Introduction In order to achieve the rank of the Legendary Pirate King and complete a 100% run you must acquire 5,000,000 HQ. The game does contain an excess of HQ so getting max HQ in every level is not required to achieve this however, getting HQ in some levels can be significantly faster or easier than others. This guide aims to document all of the HQ available in each level and the most efficient ways of getting to 5,000,000 HQ, as well as a few alternate routes to recover if you are unable to get high amounts of HQ in difficult levels such as Dragon Scales or The Great Chase.

Below is a list of the majority of the HQ available (some HQ is omitted due to them not being remotely time efficient) in the game in each level as well as some realistic approximates for the amount of HQ you are likely to get when playing each level. Below the list will be some recommended routes to take as well.

HQ List

Jungle Ruins

A Journey Begins

Maximum HQ: 40,000

Pit Of Tragedy

Maximum HQ: 80,000

Three Colossi

Maximum HQ: 160,000

Flute Of The Growlin' Goblins

Maximum HQ: 120,000

Fountain Guardian

Maximum HQ: 175,000

Standard HQ: 150,000

Standard HQ is obtained by playing through the level as you normally would in an any% run, however, to get maximum HQ you can also knock out and itemise the goblin as well as put a worm on the fishing hook.

King Of The Jungle

Maximum HQ: 265,000

Standard HQ: 237,000

Standard HQ is obtained by playing through the level as you normally would in an any% run, however, to get maximum HQ you can also itemise a bat and ride down the zipline.

World Total Maximum HQ: 840,000 Standard HQ: 787,500

Frozen Temple

The Crystal Key

Maximum HQ: 80,000

Maximum HQ is obtained by playing through the level as you normally would in an any% run, whilst also interacting with Johnny.

The Keeper Of The Ice

Maximum HQ: 160,000

No Johnny: 157,500

Standard: 147,000

Standard HQ is obtained by playing through the level as you normally would in an any% run, however, you must also shake the trees for secret treasure, yielding some additional HQ. No Johnny is obtained by following the same procedure as standard HQ, however you also get Jeeves to break the ice, and maximum HQ included interacting with Johnny as well as breaking the ice.

The Icicle Of Prosperity

Maximum HQ: 247,500

Standard HQ: 245,000

Maximum HQ is obtained by dropping the icicle onto the iceberg to free the chest, as well as itemising the bat and interacting with Johnny. Standard HQ is obtained by following the same procedure as maximum HQ, however, you do not need to interact with Johnny.

Frost Breath

Maximum HQ: 200,000

World Total

Maximum HQ: 687,500

No Johnny: 682,500

Standard HQ: 672,500

No Johnny is achieved through getting all of the HQ in all of the levels with the exception of interacting with Johnny in The Icicle Of Prosperity and standard HQ is obtained through the same method, however, it also excludes using Jeeves to break the ice.

Western Volcano

Bridge Of Doom

Maximum HQ: 200,000

Lake Of Fire

High HQ: 192,500

Standard HQ: 182,500

Standard HQ is obtained by playing through the level as you normally would in an any% run, however, to get high HQ you can also saw the wooden pole holding the ball at the start of the level after you have solved the puzzle and before grabbing the chest.

Relics Of The Past

Maximum HQ: 160,000

Dragon Scales

Maximum HQ: 360,000

Bad Tennis: approximately 285,100

Bad tennis assumes getting the minimum amount of HQ possible on the first section (100 HQ) and missing two shots on the second section, reducing the amount of HQ gained from 100,000 to 40,000. Depending on how good your tennis is even without getting perfect tennis your HQ is likely to be higher than this approximate.

Ancient Wyrm

Maximum HQ: 240,000

Operation: Take Back!

Maximum HQ: 280,000

World Total

Maximum HQ: 1,425,000

Bad Tennis: 1,350,100

Barbaros' Castle

Bell Tower Of Requiem

Maximum HQ: 200,000

Standard HQ: 190,000

Standard HQ is obtained by playing through the level as you normally would in an any% run, however, to get maximum HQ you can also knock on the bell to interact with Johnny after you have already rung it and collected the moon stone.

The Painted Secret

Maximum HQ: 240,000

Mirror, Mirror

Maximum HQ: 200,000

Mad Science

Maximum HQ: 320,000

Maximum HQ is obtained by playing through the level the as in an any% run, however, you must also cut down the tree using the the centisaw, which is also required to get one of the secret treasures.

Return Of The Legend

Maximum HQ: 200,000

Standard HQ: 198,000

Bad Minecart: approximately 175,000

Standard HQ involves playing through the level as you usually would in an any% run, however, rather than constantly ringing the bell you must ring it conservatively to get maximum HQ on the minecart section. In order to get maximum HQ you must not do the fast moonlight trick to kill the floating curses quickly and must only pull the chain after the floating curses have been released in addition to getting maximum HQ in the minecart section. Bad minecart is an approximate HQ value assuming you constantly ring the bell throughout the minecart section, however, even if you do this you are likely to still get a slightly higher HQ total.

World Total

Maximum HQ: 1,160,000

No Johnny: 1,150,000

Bad Minecart: 1,125,000

No Johnny is obtained by collection all of the HQ available in each level with the exception of interacting with Johnny in Bell Tower Of Requiem and bad minecart is obtained by not interacting with Johnny and also constantly ringing the bell in the minecart section of Return Of The Legend.

Eastern Seas

The Great Chase

(1) Maximum HQ: 280,000

(2) Bad RNG: 275,000

(3) Bad Shooting: 250,000

Maximum HQ is obtained by playing through the level as you normally would in an any% run however, you must also use the fishing rod, place a tuna bomb in the bomb chute manually and not miss any shots. Bad RNG is obtained by following the maximum HQ procedure, however, when doing the first torpedo section Hexaleg attacks the ship before you can hit him. Bad shooting accounts for some HQ that may be lost by missing a few shots when trying to free the goons and is a low end estimate.

Barbaros' Land

(1) High HQ: 430,000

(2) No Pots: 420,000

Due to maximum HQ taking much longer to acquire on this level and being quite inefficient in a run it is not listed on this guide and instead I have listed a high HQ run, which collects as much HQ as possible within a reasonably efficient timeframe. The no pots run involves using the chalice and deactivating the eye before removing the flag pole, sword fighting the top patrol goon and crushing the other two with a treasure vase and the boulder, knocking the treasures on the gondola down to the bottom of the level and ensuring you get perfect swordfights, as well as doing all of the standard things required to complete the level. The high HQ run is identical to this however it also involves using the statue vase near the snake pot to disguise yourself to gain some extra HQ. The high HQ route can be more convenient to take depending on how the cycles end up after waiting for the wind to align when using the gold flakes.

Barbaros' Land: Final Battle

(1) Maximum HQ: 320,000

(2) Standard HQ: 300,000

Standard HQ is obtained by playing through the level as you normally would in an any% run, however, to get maximum HQ you must not take any hits. In order to do this, when loading the goons into the cannon bay make sure to use the bell to itemise the sharockets before they hit the ship in between loading the goons.

World Total

(1,1,1): 1,030,000

(1,1,2): 1,010,000

(2,1,2): 1,005,000

(1,2,2): 1,000,000

(2,2,2): 995,000

(3,1,2): 980,000

(3,2,2): 970,000

These are only some of the possible combinations including maximum and minimum HQ.

Route

During the any% segment of the run if you are able to get maximum HQ on Dragon Scales and hence maximum HQ for the Western Volcano you will only need to meet the standard HQ requirements for the world total for Jungle Ruins and Frozen temple. From there if you only hit the bad minecart threshold for HQ in Barbaros' Castle you will need to acquire 982,500 HQ from the Eastern Seas, however if you meet the requirements for the No Johnny world total in Barbaros' Castle you will only need to acquire 957,500 HQ from the Eastern Seas.

If you are unable to get maximum HQ on Dragon Scales and only meet the Bad Tennis world total requirements for the Western Volcano, then aim for the No Johnny world total requirements for Frozen Temple. In the Eastern Seas collect 430,000 HQ from Barbaros' Land and 300,000 HQ from Final Battle.

If you are only able to collect 250,000 HQ from The Great Chase, assuming you have achieved the standard HQ requirements for the Jungle Ruins and No Johnny requirements for Barbaros' Castle you will have 4,957,600 HQ. The remaining 42,400 HQ can be obtained by instead meeting the maximum HQ requirements for the Jungle ruins, yielding an additional 52,500 HQ. Because of this slight surplus you will not have to place the worm on the hook in The Fountain Guardian.

If you are able to collect 275,000 from The Great Chase, assuming you have achieved the standard HQ requirements for the Jungle Ruins and No Johnny requirements for Barbaros' Castle you will have 4,982,600 HQ. The remaining 17,400 HQ can be obtained by knocking out and itemising the goblin in The Fountain Guardian.

Maddy Locations

Below is a map showing the best places to send Maddy on expeditions. Initially send him to the red square and once you have the discount tickets send him to the yellow square. The two green crosses are the only treasure map locations you don't need to send him to.