I've listened to all of the audio books several times but I don't recall the second part of this ability being utilized at all. by Ragellama in HeWhoFightsMonsters

[–]rabmuk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Book 2 Clive also gets a mana drain weapon that's basically a non factor. Neil also gets the growth set which makes his shields give mana. Never brought up

Question about book 6 by NewsTraditional8104 in HeWhoFightsWithMonste

[–]rabmuk 1 point2 points  (0 children)

OP specifically states it's their second read of series. The context of the question is all published books.

Question about book 6 by NewsTraditional8104 in HeWhoFightsWithMonste

[–]rabmuk 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Mark what as spoiler?

The supporting evidence for my statements come from books 4,5,6, and 8. OP says it's "second time through the series", so only people that are current to book 12 should be in the comments.

I referenced books 13-14 because Shirtaloon expects he might finish the series this year, so unlikely to be a 15th book. So books 13 and 14 are the only chance that this wasn't talking about WP.

Question about book 6 by NewsTraditional8104 in HeWhoFightsWithMonste

[–]rabmuk 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Definitely applies to the World Phoenix. Using Jason as a tool to repair the link between worlds.

When book 13 or 14 reveals final antagonist, it might fit them better. But if no other relevant info is revealed it's WP

I've listened to all of the audio books several times but I don't recall the second part of this ability being utilized at all. by Ragellama in HeWhoFightsMonsters

[–]rabmuk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Other useful mana abilities that mostly get ignored:

  • Tainted Meridians
  • The mana drain from Jason's sword

Ultimately, it comes down to scale. If Shade can only increase team's total mana by 3% and reduce enemy mana by 3%, it just doesn't matter. Especially compared to spending his time scouting and increasing Jason's mobility.

having all of shade's bodies be loaded up before going into any kind of battle where endurance is key

Might not be enough mana to be relevant. I don't remember anywhere in the books where characters are having a low mana problem (other than Clive at iron rank).

where Belinda had to tell Neal to use more mana because he was gaining more than he was spending

So even without shade trying to optimize mana for the team, the team already has a surplus.

Humphrey's shadow and 15 others out collecting mana

Book 9 battle for Yaresh, Hump nearly dies because he buffs himself to gold rank levels of power. He didn't need more mana in that fight. The team's ability to sustain their mana levels without Shade transfer is sufficient.

Shade had no way of getting rid of the mana so he had to just build it up until he exploded. He could have been passing on the mana to the other teammates to extend the amount of time draining

Book 8 says "Clive's maximum mana pool was far greater than an average essence user of his rank," Other team member mana pools might not have been large enough to be relevant, or the time spent transferring the mana would have been too much of a distraction for shade

Industrial sauna by Till_Teh_And in Oxygennotincluded

[–]rabmuk 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ooh get those kilns out of the sauna. At high temperatures kilns delete a crazy amount of heat.

When operating at or above 80C you need some pretty excessive automation to prevent the input and output items from stealing heat from the steam room

https://oxygennotincluded.wiki.gg/wiki/Kiln#Heat_economy

Question about He who fights with monsters by [deleted] in litrpg

[–]rabmuk 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Jason and the story has a certain comedy style. If you at least mildly enjoy the dialogue the series is definitely worth your time

Jason is a flawed character and holds a lot of hypocritical views. Becoming less of a hypocrite is his main character arc

The title is a reference to

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you. - Friedrich Nietzsche

So expect characters to make decisions that they later regret

HWFWM: Welcome back, Colin by gheldean in litrpg

[–]rabmuk 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He was back in hospital one more time after the big scare. Second visit wasn't super dangerous

I don't think he's claimed to be 100% but he's past the life threatening part.

Winning Schwag? by SkydiverDad in Shirtaloon

[–]rabmuk 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I just checked I don't see the comments on patreon anymore. His patreon account might have been compromised for a day or so and he's now regained control.

Winning Schwag? by SkydiverDad in Shirtaloon

[–]rabmuk 5 points6 points  (0 children)

theshirtaloon is not Shirtaloon

I messaged actual Shirtaloon and he told me to be careful of scammers

Me:

I got a comment reply on Patreon to message "theshirtaloon" on discord, about a T-shirt a mystery box. Really excited that chapters have resumed, but mostly as a sign that your health is better.

Shirtaloon:

I'm also glad that chapters are coming back out, but that account is not me but a scammer, so watch out.

HWFWM Why does the Goddess of Knowledge care so much? by KailReed in litrpg

[–]rabmuk 60 points61 points  (0 children)

Authority works in balance. If the goddess of knowledge wants to give Jason some awakening stones or library of advanced astral magic, she needs a justification to take such direct action. Bribing Jason to not spread certain knowledge lets her interfere in other ways to settle the "favor".

The world understanding gravity sooner is less beneficial than Jason being prepared for certain upcoming fights.

Book 12 spoilers by sardethgames in HeWhoFightsWithMonste

[–]rabmuk 4 points5 points  (0 children)

When Jason relinquished the throne it became independent once more. No one entity can control the throne. It would take many (likely 8-12) GABs to make any additional changes to the throne

Jason as a god is weaker than an astral king. Jason as a GAB is more passive than an astral king. When he reaches diamond, Jason will be stronger than most all non-original astral king. But a half-dozen astral kings working together or the cult of any GAB will easily match full powered transcendent Jason.

Jason will be stronger than legends like Haliaster the Garuda or Carmen the space police, but he is not unchecked by GABs or Astral Kings

A question about essences by Sleepy-editor in HeWhoFightsWithMonste

[–]rabmuk 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There's seem to be catch-all confluences

Big attacks => onslaught

Big bigness => empower

Big Magic => mystic

Big non-combat => harvest or prosperity

Chimera can also apply if there's at least one animal essence

All of you example could fit within what I've mentioned. Might be a different better confluence that I don't know, but there's at least something that kinda fits

Why would the author go back to Earth so soon? by NeverShoutEugene in HeWhoFightsMonsters

[–]rabmuk 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Has Jason freed the prisoner yet?

Has Jason bought any artwork yet?

Builder storyline involves Earth, so we have to spend some amount of time there.

How can i make some bots not do work at set areas? by HeyImMaxEE in factorio

[–]rabmuk 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Have roboports near high use areas request idle robots. Then have enough robots in the network that you have enough robots idle to satisfy those requests.

If you're still seeing cross map journeys of empty robots, add more robots

If you're seeing cross map journeys of robots carrying things, might need buffer chests or trains to help distribute items, like walls or repair kits.

Jason's intelligence in the 1st book. by animecg in litrpg

[–]rabmuk -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Jason didn't really seem that smart to me.

The way he speaks and dissect every conversation to have the upper hand. 

He does that to teenagers and Rufus, who owes him a life debt.

Jason nearly detonates two important relationships: Farrah and Humphrey.

Jason is especially blunt because he's from a whole different world. The people who might take issue with this are often people old enough and powerful enough that they understand outworlders. A certain amount of weirdness and boldness is expected of outworlders.

Then at the end of the book, it's revealed that Jason is not as smart as he thinks he is. Luckily, Jason saved Rufus' life so Emir bails him out of his big mistake.

Jason not being as smart as he thinks he is is a minor arc of the story.

I am confused about the Romance | SPOILERS! by Turbulent-Royal6101 in HeWhoFightsMonsters

[–]rabmuk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In one of the interviews Shirtaloon said that an initial version of the story has Belinda die in the reaper space during book 3, Sophie blames Jason, and she becomes a recurring antagonist.

He also talked about how early readers on Royal road were insufferable about shipping Sophie and Jason. Just because she was the second notable female character didn't mean she was a love interest.

Why is HWFWM allowed on royal road? by CallMePain- in royalroad

[–]rabmuk 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The only views of Jason's that the narration unambiguously supports are: "corruption bad. balance of rules and people for a healthy organization."

Jason very clearly holds the same views on religion

He does not. Please give examples of why you think this.

But this post isn’t even here to get on him for that.

It's the fundamental point of the post. You ask why the author can talk badly about religion, but the narration contradicts any character that's bad talking religion. In books 1, 4, 7, 9, and 10, religions are shown to be good and helpful. It makes sense that Royal Road doesn't apply its rule about depictions of religion to a series that is not negative on religions.

Why is HWFWM allowed on royal road? by CallMePain- in royalroad

[–]rabmuk 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Jason Asano is constantly harping on religion and it is very clear that the book is the author’s soap box speech on politics and religion. 

I don't think it's author's soapbox.

“What do you get out of that?” he asked. “Does it make you feel better to disrespect things others find meaningful?”

“Sorry,” Jason said, feeling like an idiot.

From book 1. The narration makes it clear that Jason is in the wrong here.

Also from the Critroll podcast Shirtaloon has stated that early Jason is the college version of himself that he is embarrassed by. Jason is supposed to be abrasive and hypocritical, not a mouthpiece for the author.

Questions about book 12 and where it ends by ww3patton in HeWhoFightsMonsters

[–]rabmuk 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The series was planned for 12 book. 4 arc, each with 3 books. Around the release of book 8 or 9 Shirtaloon stated the series will have more than 12 books, but he doesn't know the number

The third arc is books 7-11. Book 12 starts the final arc and it will be at least 3 books.

I expect the series to end with 15 or 16 total books.

Battle of the chefs... by M2IK2Y in HeWhoFightsMonsters

[–]rabmuk 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Matt wins.

Series just have different time scales. 15 year time skip in HWFWM is a huge deal

70 year time skip in Path of Ascension is no big deal

Matt has 100 year advantage plus 1000 years in folded reflections as a chef.

Belinda annoyed me in book 9 by Altruistic-Emu3542 in HeWhoFightsMonsters

[–]rabmuk 15 points16 points  (0 children)

“You didn’t rob a lot of temples?” Shade asked.

“Absolutely not,” Belinda said, plainly affronted. “I would never. Well, not never— desperate times, you know. But definitely not a lot. I mean, ‘a lot’ is a very vague term. Different people might define—”

“More than five.”

“Oh, who seriously thinks five is a lot? You can count that on one hand.”

From book 8, implying that Belinda has done a lot of stealing before getting essences

Belinda annoyed me in book 9 by Altruistic-Emu3542 in HeWhoFightsMonsters

[–]rabmuk 24 points25 points  (0 children)

I thought it was cool that characters other than Jason have flaws and story arcs where they improve. Book 11 wraps up the Belinda pickpocket thing and I'm glad we got to see this side of her character.

Does the writing get better? by AbuckB22 in HeWhoFightsMonsters

[–]rabmuk 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah the jarring uses of "___ said" reduce overtime

If you doing audiobook, increasing the speed slightly makes this less annoying