KoLmafia Guide

Although a few KoLMafia guides exist already, they are either out-of-date, too brief, or too complex. They work, but are typically for more advanced players that catch the lingo and references. My guide is by a noob, to be on the level of noobs. It is (hopefully) easy to understand, pretty verbose, and up to date (at time of writing anyways in Jan 2010).

Note that there are some light SPOILERS in this guide for illustration purposes.

This guide is for those players that are interested in using a great third-party tool to enrich their Kingdom of Loathing experience significantly. Mafia is a java program that acts as a go-between for you to the KoL server. It has its own frame that contains a lot of functionality. In addition, you will use a normal browser window to play like normal. Mafia helps you in many ways:

1) Mafia allows you to use a 'Relay Browser' which is practically identical to the normal playing environment. The only noticeable difference is that Mafia adds bonus information and reminders that are very helpful when playing. This is by far my favorite feature because you do not have to try to learn a brand new interface to use and learn Mafia.

2) Provides some alternative interfaces to do certain functions that you may or may not like better than the built-in interface. At the very least, you can easily say... look up a mall price on something in Mafia without having to redirect your browser to the mall and then back to your inventory or adventuring location.

3) Automation. KolMafia allows you to intelligently automate actions, from small scale to larger scale. As an example, you can easily set up a 'script' combat button that will then do exactly what you want it to do; Maybe a Disco Bandit always wants to Pickpocket if possible, followed up by a Disco Dance, then auto-attack the rest of the way. Or an owner of a certain familiar wants to extend each fight to maximize Meat/Mana/HP,etc gains. Instead of doing this manually for each fight, you click ONE button which does the entire sequence!

4) Reduction of lag. Mafia works as an interface directly to KoL. What this means is that when you automate actions, no browser refresh is needed. This is really helpful, as a 12 round auto-combat using the Script button can be done in about three browser refreshes.

5) Collating of information. KolMafia keeps track of all stat gains, meat found, items found, and an entire log of everything that has happened in the game. The info is logged automatically and effortlessly if you want it.

6) Ability to call player written scripts which do various stuff. For example, one of them will help you equip outfits to get new Tattoos. These require more trust, but I will show you how to examine scripts and see what they do.

Remember... Automation is only ONE aspect of KolMafia! I generally avoid too much of something 'playing for me' myself, and it is entirely possible to use and love KolMafia with NO automation whatsoever!

Unless you are outright opposed to the concept of KolMafia or Greasemonkey, I'd strongly urge you to read this guide and give it a try. By the end of the first Lesson, you will know enough to decide for yourself.

How I Teach & Requirements
What About Greasemonkey?
Getting Started & Links
Lesson 1: Basics (Relay Browser)
Lesson 2: Java Interface
Lesson 3: Stats-Checking
Lesson 4: Attack Script
Lesson 5: Custom Combat Script
Lesson 6: Auto-Adventuring
Lesson 7: Automatic HP/MP Recovery
Lesson 8: Goal-Oriented Adventuring
Lesson 9: Setting Preferences
Lesson 10: Setting Up Breakfast
Lesson 11: Eating & Drinking
Lesson 12: PvP (Beating Up People)
Lesson 13: Running ASH Scripts
Lesson 14: Useful Commands
Lesson 15: Closing Thoughts

This is the end of the coventional KolMafia Guide!

If you are interested, once you have this down you might want to tackle scripting. This is writing your own scripts to do various stuff. I recommend that you at least read through the rest of this guide and it will give you an idea of what you are capable of and how difficult it will be to do so. I tried to include several very usable and easily modified scripts to get you started.

Post-Lesson 1: Scripting for Dummies