100%'ed the Game, Tips for the hardest things to get.

[Putreficent]

Just 100% the game a few weeks ago. Pro tips for the hardest things to get if you are serious about 100%'ing the game, since the Wiki is very unhelpful for specific questions you may have:

1.) Aurelionite Logbook: You basically want to be playing with the Command, Swarms, and Sacrifice artifacts enabled. Activating artifact of Sacrifice gets rid of chests and shrines of chance, while using the artifact of Command gets rid of scrappers, and 3D printers. They don't get rid of the gold shrines though, so without many of the other spawns cluttering the map you'll see a major increase in gold shrines, sometimes one or two every stage. When enabling the artifact of Swarms, the boss spawns will also be doubled, meaning two chances for his log to drop. Although the Wiki says otherwise, Clover Luck does affect log drop chance, so Command artifact yourself an OP green/White item build and use the Bazaar between time to stack as many clovers as possible. These tips can get you literally any monster log, so hunting for one will probably nab you the rest. Monster logs also drop on drizzle, so that is another myth out of the way.

2.) Irradiant Pearl: Honestly screw this one... 4% drop chance from a Cleansing Pool, which only spawns on 3 maps (Siren's Call, Scorched Acres, and Wetland's Aspect), meaning some number crunching lets you know how bullshittingly rare they are. There is no easy way of getting this one, just some things you should know before attempting. Command disables Cleansing Pool spawns, so there isn't any cheating that way. There are no artifacts that will make it easier. Best thing to do is stock up on as many lunar coins as you can, and prepare to sink many hours and fat stacks of coins into designated runs (Took me 200+ Lunar coins and over 50+ hours in dedicated runs). Cleansing pools do spawn on Drizzle, so you don't have to worry too much about random unfair deaths while carrying 20+ lunar items. Something most people already know, if you tag a cleansing pool it'll show you what it will drop next. So if you are on one of these maps, find a cleansing pool, tag it, see it will drop an irradiant pearl, and don't have any lunar items... you better pray you can find one of those lunar pods somewhere (I speak from experience, I had this happen one run). Just beat the game a few times (Mithrix gives 10 coins each win, the Lunar Scavenger gives 15 - the cost for the beads), stack up 60 or so coins, jump into a vanilla run as whoever you play best and go for it. Know what lunar items you can safely stack and carry (Beads have no penalty, Focused Convergence has no further penalty after 3 stacks, some of the 1.0 lunars are pretty safe). Just avoid unsafe ones like Corpsebloom, glass, Transcendence, Brittle Crown sucks early on but becomes safe to stack late in a run, etc.

3.) Environmental logs (Radar ones): Honestly, just play multiplayer. If you don't have it, chances are many others don't have it. The spawn chance is multiplied by however many people don't have it. The spawn chance is increased so much in multiplayer that I used to think there was some glitch locking it to multiplayer. The same goes for monster logs, caving and playing multiplayer is very helpful towards filling out your logbook. If you don't want to unlock it through multiplayer, then use the same chest/printer eliminating artifact combo described above. Radars also spawn on drizzle, so feel free to use the lowered difficulty to loop for more chances. I assume all of these "Doesn't spawn on drizzle" myths are just the Monsoon elitists having a bit of fun :)

Best of luck for whoever else is looking to 100% the game. May your next prismatic trail be viable for the Mercenary Ethereal Challenge! In terms of unlocking that skill, just check the prismatic trail seed as much as possible. Also check the discord/steam discussion board, there are some real saints out there who post warnings for incredibly doable seeds, as well as their routes.

EDIT: Jumbled up a few artifact names. corrections made where necessary. Don't cling to drizzle for too long, and REX is the best character hands down. GOOD LUCK!

[TrueEvil]

Originally posted by Man-At-Legs:

1.) Aurelionite Logbook: Activating artifact of swarms gets rid of chests, scrappers, 3D Printers, and many other "junk" spawns. It doesn't get rid of the gold shrines though, so without the other spawns cluttering the map, you'll see about 10x as many gold shrines, sometimes one or two every stage. That being said, the boss spawns will also be doubled, meaning two chances for his log to drop. Although the Wiki says otherwise, Clover Luck does affect log drop chance, so Command artifact an OP green/White item build and use the Bazaar between time to stack as many as possible. These tips can get you literally any monster log, so hunting for one will probably nab you the rest.

a) I think you meant Artifact of Sacrifice + Command
b) I am certain that the game still basically spawns the chests and printers and then throws them out. This means you still lose the Scene Director credits, meaning no uptick in gold shrine spawns.

[Derpykat5]

1) I think you mean sacrifice, not swarms

[Derpykat5]

Originally posted by csgo grief ban time:

Originally posted by Man-At-Legs:

1.) Aurelionite Logbook: Activating artifact of swarms gets rid of chests, scrappers, 3D Printers, and many other "junk" spawns. It doesn't get rid of the gold shrines though, so without the other spawns cluttering the map, you'll see about 10x as many gold shrines, sometimes one or two every stage. That being said, the boss spawns will also be doubled, meaning two chances for his log to drop. Although the Wiki says otherwise, Clover Luck does affect log drop chance, so Command artifact an OP green/White item build and use the Bazaar between time to stack as many as possible. These tips can get you literally any monster log, so hunting for one will probably nab you the rest.

a) I think you meant Artifact of Sacrifice + Command
b) I am certain that the game still basically spawns the chests and printers and then throws them out. This means you still lose the Scene Director credits, meaning no uptick in gold shrine spawns.

actually, I did notice an unusual amount of gold shrines in my last sacrifice run (2 total, but that's unusual for a 5 stage run). Could be luck, or it could be a higher chance.

[Zeddy]

Originally posted by csgo grief ban time:

+
b) I am certain that the game still basically spawns the chests and printers and then throws them out. This means you still lose the Scene Director credits, meaning no uptick in gold shrine spawns.

I had a friend dig this up in the code, and that's not how it works. Sacrifice removes chests from the pool, then halves credits.

My experience of this is a general increase in drones and shrines, especially if you turn on command to also remove printers.

[TrueEvil]

Originally posted by derpykat5:

Originally posted by csgo grief ban time:

a) I think you meant Artifact of Sacrifice + Command
b) I am certain that the game still basically spawns the chests and printers and then throws them out. This means you still lose the Scene Director credits, meaning no uptick in gold shrine spawns.

actually, I did notice an unusual amount of gold shrines in my last sacrifice run (2 total, but that's unusual for a 5 stage run). Could be luck, or it could be a higher chance.

I might be wrong and the game just reduces the amount of credits the Scene Director can use, which could still result in extra non-chest spawns. But there is absolutely no way it has access to all of its normal credits. Otherwise you'd see like 8 mountain shrines every stage.

[TrueEvil]

Originally posted by Zeddy:

Originally posted by csgo grief ban time:

+
b) I am certain that the game still basically spawns the chests and printers and then throws them out. This means you still lose the Scene Director credits, meaning no uptick in gold shrine spawns.

I had a friend dig this up in the code, and that's not how it works. Sacrifice removes chests from the pool, then halves credits.

My experience of this is a general increase in drones and shrines, especially if you turn on command to also remove printers.

That makes sense.

[Bogan]

Only thing in the game I'm missing is logbook for the flying chimera. I got a luck printer at final boss stage and took 11 clovers. I spawned the logbook off a kill over the abyss though and the book fell. FML.

[AirForce3]

If anyone wants to go for the mercenary ethereal challenge, today's one is great (9/12/20). Also a youtuber by the name of cabbage does a guide for every prismatic no-hit, but it's pretty easy considering all you need to do is not get hit :). Have fun!

[Krull]

Originally posted by Man-At-Legs:

Activating artifact of Sacrifice gets rid of chests...

Originally posted by Man-At-Legs:

2.) Irradiant Pearl: ... There are no artifacts that will make it easier.

Something is not right here.

[Putreficent]

Originally posted by Krull:

Originally posted by Man-At-Legs:

Activating artifact of Sacrifice gets rid of chests...

Originally posted by Man-At-Legs:

2.) Irradiant Pearl: ... There are no artifacts that will make it easier.

Something is not right here.

I don't see what "is not right here." While using the Command and Sacrifice artifacts are great for spawning in the Shrine of Gold, using Command makes it so Cleansing Pools (Which are basically "Lunar 3D Printers") don't spawn and using Sacrifice makes it so Lunar Pods (Which are basically "Lunar Chests") don't spawn. Using both artifacts are great for getting Shrines of Gold to spawn because they can spawn on every map and are not as uncommon to spawn as Cleansing Pools. If you were to ONLY use Sacrifice to trim away the chests, equipment barrels, and shrines of chance, the director would still spam the map full of normal 3D printers (Which 1.0 made 50% more common) and scrappers. Cleansing Pools are about as rare as Red-Item and Boss-Item 3D printers and can only spawn on 3 different maps. This is why no artifact will make their spawn easier. You are better off doing vanilla runs than messing with the spawn chance with artifacts.

And even when you have a Cleansing Pool available, it is still only a 4% drop chance, so being at a disadvantage from disabling Lunar Pods is not something you would want. I've sank 30 items into a pool before and came out with a stack of 30 normal pearls... 4% doesn't seem like bad odds but you'd be surprised.

At the end of the day, things are still easier to unlock in this game than in the first.

[Krull]

Originally posted by Man-At-Legs:

Originally posted by Krull:

Something is not right here.

I don't see what "is not right here." While using the Command and Sacrifice artifacts are great for spawning in the Shrine of Gold, using Command makes it so Cleansing Pools (Which are basically "Lunar 3D Printers") don't spawn and using Sacrifice makes it so Lunar Pods (Which are basically "Lunar Chests") don't spawn. Using both artifacts are great for getting Shrines of Gold to spawn because they can spawn on every map and are not as uncommon to spawn as Cleansing Pools. If you were to ONLY use Sacrifice to trim away the chests, equipment barrels, and shrines of chance, the director would still spam the map full of normal 3D printers (Which 1.0 made 50% more common) and scrappers. Cleansing Pools are about as rare as Red-Item and Boss-Item 3D printers and can only spawn on 3 different maps. This is why no artifact will make their spawn easier. You are better off doing vanilla runs than messing with the spawn chance with artifacts.

And even when you have a Cleansing Pool available, it is still only a 4% drop chance, so being at a disadvantage from disabling Lunar Pods is not something you would want. I've sank 30 items into a pool before and came out with a stack of 30 normal pearls... 4% doesn't seem like bad odds but you'd be surprised.

At the end of the day, things are still easier to unlock in this game than in the first.

1. Never mentioned Command.
   
2. Yes, 1.0 made Cleansing Pools that much more rare which is exactly why I recommend Sacrifice. You're removing a lot of medium cost interactables as well as increasing the spawn chance per pick for Cleansing Pools.
   I will confess, that I haven't made the calculations, cause fewer credits as well as the director choosing between either high or low cost interactables might generally lead to a total less than half the usual cards being picked, but coupled with the fact that the highest weighted category is disabled I doubt you're putting yourself at a disadvantage.
   
3. If you're doing dedicated Cleansing Pool runs, Lunar Pods simply do not matter. If you're not doing dedicated runs and found a pool with an Irradiant Pearl in it by chance, it's a fair point.
   
4. I'm not really surprised, no. It took me around 63 lunars before I got the log.

[Equo]

The only reasonable (and fun) way to get Irradiant Pearls is to go on a really long god run with Swarms and Sacrifice, but without Command. However, that doesn't mean that you can't take advantage of said artifact. When you get to Stage 5, rush towards Bulwark's Ambry with Command activated and take as long as you need to stock up on essential items. This should hopefully guarantee you a god run.

Once you're in the second loop, look for Newt Altars whenever possible, prioritizing the ones that always spawn. Eat up absolutely everything in the lunar items section, except for equipment and Purity, unless you can offset it with a greater number of 57 Leaf Clovers. None of the lunar items will be detrimental to you, as you'll just be instakilling everything without doing much anyway.

Once you hit Stage 30, you can start hunting for a Cleansing Pool. This is the most painful part of the run, but once you do find it, you should hopefully have 60+ lunar items to trade in by then. I managed to get six Irradiant Pearls on my last run, though that was really lucky. However, you will likely get at least one this way.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2227064150

[Auffie]

Anybody here mind answering one question for me? I'd like to know if the prismatic trials rotate on a set loop or are actually 100% random. Been trying to get Mercenary's alternate eviscerate slot ability for a couple days with no luck due to the extremely BS "no damage below 100% health" requirement.

P.S. at one point I thought I'd pulled it off on a command/elites only/one type of enemy per stage run that turned out to be jellyfish 1st stage, contraptions second, but it turns out shields count so taking damage to those disqualified me. Does temporary barrier too?

[Krull]

Originally posted by Auffie:

Anybody here mind answering one question for me? I'd like to know if the prismatic trials rotate on a set loop or are actually 100% random. Been trying to get Mercenary's alternate eviscerate slot ability for a couple days with no luck due to the extremely BS "no damage below 100% health" requirement.

P.S. at one point I thought I'd pulled it off on a command/elites only/one type of enemy per stage run that turned out to be jellyfish 1st stage, contraptions second, but it turns out shields count so taking damage to those disqualified me. Does temporary barrier too?

Barrier is 100% fair game. You can take as much barrier damage as you want, as long as you do not take any shield or health damage. Yes, it's close to being stupid and yes, the challenge should have been worded better.
I'm guessing most people got it by cheesing it a little with barrier, myself included.

I do not know how seeds are selected, but I guess it's just a RNG picking the seed. It's possible to get Ethereal on all seeds. This guy has become quite known in the community for completing Ethereal on all or at least most seeds, so far. He is also a pretty skilled Merc player.

There's a few ways that can make the seeds easier. You've already found out about barrier, meaning any map with multiple Topaz Brooches, or any trials with Command will already be easier. Drones can also help out, since they take off some of the attention you get from enemies.

Shaped Glass is free damage since you cannot take any health damage either way. It cuts down on you max barrier though, so don't pick up more than one. Be aware going to the Bazaar means the next stage is going to be different than if you had not gone to the Bazaar. If you decide on going to the Bazaar, you have to do it every time until you succeed unless you want to face a different stage.
Artifact of Glass makes it easier cause you kill things faster, but you effectively killed your ability to utilize barrier, meaning your best bet in the cheesing department is drones.
Some artifacts will inherently make it harder, like Evolution (I don't remember if this is allowed in trials), Honor, Soul, Spite, and lastly Chaos (only matters if you buy drones).

The artifact teleporter is also a valid way to end trials, meaning any seed ending on Sky Meadow is instantly shorter. The last stage has effectively been cut out.

That's all I got off the top of my head. Good luck, and most importantly, have fun. If you feel like a seed is too hard and it has none of the good things I mentioned, maybe you're better off waiting for a new seed

[Carny Senpai]

2) According to the wiki: "Based on further modded testing, the Artifact of Sacrifice greatly improves Cleansing Pool spawn rates, with the chances of at least one Cleansing Pool spawning roughly tripling on Wetland Aspect and Scorched Acres, and nearly doubling on Siren's Call."

That's how i farmed the Irradiant Pearl. Took me about 8 hours, but i was really unlucky. Got it in my 56th try and the average with 4% drop chance should be 25 tries.