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====== A Noob's Guide to the Crypt ======
__By Axiom — Originally posted in Discord__

This guide shares a few things I've picked up starting the crypt.

===== Learnings =====

  * As so often with this game: **good gear & bad code > good code & bad gear**. You can get away with bad code if your gear is good.
  * The crypt isn't hard to do – but **some monsters are hard to kill** 🙂

===== Practical Tips =====

  * You **MUST** have good tanking-ability (which means gear)
  * Optional: You should be able to **AoE (for Spike)**
  * I opted for **Priest / Warrior / Warrior**, simply because all 3 can tank and 1 can heal. It's the most resilient combo I have available.
  * A lonely monster is an easy monster!
  * Avoid monsters that are close together.
  * Have a good blacklist!
    * Found an easy mob but Orlok (or some other tough mob) is close? __Blacklist!__
    * Found a hard mob with the healer attached? __Blacklist!__
    * Found an easy mob with the healer attached? __Go for the healer first!__
  * Yes, by blacklisting a ton of mobs you lose out on loot
    * But: You also stay alive, you don't enter a death loop, and you don't spend 2 hours in the same crypt!
  * Remember, this is the __noob's guide__ to the crypt! 😄 We ignore hard challenges and go for low-hanging fruit!

===== Want to Crypt? Here's How! =====

  * You must be able to open a crypt instance
  * You make the instance ID available to all characters so they can join it
  * You should track the mobs you already defeated
  * Record the time you enter the crypt and delete the instance after X time (30 minutes? 1 hour?)

All of the above (1-3) can be solved via `localStorage`.

__Housekeeping__:  
Delete the instance if you killed all monsters (tracked in step 2) or if you've spent too much time in the instance (tracked in step 3).

===== Characters Must Be Able to Enter the Crypt =====

  * Is there a Crypt-ID in localStorage and you're not already in the crypt?
    * If you're far from the crypt door, **move to the door**
    * If you're at the crypt door, **enter the crypt** using the ID from localStorage

===== Okay, Now You Are Inside =====

Make sure all characters go to the same spot.

__An easy spot is at the vbats__ – it's the only static spawn in the crypt and always at the same location.

===== The Simplest Way of Farming the Crypt =====

  * If nothing else, **kill all vbats** and delete the crypt instance from `localStorage`
  * Repeat!

**Congratulations!** You can now farm `crings` & `ceaarings` — vbats drop A LOT of them.

> If you only farm vbats, you’ve likely already got loot worth more than the crypt key (which usually goes for 3–5M).

===== Farming Other Mobs than Vbats =====

  * Find out what you can kill safely
  * If it's in `parent.entities`, go there and hammer away! 😄

You’ll soon find there are a lot of edge cases:

  * There’s a healer that can make an easy monster like Bill undefeatable when attached

__Write targeting logic AND safety logic:__

  * Does the mob you want to farm have a healer ("a5") within X pixels? → Ignore it
  * ...But maybe attack the healer? 🙂
  * Is the monster leveled? → __Blacklist!__
  * Is the monster named Orlok? → __Run!! 😄__

> Do this well, and you can farm most things.

I *can* farm everything except Orlok — *if* the monster is alone.

===== You Don’t Need Pathfinding =====

Pathfinding is hard to do — and even harder to do well!

One of the most dreaded parts of the crypt is that all monsters (except vbats) roam around. Their location changes every run.

**But I figured:**  
What is pathfinding? It finds a path from A to B.

We kind of have that already with `smart_move()`.

We know A (our current position),  
But we don’t know B (the next monster).

So... let's roam!

===== Roaming Logic (The Easy Way) =====

I chose the most inefficient but simple solution:  
__Just visit all or most intersections of the crypt and record them!__

  * Make an **array of waypoints**
  * The array must be **ordered**
  * Start from the middle of the crypt
  * Keep adding waypoints until you complete a full loop

===== How to Roam =====

Simple rules!

__If the current character is the master/tank:__

  * Find the **closest waypoint**
  * Are the other 2 characters close?
    * If not → Stay at current waypoint and wait
    * If yes → Move to the **next waypoint**
  * Can't find other characters with `get_player()` (they may be dead)? → Go to `waypoints[0]` and regroup

__If the character is not the master/tank:__

  * Can you get the master with `get_player()`? → Move to him!
  * If not → Go to `waypoints[0]` and regroup

And that's how you roam the crypt the easy way! 😄

> It’s inefficient as hell, yes. But it gets the job done — you’ll cover the whole crypt. 😄

===== And That’s It! =====

I hope you enjoyed!

===== Thank You =====

{{https://images-ext-1.discordapp.net/external/BOnYgqTg8uim-IAbd0h4JbFx4txOLoxPPOD7O29ysgQ/https/media.tenor.com/UladBrWhuJ8AAAPo/bowing-thank-you.mp4|Thank you from Axiom}}

===== BONUS: Edge Cases =====

The crypt is full of edge-cases. It’s what it’s famous for!

  * Monster X is easy! Let's attack!
  * Oh, this time it has a healer...
  * Oh, now it's next to Orlok too...

__So how do we noobs deal with it?__

==== Ignore the Edge-Cases ====

Yes! __Simply ignore the edge-cases!__ 🤣

Here it comes:

  * Do **not** write code to handle edge-cases.
  * Write code to find **good cases**!

> Your target selection should reflect what a **safe** monster is.

  * If it matches your "safe" definition → **Attack it**
  * If not → **Ignore it**

This is the **easiest way** (that I found) to get decent target selection with minimal code — for a wide range of targets and situations.

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__Originally written by Axiom in Discord. Minor formatting applied for wiki readability.__