You, Robot

You, Robot is the Spring 2021 special challenge path, introduced on February 14, 2021. This path adds variant rules and restrictions to an ascension run. Its description in The Bureau of Reincarnation reads "Instead of being yourself, be a big rusty junk robot!"

Restrictions

• You start with 40 Energy each day instead of adventures, and must spend Energy to gain 10 adventures at The Scrapheap, which replaces Your Campsite. Each time you do this per day, the cost increases by 1 Energy, starting with 10. Energy can also be gained after combat (+1 by default, up to +3 with attachments), or collecting at The Scrapheap (costs 1 adventure, starts with +25 [or more with additional runs] but degrades by 15% each time it is done in one day).
• Scrap & Energy both replaces MP, with some unlockable skills costing either Scrap or Energy to cast.
  • MP is still accessible for Seek out a Bird and CLEESH.
• None of your permed skills are available.
  • Your spinal-fluid-covered emotion chip is usable, giving the Emotionally Chipped skills.
• You cannot equip hats, pants, weapons, offhand items or shirts, use familiars, or even use potions unless your robot body is modified appropriately. (Note that capes and accessories are allowed.)
• No food, drink, booze, or spleen. So don't waste your Karma on hotdogs or pilsners. Also, don't waste your time on the Azazel, Ma Belle quest. (Miscellaneous consumables like the cast or sewing kit work, but MP restores are largely useless.)
  • Surprisingly, the magical sausage is an exception to this, and can be consumed as normal.
• Robots have 20-60 max HP (dependent on class). Only +Max HP bonuses will give extra maximum HP; neither base nor buffed muscle bonuses have any effect.
• No guilds:

  The guildmaster screams "NO ROBOTS!" and slams the door in your face.

• Bosses do not drop their usual equipment and fights do not give stats, so you get nothing except a more difficult fight from Monster Aggravation Devices (except in some cases like Oil Peak or The Defiled Cranny.)
• Robots cannot enter The Sea:

  That shack you saw on the main map was just a picture of a shack drawn on the ground.

• It is not possible to read skill books:

  That book isn't meant for robots.

  • The spinal-fluid-covered emotion chip is an exception, which is automatically pulled at the start of your run and can be used as normal.
• You cannot drop You, Robot until day 3:

  Your replacement human body will not be available until you've been a robot for at least 3 days.

Divergences

• You are a robot.
• Unlike some previous challenge paths, there are no warnings for bringing invalid consumables during reincarnation.
  • You get a special, robotic avatar, which changes to show your current attachments and class.
  • Your adventure begins with You, Robot (adventure).
  • You start at Level 6, with 50 Energy, 0 Adventures, and 0 Scrap.
  • Your initial stats are 30, 20, and 10, distributed according to the character class you chose when ascending.
  • You start with 3 appendages depending on your character class:

Class	Top	Left Arm	Right Arm	Propulsion
Seal Clubber		Pound-o-Tron Deal 20 Damage + 10% of your Muscle	Slab-O-Matic +30 Maximum HP	Bald Tires +10 Maximum HP
Turtle Tamer		Pound-o-Tron Deal 20 Damage + 10% of your Muscle	Junk Shield +10 Damage Reduction +10 Damage Absorption	Bald Tires +10 Maximum HP
Pastamancer	Bird Cage Allows the use of a familiar	Reflective Shard +3 Resistance to All Elements		Rocket Crotch Deal 20 Hot Damage + 10% of your Mysticality
Sauceror	Solar Panel Gain 1 Energy after each fight	Reflective Shard +3 Resistance to All Elements		Rocket Crotch Deal 20 Hot Damage + 10% of your Mysticality
Disco Bandit	Pea Shooter Deal 20 Damage + 10% of your Moxie	Metal Detector +30% Item Drops from Monsters		Motorcycle Wheel +30% Combat Initiative
Accordion Thief	Pea Shooter Deal 20 Damage + 10% of your Moxie		Horseshoe Magnet Gain 1 Scrap after each fight	Motorcycle Wheel +30% Combat Initiative

• You gain Energy instead of substats after combat, and you gain 40 Energy instead of 40 adventures at rollover. Most substats and adventures are gained at The Scrapheap.
  • Extra Rollover Adventures and Rollover Effects from equipment and campground furnishings (despite the lack of a campground) still work as normal.
  • Energy can also be gained by using batteries from the Potted power plant.
• The Scrapheap replaces The Campground.
  • You can spend Adventures to collect energy or scavenge for scrap. Scavenging will also heal you.
  • You can spend energy to gain more Adventures.
  • You can also spend energy to increase your stats with Statbot 5000. This is the primary way a robot to gain XP and level up.
    • Substats from other sources, such as non-combats, still work as normal.
  • You can purchase upgrades and skills at the Reassembly Station using energy or scrap.
• You encounter robot versions of the usual bosses:
  • Instead of the Boss Bat, you fight the Boss Bot.
  • Instead of the Goblin King, you fight the Gobot King.
  • Instead of the Bonerdagon, you fight the Robonerdagon.
  • Instead of Groar, you fight Groarbot.
  • Instead of Dr. Awkward you fight Tobias J. Saibot.
  • Instead of Lord Spookyraven you fight Lord Cyberraven.
  • Instead of the Protector Spectre you fight Protector S. P. E. C. T. R. E.
  • Instead of The Man you fight The Android.
  • Instead of The Big Wisniewski you fight The Artificial Wisniewski.
  • Instead of the Naughty Sorceress you fight the Nautomatic Sorceress
    • The Nautomatic Sorceress does not remove your beneficial effects, nor is the Wand of Nagamar required to defeat her.
  • The robot bosses do not drop their usual items or Meat. Instead, they drop robo-batterys, which give energy when used.

Skill progression

Each normal (softcore) You, Robot ascension increases the initial energy gain from Collect Energy by 1 and increases the first scrap salvage by 3. Each hardcore You, Robot ascension increases the initial energy gain from Collect Energy by 2 and increases the first scrap salvage by 6. Both initial energy collection and the first scrap salvage are capped at 37 - a value reached after 6 hardcore or 12 normal ascensions (or any combination of the above).

Text

See The Council of Loathing/You, Robot.

Strategy

• See this page for tips and strategies.

Notes

• Attempting to enter an adv.php combat with no weapon gives the message:

  You don't currently have any offensive capability. You should attach some kind of weapon before you try to adventure!

• Your robot face will be one of 6 base images, depending on your class chosen:

Rewards

• Players will receive a Thwaitgold listening bug statuette each time they complete a run.
• Players in Hardcore gain the stainless steel equipment for their class.

References

• The name of the path references I, Robot, a fixup novel of science fiction short stories or essays by American writer Isaac Asimov.

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