These general tasks are common amongst many different quests, and can use the same approaches. Turn-saving methods described here apply to specific tasks, described later on this page. Some quests use more than one of these themes in a single step.
Items and Item Drops
Several quests have steps that may require an item dropped by a monster to progress. Drop rates listed on this page are base drop rates. These methods apply to any task that mentions drop rates.
: Increasing bonus Item Drops decreases the average number of encounters against a monster for a certain item drop.
: A yellow ray or similar effect ensures all of a monster's non-conditional item drops, with conditional items using their usual odds.
: (2017) Having the effect What Are The Odds!? from a perfectly fair coin forces the game to always roll a 50 for item drop rolls, lowering the threshold to ensure an item drops.
/: Pickpocket and other item-stealing methods can steal one item per combat.
: Non-quest items can be pulled from storage, bypassing the need to acquire them through Adventuring.
Non-combat Encounters
Several quests require encountering certain non-combats to progress. Similarly, some quest locations have non-combats that do not add progress. These methods apply to any task that mentions a zone's base combat rate.
: Decreasing/increasing Combat Frequency makes non-combat encounters more/less likely - both cases have uses, depending on the location.
: The following items force the next Adventure to be a non-combat or scheduled encounter:
Several quests require certain encounters that are not available until a certain number of turns are spent in a zone. If an encounter has a "delay of X", it cannot appear until X turns are spent in its zone. Scheduled and periodic encounters are similar, being different in that they will appear after X turns (regularly reoccurring if periodic). In a given zone, non-combats that take an Adventure and resolved combats (win, lose, run) count as turns spent there, while non-combats that do not take an Adventure do not. These methods apply to any task that mentions "delay", "scheduled", and "periodic".
: Free runaways and free fights in a zone count toward turns spent there, without actually using Adventures.
: (2016) Spleening a turkey blaster increases turns spent in the last zone by 5 (up to three uses per day).
: The same items listed for Non-combat Encounters also work for Scheduled and Periodic Non-combat Encounters, but not Delay.
Several quests involve Adventuring in zones with multiple possible encounters, but not all of them are useful for progress. For example, not all monsters in a zone drop a needed item, or a specific monster must be defeated X times. The Adventure Queue page provides more details on encounter rates, based on previous encounters. These methods apply to any task that mentions a zone's number of monsters and/or non-combats.
: Banishing an undesired monster prevents it from appearing for a certain number of Adventures.
: Tracking a monster with On the Trail adds 3 copies to the list of possible combats for its zone(s), and removes Queue rejection on it, both making that monster more common. There are other effects that similarly add monster copies to their zones, with or without affecting Queue rejection.
* : (2020) Using the non-combat skill Map the Monsters makes the next zone encounter a choice of combat with any normal monster in that zone (up to three uses per day).
/: Copying forces a fight with a previously seen monster.