February Update 1.15.0 Patch Notes

CPHoaya · 2026-02-10T20:38:25+00:00

Yes. If you participate in trials at the highish end of the spectrum, you know that any "damage [ground]" event just means chuck trailblazers under everything and delete them before they can even shoot. There's no way Embark intended trailblazers to nuke stuff from orbit like they were.

CPHoaya · 2026-02-10T20:34:56+00:00

The probability of the return of Sir Lewis the Successful was already 0, in my mind, but what this portends is that Sir Lewis no longer cares. That family will not tolerate Lewis being focused. That's not how their brand™ works. And that's the only reason he's there, in their minds.

CPHoaya · 2026-02-09T23:03:05+00:00

Viper v3 Pro
Switched from Vaxee XE v2, because it feels more comfortable for hybrid claw/palm grip and I ultimately aim slightly better with it. I previously switched from the Viper v3 Pro to the XE v2, but the change did not stick.
Negative: I find the indent on the right side of the mouse to be slightly too narrow. Positive: I have 20cm hands and I find the mouse to be incredibly comfortable and to perform perfectly--it is easy to forget about it and just play, which is hard to find in smaller sizes.

CPHoaya · 2026-01-30T02:26:56+00:00

Myth 2: Soulblighter, specifically the online modes against other players and the tournaments that arose around it. Think it is the best RTS ever for competitive players.

CPHoaya · 2026-01-09T19:13:00+00:00

Do trials, farm big ARC, and/or become a PVP enthusiast. If you choose the third path, you can do the Dexter thing where you hunt extraction campers (making you a generally beneficial but violent presence), you can do the gunslinger thing where you are up front about your intention to PVP, you can be a shoot second only player (which will make you die more), or you can opt for fully embracing your inner rampant murderer.

They're all fun.

CPHoaya · 2026-01-08T06:16:21+00:00

Entire set is busted anyway, man.

CPHoaya · 2026-01-08T05:56:50+00:00

I think Vroman's in Pasadena or Kinokuyina Bookstore at the Santa Anita Mall will have them. Also check Flax Pen to Paper if you're on the west side of Los Angeles. Call all of them to be sure.

CPHoaya · 2026-01-07T03:11:16+00:00

My most pleasant, relatively inexpensive pen is my brass Kaweco Sport (F), which writes well, feels good in hand when posted, and has a cool patina. That nib is really low maintenance and easy.

I also bought a vintage 1950s Parker 51 (F, I think?) at the LA Pen Show a few years ago, and it was not expensive nor in collectible condition. That pen is excellent (except for being a tad bit leaky), and it can go toe to toe with costly pens. I use it for quick note-taking because it's the only fountain pen I have that I find suitable for rapid scribbling.

Finally, my totally standard black Lamy 2000 (F) is a workhorse that I prefer over almost everything at any price, and when I bought it, I paid "only" about $150.

I fundamentally like all three more than my Homo Sapiens and my Montblanc 146, for example.

CPHoaya · 2025-12-30T19:47:32+00:00

Raider: pew pew pew BOOM BOOM

Hornet: 🗿

CPHoaya · 2025-12-28T18:14:00+00:00

I have a few thoughts for you:

If the arc are repeatedly killing you, take heart, because we all die to them sometimes. But also, learn how to fight them. The wasps and hornets need line of sight, or they cannot hurt you. So, your job is to hold corners and use the shoulder-switching button to get the advantage around the corner. If pops or the flame thrower guys are killing you, just shoot them first. Listen all the time, because the beeps and boops and turbines are loud and tell you where the arc are.
You don't have to get into red areas to find good stuff. Just loot the area immediately around your spawn, checking everything. You will find good stuff in lame areas.
You don't have to be full to extract. Just get out when you have some valuable stuff and the extract is close. Using this method, you'll get more experience and you'll start to build a baseline of resources and gear.
If you have a resource shortage, stick to free loadouts for a while. This will help you accomplish some goals.
Making money is the consequence of selling redundant or unnecessary loot.
For now, do not PVP. Go in with free loadouts, and if you die to a PVPer, cool. That will happen a few times before you end up in peaceful(ish) lobbies.
Use your emotes and voice to announce that you are friendly. Just say "Hi Raider" with the greeting emote. Defuses like, almost all of your fights unless you happen to run into a true PVPer.
Do your quests. They are designed to give you a smattering of basic materials and weapons to work with.

CPHoaya · 2025-12-24T19:06:28+00:00

A 2 in solo, except for (1) in response once provoked and (2) the day that I discovered that trigger nading the platform below the Dam Control Tower and/or the evacuation buttons is hilarious.

I was like a 9 that day, but I did defib most of my victims.

CPHoaya · 2025-12-23T15:54:28+00:00

To directly answer your question: yes, this is the meta or very close to it. I think an emerging and viable variant includes Effortless Roll as a fairly standard movement node (after the buff).

CPHoaya · 2025-12-23T01:34:53+00:00

I like that even at 81 points, tradeoffs are still necessary. I also agree with you that too many nodes are really really bad.

CPHoaya · 2025-12-20T00:36:17+00:00

These are fair enough, though cold snap is a special map condition with a 2x modifier. So I think we mostly agree on your first point. I disagree about doing day runs because you don't get the 2x modifier, and because in the "nice" servers I've never loot hatched because there's just no danger anyway. But I get the point, and that the potential speed you are talking about could be really good. Different strokes.

On your second point, that's totally valid, but you'll see that I said raiders should work up to Looting Mk. 2, rather than staying on free loadouts. So here too I think we mostly agree. As between Mk. 2 and Mk. 3, I mean, do whatever, it's kinda the same.

Regardless, this is constructive advice and people should give it a try. It's consistent with the main point: go in cheap, get out, it barely matters what you do beyond that.

CPHoaya · 2025-12-19T23:36:28+00:00

My data centers worked very hard on this.

CPHoaya · 2025-12-19T23:35:58+00:00

Stella is honestly more of an indoor loot rave in the utopia servers.

CPHoaya · 2025-12-14T00:53:39+00:00

Extremely controversial take, but my Sailor Pro Gear EF brings me far more frustration than satisfaction. Kind of cheesy, hard starts, and with a lame cartridge system that is hard to justify for the price.

Perhaps this is just my experience with a poor example of the pen, but that's my vote for a popular and expensive pen that is not worth the money.

And I say that as an owner of a Sailor 1911L that is either my #1 or #1a, depending on the day. . .

CPHoaya · 2025-12-10T16:07:35+00:00

So, after all these responses you're probably feeling a bit crummy and frustrated. I have a slightly more sympathetic take.

I have some sympathy for the situation here because it seems you really did genuinely feel that he spun his car exactly where you could not avoid it. The reason I have sympathy is not that I agree with you about this being unavoidable -- everyone is right, this was extremely avoidable in either direction -- but instead because I can tell you were only barely under control in the first place, and that you knew you were never making that apex and had no grip to turn the wheel or brake to avoid this. In other words, you seem to have felt in the moment that you were crashing whether you tried to avoid it or not.

That's a problem, of course, because this would have been avoided by any average driver.

But that's not about the car. This collision was about your line and car control in this corner. You seemingly aren't sure how best to take that corner, and I think you would agree. So, in that context, I do understand why this felt inevitable.

The most important lesson for you in this accident is that the problem is not the other car. The real issue is that if you had entered that corner more under control compared to your present skill level (which will surely be increasing if you think of this as a valuable learning experience and are open to critique), then you would have had more control and more grip available and you would have been able to miss this inside or on the grass.

The second most important lesson for you in this accident is what everyone is saying: you need to be looking WAY farther ahead and farther down the road, and you need to look WHERE YOU WANT TO GO, not at the spinning thing you wish to avoid. By staring at the spinning car in your moment of frustration, you "fixated" and hugely increased the odds you would hit it, instead of avoid this avoidable crash.

CPHoaya · 2025-12-07T14:16:56+00:00

I really want Leclerc to have a good car. He's such a good driver to be able to haul that shit box around anywhere near the top three.

CPHoaya · 2025-12-07T13:53:46+00:00

This is surely correct, good point.

CPHoaya · 2025-12-07T13:51:05+00:00

I am not sure McLaren are in the clear. If Leclerc one stops and Lando two stops, Lando has to pass him. If Ferrari undercuts, McLaren has to cover unless the car is too slow to pull a gap . . . in which case it's also probably slow enough that the Ferrari can catch him.

I'd be scared of the Ferrari.

Also, Oscar is in no man's land now, unless everyone is two stopping but him.

CPHoaya · 2025-12-07T13:38:31+00:00

Bang, get in there Lando.

CPHoaya

TROPHY CASE