I've eaten 500 of those on one character, and 200ish on another, and have never seen even one of the 4 ultra-rares. I am convinced, despite their presence in the mall, that they do not exist. :P

I got one uncommon (a Tiny Plastic Turtle Tamer) and fourteen commons. Not surprising, I suppose, but worth taking a crack at.

Char #1 is going through DB again, the other is going to TT to pick up Amphibian Sympathy. Levelling up familiars to 20 in the Tower's endgame gets annoying without boosts. Sooner or later, I need to send one or the other through the AT path a couple of times.

I've got a meat car and a hermit, but I think I won both of them in antiraffles.

this large (25mb) download struck me as very funny. I don't play WoW, but I totally get the joke. It was really funny, but if anybody here plays it, and watches the short movie, I'd like to hear the backstory. :haha: Check it out.

I do not need the temptation of the Rafflebot, as although it's the only potential way that I'll ever get my hands on a Cheshire Bat, the odds are much more in favor of my going stone broke in pursuit of one instead.

3rd ascension. I kept pastamastery and went Turtle Tamer. I'll keep Empathy of the Newt and go back to pastamancer for Leash of Linguine. I cannot wait to see how hard the micromechamech hits at 33 lbs. :D

You want to keep Sympathy first, not Empathy, as Sympathy is passive.

20 pounds + 5 for Sympathy + 5 for Empathy + 5 for Leash + 5 for familiar equipment + 3 Tiny Plastic Figures = 43-pound familiars. That's a spicy meatball.

That's what I meant, Sympathy. :)
Have you gotten the micromechamech yet? I *think* it's my highest overall damage familiar, but a lot of people still seem to rave about the pickle.

I've gotten it with one of my characters, but haven't bothered to level it up yet -- I'm just going to bring my Volleyball along at Ascension anyway, and by the time I get the MechaMech cranked up I'm ready to Ascend again.

The Pickle is awesome because it does more than attack directly; its "caustic acid" attack seems to act like a Wussiness potion or Disco Face Stab and lower a monster's defenses. I've had many fights against the Sorceress where I couldn't touch her until the Pickle had acid-dripped on her once or twice.

That said, there's really only one area in the game where I use an attack familiar, and that's against the Sorceress. I just love the extra stat gains from the Volleyball too much, as they mean faster climbs to that magic 104-70-70 mark that lets me Ascend.

My first char (TT-PM-SA-TT-DB-DB) could've Ascended today, reaching the Sorceress with two turns to go, but couldn't pull out all of the best equipment for that fight and lost. He'll ascend tomorrow. The other (SC-DB-TT-PM-DB-TT) isn't far behind, and got out of Ronin at the very end of day 5. He has enough stats to tackle the Tower, but the Wheel in the Castle obstinately refused to appear.

#1 has Mad Looting Skills and will be adding Disco Face Stab. #2 is getting Sympathy. Not sure what they'll be going to next.

I think I'm going to take a shot at speed-ascension next time around. It will be nice to have a couple familiar boosting skills so I can spend less time at the arena.

Any turtle tamer ascention hints?

Headbutt + Chrome Helmet Turtle is a nice combination, an extra ~25-30 damage for 3 MP. Without a Chrome helmet, not so much. Wisdom of the Elder Tortoises is awesome (1.5x max MP) and was actually the first TT skill I kept for each character. The Shell skills have been nerfed badly. The familiar-related skills still rock.

Do everything and anything you can to boost Moxie; Sneaky Pete's Breath Spray, cans of hair spray, asbestos crossbows, that sort of thing. Early on it won't matter much, but the Airship and Castle can be a bitch if things are hitting you for 20+ per turn.

No matter how long I play this game, I keep finding item descriptions that I haven't seen before that crack me up.

chorizo brownies
These are chocolate brownies with large lumps of spicy pork in them.
Just like grandma used to make.
Grandma hated you.

Thanks, but I should have specified the Sorceress. My Turtle Tamer is not doing well with her.

My Tamer just whomped her, with difficulty.

Equipment:
Furry Suit
Everyone's favorite anti-Sorceress weapon
Acid-Squirting Flower (does minor damage)
Enchanted Brass Knuckles (2x critical hits, not essential)
Amulet of Extreme Plot Significance (couldn't think of much else to put there)
Pickle + Skewer-Mounted Razor Blade

I used a Wussiness Potion when she seemed to be at full strength, carried a lot of Casts and Doc Galaktik's Restorative Balms, and used a ton of Plot Holes in the second battle. I think I got five or six in a row to hit.