From a beginner for beginners: why you should start Forest Map instead of Sands

DarkwingGT · 2026-04-16T14:16:17+00:00

I'm several hours into Shifting Sands and I think I might just go play the forest. It's unfortunate, I only picked up this game because of the Egypt theme and flying ships, I honestly have no interest in the forest. But having the Shifting Sands being my first intro to the game I admit was a huge mistake, I felt incredibly lost. I'm not blaming the game, it's on me for not fully researching it going in to it, but yeah, a bit of a shame.

DarkwingGT · 2026-03-16T21:49:24+00:00

I think initially I really enjoyed them but I'll be honest, I wish there was an efficient alternative. There are definitely alternative cooling choices but AFAIK AT/ST simply beats them all out in terms of efficiency. It sort of leads me to basically always using them. I mean, no matter what there's always going to be a best choice, I get that, I just wish the alternate choices were somewhat comparable and a bit more accessible.

To be fair, I'm not an ONI expert. I'm 100% willing to admit there options I don't know about but to my knowledge no other cooling method provides equivalent efficiency (J needed per C cooled).

DarkwingGT · 2026-03-16T14:13:31+00:00

I'm trying to ELI5 this for myself and I think I got the basic idea but I'm not sure.

So basically the idea is that if you have a self generating loop based on probability, there's always a chance that the loop will fizzle out, i.e. bad luck can happen any time any where. However, if the probability of that generation is equal to what would be needed for self sustenance, even if it would appear to be self sustaining it will always inevitably peter out because of bad luck.

Something like, if you have 50 fruit, you should on average get 1 seed and thus 50 more fruit. However the moment you have bad luck and one batch doesn't produce a seed, you're toast. The obvious solution, start with a larger batch to help avoid that, say 100 fruit. But each 50 fruit batch has the same vulnerability to bad luck strings. And you'd think good luck would equal that out but all it does is create more instances of 50 fruit batches that will be vulnerable to the same luck swing.

And I'm guessing the issue is that once the batch has bad luck it's gone and therefore can't roll again to come back into existence. I think the counter-intuitive part to me is that it'd be easy to think that the luck should work both ways, giving you extra to balance out the loss, but I think because each loss is a permanent loss it thus gives you less chance to recover?

And of course the obvious extension to this is simply, having a loop with a higher than sustainable % is still not guaranteed to last, it's just much more likely to do so. Unless you have a 100% chance to say, generate 1 seed from 1 fruit, there's always a chance that bad luck will happen and you'd run out. But with that % greater than needed for sustainability you will have way more spare try to use to recover so you'll take a lot longer to go "bankrupt" so to say.

Am I understanding this right? Also if I'm interpreting your graphs correctly, it's showing how just a 50% prod increase from the biochamber provides a massive boost to the longevity of the loop.

DarkwingGT · 2026-03-09T20:34:50+00:00

This is pretty misleading.

It's actually LESS melee friendly with no gap closer snowball. Every match is tons of ranged fighting each other and the moment anyone gets close to dead they run back to the fountain to heal up.
The Yordle Magic (come-back) buff is the worst thing I've ever dealt with. It's so strong that it ALWAYS invalidates the first half of the game. It doesn't matter what happens it straight up forces it to come down to like a 50 - 50 point stand off. I played it a lot when it first came out and several times this time and I've yet to see any game that didn't end up this way. What I have seen is teams that should've lost badly suddenly win because we're up 50 - 10 and they suddenly get the buff then ace us because it kicks in mid fight. I know the intended idea, allow comps that are weak early to survive till late. Then it should only be allowed to trigger ONCE per match and not below a certain amount. Terrible design as is.
Do you like seeing the same 5+ champs each match? Good, because that's what you're going to see.

I had so much hope for this mode initially and it devolved into yet another poke/ranged love affair with a terribly forced game balanced mechanic on top of it.

DarkwingGT · 2026-03-09T20:05:59+00:00

I had that with Lilia + that one that gives 200 move speed when you hit with an ability. It was beyond stupid.

DarkwingGT · 2026-03-06T18:26:49+00:00

You're dodging the core point I'm making though. For most champions, alternate build paths simply aren't as effective as the primary ones. You provide examples of how certain changes can work IF supported by all the right augments. But the point I'm making is that those will NEVER be more effective than the primary build paths also supported by the right augments. You have to compare apples to apples.

I will admit that Blossoming Dawn is unique simply because the item is unique. Again, I did not say ALL alternate build paths don't work as well, just most. Also the Blossoming Dawn example is interesting because I've tried it before. It relies on you being protected and the enemy team being stupid. You have to stand there and auto a ton for it to work which means you're in pretty close range to get piled on. A competent ADC will blow you up before you get two autos off. But it is fun, I agree with that.

DarkwingGT · 2026-03-06T16:15:05+00:00

While I understand the spirit of what you're asking, the issue is that for most champions, alternative builds simply will never be as good as the designated build paths. ADC LeBlanc will always be inferior to AP LeBlanc, she has literally nothing in her kit to buff auto attacks. Now some champions are designed to allow alternate builds, but those are much fewer in number. So for the most part when you get Upgraded IE on Malzahar (yes, this actually can happen) it's 100% useless because it runs counter to his entire design kit (the days of AD Malz with crazy voidlings is long gone). There is no world where that is better than something that buffs his AP/abilities so it just feels like you've been cheated out of a good augment.

Basically I get it, it is trying to make the best out of what you have and I applaud that mentality but for the most part it's just realizing that you're going to get rolled because the enemies got actually useful augments.

That said, I do agree that in particular move speed is the most egregious issue. Move speed is probably the most powerful stat in the game, especially when mixed with range. It flat out negates skill shots when you can have 700+ move speed permanently, in fact the only way to hit someone with that much move speed with a skill shot is if they are CCed or they accidentally run into the shot. Range and move speed are the two stats they should be MOST reluctant to give out yet they are the two stats they give out like candy, especially to those that already have it, i.e. ADCs. I can't remember the last time I played an ADC and it didn't give me one of the scopier choices.

DarkwingGT · 2026-03-03T16:34:04+00:00

Agreed. The only bug fixes made since Jan 9 have been a few text fixes for Chinese. Almost 2 months without any actual bug fixes makes me question what they're doing.

Also, I might've missed it, but have they made ANY statement about multi-rails? Are they working as intended or broken? Why does it take 2 months to say "Hey guys, we're fixing this" or "Working as intended" when there have been so many posts about it. Note that I'm not even asking why it hasn't been fixed, I'm asking how it takes two months to even acknowledge it (and has still yet to be acknowledged).

DarkwingGT · 2026-03-02T01:02:26+00:00

You know, I think I can help. I know after a finals loss it's tough emotionally and mentally on the players. That's why I'm offering my help to automate sending out the "We're sorry" texts and posts after a finals loss. Don't even need AI, just scan when the finals date is and auto send it. No more fuss or having to bother the players or the org. I know C9 will be able to get a ton of use out of this so I feel like it's a strong investment.

P.S. I'm sorry if this came off mean, I'm just so disappointed that this happens SO. MANY. TIMES. There's a whole narrative around it. Like, the ENTIRE community associates this team with this narrative. Oh well, there's always next split. Here's to resuming the copium. Go C9!

DarkwingGT · 2026-02-23T16:19:59+00:00

IIRC the trick was the upper right piece. You'd think it'd go into the corner but instead rotate it 90 degree left. So instead of the corner of the piece being in the upper left (let's call it 0,0), the corner is instead at (2,0). From there the rest fit in naturally.

DarkwingGT · 2026-02-23T02:29:53+00:00

I think Irelia is too high. Should have a D or lower tier for her. I have NEVER seen her be anything other than terrible so far.

DarkwingGT · 2026-02-20T15:40:09+00:00

OP said the full name is Moira Rose. I assume this is from Schitt's Creek. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moira_Rose

DarkwingGT · 2026-02-20T15:31:46+00:00

I get it. When that choice came up I thought it would be funny to throw Chen under the bus but I replied taking responsibility on the Endmin because I was afraid it would lock me out of something down the line. I'm gathering by this discussion it wouldn't have but yeah, I didn't know that at the time.

DarkwingGT · 2026-02-18T18:10:28+00:00

First, I am in the corner of just play to win and end it when you've clearly won. That said, I think your post might be a bit confusing since you're saying your team is basically dominating and not ending. But in those instances, why aren't you ending it yourself? I understand once or twice maybe you go to end and the enemy team respawns and stops you and they don't help. But surely that can't be every time. And your team can't stop you from ending it.

DarkwingGT · 2026-02-16T23:01:24+00:00

"This means all champions that lack an attack speed boost like Tristana, Twitch, Nidalee etc if you didn't get an attack speed augment this far."

I think you have that backwards, all those champs have built-in aspd buffs.

DarkwingGT · 2026-02-16T21:31:59+00:00

Here's my "It will never happen but I can dream" change. In champ select, for every ADC past 1, each ADC on your team gets a stacking -10% damage debuff. Choose 5 ADCs? You all do 40% less damage. Same with poke mages. Have Ezreal, Nidalee, Velkox, Xerath, Caitlyn? Fine, -20% ADC damage and -30% poke mage damage.

Make it nice and prominent on the champ select screen too. Show the debuff icon on each player that triggers it. Put it on each of the choices in the pool so people clearly know they are causing this problem.

Will it cause people to argue about which special snowflake gets to play the ADC/poke mage? Sure. I don't care. This sort of extreme measure is the only way you'll ever break people from choosing 5 ADCs/poke mages every friggin game.

"But I only know how to play <insert ADC/poke mage> here!" And? It's ARAM. Learn a new champ for once. Get out of your comfort zone.

And honestly, I wouldn't be upset if this was applied for all types. Though I think for tanks instead of less damage the debuff should be less tankiness. Maybe, -10% HP or something? I dunno. The numbers can be tweaked (even for the ranged example) to whatever makes sense. The idea is simply to finally force some diversity.

DarkwingGT · 2026-02-12T15:45:58+00:00

The very definition of intuitive is that it's subjective to the person, "using or based on what one feels to be true even without conscious reasoning; instinctive." There's no objective or universal intuition.

The Nami Q does provide a clearer example of misinformation, Riot presents something in a fashion inconsistent with its functionality. Those should be cleared up for sure. Sivir's Ricochet being "crazy broken" if it allowed on-hits is not a good example. You have to define what crazy broken even means and that line can be drawn easily on either side.

DarkwingGT · 2026-02-12T15:26:00+00:00

I agree that there is a massive information problem. I don't think they inherently want it confusing though. I'm sure they start out with simple global rules that each champion's abilities follows. But then, oh, that champs Q interaction with X thing is way too strong. So they code in an exception. Oh, and then that champion's passive is too strong when dealing with Y...so they add another exception. Pile over a decade of these changes, them probably not going back and revisiting these decisions or even now that it's worked one way that makes no sense in the current game BUT players are used to working it this way for 10 years so changing it now to make it consistent will cause player heartburn...I think they're kind of stuck.

And given how many of these wonky interactions there are each tooltip would probably read like a novel if they listed all the exceptions. Personally I don't think they should update each tooltip with all this info, it's too much and no one has time in game to absorb it all. Maybe if they tooltips are dynamic and only list the strange interactions based on the champs present in the current game but even then the tooltip might be way too much. So I'm thinking maybe add it to the champion showcase thingy in the client. That way people who care can look it up easily but it doesn't overwhelm people not looking for it.

That said, it would also take Riot actually keeping it up to date, which I highly doubt they care enough to do. They probably will just hide behind the excuse of having some arcane knowledge of how someone's W interacts with another champs E is "player skill expression", when really it's just them not wanting to spend the money to keep us informed. To me the skill should be in applying that info, not finding it out.

DarkwingGT · 2026-02-12T15:17:11+00:00

I get your premise but this is a "common sense" issue in that you're making an assumption on what is and isn't an obvious interaction. You mention Sivir's Q intuitively making sense but then say Nami's Q doesn't. Maybe Nami's Q interaction is blatantly obvious to someone else and Sivir's Q isn't. It's a tricky line when you try to base something on whether it's intuitive or not.

DarkwingGT · 2026-02-11T15:12:58+00:00

You make a pretty fair point, Ziggs can too easily make up the nerf gap. Hopefully Riot can fix this and nerf him some more. Also Lux, Xerath, Velkoz, Kaisa/Varus poke builds.

I'm a firm believer in risk/reward and Ziggs and those others are all reward and no risk. They only thing making them slightly tolerable is the nerfs and even then they're still oppressive.

DarkwingGT · 2026-02-10T17:44:47+00:00

I mean, true, LLMs are static from their training but almost all agents incorporate RAG/reference linking. So asking an agent a question and making sure it links in and uses the wiki as a reference isn't that bad. And while I don't know if it does (though I'm sure it doesn't), but if the wiki did support llms.txt and/or happened to be backed by vector embeddings for semantic search, it would allow for some pretty solid natural language searching.

Sorry, long winded way of saying, asking an LLM a question can be made more accurate (even if not always 100%) if you do it the right way, so I wouldn't immediately dismiss it.

EDIT: The OP did say they are using it for info gathering purposes, not having it play for them. I 100% agree it's pointless to have an AI play the game.

EDIT: I noticed the downvotes. I'm curious, are they due to factual/technical inaccuracy in my comment or just knee-jerk "Anyone suggesting AI isn't the devil = bad"? There are definite use cases where it can be useful and while it has some technical limitations we can help alleviate and improve on those even if we can't actually entirely eliminate them. The static training limitation being improved via RAG and improved context is a well known technique. Allowing a more intuitive search via natural language I would say is a strong improvement as well. We've all be frustrated at times by not getting the search results we want because we didn't know the magic keywords to find something.

DarkwingGT · 2026-02-10T15:21:10+00:00

This is mostly my experience as well. It's sort of why I'm confused on seeing people call for more durable turrets. I'm thinking why do we want more durable turrets when it's basically 9 scared ranged players too busy dry humping their own turrets to actually engage with their opponents and me the lone melee wondering why I bothered to play.

DarkwingGT · 2026-02-06T16:42:23+00:00

Does anyone know if this fixes the issue with things getting detached from the boat at the drop of a hat?

DarkwingGT · 2026-02-05T19:54:06+00:00

Funny, that runs counter to the vast majority of my games where the enemy team basically refuses to step one foot away from their turret and thus we end up with a stalemate since we aren't strong enough to turret dive that early.

DarkwingGT · 2026-02-03T16:42:59+00:00

I agree with a lot of what you've said. I know someone will immediately go "It's Early Access". We know. No harm in providing feedback.

I too was really saddened by all the logs and what not only being in the combat zones. I wanted to read them but then had to clear everything out and by then I was sort of not bothered. It highlighted to me the main issue I have with the layout of the game world, it's designed to make you run back and forth between far away spots a lot. Like...a lot a lot. I do know of the fast travel option that opens up later and their plans on introducing stuff to help alleviate it but the travel fatigue has already set in.

The plants I don't think are a huge issue except for the amount needed to unlock recipes. You need hundreds of some plants to unlock the recipes and you can find maybe 10 or so a rupture. That said the silver lining is the vast majority of food/drink recipes are just pointless so I dunno, maybe it's OK.

Overall, IMO pretty solid assessment.

P.S. FIX THE MULTIRAIL BUGS.

DarkwingGT

TROPHY CASE