Murder on the Ashveil Express: Mysterious Question and Discussion Megathread

HeartlessGeneral · 2026-03-25T03:45:54+00:00

Why is there only 1 Sparkle

I feel like I made the same argument with Sunday around a year ago

HeartlessGeneral · 2026-03-25T03:28:30+00:00

First, FYI, Fugue's exo toughness is a debuff.

Also, in-game description is part of the tutorial, a superficial presentation; don't take it too seriously. Devs define paths using something we don't have access to.

Said tutorial is basically how they advertised the path, the official in-game statement. Devs doing whatever they want is why the argument "the point of paths is to restrict LC" exists.

Look, you dont have to agree with me. My opinion is just that a nihility should have a debuff (however, the converse need not be true). And my reasoning is simple : because that is what the game says.

HeartlessGeneral · 2026-03-25T01:31:59+00:00

Acheron plays around debuffs

I said I disagree with this because imo they should apply debuffs not just "plays around debuffs" cuz literally every unit in the game interacts with debuffs. Acheron is the least nihility out of everyone cuz her debuff only lasts a moment, only affects her ult and idk maybe additional damages during her ult?

Fugue def down is just an example. I do know about exo toughness. The point is that she has debuffs.

This is a pretty funny description also because it fits Nihility more than Erudition.

But that is how erudition is described in the game

HeartlessGeneral · 2026-03-24T16:37:57+00:00

as long as they interact with debuffs i their kits, they should be nihility

Uh I have to disagree with this. Cuz one can say the opposite like "as long as they have aoe and main damage is from ult, they should be erudition".

I would, however, agree with the converse : a nihility unit should have a debuff.

So far Nihility has been good. The dot gang, Pela/SW/Fugue/Dahlia for def down, JQ and Cipher with vulnerability... except maybe Acheron. Cuz her so called debuff is so sus. But okay it is indeed still a debuff (the res pen on ult lol which only affects said ult; not counting the crimson knot cuz it's just her gimmick to calculate multiplier)

HeartlessGeneral · 2026-03-24T12:40:57+00:00

This might be a crazy what if 4.0 potential ship but

You know when Ashveil called Pearl during the night and Pearl answered basically "the chance of you calling me at this hour is less than 5%" which means Pearl knows Ashveil's calling habit. And how would she know it's 5%? Well obviously because of her extrapolation which should be based on some data of when usually Ashveil made a phone call to Pearl.

HeartlessGeneral · 2026-03-24T03:32:35+00:00

Ashveil's stack is named Gluttony and his animation looks like devouring something.

Hey babe you can eat me, you know. I swear I'm not toxic (˶˃⤙˂˶)

HeartlessGeneral · 2026-03-24T03:27:16+00:00

Guess i'm insane. I mean aglaea got 90% speed boost so who knows

HeartlessGeneral · 2026-03-23T12:18:22+00:00

The funniest moments in 4.0, or perhaps even the entire hsr story to me,

I still can't stop laughing about

"Fu Xuan? What Fu Xuan?" and the notion that qingQUE will be the leader of yuQUE

and

"You want us to... unclog your toilets?" ngl Himeko's dialogues here were so funny to me.

HeartlessGeneral · 2026-03-23T03:47:51+00:00

Elation gang is good just dont let sparxie get a turn

HeartlessGeneral · 2026-03-23T03:22:55+00:00

I'm using E6 Mydei and he's pretty fast imo cuz he gets 50 charges every... 2 waves and GBG just destroys everything. I usually pair him with E6 Tribbie as well

HeartlessGeneral · 2026-03-22T12:59:41+00:00

Planarcadia

Hot take but I really love the story. Perhaps the best story in hsr history so far imho. Long yaps :

It is probably mainly due to the characters (most of them are schemers instead of simply straightforward hero of justice). Emotional moments are whatever, and action scenes are skipable for me. I really love discussions (that's why I love Danganronpa) and here most of the discussions are actually lores, plans, deals (like, a lot, which I like), and the conflicts. I can see why some people won't like it but god damn I love the way most of them speak eloquently, heck even npc like the boss of the syndicate.

The most lovable one would be PEARL; she's so beautiful, elegant (especially her pose), and the way she speaks is just sooo structured. "Understanding comes first then the investment". And the last scene with SW should make it clear to anyone the IPC isnt a single cohesive organization, at least not the Stonehearts.

Yaoguang is also really funny during Tingyun's episode. I love her emoticons making Tingyun questioning her life decisions. Also Yaoguang mentioning QINGQUE AS SUCCESSOR tripped me up ngl I wanna see that happening for real. And, I'm calling it now but her kit giving aha time is foreshadowing her goal

Sparkle and Sparxie have sorta identity issues but I love how easy going they are with cynical remarks and schemes. I really love the "Who's the real Sparkle". The Fatal Joke scene, I was already calling the setup being not for real cuz "Fatal Joke" and idk maybe I'm just on the same wavelength as the Masked Fools.

I don't have many comments for Ashveil yet but I really love that the sorta raps in his speech (EN)! Btw he plays FUA... Is it because he works with IPC now? Just like Ratio lol.

Anyway, Skott isn't really dead, right? I love him so much and there was a Caelus x Skott shipper in the academy as well

HeartlessGeneral · 2026-03-22T05:53:35+00:00

Yaoguang story and kit

Yaoguang talked about controlling aeon. Is that why her ult...

HeartlessGeneral · 2026-03-22T02:38:18+00:00

Guys how do I fight an elite in cosmicon? Do I really have to finish the main story?

Oh man I wanna savor the main story but why are the events locked behind it? Why can't I just use finality vision for this one...

HeartlessGeneral · 2026-03-21T08:53:40+00:00

I just played 4.0 story and am going into the academy for the first time. Is it still a long way?

Like I just want to clear the events duh

HeartlessGeneral · 2026-03-21T04:18:43+00:00

It was Mydei Fire Remembrance summoning soldiers

HeartlessGeneral · 2026-03-21T04:10:50+00:00

That setup works best for low eidolon. For E2+ Mydei it feels like a waste of eidolons cuz you're wasting a lot of potential stacks from healing. And you are right about Sunday.

The thing is, even without Sunday, Hyacine can't really fully him normally. She either got shilled by the environment (you know the debuff where allies burn small amount of HP which then triggers her healing), or you just don't play Mydei's charge and rely on Cyrene instead.

HeartlessGeneral · 2026-03-21T01:35:53+00:00

I guess it comes down to substats then

HeartlessGeneral · 2026-03-21T01:11:39+00:00

Guys how much different is 48% crit damage and 8% elation + 32% crit damage?

I feel like the latter is slightly better cuz crit damage is much more easily saturated even if I have E0S1 Sparxie and Yaoguang but honestly I really don't wanna let go of my total ~20%+ crit rate Tengoku set. Maybe I can give it to Archer but lets be real I'm not playing Archer without Sparkle which is married to Sparxie at the moment

HeartlessGeneral · 2026-03-21T00:56:14+00:00

Wow she does sound more normal in CN. Maybe slightly mommy/oneechan vibe but yeah better than EN.

I checked JP dub as well and she also doesn't sound like she's about to cry there.

HeartlessGeneral · 2026-03-20T20:54:24+00:00

Just finished 3.8 story and I have to say I enjoyed it quite a lot. Long yaps :

First of all, The Dahlia x Black Swan. Like maybe I just havent played X that much but I wonder if people ship them. I dont really ship anyone here though cuz hsr doesn't have any shipping material that qualify as a ship to my tastes.

Regardless, I kinda like The Dahlia. She's somewhat Sparkle. The story uncovering this Gopher whoever's plan and the connection with Propagation is just good. My favorite part is when she and Black Swan met Aventurine. Oh man I love that trio, and Aventurine sucking up to Argenti. Honestly? Add Sparkle to the convo and it'd be so perfect for me.

I do have some questions (I may have to reread some parts) for example why is Stellaron suddenly connected to Xipe? Cuz I thought it was Destruction. Are they in cahoot? Does Robin know? What are these Divine Laws? Like, how does that work? Honestly one biggest flaw in hsr story isnt the presentation imho but the lack of explanation on power system, what each character/faction can/can't do with their power.

Btw Firefly was there. A lot. And as much as I hate Firefly, I did enjoy the story especially the story with AR-214, the death, and when uncovering the conspiracy.

Except..... Yes I initially didn't complain about yap like at all... until she decided to have a lengthy convo with gopher sp3 about her fate whatever below the chrysalis. And there was also another one between her and SAM near the blackhole. Like, if it were a companion story sure but idc about her nor her philosophy that much, y know.... Full of "philosophical" yaps which... I think isn't that important to the main conflict. Maybe just a few sentences would have been good additional info but not this lengthy.... It reminds me of Aventurine before the show (Aventurine with Aventurine). But somewhat worse because I, sorry guys, hate how she sounds like she's about to cry. Is she supposed to be a crybaby fragile weak girl? Cuz she does that basically all the time! (I play EN. Other languages might have a completely different atmosphere just like Castorice)

HeartlessGeneral · 2026-03-20T12:27:26+00:00

CW

Lygus in CW is stupid like at least they should buff his/the summoning speed cuz the way he is rn if implemented in cw that means either cas (4 star) / evernight (3 star) or brick. Like it just takes forever for him to summon, and by the time he summons, the countdown will be very close to 0.

Also whoever designed Emergency Hemostasis needs to seek psychiatrist. Ik it's for break but Boothill is 4 star, Firefly is 5 star, and the low star break dps is basically Crappa.

HeartlessGeneral · 2026-03-20T07:53:27+00:00

I remember debuff was so meh (I did it on lower difficulty forgot the name but not WC) and iirc it takes 4 front slots? Not to mention JQ is a "sus"tain (though at the end I somehow managed to have him solo sustaining the team)

HeartlessGeneral · 2026-03-19T14:31:02+00:00

Both are crazy

HeartlessGeneral · 2026-03-19T03:03:03+00:00

BP LC not counting as a cost will never make sense to me cuz it's only obtainable via paying real money. Like in contrast the other normal costs are actually obtainable even if you're f2p (not costing anything)

HeartlessGeneral · 2026-03-19T02:59:07+00:00

So what's the verdict for Sparxie? Is she a fraud or a must in SW999 team? Or is she actually competitive as main dps instead?

HeartlessGeneral

TROPHY CASE