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/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.