Tips for 5bc?

[Dan brDorman]

I just gotten the 5BC, And Malaise mechanic wants you to go faster else things gets harder.

I need general tips for this one to know what I should be doing to optimize my runs, Which routes to take, how to engage in fights, and how not to over commit to a biome.

[DeathWantsMore]

People tend to say: don't rush, just play as regular don't mid the malaise. It's prolly the only advice here. Doesn't work for me tho, haha.
Welp, you gotta practice here, A LOT, sink 100+ hours into 5BC and you'll most likely succeed, practice is the key here.

[Terminus_X]

Originally posted by Dan brDorman:

I just gotten the 5BC, And Malaise mechanic wants you to go faster else things gets harder.

I need general tips for this one to know what I should be doing to optimize my runs, Which routes to take, how to engage in fights, and how not to over commit to a biome.

5BC advice is always bit sketchy, but what worked for me is "always have something that reliably goes critical, plan for bosses at least a level in advance, preferably two, and find a route that maximises scrolls and avoids enemies like Golems (unless you're a masochist or have mastered the OHK or a really fast weapons combo)." Generally, the Concierge is the best 1st boss to fight (as you can go through any first biome, then then one of the cursed ones for a bonus scroll/chest, then the Ossuary for max scrolls/easiest enemies), though if you have access to Mushroom boy you can skip Mama Tick entirely and pick up a good amount of cells/gold/scrolls/and weapons farming largely easy enemies from the Arboretum/Cursed/Morass route (giant ticks require a good ranged weapon or solid knowledge of their attack patterns, but if you go take the mutation that lets you knock arrows loose with melee you can basically run and shoot them to death while minimising changes of damage). Whatever you do, try to avoid the Ancient Sewers and Sepulchre, neither of them are worth the sheer quantity of canned death and Conjunctivious is a real pain to fight on higher BC if you don't have bear-traps and lighting tentacle-dodging reflexes/parry skills. Second boss wise... both the Gardener and the Timekeeper are brutal glass cannons. The Timekeeper is arguably easier, though their attacks (especially those dang throwing stars) are a pain to deal with. If you want to melt bosses, you can try a decently powerful Ferryman's lantern with bonus ammo/the double ammo mutation and load up a full soul attack? Doing that does multiple hits very quickly and can chew up health bars like no tomorrow. The Gardener's attack patterns also give you an opening to do that after the scythe/shovel chase is over. Either way, DO NOT, go through the Derelict Distillery because it's too full of traps and adding the pressure of time to it will certainly kill you. Haven't yet been through the Lighthouse enough on higher boss cells to say if it's easier than Hand of the King and Astrolab/Collector, so I'd recommend the traditional Highpeak Castle route.
Also, once you reach 5BC, you can use Aspects without fear because there's no more Boss Cells to collect, so consider those too. So far, the best have been the Cursed one which can give you extra scrolls and mitigate the permadeath on curses (so you could technically use the cursed sword like a normal one with only double-damage taken) and the Grenadier one which resets grenade cool-downs if you kill an enemy with one. The latter is the best for speed I've seen, especially with power/cluster grenades, but the former is good for the long-game and will serve you in better stead for bossfights.
Hopefully that covers most of what you were asking for?

[Dan brDorman]

Originally posted by Terminus_X:

Originally posted by Dan brDorman:

I just gotten the 5BC, And Malaise mechanic wants you to go faster else things gets harder.

I need general tips for this one to know what I should be doing to optimize my runs, Which routes to take, how to engage in fights, and how not to over commit to a biome.

5BC advice is always bit sketchy, but what worked for me is "always have something that reliably goes critical, plan for bosses at least a level in advance, preferably two, and find a route that maximises scrolls and avoids enemies like Golems (unless you're a masochist or have mastered the OHK or a really fast weapons combo)." Generally, the Concierge is the best 1st boss to fight, though if you have access to Mushroom boy you can skip Mama Tick entirely and pick up a good amount of cells/gold/scrolls/and weapons farming largely easy enemies from the Morass/Arboretum route (giant ticks require a good ranged weapon or solid knowledge of their attack patterns, but if you go take the mutation that lets you knock arrows loose with melee you can basically run and shoot them to death while minimising changes of damage). Second boss wise... both the Gardener and the Timekeeper are brutal glass cannons. The Timekeeper is arguably easier, though their attacks (especially those dang throwing stars) are a pain to deal with. If you want to melt bosses, you can try a decently powerful Ferryman's lantern with bonus ammo/the double ammo mutation and load up a full soul attack? Doing that does multiple hits very quickly and can chew up health bars like no tomorrow. The Gardener's attack patterns also give you an opening to do that after the scythe/shovel chase is over. Either way, DO NOT, go through the Derelict Distillery because it's too full of traps and adding the pressure of time to it will certainly kill you. Haven't yet been through the Lighthouse enough on higher boss cells to say if it's easier than Hand of the King and Astrolab/Collector, so I'd recommend the traditional Highpeak Castle route.
Also, once you reach 5BC, you can use Aspects without fear because there's no more Boss Cells to collect, so consider those too. So far, the best have been the Cursed one which can give you extra scrolls and mitigate the permadeath on curses (so you could technically use the cursed sword like a normal one with only double-damage taken) and the Grenadier one which resets grenade cool-downs if you kill an enemy with one. The latter is the best for speed I've seen, especially with power/cluster grenades, but the former is good for the long-game and will serve you in better stead for bossfights.
Hopefully that covers most of what you were asking for?

What about the likes of giant and the aspect themselves? The giant is quite easy for me to no hit on him.

Any penalty for using aspects? such as no achievements or anything?

[Terminus_X]

Originally posted by Dan brDorman:

Originally posted by Terminus_X:

5BC advice is always bit sketchy, but what worked for me is "always have something that reliably goes critical, plan for bosses at least a level in advance, preferably two, and find a route that maximises scrolls and avoids enemies like Golems (unless you're a masochist or have mastered the OHK or a really fast weapons combo)." Generally, the Concierge is the best 1st boss to fight, though if you have access to Mushroom boy you can skip Mama Tick entirely and pick up a good amount of cells/gold/scrolls/and weapons farming largely easy enemies from the Morass/Arboretum route (giant ticks require a good ranged weapon or solid knowledge of their attack patterns, but if you go take the mutation that lets you knock arrows loose with melee you can basically run and shoot them to death while minimising changes of damage). Second boss wise... both the Gardener and the Timekeeper are brutal glass cannons. The Timekeeper is arguably easier, though their attacks (especially those dang throwing stars) are a pain to deal with. If you want to melt bosses, you can try a decently powerful Ferryman's lantern with bonus ammo/the double ammo mutation and load up a full soul attack? Doing that does multiple hits very quickly and can chew up health bars like no tomorrow. The Gardener's attack patterns also give you an opening to do that after the scythe/shovel chase is over. Either way, DO NOT, go through the Derelict Distillery because it's too full of traps and adding the pressure of time to it will certainly kill you. Haven't yet been through the Lighthouse enough on higher boss cells to say if it's easier than Hand of the King and Astrolab/Collector, so I'd recommend the traditional Highpeak Castle route.
Also, once you reach 5BC, you can use Aspects without fear because there's no more Boss Cells to collect, so consider those too. So far, the best have been the Cursed one which can give you extra scrolls and mitigate the permadeath on curses (so you could technically use the cursed sword like a normal one with only double-damage taken) and the Grenadier one which resets grenade cool-downs if you kill an enemy with one. The latter is the best for speed I've seen, especially with power/cluster grenades, but the former is good for the long-game and will serve you in better stead for bossfights.
Hopefully that covers most of what you were asking for?

What about the likes of giant and the aspect themselves? The giant is quite easy for me to no hit on him.

Any penalty for using aspects? such as no achievements or anything?

Achievements still pop with aspects, since I still got my Queen/Flawless Queen ones with one on. Only "penalty" with aspects is that boss-cells won't drop with them equipped. But 5BC only happens after you have all of them so... yeah.
Had forgotten about the giant honestly, but yeah, they're actually a pretty good option! Only downside is getting to them, since the caverns have some of the nastiest enemies in the game (arbiters, crystal birds, and giant crystal rock monsters HOY) and a variety of stage hazards. Yeah, would definitely take the Giant over the gardener.