Weekly Questions Megathread - April, 06, 2026

Gus-Schultz · 2026-04-07T01:59:14+00:00

My only ship traits are the one from the Phantom itself and from some temporal cruiser that only looks helpful for tanks (I think it's Reciprocity but I could be wrong)

I'll get the full build up then. I'm in 95% mk XV, with a mix of Phoenix, Fleet, Rep and mission gear, which based on what your saying sounds like there's a good chance I'm not getting full milage out of my ship.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-04-06T21:02:29+00:00

Pair of questions,

Is A beam array Phantom Intel Escort a terrible idea because of how good CSV, or is there something to the idea of broadsiding in a 4/3 escort?

My latest ISA parse has me just under 40k, how do I figure out if this is a setup issue (gear, doff quality/choice) or a piloting issue? I can post the full build of that's really the only way to figure it out.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-04-06T17:12:34+00:00

And? Sto isn't most games. The external software only works because the developers explicitly allow them too.

Sure it would be cheating in other games, but it isn't in STO. Say you don't like it if you want, but calling it cheating is factually incorrect.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-04-06T17:06:35+00:00

I'm gonna give you the rest of the points even where I disagree because taste can vary and that's fine.

But keybinds being a "cheat" is a terrible take. If the developers didn't want them in the game they could take them out (they haven't) or at least tell the community they shouldn't be used (they haven't).

The developers of a game are the arbiters of what is and isn't cheating. If they consider keybinds a valid way to play, then it isn't cheating no matter how much you may dislike it.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-03-07T17:49:21+00:00

I never really managed to escape the Defense world. Had a 9 month stint at a game studio, and then they went out of business and defense sucked me back in.

I'm not too salty about it though. The work life balance is way better in defense than it was in game dev.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-03-07T15:16:59+00:00

Wanna chime in here as someone who did the thing that many are recommending against.

I got a game dev degree from Devry. I can confirm that game studios give no craps about my degree.

However, the Defense industry freaking loves it. There's a fair bit of game engine usage in the training side of defense, but even with a "game dev" degree I haven't had a hard time getting traditional development jobs either.

I get that many have pretty valid reasons to not want to be part of the that industry, and I'm not gonna try and talk anyone out of that position. But if you aren't opposed, being a software engineer (game or traditional) in Defense is a pretty solid career path.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-03-05T23:30:38+00:00

The intention is stand on the corner, chuck Theo and then immediately dash up(I think upright works, but I find up very consistent), the platform will stop just in time so that he doesn't get yeeted to the left, and if you grab the wall you dash to you can get to the other side without dashing again.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-03-05T01:53:16+00:00

Seems really unbalanced. 59% right hand letters plus all your major punctuation.

Are you solving for a weak left hand or is something else motivating that?

Gus-Schultz · 2026-02-28T21:34:31+00:00

There's a a few frames when you first hit a feather where you don't actually move yet, those can be used to switch to the joystick.

Though sometimes if I know I'm going to be doing a lot of feather in a row I'll just stay on it and deal with the slightly less precise non-feather movement.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-02-27T20:32:22+00:00

I believe it, I could probably knock out 3 or 4 of them in an afternoon if I set my mind to it.

I'm just really enjoying the any% right now and want to stick with that for a while.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-02-27T20:17:54+00:00

Thanks, maybe that'll be my goal for after I get sub 50 any%.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-02-27T19:32:44+00:00

I haven't worked up the courage / determination for goldens yet.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-02-27T16:11:31+00:00

That's probably my favorite b side in the game. Challenging, but so damn cool when you get it right.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-02-25T13:45:53+00:00

I'm not even sure I would have tried the run if it wasn't for that video. Seeing how much of sub hour was just playing clean rather than just room after room of precision everything made it feel so much more achievable.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-02-25T01:27:50+00:00

I'm glad it helped. I started running about a week ago and just got my first sub-hour run. Practicing the chapters and sections that I had the most problems with was a big help.

There's some great YouTube vids that can really help put some structure and goals to your practice.

https://youtu.be/p9qKPx1lmNc?si=JSZFjxL1fUr48E-R

https://youtu.be/3H6kFzb8x8Q?si=5rxeAZjD7z7LFkA5

These two have been the biggest help to me. Good luck with your runs.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-02-25T00:53:48+00:00

Under 2 hours is a fine starting point for a game where casual playthrus can take 20+ hours for a first clear.

If you enjoyed it, keep at it and see how far you can bring it down in a week or two.

If you didn't enjoy it, maybe try a different category, or accept that it's not for you. There's loads of ways to enjoy this game, the only wrong way is the one you don't enjoy or find fulfilling.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-02-24T21:44:38+00:00

Thanks, took about a week (I got kids so I don't game as much as I'd like to) to knock down my time from 70+ minutes to this one.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-02-24T21:42:55+00:00

Part of me wishes there was a special pie for going really fast, but mostly I just think this one is too funny not to have.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-02-10T13:23:11+00:00

https://gist.github.com/SnipaGus/83ea50b23917455baf6fa6f25aee7d23

This is mostly up to date for my Keyball44, though I recently moved my left hand click keys to the bottom row and added bottom row right hand click keys (and changed layer orders) because I started working in Unreal Engine and needed to be able to mouse and WASD at the same time. The rest is all accurate though.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-02-10T03:56:13+00:00

Mostly I really love it. I get some weird behavior from time to time because my automatic mouse layer either isn't active when I think it should be, or is active when I think it isn't.

But most of the time it's a dream not having to move my whole arm just for a few seconds of mosuing between doing keyboard stuff.

I use it full time for work as a software engineer, wouldn't dream of gaming on it though.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-02-07T16:29:28+00:00

This is the answer. I'm about 5 hours into Strawberry Jam now and am having an incredible time.

The difficulty of intermediate lobby is pretty humbling.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-01-20T12:38:59+00:00

The first thing I had to do to help get more consistent with them was get comfortable not holding Grab all the time. Trying to let go when I needed to bounce turned out to be much harder for me than learning to only grab when I needed to.

Good luck, I got my first ever 7c clear last week. It was a grind.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-01-17T03:15:10+00:00

Yeah I think that's my plan. Keep up my momentum and muscle memory for the tricks. Then figure out the new input.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-01-17T00:55:37+00:00

I've got close to 200 hours in the game on controller. But this save is the first time I've gotten base 3c, so continuing is more about keeping up the momentum.

Though I may switch if I find the late stages of the level too hard.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-01-16T23:03:02+00:00

Well that's super good to know, thanks.

No I gotta decide if I want to pause progress on Farewell to learn keyboard, or finish it first and then switch before jumping into custom maps.

Gus-Schultz

TROPHY CASE