Characters in Problem Sleuth require certain resources to perform various abilities, such as Battle Menu attacks and the summoning of certain characters
.
Each of the four main resources, as their names suggest, is associated with one race of the four kingdoms of the imaginary universe:
- Elf Tears, blue in color, come from the eyes of elves
- Weasel Snot, which is green, presumably also comes from a biological process of the weasels, though this has not been explicitly seen
- Hog Slop, brown, is named for a composite food fed to hogs in real life, but like Snot has no stated origin
- Pie Filling, the clowns' off-white resource, is similarly mysterious, known only to be used in large amounts in some attacks
and, like other substances sometimes used to fill prank pies, to be absurdly flammable
Pie Filling is also unique in being directly related to one of the conflicts of the plight of the four kingdoms, presumably being the same filling found inside the pies made by the clowns and which the elves covet.
Elf tears[]
Elf Tears appear to have a special statues among these four resources, perhaps owning to the magical nature of the elves themselves. The Battle Menu has a special counter for Elf Tears, with each character seemingly have a limit on the amount of Tears they can carry and as such on their ability to use Tear-fueled abilities; Problem Sleuth can hold a total of twelve, Pickle Inspector is limited to six (though appears to have obtained one before his introduction to the comic), and Ace Dick can carry but one. The fact that some abilities may require many units of other resources but only a single Elf Tear also lends credence to their peculiarity.
Elf Tears are also the only one of the four resources to actually be seen being physically gathered, with PI collecting them in a teapot directly from the eyes of an elf and then transferring them directly to PS' flask. One flask 100% filled with Elf Tears seems to equate to six drops; it is unclear what happens if a character carries a flask or teapot containing more Tears than their Battle Menu indicates they can carry, or how this correlates to values of other resources which may or may not have caps. Solving the plight of the four kingdoms, however, grants PS the Royal Chemistry Set, which contains a hundred (100) drops of each, possibly acting as an upgrade to this carry limit.
Known costs[]
- Combat Operandi -> Belly of the Whale costs some unknown value of Elf Tears (presumably one)
- Battle Technique -> Sleuth Diplomacy costs one Elf Tear
- Three Elf Tears is enough to summon a Weasel Emissary, but summoning the Weasel King requires some Weasel Snot in addition
- Combat Operandi -> Armistyx costs an unspecified quantity of Hog Slop and Pie Filling, and a single Elf Tear
- By PS #1443, Problem Sleuth has used at least 70 drops of Elf Tears (100+6 - 36), 88 of Weasel Snot (100 - 12), 82 of Hog Slop (100 - 18) and 71 of Pie Filling (100 - 29) in total.
Gallery[]
