Archive of Our Own ^beta

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SBURB GUIDE
project started by abominableGrievance

You know, the one thing I hate about Sburb is that none of us know how to make decent chicken chow mein.

Anyways, greetings, I am abominableGrievance, your local annoyance. I do not consider myself to have a native classpect, as things apply to me in different amounts at different times.

I noticed that there was a lack of an updated FAQ / guide for SBURB. While GodsGiftToGrinds' FAQ / guide (commonly known as the Glitch FAQ) exists, it hasn't been updated in some time.

And, oftentimes, some time means never, because either the guy's dead or is stuck in a burning session. I can't check which one because I don't share a session with him.

Additionally, I figured that it would be best to offer more expertise on certain aspects that either elude the original Glitch FAQ's author, or otherwise haven't been talked about, as well as alternate names for aspects. The benefit of having an alternate FAQ is that you can compare and contrast notes, as well.

This Guide is not spoiler free to any patches or endings that are added to the Game, provided that I know of it. If you're a first time player and you want to have that thrill of playing a new Game that may or may not kill you, have at it. Please don't come crying to me when you end up decapitated or something, it's not my business to heal you if I haven't rolled into a Life classpect.

I'd add some sort of patch notes thing here, but everyone knows I can't organize my thoughts that well at the best of times. Additionally, there will be no table of contents, because, again, I do not organize my thoughts coherently in the slightest. There should, however, be an index that is built in to this guide.

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-- INSTALLATION PROCESS --

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The Sburb game discs are indestructible. Literally, you could probably run it over in a car (do not do that) and it wouldn't have a scratch.

Actually, I do sort of wonder if they're truly indestructible. Logically, they shouldn't be. CDs are subject to data rot and all, and CDs are remarkably fragile. But at the same time, is it possible for SBURB to come on a cartridge? Some sort of video tape? Something like that. Floppy disks. I'm not sure how big the game is. I know floppy disks have very small limits for the files they're able to store. But at the same time, I'd expect SBURB being on a floppy disk to happen in a scratched session.

Regardless, these discs that SBURB comes on are indestructible. Or so I hear.

SBURB also has copy-protection. I don't think the SBURB hacking community has found any sort of way past this yet, if they ever do, because there's no way a 13 year old is going to hack a game as large as this.

Trying to copy SBURB will cause your computer to explode. If you somehow weaponize this, then jesus fucking christ, I am quite probably going to go and see about buying some disposable vapes, because I will be nervous if I'm in the same session as you.

Anyways, after installation of the server and the client discs are complete, you'll be tasked to place specific items from the phernalia registry down either in or around your client's house.

The phernalia registry items that can be deployed at no cost whatsoever (but a hefty cost to relocate) are as follows:

• The Cruxtruder
  • This dispenses Cruxite Dowels, which are needed for making better items, and generally required for alchemy. Additionally, upon first opening the lid of this thing, a kernelsprite is housed inside and will come out of the Cruxtruder. This is a normal part of the beginning of the game. However, until your server player has placed everything down, I strongly advise against opening it.
  • Once the kernelsprite is active, a timer will begin counting down on the Cruxtruder. This correlates to exactly how long you have before a meteor kills you.
• The Totem Lathe
  • This carves the Cruxite Dowels into totems.
  • You have an option to do && Alchemy, which tends to just combine the stats of two items, by using two punched cards. You also have the option to simply make a totem without doing any upgrades to the resulting item by using one punched card.
• The Alchemiter
  • This actually makes the items from the totems. Items will cost Grist, unless they're the entry catalyst, which uses the totem that you got from using the pre-punched card with a cruxite dowel in the totem lathe.
  • There are upgrades for the Alchemiter, but there would be no point to talking about them in this section of the guide right now, since you're not going to be able to afford them unless you're the fourth player in a mobius reach-around.
• The Punch Designix
  • This allows you to punch sylladex cards. It makes the item inside the card itself useless, unless you want to make copies of an item or do || alchemy.
• The Pre-Punched Card
  • This is needed to enter the Medium through a process which I've described below this section. Try not to lose it until you enter. It's important.
  • I honestly have no idea why you'd want to do alchemy with this. Hold off on doing that sort of shit until you enter the Medium.

If you're crazy enough, you can try combining && Alchemy and || Alchemy. These are otherwise known as AND Alchemy and OR Alchemy, based on some coding operators, because the developers of Sburb think they're smart.

I would strongly advise not to place the items in front of doorways. As previously mentioned, there is a grist cost to moving them, and this might get upped the more movements to them you make? I'll have to experiment with that and update the guide.

On a different version I've played with several people, the pre-punched card loved to phase through the ground if it was on a floor tile. If you're on this specific version, then I'd suggest placing it on grass. In general, I'd suggest placing the machines on the grass. Turning on the auto-pickup in your fetch modus won't work for this unless you have like. A magnetism upgrade of some sort, which I doubt exists unless you're a player of Stars.

Any other item from the phernalia registry should cost grist to put down. Unless you're on a different version, in which case, I won't know, because chances are I'm not on that same version.

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-- ENTERING THE MEDIUM --

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Yes, this deserves its own section because it's a pain in the ass.

The Cruxtruder will initially release a kernelsprite. These kernelsprites have an attraction to the deceased or the doomed and will usually prototype with them. While there are exceptions to the rule, these tend to be rare.

Then it will produce Cruxite Dowels.

You will need to grab the pre-punched card, stick it in the Totem Lathe, and stick a Cruxite Dowel in there. Do not put any other cards into the Totem Lathe while doing this. Activate the Totem Lathe and wait for about five seconds to let it carve the totem that will be used for entry.

You must then take the freshly carved totem and place it into the Alchemiter. It will create a specific item needed for entry to the Medium. It'll take a bit of time to do this, but usually not any more than ten seconds.

Then you use the entry item.

Congratulations, you are now in the Medium, free of death by meteor, though certainly not free from any other death.

Placing any other punched card into the totem lathe with the pre-punched card just gives you some weird shit. It's useless for entering. Your sole focus must be on entering, as you're on a time limit of about four minutes, if I remember correctly. Of course, this doesn't account for shenanigans relating to the timer being slightly buggered or inexact.

Anyways, once the four (or however long the timer displays) minutes pass, a meteor will strike the area where your house was. This is why it's imperative to get you and your sessionmates into the Medium as quickly as possible.

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-- POST-MEDIUM ENTRY --

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What you're going to want to do after entering the Medium is either take down the bunch of imps that might be swarming your house, ask your server player to help with taking down the imps that might be invading your household if you rolled into a classpect that takes a while to get up to strength, or bolt past the imps that might be swarming your household to wherever your server player is building.

I'd recommend a mixture of both option 1 and option two, depending on the connection of the server player. If your server player's connection is unstable, get your server player to build up to the first gate, and get your arse into it as quickly as possible, because chances are you're not going to survive being swarmed by countless imps unless you're a strifing god, have a weaponized sylladex, or your server gets their connection back in record time.

You might have noticed that the imps that are swarming your household can be killed. You're free to kill as many as possible if you want to get a head-start on grinding for alchemized stuff, but it's probably a better idea to run and pick off some isolated imps.

Imps will always drop at least one unit of Build Grist, which helps with building up your household to become a proper Dwelling Spire and to reach the gates. Generally speaking, the bigger they are, the more Grist they'll drop.

Build Grist has an additional use in alchemy, being one of the main ingredients to produce an item in the Alchemiter. Other types of grist and resources will drop regularly from underlings, and these should be collected, as these frequently come in useful for alchemy as a whole.

The items you prototype into your kernelsprite matter. They affect the underlings that you fight, and they'll have an effect on both the Black King and Black Queen. They also have some effects on the Dersite Agents, as I've previously heard from another replayer about the J-Noir Rampage Bug, which is related to prototyping a harlequin or clown-themed entity into the kernelsprite upon entering.

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-- PROGRESSING INTO THE LAND --
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Right, so you're in the Medium now, and you have no idea what to do next.

As detailed previously, you're going to want to build up to the first gate. I wouldn't recommend going any higher unless you really want to meet your sessionmates, which may or may not be a good idea depending on how well you all get along in this current point in time.

In order to do this, you are going to want to farm some grist so your server player can get you up to that first gate.

After you've done that (and backread this guide a bit, because I've put this part of the guide here twice, because I damn well know that people are skimming important bits and pieces), you'll be transported to your Land.

Commonly, these Lands have two thematics, unless you have the Frog thematic, which gives you three. Of course, it's been mentioned in GGTG's Sburb Glitch FAQ that Sburb's coding doesn't support a third entry to Land Themes, so it ends up either overlaid or smushed into the second part of the theme of your Land. It doesn't matter too much in the grand scheme of things, except for when you need to do certain tasks involving the name of your Land.

-- GENERAL LAND NOTES --

• Land Themes consisting of Ocean, Sea, Water and Pirates
  •  You should bring a set of diving gear. Or alchemize some. Unless you can breathe underwater. Some of the quests that the Consorts give might be underwater. Unsurprisingly, the Sburb devs didn't think about this when adding more Land Themes.
  • I haven't personally tested as to whether Consorts themselves can breathe underwater. Given that a good portion of the time, they generate as amphibians, I'd assume so, but at the same time, I forget which things can breathe underwater because I don't specialize in amphibious entities.
• Land Themes consisting of Frost, Snow and Ice
  
  • Bring warm clothes. No, those computers that are wearable and functional don't really count. I'm not sure if those even heat up with use.
  • Additionally, alchemize some boots of some sort. Nobody likes sliding around on ice, especially when you need to get your client player into the Medium.
  • You could also bring hot water bottles.
  • Don't bring anyone that's allergic to the cold into your land, for the love of fucking god.
• Land Themes consisting of Magma, Lava, Heat, Volcanoes and Fire
  • Be careful not to get overheated.
  • Bring extra water with you. Or alchemize some. Fluids in general, please.
  • While you can run around naked in order to at least not get as hot, if you do this and I am your server player, I am speedrunning the game just to slap you. I do not need to see your reproductive parts in any capacity. And I'm sure people that visit your land also don't need to see your reproductive parts. Just wear a croptop and shorts or something.
  • Or, if you can find ice cubes, alchemize some clothing with in-built cooling.
• Land Themes consisting of Sand, Desert and Dunes
  • Bring appropriate headwear and sunscreen if need be.
  • Bring extra water.

-- TIPS --

• The Time player of your session will always have a way to initiate the Scratch somewhere on their land.
• The Space player (as far as I know) will always have the duty to light the Forge.

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-- CONSORTS --
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Consorts are the small creatures that you'll find in villages among the land. Sometimes there's roaming Consorts, and these ones usually have decent wares to browse (or, at the very least, stuff to alchemize into your current loadout of shit).

Somehow, you can captchalogue these guys. I'm not sure if this is a bug or a feature, but I'm leaning more towards bug at this point based on GGTG's Glitch FAQ for Sburb. Certain quests (i.e: escort missions) will auto-fail if you pick these little guys up in your captchalogue. They also can't talk to you while they're in there, which gets a bit lonely.

Of course, the next best thing is filling your entire captchalogue with these things, so they don't get lonely in your inventorium.

I mean that sarcastically. It's probably better to only take one as a companion with you.

Within villages, sometimes you'll encounter some quest-giving Consorts. Of course, this can be seen naturally when you talk to them, but sometimes you won't have enough Land Reputation for them to be able to give you the quest they have.

However, there's a trick described in GGTG's Sburb Glitch FAQ where you can ask a bunch of Consorts to follow you, then see which Consorts break off from the group. They seem to be tethered to a specific area so you know where to find them if you need to do quests and shit to grind up your Land Reputation.

I'm personally not sure if they'll only break off if they have a quest they can currently give, or if they'll break off regardless of whether or not they can currently give quests if they have quests to give to you in the future due to Land Reputation variable being too low for them to give you the quest.

Alternatively, you can give these Consorts an item to mark them for later. For this purpose, I recommend something like a hat or a scarf. You might also be able to draw a map of the area and mark the general area where a Consort tends to be if they're a questgiver or if they have information on what to do for a specific quest, but chances are you'll have like. MS Paint to work with.

I'm not going to turn this into a guide on how to pirate Photoshop, since MS Paint is a decent program, and it comes free with most Windows installations. Just not for everyone's purposes.

I don't have a list of quests on hand, nor am I willing to provide one, since parts of them tend to get randomized with each new Session. While I can theoretically give a list of quests that MIGHT happen, it'll also waste both my time and your time, which is not good unless you're the Time player of your Session, and I manage to roll time while writing up this portion of the guide. But I haven't. So I'm skipping this.

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Grist is basically the name given to a collection of resources in Sburb.

You get a couple different kinds of Grist from killing enemies, and the bigger enemies drop more Grist.

As far as I know, Giclopses drop the most grist, while regular underlings drop the least. Anything spawned from Titachnids won't drop a single lick of Grist at all. Titachnids themselves will drop Grist, but it doesn't correlate to how many... things they've spawned.

While you can kill enemies, you can also recycle things into Grist. However, it's not recommended to do it to captchalogued dungeon fixtures unless you're absolutely sure that you've finished up that Dungeon for good.

--BUILD GRIST--

Build Grist is the most basic kind of Grist there is. It looks like a light blue-ish gusher, and I'm not sure if it'd taste like one.

Build Grist is needed for building your Dwelling Spire, and for modifying parts of your house. If you've seen your room suddenly get bigger, that's due to your server player modifying it, and, surprise surprise, it costs Grist to do that. More specifically: Build Grist. Building stairs and ladders and platforms for you to walk on costs Grist. And while you can copy stuff from your client's house (or, rather, your server player may copy stuff), that also costs Grist.

The first player in a client-server loop gets about 20 Build Grist. This seems to be a constant across several versions of Sburb that I've played. It seems to increase the amount of Grist each subsequent server gets by the power of ten.

Of course, I don't think the developers of Sburb even bothered with putting a limit on how much Grist you get if you end up with a truly ridiculous chain of servers and clients. Something something 144-player session.

No matter how much like Gushers these units of Grist look like, you can't ingest them. They're game abstractions. They'll just go into your Grist Cache when they touch you. I'm not sure what happens if you get a Consort to collect Grist for you. Are they able to even pick it up? Does it go into the Consort's Grist Cache? Do Consorts have a Grist Cache? If you have any answers, please do tell me.

Your server can then use the Grist that's stored in the Grist Cache to build up your Dwelling Spire. Or do various modifications to it, like dropping your toilet on an imp.

The bigger the gusher looks, the more Grist it is. Build Grist drops from enemies in a semi-random amount, though, of course, stronger enemies will give you more Grist.

The Build Grist is also a component of Alchemy, and a very important one at that. The cost of Build Grist for alchemized items will inflate pretty drastically as you get better weapons and cool gear.

You also need a specific amount of Build Grist in order to place down certain items from the Phernalia Registry.

--OTHER GRIST--

The other types of Grist are dependent on the look of the imp. If you want Uranium Grist, then you're probably going to want to take out some Uranium Imps. Or Uranium Ogres.

Additionally, other types of Grist used in Alchemization is probably at least somewhat based on the general aesthetic of the item. For example, if you had a red rifle named Occam's Razor, it'd probably require some degree of Ruby Grist, which you'd get from Ruby Underlings.

The purpose of this sort of Grist is to solely be used with the Totem Lathe and Alchemization. There's no other purpose to this sort of stuff, and I guess the Sburb developers added this stuff in because they felt like it. Or because they figured that the red-coloured imps would need a different drop than the void-coloured imps.

The sorts of Other Grist you get might partially depend on what Land you get, or what sort of Aspect you have.

--GRIST REDISTRIBUTION--

There's something called GristTorrent that can be used to redistribute Grist, predictably, amongst players of a session.

How it works is that you leech from a player that's seeding, which will be everyone, because for some reason, there's no option to disable whether or not you're seeding Grist to everyone.

It essentially works like a regular torrenting client.

Common etiquette should be to give the first player in your client-server chain a way to download GristTorrent, as it's something that genuinely helps for when people have an overflow of Grist.

I should probably note that any Grist of a certain type that goes past the limit of what you can store in your Grist Cache, it'll get dumped into the Grist Gutter, and then it slowly redistributes the Grist in the Grist Gutter to everyone else. It's quite neat in a way, though I think this program is a game abstraction as well?

--GRIST BUGS--

• It's theoretically possible for an item to cost negative Grist. Hypothetically, these items would be absolute shit, but they might allow you to obtain infinite Grist. Or, at least, as infinite as you can be arsed to keep pressing a button.

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How to Deal with a PK

Okay, I. I solely apologize if this seems panicked in any way whatsoever. I've just had to deal with one of these, and thankfully our Rage Player took care of it by using their Berserk Trigger ability on them. I watched as the guy killed himself. I may have laughed a bit, but that was entirely out of stress and slowly losing my marbles.

Now, for obvious reasons, this guide has to deal with what to do when a PK comes knocking at your door. Which they will, and it's not something newer players should ever have to deal with, but sometimes someone goes fucking off the rails. Maybe a romantic relationship got fucked up, maybe it was the tipping point of the iceberg or something.

I might have to split this part of the guide up into sections. Frequently, dealing with a PK needs to be a team effort.

• Breath Players
  • You could use [Gone With The Wind] to buy you and your teammates more time. I'm not sure approximately how much time it'll buy for you if the PK has the ability to teleport or otherwise reverse time. There's also [Up Against the Sky] if you want to go for the tactic of whittling the PK's Viscosity Gel down, but unless you're in it for the long run, then there'd be no point. Mind you, [Up Against the Sky] doesn't have much of a Pluck cost from the resources I've been able to gather, so it might be a more cost-effective version of [Gone With The Wind] for this particular use-case.
  • If you've completed the Terraforming Quests, you could also probably use [Blow Me], which just turns you into a windy thing and serves as a good method of invincibility. Due to the Pluck cost, you can't really keep it up for more than a minute or so, but it's good to have the option for a quick get-away.
  • If you have the [Calm the Storm] ability, and your PK-guy isn't a Rage Player, you can probably use this on the PK. It'll cause the combat performance of the PK to utterly plummet.
• Blood Players
  • Due to the activation of [Bound in Blood] as soon as you're in the Medium and how it costs virtually nothing, you can theoretically be a meatshield for just about everyone else. I know it's not exactly the best thing to be, but difficult times. [Bound in Blood] increases your base stats when you've got Pulse to spare. If you are a Knight, then your ARC will probably be going up to Skaia, haha.
  • It might be possible to use [Blood Bros] on the PK, but it'll take up all of your extra Pulse charge. If you're okay with losing that, then it's probably a good idea to use this before the PK begins the corpse party.
  • [The Invincible] isn't worth using. The Pluck cost is far too great for the usage against a volley of attacks from a PK. PKs want to see you dead at any cost. At any cost. In a similar vein (haha, puns) [Follow the Vein] is also virtually useless.
  • [Strength in Numbers] is a good ability to use for when you're all teaming up against that PK. My sources tell me that it'll grant some Pulse charge to allies in the area, thus granting them some of your ridiculous durability.
• Coins Players - I've never heard of this Aspect before. I think it might take some time before I get to see it in action, so I can't advise that well.
• Doom Players
  • [Even In Death] is a lifesaver. Or, rather, undeath-saver. It'll allow you to enter a sort of zombie mode upon dying. Essentially, it functions as an extra life.
  • Depending on how many players are dead and what areas they died in and whether or not they're clustered together, [She Was Born in the Bottle] will make you much stronger and thus harder for the PK to deal with. If you make a note for this sort of thing later, then you can probably use [Ride of the Valkyries] in order to buff your teammates.
  • For distracting the PK, [Funeral March of the Avenging Dead] and [Thriller] can be used. I'd expect that [Thriller] would cost more pluck than anything you reanimate using [Funeral March of the Avenging Dead].
  • [Scorpion Entrails] is a passive ability that will possibly damage the PK if you're in melee range. Do not consider the PK a non-target. The PK will certainly consider you a target regardless of what you do.
  • Do not use [Cold Cold Ground] if your PK is a Life player.
  • [Ruins Rising] might be okay for immobilizing the PK in your session if the blisters form at the PK's joints. You could use [Hauntjelly], [Hauntjam] or [Hauntjuice], but they have rising costs in Pluck.
  • If you enter a confrontation with your session's PK, use [Fire Your Musket And I'll Run You Through]. It's essentially a 'damage me, you get damaged' ability.
  • If you can spare the pluck, I'd suggest using [Sorrowful Consumption] on the PK. [Bleary Consumption] might also work if you want to buy yourself more time. [Wasting Consumption] only works on basic enemies, [All-Consuming Plague] and [Consumption Takes All] have far too high of a Pluck cost to be worth it unless you have no idea what else you can do.
  • I'm not sure how well [Starvation] works, or what the cost is.
  • After dealing with your PK, using [After The End] will help you and everyone around you immensely.
• Dust Players - ???? Never encountered this aspect before, sorry.
• Dreams Players - ???? Yet to be encountered again.
• Fate Players - ????? I'll update this guide once I encounter these aspects.
• Flow Players - What the fuck even are some of these? I've never seen these.
• Flux Players - I swear to god that this spreadsheet of shit is just messing me around.
• Heart Players
  • If you've completed enough quests to get up to the Denizen portion of the game, then I'd suggest using [Safe and Sound]. The spreadsheet doesn't cover how much Pluck it costs, though.
  • [Distant Pulses] will help on figuring out who the hell is still alive, I'd wager.
  • [Lionheart] and [King and Lionheart] are defensive abilities, and they're directly proportional to how courageous the target(s) are.
  • If everyone wants to take down the PK, [Beat As One] will boost team coordination and effectiveness. Using [Heart of Darkness] on the PK might do something, but I'm not sure about the Pluck cost.
  • [Reconceptualize] is a decent Heart ability for healing, provided you use it on the correct person. [Home Is Where The Heart Is] can be used in order to give you and your teammates a boost depending on how well the area is associated with positive emotions, but if the PK also associates it with positive emotions, then it'll go south.
  • For getting the PK to stay down, [Rip Out The Soul] is a decent OHKO, but it requires you to have gotten to the mid-game.
• Hope Players
  • [Eject] is always a good thing to use.
  • [Here Comes The Arm] is cheap to cast, and [Go To The Wall] should give you enough time to get away. Provided you're in the mid-game, [Catapult Capuchin] pretty much catapults the target, giving you more time to get away.
  • [The Fortress Unassailable] is a good defensive ability, but it should only be used as a last resort if you enter a Strife with the PK. [Return To Sender] is a help, but it has a very long cooldown unless you get buffed with cooldown-reducing buffs. [None Shall Pass] should probably be used for defending other people, provided you've rolled into being a Knight Of Hope for the ARC bonus, but it's still a good ability to have on hand.
  • [When Your Eyes Shine Just Like Mine] is useful for scanning people's pluck meters, and can probably help decide who needs their pluck regen buffed.
  • If Strifing with the PK, have [Cut Me Down Or Let Me Run] going. Should everything go absolutely wrong (which it might), [Either Way It's All Gonna Burn] will auto-cast if you die. I'd wager you'd get a Heroic Death from that. Don't go into this without planning.
  • [This Can't Be Happening] will allow you to reject a debuff or wound. Has a high pluck cost.
• Law Players - ?????? I'll update this later.
• Life Players - In this session I rolled into Life. Rogue of Life, to be specific.
  • [Bee There] is very useful as a distraction and has a relatively low Pluck cost, given that it summons ordinary bees. It's perfect if your PK is allergic to bees. [Bee Square] is a slightly more powerful version of [Bee There], and it summons a swarm of bees in a square formation. You can direct the swarm.
  • [Bee Where] is relatively decent if you need to keep track of the PK or where other people are. Do not use this if anyone is going into the bathroom.
  • [Litrichean Rioghail] is useful if the PK isn't a Doom player and didn't bother casting the skill that enables them to essentially tell the landshark to fuck off. However, it's only mildly useful and can only be acquired during the Denizen quests.
  • [Another Jungle] and [Orchid Horror] might be useful for immobilizing the PK. However, both [Another Jungle] and [Black Rose] (another Life Ability that might be able to immobilize the PK) are somewhat cost-intensive.
  • [Mors Tua Vita Mea] allows you to steal the life from something, thus giving more ARC to Thieves and Rogues. It's available after the Terraforming arc. I was fond of spamming this during a strife with our session's PK. Do what you must to survive.
  • [Healing Blossom], [In Full Bloom] and [Dryad's Blessing] are healing abilities that can help your friends get back on their feet. [All The World Is Green] does that, but in an area. [Healing Blossom] has the lowest pluck cost out of these to cast. [Dryad's Blessing] is only available during and after the Heirfare stages of the game.
  • If the PK has casted any debuffs on anyone in order to take them out after they die, or, rather, to try to take them out in the case of death, use [Rejuvenation Mantra] and [Demeter's Fire].
  • Do not use [Another Chance] on the PK. You can use it on other people that were affected by the PK and are thus dead, but you'll need the body around and it can only be casted once per person. This is also only available after you've reached God Tier.
  • If all else fails and you end up dying, [The Cycle of Life] has a possibility to kick in. It's a self-revival ability, doesn't cost any pluck, and it's essentially a game-mandated function in order to keep prophecies going. Tends to prefer reviving the dreamselves. Given the buffs gotten from [But The Earth Refused To Die], this shouldn't happen.
  • [Everybody Lives] is a help in regards to health regeneration. It lasts for a long time, and you can get it in the mid-game. It's especially useful if you've spent a lot of Pluck making sure that everybody (except the fucking PK) doesn't get their ass handed to them.
  • Depending on how much Pluck you have left after the PK is dead, you could cast [Crystalanthologist]. If you spawn it at a location other than a Land, you'll need to have already learned the Song of Life from an NPC that knows it. It'll allow the player of the Land to use their Song of Life to heal at it.
  • [Persephone's Return] can be used to confuse the PK into going the wrong way if they're using the plants you spawn to track you.
  • [Still Alive?] allows you to check for anyone that's dead. However, it tends to be a bit buggy when it comes to specific abilities that may have triggered, most famously being bugged with Doom's Zombie Mode.
  • [Roses for Bathory] is a good defensive ability. It's decent enough to not cost too much Pluck.
  • [Blessing of Hestia] is useful if any of you need to retreat from fighting the PK for whatever reason. It'll buff the health regen and Pluck regen in a small and safe area. You should have already casted this on the Alchemy Equipment Room of any friends you have.
  • [Seatbelt Safety] is a Psybuff that makes the target be more careful and take extra safety measures. Pretty useful for when you're about to go and fight the PK. It's more expensive to cast if the target is already in danger.
  • Pack a good few consumables for dealing with the PK, and make sure to use [Herbs and Spices] on them if you can. If the consumables buff your stats, [Psychic Nutritionist] is a better bet, as it'll increase stat buffs from consumables, especially so if it's home-cooked.
  • [Eat Your Potatoes] is probably a good last-resort if you need it. It'll turn food into high-powered healing consumables, and make the Life player compelled to immediately apply them to whatever ally nearby is in need. It's a pretty funny happening, but it's good for if your Life player burns through every more convenient heal in a long fight with the PK.
  • [Emergency Seed] is also a useful last-resort ability to use.
  • When all's said and done, and the PK is dead, use [Feel (Alive)].
• Light Players
  • [Say Cheese] is useful to cancel enemy ability casting. I'm not sure if it'll work on other players, given the topic of PK, but it's useful enough to stun the PK if need be, given that it'll produce a blinding flash of light.
  • [Firefly Cloud] is a good distraction when combined with the Life Player's ability that spawns a swarm of fucking bees. You can also use [Stirring an Autumn Moon] in conjunction with this combination.
  • If you have Pluck to spare, use [Lightspeed] and be as annoying to the PK as possible while also making sure you don't die. You'll get this ability during Terraforming.
  • [Fortune Healer] is a good heal if your Life Player is incapacitated or otherwise currently dead.
  • You'll want to buff your teammates' luck by using [Kiss of Lady Luck] or [Lucky Day]. I'm not sure about the Pluck cost for [Kiss of Lady Luck], but [Lucky Day] provides moderate debuff resistance for a high Pluck cost.
• Might Players - ???????
• Mist Players - ????????
• Mind Players - I'm going to be honest, I feel as though Mind works best as a supporting aspect.
  • [Strikes Twice] is worth spamming when it comes to a PK, but only if you're up against the PK one-on-one. I'm not too sure if it'd affect everyone else with stuns and damage.
  • [X Steps Ahead] is good for when you're in-combat with the PK and need to plan everyone's attack. However, it's a Post-Denizen ability. [Short Circuit] helps with this immensely, especially given that it's highly likely a PK isn't going to be letting up on attacking you and your team. [Logos Not Pathos] helps when it comes to considering the PK a past friend.
  • If you have time to prepare an area in which you'll be trying to kill the PK in, use [Thundermine] to set up a variety of traps. Keep in mind that [Thundermine] will be fairly costly on Pluck.
  • [Genius Steps] will allow you to move a bit quicker. It'll also bend the precisely correct physical ways to experience the least amount of damage from things, which presumably includes the PK's weapons and abilities, and you'll know exactly how to evade where possible.
  • [Piece of Mind] is a medium-cost ability that allows you to temporarily imbue yourself and your surroundings with Mind, thus creating a weak energy barrier for a short period. It'll also dispel psydebuffs for anyone inside the area, and it's good for getting everyone out of a directly damaging situation long enough to try to make a plan and recast any buffs that are needed.
  • [Lightning Speed] can also be used to make yourself into an annoyance, and I'd suggest swapping out with the Light Player and using this while your Light Player is recovering.
• Rage Players
  • Spamming [Waves of Wrath] on an object is a surefire way to get the attention of the PK. Theoretically, you might be able to chuck said object at the PK, then while it's en-route to the PK's face, spam [Waves of Wrath] to get it to explode.
  • Utilizing the buffs from [Infinite Rage] helps immensely. If you loop it with [Phaze and Blood], you should be able to take care of the PK decently well, or at least go toe-to-toe.
  • If you've gotten to the point of accepting Denizen Quests when the PK goes nuts, you can use [Chorale For War] with your teammates in order to rally every nearby ally to battle, and strongly boost their focus.
  • If you've gotten to the point of defeating your Denizen, use [Blackest Heart]. It might not do much about the PK, but a moment of hesitation is sometimes all you need for another player to swoop in and stab the guy.
  • If you're not quite there yet, then [ASSAULT] can be a handy thing in getting enemies and consorts to overwhelm the PK for a bit.
  • [Can YOU NOT] is useful when it comes to defense, as it cancels a single opposing ability or attack. However, it has a high Pluck cost. Provided you're in the mid-game, you should be able to heal your teammates with [Get Well (Now)].
  • [AAAAAAAAA] should be useful enough for you to use at the start of the battle with the PK. [Dominion Authority] stacks decently with this, however it requires you to have an intimidating look and to be in charge in order for it to work.
  • [Alexa Shoot Him] is extremely stackable, especially against PKs. It might theoretically be possible to waste all the PK's weapons and get said weapons to constantly attack the PK themself.
  • Using [Paper Tiger] will not always work. [GTFO] is a good ability if you can spare the pluck, it at least pushes the PK back a bit. [Armistice] is the big one that you'll want to save some pluck for, since it'll force everyone to stop fighting, including the PK. It's a good idea to do this when most abilities are on a cooldown, as it'll at least buy you some time for the abilities themselves to cool down, and to use healing abilities on the wounded.
  • Theoretically, you should be able to use [I Want You To Die] on the PK. I've seen this before, but it was nearly a total party wipe. I had to spend several hours reviving everyone except the PK in our session.
• Rain Players - ?????? I swear I'll get to updating this guide later.
• Rhyme Players - ???????
• Sand Players - ????????
• Sight Players - ?????????
• Sound Players - ??????????
• Space Players - I have no advice, frankly, but Space works as a better support Aspect than a combat aspect. A vast majority of a Space Player's abilities will be far too high for sustained fighting, and as such, it's probably better to cause confusion for the PK.
  • [Galactic Punt] and [Lilypad Sword] will probably be your best bet for attacking. [Kinetic Deflector] will be your best bet for defense, as it'll block the next single attack targeted at you.
  • [Off With Their Head!] can be used if the PK has low enough health, however I have no idea if that'd actually work.
  • [Tadportal] would theoretically be useful for transporting weapons or objects that can be thrown at the PK. Additionally, if your Life Player is having trouble getting into the field, you can probably transport some of the healing items that the Life Player starts generating.
  • [Hop Away] is a good teleport that's medium-cost, but it's essentially an emergency short-range teleport. It'll move you away from an attack, or allow for you to retreat from the battle at a short distance. Sometimes this might activate automatically and for free, this is because of your Whisperings.
  • [Get Away From Me] is useful for displacing the PK and confusing them. If they use melee weapons, it'll teleport them just far enough away that they won't be in melee range and will have to walk / run over to you to try and take another whack at you. I don't think it'll work for teleporting a PK that uses ranged weapons in front of a wall.
  • If your ARC is high enough, you can consider spamming [Frog Jump] in order to confuse and annoy the PK. The higher your ARC, the shorter your cooldown.
  • [Prince of Hydrogen] might be useful if you can gather enough of the star-like things in a spot to deal damage. It's low enough in cost.
• Stage Players - ????????
• Stars Players - ????????
• Time Players
  • [Humphrey's Lullaby] might be useful if everyone on your team gets out of the way, particularly if the PK of your session wants to charge because they use lancekind or something.
  • I'm not sure if [Clockstopper] can be used on a player, or [Thank You For Your Valuable Time].
  • [Downtime] is useful enough, and might give you some time (haha, puns) for some of your cooldowns to refresh.
  • [Off Tempo] and [Witchtime] might be good abilities to creatively abuse. [Witchtime] should allow you to get some counterattacks in with the PK if you're facing them.
  • If you were previously dead in the alpha timeline and have just been revived, using [Time Heals All Wounds] on other people is advised, particularly if they're injured or otherwise bleeding. It's a decent heal ability. Alternatively, you can probably use in the middle of a battle, but it might be finicky.
  • Both [Time On My Side] and [This Is Not How It Happened] are probably good to abuse the hell out of depending on how much Pluck you've got.
  • [Split Second] won't be worth using because the Pluck cost is decently high. [Time Attack], on the other hand, is useful for attacking, and [Red Disc] makes for a good bit of cover.
  • Abusing the hell out of time travel shenanigans to get a bunch of stat boosts from [Killing Time] is probably a good idea.
  • [Gimme a Moment] is useful for making sure that your PK doesn't cast any OHKO moves.
• Vacancy Players - This is the name I'm using so that the information doesn't get fucked up.
  • [Metasilence] is useful for sneaking up on the PK and taking them down. Very literally, do not underestimate the power of [Metasilence].
  • [Nullentropy] practically neutralizes a lot of attacks, as it takes the force out of them. It'll essentially force the PK to use abilities, which you can then disable with [NOT!] and usage of the Time Player's [Gimme a Moment].