A Short Guide on Playing Gourmand
Hello everyone! I just wanted to make a short guide consisting of tips that helped me the most in my Gourmand run! Gourmand is currently my favorite of all the DLC characters to play due to his wide range of tools and his campaign being nicely balanced. This tip will include minor spoilers on AREAS and CHARACTER MECHANICS as well as a certain character-specific quest so if you want to experience those for yourselves, this is your warning. -Why should you read this guide? I've heard a few people share their experiences playing Gourmand, and while I don't want to invalidate their responses I want to say that these tips have helped me to avoid some of the significant complaints and troubles people have had while playing Gourmand! So let's dive into it :))
1. CRAFTING MECHANIC This is one of the greatest additions to Rainworld remixes in my opinion. It changes how you evaluate items and what resources to look out for, while being balanced and fun. Gourmand has tons of recipes at their disposal which you can find the entire crafting table on the Rainworld wiki, but here are my personal favorites: Quality of Life Recipes: rock + firecracker plant = grenade Probably the most basic recipe that everyone and their grandmothers has figured out. Still very useful. slime mold + mushroom = baby nootfly baby nootfly + slime mold OR baby nootfly + blue fruit OR baby nootfly + (any edible item) = 4 food pips This is one is one of my favorites because Gourmand has a staggering food requirement of 7 food pips to hibernate, which can be frustrating for players. However, this recipe can turn 2 food pips into 4 food pips provided a mushroom is near, which saves you a lot of time looking for food in places like Underhang. Do note that avoid using this recipe when an Adult Nootfly is near, since it will still upset the Adult Nootfly despite not originating from it. rock + mushroom = sporepuff Sporepuffs are always useful, from being an insecticide to a Raindeer toll fee. I'll mention this one later for a different reason rock + firecracker = grenade grenade + rock OR grenade + unpopped bubblefruit = pearl From when I am writing this guide, it's actually been a couple of weeks since I last finished my Gourmand run, but even though the wiki says grenade + unpopped bubblefruit = snail, I remember it resulting in a pearl. If I'm misremembering please correct me in the comments. Anyways, grenade + rock is probably the better option anyways because you don't miss out on free food. That said, pearls are useful in passing scavenger tolls, befriending scavengers, and getting a free passage through an easy chieftain achievement. I've always found in all my runs that befriending scavengers is way more useful than ignoring them. I know people have had problems with the occasional grumpy scavenger nailing them with a spear just for kicks, but personally that's only happened to me once. On the other hand, the free bodyguard services came in clutch several times. Plus, not having to worry as much about scavengers randomly throwing spears at you is very nice. I will say that if you want a very nice ending in the Gourmand run, you will have to pass a toll with no pearls in sight (at least in my run). Chieftain status helped me a lot as I could just pass through with a minor offering of a spear. sporepuff + rock = "paincones" AKA Beehives I actually did not know the names for these prior to researching on the wiki. This is a niche recipe as sometimes the bugs that spew out of the thrown paincone will sometimes attach to you as well as the target, but they make decent bartering tools with the scavengers. Also this item helped me get a Centiwing for *the quest* that I will mention more on later. grenade + karma flower = firebug egg firebug egg + grenade = singularity bomb Ah yes, the singularity bomb. This portable black hole that Gourmand is famous for is pretty much known by everyone at this point, but I wanted to include it here anyways because for my first singularity bomb I thought it required two karma flowers. So I wasted my time and resources to make one singularity bomb when I could've made two. Vulture Grub + Karma Flower = Vulture Mask Ever wanted a Vulture Mask without having to kill a vulture or have it chase you around through several cycles? Well now you can just make one! Food Quest Recipes Pretty much everyone knows about the food quest, but I'll just summarize it here just in case: If you want to unlock slugpups in Gourmand, Survivor, and Hunter runs, you'll have to finish Gourmand's food quest of eating at least one item on a list of edible items, the entire list being on the Rainworld wiki. You can eat the items in any order, though I recommend eating them in the order found on the wiki. Some items can be crafted, which is why I'm including them in the crafting section. Jellyfish + Rock = Lilypuck Lilypuck + Rock = Lamp Lamp + Jellyfish = Glowweed I'll be honest with you, I don't know where to find Glowweeds. They're somewhere in Shoreline, but I've never encountered a single one in my semi-blind playthroughs, either through not running into one or just not seeing one. However with the multitude of jellyfish in Shoreline, it's easy to just craft one. Also, Lilypucks are an item on the food quest list, so if you didn't grab one in Shaded Citadel you can easier grab one in Shorelines.
That pretty much summarizes my crafting tips for Gourmand, although there are also more fun recipes you can experiment with on your own. But crafting is not the only thing that's great about the Gourmand!
2. GOURMAND PLAYSTYLE/COMBAT At first glance, the portrait art of Gourmand and Artificer suggest that the Gourmand is a happy goofy fellow while the Artificer is an unstoppable force of destruction. I'd argue gameplay-wise the Gourmand is just as a natural force of destruction as the Artificer is, if not more. This chonky fellow boasts so many tools to take down enemies: Gourmand does a huge amount of damage per spear, doing around 3 damage on hit. The downside? He gets instantly tired upon throwing a spear. This means throwing a spear around multiple enemies risks being caught after throwing by anything that wasn't hit. To circumvent this, try to lure enemies to a pipe. If they already have their back to the pipe, just throw a spear and then go through the pipe to rest, then go back if you still need to finish them off. If they are chasing you, go through a pipe, and just as they are following you, go back through the pipe. Now they are on the other side with their back facing the pipe entrance. Now you can escape, or go back through the pipe to get a free hit on the enemy. Keep going back and forth through the pipe until the Gourmand is ready to go again. I call this pipe camping, and it is highly useful even on normal Survivor/Monk runs as slugcat is basically invulnerable as long as they stay in the pipe. However, it is even more useful on Gourmand as you can dish out a massive amount of damage while avoiding being cornered while exhausted.
The bodyslam. Everybody knows the good ol' bodyslam, you fall onto an enemy from high enough and the Gourmand's splendid girth will stun the enemy and do a big chunk of damage. However, if you're feeling confident in your sliding skills, sliding into an enemy will also stun and do some damage, though not quite as much as damage. Still useful in a pinch.
More on Exhaustion. Have you ever just been running around as Gourmand when suddenly you're exhausted just as a lizard pops out behind you? You still have a chance! Even when exhausted, spam hopping can be just enough to get you to the nearest pipe entrance. Gourmand can still cover a significant amount of terrain by spam hopping even when they're exhausted. If you need to climb a ladder, sometimes jumping off and rolling can be just enough to get you to a different pipe entrance while misleading predators. Once you've made it to the pipe entrance you're safe, as you can catch your breath exactly as detailed in the combat section.
On swimming. I know this seems obvious, but just a reminder: always take a second to breathe before swimming as Gourmand. When Gourmand is exhausted they drown very quickly, so better safe than sorry. Also if you're going straight from Survivor to Gourmand, in Shoreline there are eel lizards. These things are extremely fast in water and you cannot outswim them, so pack a flashbang (blue fruit + rock), as flashbangs can temporarily confuse them.
On storing items. At first it may seem that Gourmand cannot store items in their belly, as holding the pickup button makes them regurgitate a random item at the cost of one food pip. However, if you press E while holding an item after regurgitating a random item, the Gourmand will store the item in their right paw. Do note that when storing an item, the Gourmand will need to cough the current stored item before they can generate another random item. One last note: the big centipede part of the Gourmand food quest. I've noticed that many players have recommended going for an Aquapede rather than a Red Centipede, and honestly that totally makes sense. Do what is most easiest for you, however if you're like me and you hate dealing with anything in water, I'll share an easy way to get a red centipede. In the Garbage Wastes there is now at least one Red Centipede. Around here:
(map image courtesy of https://rainworld.miraheze.org/wiki/Rain_World_Wiki)
there are approximately three to two mushrooms. Craft two sporepuffs, store one just in case and throw them at as many segments of the red centipede's body. Note: sporepuffs DO NOT immediately kill a big centipede. Make sure to kite it for a few seconds before it dies. After about two to three seconds it should go limp and then you can approach it. Aaaand that's all the tips I have on Gourmand! In my opinion, Gourmand is one of the best DLC characters. They perfectly capture what a remix should be: adding new creative mechanics that the player can experiment with as well as new drawbacks while remaining fun and balanced. This campaign has totally changed my outlook on items such as rocks and mushrooms, especially mushrooms, an item I previously saw as mostly useless. The variety of tools in the Gourmand's arsenal are both powerful and many, I hope more Rainworld players appreciate Gourmand for both his adorableness and his gameplay design.
