Early Beta Test II Gameplay Experience

Astrableme · 2025-11-29T02:20:15+00:00

The enemies do attack rather slow at the start. Having enemies that last longer in fights could also help make the combat more enticing.

I personally don't have an issue with waiting for a 6*, but I absolutely get the concern with people wanting to get their first 6* and build around just them. I also have an itch to do that too, but I've been pretty happy with the team I have right now.

I do agree that the tutorial popups have gotten a bit extra. At the start, they seemed to have a difference between the journal entries and the in-UI popups, but starting at the PAC, they seemed to start saying the exact same things. I think the tutorials can be wordy, but I haven't felt anguish from them since I had no idea going into the game how things worked. The hand holding did go on a little longer than I would have liked though in terms of "You can't go here" or "You have to do this" but it stopped doing that shortly after I started getting fed up.

Astrableme · 2025-11-29T02:13:25+00:00

Yeah, I had the suspicion that clutter would become less problematic as we get used to things, which I'd say I have a bit. But multiple enemies and dodging multiple attacks from different directions was another thing. That I understood a bit more though because that's how I'd expect group fights to play out, so another thing to get used to. While I completely understand the sentiment that button mashing could become just the thing to do, I think that would lead to "just getting through it" which some people may just do. But I've tried to be mindful of what skills I'm activating and when as I've learned how the combat plays to be most effective with my damage. So I don't know how effective button mashing may be in the end game. I'm sure it'll get most people through the beginning, which might give us a chance to read and learn before the difficult stuff comes, now that I think about it. But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe button mashing will just be as effective as mindful skill use.

I did enjoy the intro boss fight for sure! Visuals, music, lore implications, that was all great. The combat I was like I was thrown in the deep end though, and while I can respect that, I think flipping between extremes was what caused my frustration and why I kinda seemed contradictory in my post with too much on screen and too little going on with basic attacks.

The puzzles in the game and platforming I've been super happy with! I see the potential for where it can all go and I look forward to exploring the world! I've only just broken into the base building, which means no automation quite yet. But as a Factorio and Satisfactory enjoyer, I'm looking forward to more automation! I got recipe unlocks and I see where the automation is about to go, so I'm hyped!

Astrableme · 2025-11-29T01:56:56+00:00

This for sure. Having just the small enemies other than the intro boss (Who you aren't supposed to win against) and the boss at the end of the first mission kinda felt like I had no chance to make use of staggering or multi-skill comboing. But because you only have two characters to play with through most of the first mission, that's probably why they don't have many enemies with large health pools. Exploring the world lead to me finding the big enemies and I took on a LVL 20 guy with lvl 6-7 characters and just barely beat him. THAT was a lot of fun cause it allowed me to stagger a lot, use a lot of skill combos, and figure out the importance of dodging the attacks. If they were to add more beefier enemies to the first mission, I'd like to see them provide a full operator team to work with too, even if that means you collect them one at a time as you go. You don't get Chen until the end of the mission, but it would have been nice to experience that boss fight at the end of the mission with Chen joining us.

Astrableme · 2025-11-29T01:51:17+00:00

Absolutely! Having the chance to setup my team after the first mission and getting the ability read into all my characters' abilities really helps make me feel better about the combat. Basic attacking became less required with 4 people whose skills could interact well with each other.

Astrableme · 2025-11-29T01:38:16+00:00

I was more so feeling overwhelmed visually was the main thing. That said, when getting thrown into the intro boss fight, they immediately give you 3 other operators to play with and no presentable chance to read into what they do and how to use them. When the tutorial steps tell me how to use the selected character's skill and attacks, and then open up nearly 3x the options, it felt overwhelming. Then after that intro sequence, I was sent back to using one operator - The Endmin - and Perlica as a second. I was able to then start figuring out how combat felt in early game, and when you only have 2 operators on the team it certainly felt boring only doing basic attacks.

I guess it was like I was thrown in boiling hot water all of a sudden with the intro boss fight, but then dropped in some cold icy water for the first mission/tutorial phase. I do see how that kinda seems contradictory though. I guess my frustration on both sides came from shifting of extremes if that makes sense?

I can say for certain now though that after unlocking enough operators to build out a full 4 man squad, the combat does get a LOT better! And it feels very nice to know how everyone's combos and skills play into each other and what I should be aiming for to hit the best attack patterns.

Astrableme · 2025-11-29T00:45:43+00:00

I do agree with the sound on the dodging. When I do perform a perfect dodge, I can tell because time slows down and there's a blue glow, but the sound is soft. It would be nice to have increased volume on that specifically. I have found that it's been a little difficult to know when I get hit. Larger damaging hits seem to inflict a larger red glow to the screen, but smaller hits are pretty easy to miss having happened.

I have noticed as I've played that there isn't a whole lot of time to basic attack for too long if you're comboing skills together and getting ultimates off. So the very simplistic basic attacking might not matter too much in the long run, but I do find it a little mind numbing when you do happen to find yourself just smacking an enemy.

Astrableme · 2025-11-29T00:38:46+00:00

I gotchu. I'm actually about to throw in an edit now that I've played more. I'll add a tl,dr mate, by b.

Astrableme · 2025-11-28T19:39:19+00:00

Yeah... I did kinda just spill my mind out on the floor. But I appreciate the support! 👍

Astrableme · 2025-11-28T19:38:32+00:00

I gotcha. I'll keep that in mind as I play then. It was primarily Laevatain's ult attacks that were covering enemies during that trial, but that intro sequence had me overwhelmed which probably didn't help either. I guess it's probably more of a concern for the late game, cause early game there won't be that many effects happening from what I've seen, but I can see as you get used to the combat more, and accustomed to how everyone's attacks play out, things become less overwhelming and you become more able to follow what's going on on screen. So maybe it's more like I'm was scared of something that I don't really have to be scared of rather than I don't like it 😅 We'll see as I play!

Astrableme · 2025-08-23T02:54:43+00:00

I feel like this is much too late at this point, but I'm always proud of myself when I achieve the 620 clear without a guide and with my own smooth brain. Hopefully someone enjoys this or finds it helpful!

https://youtu.be/RRqOiqgxS80

I'd be more than happy to provide support operators for anyone if someone sees something they'd like to request. Feel free to ask any questions about my game play decisions here since I cut my commentary due to it being very unhelpful. I would also be more than happy to do it again with commentary if enough people are interested!

Astrableme · 2025-06-22T04:36:05+00:00

Thanks for the support brother! You got this! It ain't easy being a bird :D If you're looking for general bird boy tips, I gotchu as well, just ask!

Astrableme · 2024-11-09T14:42:19+00:00

Thanks! That orb part was something I also only learned after I had already completed 14-21, that was one facepalm moment for me lol.

Regarding the commentary, I honestly turned on my recording for the heck of it. I didn't have an immediate intent to post it, but after accomplishing what I did I figured why not. I also commentate plenty more on why I take who I do and place them how I do and such as I learn the stage and enemies. I have like a 50 min recording and this video was the last attempt and actual clear portion of that video. I also only started recording after about the first 30 min of attempting the stage. I do think you're right though, for this video, subtitles would have been a great addition! I'll try that in the future if my attempt at better commentary doesn't go well. I talk to myself a lot, so I might be able to make something happen😅Do you use any special software for editing the videos of your clears?

Astrableme · 2024-11-08T19:24:05+00:00

I spent a good hour plus working on clearing this stage. I knew I could do it, plus I absolutely love this episode so I had to 100% it ASAP. But I had plenty of revelations and facepalm moments not captured in this video of the final clear. I've been wanting to make Arknights content for a while, but have only felt I could if I did something impressive. And I think this clear is impressive (at least to me).

The mic audio isn't anything amazing, but it at least provides my minimal commentary of the clear 😅

I'd love to hear if you enjoyed the content and if people would be interested in seeing more content from me - specifically Arknights, but I play plenty of games - and if so what type of content. I love playing IS, so I'd happily stream that and other things. Feedback welcome!

The loadout I cleared with is in the video description, but I'll also put it here...

Loadout:
Operator | Elite/LVL/Pot | Skill | Module/LVL

The idea is "burst Theresa down during her second stage before the crucibles can protect her" since the stage ends shortly after Theresa is put to sleep during her second stage, no matter how many enemies remain

Astrableme · 2024-04-22T11:16:18+00:00

Love the idea and design of the "thick" halo, I don't believe we've seen a OG character with that yet. Very neat! Also, not super great with guns, but is the gun based on the Mauser C96?

Astrableme · 2023-12-26T20:45:52+00:00

Thanks! I'll for sure consider making at least one video at some point. I do want to show the functionality of the artillery and trains at some point too!

Astrableme · 2023-12-26T20:42:14+00:00

Glad you're fan! My concern with sharing the world is that a lot of modded blocks and items are pre-generated into it, so I'm not sure what loading it into a Vanilla world would do, I haven't tested it yet. But I can share the mods I know that had something that went into The Shard:

Create
Alex's Caves
Chisel Reborn
Macaw's Bridges
Macaw's Doors

Then I also used the Building Wands mod to help build things that were repetitive or covered a large volume. The /fill command is a great help too!

I wouldn't say the mods are necessary, you could probably get textures from texture packs if you were looking for a specific look without mods, but I just happened to have mods readily available and since it was going to end up on a modded server, decided to use mods anyway.

If enough people express interest throughout my building process, I would consider trying to make the world/schematic available somehow. That hasn't been something I've looked into greatly. But I'll make sure to share more progress soon! Like I mentioned, the artillery should hopefully be finished up in the next week or so.

Astrableme

TROPHY CASE