Twilight Forums

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

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If I end up having time in October, I would love to do this contest. I intend to do some high-level content stuff in the near future so that chaos looks spifftastic.

On the eve of October, me and my army of alts will stampede through the heart of Twilight City, annihilating all opposition. Flee now, or prepare to face the consequences!

Hope I didn't scare anyone. Anyways, count me in for this one.

Highest total, hmm? Interestink.

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The churches are empty / The priest has gone home / And we are left standing / Together alone
--October Project: "Dark Time"

Hooray! A non-speed run contest!

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

Well, unless I'm misunderstanding things you still need to retcon in the week. So it's a speed contest followed by a leveling contest, right?

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

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The churches are empty / The priest has gone home / And we are left standing / Together alone
--October Project: "Dark Time"

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.

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

Score. I'm totally in.

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The churches are empty / The priest has gone home / And we are left standing / Together alone
--October Project: "Dark Time"

I'm game for some goofiness.

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

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Jesus (#229) | Solitude (#257)

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

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The churches are empty / The priest has gone home / And we are left standing / Together alone
--October Project: "Dark Time"

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



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.

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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?

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

Also, this:

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

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The churches are empty / The priest has gone home / And we are left standing / Together alone
--October Project: "Dark Time"

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.

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Jesus (#229) | Solitude (#257)

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.

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The churches are empty / The priest has gone home / And we are left standing / Together alone
--October Project: "Dark Time"

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

Alright, count me in - not sure how well I'll do, but it should be fun trying.

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.

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Jesus (#229) | Solitude (#257)

Status:

Day 1: Hit level 5. Did quests 1-4, snagged encryption key and made first computer. Also bought a motorcycle.

Day 2: Hit level 7. This one did not go as well as yesterday. Started encrypting the key while adventuring for taut sinew. Hit level 6 about the same time I finally managed to grab it. Started level 6 quest...spent at least two hours and then went to finish off the level 5 quest, which took about an average amount of time. It was at this point that I visited Rand and realized I hadn't visited him for the level 6 quest yet. Fuck. Started level 6 quest, but only got part way in before hitting level 7. Tried to open the rooftops while opening Zion's, will have to open tomorrow. Turned on villains at this point. First one was gnat gloves, which was irksome since I've never before seen that in-run :/ Finished off the level 7 quest (was trying to get another IOU for the consumables). Went and started working on the level 6 quest again. I just got garcia's up and running so hopefully questing will start to speed up. I don't like not having combat modifiers. Still waiting on bicycle built for two or whatever the quest noncombat is.

Day 3: Things slowed down a bit today. Finished off level 6 quest and most of level 8, but have lost to the octotron twice >.< Leveling went really slowly today, so ended up 39 xp short of level 9

Day 4: This run has had pretty damn good rng. Too bad it wasn't a normal run or I'd have easily made 4 days. Today I finished off the remaining quests, hit level 11 with 17 turns remaining and then started NCI. I did the long form of the mouths of darkness and grabbed all the beautiful points I could from the rooftops. Tomorrow is finishing that off and then starting the 12-13 quest, which I have no idea how to do. My base stats are: 97 strength, 72 intellect, and 65 reflexes.

Day 5: Finished off the level 11 quest and leveled to 12. Did some of that quest and then started leveling stats. Not really sure how to best do that, tbh. Base stats are: 113 strength, 85 intellect, and 70 reflexes. Time Played This Run: 2d 3h 36m 10s.

Day 6: Leveling stats took about 5 minutes. woot!

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!

Me too!

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The churches are empty / The priest has gone home / And we are left standing / Together alone
--October Project: "Dark Time"

Day 1: Went rather well. Finished all the quests leading up to Casino's, got my first computer. Just needed to get the swipe card.

Day 2: Went rather not so well. Spent 5 and a half hours looking for a capo key. At least I have 2 Dingo's Lotuses now. Major problem was blotto sotto capo not showing up frequently enough, since I only went through 6 or so during that time span. Finally got the key, kicked Steele's and Counsel Harry's butts, got taut sinew in 5 turns luckily enough, and rushed off to Porcelain Bay. By this time, I was level 7 already. Didn't encounter a single noncombat in the hour I spent in the bay. Still have to unlock rooftops. Maybe the RNG'll take me to dinner sometime soon for all that he owes me.

Day 3: This one was somewhere between day 1 and day 2. Unlocked rooftops and although I didn't have have access to the Quincy's coupon, it didn't take long to unlock Byzantine Interior. Porcelain bay took a long time though, and I still have to take care of Troutmaster. Oh, and level 7 quest went by pretty fast =D. Finally, the biggest thing worth celebrating is I didn't die today. At all!

Day 4: Other than taking a long time for that Frostheim keycard, everything else went pretty smoothly. Was behind a couple of quests for a while now, but I've caught up for the most part I think. Currently on level 10 quest, and still have to meet to octotron. But Troutmaster and Bard went down without much hassle. Trying to save up skill points, so hopefully 5 points in trample will carry me through the rest of the run. After using Trouty's SP's, I'll still be quite a few skill points short of maxing Ant's, Mantis, and Memory. But cutting it any closer is too risky for my liking. And I got inspired by Jesus to try for the xentrium plate, but alas, failed in epic proportions. Should've just taken that Murk's shirt lol.
Need a lot of work in villains department. Got 2 Dingo's and 2 silicon scooters now. Died to Baroness and Biff Socko, unfortunately. And I have a Wiggum which I have been less dependent on now that I have Scottish necklace and level 0 Starfish. I'm looking forward to trying that Frostheim mocha when I reach level 12. Yum.

Day 5:
Probably shouldn't have rushed my turns the way I did, since I died 6 or so times today. Got a Golem's glock, 2 Terce's, and Kookoo's pie pitcher today. Haven't gotten anything useful from villains yet, and died to the only one that had stats buff, Biff Socko. Didn't take any extra turns for NCI today, but still won't make it to Mick today. About 5 turns short. Really need some -time. Wish I got that xelor watch and xentrium breastplate.

Day 6:
Had to run from Mick once because 4 buffs and 10 FT didn't get him to flip the coin, but got him on the second try. It ended up being really close even though none of my trample's missed. Currently halfway through the level 12 quest. Took me a few hours to unlock Rooftops over Wodo. Thought I did the quest in the wrong order or something before finally getting that noncombat. Got the baroness, cardinal's ruler, and some other minor villain drops today. Don't remember what it was. I got the Fortune today, which I put to good use in the Cube.

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


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.

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Jesus (#229) | Solitude (#257)

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.

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Jesus (#229) | Solitude (#257)

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.

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.

298 base stats. Rawr!

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The churches are empty / The priest has gone home / And we are left standing / Together alone
--October Project: "Dark Time"

Alright, I think I'm all finished with this one. Final stats:

Strength: 608 (180)
Intellect: 194 (85)
Reflexes: 154 (72)

Grand total: 956

Just waiting for ryme to do whatever confirmation is needed.

I feel like there's probably a lot of simple things I missed, but that is how these kinds of things go, I guess. Thanks for hosting, seventh. It was fun.

And final stats for this grimdark Gadgeteer:

Strength: 240 (75)
Intellect: 166 (73)
Reflexes: 260 (128)

for a grand total of....666


That was kind of interesting, thanks for the challenge

Oh, level 12 - got to the camp only on the last day.
Also, I won't be able to log on until Saturday; I'm on the road working tonight.

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!

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Jesus (#229) | Solitude (#257)

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!

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The churches are empty / The priest has gone home / And we are left standing / Together alone
--October Project: "Dark Time"

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.

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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.

Final stats:
Strength: 706 (178)
Intellect: 145 (62)
Reflexes: 215 (110)
Total: 1066 (350)

Wow, that came out to be much larger than I expected. Didn't think it'd inflate that much after I changed a little bit of my equipment and sprinkled on some buffs. Was rather lucky I got the Tenderizer's hammer today (first useful villain drop yay!) and the horse pill I was craving for so long. Also got the smoldering ash, but didn't find a pocket van de graf generator.

Thanks 7thX for the contest. Name stylization credit goes to Cris. o.O

Edit: Here's my final buffs and equipment in case anyone is interested.

Level 13
63744 XP
Equipment:
Capo cap-o (+4 reflexes)
The Tenderizer's Hammer (+15% strength)
Decorated jerkin (+5 strength)
Leopard skin loincloth (+10 strength, +10 intellect)
Skeptic sandals (+20% intellect)
Supersolid mettle medal (+8 strength, +8 intellect, +8 reflexes)
Arm streamers (+15% strength)
Polluted charm (+75% strength, +75% intellect, +75% reflexes)

Ant's Strength (level 10, 15 strength)
Mantis Reflexes (level 4, 9 reflexes)
Memory of the Elephant (level 4, 9 intellect)
Beefcake! (level 10, 35 strength)
Why the Long Face? (20% strength, 10 strength)
Pink'd (+15% strength, -5% intellect, -5% reflexes)
Roid Rage (+100% strength)
Happy Feet (+6% reflexes)
Embiggened (+10% strength)

For:
250% increase in strength + 83
90% increase in intellect + 27
76% increase in reflexes +21

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!

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