KoL - Avatar of Boris + Tips!

Kingdom of Loathing just launched their new seasonal challenge path, and on top of it being a new path, it's also a whole new class! ... And they both happen to be called Avatar of Boris! Convenient!

This new path/class is very unique and new from the other paths and classes. It will definitely provide a different experience in KoL, as I have noticed immediately.

Edit: Updated to contain some tips now.

The first thing I noticed was that you start off with a 2-handed, trusty axe named Trusty. Its power is 100, and has no stat requirement to equip. It also provides +5 to muscle right off the bat. Sweet!

The downside is that this is the only weapon you're allowed to equip throughout the run, apparently. It IS possible to unequip Trusty though, if you need to.

However, there may not be a need to unequip them for combat purposes as all previously permed skills are not available; not even your bookshelf for the tomes, librams, and grimoires. Can't rely on my Kung Fu Hustler skill in this path.

The next thing I noticed however, was that you also have a Level 1 Minstrel named Clancy accompanying you. He seems to be acting like a Ghuol Whelp that acts after every combat. Of course, that means... no familiars either in this run. Just Clancy to accompany you, but he seems to have quite a lot to say unlike most familiars.

Now the real cool thing I found was that you don't have access to any of the guilds, but instead, greeted with a skill tree in Boris's Gate. Some of these skills are very powerful, which makes me wonder whether if these can be permed like any other class skills. If so, however, there are 30 skills in total in this skill tree. If all of these are available for perming, then this will be keeping people busy for perming more skills. Like I've said, I'm kind of doubting that all these are permable, especially because of skills like Throw Trusty, where Trusty is a Quest Item. You seem to get a skill point every time you level up, so in order to get all 30 in one run, you would have to reach level 30, which seems unnecessary.

Edit: Apparently you stop getting skill points after level 15. Instead, every time you ascend as Boris, you get 1 additional skill point to start with for every Softcore run, and 2 additional skill points to start with for every Hardcore run you've done in Avatar of Boris previously. Which also means that you don't have to spend any karma on Avatar of Boris skills. The Karma you gain can be used on other skills like normal, just not Avatar of Boris skills. 

More details can be found in the link above, but may contain spoilers, of course. We'll see how things turn out as more of us discover new things about this run.

Edit: Well, upon listening to the February 16th, 2011 Radio KoL show, it seems that some skills can be permed, but only usable in an Avatar of Boris run. I'm still not entirely sure whether if it will sink karma or if perming Boris skills uses some different mechanic or something. The wiki is already showing some details for people who have already ascended from an Avatar of Boris run, so expect more details soon.

Double Edit: For those of you who haven't started yet, here are my recommendations for starting up an Avatar of Boris run.

• For your Astral Pet, take either Astral Trousers if you'd like to leisurely go through the runs, or the Astral Belt if you want to try to speed through it.
• At the Deli Lama, the Carton of Astral Energy Drinks seems to be the most logical option, since you won't have any of your spleen familiars.
• The Mongoose Zodiac makes the most sense as a Muscle class, unless you want to consider going Marmot to gain access to Little Canadia for the food they sell, if you feel that you need more food in your run. Boris can eat up to 20 fullness to begin with, and can go further to 30 fullness through skills. 
• Boris gets drunk at 5 drunkness, so booze is really not an issue. 
• The first skill you want to get in the Skill Tree above* is Legendary Bravado as it gives +10 to all stats.  
• Song of Accompaniment isn't too bad either as it will level up Clancy by 3 while the song is in effect. With Clancy's Sackbut, he can easily recover your HP and MP after combat easily early on.
• *Unless you are confident in your abilities early on, mastering the Feasting tree may be the most optimal choice, followed by the Shouting tree.
• Demand Sandwich is also very nice to have for some pretty good food.  
• Cleave will help with dealing damage (and hitting), if you have some good source of MP.*
• If you are going down the Feasting tree, Heroic Belch will be better than Cleave.
• Don't ignore Clancy if he has a bouncing !. Follow his suggestions to level him up and make him more useful. Also buy the Crumhorn from the Antique shop at the Beach for his Volleyball effect early on.
• It may be a good idea to get Heroic Belch for elemental damage against the Specters in the Hidden City. Since you have no spells and can only equip Trusty for your weapon, you'll need some source of elemental damage there.
• Alternatively, you could try to get away with Snarl from Lord Spookyraven's Manor for elemental damage. 

Triple Edit:  After the countless mistakes I've made in my current run, I think it's a good idea to just go down the Feasting tree first to at least get the + 50% Muscle passive for the combat with the Naughty Sorceress. I ended up with too many Shouts that don't help very much when I can't bring any songs into combat with her, and the lack of defense with no shields and no Turtle Tamer passives.