Need some tips, struggling to get past the jungle

[EverChosen97]

I'm loving this game but i'm honestly finding it really tough. From the jungle on-wards it feels like a dps check, where if your wands aren't good enough you just cant kill the enemies. Any helpful tips or hints that you guys can give? like is it worth exploring the surface? I manged to climb that huge tree on the left and found an egg, but all that did was spawn an army of acid eyes that insta killed me

[peterstevens]

I am far from as experienced as others here, but have had some luck with the following - If I get a decent ish wand in the mines I will usually head towards the Fungal Caverns.

In most cases there are pretty good wands there. Often, at least in my experience, I've found them towards whatever entrance I use so I haven't had to go really far into them. I have found wands there that have carried me for quite a bit.

I have almost no experience with the surface so I can't help you there. Good luck!

[Dead Parrot]

The monsters on the jungle floor are nearly all vulnerable to fire, and even though fire only displays ticks of 1 damage, what fire actually does is damage based on a % of the total hp of the target per tick. This includes the player. So when your hp is really low, like 100 at the start, fire ticks off damage seemingly slowly, but when you have massive hp pools, like at end game for the player or for late game npcs, the fire damage ticks are actually massive 10-100+ ticks depending on the target. As it so happens, the jungle is a very easy level to set on fire and wipe out the majority of monsters fairly easily if you are prepared to do so.

toxic is similar, except it stops when your hp receaches a certain % which makes it the inferior debuff.

There is a misconception in noita for new players, that the best way to do things is to deal the most damage. However, many monsters can be instantly killed or permanently stun locked if you use the right debuffs. Nearly all the monsters on jungle can be instantly killed with freeze charge and a kick, they are also all vulnerable to slicing damage (luminous drill, chainsaw, ect). Furthermore, no matter how much hp a monster has, if you polymorph it with either a spell or a potion, the sheep they turn into will always only have 5 hp.

Another way to instantly kill things is with water plus electric charges, so either sea of water, or water trail. If you dont have an electric spell to go along with your water, you can simply drown everything that isnt a robot. Water plus freeze charges can seal entire areas. Sea of lava is also extremely powerful in levels like jungle, where there isnt as much horizontal movement as there is vertical. Just drop the lava right outside the holy mountain and watch it flow.

Keep in mind, you don't have to fight anything in noita except the final boss. If you make a good digging wand, you can avoid monsters you arent able to fight, or maneuver into a better position to shoot them where they cant attack you back. Dont feel pressured into attacking everything unless you really need the money or they are guarding something you want. Of course, dont mindlessly run through stuff because eventually you might be overwhelmed.

[Doom Sayer]

Pay attention to the ratio between Damage and Spell cost and cast speed.

75 dmg - 100 mana cost or such is crap compared to a 8 dmg - 5 mana cost.

Heavy shot, increased damage, reduced mana cost.... applying them combined with a multicast can be overpowered. (Heavy shot is crap without homing or such)

Here is a list of the best spells:
-Chainsaw (Very situational needs specific modifiers or possibly melee immunity perk. Mana cost to damage ratio is INSANE. I have yet to make a good wand with it but potential for power is incredible. It also has VERY good cast time. It can be used to make wands cast other spells faster due to its high cast speed and low cost. It can dig soft materials up to dirt and ice [very slowly])

-Glowing Lance (Not as situational, main flaw is bad cast time, slow speed, and how it arcs downward. [Might also dmg player]

-Luminous drill (Ping pong path and modifiers like it can make it OP)

-Spark Bolt With Double Trigger (mana cost - dmg ratio)

-Energy Orb (good for digging, decent mana - dmg cant go through hard material)

-Splitter Bolt (High speed, low range, good dmg-mana ratio. When you reach snow+ you need a way to cast farther like a trigger spell infront of it or modifier)

Remember that shuffle is VERY bad unless you have a way to make it work. For example modifier spells can be stacked (the shuffle on wands specifically only applies to the proper spells not modifiers.)