The Ragnarok Challenge

[DirtWolf]

I've always enjoyed the challenge of Hamlet (especially when it was first released to the public) and I've always wondered if it was possible to survive in an Aporkalypse-only world, without ever leaving it for SW or ROG. Unfortunately Hamlet's world gen doesn't allow us to start in an Aporkalypse (and it should. It's essentially a season), but we can accomplish this by spawning in a clock and removing it after activating. Basically, the sort of end goal is to be able to craft the Vortex Cloak as it provides so much security while still functioning as a backpack. Even at 0% durability it prevents stun on hit. Crafting this is a little harder than it sounds since there are no birds during Aporkalypse and the Porkusator requires 4 azure feathers. We can only obtain these through RNG by breaking pots. For this reason I guess it's technically possible to get unlucky enough to not be able to craft it, but in my experience this is EXTREMELY unlikely.

Getting the Porkusator up becomes a quest to raid every ruins to break as many pots as possible while being assaulted by pig ghosts (something like 4-6 spawn in every single ruins room. Even if you clear them, they respawn when you exit and re-enter). I've accomplished this challenge run many, many months ago, but at the time the game was still being regularly updated, so I didn't consider it a legitimate run. I returned to it recently and found that it was a lot harder than when I last did it, but still managed with Wigfrid (hence the name of the challenge). I haven't tried with another character, but I imagine it'd be near impossible. Her lifesteal and starting equipment is invaluable, especially since the first few days of the challenge are the most difficult and critical. Still, I may give it a shot sometime and if someone manages with another character I'd love to hear how you did it.

Anyway, I managed to kill every boss at least once (doesn't seem like Ancient Hulk can be summoned during Aporkalypse) and I pillaged every ruins on the map. No mods.

Here's a screenshot:

I wanted to share this experience because it was a lot of fun and provides a different way to approach this already challenging DLC. I encourage everyone to give this a shot themselves.

Some things I learned:

1) Level 3 Snaptooths are insane against bat waves. Accumulating a large number of these guys in an area that's convenient for you is critical for early survival.

2) Cave clefts are a good first base because neither the Ancient Herald nor Bat waves spawn inside. Having saplings and twigs nearby is good, but the longer you're outside and near them, the higher the risk a Herald spawns on top of it and meteors everything. You can even build a couple of drying racks inside.

3) You can still trade by Pig Queen. This allows you to give her the necessary trinkets for the Executive Hammer and Key to the City, which will allow you to get yourself a shanty later, if you don't want to remain in the cave. You can dedicate an entire shanty room to drying racks of about 15, so you don't have to have them outside to burn.

4) A newly built pig shop can be entered for a brief time. Probably a bug, since normally all shops are closed during Aporkalypse, but it aint getting fixed anytime soon. I've abused this to amass a decent supply of Cutlass Supremes, Coconades and Halberds

 

I want to see more people do this. When starting, spawn the clock with "c_spawn("aporkalypse_clock")", activate it and remove with "c_removeall("aporkalypse_clock")"

Please share your experiences and please update Hamlet, Klei. I still love playing it.

[Guest]

Why spawn the clock over just typing GetWorld().components.aporkalypse:BeginAporkalypse() in the console? In my testing the latters always seemingly worked properly for me.

[DirtWolf]

I used to use a similar command, but it stopped working for some reason. If your command still works then yea, that'd be easier.