Fairies were always big like ppl, till Victorian era; folklore historian

 See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i61jkjPtMuw

See time 14:30 in video.

Scots and Irish fairies are still big. And fairies used to always be human sized or bigger… also were beautiful. 

The English in the Victorian era made them smaller.  Victorians were interested in nature and insects… dragonflies and stuff. 

-=-=-=

Toothfairoes used to be mice. Kinda. 

… commenter verysxarydragon says: mice and rodents eat antlers and bones and teeth in the wilderness.  Seems to be true https://iere.org/why-do-rodents-eat-antlers/

See Pianotm’s comment. Lord Byron did initial ghost story contest, that’s why ppl contestants wrote him as a vamp. And GRIM REAPER. Based in Greek… the titan Kronos lord of time w his scythe, …. Being Charon the boatman…then associated w the Black Plague as roaming the streets of Europe really solodified him personified as dearh. 

Absolum - more analysis on Cinder

 From: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3590526648

My (((comments))) or emphasis in this color. 

Cider

Available from the start:
-Turbo Rotor
Arm blade rotates faster and longer during attacks. This makes Cider deal more hits and damage to enemies on the third and fourth Strike, [the] first jumping Strike, and [her] Running attack. This synergizes very well with Rituals that grant you effects on Strikes, and as it gives you more opportunities for Critical Hits (((yes yes yes, this is what I noticed. You will crit like crazy. Go Crit build or Crit + Luck, Luck which increases crit chances, build with it.))) as well, it synergizes well with Rituals, Trinkets, and Inspirations that have an effect on Crits. It's not exactly the flashiest Inspiration but it's quite solid.

-Critical Toolbox
Spawns a random Throwable on Criticals. Any build that boosts the power of Throwables will appreciate this Inspiration, and Throwable are very powerful in general. Be careful though: you may cover the ground in Throwables and have a hard time actually throwing the ones you have equipped, as the game prioritizes picking up items on the ground over throwing the ones equipped. Hopefully this gets addressed.

-Pneumatic Heels
Gain 2 additional Dashes and allows to Air Dash. A great Inspiration defensively, as it allows you to defend during Cider's lengthy air combos, it also allows you to become more mobile and chain attacks in creative ways. Synergizes well with Rituals that have an effect on Dashes and Deflects, naturally. Very fun to use!

-Gyro Drop
NEW MOVE: Up + Skill while Grabbing or in the air. Landing spot can be controlled. This is a versatile move that can help keep you safe during intense situations as you become invincible when you execute it and you can relocate to a safer spot on the screen, or slam your victim against a group of enemies to scatter them. It's a great way to finish your combo when you reach Overpressure as it deals a lot of damage, which gets boosted by the Overpressure hit. Plus, it just looks so cool.

-Cashback
When no Throwable is equipped, use gold to throw a damaging coin. The coin will disappear if it hits an enemy, but you'll be able to pick it back up if it lands on the ground. Keep in mind that your co-op partner can also pick up the coins you throw. This can be annoying, but you can also use that to give them extra gold if they need it to buy a Trinket. If you have Throwable Replicator, you'll throw three coins for the price of one...

-Recycle
Gadget-based Arcanas spawn Mana orbs when disappearing. This applies to Clockwork marionette, Spider mine, and Flying shredder, and allows you to spam these a lot, especially if you have Arcana Mastery. It unfortunately does nothing for the other three Arcanas.

-Throwable Replicator
Throwables are multiplied when thrown. You throw three of every throwable (save for Thorn Daggers) for the price of one! This deals awesome amounts of damage and is also practical for crowd control. Throwable builds are stong on anyone, and stronger still on Cider.

-Magnetic Jump
Wall Jump is possible. Press Strike to follow with a diving blade attack. This is Cider's stinker Inspiration... For how cool it is in concept, Wall Jumps are way too infrequent to implement easily in your gameplan. It's a shame, because it looks very cool, and the follow up attack is rad too! I'd advise against picking it up in a serious run, but hey, it's a lot of fun to mess with.

Unlocked with Seeds at Ederig the Stalwart:
-Vortex Grip
NEW MOVE: Hold Skill to Grab and throw an enemy. You spin the enemy around before throwing them, which hits surrounding enemies as well. You can hold forward or back to decide in which direction to throw the enemy, too. You can't do it in the air though.
NOTE: this does NOT remove your ability to pull enemies towards you with your base Skill: if you tap Skill, release the button, and then hold it again, you'll be able to do your basic pull Skill with your grappling arm. The timing is a little tight, so it may take some practice to pull it off.

-Slice and Dice
Attacks from behind deal +50% damage. Forward Dash passes through enemies and deals damage. This is another fun combo tool that opens up your options, especially coupled with Pneumatic Heels, and it heavily boosts your damage when you use it properly. Cider has all the cool-looking stuff!

Unlocked from Cider's personal quest:
-Arcana Mastery
Give brand new properties to your equipped Arcanas.
Kinetic gear hits six times instead of three.
Spider mine turns into three mines that track enemies automatically.
Tinker blade fires five kunai instead of three. By the way, did you know you can aim them up and down when using the Arcana in the air?
Clockwork marionette Clashes enemy attacks instead of Deflecting them.
Flying shredder launches an additional drone that spins around the first one.
Rising drill hits and Clashes in a significantly bigger area of effect, lasts longer and hits more.

Absolum - More analysis - Karl the Dwarf

Her Original via: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3590526648

Emphasis and (((My comments))) in other color, b/c red kinda hurts me eyes on their blue-black background.

Karl

Available from the start:
-Ironhead Rush
NEW MOVE: Run + Skill to perform a powerful headbutt. This attack can Clash and starts up quickly, and you can perform it after a normal Skill, which gives you another chance to Clash the enemy if you performed the normal Skill too early. This deals a lot of damage as well, and I believe counts as both a Skill and a Running Attack for Trinket and Ritual effects. (((no real comment, but it seems good at a glance when the kid was using it. I tried it a little and thought it fine, but always ended up doing something else for some reason. Could it be as good as the DRILL on the BROMELIAD FROG?)))

-Extra Magazines
Gain 2 Mana chunks but decrease Arcana damage by 30%. Don't sleep on this, the damage debuff may look significant but having more Mana makes you better on offense and defense. This is great if you're unsure about the timing to Clash with your Skill, as you can Arcana afterwards to be safer. Besides, coupled with Infused Shells, this actually buffs your damage output. (((yep, with infused shells, it's great. But with powered up summoned skeletonesses, it is just badass and broken with Reload. I've preached this before.)))

-Hammer Swing
Finisher hits multiple times and can be controlled. This deals more damage than your regular Finisher, as well as having a bigger area of effect. This is great for combos and you can position yourself better during it in case you spot danger. Keep in mind you can cancel it at any time with a Run, a Skill or an Arcana, like your regular Finisher. (((Scuber duber duper good. Zee kiddo's fave thing in the game lately.)))

-Reload
NEW MOVE: Skill with no directional input, spins weapon and reloads 2 Mana chunks. Works in air.
This is the mother of all cheese strats - couple this with an Arcana that can keep your enemies at bay (((yeah, I'm saying the harpoony Javeline one is key. Not to mention skellie summoning from Arcana. Did I say that before?))), and you'll be able to kite them from the other end of the screen safely, even more so if you have Infused Shells.
The attack itself deals a lot of hits when it connects with an enemy, which is great for Rituals that have an effect on your Skill. Reload's Clash window also appears faster than your regular Skill's Clash window, so you can do it rather late and still Clash.
Keep in mind you still have access to your regular headbutt Skill and gun butt Skill in the air if you hold forward/back while pressing Skill.

-Earthbreaker
NEW MOVE: Skill while grabbing an enemy to smash him on the ground. This deals a LOT of damage in a big area, and you are invincible during the first part of the animation, so this move is great for crowd control. You cannot Clash attacks with it though. If you have Throw Mastery, you can do some insanely damaging combos by doing the Throw Mastery dash in the air to regrab the enemy and do Earthbreaker over and over.

-Take Aim
Arcana can be charged to deal 50% more damage. I think this is the stinker in Karl's otherwise amazing line up of Inspirations, and even then it's not bad at all. More damage is great, and charging your Arcana means you can time your Clash (or invincibility) window manually. It just pales in comparison to the other choices.

-Throw Mastery
NEW MOVE: Up + Y, dash and grab the enemy. Works in the air. In addition, Throws do more damage and launch further. This move is a LOT of fun (((how??? lemme read))), as it opens up Karl's combo game significantly!
The dash itself has Deflect properties that can keep you safe against non-red attacks and power through your enemies' blows. Don't hesitate to use it against anything that can be grabbed. It unfortunately isn't much use against enemies that cannot be grabbed in combos like Gazorg, but doing it during a combo can grab enemies that normally break out of your grabs, like Rudolf or the blue Goblin Champion (((the little armored helmet dude eh? with the wide swinging sword?))).

-Bouncing Bash
Strikes 3 times in the air, bouncing off enemies. Another addition to open up Karl's air game, this deals a lot of damage and can be followed up by an air Skill. The final hit also counts as a Finisher for Rituals that affect them. (((Dude, this thing is as broken good as the Galandra Dive Kick... ok maybe not that powerful, but it is super duper safe and easy to take out scary monsters with b/c you are so safe and like cannot miss once you start. Feels slightly boring maybe.)))

Unlocked with Seeds at Ederig the Stalwart:
-Rocket Dwarf
NEW MOVE: Dash in the air to boost in a chosen direction, up to 3 times. This is another AMAZING Inspiration! Not only can you perform the boost in all 8 directions, this also can hit enemies! It counts as a Skill for Rituals that affect them, AND it can Clash against enemy attacks instantly. You can move at very high speed thanks to this Inspiration. It's amazing offensively and defensively. I hotly recommend messing with it. (((yeah seems fun and kinda nutty good. Just the fast movement is pretty wild. Did I ever mention how I like fast stuff?)))

-Infused Shells
Shells produced by Arcana can damage enemies and auto-target them. This Inspiration is not amazing with single-shot Arcanas (Blast, Grenade, and Javelin), but works extremely well with Rifle, Dragonbreath (it's almost mandatory with Dragonbreath, b/c you cannot turn around or cancel Dragonbreath. Still I say Dragonbreath is awesome, b/c in Co-op it helps lock down half the screen, and your buddy can combo up the place))), and Firestorm. You can pelt your foes with half a dozen tracking shells that'll keep you safe even from baddies that sneak up behind you. Couple this with Reload and you have an extremely powerful and cheesy build. Just make sure these don't get Clashed by enemies who can Clash your attacks, like the Lizard King and Azra (((I was wondering about that... on Azra specifically b/c he's pretty annoying with it in general))), or you'll get a taste of your own medicine...

Unlocked from Karl's personal quest:
-Arcana Mastery
Give brand new properties to your equipped Arcanas.
Blast bullet has a significantly bigger hitbox and generates more Shells.
Grenade bullet turns into a fragmentation grenade, covering more of the screen in explosions.
Firestorm bullet lasts longer.
Rifle bullet fires significantly faster, generating more Shells as well.
Dragonbreath bullet cover a a bigger area in front of you.
Javelin bullet, uh, deals more damage? No idea what other effects it has.

Absolum - more analysis on Galandra

Via  https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3590526648

Galandra

Red = my emphasis. I'll be (((commenting))) shortly. 

-Blood Harvest
Gain 10% damage and 10% Move speed for 10 seconds when killing an enemy. This bonus stacks when killing multiple enemies, meaning killing a second enemy before the 10 seconds are up grants you an additional 10% damage and 10% Move speed for the next 10 seconds. (((so I was wondering, and apparently in this writeup she [just noticed it's a chick writing this up, BTW thx to you original poster] says that they stack/overlap... meaning if you kill 3 dudes in 1 second you get like 9 or 10 seconds of 30% extra damage & move-speed. I think that sounds about right. ))) 
Extra Move speed should also buff the damage of your running attack.

REMINDS ME, when you get the thing on SKILL that gives you Spectral Armor... I noticed if you spam it against the same monster, it doesn't keep stacking. Maybe it is ONCE per COMBO or something. Noticed it when using BROM and the upgraded SKILL + the give spectral armor on Skill hit, b/c I was bouncing them off the wall a gazillion times and my Spectral armor would only appear to upgrade one time during that combo. THIS HAS IMPLECATIONS that all things tied to SKILL will only trigger once per combo, I guess. Go double check me on all this. 

-Blade Spin
Replace Skill in the air with a multi-hit spinning attack. This attack deals more damage than the base Skill and has a slightly larger Clash window. However, against armoured enemies, this can leave you open to counterattacks because of how long the animation takes, so use it with care. Important[l]y, this hits and Clashes behind you as well. (((SheeeEEEeeet. This thing is broken in many cases. Safely, easily hit multi monsters from the air. I guess watch out for Armored enemies, so that's good it has a weakness. Then again... that is interesting, b/c do you want it easy against the mobs of monsters or against just the super duper armored jackholes? Choices are fun.)))

-Charged Sword
Hold Skill to perform a Charged Sword attack that deals 300% damage to Armoured enemies. This is amazing to take out an enemy's shield, or deal massive damage against Elites and most Bosses. This also allows you to time your Clashes with more care. You can turn around as well after charging the attack to strike behind you!
If you have Sword Flurry, you can chain your Charged Sword into the 3 hit sword combo.

-Spirit Claw
Replace your Finisher, the end of your Strike combo, with a multi-hit spirit claw attack. Not only does it deal more damage than your normal finisher, it also launches the enemy up in the air, and you can jump out of it to easily follow with an air combo. It can also be done in the air as a Finisher at the end of your air Strike combo. This synergizes very well with Rituals that have an effect on your Finisher, as every hit will trigger the effect.

-Dive Kick
NEW MOVE: Down + Strike in the air to perform a dive kick. You will dive diagonally towards the ground and bounce off enemies, allowing you to air combo them afterwards. Be careful though: against Armoured enemies, you will bounce farther and recover slower. (((my comment: sheeeet. There are some bosses that get nuked by this thing. Well, am I dreaming that? I'll say for sure against the doppelganger, it worked all too easy... uh... easily, to almost quote Vader. I could swear some other bosses, if you just spam it, get thrown into the corner and get stunned and crumpled or whatever. Am I nuts? Thinking Giant Goblin boss. Surely some others, huh?)))
You can peform this out of your running attack as well. It counts as a Finisher (((this mattters a lot for synergy))) for the sake of Rituals.

-Duellist
Greatly increase all damage by 40% at the cost of splitting damage among all targets hit. This is an amazing Inspiration for fighting bosses, as most of them are single target fights. The downside can be annoying when dealing with big groups of enemies, but Trinkets and Rituals can more than make up for that damage debuff.

-Sword Flurry
Perform 3 consecutive sword attacks with Skill. This allows you to deal more damage in combos, of course, but is also amazing for Clashing - if you do your first hit too early, you can do the second and hopefully catch your enemy's attack!
You can run cancel or dodge cancel the first two attacks, but not the third one. However, if you have Charged Sword, you can cancel ANY hit with Charged Sword by holding your Skill button, AND you can then continue into another 3 hit combo (((smells like cheese, but the cheese in this game is always called for and tastes great))) with the sword.

-Dark Grip
Grabbing an enemy does damage over time and generates Mana. Every hit dealt charges one entire chunk of Mana, so this is great to recover Mana and use many Arcanas. The damage dealt is significant as well, and you can still throw your enemy afterwards! (((Well, I liked it for a moment... but since you are usually swarmed midmap, you need to really keep focused and save it for the last monster on each screen. Do you always know what the last monster is on each screen, b/c I can tell you I am not going to stay focused that long. So i can't really use this correctly. Maybe with a TON of practice + conditioning, but never bothered yet b/c this game is fun b/c I do not have to purposely condition myself all the time, that is not so fun, yo.)))

Unlocked with Seeds at Ederig the Stalwart:
-Burial Smash
After a Run Attack, Strike to extend it into a grab and slam. Unfortunately, this attack does not benefit from Rituals that have an effect on throws. (((it still seems super solid to me vs. large groups of monsters. Hits surrounding foes and knocks them to the ground, right... like major crowd control? Doesn't it also do it in the air, or am I thinking of the other one, the claw ender dooflicky?)))

-Ghost Blade
Conjure a permanent floating sword Companion that attacks nearby enemies. This can be a boon when you're low on health and need to play defensively. The sword can also interrupt some enemy attacks, which can save you from getting combo'd. Be aware that the sword will NOT attract the enemy's attention, and so cannot act as a decoy. (((lazy easy mode extra dmg. Sometimes it attacks when you don't want it to or vice versa. It's basically pretty great though.)))

Unlocked from Galandra's personal quest:
-Arcana Mastery
Give brand new properties to your equipped Arcanas.
Draconic ascent will hit more often and deal more damage.
Necrotic wave will fire three energy waves instead of a single one.
Phantom impale will deal more hits and damage.
Revenge claw will hit the enemy twice upon a succesful Clash.
Reaper cyclone will last longer, and grant you Armour after the Clash window is over, preventing you from being knocked out of it. (((you don't say. Prevents you from being knocked out of it. Yeah, when that happens to me using whatever super move, it grates on my nerves every single time. )))
Dark helix will bounce once on the ground, doubling the length of it as well as its damage. (((yep, whoops. Realized this last night. I have a mistake somewhere assuming this was something you could do before the Acana Mastery thing.))))

Absolum - OK, what is this slightly off language this Absolum guide site is using?

https://absolum.online/builds/brome-chain-lightning

https://absolum.online/builds/karl-parry-tank-stagger#overview

 I'm reading through... I do like the shorthand for things so I can skim through it faster. And it almost all makes sense. Except... the person(?) writing this is using some established Roguelike [I still don't really love classifying games into these names, BTW] language or something funky I'm guessing. Because, what is "Frost"? What is "Mana/CD"? What is... "blink"? Some of these things do not exist in the game at face value. Is this site for real? 

quote: 

• Best partners: Frost partners let chains land fully

quote: 

• Unlock first: Mana/CD relief first

quote:

• Counterplay: Add hard CC or pivot to single-target

Guessing CC = CrowdControl. 

quote, about Trinkets: 

• Alternates: Shield/blink

Guessing: ... Well I know what the shield trinket it. Blink? More D&D references, wtf gives here?

Quote: Common Mistakes & Debug

Guessing Debug means... well it means whoever wrote this guy likes computer programming for sure. But what does it actually mean... I guess it means corrections from your common mistakes. This is fun trying to translate this I guess, isn't it.  

Quote: Q4. When should I pivot from “safe” to “burst”?

A. After you stabilize mana and hit density.

Guessing the DENSITY means... eh, enough mana to do what you need to do? Heh. 

OK, this bit is even weirder. Are they using D&D lingo? Frost Ward? Misty step? Is this whole site ai-generated and 25% just wrong? It's bugging me a lot. 

https://absolum.online/planner

1980's vibe video games (from that time or related to); Halloween Scary Maybe

Rampage, ah Rampage: https://moviesandmania.com/2013/10/10/rampage-video-game-1986-overview/

Horror pinball machines: https://moviesandmania.com/2014/03/13/horror-pinball-machines/

Splatterhouse - one of the many Friday the 13th inspired themes: https://moviesandmania.com/2014/03/03/splatterhouse-1988-arcade-game/

Is this not the Godzilla game we have? I think it's different somehow: https://moviesandmania.com/2015/04/21/godzilla-playstation-game/

Absolum - secrets (continually updated)

Reference this... doesn't seem to go into secrets, but helps with names of stuff: https://intoindiegames.com/walkthroughs/absolum-jaroba-walkthrough/ and dont forget the map. And here is a Ritual Unlock guide. 

Secret(?) Moves

• You can't dash (or at least I have failed over and over) into the giant dwarf undead king's fire... but you can SKILL clash it apparently. Weird. The skill clash is even shown in the video on Steam's site. 
• Galandra's spinning ultra can bounce off the floor (wall?) and hit for more. 
• Brome hold X to float. 
• All characters, dash up or down (vertical) and hold UP or hold DWN to get a different endpoint from when you don't Hold up or down. 
• Brome - you can hit some creatures with the Skill burst thing when they can't hit you by
• holding X to float down while hitting Skill (hit them from the air)
• going slightly above or below them, out of their range often, but the burst hits in a circular area (beware of monsters with circular swings, like the goblins with the armor helmets). 
• Getting the upgrade for strong SKILL helps. 

Secret Ultimate! -  

• https://steamcommunity.com/app/1904480/discussions/0/600792156684424487/
• At least Karl and Cider have alternate ultimates. Emote left up up right. 

Whole bunch of stuff I might not have done yet

• See 2nd post: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1904480/discussions/0/600792156684358437/
• winning at the dice game at the bar (((it's possible???!!!)))
• black robe passenger on the ship. Oh yeah, I forgot that happened.
• I love this every time, need to use it in DnD: fight against the solo guardian in necro region who gives you a fish and waits before fighting
• thumbs up emote in front of the "cabin" with a purple glow behind 2 skeletons in the necro region for a chest
• -There is a room in the password route in Yeldrim with a strange purple mirror.
  I think you do an emote in front for it to open with a chest
• % complete: Seemingly it really has to do with picking every trinket and ritual at least once, which makes sense since I've yet to pick some rituals.
• - dude at the mast of the ship asks for 10 crystals (maybe only if you have a wind ritual?)
• revisit the bookie at the arena (Jaroba)
• To add on to the WarRock's list, there is also hole spitting out bones that can appear right before the necro Silver Queen boss zone. Jumping in it five times gave me a chest.
• I think you can throw enemies in the hole instead?
• 
  

Area secrets below

If you see a one-eyed bunny cat, there is a secret soon after. But some secrets are always there. 

Grandery

• Check edges of screen, often there is a boulder blocking a chest. 
• Hit the fish! Always available. Right as you walk into the waterfall area from up to down, attack the fish... requires precise timing and positioning (middle of water), but it's a free HP meal. Always there, one chance to hit it. The other fish you see jumping off the waterfall seems invulnerable though. 
• Behind the waterfall, sometimes you can get in there and get a chest.
• Dragonbeach secret (you went north, beach area) (ooohhh, this sounds like the good one): clear area in front of the giant dragon bones, then do some emotes! Triggers a fight they say!

Yeldrim 

First 1/3 of area

• One skele torso facing front, one facing backwards. Between is a purple flame in a tomb. Do some gestures! Thumbs up worked. 
• Yeldrim fire statues in first half of area;  you'll see 3 colors in their eyes.  Going left to right, that is the order to light up the similar statues you see soon after. Example - Purple blue yellow. But the order changes each run.  
• The lyre and the bard thing. Eventually you can open up the Tomb right at the start after you jump out of the boat. It's not obvious, but you have to jump into the hole from the left side.
• MAYBE: I suspect that the color of the eyes of the frozen (till you hit them... keep in mind you can avoid hitting them and they never hatch) skeletons sticking out of the ground are related to the Tombs later. There is a description you read on the tombs talking about pilgrims or something ghostly. So my theory is to try to not hit any of the frozen skeletons that have eye colors of the same sort as the tomb in question. Then maybe something happens. Hard to do, b/c fighting causes the frozen skeletons to get hit usually. 
• Maybe just try gestures??
• UPDATE: They say just do an emote by the fire. Let's try it. 

Last 1/2 of area (inside the building)

• North from Market (Portcullis)
• Getting in the upper portcullis entrance - see gesture made by the other guys. Seems like it is thumbs down the thumbs up, if I recall. Pretty sure at first you cannot get in, but eventually (after more runs) they'll let you. 
• The Interloper secret boss! There is a couple of tall statue monster things with the sky as the background somewhere. Hit blockage and walk behind and up from the right statue. You are in a new dimension, inspired very much more by Lovecraft than the already inspired by Lovecraft area! Have fun! "after you have dealt with the dual tentacle-monster fight and you enter the room with the statues and the starsigns"
• Labratory Cider Puppeteer quest thing - Don't take the secret path to the secret boss (Interloper) when you are at Yeldrim. Just go the regular route: First go up to the mansion, then stay on the regular path (go down the stairs, don't go behind the statue/into the void). You need a Ritual of Time though, so either cross your fingers or buy the amulet that guarantees one before you start your run.
• South from Market
• In the Yeldrim undead area, taking the south path (not portcullis) after the safe zone market… when see giant statue of liberty head, walk close to the Gem (has to be glowing, like changing into multi lights on and off) in her forehead… do some gestures.  For me it seemed to be the Stop gesture.  Tried, up, right right, down, then left= stop... it was triggered.   
• 
  
  
  
  
• 
  

Jaroba

Jaroba's fire swamp area

• BTW, fireswamps and Prince Brides... are sometimes real says PopSci. 
• quote: There have been instances of people traversing swamps, either on foot or by boat, and they see a plume of flames. This is where a lot of swamp ghost stories come from. For example, in some European folklore, these fireballs were thought to be satanic sprites that could wield fire, and these were called will-o-the-wisps!
• Sometimes after (the right end of) a purple pond, go down and break some giant briars to get to a chest. 
• Sometimes (always?) when you see 3 rocks in the yellow-green water of another pond... you go to the right end of it, go down... line up with the water, see the 3 rocks... if you jump in near the bank you take dmg like usual. But if you have a special move to get you past the 3 stones (and high in the air required?) you will see a chest fly out of the water to you. No damage taken. I did it with the dwarf's triple air dash if I recall. But I could NOT do it with the float power (jump + hold down jump button a long time) of Brome... which seems wonky... he would hit an invisible wall and fall down at the 3 rocks. 
• Correction! Throw items into the pond near the 3 rocks! I guess when I did the Karl triple air dash, something (a bullet shell casing) fell into the water?! See dude's video or pict below. 
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• MAYBE: The clipping through giant rocks hiding a cave seems like a future patch fix, because it doesn't seem to do anything right now. Am I right?
• Avoid the trap bridge! You can see the tripwires, but how to get around it? 
• Air dash, maybe, probably? 
• Brome float, yes. 
• And definitely: secret switch by vases and junk are on the right side. Press R1 to turn off the tripwire traps. 
• 
  

Asterios - the final area

Market area with the turncoat guy

• Check behind the turncoat guy, from the right side, up a little. There is a chest behind him. 
• Top right area, above the Tortoise market seller guy... there is a window to break and enter for loot. 

Final tower area

• When you start the path to the boss, check the first 2 statues. The 2nd one has a Star (Ultimate thingie).
•  

Randomness vs. Upgrade "Secret" (Just Using Logic)

• It has occurred to me more than once that once you unlock more "stuff", you have more random things that will appear during the random generated loot sequences. So...
• So you might not want to unlock everything, ritual-wise, if you don't ever want Time or especially Chaos rituals, for instance. 
• You might not want to buy all the upgrades for character ultimates and upgrades for rituals (inspirations?) if you would rather see the fewer and earlier options more often. 

Secret Difficulty Increase (secret?)

• Yes indeed, the game gets harder the more runs you have on that save account. 
• More armored monsters... all in one room... ouch. 
• "Yes. New types, tactics, and hazards show up with later runs."
• Can Turn off chaos mode with the tentacle guy under the start area. Can toggle it back on later for higher difficulty again. 
• 
  

Absolum kids vs. first boss results

 Got him. 

Had some strong stuff for co-op. 

Karl fire gun (dragon bullet) locks down masses of enemies. 

Cider with bubble on skill can keep trapping bosses… keep em in air. 

Karl had sonic booms and wind powers… kept em in air a lot too.  

Mana bounce is too good. Karl had. And cider had giant tidal waves on Arcana activation. 

Absolum Brome Super Luck run, beat all, very Powerful.

Two Chaos luck rituals. Near end… attacking the boss leftovers gave like 4 trinkets including a green Luck (instead of the typical 1 or 2 items). That's a lot of luck. 

And just look at all these Trinkets, holy cow I got a lot of 'em. Pickaxe for money on breaking things pretty early on, and then bought a ton of stuff. 

Rituals:

• lightning from crits, lvl 2
• chaos luck of the ancients (level 3) i think
• sword lightning
• drip mana... err, mana bleed or something. (I think dmg = gives mana)
• fist lightning
• fist skellies
• chaos luck... level 1. Don't know which one that is. 
• Bramble daggers.
• Cross hairs fire! That must be a CRIT skill symbol. 

Trinkets:

• chainmail
• deathvine
• miner's pickaxe (gold farming)
• 3 feathers I think I see
• Runic Slingshot the gold thing midway on the left (not useful for build, basically).
• 3 x Tongue charm. Maybe 1 x Chaos Mox... midway down on the right, is that what that is? Oh... a tongue.
• 2 boots
• 4 mana rings
• 2 eyeballs
• 2 four-leaf clovers
• 3 shields
• 3 cloaks
• 3 tentacles
• blue claw 30% dmg vs armored
• a blue orb for extra mana chunk(s)
• jar that gives 30% better food heal or whatever  
• a glove
• 2 Necro Moxes
• Chef's Ladle - 7th from bottom, what is that silver line??
• ... that might be it. 36 trinkets?!?!

Inspirations (see detailed notes way below this for what i wrote down that day, no guessing):

• Oh man, i cannot identify them. Let's try. 
• Smashy sword. ??? ((Must be Projectile Dispel))
• Duelist swords? That must be CLASH... something. 
• Crosshairs..., no? That must be a CRIT SKILL icon.  Arcana Mastery?!
• Taco, I mean DRILL skill! That's the drill, I know that one. 

For reference, picture of some trinkets.

-=-=-=-=- Detailed/Correct upgrade Names and Notes below, some slightly redundant-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

RITUALS. Got chaos options now.

• Got Ancinet Luck chaos luck lvl 3 as my second ritual. Leading to good stuff. 
• Mana bleed - mana if hit. 
• Chain Lightning stuff, Hit and Skill and including on crit lvl2 get 35%. Chain lightning  
• Cursed Luck lvl 1… the lower ur hp the higher ur luck. 
• Spectral Strike lvl 2, Hit gives 18% (is that right? Way better than the 5% on level 1)
• Spark Clash lvl 3, proximity spark on Clash, 74 dmg  (drill probably triggered a lot)
• Fiery Ring on Arcana activated  

INSPIRATIONS 

• Arcana mastery (crazy stuff for blaster arcana… it starts running around on its own)
• Drill rush
• Mana burst
• Projectile Dispel (((hey why isn't it spelled "diSPELL" or even "diSSpeLL")))- clash projectile and get homing missile {so it looks like Homing Missile using the same animation as the berserker barrage, I mean Barrage Arcana}. 

TRINKETS

• Chainmail x 1
• Shield x 3 
• Deathvines
• Pickaxe of money early on helped tons bcuz bought everything at end end. Like from snail  
• Feather x 3
• Eyeball x 2
• Tentacle x 3
• Ring of magic x 4 (180%… alllowed infinite supers aka arcanas)
• Gauntlet
• Boots x 2
• Tongue x 3
• Runic slingshot (no need)
• Green lucky charm x 2 (20 luck total)
• Cloak x 3 (15% evade… but also luck)
• Necro mox x 2
• orb of potency (2 extra mana chunks)
• Jar of better food = Cooking spices gives 30% health
• Chefs ladle after all is the funky one near bottom, silver thingie - 50% green bonus HP, nice. Except vs. final final boss, Absolum, the bastard. 
• Claw charm

Absolum - Karl the Dwarf - Skeleton Build #2; almost super powered.

Karl Skellie Build #2 - Not as Broken

So I tried to do the same build as the other day, went all available (~randomly~ generated) skellie powerups. It was quite strong, but not as easy as before because I never got the extended life (which meant I never got the speed walk + invuln 4 sec thing). Also didn't get dropped bones, but did get on-skel-death = Rose Turrets. They were good, but harder to manage against the end bosses, mostly the final final boss... and I think mostly b/c the skellies just didn't work as well.  

Of note: 

• got some powerup that made skellies do 50% more dmg if I recall. 
• got bramble thorn daggers on regular hit finishers. That was OK, but again not good enough against the final boss. You become torn... do you run away, reload, make skellies, or do you try to combo and get ranged attacks. 
• Also had some Time Shadow Recall(?) thrown weapons x 2 or something, so for every 1, it'd be 2 more delayed attacks. Well it's not as good as the Spread x3 or x5 all at once, b/c fast moving final final boss just gets out of the horizontal way too quick.
• Also had a thing to 30% regain ones you've thrown. 
• rose turrets (after skel dies) were good but
• had a power up to STUN and do more dmg or something... which was quite good. But not good enough on the end boss. Or I made too many mistakes maybe. 
• had Skill to give self green ghost armor... Spectral Armor. But rarely was able to get it up, b/c same reason, i was playing keepaway 99% of the time. 
• Do crits work on skellies? 

Absolum - spoiler free secret end boss

 Thanks to this Steam forum person:

   Spoiler-free path to hidden boss

If you want to unlock one of the games hidden rituals and fight one of the two hidden bosses in Absolum, you'll have to make your way to the island of the dead and through the haunted manor.

At the end you will find a room of passage with mysterious symbols and constellations above.

Upon thoroughly exploring you should find a second pathway hidden behind the main exit to the right. Follow it to the end and the hidden path should reveal itself.

Good luck. 

Absolum - Karl Skeleton Build #1, mine. EASIEST RUN EVER. BROKEN GOOD.

By far the best run with Karl I've had so, far  (EDIT: ok that was written halfway thru run.  It got even easier, waaaaay easy. Easiest run out of any character.)

Referencing screenshot above: This guy said he summoned a "Skeletal HORDE!". No, sorry that's not a horde really... I wish I had a picture of how many skeletons I had on the screen; it was about 5 times what he's doing once I got the longevity upgrade. But he does have some nice videos regardless. 

RITUALS

• Note:You gotta keep on picking Skeleton upgrades to get the super good skellie upgrades it seems. I need to look at my actual picks, but I bet it was only one or two other things besides Skellies. 
• Skeletal arcana - lvl 2. Makes skellies when use an arcana. 
• Skeleton dust - lvl 1. skels spawn w/ 3 sonic booms!!
• Later got the 100% longer life skellies, 3 sonic booms on skellies, then drop throw-bones skellies, then 4 sec invulnerable + faster move thing for skellies (was all that rituals, I think so?). And I think that is roughly the order you get them in. 
• Not important rituals- 
• Lightning crit level 1 - barely ever mattered. 
• Tornado skill lvl 2 - never mattered. 

ARCANA  

The Javelin Harpoon one. Important bcuz pushes enemies back while skellies protect you, which also keeps them at bay usually. And note… i have (typing as playing, it was offered to me midway thru) Rifle Bullet too, but it is not good for keepaway karl bcuz no pushback. 

Got 5 mana chunks total (picked option for 2 extra but lower dmg). 

INSPIRATION 

Reload! Gotta have it. 

Just shoot and stay on one side. Shooting the (javelin) harpoon is a little tricky to aim, but once you nail a boss, just keep it up. I often would shoot one, reload, shoot one, reload if I was ever low on mana to slowly inch back (-1, +2, -1, +2) to full. 

STUFF

• Bone drop skellies. - came into play here and there at the end, yep.
• Invul skellies  for 4 secs, and run fast. Sonic boom skellies.  
• Reload mana. Critical for build. 
• 5 mana chunks bar. *** Important... more mana bars means more skellies and more leniency on reloading mana. 
• Got 50% chrg up arcana.  Not important really, but did use it a couple times on end bosses, nice to have.

THOUGHTS

• You dont need combo items.
• Dont need air items. 
• Do crit items help.?  Doubt  it. 
• Need boots run speed? Doubt it.  
• Skellies distract headcrabs. 
• Harpoon pins Astra… Aslan,… Assslam… whatever his name is… to the wall easily protecting you. Had a ton of hp left… wonder if can deflect final final boss’s nuke autokill??

CONCLUSION

Yep. Broke-crashed game at final final boss.  Luckily it restarted in elevator .  Had so many skeletons and then so many bones on the ground. (transitioning screens, skels disappear usually) so, it was all the bones on ground and me speeding up stuff near the end i think.  Crash reported. 

But yeah, new hi score of 76,695 with Karl.  Did 48,310 dmg all run. Best combo dmg 1884. Easiest run, without a doubt.  Mass mass skeletons.  You get 4 sec fast and invulnerable  skellies near end. And spawn bones to throw.  Just shoot and stay on one side. Shooting the harpoon is a little tricky to aim, but once you nail a boss, just keep it up. I often would shoot one, reload, shoot one, reload if I was ever low on mana to slowly inch back (-1, +2, -1, +2) to full. 

Absolum - lists of useful info

 Before I look much at their list, my own from memory:

• you can I think up-dash (vertical up or down) out of certain things... was it a slow Skill move or something else that starts to lock you in and make you look like you'll die. I did see at the top of their list something about "Skill from a grab"... so was that what I'm thinking of? No, I think it was a dash to get you out of harms way mid-move. 
• UPDATE I REMEMBER: The reload for dwarf, definitely... you can dash up or down to cancel it and be safe if monsters approach. I'm 98.421% sure this was it. :)
• When you up-dash and keep holding up, you will stay put and attack. Same for down-dash and hold down.
• Otherwise, you up-dash and release, and it'll pop y ou back where you came from to "dodge and counter hit" kind of thing. 
• Can definitely sort-of-cancel into/outof things that you wouldn't expect. Try it out. 
• Maybe it was a slow super I was doing, and I did a dash or Skill to cancel it??? I need to remember. 

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1904480/discussions/0/600791791481239476/

Highlights from URL above:

>Everybody can Skill from a grab

>Cider can hold Skill to grab instead of pulling themselves

>>Both versions can Clash during the entire travel time of the arm, allowing ranged Clashes, but do not do damage on their own (unless you have a DPS Ritual on Skill ofc)

>Karl's Reload refills 2 Mana and launches on the ground

>>Refills 4 mana and hits multiple times/lasts longer in the air

>Galandra Sword Flurry can charge any of the 3 slashes if you got the charge Inspiration as well

>>That charge is almost instant btw, can unleash as soon as she backhands

>At the ship, if there is nobody leaning on the mast, ***keep hitting for free item! I shoulda known to keep trying!

AND FURTHER COMMENTS FROM ME ON THEIR COMMENTS:

>Cider's air dash is only horizontal, unsure if it applies the effect of the dash-through attack Inspiration

Can now confirm it does.

Yeah knew this... do it vs. Headcrabs (Halflife 2 reference, not a lice reference, heh):

Anybody know how to escape from a grab? saw video of people done it, still couldn't figure out how.

I mash attack usually, never take more than 1 hit from grabs

BTW, My List of trivial but fun info:

• Karl the dwarf's Reload option shotgun shell (why is it a red shotgun shell? ... those old muskets were muzzle loaders weren't they?? And rifles are definitely not shotguns. Triply silly Brits... should not have had stupid guns in the game anyway /endrant) also will hit the enemy if you have the shellcasing homing missile upgrade. 
• Any shell from any gun thing will hit the enemy.
• Using that option for his harpoon gun Arcana is weak, only one shell for tiny extra dmg... should often better to pick something else I bet.  
• Gotta talk to other char.s to get quests. Obvious and not trivial per se, but I just opened up a new Karl quest today after talking to ToadFrog Brome. 
• Let's rant some more (you can tell I didn't sleep but half the night last night). The whole male-female frog overemphasis is annoying. I understand the immense frustration the planet has with ... some goobbermnt issues, and the need for loudmouths to outdo the other side's loudmouths, but seriously, get outta my entertainment. It's making me annoyed with stuff that shouldn't be annoying anyone. 
• 
  
• 
  
•