Overview

In order to get a meta set there are three main options on how to play. These are as follows:

Set grinding has largely fallen out of favor in recent years as many players turn to either be competitive in dailies or use grillskills. The biggest factor for this is that set grinding is entirely RNG dependent and will sometime require a large time investment that isn't particularly skill based, and when deeplooping runs can take multiple hours on top of that it can become a time sink. For that reason trying dailies/grillskills is recommended if looking to push into the later loops of the game, however this guide will still tackle all the old strategies around set grinding to retain this information.

A normal run consists of only 8 mutations, however Crown of Destiny can be granted a 9th. It has its own complex mechanics listed here(link later), and for the most optimal set possible is something that should be fully explored. The guide linked will go fully into how to radstarve, and full mutation set logic. If wanting to run 8 mutations these guides can be ignored, if wanting an optimal 8 mutation set simply keep playing as normal until one is found.

As a reminder Last Wish cannot be gained from Crown of Destiny if doing these strategies, aside from Horror who seemingly bypasses this.

In terms of set grinding the best mutant picks is by far Horror as he trivializes any mutation starving with his ability to use rad beam, and his passive naturally improves the chances of a perfect set by quite a bit. Crystal and YV can deviate from a standard P9 because of their passive+ultras, thus have a lower bar to get over in terms of getting a viable set.

NOTE - figure out weird mechanics around hitting 9+ultra in a level and then taking destiny afterwards.

Strategy 1: The Normal Route

This route is the most common for dailies and is the most 'vanilla' feeling to it. The goal is to take Crown of Destiny in the 3-2 vault, purposefully not level up and reach the 5-2 vault swapping the crown off for any other one.

If playing Non-Beta(u99r1) the mutation given by CoDestiny is the first mutation of the last set seen, so the mutation from CoDestiny can be predicted. Simply level up until two good mutations appear in a set and then radstarve from there until reaching the second vault, in which the rest of the mutations can be seen.

If playing on any beta version the mutation given is random from CoDestiny, so entering the first vault should be done at a higher level to make radstarving easier(usually around levels 4-6 depending on enemy generation). After getting the random mutation if still on course for a meta set, radstarve until 5-2 and swap the crown off and continue leveling as normal.

This strategy is more beneficial to Non-Beta versions of the game due to the ability to manipulate CoDestiny for a desired mutation, but can also be more time consuming compared to the following strategies.

Strategy 2: Destiny Start

Destiny Start was fairly popular before grillskills caught on. This entails taking Crown of Destiny from the start of a run and starving until the 3-2 vault. The first mutation will be seen upon completing 1-1 so resetting the run is a simple matter. Reaching Level 2 only takes 61 rads and starving on 1-1 repeatedly can be a nuisance so one can simply just level up on 1-1 and then starve as normal, but this can add to the total time based on mutation RNG rather than cut it down.

Because the first mutations seen on a random run will be random this is the most beneficial to beta versions who sees random mutations anyways, but is generally useful to both versions to quickly see if the start of that run is worth seeing through. There is a 1 in 27 chance of seeing any specific mutation or a 3.7% chance, but if looking between 9 different mutations that's a 33.33% chance of seeing any one of them. Upon reaching the 3-2 vault, simply swap off the crown for another one and continue leveling as normal.

While the Normal Route requires starving through 4 levels, Destiny Start requires starving through 6 levels(5 if leveling on 1-1). While this requires completing more levels to reach the first vault, they are much safer to radstarve through and there are far fewer enemies that have high rad yields.

Strategy 3: Hate Start

Hate Start was one of the less popular options but can also be guaranteed in execution. It entails starting with the Crown of Hatred and reaching the 3-2 vault with a melee(Wrench likely works best here) leveling as normal along the way. Upon reaching the vault a proto chest will spawn because a crown is being run currently, and it can be repeatedly opened to gain rads.

From here awaken the guardians through either attacking one of the statues or stepping on the crown pedestal. Attacking a statue in order to keep Crown of Hatred is recommended but not necessary. The idea is to stay at 1 HP while both guardians fire their green orb attacks, allowing the player to continually break the orbs for health pickups, and then in turn step on the proto chest again to self-damage in order to gain even more rads. Constantly being as close to 1 HP as possible is the best idea here to increase chances of health pickups as quickly as possible.

At the point of reaching level 9 the guardians can be killed and the vault can be exited, do not take Crown of Destiny yet. From here the player will see multiple sets in a row and can quickly decide if they got a meta set or if the run needs to be reset and tried again.

From here continue onto the 5-2 vault, hitting ultra along the way. Going from level 9 to ultra requires 540 rads which is more than enough between 3-3 to 5-2, do a bit more grinding in the 3-2 vault otherwise if worried about leveing efficiently.

In the 5-2 vault take Crown of Destiny in which it will give the player 1 random mutation from the 19 mutations left. Post-ultra destiny will always be a random mutation regardless of versoin, and a 1 in 19 chance of the desired mutation is just a 5.3% chance(or 10.5% chance if looking between two mutations).

If on Non-Beta and going to the 3-2 vault and a good mutation set for Destiny abuse is seen, the player can simply swap to the Normal Route strategy from there and continue as normal.

Post-ultra destiny can also potentially ruin a runs efforts as a mutation such as Eagle Eyes can completely ruin a meta set, there are risks associated with this method of set grinding that makes it a fairly unpopular choice even between meta players due to it being grindy in an un-fun way and being able to screw the player over RNG-wise at the last possible moment. Because of this it isn't recommended, however some high level players have been able to pull it off effectively because it is a way to quickly see all the normal sets, only leaving the Destiny part for last which requires no radstarving at the very least.

Strategy 4: Blood Start

Blood Start is not the most practical option as it is far more reliant on RNG, however was still done due to the nature of not having any grindy parts of gameplay. This is similar to the CoHatred start, start a run with Crown of Blood and reach the 5-2 vault after hitting ultra to receive a random mutation post-ultra from Crown of Destiny.

In order for this to work Cursed Crystal Caves(CCC) must be visited as the rads there will make hitting ultra by Frozen City very likely, though still not guaranteed. Cursed chests have a 1 in 7 chance of spawning when running any crown, and with 7 levels before CCC that makes the chances of seeing at least one cursed weapon likely, but also not guaranteed. While there will be a high volume of enemies the player can play the game pretty normally without needing to radstarve or grind health pickups in a vault, rather simply focusing on leveling up through some more difficult areas.

Upon reaching the 5-2 vault and ultra was reached CoDestiny will grant a random mutation, which is a fairly small chance of giving the desired result(See CoHatred section above for odds).

This strategy is obviously not suggested as it has multiple factors that is dependent on getting a successful meta set. Needing a cursed weapon, CCC not even guaranteeing ultra in time, and sometimes weapon RNG can be bad enough that ammo can be completely exhausted in CCC makes this strategy unviable. The main reason it was run was just for the fun factor, if sets are being grinded out anyways there may as well be some fun/challenge to go along with it even if not the most effective.