Path to 10k

A collection of things I figured out while trying to achieve the big 10k in endless mode.

The basics

Obviously the unlock requirement for this achievement is pretty clear, make it to 10.000 Meters climbed in a single run of endless mode.

To do this, you must loop through the structure a number of times, picking up Perks and Equipment along the way, in this guide I hope to demonstrate some strategies and give you some tips and things to look out for on your way up.

THIS GUIDE ASSUMES YOU'VE AT LEAST ALREADY ATTEMPTED ENDLESS MODE, IT CONTAINS SPOILERS

As of writing I haven't actually made it there, I will update the guide when I have, this is just to compile the info I gained in my attempts so far.
You can clown on me for this but given how few people even have the 5k achievement I think it's worth writing some things down at least. The game came out not that long ago.

As of initially writing this guide my record height is: 7000m

I'll get into how I died there and why I think 10k is actually possible despite the achievement name.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Endless mode differs from the campaign in a few key aspects, both due it's different objective (get as far as you can) and the effects this has on how the game has to work. I want to go over some of the things that make your goal easier to achieve, and the ones that make it harder.

Advantages

• You are going to get a lot of Perks, like, so many. In fact you might pick up the same perks multiple times. This will turn you into a climbing beast the likes of which would be unthinkable in the campaign, which is pretty much necessary for this achievement.
  
• You are going to pick up so many items, like, so many. Not only are there items strewn about all over the place, but vendors are also frequent, meaning you are unlikely to ever be out of options unless you really screw up.
  
• One of the central mechanics of endless is that the Mass increases it's speed with every loop, and by a lot. This is both a good thing and a bad thing, the main advantage being that you quite simply will be going faster and faster as you progress, meaning the last 5k meters will probably go by quite quickly. (For reference, on my second loop I was already so fast I made it through Teeth's section without seeing him a single time).
  
• The Pier. Not only is this section long and relatively simple to traverse (by not having a lot of clutter meaning you find your path very quickly) it also always spawns a teleporter eye at the start, which you don't even have to use in that section. These are invaluable and normally very expensive at the vendor.
  
• The tiles do not change with each loop. Every loop goes through the same rooms and obstacles every time. You might think "wait isn't that kind of boring?" but you'll be very thankful by the time the Mass reaches high speeds. This setup means you will never be surprised by tiles you've never encountered before, meaning you already always know where to go.
  
• You can pause. This is just a feature of the game but one that I highly recommend making use of in endless mode in particular. Pressing Esc and opening up the menu fully pauses the game, so you can go have a drink and a snack and most importantly rest your poor hands. You can't get to 10k with a wrist injury so I urge you to take these breaks ESPECIALLY if you're doing back to back runs. You go pretty fast in endless but a run can still easily go over 30 minutes and that is not healthy to do in one continuous sitting.

Disadvantages

• Boy does that goop go fast. By your 3rd or 4th loop you will lose the ability to stand and wait for your stamina to come back, the Mass moves so quickly that you just don't have the time. The only way to survive is with enough perks to simply fly upwards.
  
• Rising Perk Costs. Perks get more expensive with each one you get. Perks that are free at the start can end up costing you 20-30 roaches late in the run, the game makes up for this by bombarding you with Platinum roaches as you progress, but that doesn't fix how much they weigh in your inventory. I do not encourage it, because I think it's dumb, but if you're determined to always have roaches banked, you might want to do roach runs where you focus less on winning and more on banking what you can to prepare for your real run.
  
• No saves. You will find Floppy disks plenty throughout your run, and you can even insert them into the console, but they're all blank and you cannot use them to save. This also means that any save related perks are useless in endless mode. (This also means you shouldn't pick them up, there is no lore to be found on them in this mode I'm pretty sure)
  
• It sure is easy to die in this game. This is less unique to endless mode, but becomes pretty clear with repeated attempts. Turrets go through your health ridiculously quick if you're not careful, getting grabbed can easily be fatal, a single slip can get you consumed, and it's all over.

Perk Recommendations

Not all Perks are created equal, I already mentioned in the previous sections that save-related perks are useless in this mode, but there are some that are almost mandatory for how good they are.
(Note that I don't have all the perk names memorised, I might update the guide to include exact accurate names but it's not really that important in my opinion)

Stretchy Arms

This thing is actually ridiculous, there's a reason they upped it's price in the last patch.
It increases your reach by 75%, almost double. This let's you completely ignore dozens upon dozens of obstacles in the game, I consider this perk mandatory for a successful 10k run, or phrased more positively, it makes 10k possible.
I cannot overstate how much value this perk has, the only drawback is that it's going to mess up your muscle memory for every run where you haven't yet picked it up.

Speed Perks

Really any of them. I recommend prioritising these when possible.
Speed Perks are your bread and butter in endless, they give you the most direct value in being able to outrun the Mass as you go up. They also stack of course, meaning you'll get pretty speedy pretty fast if you focus on these, which is your key to success.

Stamina Perks

Pretty much on equal footing with Speed Perks, you're immensely helped by not having to let go and recover as often. You don't even need many of these, the game is balanced such that you can usually go pretty fast even without them, they just elevate you to an even better spot when things get tough.

Armour Plating

Not strictly mandatory, but I'm always always happy to have it when I do need it. Turrets are dangerous and unpredictable, steam is a massive nuisance, this perk alleviates both problems while also helping you with random blood bug moments.

Back Strengthening

Just nice to have.
In the sections with the grabby hands especially, the game essentially "equipment check"s you by making bits that are outright impossible to climb without some equipment. Endless is a case where you're less likely to run out simply because of how much there is, but running out is still possible and this Perk helps you avoid those frustrating situations.

Equipment Considerations

This is much less important as any equipment is good to have rather than none. This is more to help you prioritise when it's time to throw stuff away because it's slowing you down.
(I'm also not going to pretend to know exactly what half the consumables do exactly, again I don't think it's as important but I might update the guide later)

Grubs

Yeah yeah I know, monster this monster that. They let you climb on flat surfaces, that's wild, you should always have one on hand, they can get you out of almost any situation.

Rope Rods

Of course a rod with a rope on it is a lot better than a regular one, you don't need me to tell you that, but like the grub these let you skip VAST amounts of obstacles in almost every tile in the game, they're pretty much the best navigation tool, you should have some at all times.

Syringe

Speed. Self explanatory.

Drill Pitons

Perfect for those equipment checks I mentioned, nice and quick and they don't bounce off sheer walls like the rods do.

Strats

There's a lot of little tricks and methods you can use to traverse areas quicker, avoid certain enemies and overall make your life a lot easier in this game. All of them are useful here, and so I'm going to list as many as I can think of off the top of my head.

Your hammer is your best tool

I recommend quick-slotting your hammer in every area of the game besides Teeth.
Besides hammering pitons, the hammer lets you kill Blood Bugs and Barnacles (those guys with the tongues that pull you up).
You can also hammer the barnacle tongues to make the retract to get them out of the way (including if you're grabbed), but if you're daring you can also hold the tongue with one hand and hit it with the other. This lets you slingshot upwards which is a really fast way to travel.
This also goes for the grabby hands guy (I should look up his name), you won't always have the chance to do this because he also whirls your camera around- but if you can see the red of the arm you can make it retract and let go of you. Considering the Mass doesn't stop coming in those sections, you will want to do this whenever possible.

This is also the mistake that killed me at 7000 Meters, an arm was stretched across a hole in the ceiling. If i'd had my hammer out fast enough I could've hit it, but instead fumbled and got grabbed, at which point I wasn't able to target the arm and died.

You don't always need tools

For most of the game's areas, there are alternate paths you can take using less visible ledges to get past obstacles. It's nice that there's all these markings that tell you where to put pitons, but most of the time you can grab onto a lamp or a wall tile and do it way faster. Looking out for these alternate paths also often leads to finding secret areas and equipment stashes that you wouldn't have noticed otherwise.

This is my first guide

Let me know how I did, I'm no expert, I just like this game a lot

[<i><mark><b><#FF0><u>Qwergin]

The tiles do change between every loop. They change now since the Save and Quit update.

[Parliament "Mcgoy" el Admiralo]

@Peti xd, very good, happy for you)

[Peti]

@Whiske Heh i just did it, bought like 5 double jump perks and just jumped thru all the levels.

[Parliament "Mcgoy" el Admiralo]

@Peti , i think it`s all about practice, my average ascent rate without perks 2.2/4 m/s and with perks 3.4 m/s at height 7500+, mostly i take perks like elastic limbs, pulse organ, system reorganization and jump height.

[Peti]

I made it up to 8500 meters in Endless Pipeworks but the goop keeps catching up while i'm running thru the tunnels. After i die it says my average ascent rate was 2.14 m/s. I'm not sure what i'm doing wrong.

[Gontarekt]

Nice wee guide! Almost time for me to grind for 10k with so few achievements left... oh lord. Really good job on getting 7k metres though!

[Which]

@Whiske I actually hadn't even considered running something other than endless substructure, I might be an idiot. Endless pipeworks is probably way easier lmao.
I'm gonna do some runs of that and then rewrite the guide

[NegativeZero]

I got 6K in endless silos. I was super close, but a good tip is to be careful round smashers in silos shattered chambers. VERY careful, I was overconfident and got slammed. I could've absolutely got 10K, but I now hate the smashers more than steam. Steam? Steam is easy. Smashers are hellspawn.

[Parliament "Mcgoy" el Admiralo]

did my 10k at the endless pipeworks, i think it is easiest mode to do this, cuz in endless silos and substructure u can easily die from fans in air vent sub-region, especially after second loop when u became uncontrollable beast and just can`t normally controle ur movement in those locations

my best at endless substructure is 5500, may be i just need to get better at the game