Nyll's 2017 Grinding Guide

It's an ironic form of euphoria.

To grind or not to grind?

To clarify; this guide is mostly for grinding skill IPs (I've added a new section for XP though). There is a bit of controversy in the subject. In a time long past, most new players were very much encouraged to grind most skills until 6 raw rather than spending XP to learn the skills from teachers. As I write this guide the general attitude has since shifted to buying raws instead of grinding. Hopefully this guide will help you choose which method is right for you.

Pros

• XP isn't spent on skills you train by grinding. This is the main reason why grinding is popular in the first place. XP in Hellmoo is a finite resource and spendable XP becomes increasingly hard to come by as you raise your total XP. By grinding skills instead of learning them, you can reserve more spendable XP for more important skills.
• It is easy to automate. With a few cleverly made triggers and timers, one could automate almost any skill grind they want for idle XP savings. NOTE: It is against the rules to AFK grind this way. You still need to be watching the process yourself.
  
• It gives you a feel for the individual skills. You will have several utility skills at your disposal that you may not know you needed if you choose to grind all of the skills.

Cons

• It takes a long time. Can't stress this enough. It takes a REALLY long time to grind skills. This is the main reason why grinding is so discouraged today. To grind all the skills can take hours or days of mindless monotony for (arguably) little XP savings that most newbies never get to put to use. Hours that could be spent actually playing the game.
• You're wasting your time if you're going to reroll. Most new characters end up rerolling their build or quitting before the XP they save through grinds ever gets put to use. If this is your first build I'd advise you to hold off on grinding entirely and just buy your skills first time around.
• You have to watch it during that time. I'll say it again, it is against the rules to AFK grind your skills. Occasionally admins will check up on you to see if you're there and if you don't respond in a timely manner you will be punted to the moon or worse.
• Things can kill you while you grind. Skill IPs and XP are not saved on death unless you update your clone at a cloner or do a job.
• The XP you save through grinds isn't that much in the long run. To put into perspective, most basic builds flourish at around 145k xp. This is enough for most people to learn their weapon skill and dodge to 15 raw (the highest any skill can go). XP doesn't start getting hard to acquire until around 190k which is where Fire Ant and Dinosaur XP rewards really start to taper off. This leaves you with a buffer of about 50k XP to spend on whatever you want. Focus, medic, wrestle, what-have-you. Even more if you have a competent corp to run group content with. This is usually enough XP to buy some basic utilities.

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TLDR:
Newbies and people who are not sure of their build should not grind. Your time would be better spent having fun and getting a feel for the game rather than wasting hours on such a long term investment.
Veterans, autists, and people who are 100% sure their build is the right one for them MAY want to grind. Remember, not grinding is not a build breaker for the most part and is entirely optional.

Grinding Tips

Before we get into methods there are some things you should know.

• Type grind skill, where skill is the skill you want to grind. This will improve your chances of gaining IP in that skill. (May be a placebo effect. This function was created during a much older grinding system)
• Skill IP gains are not 100%. Every time you use a skill you make a dice roll whether you gain IP in that skill or not. Close failures = better IP gain chance.
• The optimal grinding range for skills seems to be 10 to 14 total. This is why grinding is encouraged BEFORE mutating and gymming.
• The optimal grinding accuracy for weapon skills seems to be 10 to 18 tohit. Your character's threat level is also a factor in weapon skill grinding. A 100k XP player will have trouble gaining IPs from hitting orphans for example.
• Debuffing your totals will reduce efficiency. This prevents most people from being able to grind skills effectively later on.
• The highest raw you can grind a skill to is 6.00. After that you will have to spend XP to learn skills to their maximum 15.
• You cannot grind skills past 1.00 in "safe" places. This includes inside apartments, inside planes, inside corporate HQs etc. (Crafting skills like craft, science and chemistry are exempt from this rule.)
• The cooldown to gain an IP in a skill is 30 seconds. This means it will take a minimum of 5 hours PER skill you grind in the absolute best of conditions. (The timer is different for different skills. You can grind track and appraise in the same time for instance.)

Skill Grinding Methods

Protip: Ctrl+f And check the Unemployment Office for jobs. Some of them reward skill IPs on completion.

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• Appraise: Have a timer that appraises a weapon or person every few seconds. This stresses you out, it is best to do while sitting in a chill environment. Note: The gambler job has a fast cooldown and is 20 appraise IP each completion. This grind slows down significantly at 14 total.

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• Blades: Ask someone with high scavenge to improvise a bone knife with a skull for you. Killing orphans with this will take you up to 3 raw. Combat knives are an easier alternative. Once you hit 3, go to the top of Anyport and activate the beacon for an air taxi. Tell Bucko/Alexis to fly you to Charred Knoll where you will find Shimoji Kikoman and kill him for his katana. This will take you to 6.

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• Bombs: This method also grinds chemistry. You will need either firewalker or leechhide gauntlets to do this safely. Buy a molotov cocktail schematic from New Clearwater. Take all of the makeshift bandages you made in your craft grind to a fuel pump along with some jerry cans and a chemistry set. Spam molotovs.
  Alternatively, buy firecrackers from Thugg Lyfe in Gangland and nade a few adjacent tiles with them every 30 secs. (Bombs do not work within Freedom City)

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• Chemistry: Search the Crater Rim trailers for a schematic for a Wasteland Still. Ask your corpmates for a protocol for making salt and assistance in making a Wasteland Still. Take your new still along with a few dozen jerry cans to the ocean and fill them with salt water. Spam salt.
  Alternatively: See bombs

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• Climb: There's a climbing rope in Rolf's Gym, Slagtown you can use. Spam up and down.
  Alternatively: There's a longer rope behind J'mak in Crater Rim you can use which is over a river.

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• Clubs: Buy a thighbone from Ammu-Nation and use it until 3 raw. Upgrade to a softball bat from the same store and use it till 6. Whacking zombies is especially good for this because they soak tons of beat, just wear some leathers.

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• Craft: Kill and cut the skins off of a hundred or two orphans. Buy a sewing machine and engraving tool from Hell Up In Hardware, and a sewing book from the bookstore across the street. Make leather berets from the skins, engrave the berets with 14 letter strings, improvise bandage with beret, save the bandages for later chem/bomb grinds. It will hurt and cause stress when you fail, so wear leech gauntlets and sit in a chill room.
  Alternatively: Gather wheat from Luskentyre and use them on a stove to make white rolls.

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• Dodge: Enter combat with an orphan, set a timer to escape into a direction, set a trigger to stop escape.
  Example:
  k orphan
  You carefully engage scruffy Maggie, with regret for your pacifist principles.
  Scruffy Maggie throws a clumsy blow at Nyll.
  n
  You try to escape from scruffy Maggie!
  [ You gained 1 ip in dodge! ]
  stop
  You stop walking the path you'd planned.
  Repeat
  Note: The Interceptor job rewards 10 dodge IP, though is a bit of an intermediate job.

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• Fish: Go to shoreline and buy a fishing pole from the fishing store. Go fish.
  Note: Selling 5 fish to the Shoreline fishing store will reward you with some fish IP.

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• Fists: Your bare fists will be good until about 5 raw. Upgrade to a knuckle buster from Ammu-Nation once you hit 5. Zombies are good to train beating weapons on.

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• Flails: Please think twice about your build. Flail memes are stale and unfunny. Try to get a yo-yo from an orphan bully. It's a random drop. This will take you to 3. Upgrade to Nunchucks from Ammu-Nation. Zombies are good to train beating weapons on.

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• Fuck: Get some horny person to wear a strap-on from the Hellfire store and suck on that all day.
  Alternatively: Try to find someone you can borrow an orgasmorator off of so you can jerk off alone, you sad degenerate.
  Note: The Whore job rewards 20 fuck IP per completion

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• Focus: Mutate screech or Writhing Smoke and set either (or both) on a 15 second timer. This is very stressful and best done sitting in a public hot tub. Be careful, if someone steps into your tile while you screech it will send a challenge.
  Note: The WU Office Worker job rewards 10 focus IP.

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• Hack: Buy an Alkatek DNI implant from Corpclave and hack computers. There's one near the chud mutation spot and one in South Necropolis behind a locked door.

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• Linguist: This skill cannot be grinded and is only used in a few schematics. The bookstore owner in FC teaches it.

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• Locksmith: Buy a steel lockpick from the Rough Trade automat in Slagtown and pick locked doors. There's one in Sharpton Basement and one in the cemetary South of Sargos.

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• Medic: Buy a steel table from Weezer and massage someone on it. Must be done in public places. It's expensive and heavy, better to ask your corpmates to borrow one.
  Alternatively: Use the sonic scalpel if you can't find a partner. It will take an extremely long time with less than 5 medic raw, but it is possible.
  Note: The Slagtown Medic job can be completed for 15 medic IP. Maas Organ Donor is 20 medic IP. Abortionist is 5 medic IP.

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• Persuade: This one is easy. Set a timer to insult an NPC for a while.
  Alternatively: Milk the beefalos in Crater Rim.
  Note: The socializer job rewards 5 persuade IP. Prank Caller rewards 10 IP.

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• Pilot: Buy a runabout from botany and sail around in it for a while. You must be travelling at 40 throttle or more to gain IP in the runabout. Be sure to bring extra jerry cans of fuel and use the boat map [1].
  Note: EEE Delivery jobs reward 20 pilot IP each completion.

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• Pistols: Buy a .22 revolver and the ammo from Thugg Lyfe in Gangland. You are going to need a lot of ammo. The automats outside (and inside) Ammu-Nation sells .22 speedloads, as well as the vending machine in Liddy Arms and Blastarms. Upgrade to a .38 snubnose from Thug Lyfe and buy ammo for that too. It has an even smaller capacity so it's good to buy both .38 and .22 ammo at the same time.

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• Quickdraw: Set triggers to draw and stow your weapon. This grind is much more successful while in combat.

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• Repair: Set triggers to destroy a piece of furniture and repair it once it is destroyed. The furniture in orphanage works well for this.

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• Ride: This one is tricky. You can buy a skateboard from a store in 420 High Street Corner Market, west, then down. Ride around until 1 raw, then upgrade to a warthog motorbike. This is a very painful grind and you will probably need to ask your corp for help building the bike.
  Note: Fat Ratzo's Deliveryboy job rewards 10 ride IP each.

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• Rifles: Buy a 10/22 rifle from Blastarms in Crater Rim along with the .22 speedloads (see pistols for where to get ammo). Ask your corpmates to make you an American-180 once you hit 3 raw. The pancake mags can also be bought from Blastarms.

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• Scavenge: You can be productive and grind this at the same time by scavenging in Sharpton, Gangland. The can opener weapon is also good until 3 raw and can be bought from Ammu-Nation.
  Alternatively: Wear some beat protection like tire armor and buy a pickaxe from Eschaton Outfitters. Go mine in Mountain Pass.
  Alternatively: There is a ruined estate in Gangland with a hidden entrance you can scavenge for. Search for the entrance, go down then up, and repeat search for the entrance again.
  Note: The RDCD Corpse Grinder job rewards 15 scavenge IP per completion.

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• Science: This one is difficult but can be done in safe areas. You can buy a proton pack from CSICOP Operative Shop near Bradbury along with some MK I cells and spray it in a room full of furniture for science IPs. You will need at least 1 raw to start with or else the proton pack will fizzle and hurt you.
  Alternatively: Scavenge for spent fuel rods in Toxic Dump and bring them to the New Clearwater calutron to make them into plutonium. They are irradiated and heavy, bring a trail pack. (Credit to Maimai for this)
  The CSICOP Ghost Buster job rewards 20 science IP each.

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• Sneak: You can literally idle grind this. Stand in front of a FC or Galleria camera and idle. You will make a sneak roll every time it warns/fines you. Easy, but very long.
  

Note: The Ronin job rewards 25 sneak IP per completion. This one is quite hard for the average newbie.

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• Spears: Buy a sharp pole from Ammu-Nation and use it until 3 raw. Upgrade to military fork until 4 raw, then ask your corpmates to improvise a piece of scrap wood into a wooden stake for you. This will take you to 6.

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• Swim: Pretty straight forward, just swim in and out of the water a bunch. There's a pool near 420 High Street, FC and a beach in Shoreline. Don't go too far out from the shore or you will be swept into the gulf.

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• Teach: I don't think you can grind this one. At least I don't have a method. It's the cheapest skill to buy anyway.

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• Throw: Throw an object at a door. If grinds are slow, try to use a lighter/heavier object.

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• Torture: Go into the back room of Hellfire Basement with a partner and tie them to the torture bed. Torture nerd with cigar, This is a cheap skill and you should buy it instead.
  Alternatively: See wrestle.

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• Track: Type track repeatedly on a 15 second timer. This does not work unless there are players in the area to pick up. The best results are from the orphanage or a corner of Freedom City.
  Note: The Prisoner Invasion job gives 15 track IP. Gangland Dexter job gives 20 track IP.

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• Wrestle: This one is stressful and annoying. Sit in a hot tub with an NPC to grab and grab them repeatedly. If you miss, they may enter combat with you and make you stand up. Leave the tile, enter it again once they've stopped attacking, and resume the grabbing. This grind seems to jump off a cliff after 14 total.
  Alternatively: If you're brawny enough to hold your victim for long, dress them in clothes and strip the clothes for more gains.
  Alternatively: Hire a Ganglander and mix torture into the grind. Torture ganglander with cigar when you have them in a hold. (Credit goes to Medina for this.)

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• Whips: Scavenge Gangland for an electrical cord to use until 3 raw. Go to the 2nd floor of the Giggling Schoolgirl to upgrade to a riding crop until 4 raw. Ask your corpmates for an upgrade to the linkwhip or try your luck at the random spawning Sharpton lockers for a nail sjambok. They will both take you to 6.

XP Grinding Methods

Under construction

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• 0 to 10k XP

You may be tempted to start killing orphans for XP right away, however, this is a very inefficient, with only a measely 7xp a pop. If you haven't already grinded your weapon skill you should try doing jobs in Freedom City until you can learn your way to 6. Check the Unemployment Office, it is a purple UO on your lmap one block north of the orphanage. Orphan Exterminator, Gambler, Socializer, Corpse Grinder, Delivery Boy, Scam Artist, Whore, and Medic, are all good starter jobs. Ask your corp for help doing journals (quests) too if you're still feeling lost.

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• 10k to 25k XP:

Try to kill some crack heads in the Crack Mansion (blue cm on your lmap). Type fight cautious for best effect. These things don't spawn as densely as orphans, but they're 14xp a kill.
You can also try the Crack House in Gangland which you can find from the Western Freedom City exit. (The crack house will be a blue ch on your lmap) Beware, crackfiends spawn here more often and are marginally tougher than the average crackhead.
If you can afford an electric lantern from Escheton Outfitters, try taking on the chuds down the manholes in Freedom City. Avoid the chobos unless you have a parry class * or higher weapon. They are stronger and often have weapons of their own.
If you've joined a player corp already (it is heavily advised that you do), you can try your hand at prisoner and chud invasion contracts in the Citihall (purple CH on your lmap.) Go up to the second floor and simply buy/sign the contract from Sgt. Hatred. This will spawn five prisoners or chuds in semi-random spots in Freedom City, Gangland, Slagtown, or Corpclave. The prisoners are stronger than chuds and will try to feint/pow you. There is also a job for completing either of them for even more XP if you do manage to complete them.

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• 25k to 40k XP:

Keep doing jobs and invasion contracts. If you feel like branching out of the safety of Freedom, try a Broken Arrow contract from Sgt. Hatred. The job is 200xp and the payout is about $7000 which is absurdly high for the trouble. The bureaucrat you have to escort will spawn in either:
The Southeast-most part of Wasteland (Bring a radiation suit)
Southwest-most corner of Maas Neotek (Have some dodge to evade the hepcats)
Or up a few difficult Mountain Trail climbs in Northeast Crater Rim (Have at least 16 climb total)
Note: You will gain XP rewards from journals for visiting places and killing things for the first time. Collect them whenever you are able.