Official art of the Prethinker from the Hires & Heroes key art
The Prethinker featured in an official Twitter comic
The Prethinker featured in an official Twitter comic
Prethinker
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The Prethinker is a Sellbot Manager Boss who was introduced as part of the Hires & Heroes Update. He can be fought in the basement of the Toontown School House in Toontown Central after unlocking the Kudos task Brainiacs in the Basement. He was first introduced in the An Alarming Alert of Aptitude Blog Post on the Corporate Clash website that detailed into an ARG.
Content Sync
Toons fighting against the Prethinker will have Content Sync applied to them. They will be synced down to the following stats:
- 50 Laff Soft Cap (Max 58)
- Up to Level 4 Gags permitted
- All rewards restricted
Attacks
| Prethinker Attacks | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buzz Word
(Single) |
Brain Storm
(Single) |
Re-Org
(Single) |
Paradigm Shift
(All) |
Brain Wave*
(Multiple) | |
| Damage | 18 | 18 | 19 | 14 | 10 |
| Accuracy | 75 | 85 | 70 | 70 | 100 |
| Frequency | 35 | 20 | 25 | 20 | N/A |
*Indicates a Cheat Move
Cheats
The Prethinker can only be lured for 2 rounds.
All of the Cogs summoned in this fight are Desk Jockeys. Desk Jockeys will naturally join the fight on odd numbered turns. If the Prethinker is alone, a Level 8.exe Desk Jockey and an additional low leveled Desk Jockey will join the fight. If the Prethinker isn't alone, up to two low leveled Desk Jockeys will join the fight. The Level 8.exe Desk Jockey will always call in additional Desk Jockeys with a cheat at the end of every turn while they are alive, otherwise both methods of spawning bear no differences.
The Prethinker will jump and force one of his Desk Jockeys into his previous position, while also moving into the new one. This cheat always happens before the Toon's Gags are used. If a Trap is placed in front of the Prethinker when this cheat triggers, the Trap will remain in place and will instead apply to the Desk Jockey that takes his place. If the Prethinker or the Desk Jockey he swaps places with are Lured, they will both unlure after this cheat is triggered. The Desk Jockey that the Prethinker swaps with is always random. The triggers for Castling are as follows:
- If the Prethinker has the Status Effects Soaked, Trapped, or Lured for more than 1 turn, he will Castle.
- If the Prethinker gains another Status Effect while Castling due to a previous Status Effect (ex. Castling due to Lure, and then having Soak damage applied), the new Status Effect will not cause a Castle next turn.
- If the Soaked Status Effect has one turn left, and has caused a Castle in the previous turn, he will not Castle.
- If the Prethinker is directly targeted two turns in a row, he will Castle. Sound Gags and indirect sources of damage such as Splash damage or Zap Jumps will not count as targeting the Prethinker.
If Sound is used twice in a row (including if it misses the previous turn) and there are Desk Jockeys present, the Prethinker will back away from his position and attempt to hide behind one of them. The Sound will not hurt the Prethinker this way. However, if the said Desk Jockey is destroyed before this cheat is triggered, it will proceed with the cheat and become damaged. The Prethinker cannot trigger Castling and dodge Sound in the same turn.
Upon reaching 40% of his health (400 HP), the Prethinker will summon a group of Brain Storms in front of everyone.
- Brain Wave - As a result of Forward Thinking, the Prethinker and any remaining Jockies will unlure themselves and attack with Brain Storm, dealing 10 damage to all Toons hit. This occurs at the beginning of the Cogs' turn, and the amount of Toons damaged is equal to the amount of Cogs alive at the beginning of the round. This cheat will never miss.
Strategy
| Recommended Gags | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Track | "Should I bring this Gag to this fight?" | "Should I Prestige it?" | "How many Toons should bring it?" |
 Toon-Up |
Important for keeping your teammates alive. The Prethinker and the Desk Jockeys are capable of dealing around half a Toon's maximum Laff combined in a turn, and even more during the Forward Thinking phase. Prestige Throw's self-healing won't always be enough to keep you healthy.
 Rating: 3/3 Stars |
Very useful for the moderately increased self-healing and the extra round of Cheer. The extra round of Cheer will give a nice boost to the accuracy of moves such as Lure + Throw, Lure + Trap + 2 Throw, Zap (when already Soaked) + 3 Drop and so on.
Rating: 3/3 Stars |
2-4 Toons |
 Trap |
Useful for boosting Lure's accuracy on the turn it's placed and taking out or assisting in taking out a Desk Jockey.
Rating: 3/3 Stars |
While this may sound like a good Prestige to have, in practice, it doesn't do anything that could change or improve general strategies for this battle. It won't introduce any new kill ranges for the Desk Jockeys that normal Trap already can't do.
 Rating: 0/3 Stars |
1-3 Toons |
 Lure |
Essential if your team is doing a strategy involving Trap and Throw. Enables strong moves like Lure + Trap + 2 Throw (not on the Prethinker) and Lure + 3 Throw. Rating: 3/3 Stars |
A naturally great Prestige if your team's strategy for this battle involves using a lot of Lure and Throw. The Prethinker can be kept Lured for 1 round while not in the Forward Thinking phase, potentially allowing 4 Throw Gags to be used on him at once, making for a huge burst damage turn when further boosted by Prestige Lure's knockback bonus.
Rating: 3/3 Stars |
2-3 Toons |
 Throw |
Essential if your team is doing a strategy involving Lure, as it is the best Gag for making use of the Lure's knockback. Capable of repeatedly doing high damage to the Prethinker and taking out Desk Jockeys.
Rating: 3/3 Stars |
As usual for Manager battles, Throw's Prestige is very useful for this fight, allowing you to deal reliable damage while having to spend less of other resources on healing.
Rating: 3/3 Stars |
4 Toons |
 Squirt |
Essential if your team is doing a strategy involving Zap and/or Drop. Enables Zap to take out multiple Desk Jockeys in a turn, and in this fight, mainly benefits the accuracy of Drop.
Rating: 3/3 Stars |
Not useful for this fight. It won't introduce any new kill ranges or improve any strategies anywhere. Other prestiges contribute much more for the battle.
Rating: 0/3 Stars |
2-4 Toons |
 Zap |
Great for dealing with multiple Desk Jockeys, including the executive Level 8 one. Can be used for good damage on the Prethinker as well if you know he will Castle, as Zap can damage any of up to 3 positions he could move to.
Rating: 3/3 Stars |
Not useful for this fight. Won't grant any new kill ranges for Desk Jockeys, as base Zap is good enough for these situations, nor will it improve any strategies significantly enough.
Rating: 0/3 Stars |
0, 2, 3, or 4 Toons |
 Sound |
Useful for clearing weaker Desk Jockeys and setting up for big burst damage turns on the Prethinker.
Rating: 3/3 Stars |
A great prestige. The stronger Encore allows for even harder-hitting burst damage turns on the Prethinker.
Rating: 3/3 Stars |
0, 3, or 4 Toons |
 Drop |
An excellent single target damage dealer for when the Prethinker is alone, especially when combined with accuracy buffs such as Soaked and Cheer.
Rating: 3/3 Stars |
Great for capitalizing further on the Soaked and Marked effects and dealing more damage to Prethinker when he's alone.
Rating: 3/3 Stars |
0, 3, or 4 Toons |
General strategies for the Prethinker battle involve trying to clear Desk Jockeys to isolate the Prethinker for a turn, making it so he has no one to use Castling with, then using the momentary isolation as an opportunity to deal heavy single target damage to him. This process will be repeated multiple times until he is defeated. Your team should be equipped with ways to destroy multiple Desk Jockeys at a time (Zap, Sound, and/or Lure + Trap or Throw), ways to deal heavy single target damage to the Prethinker when he's alone (Lure + Throw or a Gag that precedes Drop to stun + multiple Drop Gags), and ways to heal to be able to continue the process until the Prethinker is defeated (mainly Toon-Up, Prestige Throw is optional but helpful).
Keep in mind how Castling works so you'll know when he will and won't Castle. If at any point you know he will Castle, plan your moves around the possible Desk Jockeys he could swap positions with.
- Castling will never be able to occur on the first round, as it essentially requires staying Soaked or Lured for multiple rounds in a row, having a Trap in front of him for multiple rounds in a row, or being directly targeted for multiple rounds. You can use this knowledge to do whatever you like on the first turn with relative peace of mind.
- If you know he will use Castling, you can use Squirt to Soak the Desk Jockeys and place Zap Gags on either the Prethinker's current position or the Desk Jockeys' positions, depending on whether you want to prioritize more damage on the Prethinker or getting rid of the Level 8.exe Desk Jockey. Either way, you will still get some damage on the Prethinker out of doing this.
- Lure + Trap + Drop can also destroy the Level 8.exe Desk Jockey, but this move is a little riskier due to the lower likelihood of everything hitting compared to the single high accuracy roll required from Squirt and Zap.
- Due how to Castling works, it's possible to completely prevent the Prethinker from Castling for the entire fight.
- Essentially, don't apply Lured or Soaked to him and have it last for more than one turn or have a Trap out in front of him and have it last for more than one turn, and don't have him directly targeted with Gags two turns in a row (unless in either case on the following turn, he'll be alone so he'll have no one to use Castling with). Remember that using Group Lure, Sound, and hitting him with only Splash Damage or Zap Jumps doesn't count as directly targeting him.
- If he's alone and Soaked, you can use Zap to remove Soaked to prevent him from Castling under the "Has stayed Lured, Soaked or Trapped for multiple rounds" condition next turn. When Zap is used, the Soaked debuff isn't removed until the end of the turn, so 3 Drop could still be used on the same turn to still deal high damage to him with high accuracy due to the Soaked status and the Zap acting as a stun.
- If he's alone and Lured, he would unlure anyway as he has two-round Lure Resistance, but you might as well use Throw to take advantage of him being Lured.
- Be aware that doing either of the above moves involves directly targeting the Prethinker. If he is directly targeted again next turn, he could castle Castle under the "has been directly targeted two turns in a row" condition. You can still use Lure + Trap/Throw/Drop or Squirt + Zap on the Desk Jockeys to avoid him Castling.
- Essentially, don't apply Lured or Soaked to him and have it last for more than one turn or have a Trap out in front of him and have it last for more than one turn, and don't have him directly targeted with Gags two turns in a row (unless in either case on the following turn, he'll be alone so he'll have no one to use Castling with). Remember that using Group Lure, Sound, and hitting him with only Splash Damage or Zap Jumps doesn't count as directly targeting him.
Toons should try to deal a lot of damage to the Prethinker on the turn they breach the 400 HP Threshold for the Forward Thinking phase. The closer the Prethinker is to defeat, the less of a threat the Brain Waves will be. Avoid just using a small attack to push him into the Forward Thinking phase and prioritize other actions until you can set up a stronger attack going into it.
An easy method to defeat the Prethinker is as follows:
- Turn 1: Use 4 Bugles to destroy all of the initial Desk Jockeys present.
- Turn 2: Use a Big Magnet and 3 Birthday Cake Slices on the Prethinker.
- Turn 3: Use a Trap on the non-executive Desk Jockey, a Big Magnet, and Two Throw Gags on the Level 8.exe Desk Jockey.
- Turn 4: Use 4 Birthday Cake Slices on the Prethinker. If the Prethinker is in the Forward Thinking phase, he will have unlured due to using Brain Wave last turn, so you will have to Lure him and use 3 Birthday Cake Slices instead.
- From this point onward, repeat turns 3 and 4 until the Prethinker is defeated. If Gags miss or a Toon needs to be healed, improvise to get the Prethinker back to the point of being alone and re-enter the turn 3 and 4 loop.
Another great strategy:
- Turn 1: Use a prestige Big Magnet and 3 Traps to kill the Desk Jockeys.
- Turn 2: Use 3 Birthday Cake Slices on the Prethinker and a prestige Bamboo Cane.
- Turn 3: Use a prestige Big Magnet, a Trap on the left-most Desk Jockey, and two Birthday Cake Slices on the Level 8.exe Desk Jockey.
- Turn 4: Use 3 Birthday Cake Slices on the Prethinker and a prestige Bamboo Cane.
- Turn 5: Use a prestige Big Magnet, a Trap on the left-most Desk Jockey, and two Water Balloons on the Level 8.exe Desk Jockey.
- Turn 6: Use 4 Birthday Cake Slices on the Prethinker.
- Turn 7: Use 2 Kart Batteries on each of the Desk Jockeys.
- If your Lure should miss on turn 1, you should spend a turn to heal and activate one or two of the Traps with a single Lure. This is to realign the turn count so that the Level 8.exe Desk Jockey comes in at the right time. On turn 3, you can attempt to Lure again.
- If your Lure should miss on turn 3, you can spend a turn to heal and damage (but not killing) the Level 8.exe with a single Lure and Trap. Then, the turn after that, you can use your Big Magnet again and Trap/Throw the Desk Jockeys that come in.
- If your Lure should miss on turn 5 and your Water Balloons hit the Level 8.exe Desk Jockey, the Prethinker will castle on turn 6. If this happens, use a single Lure on the Trapped Desk Jockey and heal. Use Lure again on turn 7 while killing all of the Cogs and applying Soak to the Prethinker.
- If both your Big Magnet and Water Balloons miss on turn 5, then you can treat the miss the same as on turn 1 or turn 3.
Loot
Prethinker Sticker
Smart Cap
|
Dialogue
| Opening Cutscene | The Toons walk into the basement, encountering the Prethinker talking to Desk Jockeys. One Toon slips on a banana peel and falls down the stairs. "I naturally said that wa-" The Toon slams into of the chalkboard, alerting the Prethinker. "Wha-?! The Toons shrug. "..." |
|---|---|
| Ending Cutscene | "Gah! I-Impossible! Why you..."
"Heh." The Prethinker's brain turns red. "An intellectual such as myself couldn't possibly fall for that!" The Prethinker's brain explodes destroying any remaining Desk Jockeys. "W-wait!" The Prethinker marches away into the door the Desk Jockeys were coming out of. |
| Castling |
|
|---|---|
| Forward Thinking |
|
| Face-Off Taunts |
|
|---|---|
| Death Taunts |
|
| Surrender Taunt |
|
| Friend Request Denials |
|
| Attempt to Sue |
|
| Attempt to Fire |
|
Music
| Theme | Audio File | Song Title |
|---|---|---|
| Opening Cutscene Theme | Remedial Lesson | |
| Battle Theme (Base) | Brain Blast! | |
| Battle Theme (Forward Thinking) | Stress Headache! | |
| Ending Cutscene Theme | Mental Block | |
| Victory Theme | Creddits Roll |
Sound Effects
| Statement | |
|---|---|
| Question | |
| Grunt | |
| Murmur |
| Castling | |
|---|---|
| Forward Thinking Intro | |
| Forward Thinking Loop |
Version History
- v1.3.0 BETA
- Professor Pete keeps filing noise complaints with the Toon Resistance regarding a noise from the basement of the Schoolhouse.
- The Prethinker is added to the game.
Trivia
- A prethinker is a person who informally thinks about potential outcomes, both good and bad.
- The Prethinker's first name is an anagram of Brain.
- On the cogs.ink website, the Prethinker's username is
brianand his password ispassword. - The Prethinker's Employee ID is a reference to Pi (π), a popular irrational number.
- The Prethinker has a vast amount of knowledge on some useless trivia facts.
- One of the things he knows a lot about, a movie named Gearloose, is a reference to Gyro Gearloose himself. It may also be a reference to the real-life movie Footloose.
- Prior to the v1.7.0 update, the Prethinker's Buzz Word attack was much faster at delivering the damage to the Toon than any other Cog who uses this attack. Though the animation for the attack is roughly the same length.
- The Prethinker is the only Kudos Regional Manager who can have up to 4 Cogs in the entire fight.
- In the v1.3.0 Development Update blog post the Prethinker can be seen wearing an executive Sellbot suit rather than the custom one he wears in his final design.
- Attempting to access this Manager's fight without the requirements will result in the following message: "What sounds like Cog voices can be heard from the cellar door... Maybe this isn't such a good idea yet."
Gallery
Boastful Brainiac
The Prethinker's profile picture on cogs.ink
The Prethinker's silhouette
The Prethinker, shown alongside a Desk Jockey
The in-game popup announcing the first Toons to defeat the Prethinker
A Valentoon's Day card from the Prethinker
Promo for the Duck Shuffler Plush
The Prethinker talking with his Desk Jockeys
A Toon hitting the chalkboard after slipping on a Banana Peel
The Prethinker and his Desk Jockeys
Desk Jockeys spawning into the battle
The Prethinker performing his Castling cheat
The Prethinker hiding behind his Desk Jockeys to avoid the Sound Gag
The Prethinker with clouds during Forward Thinking
The Prethinker after his brain explodes
Renders of the Prethinker
An unused Prethinker death animation
