Very hard mode tips (and early game walk through)

[Bubonicyeet]

So, you decided your cool (or masochistic) enough to try and beat hard mode in 1 day. You might think its gonna be a breeze but TRUST ME this is the hardest challenge of the game. I would rather clear the entire necromancer tower with just matches then do this again.

Now that we got the fact that this challenge will make you suffer out of the way, lets help you through the early game

Part 1
Introduction sequences

Picking your class

You start in your bed and already have the most important choice of the run. Cow puncher, Bean slinger, or Snake oilier. Snake oilier doesn't scale to the same level as the other two and my own personal preference is Bean slinger. I'm sure you could make a decent build with Cow puncher but some of my tips might not work as well with Cow puncher

Introduction house walk through

Pick up the walking stupid book but don't read it you can enable stupid walking in settings so the book is useless. the extra meat you get from selling it is absolutely necessary in the early game

Whatever book you choose from your mother, keep in mind the pros and cons of taking them. I would suggest not to take dickerin but either foraging or lock picking. Lock picking is hands down better but throughout your journey there are more places to pick it up than foraging. My personal preference is lock picking just because of the early game puzzles that require it.

Something you may not know about is the fact that whatever you tell your brother has an affect on game play, saying you want to help people gives you a small ammount of bonus xp whenever you gain xp. Telling him you wish to seek a fortune gives you extra meat when collecting from various sources such as mine carts, meat veins, and a few other scenarios. the final one gives you a small ammount of starting xp but other than that, i do not think it has any other affect on gameplay. At the end of the game credits, there is text that can change depending on several factors if you pick this one but it is otherwise useless. Pick the first option, its not even a question on what one to pick. Extra xp throughout your gameplay is such a godsend.

Boring springs

not much to do here
if your trying to do this challenge you probably already got all of the useful items in this place so we can pretty much skip it. Your way better off if you already got the fistful of cutlets achievements because you can skip the entire introduction town and still have 1337 meat to start. I'm not here to tell you how to do fistful of cutlets so look up a different guide for that. you cant get it on this play through because of certain choices I suggested to make in your intro house so don't try.

If you do choose to skip it I suggest picking ruthless for your trait because it makes certain interactions a little easier and it gives you a little more loot.

For your Partner I heavily suggest doctor Alice. Her healing ability can help you stall your way to victory and her ability to one shot skeletons completely removes a certain threat from wiping your run, it can also help you get through some side quests for extra items and meat.

Part 2
Welcome to hell

And its time for the early game
I lost a few runs to this so lets go through carefully, very very carefully
before we even start talking about your general pathing lets talk about how we are gonna optimize everything. First off your food, if your gonna do this in one day theres no way to empty your stomach, liver, and spleen. Everything you consume has to be substantial and has to help you in the late game. for the early game I suggest not eating anything but 1 can of tuna/meat. the plus 5 to all stats is amazing. only drink items that give 5 or more to any given stat. drinking cow items is viable so consider the benefits.

However you plan on dealing with Norton is up to you. Personally, once I have access to Frisco, i grind meat to silver plate the dusty turnip to get the crown and give the crown to Norton to completely skip his fight. I don't know how powerful he can be on hard mode nor do I want to learn.

First, your xp allocation
Upgrade outfoxing to level 2 and work towards more grit. extra Pain tolerance means more lives, every time you lose a battle you lose a life and if you lose a life there's no way to get them back. Throughout your journey, distribute xp to whatever sources you deem neccesary. more pain tolerance should be priority.

Go to the mercantile in dirtwater and get the bean book. Your looking for Bean golem as your first spell. After bean golem your next books should go in this order

1. Wary
2. Ol bean
3. Bean wall
4. blood bean

After that its up to you.

before we go to the train camp we have to prepare for ANY encounters that might trouble. But for that we need meat.

Before we head out anywhere purchase the dynamite from the mercantile and now its time to put ourselves in harms way

head to the jail and pick up the stripey hat gang poster. We wont do the house in the desert because we cant currently handle them without fighting them directly. head to the stripy hat gangs hideout and dispatch of them with the spider.

assuming you did the intro town correctly you should have a crowbar to tear down the boards and open the door to the spider.

Choose the weapons crate because the weapon inside can be a very good backup weapon.

After you deal with the gang, claim your bounty and head to the train camp
go through the process of becoming the new manager and make sure to talk to the guy with the cool pocket watch where he got it and then head to button willows store. Buy the bean book, some more dynamite, some needles, and if you want to you may purchase whatever special book she has for sale.

Getting your Dynamite

Now the path you go next is a little blurry. the path I recommend is heading to the gulch and begin peacefully clearing the village. Avoid conflict with any goblins as it is never necessary and in hard mode they can easily dispatch you. watch the theater play, read all of the library books, use lock picking to break into the cafe and read the shift schedule. If you do all of this and get the spare key, you can completely negate any conflicts with the goblins. The first cactus guard can be avoided with spoiling the theater play, the second can be tricked into leaving after reading the bird calls book, and the third can be tricked into leaving to work his cafe shift. loot the chests to get your dynamite, meat, and the ring. head back to the train, use the dynamite, and find a way to dispatch the rock creature. If you already have 20 mysticality or 3 outfoxing, use them to kill the golem. If you dont meet either of those criteria, begin clearing some of the starting areas such as the dave yard or some of caves. The house in the desert gang shouldn't be hard to kill at this point so doing that bounty is viable.

before I let you go to the next part of your journey, I have some things to tell you.

Any places you can grind for xp, do so with caution. The hat stops you from grinding as much as you please so grind until it stops you or until you deem it too dangerous to continue. If you are ever 1 battle loss from passing out, head back to an easier area and grind easy enemies without risk to get another level of pain tolerance. You never know if your next encounter is going to one shot you or not when you go in a new area so always have an extra pain tolerance level to save you.

The northern part of the east mountainous area is much more dangerous than the south. Only go north of you know you are prepared with enough combat items to save yourself from certain loss. Dynamite, healing items, snake organs, and smelling salts all could be used to completely save yourself.

The western part of the mountains is 1000x more dangerous than the east. same as the northern part, be prepared. Doctor Alice is gonna be your best friend throughout this run but buffalox3 bill is an amazing companion once you can get him. The only prerequisite to getting him is unlocking the west and having lock picking 3. Doctor Alice will reveal buffalo pile to you.

You cannot do the logging permit breadwood quest in 1 day so don't try.

Good luck and dont die