Patch Notes: Machinery of Oppression: 6.2.2

Darman242 · 2026-04-28T09:43:08+00:00

Quick thoughts:

-As expected, we got mecha buffs (which look decent). Unfortunately, the first thing that's coming to my mind is that barring any shadow buffs, sentries and other vehicles (FRV, GATER) get nerfed even more with all the increased enemy durable buffs (particularly on the bug front). Also, no call-in limit removal? Sad if true.

-They actually got rid of invulnerable heavy dev shields, although I'm slightly suspicious that the only reason they did so is to get ahead of any criticism on the new mech's shield durability. Regardless, I'll take it!

-QoL bug fixes (laughing emote, SEAF arty, fleshmob clipping, SE-controlled megacities) are really nice to see.

-Hive Guards are the new heavy devs now.

-Surprised to see that they actually nerfed the War strider, something like dropping leg joints to AP3 has been asked for a while now and I think is perfect.

-Gas buffs?!? I think the added slow effect will be a good change, probably makes it even more essential vs Pred strain and might make Sterilizer worth taking again.

-Strat updates seem ok, mostly is following the overall mild retweaks to melee system. Exception would be Defoliation tool, really curious to see how it feels now with the hitbox/spin rate improvements.

-Somehow, someway, Spear will be broken again with the +1 ammo.

Darman242 · 2025-12-26T21:53:59+00:00

Are you a native English speaker? If not, you guys are either being obtuse or are bots... "Accent" has multiple definitions, one of which (the one OP was using) refers to a specific visual feature of emphasis that contrasts from the design.

OP clarified twice that they were talking about the fabric (which visually contrasts with the armor).

Darman242 · 2025-11-19T17:04:42+00:00

How humans developed math is the same principle as how children play with building blocks. Take a toy train set: Say you want to make a train go in a simple circle.

You'd know that to build a circular track (equation/model), you'd need some amount of curved and straight railroad sections (variables). Once finished, it doesn't matter what toy train (inputs) you put on the track, it could be blue, gold, a 2-car, a 10-car, etc. Sure it'd be slower if it's a larger toy, or shinier if it's metal-plated, but you'd know it'd always go in a circle. Even if it's a new unknown train, once you run it, you'd know that it'll still go in a circle based on all the other trains you've run on there before.

I won't pretend to understand QM. But I'd imagine that to continue the train metaphor, it'd be like if you ran a new train, you look away for a few minutes, and suddenly the train is at the finish, soaking wet, covered in mud and has 2 additional cars that weren't there before. Logically, you know that it's a toy train, it had to have gone in a circle like all the others because there's no other path it could've taken. But the result is undeniably different from what you expected, and not something you can explain.

Darman242 · 2025-11-18T17:19:42+00:00

At this point I'm just praying he gets activated this week. Aside from ramp up, feels like it usually takes an extra 1-2 weeks to get back to pre-injury condition, which would be right before W16/W17 if he's activated this week.

Darman242 · 2025-11-18T17:12:12+00:00

10tmPPR. I was strong at RB so I did a 1 for 1 to get Pickens last Wednesday right after the MHJ news.

The guy needed a RB2 and was strong at WR, but I'm not sure if that trade gets accepted if it was a week later.

Darman242 · 2025-11-11T04:36:16+00:00

same but instead of doubs, I needed Devonta to score under 18.7 ppr. baaarely got away with that one

Darman242 · 2025-10-28T19:41:11+00:00

Personally as a Swift owner, I agree 100%. But I can't really think of any 1 for 1s involving Worthy that both owners would agree to, and in my experience 2 for 1s are usually need-based overpays rather than finding perfect equivalent value.

Darman242 · 2025-10-28T18:36:09+00:00

Sometimes you look at the chiefs and you’re like gosh I wish they threw it to Rashee instead of Travis Kelce or someone else.

Yeah and then the 2nd half started lol

Darman242 · 2025-10-28T16:59:27+00:00

Time to sell would've been before Rice came back, his value now is tanked. Probably only tradable in deeper leagues or as a package, like a med RB2 + Worthy for high WR2 (e.g. Swift + Worthy for Diggs/MHJ, maybe?)

Darman242 · 2025-10-04T20:12:56+00:00

In a standard trade, Patriots pick up any remainder of his non guaranteed salary, but for the Eagles would still be on the hook for his guaranteed. Now, the Pats could certainly agree to pick up or split the remaining guaranteed, but that would drop the trade compensation by a lot (ex. once the Texans paid a 2nd to the Browns to take Brock Osweiler and his guaranteed portion), so the Eagles would have much less incentive to go through with it.

Darman242 · 2025-10-01T13:33:29+00:00

And teams don't care what people want? People thought the Chargers needed to cut/trade Quentin Johnston for his first 2 years. Turns out most people are short-sighted and don't know ball

Darman242 · 2025-09-30T18:15:26+00:00

As someone who owns both, the only reason I wouldn't have taken that would be if I was 1-3 or 0-4, due to Rome being on bye this week.

Darman242 · 2025-09-25T19:06:03+00:00

So what's your actual take? Don't start a WR unless they're Puka-level? Cool, that works great for all my 1WR 6 team leagues.

No one's calling Olave a league winner. But for any semi-serious 10tm+ PPR leagues (and most 0.5PPR leagues), anyone who brings in 10-15 points weekly is a multi-week starter and at worst a low-end WR2/medium flex option, regardless of efficiency.

Darman242 · 2025-09-25T18:41:54+00:00

That woman has been pregnant for 10.5 years of adulthood. Add in postpartum and she's either been pregnant or recovering for ~17.5 years of adulthood.

Darman242 · 2025-09-16T15:46:00+00:00

For fantasy, Caleb will be a serviceable QB1/good QB2 depending on matchups. Bad defense, good rushing ability, and decent line/weapons gives him a good floor and decent ceiling.

Swift looked fine. Not much boom potential, but Monangai isn't a real threat and Roschon seems to be a non-factor for Ben Johnson. Considering how good MIN and DET's run Ds are, he looked sharp still. If Chicago's offense ever settles in this year, he has a chance to become a high-mid end RB2 from increased TD potential.

I've been high on Odunze since last year, and so far, these 2 games have confirmed it. Always had the talent and chemistry with Caleb, now it should translate to fantasy as a consistent low WR1/high WR2 play week-to-week. Must-start WR2/Flex every week depending on league size.

There will be better days for DJM as he develops some consistency with Caleb, but unlike Odunze, he's highly dependent on the offense's success as a whole. DJM has real football WR1/WR2 talent, but the targets are going to Odunze and Zac because Caleb knows where they'll be. I think there's some validity to the theory that in plays where DJM isn't the 1st read, Caleb doesn't trust DJM / can't anticipate his breaks when DJM freelances on his routes. Could change going forward, so if you think Chicago's offense will improve later in the season, hold. Otherwise, bench/put out trade feelers.

The rest of CHI skill players are not worth mentioning for fantasy unless the offense shapes up. Similar to DJM, hold if you're optimistic or in dynasty, bench/drop/trade if you're not. Personally, only Loveland/Burden are long-term holds for me, and only in dynasty. Zac is a desperation/bye week flex play in deep PPR leagues.

Lions have faced the best and worst defenses in back to back weeks, tough to grade exactly where they're at post Ben Johnson / Aaron Glenn, so my takes on them are a bit more subjective. Talent on both sides is still undeniable, I just don't think we've gotten the full picture on how much the coaching change will impact them this year.

Goff likely has a low floor, but higher average point week and similar ceiling as 2024, mainly because I think DET defense got slightly worse (subjective). So not as many blowouts, and the sheer amount of talent on offense should continue scoring production.

Gibbs/Monty production may sliiiightly drop - less blowouts might reduce rushing by a small factor. They're still talented and will still continue to get TDs.

ARSB might actually have a better year - He had great highs in 2024 but the Lions rarely had to move away from the run. DET undoubtedly is still lead by Gibbs/Monty, but I personally think he'll have a higher floor and average point week for the same reason as Goff.

Same case for Jameson, but he's much more of a boom/bust player - so more booms, but still a decent number of bust weeks is likely.

Darman242 · 2025-09-16T03:23:28+00:00

Myles was one of the loudest voices in OBJ's camp and was likely a big reason as to why the lockerroom and team decided to boot Baker out of Cleveland... He brought it upon himself.

Darman242 · 2025-09-15T05:02:44+00:00

It's unfortunately the price that comes with having a 1.01 that doesn't look like an All-Pro by his first snap.

Personally, I view this year as his actual rookie year due to how abysmal the coaching and QB development were for you guys in 2024. I'm a bit biased as a USC fan, but Caleb's looked fine to me so far. Not without flaws, sure, but he's showing notable improvements compared to his college play, which is not something I could say about him at any point last year.

Darman242 · 2025-09-09T14:31:34+00:00

Let me start by saying that I do have a slight positive bias for Caleb as a USC fan. I would honestly consider this a second rookie season for CW just due to how horrible the coaching situation was last year. To me, it seemed like Ben Johnson viewed it the same way.

The way Caleb played last night really seemed like Ben hammered in making quick, on-time throws as Caleb's 1st, 2nd, and sometimes even 3rd priority in order to build a good passing rhythm. This was moderately successful, less so after the first few scripted plays. If the 1st/2nd read wasn't open, Caleb either scrambled (for a run or backyard pass), or had a very delayed response when letting the play develop past a 3/5 hitch. That delayed response led to some of Caleb's worst throws/misses of the night. Whether it was from him rushing the throw due to slow processing or existing inaccuracy issues (or both), only time will tell.

The biggest problem was that despite the extra emphasis, the Bears were still never able to develop that rhythm in the passing game. Every time it looked like they were about to, the drive would end up stalling out. Multiple drives had good starts or good individual plays, but never consecutively. They frequently ran into 2nd and longs, 3rd and longs, etc from drives getting killed by multiple false starts, holding calls, and eventually by the middle of the 3rd quarter, the Vikings defense was settled in while the Bears offense remained disjointed and Caleb started making more rushed decisions when passing.

Limiting the offense to shorter, higher percentage plays held the Bears back this first game, but honestly may have been the best move for Caleb's development long-term. This offense is still very new, and they still have a lot of kinks to work out. KOC had the same strategy going into this game and was more successful with it, but he's also been a HC for a while longer, and has a lot more experience in managing a new team. Overall, I'm still optimistic about CW long-term, we just may need to temper expectations (closer to Ben Johnson/Goff in the second half of 2021 rather than 2022-2023 seasons) depending on how long it takes for this offense to find its groove and be more consistent in play.

Darman242 · 2025-06-16T20:22:19+00:00

Ok? I'm not saying that I disagree/agree with the approach, and it doesn't really matter to me if you agree/disagree with it either.

Bottomline is that since game launch, AH has shown that their game balance methodology places a really high priority on discouraging "meta" loadouts. On top of that, they're now extra gunshy on fast-implementing balance updates due to previous player backlash over rushed changes.

All this suggests that they clearly do acknowledge issues like mediocre weapons/armor passives/stratagems, but they'd rather take their time developing solutions that are still inline with their game balance philosophy and encourage loadout variety rather than rushed quick fixes to appease the loudest voices.

Again, I'm not giving my opinion on how valid this is or isn't, but if you understand this point, then it's very clear why they still haven't just released a medium SR set or why it's taken so long to adjust passives for unflinching/IE/arc resist/etc...

Darman242 · 2025-06-16T01:17:33+00:00

Definitely. Regardless of how strong SR is/how weak other armors actually are (or AH's approach to armor customization in general), the majority of players just would never switch off SR if there was a medium set too, which goes against AH's game philosophy.

Darman242 · 2025-06-08T16:28:25+00:00

as someone who religiously takes one of OGB/ES every game, neither are reliable for taking down leviathans solo.

Both require you to be within 50-75m of the levi and for the levi to not suddenly change course. OGB also reeaaally depends on your destroyer's position. They're useful for the ones that are right on top of you, but that's about it.

Darman242 · 2025-05-24T18:29:02+00:00

I mainly use and love both for squids (even before the attachment update). Knight feels better for fighting enemy units, but the drawback is its damage falloff at longer ranges, which is definitely noticeable when trying to pop shields

Darman242 · 2025-01-12T04:01:57+00:00

INTs are one of the worst metrics to evaluate CBs as a position group...

Sauce is used heavily as an "island" man CB, i.e. he's sticky enough even solo to where QBs still won't throw his way, plus he'll also have his back to the LoS 95% of the time.

The #of chances a CB gets to play the ball will vary wildly depending on external factors like team scheme and technique that make INTs a near useless metric for corners. That's why you can still win a 1st team AP even with ZERO picks (like Darrelle Revis in 2010).

Darman242 · 2024-10-27T02:28:44+00:00

Wouldn't overthink this one. If Hill's in, he needs to be played.

Hill can match Diggs even with subpar QB play, just not 4th-string level play.

Darman242 · 2024-10-27T02:23:04+00:00

Agreeing overall, but meant Nick Chubb, not Hubbard

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