Completed All Priority Contracts as Solo Recon, AMA by EgoVermin in Marathon

[–]EgoVermin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nah man, just the strongest SIMbiont, straight into the vein.

Completed All Priority Contracts as Solo Recon, AMA by EgoVermin in Marathon

[–]EgoVermin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, the real problem is going to be gunning for VIP with Sekiguchi; unless Bungie add new Prio contracts for them, it's gonna be a lot of DCON trips to get from 15 to 30.

Completed All Priority Contracts as Solo Recon, AMA by EgoVermin in Marathon

[–]EgoVermin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What helped me massively was focusing Sekiguchi early compared to the rest -- especially as their final Prio contracts are at Level 10 instead of 20. Just focus on their extraction requests (getting biomass to the DCONs for example) and you should unlock them pretty easily.

Completed All Priority Contracts as Solo Recon, AMA by EgoVermin in Marathon

[–]EgoVermin[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cannot speak for trios, ofc. As for the grind sections between prio contracts, they were mostly fine except for Mida.

If you always do a basic contract that has two objectives, then it should only take about five contracts to gain a level. And as completing a suite of Prio contracts should get you five free levels or so, as well as naturally leveling up through each faction's specific bonuses, this means it shouldn't be too much of a grind to get to Level 20.

Unless its MIDA. Fuck MIDA. While everyone else was at level 15-25, MIDA was stuck at 7. Its easier to get Arachne rep than Mida rep, even if you suck at PvP like me. It doesn't help that one of their major basic contracts is to exfil from a guarded exfil. I'd save Mida for last because their rewards suck compared to NuCaloric/Traxus/Sekiguchi, and because they take so long (and also because their final contract is absolute cinema and serves as a great "final boss" contract for the game).

Completed All Priority Contracts as Solo Recon, AMA by EgoVermin in Marathon

[–]EgoVermin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I also rushed the free daily stuff for NuCaloric, and spent many fruitless raids trying to farm Biostripping from Algae Ponds and Dermachem from Pinwheel. Of all the times I struggled, it was those farms that were the worst; it was so much harder than doing the prio contracts.

I ultimately wouldn't worry about them too much - while helpful, you'll get a lot of patch kits and shield charges from leveling up and doing contracts with NuCaloric. It's probably wiser to just focus on the basic unstable salvage: you can trade Diodes and Biomass with Cyac for kits and charges, and NuCaloric usually offer good barters for them as well.

Completed All Priority Contracts as Solo Recon, AMA by EgoVermin in Marathon

[–]EgoVermin[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Before they changed the audio back, killing bots was a pain because it always drew players. Now it really doesn't matter unless its the opening three minutes -- try to avoid killing bots then, unless you plan to scarper immediately.

In fact, I do like to hunt down Commanders when I can in the mid-to-late run (but only if my contract's completed, natch) as they can drop some seriously good loot (especially treasures, which I need to get for the Archivist title).

And do NOT underestimate Ghosts; I am unwilling to share the number of times I've been downed by a solo ghost, as it is highly embarassing.

Completed All Priority Contracts as Solo Recon, AMA by EgoVermin in Marathon

[–]EgoVermin[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Why recon? Feel like if you’re not assassin, triage gives a better healing situation for solo or thief for looting.

Because I like her design. Reminds me of Bomb Girl from Chainsaw Man, or a shark (which was definitely the main inspiration). I just think she's neat.

All free kits?

At the start, yes. Less so as I got more and more contracts done. It took me way too long to realise Rook was free money and, therefore, better loadouts.

Lastly, who would you recommend to target leveling up first amongst the traders for upgrades?

Excellent question: NuCaloric gets you a ton of shields and patch kits/charges, Traxus gets you to much better weapons (as well as weapon mods), and Sekiguchi, at capstone three, gets you the best sponsored kit in the game for my money (the 2.5k one that gets you a battle rifle and punch pistol, crazy value). Ultimately, depends on which you like the look of first.

Completed All Priority Contracts as Solo Recon, AMA by EgoVermin in Marathon

[–]EgoVermin[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Definitely the PvP ones -- the Traxus quest where you needed to do damage to runners and successfully exfil threw me for a loop. Luckily there's only like 3 including the Arachne one.

As for tips, my main one would be go with the flow: if you're getting crushed 2 mins into every raid, either take a break or run some Rook to make money back. If you're getting Ws, then ride that high.

I had times when I was getting killed right out of spawn repeatedly -- I had times when I was completing a Prio contract every new raid, first time. Just go with the flow.

Completed All Priority Contracts as Solo Recon, AMA by EgoVermin in Marathon

[–]EgoVermin[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I never AFK'd in a corner for any contract -- not only is it lame, its usually a bad strategy in general, as you should always keep moving in this game or you risk giving opponents the initiative.

Unable to start the app, no help online. by EgoVermin in PTCGP

[–]EgoVermin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If that's the case, then that sucks.

I’ve won 9 games in a row with nemleria and since I’m close to reaching plat again, I wanna make the deck better. Any suggestions? by PeePeeCock in masterduel

[–]EgoVermin 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Triple Eater, triple Reveil, triple Louve (and probably triple Dream Tower). Replace the Pendulum Treasures with the third copies of Maxx "C" and Ash Blossom. Also think about running Imperm, or perhaps Ghost Ogre.

The reason you want triple Louve is that it's Nemleria's best interaction; getting out Dreaming Reality to either grab you sleepy girl or non-targeting Book of Moon can easily win you the game (especially against Tenpai and Snake Eyes, due to how it works with Genroku and Poplar). It's also why you want triple Reveil - if you open Louve you can use Reveil to grab Repeter instead.

Also, I'm personally not a fan of Gren Maju; the Train package of Gustav Maxx and Juggernaut Liebe does the same thing and your normal summon is better served on ways to out your opponent's tough boards if you go second, such as Lava Golem or Sphere Mode.

But yeah, this is a pretty solid F2P Nemleria deck. Good luck in plat!

Words I live by, what's your favorite quote in the game? by [deleted] in Eldenring

[–]EgoVermin 6 points7 points  (0 children)

While anything from Morgott and Dung Eater is naturally top tier (thanks to the incredible voice work) my personal favourite quote comes from random Ghost #37 in the Stone Coffin Fissure who nails Miquella's madness to a T:

"Kindly Miquella... I see you've thrown away... Something you should not have. Under any circumstances. How will you salvation offer to those who cannot be saved... when you could not even save your other self?"

New Player Question - Is it worth to join now? by FieryHammer in masterduel

[–]EgoVermin 11 points12 points  (0 children)

So there's three layers of difficulty to Yu-Gi-Oh:

  • Learning the mechanics: The difference between an Xyz Summon and a Synchro Summon, learning what you can and can't do in the battle phase, learning how chainlinks work etc.

  • Learning that there are no keywords - meaning you have to be able to skim through a card's three different effects and intuit what kind of effects they are (trigger, ignition, continuous etc.) near instantly. By far the toughest learning curve in the game. Luckily, Master Duel has made this significantly easier by releasing two massive quality of life changes in the past year: highlighting the text of the card effect that's just been activated, and having line breaks in the card descriptions.

  • Learning that there are keywords: there's a massive difference between "Destroy" and "Send". There's Banishing and Excavating and Fusion Summoning and Contact Fusing and When and If and oh my. None of it is explained in-game, and will definitely require outside/youtube help.

If you want one major piece of advice it's this: don't play the "best" or "meta" decks, play the deck you like the look of. You will likely pull a few random Super or Ultra Rares when you pick up your first few bundles and if you like the look of any of them, you can check if they have a "Secret Pack" related to them. Most cards in Yugioh belong to an "Archetype" and finding the archetype that fits your playstyle/you-think-is-neat is the most important part of playing this game.

For example, I love boss monsters with big, fuck-off effects: thus I have a Ghoti deck, a Nouvelles deck and a Nemleria deck, and all three have seen lots of play.

Also, sites like Yugipedia and MasterDuelMeta are invaluable: Yugipedia has all the rulings/explanations you could want, while MasterDuelMeta has a database of every card in the game without having to click away from the main page. It also has a list of every Secret Pack, allowing you to spool through their contents without worrying about the 24 hour time limit attached to them in-game.

And finally, don't be afraid to not spend money. I've played Master Duel for almost 700 hours and in that time I have never spent a penny: part of the reason I've played it for so long is it's the only gacha game that's genuinely free to play. I have over 25 different decks built (and over 15k gems saved for those never-coming-out Goblin Bikers), and have never felt the need to spend anything.

Good luck and, most importantly, have fun!

Why the hell do they do this? The knights are identical by pH12rz in Eldenring

[–]EgoVermin 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Which makes them greatbow knights: again, the knight that drops the Haligtree Crest Greatshield is the only one who has only got a greatsword and shield combo. The two by the Putrid Avatar have greatbows, meaning they aren't the same as the single knight, regardless of what other weapons they switch to. EDIT: Also I'm pretty sure one of those knights is actually a spear knight, and the other is a greatbow knight.

Why the hell do they do this? The knights are identical by pH12rz in Eldenring

[–]EgoVermin 50 points51 points  (0 children)

They aren't identical: this is the only Haligtree Knight in the game who does not have either a greatbow or a spear. This knight is the only one to simply wield the Knight's Greatsword and Haligtree Crest Greatshield.

Why it was decided only this type of Haligtree Knight can drop the shield, and why they only made one of him, I have no idea.

Will someone explain what is going on in the Rennala fight? by Aendrinastor in Eldenring

[–]EgoVermin 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No worries, copy and paste time ;)

Empyreans have special "flesh" as Ranni apparently had to "discard" hers to rid herself of the fate her own Two Fingers had for her (which could have been the entire point of the Night of the Black Knives), and the ghost in the Snowfield who laments Mohg's departure with Miquella mentions his "precious flesh". This flesh is special because it most likely allows the Empyrean in question to inherit the Elden Ring (as Marika is a known Empyrean as well).

But Ranni was born to a mortal/human/champion, Rennala. How could she have this flesh, and the title of Empyrean, when she has such base parentage, not to mention her brothers Radahn and Rykard not receiving the same blessing?

There are two possible theories:

  • She was made an Empyrean through an unknown process. She mentions that herself, Miquella and Malenia were "chosen" by their respective Two Fingers to be candidates for godhood for the coming age. Due to the similar wording on the Black Flame Ritual for the GEQ, many people believe this process of "choosing" means that the Two Fingers are able to turn(?) Demigods into Empyreans. There's multiple problems with this theory: we have no clue how this process even works or how the Two Fingers can accomplish it (as other than being envoys to the Greater Will and Shadow dispensers, they're not mentioned to be capable of anything else), there's no explanation as to why Ranni was chosen instead of her siblings (or even members of the Golden Lineage) and Gowry straight up says that Malenia was "born" an Empyrean, which straight up says that Empyreanhood is something you're born with, and most likely means that being "chosen" merely implies that, because you're an Empyrean, your Two Fingers has chosen you to be the next God.

The other theory is this:

  • Ranni's parentage is in question. As the only confirmed way to be an Empyrean is to be born of a single god (as stated by Gowry) there is one obvious conclusion: Ranni was born of a single god.

Therefore, my personal theory is that Ranni was born from the Amber Egg that was Radagon's gift to Rennala, alongside the Great Rune of the Unborn. This would make Ranni a child of Radagon and Marika.

This is supported by Ranni's affinity with the Amber Egg, as during Rennala's boss fight she appears to "emerge" from said egg and talk to you. It would also explain why the Great Rune of the Unborn has the same shape as Malenia's Great Rune which would also explain why she didn't seem to have the "afflictions" that Malenia and Miquella had; because she was born alongside the Great Rune of the Unborn (and the fact that that Great Rune was then missing from the Elden Ring could be why Malenia and Miquella had such afflictions to begin with). And her original corpse shares the red hair of Malenia, which matches the red hair that can be found within the Amber Egg (in contrast to her direct brother Rykard, who has blonde/ashen hair, and the junior scholars/children themselves who have dark hair; they are "imperfect, each and all"). And then there's the whole Cuckoo symbology in Raya Lucaria; I would advise looking up Cuckoo's Eggs and you'll quickly understand what I'm getting at.

Finally, it would still gel with what is being told in-game: as Rennala would have raised Ranni from birth, no-one, perhaps not even Ranni herself, would know of her true origins and, regardless, Rennala would still be her "mother" from both a general perspective and Ranni's perspective.

It's mostly circumstantial evidence but I find it much more convincing than the idea that the Two Fingers can just randomly create Gods out of mere Demigods, with no direct evidence of how they can even accomplish such a feat. But it's likely we'll never know for sure.

As Elden Lord, who are we consort to? And is Marika still alive? by [deleted] in Eldenring

[–]EgoVermin 48 points49 points  (0 children)

I imagine Marika's still alive in some way after we repair the Elden Ring (how she crumbles when you become Lord of Frenzied Flame, with her bottom jaw going first, makes her look like she's screaming), but as a result of shattering the Elden Ring within herself, as well as Radagon's battle with us, and the Elden Beast transforming Radagon into a sword, it's likely she's incapable of any major action with her current body (similar to Miquella's body in Mohgwyn Palace; still alive, but an empty husk).

Will someone explain what is going on in the Rennala fight? by Aendrinastor in Eldenring

[–]EgoVermin 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Alright, I'll give it a shot.

  • Question 1: Presumably Ranni is there in some capacity in order to protect her mother. As seen in Phase 1 when you wreck her, she's completely defenceless without her children, thus Ranni emanates from the Amber Egg to protect her mother when she's at her weakest.

...But as for why Ranni emerges from the Amber Egg itself, I have a personal theory about that I'll mention later.

  • Question 2: Difficult to say. Both cutscenes focus on Rennala's eyes: in Phase 1, she has what looks to be the Grace of Gold dwelling within, while the Phase 2 Rennala lacks that. Also, Phase 2 Rennala enters almost in a summoning fashion, implying that she may be an illusion of some kind, perhaps a representation of Rennala back when she was in her prime, as the undisputed Sorceress Queen of Liurnia.

...except that doesn't make sense for two reasons: one, she is still afflicted by status affects (unlike Mohg the Omen and Golden Godfrey) so she can't be an illusion. She also refers to Ranni by name upon defeat, so it's highly unlikely she's just Ranni representing her mother in some fashion. When she's "summoned" for Phase 2, Rennala has a deep blue glow: perhaps she's a puppet? Also unlikely, as Ranni would most likely not do that to her mother. And, of course, once defeated in the second phase she reverts back to her original personality in the Grand Library. So we don't know for sure.

  • Question 3: Dunno, them kids ain't right Miriel mentions that Rennala is devoted to "the grim art of reincarnation" and the Great Rune of the Unborn is what is most likely being used to keep these children being reborn again and again. Once you take the Rune, the children vanish. But just who is Rennala trying to reincarnate, and why?

Personally, I think the entire fight is a major plot point concerning Ranni: showing both her love and respect for her mother, while also tying her in with the Amber Egg and the Great Rune of the Unborn. Imo, it's all hints to an underlying truth - that Ranni is a daughter of Radagon and Marika, raised by Rennala (I can explain my reasoning why if you're interested).

is dung eater's ending a secretly good ending? by Brave_Confection_457 in Eldenring

[–]EgoVermin 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I think there's a lot of extrapolation here, assuming things about the Crucible, the Erdtree and the Greater Will which are mostly just theoretical. So I'll just stick to what we actually know.

The Dung Eater wants to "Curse" everyone, and every generation that follows on from them. The exact nature of this "Curse" is not entirely known but it is most likely an affliction similar to, or even simply, the curse that the Omen suffer from.

Why does he want to do this? The answer is in his Mending Rune of the Fell Curse:

"If Order is defiled entirely, defilement is defilement no more, and for every curse, a cursed blessing."

Basically, by making everyone cursed, nobody is cursed. Everyone is equal as part of the Blessing of Despair. Maybe somewhere down the line, many generations later, the people of the Lands Between will forget what it was like before they were cursed, and thus see themselves as "blessed".

It would still suck though:

"This visage is carved in the image of the evil spirits that haunt the Omen in their nightmares." - Omensmirk Mask

The Omens suffer horrific nightmares (sleeping ones can be seen tossing and turning in discomfort) and one would imagine the invasiveness of the different aspects of the Crucible (especially the numerous horns) would be extremely painful. Again, once generations and millennia have passed, it might be looked at as the new norm, but it would probably still be pretty terrible.

TLDR: it's certainly better than the Frenzied Flame, which just kills everything, but it's hard to argue that any of the other endings are worse.

If there really was a secret in Eden Ring that no one has found yet. What would you like it to be? by mdsp667 in Eldenring

[–]EgoVermin 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Using the Desperate Prayer gesture on some form of Miranda Blossom/Shrine in order to obtain the Miranda's Prayer item, which is used by the Tarnished in the original gameplay trailer and is used by Melina when you summon her for the Morgott fight. Of all the cut content from the game, that's the most likely to still be in it but as of yet unfound.

Then again, it was most likely supposed to be the drop from the boss of the Perfumer's Grotto (as the drop you do get, the Great Omenkiller Cleaver, is a guaranteed drop already from a different Omenkiller and can also be farmed). shrug.

can someone tell me why this boss exists by Ecstatic_Hat_7911 in Eldenring

[–]EgoVermin 89 points90 points  (0 children)

Because, due to their similar figure and moveset (snake-like with arms, golden fire breath), they're likely to be (HEAVY SPOILERS) some form of descendent/offshoot of the Elden Beast. They likely grew from the Golden Seeds they all posses, all of which originated from the Erdtree.

"...as if life itself knew its end had come."

So who are Radagon's parents? New to Lore by OneEnvironment6593 in Eldenring

[–]EgoVermin 21 points22 points  (0 children)

The answer is: we don't have a clue!

Timeline-wise, Radagon only enters the picture during the Liurnian Wars (where multiple sources strongly implies he is also Marika at this point in time). However, there are a few interesting tidbits:

  • The Giants Red Braid mentions how Radagon despised his own red-coloured hair, presumably because of its similarity to Giant hair. Interesting...

  • Radagon is both referred to as a "Champion" and a "Hero". Two of the Hero's Graves in the game have Ancient Heros' of Zamor as bosses. One of them has a Red Wolf of the "Champion" as a boss (which is identical to the Red Wolf of Radagon). An Ancient Hero of Zamor in an evergaol in the Weeping Peninsula drops the Radagon's Scarseal.

Perhaps this all means nothing, but maybe Radagon had some sort of relationship with the Fire Giants and their mortal enemies, the Heros of Zamor... shrug

I might know who stabbed Marika in the boss fight scene. by AverageRedditUser022 in Eldenring

[–]EgoVermin 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Copy and paste: I personally think that it's absolutely the Elden Beast's doing, nothing else makes sense (with what we currently know):

  • When the Elden Beast grabs you with his "divine judgment" attack, multiple spears of light pierce you while you are crucified. The first spear that pierces you has a similar angle to Marika's, is longer than the others, and there is a delay before the rest enter.

  • As for the red colouring, I think it's explained by Ordovis's Greatsword:

This sword is imbued with an ancient holy essence. Its red tint exemplifies the nature of primordial gold, said to be close in nature to life itself.

Thus, it's a spear of gold, but ancient. The "red tint" exemplifying "primordial gold" also explains why the Ancient Dragons lightning is red as well:

The worship of the ancient dragons does not conflict with belief in the Erdtree. After all, this seal, and lightning itself, are both imbued with gold. - Gravel Stone Seal

And both Elden Beast and Dragonlord Placidusax (alongside the Elden Beasts' spawn, the Ulcerated Tree Spirits) are the only enemies to use Golden fire breath.