than experimental beakers or capacitor plugs, though.
Multiple pieces of cyberware can be queued up in the Massive Glass Tube at once, and if you grow all six pieces you can then fight a Stitched Creation. Winning this fight unlocks the Whipstitched Avatar.
Kinak confirms that we have found all of the content associated with this item.
Season 52 Legacy Item Sneak Preview
When next season rolls around, the current legacy items will leave Zack's House of Coins and be replaced by two new ones. If you go talk to Zack and ask him "What are you trading?", then "Cleaning House?", and finally "What do people want back?", you'll have the opportunity to vote on which legacy item you'd particularly like to see available again. The top two choices will be available in the upcoming season. Have your say and get a voting sticker for your trouble!
Here are the contenders:
Urban Legends, Vol. 1
Seasons Remaining: Candidate for Return Next Season - Vote Now! | |
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Recommendation | Highly recommended if you do not already have a summoning skill, and opens up more options if you already have (or are planning to get) one. |
This item grants a summoning skill, Urban Lore, which has the basic benefits common to all summoning skills.
The items have a nice mix of uses both in and out of runs. The defensive buffs are very helpful in-run for tough fights — the creepy clown statue deserves special mention as a way to help get enough Etheric Defense to avoid getting Crushed Perceptions in the Saber fight. The hefty stat boosts could conceivably help to pass the Low Road if you get the right items.
Post-run it shines even more, since you can stock up a large supply of items and make those +20% attribute boosts count more. The organ transport box lets you regain Body once per day if you have enough First Aid. The panacea pill is a good healing item in its own right, and is one of the few ways of curing The Jitters and Rasping Teeth.
Shield of Scales
Seasons Remaining: Candidate for Return Next Season - Vote Now! | |
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Recommendation | Criminally underpriced at one coin. A frequent go-to item post-run and good for resetting if you are planning to use Melee or Stealth techniques. |
This item has one drawback early in a reset run, namely that it competes with an unearthly coin for the key offhand equipment slot. This makes for some interesting (agonizing?) trade-offs. The ability to learn Shield Block right off the bat has to be weighed against missing out on the large stat boosts from the coin. As your run progresses and your base stats get higher, it's easier to sacrifice to coin's stat bonuses in hopes of learning the technique. A chain that starts off with Shield Block and Dive for Cover together can be strong for any combat style, but probably works best with Melee or Stealth. You can't count on getting the other techniques the shield has to offer (Sudden Bash and Striking Shield) without going out of your way, but they may be worth pursuing depending on your strategy.
Even if you don't use Shield Block at all, the base enchantment on this item is a useful one. There are many opponents later in a run who use melee attacks, and there are a few key fights where Etheric Defense is very important. The shield probably doesn't change things much for the Saber fight, since getting enough Melee Defense to make the bonus worthwhile could be hard. But it'd be a real boon if you want to get the Dr. Johnson recording.
Post-run, where you have access to more sources of Melee Defense, this item is very strong in zones where you face lots of melee and Etheric techniques. And there are many such zones: the Ghost Ship, The Charnel House (Reopened), Lake Metroplex (South) (especially if you fight the Ocean King!), etc. It might also be helpful in high-end gang warfare against somebody running an Etheric/Melee deck.
It's almost unfair that in addition to being a strong defensive item, the shield also enhances some already-strong offensive techniques. If you're willing to let the shield dictate your loadout of equipment and effects, you can do truly frightening amounts of damage with Serpent Pattern and Striking Shield. Making a full chain of those plus Shield Block, Sudden Bash, and Serpent Strike gives the Shield of Scales effect making the shield even stronger than it already is. Unfortunately, you only get the effect if the opponent is still alive to give you something to block by the time you get to Shield Block, which will only happen in the toughest of fights. That's right: the biggest drawback here is that the serpent-y combat suite the shield makes possible is too lethal for its own good.
This item very likely has some as-yet-unfound interactions with the antique floor mirror, and perhaps also with other ophidian content.
Designer Vines
Seasons Remaining: Candidate for Return Next Season - Vote Now! | |
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Recommendation | Moderately helpful in-run if you are using Melee, and has some niche applications post-run. |
The base bonuses on this item are reasonably strong. The +2 Melee Defense is decent even post-run, and the Strength bonus the pants provide is best in slot. In-run, these bonuses will carry you pretty far, especially if you are using a Melee deck. The whopping bonus to Strength makes it possible to get instance of the Crushing Punch technique much earlier in your run than you typically would, and also allows you to get enough Strength to take full advantage of your Melee Power, possibly obviating the need for an unearthly coin or crystal spine and thus freeing up an equipment slot. The vines can be handy for getting rid of the Vile Camouflage effect if you get it while looking for the Sewer Hideout, and then similarly later on for getting rid of Dripping With Gore from the Southside Lab Corpsepile if you do the Hel's Suspicions quest (or from the Bloody Still Life). If you do manage to pick up the Take Root technique this way in-run, the Vine Shirt effect might come in handy fighting the two Writhing Masses for Andrea the Grad Student.
In general, though, the Take Root technique is for post-run use. At chain 7, it's difficult to work into a standard Ranged or Melee deck. The highest-chain Melee attack is chain 4, which makes it all but impossible to incorporate Take Root easily. Ranged decks are higher-chain, but you might want to have a vine spear equipped along with the pants, which limits your sources of Ranged Power significantly. Eventually, you can make a dedicated deck of vine-related techniques, but it requires extensive farming of vine drops to do so.
The vine content seems largely self-contained for post-run use, as most of the drops craft into items that grant techniques that mostly depend on using Take Root and having the vines equipped. Farming vine drops is relatively slow and difficult to combine with working towards other goals, but the vines and a vine-centric deck might work well for fishing at the Tainted Shoreline, allowing you to do decent damage even with a fishing pole equipped and healing most or all of the damage you take each fight thanks to using Take Root while outdoors. The soaked vine fungus is notable as being second only to personal Eclipse in terms of energy of effect per Body. The Fungal Resilience effect from the vitalized fungus is potentially very valuable, especially if you don't have access to a mysterious puzzle box for Ancient Resilience, but even if you do having the option to use Body rather than Hunger to Use your highest Attribute to calculate Hit Points might come in handy.
There may well be a vine-related avatar.
Bullet-Holed Vest
Seasons Remaining: Candidate for Return Next Season - Vote Now! | |
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Recommendation | The flexible defense and perception bonuses can be situationally helpful in run, and Vindictive Shot is quite effective against many in-run opponents. |
At the start of a run there's little reason not to use this, especially if you're going for a ranged approach. The +2 to your highest defense can be tuned with your other equipment, and the bonus to perception from both the shirt and Ectoplasmic Gore are useful for stat checks and damage output, if going ranged. Getting Ectoplasmic Gore does require losing a fight, however.
You probably won't get too many instances of Vindictive Shot in run, but it provides an etheric attack without actually having to be etheric, and even without a power boost aside from Ectoplasmic Gore it will still hit most in-run enemies pretty hard. Once Shot won't help against melee, but it does protect against ranged and, importantly, stealth, making it a good option to have if you're going to try fighting Third Eye Gangers.
Post-run, Ectoplasmic Gore is a pretty easy source of etheric power, if you're willing to deal with getting beaten up and then healing afterwards. It also counts as a sludge effect, giving it some synergy with the designer vines.
Moodlight Glove
Seasons Remaining: Candidate for Return Next Season - Vote Now! | |
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Recommendation | Packed with techniques, but mostly a niche item. |
The base bonuses on this item are not terribly difficult to equal or exceed, even in-run. Its main trick is to replace your deck with a new set of techniques if you are Etheric. You can also learn some permanent glove techniques, which you can put into your normal deck. The techniques are reasonably powerful, but probably not worth the trouble in run and not so powerful that you'd make them your go-to combat style post-run.
Like the parties that inspired it, the Moodlight glove is more about having fun and being cool than getting things done. Where it might really shine (even if too brightly) would be if you were pursuing the Etheric Master conduct and wanted a suite of Etheric techniques you could start using as soon as you found a supply of Eclipse.
We have found a lot of content from the glove, but there's no definitive word from Kinak about whether there's still more to find.
Wondering if there are currently-unavailable unearthly items you might want to save up for? Have you seen a player who has been around for a while sporting something neat and want the skinny on it? Check out the legacy unearthly item reviews.