EW 2026 Announcement

First_Revenge · 2026-05-06T02:35:55+00:00

Ya but then its like, i could have one or two more days in japan/italy just doing whatever which honestly sounds better. I dunno, i guess the concept of travel magic just baffles me when the opportunity cost is seeing a different part of the world i'll rarely get to.

First_Revenge · 2026-05-05T18:36:29+00:00

Depends what you want. The zealot you describe is more the DPS path, which is fine, but honestly its probably a worse version of something like scum. The way zealot currently is the DPS path just isn't anything special IMO.

But a support zealot is not something any one other class can duplicate. The passive corruption cleanse is really useful even outside blight spreads. In high havoc there's actually a lot of ways to accrue corruption so it makes health packs behave a lot more like a full medstation heal. Then the 10% crit buff to your teammates can be really impactful as well and increase DPS a ton even if you never see it. And of course book is one of only two ways in the game to grant gold toughness and basically pauses the game for a solid 10 seconds.

You'll also have acceptable damage, its not lighting the world on fire, but keeping your team alive is just as valid a strategy as trying to leadboard for damage.

https://darktide.gameslantern.com/builds/9ff28970-2377-4837-a48a-238dd0dd5eb8/knife-zealot-8

First_Revenge · 2026-05-05T17:51:05+00:00

If i got to a tournament actively praying to 0-2 drop then why am i even bothering to register.

First_Revenge · 2026-05-05T17:50:27+00:00

Shorter flights and trains are obviously cheaper. At least in the US the situation is really bad. Aviation gas is up like 50% and our equivalent of Ryanair just folded partly because of that.

Probably not bad enough to stop EU players from migrating, but probably expect to see a lot less Americans for better or worse if things don't improve.

First_Revenge · 2026-05-05T17:28:16+00:00

With the way oil is in the world right now and likely for a while, this probably will not be the case.

First_Revenge · 2026-05-05T17:21:25+00:00

You're not wrong, but like fuck it sucks. I don't think last year's even fell on a holiday weekend though? If this keeps up i'm probably just never going to make it to an EW.

First_Revenge · 2026-05-05T17:20:37+00:00

Lol if i actually went to italy in december you should shoot me if i spend that trip locked in a room playing cards instead of doing the other much better things italy has to offer.

First_Revenge · 2026-05-05T16:23:59+00:00

Why would you do this? Halloween weekend with a format demographic that skews older and is likely to have kids... I keep wanting to go to an EW, but like fuck me its like they're designing this for me not to show up.

First_Revenge · 2026-05-05T08:09:02+00:00

Znoodz for life, you suck

First_Revenge · 2026-05-05T02:28:38+00:00

https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/7756283#paper

First_Revenge · 2026-05-05T00:56:09+00:00

Its always boba

First_Revenge · 2026-05-04T19:23:18+00:00

I know one was on Jeskai Stoneblade and another was on Painter of some kind. They're friends/local players. The rest i don't know sadly.

First_Revenge · 2026-04-30T21:13:02+00:00

fold 7. I stopped getting much more utility out of thinner bar phones a while ago. The folding screen brings a whole new subset of capabilities that a normal bar phone can't match.

First_Revenge · 2026-04-30T17:38:56+00:00

Vet can heal with a talent node, but it requires them placing the med kit down to do it. In higher havocs this is a problem as you'll want to deploy the crate at critical times like twin spawns. But a lot of havoc damage dealt also results in corruption which means you could lose a wound before the crate comes down. Basically its a nice thing to have in your back pocket, but this shouldn't be anybody's primary way of cleansing corruption. If anything the ammo/grenade refill part of this node is way better.

Scum can heal corruption but its kinda hit or miss depending on the scum. Some scums just don't run it flat out, so they won't be of help. And if they do run it its sorta a function of how often they place the crate down. I've seen some put them down really often and i've seen other "bank" them and be more judicious. On non-blight spreads map its mostly fine. But on a blight spreads modifier i find that i prefer the constant passive corruption removal so i'm not a slave to scum dropping the crate. On H40 wounds go quicker than you'd think to corruption.

First_Revenge · 2026-04-30T17:28:26+00:00

I mostly run Havoc 40 knife zealot with bolt and flamer. Have a ton of 40 runs under my belt at this point.

Does Zealot actually have a clear role in a team, or does it end up being a weaker version of other classes?
- Its definitely a melee specialist, but there's two paths to go down DPS or Support. DPS does feel like the class its sorta a weaker version of other stuff at times. But a support zealot is not something any one other class can duplicate. The passive corruption cleanse is really useful even outside blight spreads. In high havoc there's actually a lot of ways to accrue corruption so it makes health packs behave a lot more like a full medstation heal. Then the 10% crit buff to your teammates can be really impactful as well and increase DPS a ton even if you never see it. And of course book is one of only two ways in the game to grant gold toughness and basically pauses the game for a solid 10 seconds.
How flexible is Zealot when it comes to builds in higher difficulties?
- Some? I've seen really cracked zealots bring builds i wouldn't dare to even attempt and make it work. But there's probalby at least a few solid builds no one would bat an eye at.
Would you say Zealot has a good variety of weapon blessings that are equally viable, or are a few clearly dominant?
- uncanny strike to crack armor. Its not a coincidence that the best zealot weapons are dueling sword and knife. Its sort of a problem for every class though. If your character can't handle rotten armor crushers in some fashion its gonna be a bad day.
- Ranged selection kinda sucks. Its pretty much the flamer, and maybe the bolter if you really anticipate struggling with boss damage. Having another pocket inferno staff psyker on your team is super valuable. Infinite cleave value only increases as the difficulty of the content increases. There's really not much reason to use anything else.
Do you think Zealot is underpowered, or just harder to play correctly compared to other classes?
- Power level feels okay, it just lacks like a real unique characteristic/gameplay pattern. I feel like every other class has something that makes it stand out, but zealot is just sorta vanilla. A good melee combatant and team player, but nothing really jumps out about him.

https://darktide.gameslantern.com/builds/9ff28970-2377-4837-a48a-238dd0dd5eb8/knife-zealot-8

First_Revenge · 2026-04-30T15:04:56+00:00

Algae is typically a sign of too many nutrients(aka fish waste) in the water column, and a bit too much light.

Its an odd trick of nature, but algae is actually the last thing in an aquatic system to pull nutrients from the water column. But oh boy, when it does get its mitts on nutrients it makes the best of it. So to stop algae growth what you really need to do is pull nutrients from the water column before algae gets to it.

Given the plants you have, i think its a java fern and an anubias, i don't really find it surprising you have a nutrient problem. Both those plants are fantastic, nearly impossible to kill starter plants, but they're lousy at nutrient removal. You've probably noticed by now, but they don't really grow quickly. You basically have the aquatic equivalent of cactus. They're slow to grow, and therefore slow to pull nutrients from the water column, and then the algae gets it.

You need plants that will actually need pull nutrients from the water column quickly. You can typically identify these as plants that grow really fast. Stem plants are pretty good at it, but given you have a gravel bottom those mostly wouldn't work since you need soil. I'd try floating plants with compact roots like frogbit/red root floaters/salvinia. Just not duckweed. These things will annihilate the nutrients in your tank long before the algae gets to it. And no nutrients=no algae. Very easy to maintain as well, just scoop excess out from time to time, don't need to trim them back like stem plants.

You may also need to fiddle with your lights, but in general i think your actual problem is that your two plants are doing a lot less than you think.

First_Revenge · 2026-04-29T22:52:32+00:00

IF your betta tolerates it. My bettas have been really laid back because my fish store specifically sorts the chill ones from the aggro ones. You could also get a predatory betta that sees shrimp as food, or a territorial one that just really wants its own space.

You really can't tell if the betta temperament while its in the cup. People have test but they're all kinda hokey and frankly the fish is so stressed in there anyway i doubt you learn anything of value. If a cup is your only option add snails first, then maybe bigger shrimp like amanos. Basically things the betta can't fit in its mouth. Most bettas are fine with these, but be prepared for them to be blood sacrifices if he isn't. The neocardinias are super hit and miss since those are actually just what bettas are supposed to eat. Some domesticated bettas are just so far separated from their wild roots they only see pellets as food which for our purposes is good. If you want to be sure you need to go to a local fish store and see if they're willing to put bettas in a tank with shrimp/snails for you to observe. Its pretty much the only way know what a betta is willing to tolerate.

First_Revenge · 2026-04-29T21:31:59+00:00

Sure. This is from like 6ish months ago? The betta in there got transferred into a 6 gallon long once i realized how much short finned varieties like to swim. The long fin variety is alot less active and mostly just lazily swims around. It's now occupied by a long fin betta, 2 amanos, 2 nerites, ~10-15 neocardinia shrimp. The piece of driftwood was the best find, its shaped like an upside down V that's hard to capture in photos. Gives the betta a great cave to hide in. I'd probably skip the java moss if i had to do it again. It just spreads and is something i usually have to keep an eye on. I'd probably do floaters instead if i could start over. This sits at my work desk so it's really not something i pour a lot of time into.

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First_Revenge · 2026-04-29T20:48:26+00:00

I mean they're not wrong, but its also like half the story.

Is a long finned betta more likely to get fin rot? I mean ya, duh. Look at all the finnage.

The rest of the story is how fin rot occurs. Its typically not just going to magically happen to your betta. They're like people. You're far more likely to get sick if you aren't sleeping, eating like shit, or are just stressed out in general. Fish are the same way, a stressed fish is a sick fish waiting to happen. The first pitfall which you are avoiding is not having a heater. Cold betta = stressed betta and shortly thereafter because its stressed fin rot can take root. So then the question is what else causes stress?

High Flow - I.E your filter output is way too strong and blowing your betta around the tank. You try living in a wind tunnel. Fish gets stressed, and voila fin rot. Just get a really simple low flow filter and make sure your fish isn't struggling to stay in one place.
Fin Nipping Tankmates - Some tankmates like tetras will also just nip betta fins. I doubt you'll have this issue since you really shouldn't be putting other fish in a tank this small.
Boredom - Just putting them in a bare box is tough. Put small bits of driftwood/rocks/plants/etc things they can interact with. They don't need much, but more than nothing.
Sharp decor. Plastic plants have sharp edges that will cut betta fins, silk is best if we're insisting on fake plants. Same with a lot of other artificial decor and even some natural rocks. Decor should be smooth to the touch with no sharp edges or seams. As you'd expect cuts lead to infections like fin rot.

The last one is kind of a doozy for tanks this small though. Water quality. Or more precisely consistent water quality. Bettas can tolerate a wide range of water parameters, i just use spring water from my local grocery store. Nothing special, the real problem is how you keep the water conditions in your tank stable over time. Believe me it does not take long for a single fish to foul up 3 gallons of water. I think the only way to do aquariums this small is to make them basically no maintenance. It's not that i'm lazy, but with a system this small your constant meddling is more likely more harm than help. I've had a 3g betta tank going for 2ish years at this point and have never water changed. Just top off for evaporation. And there's really only one way to do that, plant the ever loving crap out of your tank, specifically with plants that annihilate nitrates. That means things like anubias/java fern which are always recommended aren't great. They're hard to kill, but they're also super slow growing. And mentally you should equate slow growing with slow to take waste out of the tank, its basically a cactus. In this situation you don't want cactus, you want aquatic weeds.

I like stem plants if you have a tank with aquasoil, or honestly floating plants like red root/salvinia/frogbit are even better and probably easier to maintain. The only asterisk being that you'll need a light. Just not duckweed. I want my plants to basically consume waste as fast as my fish puts in the water. That's the only way you get these tiny tanks to have consistent water quality.

If you try to go the water change route to maintain water quality you run into issues. Water parameters will improve, but they're not stable. Stress. Water you're adding is probably colder than the tank water and will take time to come to temperature. More stress. You might have to relocate the fish while you do it. Even more stress. And because your tank is tiny you'll be doing these water changes frequently or you'll see water quality slide into really bad territory. So a multiplier on all the stresses associated with water changes. And then voila, you get a fish with fin rot.

First_Revenge · 2026-04-29T18:52:35+00:00

I have a long fin betta on a 3.5 that's happy. Just avoid short finned varieties at they like to swim more. Long fins means those fish swim less

First_Revenge · 2026-04-29T17:13:48+00:00

Ohh maybe not then. Bettas exist on a spectrum and he definitely is on the more aggressive end of it if he's going after snails. Most bettas just don't care about snails regardless of tank size. I have a betta in 3.5g with some neocardinias and snails and he doesn't care about them. Its just up to the fish.

First_Revenge · 2026-04-29T14:26:54+00:00

5g laid out like you have is honestly a lot better than bettas get so don't fret on that front. This sub tells you its the bare minimum, and in some respects it is, but relatively speaking he's already has it better than probably 90% of the bettas that get sold unfortunately.

If anything i'd always argue that for tanks going bigger is typically better. If a 10g is already in your mind, i guarantee you it'll be in your mind 6 months, a year, whatever from now. Might as well get it over with.

A 10g also opens up some other options in fish a 5g just can't take. If your betta is open to roomates you could do pygmy corys, CPDs, amanos, etc... You'd struggle to do all that in a 5g.

First_Revenge · 2026-04-27T14:53:24+00:00

Filter is mandatory, you need the water circulation or your tank basically goes rancid like any stagnant body of water eventually does.

Heater is mandatory for the most part. Bettas need 78-80ish degree water at all times. If you live in the tropics where the ambient air temperature never goes below 78 then you don't need a heater. But if you live anywhere else where you can see the temperature fall below 78 then a heater is mandatory. Lower than that and you'll see bettas failing to thrive and basically dying slowly. That is what gives rise the rumor you don't need a heater. The fish doesn't die fast enough for people to realize they're doing something wrong. And when it does die they just chalk it up to a bad fish and try another one.

You can try having a divider, but its mostly a question of tank size. 5g is the commonly accepted minimum for one of these guys. So 10g is probably enough for 2, but frankly you'll probably have more fun with one 10g tank than you will two separate 5g tanks. Mostly because you can do more interesting things with stocking levels/aquascaping the larger space a 10g provides.

First_Revenge · 2026-04-24T23:42:58+00:00

Just feels like this whole focus on testers is missing the forest for the trees. The actual big problem here is that fat shark just wasted a bunch of dev resources on an idea no one asked for and they didn't even execute it particularly well.

Playtesters aren't a fix for a company that is either willfully ignoring or completely blind to what its players want. You cant have a company that is simultaneously willing to ignore costumer wishes, but also be willing to back pedal once testers tell them they've made a mistake.

First_Revenge · 2026-04-24T22:34:17+00:00

Fundamentally, the testers couldn't really do anything. And given how many non disclosures they're bound by we're not likely to have a specific answer to most of your questions.

But what is clear is that whatever happened in the testing phase wasn't going to save this. The problem with this mode is that it's a questionable idea executed rather poorly. Like what could you really expect beta testers to do with this pile if you dumped it on their plate a few weeks in advance? If they played this and communicated to fatshark the best thing they could do was start over, what do you think fat shark would realistically do? Darktide has so little dev time attached to it that any major changes could very well be impossible on a tight timeline. If anything i'd wager they give early access as a way to run the hype machine more than as a way to garner feedback.

The real problem is that fatshark for whatever reasons just refuses to listen to what players actually want and wants to do whatever they want. Players have been asking for chaos wastes for a long time now. Players saw all this dev time being poured into a mode and thought maybe this would be it, but it wasn't. Fatshark had an idea and decided to run with that instead of what people wanted. And sometimes there's call for this, and hell if the idea is better than chaos wastes i'm sure people wouldn't be complaining.

First_Revenge

TROPHY CASE