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Crusader

2018-08-22T23:26:02Z

Spook: added flavour text from the compendium

<onlyinclude>{{
{{{tpl|ClassInfobox}}}
|Name=Crusader
|ShortHand=Cr
|Tooltip=SCARS: Immune to Poison, Mana Burn, Curse
MOMENTUM: Successive kills add 15% bonus damage. Leveling up or losing momentum halves bonus
MARTYR: Extra altar spawn
|Traits=
;{{a|SCARS}}: {{t|Poison Immune}}, {{t|Mana Burn Immune}}, {{t|Curse Immune}}
;{{a|MOMENTUM}}: Successive kills add 15% bonus damage. Leveling up or losing momentum halves bonus
;{{a|MARTYR}}: Extra altar spawn
|SuggestedRaces={{OrCr}}, {{HaCr}}
|ClassChallenges=
{{CC|Crusader|Bronze|The Ratlings}}

{{CC|Crusader|Silver|Rat-Faced}}

{{CC|Crusader|Gold|The Tattered Army}}
|Unlock=
Once you have unlocked all Gods, you may encounter the Crusader in a subdungeon. You must reach {{Piety|100}} with any deity in order to gain his trust, at which point you will unlock the class.
|Group=Special
}}</onlyinclude>
''Travelworn and world-weary. Crusaders take up arms for just about any cause going. Their mercurial devotion grants them bursts of fervor in battle. They tend to answer complicated theological questions with steel - usually when asked exactly what it is they believe in.''

== Class Features ==

While not apparent at first glance, the class features of the crusader allow him to be played in more ways than probably any other class. Learning to properly use all the gods, as well as getting comfortable with desecrating their altars at the right time allows you to unlock the full potential of the Crusader.

{{a|SCARS}} means you are resistant to most effects which hinder regen fighters, which makes you excellent at stacking damage resistances, even though you don't start with any. It also makes you effectively immune to most of the maluses that {{i|Patches the Teddy}} can inflict upon the player, meaning you should probably be prepping it on any Crusader run (as it can also get you some resistances, but also all sorts of other benefits).

While resistance stacking is certainly strong, even a spellcaster crusader can benefit from the potential mana increases Patches offers. At very minimum, the ability to use Patches freely is very effective.

{{a|MOMENTUM}} ability can be leveraged in two ways - by getting your attack very high (in combination with the highest base damage possible), to take down the boss in as few hits as possible. This is actually rather difficult to leverage, and while workable is probably the worst way to play crusader. It is occasionally the way to go - when you're facing a high damage but low health boss like Bleaty, Aequitas, and such, or when you can only get a very, very few strikes in on a boss.

The best way to leverage it is to conserve popcorn (low level mosters) as much as possible during leveling. To make the most out of them, when you're ready to fight the last boss, kill the popcorns just before a level-up. Because each popcorn can offer a bonus damage at maximum (15% + 7.5% + 3.75% + ...), this makes you use the damage bonus earlier which is generally better. Then level-up when you cannot tank a hit and repeat the process. This is the most optimal way to play the momentum-spike crusader, and it makes him one of the highest damage classess in the game. If you can level-up in the process, it's better to kill higher level popcorns first, because momentum will bring a bigger damage when you are at a higher level. Make sure you leave some popcorns when you should tackle another boss.

However, this can be dangerous if you lose a momemtum by accident, such as using {{s|BURNDAYRAZ}} or hitting a non-XP monster. If you are using a {{i|Quicksilver Potion}}, it can be hard to get a confirmed dodge if you have already consumed all {{t|First Strike}} monsters. Instead of killing popcorns all the way along, you can alternatively start fighting the boss with killing 4 little guys for +60% damage, which is a lot and practically unparallel. You then strike the boss, and it drops to +30%. Kill two more little guys and you're back to 60% for the next strike. While this is not optimal, the total damage difference with the above is very small and it generally makes a tiny difference.

It is best combined with either {{g|Taurog}} (for his string of Death Protections), {{g|Tikki Tooki}} (with his string of potions), or {{g|Dracul}} (for healing between strikes using his Bloodswell and Sanguine boons).

{{a|MARTYR}} means you will always have plenty of altars in the dungeon. This means you're more likely to encounter useful altars, and will have more opportunities for favorable conversion combos. This also means that it's somewhat more likely that you'll encounter the unpreppable god {{g|The Pactmaker}}. If combined with the extra altar preparation then a Crusader will have a total of 5 altars, meaning more than half the pantheon will be present. Perhaps most importantly, it vastly increases the odds of finding an altar you can safely desecrate for bonus piety.

Bringing a {{i|Burn Salve}} on any run means you can always desecrate {{g|The Earthmother}} altar with no effective downside. The {{g|Mystera Annur}} altar can be easily desecrated if you have a way of removing resistances from your enemies afterwards; both {{g|Binlor Ironshield}} and {{g|Jehora Jeheyu}} offer you a method of reversing her penalty. The Binlor altar can be desecrated for no punishment as long as you don't have any damage resistance, and since the Crusader doesn't have any by default, this usually means it's a free desecration. {{g|Dracul}}'s altar can be desecrated if you don't mind a minor health drop, but this can be problematic on high-difficulty dungeons where powerful monsters often come very close to 1-hit kills. The only altar which you should avoid desecrating at all costs is the altar of the {{g|Glowing Guardian}}.

A particularly effective combination is using {{g|Taurog}} and {{g|Dracul}} in combination for high resistances. Ordinarily any specific 2-diety combo requires some luck to find, but for the Crusader the odds are pretty good.

== Race ==

Which race is best for the crusader depends on which gods you intend to use. The trick to beaing a great crusader is choosing a race who's bonus helps you level up.

=== Orc ===

The {{OrCr}} makes a great race for Crusaders. Due to his massive attack bonus, an Orc Crusader's heightened base attack will be multiplied to enormous proportions. An added benefit of playing an Orc is that early glyph conversions will help you level by killing higher level enemies saving a lot of "popcorn" for later to keep your damage boost from {{a|MOMENTUM}} stable.

=== Halfling ===

The Halfling makes a great race for Crusaders because of their many beneficial interactions with gods, the fact that you can use their healing potions in combination with {{a|MOMENTUM}} in order to spike a boss and the fact that you can use your health potions to kill higher level monsters while you level. Potions can also be used to power up the {{i|Trisword}} and/or the {{i|Alchemist Scroll}}, and advanced users can make good use of converting potions for piety with the gods {{g|Glowing Guardian}}, {{g|Dracul}} or {{g|Jehora Jeheyu}}, and {{g|Tikki Tooki}} can turn health potions into freebie hits on the boss.

=== Goblin ===

The Goblin (if you can use them) is also makes a rather good crusader, since he can use his conversion bonus to level up while killing fewer enemies, leaving more enemies on board to keep the end-game {{a|MOMENTUM}} stable.

== Strategy ==

The Crusader can build up to massive amounts of attack bonus by chaining kills. This allows Crusaders to deal massive amounts of damage that other classes simply couldn't achieve with a single blow. On the other hand, this bonus is halved if he doesn't land a killing blow (including with {{s|BURNDAYRAZ}}, so watch out!), so he must repeatedly kill low-level monsters to rebuild his {{a|MOMENTUM}} and deal his maximum damage. This makes it exceedingly important to leave lots of low-level monsters alive for the boss battle, and makes him work very well with deities like {{g|Tikki Tooki}}. Managing popcorn monsters is the most important part of playing Crusader, as you'll need them to kill higher level monsters or bosses faster.

Interestingly, {{s|PISORF}} doesn't cause you to lose your momentum, so if you need extra damage, {{s|PISORF}} is preferrable to {{s|BURNDAYRAZ}}.

One particularly devious strategy with the Crusader is the so-called "one-hit-wonder". This Crusader prepares a {{i|Strength Potion}} or purchases one in dungeon, and otherwise works to maximize his attack bonus (usually by playing orc and converting just about everything). He then builds up {{a|MOMENTUM}} and activates the {{i|Strength Potion}}. This will grant him a single attack that deals massive damage. This is often enough to wipe out a weaker boss.

== Trivia ==
The Crusader is inspired by Batman, specifically the combat system in Batman: Arkham Asylum, and how it allows you to bounce from foe to foe.

{{MainNav}}

Tikki Tooki

2018-07-13T06:28:40Z

Spook: /* Likes and Dislikes */ fixed my previous edit

<onlyinclude>{{
{{{tpl|GodInfobox}}}
|Name=Tikki Tooki
|ShortHand=TT
|InitialWorship=
*Free {{s|GETINDARE}} glyph
|Punishment=
*Lowers {{t|Dodge}} chance by 100% and Poison Strike. All monsters on all dungeon floors gain {{t|First strike}} and {{t|Weakening blow}}
|PrepPenalty=
*All damage taken will incur a piety penalty.
|RewardedActions=
*Kill an XP-valuable enemy who is lower-level than you: {{Piety|+5}}.

*Dodge an attack from any enemy: {{Piety|+3}}

*{{t|Poisoned}} an enemy: {{Piety|+1}}

*Use the {{s|WONAFYT}} glyph: {{Piety|+1}}

*Use the {{s|WEYTWUT}} glyph: {{Piety|+1}}
|PenalizedActions=
*Take more than one hit from a monster: {{Piety|-3}} per hit

*Trigger a death protection: {{Piety|-10}}
|Boons=
;{{boon|Tribute}} {{MultipleUse}}
:'''Cost''': 15 gold
:'''Effect''': Gain {{Piety|10}}

;{{boon|Tikki's Edge}} {{MultipleUse}}
:'''Cost''': {{piety|25 (+25)}}
:'''Effect''': Grants you {{t|Learning}}, gaining +1 additional experience from all kills, grants {{gold|10}}

;{{boon|Dodging}} {{SingleUse}}
:'''Cost''': {{piety|25}}
:'''Effect''': Increases your chance to {{t|Dodge}} by 10%, grants {{gold|10}}

;{{boon|Poison}} {{MultipleUse}}
:'''Cost''': {{piety|15 (+10)}}
:'''Effect''': Grants you 1 level of {{t|Poisonous}}

;{{boon|Reflexes}} {{MultipleUse}}
:'''Cost''': {{piety|35}}, 1 {{i|Health Potion}}
:'''Effect''': Spawn one {{i|Reflex Potion}} & {{i|Quicksilver Potion}} near the altar.
}}</onlyinclude>

Tikki Tooki is the trickster serpent god. He has a particular soft spot for gold, accepting it as tribute and granting it to faithful followers. This makes him quite versatile both for purist runs (where gold is in short supply) and with heavy preparations (where you often have more than you can spend). He can also be of help to those seeking to fuel items which consume gold for activating their abilities, such as {{i|Crystal Ball}} or {{i|Alchemist Scroll}}. However, if you are out of piety you will be drawed into a endless downward spiral, and your run will be ended with his powerful punishment.

The most experienced users can attest to the power of TT when used as the key element in outrageous combinations which can lead to boss kills at lvl 1. On a less outrageous note, the fact that he lets you turn gold directly into piety enables some of the most advanced resource management antics in the game.

Tikki Tooki is uncovered in the south in a small subdungeon where you must defeat a form-changing imp without getting hit by it in return several times.

== Likes and Dislikes ==
Tikki Tooki gives {{piety|+5}} for killing monsters that are lower level than you. He awards successful dodges ({{piety|+3}}) and use of the {{s|WEYTWUT}} and {{s|WONAFYT}} glyphs ({{Piety|+1}}). He also awards you {{piety|+1}} every time you poison a monster for the first time. You can also gain piety from him by using {{boon|Tribute}}, which gives you {{piety|+10}} for {{gold|15}}.

Tikki Tooki punishes you for getting damaged by monsters more than once, so you get {{piety|-3}} every time you get hit by a monster after the first. This dislike can be avoided even if you join him early, by fighting higher-level monsters with the help of damage-dealing glyphs and {{t|First strike}} or {{t|Slowed}}, or some magics. If you don't get damaged, the piety penalty will not occur.

He also dislikes using a {{t|Death Protection}}, which he punishes with {{piety|-10}}. He won't punish the act of acquiring a death protection, but he will punish using it up. This can lead to a rare situation where you get hit by a monster for the second time and expend a death protection, which causes you to lose {{piety|13}} "at once". {{t|Indulgence}}s works good to prevent the piety loss due to death protections.

'''Preparation Penalty''' - His preparation penalty makes him punish you with {{piety|-3}} every time you get hit. His preparation penalty can be really difficult to get around, and is widely considered to be the most taxing one. It requires you to be even more careful about fighting tough opponents. Even with your {{s|GETINDARE}}, you should kill your enemy in one shot to avoid piety loss. Compare this with the fact that you are allowed for two shots without preparation penalty. First strike popcorns are not obvious, and you will be punished to kill them when you have less then {{piety|2}}. Still, some cray builds can afford this penalty. Plant-cleaning antics are still viable.

'''Punishment/Desecration Penalty''' - If your piety drops below zero, or if you desecrate his altar, he will give every monster {{t|First strike}} and {{t|Weakening blow}}, which is a severe punishment. Moreover, he will lowers 100% of your {{t|Dodge}} and remove all {{t|Poisonous}} should you have it. Considering that he actually has very few ways to lose piety with, it is easier to avoid than it seems. If you are left with no exploration or lower-level monsters, you can lock yourself into a downward spiral of piety loss which can be really hard to get out of. In the situation where this would cost you a win, the solutions are {{boon|Tribute}}, desecration of another altar, and {{boon|Consensus}}. Punished by Tikki Tooki will make every monster have {{t|First strike}}. This will be applied ON TOP of the slowed monsters, allowing them to strike first even though they are slowed.

Desecrating TT's altar should be avoided unless really necessary, or in case you are a heavily focused spellcaster. Even then, it's preferable not to do it until you are well into a boss fight and are certain that you won't be relying on first strike (or even physical attacks) to finish the boss off. If you are certain that you will not have first strike, and we desperately need a quick piety, you can desecrate TT's altar because 1-2 weakening is often not very critical as a higher level character.

If you join the {{g|Glowing Guardian}} after picking up {{boon|Poison}}, Glowing Guardian will punish you every time you attack something that isn't undead. The only way to get rid of the poison is to desecrate Tikki's altar.

== Boons ==
=== {{boon|Tribute}} ===
Tikki Tooki is very stingy to piety. The only way to generate massive piety is killing popcorn, which is hard for lower level characters. Even with the free {{s|GETINDARE}} glyph he provides, you are required to kill your enemy within only 2 attacks (or 1 for {{t|first strike}} enemy). One option is buying piety by gold from this boon although the cost is very expensive. Investing too heavily is not recommended without forward planning, but an early worshiper will want to invest in at least one hit, and make up the loss of gold with grabbing an early level of Tikki's Edge and Dodge.

=== {{boon|Tikki's Edge}} ===
At early-mid stages, a single learning is extremely powerful for leveling. But the second one is considerably more expensive, and Tikki Tooki provides another good boons at big piety cost. In most In most situations only one hit is required, but it is an important boon because it lets you get more out of killing low-level monsters, especially if paired with slow or the {{c|Fighter}}'s innate XP bonus. Second shot can be valuable for some specific builds or some edge cases. Third shot is almost never valuable enough.

Lower level characters who earned early piety by {{boon|Tribute}} are eager to purchase this boon, to take maximum exp bonus and reclaim some of the gold cost.

=== {{boon|Dodging}} ===
Easy to pick up and the random dodges provide random piety gain. Some random dodge will even protect you from {{piety|-3}} loss, making total of {{piety|+6}} in return. This means after 4-5 dodge you the piety cost are returned. Like resistance it synergies with {{t|Life steal}} ability, but TT worshipping characters are often powerful strikers.

This allows you to gain piety in plant-infested levels by dodging hits from plants with non-lethal and non-corrosive attacks. It also synergizes with his dodge-based piety [[spike]]. For advanced users, it can greatly benefit heavy resistance stackers like the {{c|Monk}} if they can grab it and safely convert out of the religion. {{c|Rogue}} will also greatly benefit from this boon. Unlike resistances stacking, this is by far the only combination that can stack permanent dodge chance.

=== {{boon|Poison}} ===
Gives a point of poison strike for every helping. The first one costs 15 piety, and each subsequent helping increases the piety cost by 10. This is a difficult boon to mesh into a typical TT worshipper's play style. Poison is most valuable to regen-fighters, but they typically take several hits from the same enemy and TT will be angry about it. That said, after killing 15 non-undead enemies, the first level of this boon will pay for itself.

To really use poison based regen-fight strategy, you should either convert out or conserve a lot of piety, and still has a lot of blackspaces left. 2nd or further shots of this boon is an alternative approach other than his another boon, {{boon|Reflexes}}. If your boss is Super Meat Man, purchasing several poison stike and converting out is a strong move.

=== {{boon|Reflexes}} ===
For 35 piety and a health potion, you are given one {{i|Quicksilver Potion}} and one {{i|Reflex Potion}}. With proper setup, the Quicksilver potion can get you a certain dodge, and the Reflex potion lets you hit something twice in one attack. When used correctly together, they allow for two simultaneous free hits on a monster, explained under "Piety [[Spike]]". This boon is a fabulous solution to certain "glass cannon" bosses. With proper setup, even level 1 striker can wipe two bosses out with ease.

== Piety Spike ==
Concentrated TT worship and channelling many resources into repeated uses of the {{boon|Reflexes}} boon is TT's piety [[spike]]. It requires a moderate amount of health potions, 35 piety per helping, and decent damage to work, but provides a string of free hits on the boss. That amount of concentrated damage is sometimes difficult to imagine until you try it, but it works spectacularly well against bosses with high damage and low hit points like Aequitas, Bleaty, and even Namtar.

It is doable with both early and late worship depending on the situation and experience of the player. It is also advisable to save popcorn with first strike (Goblins, Gorgons), to help set up dodges with the {{i|Quicksilver Potion}}. Hits you take move the dodge prediction counter, and monsters who are lower level than you generally can't hit you unless they have first strike.

Stuff that makes it work better are damage items, the {{boon|Dodging}} boon and {{c|Rogue}}'s Dodging, and knockback. If you have a knockback attack, you will knock the enemy back twice when using a reflex potion, causing extra damage. Subdungeons which provide healing potions can also help in this regard. Subdungeons which provide help with leveling, or a large batch of low level-monsters to harvest for piety and use to set up dodges make it work really good, as does any way to acquire knocback. If you have some healing method it will be easier to use. Halflings have a distinct advantage in being able to convert for extra healing potions, because the number of potion sets that can be acquired is limited by the total amount of healing potions at your disposal.

'''Fuel''': Health potions, Tikki Tooki piety, popcorn monsters with first strike. Gold to a degree, if you mean to use Tribute to gain more piety with TT.

'''Rewards''': Big damage strategies and race/class/item combinations.

'''Lets you ignore''': Your health in general, and your spellcasting except as supplemental source of damage, or leveling tool.

'''Default solution to''': "Glass Cannon" bosses, ones with magic protection in particular. Bosses with low hit points but problematic abilities like death gaze, mana burn, curse, weakening blow and such.

'''Pro Tip''': If you want to plan ahead, avoid slowing popcorn with {{t|First strike}}. You will need their weak hits to set up confirmed dodges.

'''Pro Tip II''': The approach meshes well with Death Protections, which TT severly punishes. If you want to offset this, you can either start a boss fight by using up your death protections first, and then join TT, mop up popcorn for piety and tribute for more, or you can desecrate other altars for piety and indulgences. If you intend to kill a boss without getting hit at all (dodges from the potions, death protections, first strike), you can safely desecrate any altar which doesn't affect your damage. Binlor, Earthmother, and Dracul in particular, and very advanced users can even manage a GG desecration although it's not recommended. Mystera is a borderline viable choice, and Taurog and JJ are to be desecrated only in desperate situations.

If you are ready to fight the boss, use a {{i|Quicksilver Potion}} first. Hover your mouse over the boss and see if you got the predicted dodge. If you did't, attack a first strike popcorn. This will reroll the dodge chance and this time you might got predicted dodge. This is why leaving some first strike popcorns helps. Repeat it until you get the dodge, quaff {{i|Reflex Potion}}, and attack the boss. You will hit the boss twice without being hit, in addition of {{piety|+3}}. '''Don't drink the Reflex potion without having predicted dodge!''' Attacking a first strike popcorn will consume the Reflex potion's effect, wasting it. If you can tank a hit from boss you can attack the boss without dodge, but it's less recommended. If you can level up or heal yourself this might be good. Drinking two Quicksilver Potions to get a 100% dodge chance is a bad move, and should be avoid unless you have no other choice.

== Strategy ==
'''Early Worship''' - without forward planning, as a preparation for worshiping another deity later, it is straightforward. Join early, use Tribute, slow or poison monsters while you explore, get a shot of {{boon|Tikki's Edge}}. Carefully kill a few higher-level monsters with heavily use of glyphs and potions, then clean up low-level monsters which you wouldn't want around later (or mop up as much as you want). Use the level-ups to help you kill even higher-level monsters by refilling your health and mana, and pick a good moment to convert out into another religion. It's moderately easy if you join TT at lvl 2, but doable even at lvl 1, especially with dedicated spellcasters. A major benefit of worshiping TT as the first deity in a run is the guaranteed GETINDARE glyph he provides.

Early worship with intention of using TT to win requires some forward planning. Using {{s|WEYTWUT}}, {{s|WONAFYT}}, and {{s|APHEELSIK}} to gain piety while you explore is mandatory, and slow will prepare lvl 1 monsters to be harvested later for added benefits. Collecting the piety sparkles around other altars will also help, and investing some gold into Tribute will get you closer to your first boon. Preparing or finding items which provide you enough XP to level up at least once in order to "start" at lvl 2 is also an option ({{i|Fake Beard}}, {{i|Cracked Amulet}}, {{i|Amulet of Yendor}}). Using the Goblin conversion bonus for an early level up is a strong option as well. Playing a {{c|Fighter}} (easier to reach lvl 2) or an {{c|Assassin}} (starts with APHEELSIK) is beneficial to this approach, as is using dedicated spellcasters. {{c|Bloodmage}} in particular, with his innate benefits that come with killing low-level monsters and ways to turn his health into damage without being hit back makes for a strong early TT worshiper.

If you are joining TT early, you will be looking to kill specific monsters before you convert to someone else, such as getting rid of magic users if you plan on joining Mystera or getting rid of undead if you're planning to join Dracul. If you intend to convert, slowing everything you can is fine, but if you plan on using TT's potions to kill the boss, slowing monsters with first strike is not the best move.

'''Mid-run Worship''' - Provides you with an ease in early leveling with none of Tikki's dislikes affecting you, while leaving many low-level monsters to be harvested later with more ease. The principles are the same, except there is much less pressure, and if you convert to his religion with extra piety or join him with extra gold picked up, you can grab {{boon|Tikki's Edge}} more easily. The principles are the same, except exploration will already be done, as will the leveling. It is the strongest and easiest approach to worshipping TT.

This is also a good move if you simply want to mop up low-level monsters for specific benefits, like getting rid of curse, getting gold from Gloves of Midas, mana out of the blue bead, or more bloodpools for your Bloodmage. Finding certain bonus subdungeons can also make joining TT a great move on any run. The ability to gain large amounts of piety out of a mostly explored map, makes TT a great "finishing move" deity, if you are meticulous about taking as few kills as possible to level up or explore.

One shot of {{boon|Tikki's Edge}} will greatly increase your popcorn bowl's exp value, and it might pull a bonus level-up. Piety left are mostly used to buy some {{boon|Poison}} or {{boon|Reflexes}}, depending on who is the boss. If you are going to use poison strike, converting out is often the best option.

'''Dedicated Worship''' - This combines two strategy above. You can fully leverage {{boon|Tikki's Edge}}, and acquire some boons for better fight by {{boon|Poison}} or {{boon|Reflexes}}.

There are some other devious builds around TT.

'''Infinite Piety Farm''' - You can farm infinite piety if you have these three conditions. Plants cannot be used in this purpose anymore because they die after two hits. Before the patch, the {{c|Half-Dragon}} could farm infinite piety easily with magic immune plants.

1) You have permanent dodge chance: You should be either {{c|Rogue}}, or bought {{boon|Dodging}} boon. But the Rouge is hard to play this because of the third condition, the negative damage bonus.

2) Target's damage to you is 0: Tikki Tooki will not deduce your piety, but their attack can still be dodged to earn piety. This can be achieved by having some {{t|Damage Reduction}}, and finding a low attack enemy. Preparing {{i|Shield}} and {{i|Platemail}} would work. {{t|Corrosion}} is not a problem here.

3) Your damage is 0: This is the most difficult condition to achieve. If your base attack is 5, you must have less then -80% damage bonus to have 0 attack which is completely out of question. So you need to find a {{t|Weakening}} enemy. Your base damage can only be reduced to 1, but if you have negative damage bonus on top on 1 base damage, your attack power will be rounded down to 0. {{c|Monk}}, {{c|Assassin}} or {{c|Gorgon}} starts with negative attack bonus. {{i|Bloody Sigil}}, {{i|Mage Plate}} or desecrating {{g|Taurog}}'s altar also works. {{c|Rat Monarch}} cannot use this approach because corrosion damage is still applied on top of 0 attack.

If all conditions are met, you can attack the target infinitely. 10% of the time you will dodge incoming attack for {{piety|+3}}. You can buy 4 levels of {{t|Learning}}, 9 levels of {{t|Poisonous}}, 10% permanent dodge chance, some Reflex and Quicksilver potions and plenty of gold. Then you can convert out, cure your {{t|Weakened}} by prepared {{i|Fortitude Tonic}}, and enjoy. {{g|Jehora Jeheyu}} enjoys successful dodge so you can also farm infinite piety under him.

'''Popcorn Muncher''' - This build works best on {{c|Assassin}} and/or some other exp source such as {{r|Goblin}}, {{i|Amulet of Yendor}}. If the dungeon is too hard to kill a higher level enemy, you can only kill lower level enemies and take 2-3 shots of {{boon|Tikki's Edge}} as soon as possible. You can farm a lot of piety as all enemies will grant {{piety|5}}. But you should reach level 2 with some other method. Early finding of {{s|WONAFYT}} helps immensely.

== Tips and Tricks ==
1) If you want to earn a little bit more gold from a run you have already won, and want to experiment with TT a bit, you can worship him or convert into his religion after you've already killed the boss or bosses. You can then pick up {{boon|Tikki's Edge}} and {{boon|Dodging}} for gold, and mop up the remaining lower level monsters and desecrate the remaining altars (except the Glowing Guardian's one) to get one more Tikki's Edge. Turning your leftover health potions into Quicksilver and Reflex potions also increases the value of loot you take out of the dungeon, and can help you get familiar with them. Be careful not to rush and lose a run you already won!

2) Southern regions often provide plants which come with the level and that can mean quite a bit of TT piety for anyone, but Rogues in particular. If you don't fear curse, the plants in Cursed Oasis can work to your benefit as well, and filling the level with plants using {{g|The Earthmother}} will often work to your benefit as well, provided you can reach TT's altar to convert to him. Be careful about the slow on everything, though, it can be a double edged sword.

3) Since TT gives you piety every time you poison something, you can use APHEELSIK and Venom Blade to get some early piety with him.

4) Also, don't be afraid of one or two extra hits which would punish you if it would provide a large enough advantage.

Overall, Tikki Tooki is one of the best "last hour" deities, offering enormous amounts of piety for slaughtering defenseless monsters and superb boons which can improve your odds. He can also be used to set-up worship of another deity, or gain and manipulate gold. His piety spike is also the go-to solution to several bosses and PQI scenarios for several game veterans.

{{MainNav}}

Tikki Tooki

2018-07-13T06:27:43Z

Spook: /* Likes and Dislikes */ piety panelty will not be occured → the piety penalty not occur + minor spelling fixes

<onlyinclude>{{
{{{tpl|GodInfobox}}}
|Name=Tikki Tooki
|ShortHand=TT
|InitialWorship=
*Free {{s|GETINDARE}} glyph
|Punishment=
*Lowers {{t|Dodge}} chance by 100% and Poison Strike. All monsters on all dungeon floors gain {{t|First strike}} and {{t|Weakening blow}}
|PrepPenalty=
*All damage taken will incur a piety penalty.
|RewardedActions=
*Kill an XP-valuable enemy who is lower-level than you: {{Piety|+5}}.

*Dodge an attack from any enemy: {{Piety|+3}}

*{{t|Poisoned}} an enemy: {{Piety|+1}}

*Use the {{s|WONAFYT}} glyph: {{Piety|+1}}

*Use the {{s|WEYTWUT}} glyph: {{Piety|+1}}
|PenalizedActions=
*Take more than one hit from a monster: {{Piety|-3}} per hit

*Trigger a death protection: {{Piety|-10}}
|Boons=
;{{boon|Tribute}} {{MultipleUse}}
:'''Cost''': 15 gold
:'''Effect''': Gain {{Piety|10}}

;{{boon|Tikki's Edge}} {{MultipleUse}}
:'''Cost''': {{piety|25 (+25)}}
:'''Effect''': Grants you {{t|Learning}}, gaining +1 additional experience from all kills, grants {{gold|10}}

;{{boon|Dodging}} {{SingleUse}}
:'''Cost''': {{piety|25}}
:'''Effect''': Increases your chance to {{t|Dodge}} by 10%, grants {{gold|10}}

;{{boon|Poison}} {{MultipleUse}}
:'''Cost''': {{piety|15 (+10)}}
:'''Effect''': Grants you 1 level of {{t|Poisonous}}

;{{boon|Reflexes}} {{MultipleUse}}
:'''Cost''': {{piety|35}}, 1 {{i|Health Potion}}
:'''Effect''': Spawn one {{i|Reflex Potion}} & {{i|Quicksilver Potion}} near the altar.
}}</onlyinclude>

Tikki Tooki is the trickster serpent god. He has a particular soft spot for gold, accepting it as tribute and granting it to faithful followers. This makes him quite versatile both for purist runs (where gold is in short supply) and with heavy preparations (where you often have more than you can spend). He can also be of help to those seeking to fuel items which consume gold for activating their abilities, such as {{i|Crystal Ball}} or {{i|Alchemist Scroll}}. However, if you are out of piety you will be drawed into a endless downward spiral, and your run will be ended with his powerful punishment.

The most experienced users can attest to the power of TT when used as the key element in outrageous combinations which can lead to boss kills at lvl 1. On a less outrageous note, the fact that he lets you turn gold directly into piety enables some of the most advanced resource management antics in the game.

Tikki Tooki is uncovered in the south in a small subdungeon where you must defeat a form-changing imp without getting hit by it in return several times.

== Likes and Dislikes ==
Tikki Tooki gives {{piety|+5}} for killing monsters that are lower level than you. He awards successful dodges ({{piety|+3}}) and use of the {{s|WEYTWUT}} and {{s|WONAFYT}} glyphs ({{Piety|+1}}). He also awards you {{piety|+1}} every time you poison a monster for the first time. You can also gain piety from him by using {{boon|Tribute}}, which gives you {{piety|+10}} for {{gold|15}}.

Tikki Tooki punishes you for getting damaged by monsters more than once, so you get {{piety|-3}} every time you get hit by a monster after the first. This dislike can be avoided even if you join him early, by fighting higher-level monsters with the help of damage-dealing glyphs and {{t|First strike}} or {{t|Slowed}}, or some magics. If you don't get damaged, the piety penalty not occur.

He also dislikes using a {{t|Death Protection}}, which he punishes with {{piety|-10}}. He won't punish the act of acquiring a death protection, but he will punish using it up. This can lead to a rare situation where you get hit by a monster for the second time and expend a death protection, which causes you to lose {{piety|13}} "at once". {{t|Indulgence}}s works good to prevent the piety loss due to death protections.

'''Preparation Penalty''' - His preparation penalty makes him punish you with {{piety|-3}} every time you get hit. His preparation penalty can be really difficult to get around, and is widely considered to be the most taxing one. It requires you to be even more careful about fighting tough opponents. Even with your {{s|GETINDARE}}, you should kill your enemy in one shot to avoid piety loss. Compare this with the fact that you are allowed for two shots without preparation penalty. First strike popcorns are not obvious, and you will be punished to kill them when you have less then {{piety|2}}. Still, some cray builds can afford this penalty. Plant-cleaning antics are still viable.

'''Punishment/Desecration Penalty''' - If your piety drops below zero, or if you desecrate his altar, he will give every monster {{t|First strike}} and {{t|Weakening blow}}, which is a severe punishment. Moreover, he will lowers 100% of your {{t|Dodge}} and remove all {{t|Poisonous}} should you have it. Considering that he actually has very few ways to lose piety with, it is easier to avoid than it seems. If you are left with no exploration or lower-level monsters, you can lock yourself into a downward spiral of piety loss which can be really hard to get out of. In the situation where this would cost you a win, the solutions are {{boon|Tribute}}, desecration of another altar, and {{boon|Consensus}}. Punished by Tikki Tooki will make every monster have {{t|First strike}}. This will be applied ON TOP of the slowed monsters, allowing them to strike first even though they are slowed.

Desecrating TT's altar should be avoided unless really necessary, or in case you are a heavily focused spellcaster. Even then, it's preferable not to do it until you are well into a boss fight and are certain that you won't be relying on first strike (or even physical attacks) to finish the boss off. If you are certain that you will not have first strike, and we desperately need a quick piety, you can desecrate TT's altar because 1-2 weakening is often not very critical as a higher level character.

If you join the {{g|Glowing Guardian}} after picking up {{boon|Poison}}, Glowing Guardian will punish you every time you attack something that isn't undead. The only way to get rid of the poison is to desecrate Tikki's altar.

== Boons ==
=== {{boon|Tribute}} ===
Tikki Tooki is very stingy to piety. The only way to generate massive piety is killing popcorn, which is hard for lower level characters. Even with the free {{s|GETINDARE}} glyph he provides, you are required to kill your enemy within only 2 attacks (or 1 for {{t|first strike}} enemy). One option is buying piety by gold from this boon although the cost is very expensive. Investing too heavily is not recommended without forward planning, but an early worshiper will want to invest in at least one hit, and make up the loss of gold with grabbing an early level of Tikki's Edge and Dodge.

=== {{boon|Tikki's Edge}} ===
At early-mid stages, a single learning is extremely powerful for leveling. But the second one is considerably more expensive, and Tikki Tooki provides another good boons at big piety cost. In most In most situations only one hit is required, but it is an important boon because it lets you get more out of killing low-level monsters, especially if paired with slow or the {{c|Fighter}}'s innate XP bonus. Second shot can be valuable for some specific builds or some edge cases. Third shot is almost never valuable enough.

Lower level characters who earned early piety by {{boon|Tribute}} are eager to purchase this boon, to take maximum exp bonus and reclaim some of the gold cost.

=== {{boon|Dodging}} ===
Easy to pick up and the random dodges provide random piety gain. Some random dodge will even protect you from {{piety|-3}} loss, making total of {{piety|+6}} in return. This means after 4-5 dodge you the piety cost are returned. Like resistance it synergies with {{t|Life steal}} ability, but TT worshipping characters are often powerful strikers.

This allows you to gain piety in plant-infested levels by dodging hits from plants with non-lethal and non-corrosive attacks. It also synergizes with his dodge-based piety [[spike]]. For advanced users, it can greatly benefit heavy resistance stackers like the {{c|Monk}} if they can grab it and safely convert out of the religion. {{c|Rogue}} will also greatly benefit from this boon. Unlike resistances stacking, this is by far the only combination that can stack permanent dodge chance.

=== {{boon|Poison}} ===
Gives a point of poison strike for every helping. The first one costs 15 piety, and each subsequent helping increases the piety cost by 10. This is a difficult boon to mesh into a typical TT worshipper's play style. Poison is most valuable to regen-fighters, but they typically take several hits from the same enemy and TT will be angry about it. That said, after killing 15 non-undead enemies, the first level of this boon will pay for itself.

To really use poison based regen-fight strategy, you should either convert out or conserve a lot of piety, and still has a lot of blackspaces left. 2nd or further shots of this boon is an alternative approach other than his another boon, {{boon|Reflexes}}. If your boss is Super Meat Man, purchasing several poison stike and converting out is a strong move.

=== {{boon|Reflexes}} ===
For 35 piety and a health potion, you are given one {{i|Quicksilver Potion}} and one {{i|Reflex Potion}}. With proper setup, the Quicksilver potion can get you a certain dodge, and the Reflex potion lets you hit something twice in one attack. When used correctly together, they allow for two simultaneous free hits on a monster, explained under "Piety [[Spike]]". This boon is a fabulous solution to certain "glass cannon" bosses. With proper setup, even level 1 striker can wipe two bosses out with ease.

== Piety Spike ==
Concentrated TT worship and channelling many resources into repeated uses of the {{boon|Reflexes}} boon is TT's piety [[spike]]. It requires a moderate amount of health potions, 35 piety per helping, and decent damage to work, but provides a string of free hits on the boss. That amount of concentrated damage is sometimes difficult to imagine until you try it, but it works spectacularly well against bosses with high damage and low hit points like Aequitas, Bleaty, and even Namtar.

It is doable with both early and late worship depending on the situation and experience of the player. It is also advisable to save popcorn with first strike (Goblins, Gorgons), to help set up dodges with the {{i|Quicksilver Potion}}. Hits you take move the dodge prediction counter, and monsters who are lower level than you generally can't hit you unless they have first strike.

Stuff that makes it work better are damage items, the {{boon|Dodging}} boon and {{c|Rogue}}'s Dodging, and knockback. If you have a knockback attack, you will knock the enemy back twice when using a reflex potion, causing extra damage. Subdungeons which provide healing potions can also help in this regard. Subdungeons which provide help with leveling, or a large batch of low level-monsters to harvest for piety and use to set up dodges make it work really good, as does any way to acquire knocback. If you have some healing method it will be easier to use. Halflings have a distinct advantage in being able to convert for extra healing potions, because the number of potion sets that can be acquired is limited by the total amount of healing potions at your disposal.

'''Fuel''': Health potions, Tikki Tooki piety, popcorn monsters with first strike. Gold to a degree, if you mean to use Tribute to gain more piety with TT.

'''Rewards''': Big damage strategies and race/class/item combinations.

'''Lets you ignore''': Your health in general, and your spellcasting except as supplemental source of damage, or leveling tool.

'''Default solution to''': "Glass Cannon" bosses, ones with magic protection in particular. Bosses with low hit points but problematic abilities like death gaze, mana burn, curse, weakening blow and such.

'''Pro Tip''': If you want to plan ahead, avoid slowing popcorn with {{t|First strike}}. You will need their weak hits to set up confirmed dodges.

'''Pro Tip II''': The approach meshes well with Death Protections, which TT severly punishes. If you want to offset this, you can either start a boss fight by using up your death protections first, and then join TT, mop up popcorn for piety and tribute for more, or you can desecrate other altars for piety and indulgences. If you intend to kill a boss without getting hit at all (dodges from the potions, death protections, first strike), you can safely desecrate any altar which doesn't affect your damage. Binlor, Earthmother, and Dracul in particular, and very advanced users can even manage a GG desecration although it's not recommended. Mystera is a borderline viable choice, and Taurog and JJ are to be desecrated only in desperate situations.

If you are ready to fight the boss, use a {{i|Quicksilver Potion}} first. Hover your mouse over the boss and see if you got the predicted dodge. If you did't, attack a first strike popcorn. This will reroll the dodge chance and this time you might got predicted dodge. This is why leaving some first strike popcorns helps. Repeat it until you get the dodge, quaff {{i|Reflex Potion}}, and attack the boss. You will hit the boss twice without being hit, in addition of {{piety|+3}}. '''Don't drink the Reflex potion without having predicted dodge!''' Attacking a first strike popcorn will consume the Reflex potion's effect, wasting it. If you can tank a hit from boss you can attack the boss without dodge, but it's less recommended. If you can level up or heal yourself this might be good. Drinking two Quicksilver Potions to get a 100% dodge chance is a bad move, and should be avoid unless you have no other choice.

== Strategy ==
'''Early Worship''' - without forward planning, as a preparation for worshiping another deity later, it is straightforward. Join early, use Tribute, slow or poison monsters while you explore, get a shot of {{boon|Tikki's Edge}}. Carefully kill a few higher-level monsters with heavily use of glyphs and potions, then clean up low-level monsters which you wouldn't want around later (or mop up as much as you want). Use the level-ups to help you kill even higher-level monsters by refilling your health and mana, and pick a good moment to convert out into another religion. It's moderately easy if you join TT at lvl 2, but doable even at lvl 1, especially with dedicated spellcasters. A major benefit of worshiping TT as the first deity in a run is the guaranteed GETINDARE glyph he provides.

Early worship with intention of using TT to win requires some forward planning. Using {{s|WEYTWUT}}, {{s|WONAFYT}}, and {{s|APHEELSIK}} to gain piety while you explore is mandatory, and slow will prepare lvl 1 monsters to be harvested later for added benefits. Collecting the piety sparkles around other altars will also help, and investing some gold into Tribute will get you closer to your first boon. Preparing or finding items which provide you enough XP to level up at least once in order to "start" at lvl 2 is also an option ({{i|Fake Beard}}, {{i|Cracked Amulet}}, {{i|Amulet of Yendor}}). Using the Goblin conversion bonus for an early level up is a strong option as well. Playing a {{c|Fighter}} (easier to reach lvl 2) or an {{c|Assassin}} (starts with APHEELSIK) is beneficial to this approach, as is using dedicated spellcasters. {{c|Bloodmage}} in particular, with his innate benefits that come with killing low-level monsters and ways to turn his health into damage without being hit back makes for a strong early TT worshiper.

If you are joining TT early, you will be looking to kill specific monsters before you convert to someone else, such as getting rid of magic users if you plan on joining Mystera or getting rid of undead if you're planning to join Dracul. If you intend to convert, slowing everything you can is fine, but if you plan on using TT's potions to kill the boss, slowing monsters with first strike is not the best move.

'''Mid-run Worship''' - Provides you with an ease in early leveling with none of Tikki's dislikes affecting you, while leaving many low-level monsters to be harvested later with more ease. The principles are the same, except there is much less pressure, and if you convert to his religion with extra piety or join him with extra gold picked up, you can grab {{boon|Tikki's Edge}} more easily. The principles are the same, except exploration will already be done, as will the leveling. It is the strongest and easiest approach to worshipping TT.

This is also a good move if you simply want to mop up low-level monsters for specific benefits, like getting rid of curse, getting gold from Gloves of Midas, mana out of the blue bead, or more bloodpools for your Bloodmage. Finding certain bonus subdungeons can also make joining TT a great move on any run. The ability to gain large amounts of piety out of a mostly explored map, makes TT a great "finishing move" deity, if you are meticulous about taking as few kills as possible to level up or explore.

One shot of {{boon|Tikki's Edge}} will greatly increase your popcorn bowl's exp value, and it might pull a bonus level-up. Piety left are mostly used to buy some {{boon|Poison}} or {{boon|Reflexes}}, depending on who is the boss. If you are going to use poison strike, converting out is often the best option.

'''Dedicated Worship''' - This combines two strategy above. You can fully leverage {{boon|Tikki's Edge}}, and acquire some boons for better fight by {{boon|Poison}} or {{boon|Reflexes}}.

There are some other devious builds around TT.

'''Infinite Piety Farm''' - You can farm infinite piety if you have these three conditions. Plants cannot be used in this purpose anymore because they die after two hits. Before the patch, the {{c|Half-Dragon}} could farm infinite piety easily with magic immune plants.

1) You have permanent dodge chance: You should be either {{c|Rogue}}, or bought {{boon|Dodging}} boon. But the Rouge is hard to play this because of the third condition, the negative damage bonus.

2) Target's damage to you is 0: Tikki Tooki will not deduce your piety, but their attack can still be dodged to earn piety. This can be achieved by having some {{t|Damage Reduction}}, and finding a low attack enemy. Preparing {{i|Shield}} and {{i|Platemail}} would work. {{t|Corrosion}} is not a problem here.

3) Your damage is 0: This is the most difficult condition to achieve. If your base attack is 5, you must have less then -80% damage bonus to have 0 attack which is completely out of question. So you need to find a {{t|Weakening}} enemy. Your base damage can only be reduced to 1, but if you have negative damage bonus on top on 1 base damage, your attack power will be rounded down to 0. {{c|Monk}}, {{c|Assassin}} or {{c|Gorgon}} starts with negative attack bonus. {{i|Bloody Sigil}}, {{i|Mage Plate}} or desecrating {{g|Taurog}}'s altar also works. {{c|Rat Monarch}} cannot use this approach because corrosion damage is still applied on top of 0 attack.

If all conditions are met, you can attack the target infinitely. 10% of the time you will dodge incoming attack for {{piety|+3}}. You can buy 4 levels of {{t|Learning}}, 9 levels of {{t|Poisonous}}, 10% permanent dodge chance, some Reflex and Quicksilver potions and plenty of gold. Then you can convert out, cure your {{t|Weakened}} by prepared {{i|Fortitude Tonic}}, and enjoy. {{g|Jehora Jeheyu}} enjoys successful dodge so you can also farm infinite piety under him.

'''Popcorn Muncher''' - This build works best on {{c|Assassin}} and/or some other exp source such as {{r|Goblin}}, {{i|Amulet of Yendor}}. If the dungeon is too hard to kill a higher level enemy, you can only kill lower level enemies and take 2-3 shots of {{boon|Tikki's Edge}} as soon as possible. You can farm a lot of piety as all enemies will grant {{piety|5}}. But you should reach level 2 with some other method. Early finding of {{s|WONAFYT}} helps immensely.

== Tips and Tricks ==
1) If you want to earn a little bit more gold from a run you have already won, and want to experiment with TT a bit, you can worship him or convert into his religion after you've already killed the boss or bosses. You can then pick up {{boon|Tikki's Edge}} and {{boon|Dodging}} for gold, and mop up the remaining lower level monsters and desecrate the remaining altars (except the Glowing Guardian's one) to get one more Tikki's Edge. Turning your leftover health potions into Quicksilver and Reflex potions also increases the value of loot you take out of the dungeon, and can help you get familiar with them. Be careful not to rush and lose a run you already won!

2) Southern regions often provide plants which come with the level and that can mean quite a bit of TT piety for anyone, but Rogues in particular. If you don't fear curse, the plants in Cursed Oasis can work to your benefit as well, and filling the level with plants using {{g|The Earthmother}} will often work to your benefit as well, provided you can reach TT's altar to convert to him. Be careful about the slow on everything, though, it can be a double edged sword.

3) Since TT gives you piety every time you poison something, you can use APHEELSIK and Venom Blade to get some early piety with him.

4) Also, don't be afraid of one or two extra hits which would punish you if it would provide a large enough advantage.

Overall, Tikki Tooki is one of the best "last hour" deities, offering enormous amounts of piety for slaughtering defenseless monsters and superb boons which can improve your odds. He can also be used to set-up worship of another deity, or gain and manipulate gold. His piety spike is also the go-to solution to several bosses and PQI scenarios for several game veterans.

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