Top Support Gear in the Game: Part 8 - Disco Mining (Patreon)

We're into the support items that really rock now, while this list has never been in true power order, the items that are coming up in the last parts of this are a cut above all the rest.

Pulse Lantern - Gorm

While the Pulse Lantern is Not that easy to make because you need to score a critical hit against a certain location in order to gain the Active Thyroid, it is absolutely worth farming Gorms to do so.  For a start this item is a Lantern keyword item and that's become actually relevant in People of the Lantern now.  In addition it has a relatively rare and desirable affinity in the up red, something that both the Gorment armor and White Lion armor appreciate.

However, the real meat of this support item comes from its activated ability, while this one only works 80% of the time, it's an incredible ability. Knocked down monsters are very vulnerable and easy to destroy, even with the changes to all L3 monsters in 1.5 (Indomitable).  Also, this item can be activated during the monster's flow step, knocking it down and cancelling it's card. That's so powerful.

The downside of this item is that it hurts your accuracy, but this can be controlled by either triggering the item near the end of the showdown or having one of the many, many different abilities that resist/negate negative tokens.  Rolling Armor, Last Man Standing etc etc.

This item also gets more powerful when used in multiples.

Fecal Salve – Organ Grinder

The sheer power of everything you get for 1 Organ when you craft the Fecal Salve is incredible.  Not only does the Fecal Salve's affinity really matter, but also it's one of the (many) reasons why early game innovating is not required due to the passive survival gain it provides.

However, the real gem is the activated ability this item has. Being able to remove the priority token and not be a threat is massive, there are certain monster designs that almost exclusively target threats.  For example the King's Man.  There is also so much more you can do with this item, I'll leave it for you to experiment and find out.  

This item is a must have for anyone not wearing Cycloid Scale Armor (because it's built into that armor set as standard).

Kingdom Death, the world where having shit on your face is not a negative.

Whisker Harp – White Lion

This one was an amazing item before 1.5 came out (original version is at the top of this post). However the design team buffed the Whisker Harp even more, giving survival gains on it for the entire hunt party and also increasing the chances it would trigger.

The Whisker Harp is key to the awakening strategies in People of the Stars, but in more general terms it's a must use item vs. most Nemesis monsters in the game.  Nemesis monsters have a lot of moods and being able to remove them can be life saving - a good example is using the Whisker Harp vs. The Butcher can turn a terrifying scenario where the Butcher perpetually hounds one survivor into a brief encounter with the Priority Token.

The only thing stopping the Whisker Harp being in the top 5 is the stupid Harvester event.  It's not worth the 1% chance per basic hunt event unless you have a hunt party that can work with 3 survivors.

Pickaxe – Bone Smith

Iron, Iron! Always believe in your lion!  

Iron is one of the most important resources in Kingdom Death because it is required in order to be able to craft the most important items for handling the end game monsters - Blacksmith gear.  The Pickaxe is one of the most reliable ways of getting this resource and having multiple pickaxes in a party is worthwhile, especially when you are on resource farming runs.  Hitting a L1 Flower Knight with 4 survivors loaded up with Pickaxes is a hugely profitable way of getting a lot of resources.

However, that's not the only use the Pickaxe has, and its potency with the next item on the list allows you to rock up and start hitting monsters with it.

Tool Belt – Manhunter

The Tool Belt is easily the most potent, interesting and powerful of all the Manhunter gear cards.  It is the literal centerpoint of an entirely unique build using tools to attack with.  

It's most famously seen in the Acanthus Doctor build, but the most powerful use for it is in the Shadow Saliva Shawl/Tool Belt Pickaxe fighter.  Generally you get a survivor with 7+ evasion easily using that build and the only downside is that there is no mastery for tools because they are not weapons.

Also, the Tool Belt is an incredible boon when you are hunting the Dung Beetle Knight. The DBK's most annoying hit location cards have a weakness to Pickaxes that's amplified by the Tool Belt.

All in all, the Tool Belt is the number one reason why you take the Manhunter along.  A great piece of gear from a great expansion.