But beating Rise of Rome just to get there either takes a few IMs itself or a whole day, no? Otherwise it takes ten SLs to get there.

If you upgrade IM artifact to Insane, you never have to worry about running out of IM powers.

If you have SL advancement at 6 and use a super-powered SL after beating EH you unlock hex, skipping PA entirely. Otherwise I can beat it with a SAC arti and a single IM.

If you're not doing that, what are you saving SL and IM for anyways?

Maybe I'll try it this time.

I haven't even spent the time to get superpowers in my last two supers. Don't need them.

The problem is I'm not confident in getting through hex earth until I'm into phase 4, and once I'm there I can get like 20K AP per day without going to it. So it seemed like a pointless risk each time I thought about it.

There's a reason almost everyone does Hex Earth, even before they are in P4. Sure it takes powers - less as you go on, down to 1 IM min - but it will get you most of the way through P4 and just make the rest of the run a relaxing breeze. Even if you haven't done many SA's, you can use superpowers with time warp with crafting to get the +50 cache tech + hospital bonuses in much less time than it would take to do hardened levels a few times. So a superpower SL to get there is very much worth it. At least until you're like +1000%AP and Hex Earth doesn't actually save much time. After you get an insane A$B or are into P4 you don't need any crafting.

I have never done HEX. I did the first new level and took a pass on the rest. I remember Ivan talking about early in his race to 1500 and when he ran out of skip levels. I am was aware it was a popular path but it was I didn't want to take.

Maybe it was because I don't have a Super Army Camp but the amount of time to get to the sweet levels made it seem wasteful. Once you pet to P4 you can easily repeat RON, Scan, EH, HOT, and HRFRE quickly for large AP with no super powers. I don't remember the amount of time now but it seems like a month getting to P4 and a few days to finish it. It always seem much better to Super Skip and Super IM on HScan to quickly finish a super than to waste your skips do HEX. I guess I really enjoy the end stage of a super verses the early drag.

#Yes1 there is no bad way to play just the most enjoyable for yourself.

Yeah, the rest of the levels are really meant for when you have over 10 SA's minimum and good artifacts. They're also generally done *after* hex earth at the end of P4. Unless you want to use IM powers, save them for when you have a decent artifact IM.

If you haven't, I still suggest you try hex earth once to see if you like it. It's not really like the other extra
levels, lots of AP for not much drudgery. Though some people use plateau assault as a way to get there with 10 P3 SL's - it's the easiest of the extra levels, but generally requires a SAC.

Even if you're P3, it's worth it to use superpowers like a TW to gain the techs needed quickly. Or a SAC + superpower cache. That level has so many powers.

Edited 2026-05-29 00:02:20

I have super-ascended ten more times (now 160).

Total boons:
* +3600 AP at startup (+5)
* +2100% AP from levels
* +30 artifact carryover (+2)
* +10 artifact dig speed (+3)

Artifacts carried over:

Insane (5): A$B, A^B,  CB, MeD, RCB
Insane (5):  TW,  IM,  AV, SAC, MCB
Insane (5):  HB, TMB, BMB,  DB, ACD
Insane (2):  IV, OV^u

MiD (3): legend, rare, uncomm
 HD (2): epic^d, rare
 TD (2): epic^d, uncomm
 MR (2):   epic, uncomm
 MB (1): rare^d, none

Epic (2): {TS, ACD}^f
Rare (1): OV^su
Unco (2): {IT, SC}^f 

^f:fodder, ^u:upgrade
^s:spare, ^d:downgrade

Highlights:

I adjusted my AP strategy, and am now taking much smaller amounts of add.mercs at first so I can get can-skip-levels sooner. This allows me to skip Drakemor, Pelo, and Feldmere at the cost of some additional drafting in the surrounding levels (worth it).

As my turnaround time reduced, I found I wasn't digging up enough fodder to build a legendary every two cycles, so I took three more dig speed boons and started auto-digging during my end-of-cycle time warp. I also took two carryover boons to accommodate the new insanes and new additions to the churn. Perhaps not enough because I just had to sacrifice my backup time warp to make room for other stuff. I'll rebuild it at some point.

I picked item values (already done) and ore values (just started) as my latest insane artifacts. I added market raid to the churn because I figure I'll want one eventually for tech runs on the post-super levels, and no better candidates stood out. I'll likely add quadruple strike to the churn pretty soon as well.

21st SA. +art for 250% AP and 11 addl artis.

300 / 100 / 45 / 44 / 37 / 25 / 38 / 24 / 18 / 19
19 / 18 / 14 / 14 / 17 / 16 / 11 / 10 / 8 / 9
8

Didn't mine for SL so I guess I'm committed to beating PA this run. Also one more damn run without ACB in the beginning where it matters. Looking forward to finally getting that back. Almost enough AP to do hex x3 and the hardeneds a second time to SA - need maybe 2 more AP boosts.

Next leg is hopefully MD or CB. And finally some fodder for taking ACB to insane.

Ins A$B leg AV SAC IM TW ACB (upgrading again) and epic HB