So my upgrade from attiny85 to attiny88 wasnt as smooth as first planned. My first issue was having non tented vias under a gnd pad on the chip. I tried some kapton tape, which was too thick, then various paints, but realised that the soldermask should be thick enough to stop the pad touching anything, and it turns out i was right!!

So once its all soldered on, and i bodge myself an ISP programmer together, i started testing my code. The first issue i had, my neopixel wouldnt work. So my first thought was that i had melted it during my various reflow attempts, but some external testing proved it still lived. Some more testing to prove that im using the correct pin (PA3/PCINT27/arduino 26) so i cracked open the trusty blink code, and sure enough that pin is correct, and i also know my solder joints are ok too!! So it seems that the attiny88 doesnt have the minerals to run my neopixel :(

The joys of microprocessors eh!!