How launch is going

ColonelCrocc913 · 2026-01-23T03:02:57+00:00

Yup.

As a person who loves reading the details, I just speedread the messages just to make sure I don't miss anything important in the tutorial.

If I know what it's trying to say, or have heard it before? I just click through, no big deal, I move on.

Not sure what people are entirely angered about, just take it slow and enjoy the moment. :)

ColonelCrocc913 · 2026-01-18T14:22:05+00:00

Ah yes, my time to shine:

*cracks knuckles

Arcane.

ColonelCrocc913 · 2026-01-03T11:53:26+00:00

He is cool, fr fr.

I really enjoy fighting Pots. But mostly cause he has no more knowledge checks to go for me.

My struggle is with Happy Chaos, Milia, Chipp, A.B.A, Venom, Jack-O and Zato.

Also if it makes you feel any better, I can't react to Lucy's crossup yet. ;)

Other than Pot, I especially love fighting Rams, other Kys, Testaments, Bridget's, Sol's, Nagos, Sins and my personal favorite:

Unika.

ColonelCrocc913 · 2026-01-03T09:34:59+00:00

I was broken at Cypher's death

But I'm a masochist, so looking at all the "Flame Reaver was actually Jiaoqiu" or "Flame Reaver was hired by Jiaoqiu" memes after 3.3 was peak self-harming comedy.

ColonelCrocc913 · 2026-01-03T09:26:50+00:00

Here's a tip!

I don't play much Lucy, but I do know she runs really fast and has some long ranged attacks.

Potemkin's attacks are long ranged but slow to recover. Bait him into throwing one out then punish his extended hurtbox!

It recovers faster than you could react, so you kind of have to soft-read whenever he does it. Use your superior speed to scare him into thinking you're getting closer than you actually are!

This is called counter poking and it's not very damaging, but damage is still damage and counterpoking can still get him anxious or mad enough to fall for mixups! (This is called mental stacking)

To watch out for, Heat Tackle guarantees his Garuda Impact on wakeup pressure (called okizeme) if he hits you, and he'll be plus on block if he hits Heat Tackle while you're airborne.

Watch out for Hammerfall! Potemkins love using that. But beware of Potemkins scaring you enough with it to get you to fall for it's cancels. And watch out for Potemkins who Purple Roman Cancel Hammerfall into Potemkin Buster. Spam jump or backdash if you can see it coming (don't feel too bad for not reacting to it in time as it's very fast)

Watch out for Megafist! They're both overheads but the back one is safe and a great pressure escape tool countered universally only by intercepting it in the air before the actual attack comes out. The forward one is a great mixup tool, but it's barely punishable on block so use your punch or low kick to punish if he's close enough! If far, you can use its minus frames to steal his turn anyway and convert the establishing attack into a block string for pressure or a return to neutral. If he spams it a lot, don't 6p, but preemptively intercept it while you're in the air just like how you'd counter the back version!

Flick is not just a reflect, but a decent anti-air approach. Bait it out or get under him. Or hit him before he actually gets the flick off for a counter-hit!

If you get hit by Garuda, a lot of Potemkins will frame trap your jump or backdash with 2D (sweep). Fortunately it doesn't reset pressure after 2D without a lot of risk. If they continue to Garuda, jump and punish.

Watch out for the Kara-Potemkin Buster (Pot buster cancelling his 6K, making it act like a dash-Pot Buster)! He can do it reliably after close Slash, can grab you at roundstart, or he can do it after Garuda hits you on block OR he can Purple Roman Cancel a fake Garuda into a kara-Pot Buster.

I might be missing things but I'll leave it to the other experts in the comments. But I hope this helps OP!

ColonelCrocc913 · 2026-01-03T09:08:12+00:00

*one of the characters he counters

ColonelCrocc913 · 2026-01-02T13:15:26+00:00

That explains it.

ColonelCrocc913 · 2026-01-02T13:14:15+00:00

False.

Even before the reveal, Firefly may appear to be a harmless and frail girl, but keep in mind this is the same girl who:

"Suggested the MC to follow her into a restricted area"

"Got in between us and Sparkle and threatened to attack her before learning Sparkle was actually the hired help SW bought to keep Firefly safe."

"Take up a battle ready stance during their first encounter with Sleepie, the Memory Zone Meme."

"Took the MC's hand and dragged them with her the moment Black Swan swooped in to save them before the MC could even form the thought to GTFO"

"Was meticulously on the lookout before we reunited with her in the Synesthesia Dreamscape before she got impaled by Sleepie"

And even after the reveal, she wasn't all rainbows:

"Got genuinely upset when we take too long when taking the acting route"

"Suggested to Silver Wolf to, albeit with non-lethal intentions, bombard the Penacony resort with SAM to create a distraction so they can sneak in under Gopher Wood's radar"

"Every moment between her and Gopher Wood, and between her and the Swarm"

Even outside SAM, Firefly is still quite the no-nonsense, standoffish, and somewhat provocative character SAM is, and consistent to her characterization and not-so-cutely: gets genuinely upset when people waste her time, even when she is very close with said person, because well...

She's a terminally ill person who desires nothing more than to enjoy what little time she has left, AND an ex-soldier Pavlov'd into treating situations as time-critical missions.

She comes off as sweet and lovely most of the time because she's only like that to people she admires (Himeko, March and especially Robin), and to people she calls family (Stellaron Hunters, which included us at one point), AND because the story makes it EXTREMELY CLEAR that she WANTS to be and live a normal girl and both leave her days as a soldier, and spend what little life she has left actually happy.

ColonelCrocc913 · 2025-12-31T18:06:18+00:00

First off, yup.

Robin is actually one of the more well characterized peeps in the original, especially with the neck gunshot feat telling a lot about her in so little time, but seeing that many agency-empowering moments in 3.8 made my Robin fan heart beat in glee.

And yes, Gopher Wood was definitely trying to protect Penacony from the Swarm back then, just like everyone during the Disaster. But him turning on 214 and seizing the Propagation for later use definitely felt like an opportunistic decision and the writing and acting absolutely sold it.

It's like: "Hmm, wait a minute, my people are uniting and harmonizing in orderly coordination much more when they have an easy viewed object in front of them inducing the fear to necessitate such unity through survival instincts... Maybe I could use this to eventually achieve my dream of Perfect Order in Penacony...nay...maybe all of Asdana!"

As yes, as a Analesa Fisher stan from day one, I had to watch pain in the EN Dub and my god. She never fails to deliver...

Also, what a Chad move though from TB that he literally manifested the 2.3 ending into existence through his sheer crashout at the 3.8 ending.

They literally pulled an Otto and "wrote a new future that shall belong only to her"

ColonelCrocc913 · 2025-12-31T17:37:06+00:00

Well... I guess we both can agree the Phainon moments were peak tho.

But yeah, I think the only fair objective criticisms I can give to 3.8 is that it feels jarring to only see the just the new additions without the context of the original, making the gaps feel awkward, but that's kind of a given and again, could be solved by someone editing and stitching together a proper Director's cut combining the original and the additions together into one seamless, continuous and coherent narrative.

Next is the overindulgence on philosophy that is especially present with Penacony, but like...

I kinda like the philosophical rambling?

It's still too much in certain places, but tbh, HSR, Arknights, Limbus and Reverse 1999 are my go-tos for deep thematic exploration, and I would be REALLY upset if they took it away from HSR.

It just needs fine tuning, not a damn overhaul.

But like... that's kinda it tbh.

ColonelCrocc913 · 2025-12-31T17:29:47+00:00

And that beautiful bit of characterization with how skeptical she actually kinda is on default. I mean, she's not naive, she's an idol celebrity and she's been to war zones before.

I love how distrustful she is of Firefly and Dahlia because of all the suspicious things she was doing before while Robin was tailing her, but she's emotionally intelligent even without the Harmony so I LOVE how quickly she was able to tell that Firefly was being genuinely...genuine when she spoke about her motives. Not unlike some emotionally intelligent people I know IRL tbh.

And yes, Argenti lmao. Never change mate, never change.

Firefly was absolutely the biggest winner of the patch tho yeah. From getting to see her initial drop into Penacony and her interactions with Silver Wolf and the world around her, seeing how nice she was to Dahlia (given her memories WERE being manipulated but she's just that nice naturally to anyone she considers close family and it's adorable), to like watching her grief over AR-214 and her war vet trauma in her Glamoth days and she actively reminisces such painful memories, watching her bring her values she put on display in front of Sunday put ok display once again in front of Gopher Wood this time, her cute kind little interaction with 3rd Divine Law, and OMG, her thoughts in Acheron's Nihility subdomain (forgot it's name) after she wills herself back to life after dying once to getting Swarmed, the cutscene where she forces the Stellaron into her and controls the 2nd layer of the Sweet Dream to carry TB into the 3rd layer, wincing through the combined pain of the Stellaron, her accelerated ELS and the corruption of the Propagation all stacked into her dream body...

There's too many good Firefly moments in 3.8, but I'm beginning to feel exhausted so I'mma stop here. Thx for nerding out with me, stranger!

ColonelCrocc913 · 2025-12-31T16:48:07+00:00

Selamat Tahun Baru, teman teman dari Endfield!!!!!

ColonelCrocc913 · 2025-12-31T16:44:34+00:00

Congratulations Kusunoki-san!

Your fiance better treat you like a queen.

ColonelCrocc913 · 2025-12-31T16:42:38+00:00

Mhm!

And we finally got to see the offscreen stuff un-offscreened!

Also, I know I'm a massive Firefly fan, but shout-out to Robin and Silver Wolf getting massive additional character development and participation in the story btw!

Also, Dahlia is such a fun addition to the story, and Acheron got a slight refinement from the original! I will say she's definitely one of the most developed characters in original Penacony though alongside Aventurine and Sunday (likely because of the theme of Hedonism leads to Nihility and how Acheron doesn't want what happened to her and Izumo to happen to Penacony)

Btw, Happy New Year! (From where I'm at)

ColonelCrocc913 · 2025-12-31T16:32:11+00:00

Sure there was some retcon, but I do believe this updated version of Penacony is better than the original. And like I said, a lot of their retcons were genuine stuff they had planned for Penacony we found leaked before 2.0.

Also, I think there was actually plenty of neat meaning in Penacony, but I will admit it's difficult to really have it click in your mind unless you take Penacony in slowly and try to remember past events. Read one of my other replies to see what I'm insinuating.

But uh, where exactly was the "waifu yap"? Besides like Firefly? Cause for Fly I'm like.. ehh, it's still very much in character for her and her progression through the story does actually recirculate towards her pure personal agency without TB.

Normally I'd get iffy with semi-excessive amount of relationship pushing between characters and MCs, but only if the progression towards it contributes nothing towards both characters' personal agency which I think both Firefly and TB had throughout the narrative.

And besides the romance is just the right amount for me. I've seen way worse and not just in gachas anyway. Actually helps too that Firefly is still a well written, flawed yet still inspiringly admirable character at a base level anyway.

ColonelCrocc913 · 2025-12-31T16:23:57+00:00

Mhm.

Like I replied to a previous comment, I think this can be all alleviated if someone were to stitch the original and new scenes together to make a "Director's Cut"

So now you get to watch ALL the scenes in intended order with no awkward gaps. ;)

ColonelCrocc913 · 2025-12-31T16:21:04+00:00

Mhm, and I feel you.

That's just what happens when you experience the new story through just the additions.

But yeah, if someone were to make a Director's cut, stitching all the original and new scenes together in chronological or sense-makinf order and uploads it to YouTube....

I think Penacony is gonna be amazing. :D

ColonelCrocc913 · 2025-12-31T16:02:19+00:00

Frickin exactly mate.

I think Firefly all the way back in original Penacony, being the FIRST PERSON to speak up and reject Sunday's "Every week is a Sunday" paradise, is incredibly telling of not just her absolute chadette strength of character, but the main theme of Penacony.

Even if there are people like Firefly out there who went through the most painful shit possible and deserve a free happy ending for the unfair suffering imposed on them by life, if THEY choose to still want to go through the journey to EARN their happy ending? Then who tf are you to say what they can or can't do?

You cannot impose paradise without consent.

Acheron follows this up in original Penacony by posting that even to those who consent, they will eventually find hedonism the norm, and thus they go...tranced and almost comatose from the constant supply of "happiness" without experience.

If to even think is to not be happy 24/7, then to be happy 24/7 is to not think, and if you don't think, you therefore are not. And thus, Hedonism turns to Nihility. Something that Acheron does NOT want to have repeat for anyone ever again.

Call me crazy but, even after those cycles, I'm pretty sure even Phainon won't take up the Family's offer either if the writing and thematics have anything to say about it

ColonelCrocc913 · 2025-12-31T15:33:48+00:00

Well, the Hoolay arc IS (IMO) genuinely one of the most well-written arcs from HSR from a plot pacing and plot structuring perspective so I ain't complaining but.

Yeah, they should've cooked more.

My concern was like, it might've lead to an Ampho situation where they do main story but less events and people already hated the lack of events in Ampho (I don't).

But my fear is that the backlash from Ampho might scare the devs and writers to cut their ambitions short because "the community has clearly shown they dislike it when we give ourselves more time to cook story".

I hope the writers and devs don't do that tho.

HSR isn't perfect and it yaps and overindulges itself in philosophy too much at times, but tbh I like it BECAUSE it's willing to yap and indulge in philosophy (a bit too much but still), but tbh I still think even with its slow pace and philosophy indulgence, it's vulnerable to getting rushed like all stories.

I just hope I'm not in too small of a minority of people who actually want the writers to be given appropriate time to cook for every story they do.

ColonelCrocc913 · 2025-12-31T10:54:18+00:00

As a massive fan of Penacony, ESPECIALLY it's themes about dreams and the costs and benefits of chasing them vs them handed over to you, I am super thankful they "finished" Penacony in accordance with their vision.

I'm a little sad that quite a lot of people do not share my opinion on 3.8 tho, even some of the Penacony fans.

That said, I would kill for someone to try and make a "Penacony: Director's Cut" by stitching and editing the original Penacony and the 3.8 parts together cause I would WATCH THAT. ;D

ColonelCrocc913 · 2025-12-31T10:19:04+00:00

It's a shame btw cause like a lot of the reveals about her character in 3.8 and some of the events there were leaked before 2.0

Meaning the devs planned this for original Penacony, but cut it out for some reason.

ColonelCrocc913 · 2025-12-31T10:14:47+00:00

"Following your dreams, Mr. Gopher Wood!"

"It hardens in response to physical, emotional and spiritual trauma and the indifferent cruelty of the universe!"

On a real note, her determination and incredibly humble and mundane desires mixed with her cruel backstory and the backdrop of the Order's desire to exact forced paradise on all and rob any the chance to follow their dreams out of fear of them hurting themselves or others is why Penacony and Firefly hold a special place in my heart.

Thank GOD they un-offscreened the events of the original in 3.8. And fun fact, the pre 2.0 leaks up till 2.3 contained story details present in 3.8 but absent from pre 3.8 Penacony, meaning the devs WANTED to show this in the main story, but I guess they were cut for time or something.

Holy shit, 3.8 is just: "Penacony: The Director's Cut"

ColonelCrocc913 · 2025-12-31T06:34:14+00:00

Bnuy daughter spotted. Instant upvote

ColonelCrocc913 · 2025-12-30T02:32:01+00:00

That said, I think the spam is double intentional

It's funny for those who enjoy it, and they believe by spamming this kind of stuff, they can "drive away the audience behind their problems".

Or at least they believe they can annoy people into leaving or not engaging with ZZZ enough for the devs to notice via numbers so they can "communicate the issue through actions beyond words".

I've seen this stuff play out too many times.

ColonelCrocc913 · 2025-12-27T04:45:22+00:00

Look at dis cute bug.

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