Earlygame NGIM Guide

This guide was created to introduce the NGIM (No Gather Ironman) gamemode to people and give some recommendations, as well as niche tips and tricks aimed for new profiles and those in the early game.

In the Caves normal goblins can drop mysterious seeds which are good for miscellaneous items and farming experience, albeit this is only if you use 1 seed per plot space. Farming is a rather difficult skill to level up in the early stages of NGIM so it probably won’t be your main focus.

Smithing can be started relatively early as you can gain ores and coal in the second combat area – Caves.

Cooking can be started even earlier than smithing as you can get ingredients to prepare from the first combat zone – Farm. Preparing doesn’t cost heat meaning it is a great way to acquire cooking xp early on, but if you want to cook food you will need heat which you can get from branches in the Farm or coal in the Caves.

Enchanting and Runecrafting xp are difficult skills to level up but still use them when required.

Now finally onto combat the most popular Idlescape pastime even outside of NGIM, you must do combat in NGIM if you want to get anywhere at any stage of the game, be it early or lategame. I recommend playing actively at the start to give yourself a head start, this is because when you first fight in the Farm – cows are literal tanks. If you encounter a cow or if you are on low hp make sure to flee and pray the flavour text for fleeing doesn’t call you a chicken. Do this until you can fight a cow without fearing for your life.

With stone, feathers and branches you will be able to craft the first type of arrow and with enough wood, you can start getting ranged experience. I would only recommend doing this for getting 600 total levels quicker. The first weapon I recommend you use and the first one you should craft is a bronze dagger because of its low attack cooldown speed allowing you to kill more monster faster – ergo getting more drops which is important all throughout combat and NGIM.

Magic is hard to start doing as you have to get waterweeds, but there is no fishing so how I acquired fibers was a global loot goblin buff. The surefire way to acquire weed requires Phroglin Pheromones so it is recommended that you save 25 million gold in order to buy Phroglin Pheromones which will speed up your progression and provide somewhat easier access to some materials that would otherwise be unobtainable. Slaying goblins will give the driftwood needed for the weapons.

Essentially NGIM down to its core is sitting in the Caves for days upon days for runes and silver. Have fun if you decide to start NGIM and good luck!