Contents
Score (NMG) Strategies
General Strategies
$500k to $1 Million
The Big Money achievement, a score of $500,000, can be achieved with just a standard Hell run with minimal extra work. The treasure at the top of Olmec's level is often worth $50k. The rubies in Yama's throne are worth $140,800, and the hard ending completion bonus is $100k. Put together, this leaves about $200k in remaining treasure for the spelunker to collect, which can casually be done by collecting idols, loose treasure, vault chests, and bombing the City of Gold if playing the Chain route, without any ghosting at all.
This score can also be achieved with just an Olmec run, but some amount of ghosting will likely be required, albeit not to the extent done by higher score runs.
See [Big Money Strategies] (guide does not exist yet) for a guide on achieving a score of $500,000 as quickly as possible. Note that some strategies on that page are not legal according to the NMG ruleset.
A score of $1,000,000 can be achieved on a standard Chain Hell run with minimal ghosting. The vault in each area, when ghosted, is worth roughly $60-80k. No further ghosting should be necessary, as long as all idols and loose treasure are collected within reason and the City of Gold is bombed generously. If bomb count is low and bombing the City of Gold sufficiently will not be possible, it may be necessary to ghost gems other than the vault chests.
This score can also be achieved with just an Olmec run or a Bookskip Hell run, in which case you will likely want to make extensive use of the plasma cannon from the Mothership.
See [Jumbo Money Strategies] (guide does not exist yet) for a guide on achieving a score of $1,000,000 as quickly as possible. Note that some strategies on that page are not legal according to the NMG ruleset.
$1 to $2 Million
A score above $1,000,000 generally requires a considerable amount of ghosting gems, but there is still flexibility in the route.
It is generally recommended to visit the Mothership, as doing so grants access to a guaranteed plasma cannon while also extending the run by two levels. (Visiting the Worm is not advisable, because treasure is scarcer than the average level and the ghost does not spawn there under normal circumstances.)
Having access to the plasma cannon, it is viable to achieve a score well over $1 Million by thoroughly ghosting every temple level and finishing at Olmec, or by casually ghosting temple and hell levels on a Bookskip Hell ending.
With a large number of bombs, a score well over $1 Million can be achieved on a Chain Hell run using the same strategy as outlined in the $500k to $1 Million section, and the plasma cannon can be freely used between the Mothership and 4-1 until it is necessary to discard it for the Scepter.
$2 to $3 Million
Try to get $3M and fail.
The primary strategy for any score above $2 Million is to complete a chain Hell run while keeping the plasma cannon into and beyond the City of Gold. Achieving this score without doing so might be possible but not necessarily feasible most of the time. See Plasma Cannon to City of Gold for an explanation of how to accomplish this and strategies for success.
For a score closer to $3 Million, you will need to be more aggressive at extracting and ghosting all treasure from every level upon obtaining the plasma cannon. Aggressively optimizing the levels before obtaining the plasma cannon may not be necessary, but it can only help.
Virtually all seeds contain $2.5M worth of treasure, unless the seed yield a ridiculously low amount of bombs before acquiring the plasma cannon. Optimal ghosting play is not required, though ghosting the majority of gems should be a target (you can skip the dicey ones) and using decent plasma cannon tactics will surely assure success for this goal.
Playing for $2.5M is an excellent way to perfect your higher level scorerunning plays : Plasma cannon to City of Gold and plasma cannon heavy use, getting comfortable ghosting in most situations. All of which are required to hope achieving the next goal: $3M.
$3+ Million
Achieving a score of $3,000,000 or greater requires a tremendous amount of luck and diligence to extract all possible treasure from every level. It should be noted that a majority of seeds simply do not have $3M worth of treasure accessible to the player despite their most optimal play.
Even before obtaining the plasma cannon, it is crucial to extract and ghost as many gems as possible from the early levels. A large and frequently refreshing supply of bombs and mattocks are essential. Almost all bombs should be spent before entering the Ice Caves, where the luck then shifts to receiving a large supply of landmines in each level.
Certain advanced strategies such as Boss Level Ghosting and Ball and Chain Excavation may not be necessary, but should be considered whenever it is possible, with appropriate caution.
One can get a sense of the paces required for various scores in the $2.5 to $3.5 Million range from runs listed and broken down at http://primotendo.com/s/. Note that some runs employ duping methods that are not legal according to the NMG ruleset.
Specific Strategies
Vaultkeeper Kills
Vaults are important sources of money at all levels, so knowing safe and efficient ways to rob them is important.
Pot Strats
If you're going to use a bomb anyways you might as well do this.
Triad Duping
Line-ups for it.
Rushing Water
Vault chests under the water! Just have to kill the fish and also the little fishes and also an angry shopkeeper who is really good at swimming.
Plasma Cannon to City of Gold
How to keep the dumb man alive. Where the ghost spawns relative to you.
Ghosting Difficult Gems
Advanced ghost manipulation to get her into tricky corners.
Boss Level Ghosting
Needs an entire sub-section just on how to survive the city of gold.
Ball and Chain Excavation
lol, lmao
Roulette Wheel Shop
desperation start
Moai Diamond
Moai diamond exists. It's worth $7500, get it if you can it's cool.
Altar Rewards
There are odds of getting important items: specs, mitt. Also bomb box exists.