1.6 Update Skull Caverns and Calico Statues

[24k Ancient Fruit]

Thanks for all your replies to my other post about this Festival!

So chances are that I won't be spending too much time thinking about the Desert Festival in Year 1, but just for a quick heads up about what I can look forward to in Year 2:

1) I heard that Calico Statues increase your rating when going down the Skull Caverns, but they come with side effects. More often than not, these will be detrimental. What are the most devastating bad effects that you could get from these statues in your playing experience?

2) Speaking of detrimental effects from Calico Statues, is it possible to get the same one (such as "More Serpents") from a different Calico Statue during one Skull Cavern run? If so, will it stack? If that's the case, then would it be possible to get the "More Serpents" effect 3 times during the same attempt and then find myself absolutely swarmed with Serpents on every floor?

 

[Lew Zealand]

Calico Statues have many functions and I haven't looked them up, instead preferring to experience them. They only seem to function on the floor you're on so even if you get the increased monsters one, just pop down some Stairs and skip the hassle. Other options seems to be a straight Calico Egg gift, and I think I've gotten a Speed Buff but I also have multiple of those so I'm not sure. I've also seen where the monsters do more damage (so I just eat more Cheese or skip the level).

OK I cheated and finally looked at the wiki and it looks so much worse than what I experience. I didn't realize there were so many variations of "increased monsters" so I just kinda lumped them all together.

My overall experience with the Calico Statues boils down to:

• I like the free Eggs!
• The Buffs and Debuffs really don't stand out as being that different from normal SC variation

If I don't like the level or the Debuff, I throw down Stairs and skip it. Simple.

 

[chemster]

If I don't like the level or the Debuff, I throw down Stairs and skip it. Simple.

Are you sure? It's been a little while, but I think I got "Mummies are Angry" once, and all mummies (even on different levels) I met afterwards were more aggressive. It was right after 1.6 came out, so that might've been tweaked since then, I suppose.

 

[Lew Zealand]

Are you sure? It's been a little while, but I think I got "Mummies are Angry" once, and all mummies (even on different levels) I met afterwards were more aggressive. It was right after 1.6 came out, so that might've been tweaked since then, I suppose.

Of course I could be completely wrong, but I've done 3 Desert Festivals and done the Skull Cavern run on each day so that's 9 total. And I've made it down to around level 30-80 on each run depending on the day's challenge, and I have not noticed the speedy Angry Mummies chasing me on different levels but maybe I didn't get any more Mummy infested levels after getting that curse (I've gotten it at least once)? The other Curses or Buffs don't seem to carry over either so maybe yours was bugged?

Or I'm just unobservant, which is always a leading explanation.

 

[chemster]

Of course I could be completely wrong, but I've done 3 Desert Festivals and done the Skull Cavern run on each day so that's 9 total. And I've made it down to around level 30-80 on each run depending on the day's challenge, and I have not noticed the speedy Angry Mummies chasing me on different levels but maybe I didn't get any more Mummy infested levels after getting that curse (I've gotten it at least once)? The other Curses or Buffs don't seem to carry over either so maybe yours was bugged?

Or I'm just unobservant, which is always a leading explanation.

All definite possibilites! I know I'm going to keep an eye out for this next Desert Festival... and I'm sure you will too.

 

[REtroGeekery]

I know the "skeletons are after you" one makes assorted 'dangerous mines' skellies appear on multiple floors rather than just the one you're on when you interact with the statue. So a staircase will not allow you to escape them entirely.

 

[FilthyGorilla]

I was doing early game runs for fun and got absolutely rolled by them lol

Got more bats, assassin bugs, more monsters, monsters do more damage, more monsters again, food is half as effective, mummies become more angry, FINALLY ONE SPEED BUFF, skeletons are after you, mummies have become angry, 10 calico eggs... :l (at least it's not negative), more ghosts, more serpents....

Honestly I was just being swarmed, I ate like 300 salads as early game gear just isn't enough to fight anything that has so much health and some of the monsters were doing 70damage a hit lol

 

[24k Ancient Fruit]

I was doing early game runs for fun and got absolutely rolled by them lol

Got more bats, assassin bugs, more monsters, monsters do more damage, more monsters again, food is half as effective, mummies become more angry, FINALLY ONE SPEED BUFF, skeletons are after you, mummies have become angry, 10 calico eggs... :l (at least it's not negative), more ghosts, more serpents....

Honestly I was just being swarmed, I ate like 300 salads as early game gear just isn't enough to fight anything that has so much health and some of the monsters were doing 70damage a hit lol

Soooo.... you're saying that negative effects such as "more monsters" can be unlocked more than once during the same Skull Caverns Festival run and do indeed stack when they are, right? I wonder what your Egg Rating ended up being on that "just for funsies" run?

I'm also curious as to your daily Luck and/or Luck Buffs having any effect on the chances of getting negative effects from Calico statues.

 

[VampireCake]

The 'Bugs are now Assassin Bugs' debuff isn't so bad, they still only move in the same straight lines, but they lose their invincibility so you don't need a Bug Killer weapon. Good for a few more kills for possible egg drops. Plus I think the red and black colouring is kind of badass

I missed out on the bonus from talking to Gil to submit your egg rating for the first two years because it wasn't mentioned in game anywhere (or I missed it). It can be quite a lot if you get it high enough.

I also missed that if you get a meal from the chef, it stacks on top of whatever other buffs you have. It lasts about half the day, I think, but it's a +1 to one stat and +3 to another depending what ingredients you pick.

I now have a written checklist to tick off each day. I recommend it.

 

[Draconifors]

I mostly seem to get "More monsters" and "More bats". I think only once have I gotten a strictly positive effect from the statues. Very small sample size, though, as I've only done one festival (all three days) so far.

I am not impressed with the statues.

 

[Odin]

I adjusted the thread title to avoid spoilers (I think "Calico Statues" is vague enough to not give anything away).

 

[FilthyGorilla]

Soooo.... you're saying that negative effects such as "more monsters" can be unlocked more than once during the same Skull Caverns Festival run and do indeed stack when they are, right? I wonder what your Egg Rating ended up being on that "just for funsies" run?

I'm also curious as to your daily Luck and/or Luck Buffs having any effect on the chances of getting negative effects from Calico statues.

Yeah I think most can stack, outside of the ones like bugs become assassin bugs, etc. that are one time effects

I ended up getting an egg rating of 70, just ducked and weaved, I've played a lot of skull cavern though so I have a fair bit of experience with it under my belt.
My gear was copper pickaxe, 100 bombs, slammer, and 2 magnet rings with some food to boot

Statues aren't affected by luck or daily luck, rather they are seeded (though what's kinda fun is they don't reset upon a reload of the save so you can keep arbitrarily advancing your rng for them until you get ones you want at the start of a run)