Talk:Happy Medium

Arena Spading

Some info for spaders to find: In chat, players were saying that the more turns one waits after the spirit message is first given before using siphon, the better the siphoned spirit will be. How much does a spirit improve per turn and/or what is the cap for spirit improvement? Also, does the "spirit sensing" message indicate the quality of the booze that will be collected, or is it random?

I have no idea how to correctly figure arena stats. I'll leave that task to those who do. Thnx. :D

Amusing side note: When I entered my 15lb medium against the arena's 25lb levitating potato, I got the following message.

"You enter Ono no Komachi against Vine Vidi Vici in an Ultimate Cage Match.

Happy Mediums (Media?) aren't in any hurry to create vengeful ghosts.

Vine Vidi Vici is a lover, not a fighter. Well, not really -- potatoes just suck at this event.

Ono no Komachi knocks Vine Vidi Vici out after 19 rounds.

Ono no Komachi is the winner, and gains 5 experience!"

I took 6 rounds before the potato finally beat me. :) --SnarFoo 10:39, 1 March 2012 (CET)

Arena stats - at 22 lbs, 38 items in SH; at 23 lbs, 177s OC; at 24 pounds, 54s H&S. --Johnny Treehugger 15:53, 2 March 2012 (CET)

Spirit Spading

Aura appears to change every 7 rounds. From blue to orange, then finally to red. The color of the aura seems to determine the level of booze siphoned. --Erwachen 10:58, 1 March 2012 (CET)

As I noted on the [Siphon Spirits] discussion, the familiar icon is animated if an aura is present. Don't know if it is different for different colors. --Pedinor 12:00, 1 March 2012 (CET)

My not-so-scientific spading suggests that each level of aura is gained after N+2 successful combats, where N is the Nth use of the Siphon Spirits skill. Since that sounds convoluted to me, let me elaborate. When trying to get your first booze of the day from the Happy Medium, you need to win 3 combats to activate the first level of aura, 3 more combats to activate the second level, and 3 more to activate the last level. Once you use the skill, the counter resets so going for the second booze of the day requires 4 combats for each aura level. Note that because the skill does not end combat, the combat where Siphon Spirits is used will count toward activating the first aura level for the next use of the skill. Using the skill at different aura levels does not seem to affect the counter. I've been able to get up to 11 drinks so far (of varying quality); I'll keep fiddling with things to see what else I can find.--Quackosaur 19:49, 1 March 2012 (CET)

References

Is the last line of the haiku a reference to the Prophecy movies with Christopher Walken? (Gabriel to the new angel) --Lord Kes 10:44, 1 March 2012 (CET)

Obvious reference to "The medium is the message". I don't think it's a prophecy reference, it could be both. --AtGNAT 13:09, 1 March 2012 (CET)

• given the lack of anything except the word "message" i would say that mcluhan is enough. --Evilkolbot 13:45, 1 March 2012 (CET)

The arena message using "media" as a plural of medium also ties with McLuhan as a reference. Plus the fact that the hatchling & familiar in general are meant as puns on the the different definitions of the word "medium"

• forgot to sign my name above for some reason...--SnarFoo 00:04, 2 March 2012 (CET)

Is it at all possible that its a reference to "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeline L'Engle? There is a chapter and character by that name. --Moraglar Khilen 16:05, 28 March 2012 (CEST)

• It could be possible, but "happy medium" is a phrase that's been used for a long time. Are there any particular similarities between the character & the familiar? Such as an allusion in the description/messages to L'Engle's character? (aside from the crystal ball, which is a stereotypical psychic item) Unless you can point to something more specific than just the name, I would be inclined to think it is a coincidental reference. I'm not saying it isn't a Wrinkle In Time reference, I'm just saying "happy medium" is a common phrase. For example; if you wiki "happy medium" you'll get a number of results, including this one. Note the name of the sire..."she was sired by Happy Medium". I doubt Jick was intentionally referencing a horse named "happy medium". So, like I said, it needs to be more specific for a reference. Like if one of the combat messages quoted the book character, or something like that. Honestly, I'm not familiar enough with the book to say for certain whether or not it's a reference.--SnarFoo 12:23, 12 April 2012 (CEST)

Crown of Thrones

The medium has the "Give 5-15 Meat" function, at least. Any other function needs moar! spading. Here's the message:

"Sophia says, "I sense an unexpected windfall in your near future!" and hands you some meat. You gain X Meat." --Pedinor 09:02, 2 March 2012 (CET)

Maypole and Tam

Tanquerayna does the Metaphysical Slide around the Maypole. Tanquerayna winks with her third eye under the Tam O'Shanter.--Noskilz 02:47, 5 March 2012 (CET)

Rollover Charges?

Ok, so, after the last couple of rollovers I noticed my medium started the new day with an orange aura. The first day I saw this I thought that it had simply held it's charge since the previous night. But then today it had an aura again & I am sure that it had no aura when ran out of adventures last night.

I am wondering, is the rollover charge automatically set to orange? Or is the pre-charged aura level based on the number of combats spent after the last use of siphon spirits? (and mine just happened to be orange both times)

For example, say at the end of adventuring the combat count between levels is seven... you use siphon, then use 6 more combat adventures, then are out for the day. You would not show a charge before the next rollover. But, after rollover are those 6 combats already counted, thus automatically charging the aura to the appropriate level for the new day?

Yes, from what I've seen it seems to be the case that rollover retains the Medium's kill count.--Garle 05:20, 11 March 2012 (CET)

Red Aura Turn Table

I just added this, maybe it's helpful. Would it be better on the Siphon Spirits page? --Pedinor 10:35, 5 March 2012 (CET)

• I think the information is more relevant to the familiar than the skill. You need the familiar in combat to charge, not the skill.--Fluxxdog 15:37, 5 March 2012 (CET)

Omitting the turn on which siphoning occurs is wrong. It makes the total column incorrect. Just as an example, the second red aura of the day says it takes a total of 20 turns to reach, 9 for the first and 11 for the second - but since you can't siphon on the same turn the Medium hits the first red aura, and you can't start counting toward the next blue aura until you do, you still have to take a turn to do that and start charging again, so the total SHOULD read 21. And consequently each row in that column is off by more. I'm not going to change it myself, because I didn't create it and I'm not comfortable assuming people will agree, but I am going to recommend it be changed.--Garle 07:55, 9 March 2012 (CET)

The table is only about getting to a specific aura given 'N'. Omitting the turn when you siphon is necessary, the table would in fact be incorrect otherwise as it would double-count those turns: once for the turn of siphoning, and again for beginning to charge the next aura. Remember, "The end of the combat where you Siphon Spirits contributes toward the next blue aura change." At least, this is how I understand the logic. If you can test it and show the numbers are actually off by one for achieving an aura (not getting a drink), then there's something wrong. --timrem 17:33, 9 March 2012 (CET)

This is exactly what I argue, the numbers are off for achieving the aura. The charge still begins counting on the turn you siphon; it's still a necessary step in the process, and it doesn't happen automatically. To break it down over the first 21 turns: Turn 3, you get a blue aura. Turn 6, orange. Turn 9, you get red; but you can't get a red aura turn 9 AND siphon the same turn, so siphoning has to wait until the NEXT turn. Turn 10, you siphon, and begin charging to the blue aura; you don't get blue until turn 13, four turns after the red. After that it's four turns per aura, so turn 17, you hit orange, and turn 21 you hit red again. The table as it is now says you get that red aura on turn 20, which is visibly wrong.--Garle 21:04, 10 March 2012 (CET)

Addendum. I can see that due to the "Times Siphoned Today" column, we're presupposing the siphoning for the blue aura, but the problem I'm encountering is that this simply throws off the "Total Kills" column. Possible solutions: Remove "Total Kills", change "Times Siphoned Today" to something else and adjust the blue column to match, or adjust "Total Kills" to read correctly independently of the rest of the table. As it is, the "Total Kills" gives the wrong result for the one thing that column would be useful for - start-of-day planning.--Garle 21:34, 10 March 2012 (CET)

I changed the table to actually be correct for the total number of kills required in the last column. I think the table should just be removed. It's not that weird or complicated when counted in a uncontorted manner. --Eleron 01:53, 18 March 2012 (CET)

Init Spading

Against drunken rats:

• With no medium, I can't flee at -40, but I can flee at -35.
• With a 35lb medium, I can't flee at -75, but I can flee at -70.
• With a 25lb medium, I can't flee at -65, but I can flee at -60.
• With a 15lb medium, I can't flee at -55, but I can flee at -50.

It's looking like a flat +wt bonus to init. --Deus Ex Machina (Talk) 04:19, 19 May 2012 (CEST)

Random Words and References

It looks like nobody's started compiling a list of possible randoms for her end-of-combat statements. I assume this is because we don't need a list of animals, metals, colors, etc. However, there's been a few weird ones I've encountered, and I thought they should be noted.

Your aura can be flecked with "liverwurst." Your spirit animal can be "orphan." Also puppy and kitten, which is a bit unusual (I'm pretty sure I've seen "cat" too, so...). Things you're warned not to do include: sleeping (and due to the combo mechanism, "synchronized sleeping" and "extreme sleeping"), knitting, novel-writing, croquet, and a few others that just make you start visualizing how some benign activity like knitting could go horribly wrong. Also, there are a couple I think might be references to things, including "blernsball" and "Hunt the Monopod" (and I'm hoping to see Calvinball at some point).

Anyway, I'd like to see at least a few of these listed on the page somewhere. If not an expanding list of all references. Thanks. --Kilyle 22:50, 2 June 2012 (CEST)

* Good idea, I had noticed these random inserts also but hadn't been keeping track of them well enough to make a list.
I will definitely work on it, now that I know someone else is interested in them.--SnarFoo 04:09, 16 August 2012 (CEST)