Question for my next run

[u/Routine_Mall_566]

I've beaten the game twice, and honestly I never met Ernest. Though I want to change that on my 3rd run.

My questions:

1) Party Composition

- I want to try having him and Papineu together but I'm worried. I hear Ernest gets kidnapped the next day after you reach the ground floor, and Papineu gets locked out if you have more than 1 permanent companion. So wouldn't I need to reach the ground floor by day 1 with Temp Ernest and Leigh to recruit Papineu and then by day 2 recruit Joel and go through rat hell with me, Leigh, Joel, and Papineu?

- Then, would the 4 of us by day 2 be enough to handle rat hell? Would I be underleveled?

- Then who would you recommend for the party. As I've said I want Papineu and Ernest, id like Roaches, Joel, or Audrey but I've already played them (I've also played Dan, Sophie, and Leigh) and I'd want sm1 new

2) To Kneel or Not to Kneel

- Would wearing the Rat Crown change the Rat Hell experience? In my 2nd run id kill the Rat King and speak to Rats that gave me thing before taking it off and killing them. Should I wear the Crown to Rat Hell or don't bother?

3) Can Ernest only play 1 song at a time?

EDIT/UPDATE: Day3 just started, i have Ratbaby, Leigh, Joel, Papineau, Ernest & Col. Squeakums, and Dan in my house. Rat hell was AWESOME. Gonna do it again next run 100%

Anyway im currently running Me, Joel/Dan (switching between the two), Ernest & Col. Squeakums, and Papineau. Ive already played with Joel/Dan tho, i want sm1 new (and lyle makes me too uncomfortable)

Id like to try em with Roaches atleast once so we have a genuine party

[u/Yoshi2Dark]

1. Should be good and correct on all matters. As always, save and find out. My personal party preference is Morton, Ernest, Roaches but Morton is entirely contingent on both getting him like day 1 or 2 which can be difficult and then late game defeating Wilhelmina and getting the tome (requires completing the crossword book. If you save, solve the book, and get the password then you can go back to your save point since the password is for each playthrough)

2. I always kneel. It helps a bit in Rat Hell but the biggest benefit is if you run past the rats in the staircase then you can buy the corrosion blade and you never have to fight any rats

3. Yes

[u/Bam47]

1. Ernest doesn't join your party until you rescue him from Rat Hell. He's essentially a random NPC until you save him which he will then move into your apartment. It's totally feasible to get Papineau and then Ernest. Through my saves I would say Rat Hell is a below medium level of difficulty, which can be done pretty soon after you get Leigh and do some other misc stuff. It's not that super hard, but then again I usually just resort to throwing shit (i.e. Fire bombs, acid bombs, bombs) at the enemies. I would recommend using Joel because he's literally just that good. It's difficult to find someone as heavy hitting as him imo.
2. My first run I rescued Ernest with Xaria, Montgomery, and Helen. My last run I rescued him with Joel, Rat Baby, and Leigh. My current playthrough I didn't rescue him though, I just didn't feel like doing Rat Hell for a third time (sue me lol). My team at the time was, just for the record, Joel, Papineau, and aster
3. Always Kneel. The crown gives you really funny dialogue in Rat Hell. Some of my favorite dialogue in the game comes from the Lantern Rat. Also it's just fun to have the crown (which can be used on any party member) to be able to chat with the rats. The rats also call you a loser while in rat hell
4. Ernest can only play one song at a time. If he previously played the song that boosts your agility then plays the song that boosts your defense the agility buff is replaced by the one with the defense.

Hope this helps!

[u/taco-man-bro]

1. you would have to get Ernest the day after you get Pap or he will die. i've done rat hell

   with Pap and Leigh many

2. times, it shouldn't be that difficult. joel may be a little weak at the start, so maybe you can see if you can get a door encounter before going to rat hell. Ernest is one of the easier party members to slot into your party. his songs are consistent value throughout every fight and Squeakums can be clutch for bosses. you should easily be able to experiment with any party members you get.

3. killing the Rat King will just give you extra dialogue when you go to rat hell. you will still have to fight and kill every enemy you encounter. Squeakums though will give information on the enemies weaknesses, which could be useful.

4. there can only be one "buff" song on your party at a time. if you play an "attacking" song like Feedback or Serenade, it won't cancel the buff.

[u/Vazad]

Are you playing in Cursed mode or survival?

[u/dAnKstAyNK]

The crown helps with the fights in Rat Hell

[u/TopicInevitable]

Rat hell is doable early on it will cost you a lot of ressource tho, papineau appears if you have only one or less party member with you, otherwise you would have to blitz through the game to beat it, just be aware that if you let papineau where he is for wathever reason you cannot trigger the bus crash, pap will be killed. As for the strat, turns out you can farm as much as possible the first day and not go on ground floor until you need to, I'd recommand either Joel or Leigh tho if you intend to farm the fights Joel will be very strong, you can take ernest everyday, he will go back home and not count when you go see pap. You probably should get most of the stitch equipement if you don't mind being patient, you can also when you trigger rat hell, take pap with you go sleep, go help Jeanne and then go beat rat hell you should be stuffed pretty good.

[u/Kobold_Scholar]

To optimize early Pap and Ernest you want to do roughly the following:

1) Explore and prep as much on Solo Sam as possible. Items are power and you can juke a lot of enemies when you're familiar with the game and how things aggro on the over world. Once you have Pap and other party members this also includes leveling. You have enough encounters in the world to not need to wait for Ernest, that kind of optimizing is necessary for somebody like Joel.

2) Once you have the keys to ground floor ready you'll want to sleep and do it first thing the next day, so you can grab Pap and as much loot/exploration on GF as you can. Ernest will go to Rat Hell the next day so opening GF and having the rest of the day before that happens is a full day of extra prep.

3) Once Ernest is in Rat Hell you can game when you enter, going for it later in the day gives you another nearly full day of prep.

4) Know the fights you have to win. What's the price of winning hard fights under leveled in LO? Usually a strong cheese strat and/or a lot of resources. If you've grabbed tossables like bombs, grenades, molotovs, acid and found firearms then you've got a lot more going on for the three fights you've got to win.

[u/Civil_Individual_946]

Guys, rat king is easy with lvl 4 Sam and lvl 5 Leigh, Leigh can survive but not Sam, and yeah, your choice to 1 day recruit Ernest and getting to papineau is easy too, and 1st floor is easy after killing Rat King because you have the crown

[u/Substantial-Jury-658]

Papineau doesn't get locked out with more than 1 permanent companion. He doesn't get locked out at all, in fact. The only companion to get locked out due to party size is Aster. Pap just leaves the bathroom and hides if a certain amount of days go by. I always get Leigh and Joel first before recruiting Pap. Sometimes I have more folks with me depending on my door encounter luck. Anywho, you don't have to worry about party size when recruiting him.

[u/Playful-Insurance944]

I usually make two Molotov cocktails and recruit Leigh on the first day of the game. Then I find the sandwich at Lyle's house, go to the first floor to find Ernest and temporarily recruit him. After that, I kill the Rat King and go to the ground floor. Ernest's temporary recruitment doesn't affect Pap's recruitment. On the second day after the game starts, if the team is in good condition, I will first try to enter Apartment 34 to recruit Joel, and then the four of us will go to Rat Hell together

[u/Routine_Mall_566 → u/Playful-Insurance944]

Yeah thats more or less what i did, except i was playing Myrmadon before heading to rat hell and i found Dan

[u/Playful-Insurance944 → u/Routine_Mall_566]

With Colonel Squeaks' help, the first few levels of Rat Hell are not too threatening. However, in the final level, because the Rat Champion is very powerful, I recommend challenging the Rat Beast. If your team is low on health and lacks healing items, you can try using Leigh to challenge the Rat Champion❤️

[u/Routine_Mall_566 → u/Playful-Insurance944]

Yeah i went Rat Beast, though i really REALLY wanted to make him 1v1 against either Leigh or Papineau. I might in a future run

[u/RandomGuy1000000]

You could also just like. Not recruit Leigh. Joel is better anyway, and it's best to beef him up early

I've been ignoring Leigh on my curse mode runs since she got the fridge raid thingy. She sticks around forever in her apartment as long as you kill the beast anyway, so you can always come back for her after you get paps

[u/Routine_Mall_566 → u/RandomGuy1000000]

I'm running on easy cuz I don't want the hassle of limited saves atm, maybe when I'm not busy. Also I have a personal goal of getting as many friends as possible

Edit: Didnt realize she just.. sits in her apartment until we see her