The most basic questions are answered on-site on this page, but for everything else there's Mastercard the following FAQ.
If you have a question that isn't on here, send an ask to either The Overseer or Babbyoverseer and we will answer to the best of our abilities.
Items, Suggestions, and Alchemy
What's the power cap for a weapon or wearable?
The power cap for weapons is 9999 base power, and +3333 to all bonuses for a one-handed weapon, +9999 for a two-handed weapon.
The power cap for bodygear is 1000 defense and +1000 total across all combat bonuses (not counting negatives).
For all other wearables, the cap is 333 defense and +333 total combat bonuses (666 for both if it's a headgear that also covers the facegear slot).
What's the difference between dual-wielding max power one-handed weapons and wielding one two-handed weapon?
The power totals equal to about the same due to the halved stats of your offhand weapon when dual-wielding; however, there are pros and cons to having more of that power go to combat bonuses rather than base power.
The most notable of these differences is the Abuse command; it's an attack-oriented command, so any combat bonuses to it will go to attack rather than defense. A weapon that is +9999 in your active command and +9999 in abuse will give you a solid +19998 to attack power in total at the cost of a ton of defense. Dual-wielding on the other hand will allocate much of that power to defense even if you choose Abuse, since it is only +3333.
In short, two-handed weapons are better at extremes and one-handed weapons are more balanced overall.
I tried to combine two items, but every code I got in return belonged to one of the original items. Is this a bug?
Nope, this is a side-effect of the way alchemy works. The two items are probably closely related, causing a phoenomenon affectionately known as Code Incest. Check out the page on Alchemy for more information.
I can't figure out any item recipes!
As this isn't quite Homestuck, not every combination will result in an item yet. If you're stuck and need a stronger weapon, but you can't find any combinations for your chosen strife specibus, you have a couple of options:
- Ask for help. I'm always standing by at myTumblr, happy to give hints to those in need of an upgrade!
- Submit an item! Don't be shy, just pick two items you have laying around and imagine what you might get if you combined them. 98% of items that are submitted get accepted, and you'll have the honor of contributing to the game!
My item was rejected/marked for deletion! Does that mean it's never going to be added to the game?
Not if you don't resubmit it again! The most common reasons for rejection are:
- The item already exists, in which case you have nothing to worry about
- "Too similar to opposite operation item", meaning an item already exists using the opposite operation that is fairly close to the item you submitted.
- The components don't interact; in other words, trying to combine them always results in one of the codes that was originally put in. This is easily remedied by trying the combination yourself before submitting it, and if it doesn't work, try to find a different recipe.
- 7 days have passed since the item was yellow-flagged to request clarification, and the requested information has not been given by anybody. Any item that hasn't been updated in a week is considered "inactive" and will be marked for deletion. Be sure to keep an eye on your item submissions; if it's yellow, then something is missing!
But remember, the item will never be considered again until you resubmit. When in doubt, submit more items!
I have an idea for a new kind abstratus, what's the best way to suggest it?
Through an item suggestion. Simply send off a suggestion of a base item with that abstratus listed. New kind abstrati are very easy to add, so if one is suggested it will always be considered. Keep in mind that it probably won’t get accepted if it’s too similar to an existing abstratus (such as scepterkind when there’s already staffkind) but it’s always worth a shot! If the new specibus doesn’t go through because of that, there’s a good chance that the item will still be accepted but under a different kind.
Do I have to wait for an item to get accepted (and/or publicly announced) before I can use it in the combination for another suggestion?
Not at all! As long as you submit all of the items together and include the recipes, they will all get added one after another, provided everything checks out.
Why is this book/disc/other thing not labeled as bookkind/disckind/etc?
In the cases of abstrati that are very commonly used as components for their content, rather than their physical form, we prefer not to label them as what abstratus they might normally fall under. In other words, if an item is not likely to be used as a weapon compared to other items of the same classification, it probably won't be marked as a weapon. This is to reduce the number of possible combinations of a certain abstratus and make them easier to figure out.
What is a "vanity code" and why is it such a bad thing?
A "vanity code" is simply a code made to look like a word, phrase, or have some kind of meaning outside of bits. You'll notice a lot of codes in Homestuck are vanity codes, as are a lot of codes in the Overseer Project as well. However, not every item can have a vanity code. The alchemy system combines codes in such a way that a given recipe will always result in the code that corresponds to the combination of the two. There's no changing what code the combination makes.
That said, items are often submitted with vanity codes, even if they were created from a recipe. Because of how robust the submission system is now compared to how it started out, most item devs will assume that the codes given are the correct one for the recipe - after all, there are many checks in place to make sure the code is not invalid upon submission, and it has to go through moderator approval before it gets greenlit. There's a pretty good chance that a given code is correct if it made it that far, and yet, some vanity codes still slip through the system. A dev who doesn't catch it might add it into the game with that code.
You probably know where this is going, but I'll continue. If the code that belongs to an item doesn't match the recipe intended to create it, then nobody can acquire the item using that recipe. In other words, with a vanity code, there might as well not even be a recipe. Thus, only items that are submitted without recipes can have vanity codes (unless there is a LOT of effort put into making sure the two codes combine in just the right way, but that isn't advised for the average submission). So please, do your part and make sure the item is submitted with the proper code. If you can't find the code for some reason, leave the code field blank. If a dev somehow misses filling out a blank code, that's their problem.
Sessions
There are accounts in our session that never play the game anymore. Is there anything we can do about it?
The first person to join the session is automatically given the role of "session admin". The admin can "exile" a player, sending them to the Exiles session where they no longer count as being part of their original session. They can always be un-exiled if they want to return later.
If you need to reorganize your client/server connections, the admin can reset those as well so that new connections can be made.
The admin of our session disappeared/we don't have an admin. Are we a doomed session?
If you need an admin assigned or reassigned to your session, simply get in touch with a developer, explaining the situation and giving the name of your session and the username of who you want as the new admin, and we'll make it so ASAP.
I am the/an admin of my session. Where do I go to edit things?
Click on the button that says ">Admin" in the top menu. You'll see various options such as exiling/unexiling, server/client connection resets, prototype negation, and (if you are the head admin) appointing/unappointing other admins and changing global session settings such as the allowing of random players and whether or not to enforce unique classpect pairs.
Is there a way to delete a session or player account that is no longer in use?
In the alpha 1.6 build and later, yes there is! You'll find the option to self-delete your account in the Player Settings page, which is at the bottom of the Player menu. In order to delete your account, your password is needed for confirmation. Once completed, this action is permanent. It does, however, free up the username so that another account can be created with it. It is possible to use this method to start one's account over from square one, in a different session if desired.
Deleting a session is just as easy. If the session's primary admin (the one who first created the session, usually) goes to the Admin page, there is also an option to delete the session at the very bottom. The session's password is required for confirmation here. This action is also permanent, and any players within the session (including yourself) are automatically exiled, retaining every other detail about their account. If another session is created with the exact same name, however, any accounts that were part of the deleted session may enter the new session after being unexiled by the new head admin.
Can I move my account to a different session without deleting anything?
Not possible. Player accounts are bound to their own sessions until deletion. The only way to join a new session with your username is to delete your account and make a new one with the same username, joining the new session.
Gates and Lands
What are the minimum lands to have every grist type available?
Liquid, Wealth, Hex, Block and Chaos. Bear in mind that if you have more players or you don't care about some grist types, other lands still have advantages, like giving you rarer grist in lower tiers than the previous lands, making them easier to be farmed.
How can I visit the lands of other players in my session?
First, you'll need a server player. Your server needs to build your house up to gate 1 at least, and your server player needs gate 2. Then, you can visit your server's land, and if your server's server has gate 2 or higher, you can visit your server's server's land. (An easy way to remember: odd-numbered gates are "entry" gates, which take you to other lands, and even-numbered gates are "exit" gates, from which you emerge after taking the entry gate just before it.) The chain continues in this way as far as it can go; this is why it's important to have a closed client-server chain.
Is there a point to reaching gates 3-6?
Aside from being able to access more difficult/rewarding dungeons, gates beyond the first pair can be used to reach lands further along in the chain, essentially skipping one (gates 3-4) or two (gates 5-6) players. So, if player X in a chain hasn't reached gate 2 yet, but X's client has reached gate 3 and X's server has reached gate 4, the chain can still continue.
With the alpha 1.6 build, reaching higher gates will increase the variety of consort shop items and quest rewards you can encounter. When you build up to a new gate, be sure to check your land's shop the next time it refreshes and/or do a few quests on it to see what new items it has to offer!
Can items such as the rocket pack help me reach higher gates? And if so, how do I use them?
Any item with the "flying" abstratus tag (currently only visible in the portfolio/wardrobifier when applicable) will allow you to visit any land in the chain regardless of gate reached by simply having it in your inventory, but there still needs to be a chain in the first place or else the gates will lead nowhere.
Is there a way to visit a land even if it's not part of my chain?
Nope, in order to visit all the lands of your session, you need every player to be a part of the same chain. Flying items can indeed help you reach higher gates, but if the gates don't lead anywhere, you can't use them.
Strife
Whoops, I picked the wrong strife specibus! What can I do about it?
You can visit the Resetter (located under Player in the Home menu) to reset your strife specibus, if you can afford to shell out 10000 Boondollars. However, if you're in a Challenge Mode session, you're stuck with what you got as in canon. Be more careful next time :L
How can I get more strife cards?
Currently, there is only one way to obtain an additional strife specibus: imps that spawn in dungeons have a 1% chance of carrying a strife card and a weapon of that specibus. If you kill the imp, you can pick up the card and the weapon.
How can I go God Tier?
Alrighty, pay attention, because this process can get pretty complicated. The first and most important thing you'll want to do is wait until God Tier is actually implemented! Cause it's not, yet. It's planned, of course, we're just prioritizing the main game's content from medium entry to the Black King fight. Once that stage of the game is fleshed out, we'll focus on other stuff such as God Tier.
Ok, then what's with the various God Tier outfits?
As was established in-comic, the God Tier outfits are simply that - just outfits. Meaning, they can be alchemized and worn by anybody, even if you aren't God Tier yet, or if your class/aspect is different. They also don't grant any special powers. So we went ahead and added them. All 144 of them.
If you want to alchemize one for yourself, they all follow a consistent recipe: Blank God Tier Pajamas (NOT the God Tier Pajama Kit, although that is a component of the blank pajamas) && Aspect Item || Class Item. The Class and Aspect Items can be looted from gate 1 dungeon bosses.
Miscellaneous
Hey, there are two different spellings for "gr(a/e)y" in the colors list!
This is intentional, not a bug or an oversight. Each spelling actually refers to a different shade of that color. And no, you can't make that joke. We've heard it too many times. Anyway, there's an entire site devoted to the difference between the two. We're going with the colors used a ways down the page.