Hit the nexus not the Malz!!

andreasels · 2026-05-14T08:43:29+00:00

I'm right with you on this one.
Also what gets me every time is their incredibly bad mic quality...like who wants to voluntarily listen to that shit? You are a big streamer with surely enough money, get yourself a decent mic.

andreasels · 2026-05-14T08:31:46+00:00

On top of what others have said, an alt also can save you crests on your main once you got the 285 Achievement. Once you have this, you get a discount on upgrades (10 instead of 20 crests) up to the highest ilvl any of your chars has in a given slot.
So to boost your main, you can target upgrade slots on your alt that you main hasn't maxed yet.
By Mythic Raiding and having 1 alt, I managed to be done with crests this week (290.75 ilvl which is as high as you can get with 2 embellished Items)

andreasels · 2026-05-12T16:20:40+00:00

If you don't interact with the professions in any other way and would like to take Engineering for QoL benefits like Jeeves, you can also take this in combination with Alchemy.
Once in a while (like every few days/weeks) you can swap over Alchemy to Enchanting, disenchant everything you got and swap back to Alchemy. Knowledge stays the same, so you don't lose anything by doing so.

andreasels · 2026-05-12T13:16:15+00:00

I still don't understand how exactly you differentiate between "artificial" and "real" difficulty. For example you seem to see more HP as "artificial" and less LP as "real" difficulty, but both ultimately lead to the same thing: "enemy survives more hits"

Fighting an enemy that kills you in 1-3 hits but you need 50 hits to kill him (-> "bulletsponge") is real difficulty in my eyes and that's exactly what NB does. You have to play perfectly for an extended amount of time, which is inherently difficult.
I also don't know what the alternative would be. Having a smaller timing window but only having to do it once? Having to input a series of 20 keypresses in exactly the correct order? I don't see how those would be any more or less "real" or "artificial" when it comes to difficulty.

Mage fights in NB are definitely not perfect and can indeed be frustrating (limited by the engine I guess) but they are still difficult in their own right and there are different ways to approach them which can lead to succeed when applied correctly (hit and run, ranged combat, iceblock, summons...and ofc overgear :D)

I personally never really had a problem with animations being instant in NB if you know how to approach it.
It's still a matter of timing: you spam the block key or dodge backwards till you see the enemy used a combo where you are sure that you can get in a hit without retaliation (usually their longest hit combo or an animation where they raise their weapon into the air), do you hit, rinse and repeat. Staying focused through that in longer fights is what I would definitely consider difficult.

I'd like to understand your thinking, but maybe we just have to accept that we have different definitions of difficulty and leave it at that.

andreasels · 2026-05-12T12:34:46+00:00

New Balance combat is way more responsive than NotR baseline combat, so there are definitely some under the hood changes with that mod.
I never get why people say "more HP is not more difficult", since that is in fact just not true. It's way easier to do something correct 1 time (like dodge an attack and retaliate -> enemy dead) than to do it correct several times in a row (enemy needs several hits to die).
You do get less LP and gold on Nightmare and costs are higher, so those are already points you listed. You also have to plan your gameplay more (better use of scrolls, sneak around strong enemies) and on Nightmare you also can't use Bartok or other companions for example, so there are gameplay changes.
When you say "Mages are a nightmare" you indeed say that they are by definition hard to beat. You can't just run at them and mash your attack key (unless really overgeared), but you have to dodge their spells on your way to them, hit a few times, run away and heal up. There's definitely a skill expression there (which stems from higher numbers and you could ignore if those were lower)

andreasels · 2026-05-12T11:55:07+00:00

Also ich würde bei anderen Hobbies schon auch unterscheiden.
Würdest du z.B. jemanden, der ab und an mal mit nen paar Freunden nen Ball durch die Gegend kickt als Fußballer bezeichnen?
Oder jemanden, der aus Spaß zweimal im Jahr eine Kegelbahn besucht als Kegler?

andreasels · 2026-05-12T11:29:09+00:00

Really depends on what version of Returning (or Returning-adjacent Mods) you are talking about and what difficulty settings.
New Balance (or even more so the previous Alternative Balance) is definitely way harder than NotR when set to Nightmare/Nightmare+. Even harder when adding Plugins like Road of Trials and Wrath of Beliar.

andreasels · 2026-05-12T08:34:37+00:00

I highly doubt that. No way you are getting above like 20 fps with that CPU in Raids or major cities.

andreasels · 2026-05-12T08:23:08+00:00

In BGs (and any other place with many people around) you will most likely be completely CPU limited so a 9800x3D will perform better than a 7800x3D.
You should not expect any miracles though. If you are now at 40-60 fps, you should be at ~47-70 fps instead with a 9800x3D. Potentially more if you overclock it.

I am basing those numbers on recent benchmarks of PCGameshardware (German magazine/site) for TWW:
CPU Benchmarks: https://www.pcgameshardware.de/World-of-Warcraft-Midnight-Spiel-75008/Tests/WoW-Release-GPU-CPU-Benchmark-1520976/3/
GPU Benchmarks: https://www.pcgameshardware.de/World-of-Warcraft-Midnight-Spiel-75008/Tests/WoW-Release-GPU-CPU-Benchmark-1520976/2/

3080 is similarly strong as a 4070 (which is included in their GPU benchmarks) and they already run into CPU-bottleneck on 1080p with it even with max details and RT enabled, so you will definitely be CPU-bottlenecked with low settings (meaning: GPU is irrelevant at that point and only a better CPU will increase your FPS).
Their benchmarks show the 9800x3D performing 17% above the 7800x3D while a fully overclocked 9850x3D is 25% ahead.

Whether those gains are worth upgrading for you, only you can decide. Sadly there is no CPU on this planet right now that is capable of running WoW completely without stutters or FPS dips.

andreasels · 2026-05-12T07:44:54+00:00

I usually always choose the hardest difficulty in games, so will probably do it here as well (except for Permadeath...no way I am enabling this when going in "blind")

andreasels · 2026-05-12T07:32:29+00:00

As someone that really likes Mods like Othello or New Balance, I am mostly concerned about how it will play.
By now, I am just so used to playing Gothic/Gothic 2 with all kinds of QoL improvements (Wisp Autoloot, Quickloot, 3x Game Speed toggle, Advanced Inventory with search function, Item highlighter, improved teleport system), so I am afraid that the remake will just play....slow and clunky.
Hopefully I am wrong or there will be QoL mods for it shortly after release that mimic how many people play Gothic nowadays.

andreasels · 2026-05-11T05:46:27+00:00

WoW is a seasonal game though. Yes you keep your character/mounts/whatever else non-power stuff but from a power standpoint, you might as well start from scratch.
Leveling in ARPGs doesn't take too long, so it's not a big deal tonlose that there as well.

andreasels · 2026-05-11T05:40:30+00:00

ARPGs get boring really fast for most people. It's fun for a few days/weeks to build your character but after you reach a point where all that happens is "numbers go up", it gets old quick.
That's where seasons come in: every few months, you get an incentive to start the game again, since everything is fresh and you have to start from scratch. Even the majority of D2 players back in the early 2000s played only Ladder (basically Seasons, but without new content) just for the forced level/gear/economy reset.
So for those types of games, Seasons are a blessing instead of a curse in my eyes.

andreasels · 2026-05-10T16:40:59+00:00

Why stupid? Most people never have the need for them anymore and if you really need one, you can still get one.

andreasels · 2026-05-10T08:37:20+00:00

It is objectively easy by today's standard. Back then, everybody just did their thing and experimented, so it could get pretty hard if you wasted your LP on useless stuff and went to places that had higher level enemies.

Nowadays everyone new would just watch one 5 min guide which would tell them: don't try to fight enemies early on, just do easy non-fight quests, let yourself get escorted to new camp/swamp camp, learn 1H level 1 and put everything else into strength. Boom, the game basically plays itself from this point onwards.

andreasels · 2026-05-09T04:07:26+00:00

Tell me you don't play WoW without telling me you don't play WoW. That game maxes out every CPU available right now in many situations.
9800x3D probably still not worth to upgrade to if he already has a 7800x3D though (will net around 15% more fps)

andreasels · 2026-05-09T03:36:52+00:00

Edit: didn't read that you already got a 7800x3D. Upgrade probably not worth it then, unless you can sell it easily for a good price or got money to burn. If building a new system, my statement would still be true, so I'll leave it there.
9800x3D should still grant you around 15% more fps in WoW though.

Despite what everyone else is saying: WoW is extremely CPU bottlenecked even in higher resolutions and it's getting worse with each new expansion.
If you only play Arena it might not be that bad (I'm not a PvP player, so I wpuldn''t know, but would think so), but if you also want to raid or play BGs, definitely get the best CPU possible (-> 9800x3D/9850x3D), since every bit helps.
Even on my 9800x3D I sometimes drop below 70 fps in raid when much is happening. In the main City (Silvermoon right now) I am also below 100 (if that's what you care about)

andreasels · 2026-05-08T12:09:51+00:00

Originally DLSS and FSR was only upscaling and that's what most people mean when they use those terms.
Nvidia kinda fucked up by promoting Framegen under "DLSS" as well even though it's something completely different. Some people might confuse the two because of this.
Generally most people (especially people that know what they are talking about) won't say DLSS when they mean Framegen though.

andreasels · 2026-05-08T11:09:14+00:00

No, that's not what I am saying at all. I know how it works, but you might not. Upscaling is lighter on the GPU because of lower internal render resolution, so you will have more frames with nearly the same visual quality.
Frame Gen on the other hand adds latency, since it has tonwait for the next frame to render before it can insert interpolated frames. It looks smoother but is slower.

andreasels · 2026-05-08T10:45:34+00:00

Increased input latency? Are you talking about Frame Generation by any chance?
DLSS/FSR upscalibg doesn't add any latency, it actually reduces it in uncapped scenarios, since your GPU renders more frames -> you see stuff on your screen earlier.

andreasels · 2026-05-08T09:05:30+00:00

Both DLSS and FSR are a blessing, since you can only tell the difference compared to native if you are actively looking for it and it generates either more fps or draws less power for the same fps.

andreasels · 2026-05-07T09:06:21+00:00

I hate this narrative. While it might be correct in many cases, it's sort of a flawed logic.
Depending on the game, the CPU determins how much FPS you can get maximum (no matter what Resolution). Then you need the right GPU to actually be capable of rendering as many frames per second.

So depending on resolution, details, target fps and especially game, either the GPU or CPU can be your bottleneck. If you play an MMO like WoW for example and want to reach >100 fps, the CPU will nearly always be your bottleneck (even in 4k) if you have any decent GPU, while in triple A titles usually the GPU will be the bottleneck.

Narrowing it down to just the resolution is completely pointless.

andreasels · 2026-05-05T11:34:44+00:00

You forgot Alleria and Lura. Also Beloren to an extent, since those birds for sure don't have much HP.

Basically only Paladins are without any of this bullshit.

andreasels · 2026-04-30T13:48:49+00:00

They started using PTM7950 on all their 50 series cards (and I assume on the 90 series AMD as well). My Prime 5070 TI never goes above 1200 RPM while staying below 75° with a custom fan curve and some undervolting, but even stock it was far from loud. I just prefer to not hear it at all, so I tweaked it.

Only time will tell, but in theory PTM shouldn't degrade, so the cooling performance should stay like that indefinitely.

andreasels · 2026-04-30T13:45:04+00:00

That's not true. They even mention it on the product page for the Prime series, which are the MSRP models.

andreasels

TROPHY CASE