Should You Keep Terry Hintz Alive in LISA: The Painful?

Terry Hintz, self-proclaimed Lord of the Tutorial, is the first party member you’ll recruit on your journey across Olathe in Lisa: The Painful. Terry is a caring, friendly man that plasters post-it notes with hints all over the world, making your journey much less confusing and a lot less lonely. He’s a great friend, but is a friend really worth keeping if they have bad stats?

Terry’s attacks are awful, but he offers some helpful utility during early-game fights. Still, he’s outclassed by basically every other character in the game. So, what’s the point of keeping Terry alive when faced with difficult decisions in Lisa: The Painful?

Should You Keep Terry Alive in Lisa: The Painful?

To be blunt, there’s really no reason to keep Terry alive during your playthrough of Lisa: The Painful unless you like having him around. His main attack does 2 damage — if it even manages to hit the enemy — and his cheers and shouts are very quickly outclassed by other support characters’ abilities. Terry’s usually the first one in danger when your party ends up in a sticky situation, too, so some players might find him to be more trouble than he’s worth.

Related: LISA The Painful Difficulty Level Differences: Pain Mode vs Painless Mode Explained

However, Terry Hintz has one shining silver lining: The Hottest Dance. This is a super powerful ability that Terry learns at level 25, dealing over 2000 damage on its own and becoming even more powerful when combined with other abilities like Gasoline Spit. When you combine it with Gasoline Spit, learned by a party member named Birdie, you can deal 25,000 damage in a single hit.

Still, keeping Terry around for that long (and using him enough to earn enough XP for him to reach level 25) is a tough sell for a lot of Lisa players. He’s a true friend though, and that’s his real value. Knowing that there’s always someone in your corner, especially in a world as cruel as Olathe, is a priceless treasure.

Seriously though, Terry Hintz isn’t a great party member aside from his ability to learn Hottest Dance. If you decide you’ve had enough of him whenever he gets kidnapped, you’re forced to choose between his life or your belongings, or you’re forced into a twisted game of Russian Roulette, maybe it’s best to just let him go.