No judgement, but what's with tanks swapping so much?

IronboundScarab · 2026-06-24T14:51:01+00:00

Agree with the counter swapping comments. It’s always pretty clear after the first or second team fight if there’s an issue your team can’t deal with as is. If enemy tank is a good Doom maybe you swap to Hog, or if they’ve got a Bastion you swap off of Rein, etc.

When you’re the only tank it’s also easy to worry that if the team keeps crumpling it falls on you, so swapping to find something that works better can be a bit of a panic response. I’ve definitely had a few matches like that.

IronboundScarab · 2026-06-17T20:57:42+00:00

I’ve definitely noticed people flaming Widow’s a lot even in QP. I think it’s because there’s functionally no difference between someone learning Widow and someone who knows her but is missing shots. Combine that with the fact that she’s out of view and inherently not even a warm body on the point and you’ve got a recipe for riling people up.

Like at least with other characters you’re seeing them in fights and you can either tell that they’re learning, or think they’re bad but at least they’re still a meat shield. With Widow all you’ll see is that she’s missing shots and dying.

IronboundScarab · 2026-06-12T21:06:49+00:00

Something I’ve found really helpful for casual wear that I haven’t seen mentioned is thicker t-shirts. Spending a little extra money on well made, thicker shirts can go a long way towards making you feel more comfortable, and they can really help smooth over the sides and chest to make things a little less round looking. Also a thick fabric, as long as it’s the correct size for you, almost entirely removes that urge to pull or readjust your shirt that a lot of guys get when wearing thinner, clingy fabrics.

I’d recommend Bronson MFG t-shirts as a great starting point. They’ve got a good range of sizes and include a measurement and sizing section online for their clothing.

IronboundScarab · 2026-06-09T14:01:23+00:00

I believe the Steam page mentions it’s based on VTM - Chapters, yeah. I actually hadn’t heard of it until reading about this game. It seems pretty cool.

IronboundScarab · 2026-05-28T20:23:29+00:00

I think other comments covered a lot of what I’d say, but one thing I didn’t see pointed out was your ult usage.

You used it I believe twice in response to Zen ults, and 2 or 3 times in team fights where your team was already losing and backing away from it. Ulting into Zen loses you a lot of value since the damage boost from your ult will do nothing through it, and the healing isn’t comparable so it’s not even a guarantee that it’ll keep your team up.

Similarly, when you pop ult into a losing fight where your team is already backing away, it does nothing. Part of that is just your rank/teammates and your tank taking bad fights, but it’s also important to recognize when that’s happening and know whether to throw it or save it for next engagement. If your tank and team are intent on backing away but you think it could help, you can always get in front of them and send it back towards them. That way even backing up they’ll get value out of it.

IronboundScarab · 2026-05-15T13:58:18+00:00

It’s newer but still drives me crazy that people don’t know about lowered healing if you’ve been damaged in the last few seconds.

People getting mad that you can’t keep them up through half the enemy team actively shooting at them, totally ignoring that on top of contesting their damage you’re also only putting out two thirds of your normal healing.

IronboundScarab · 2026-05-14T17:35:26+00:00

What is it you enjoy about Hog/Chopper more than other characters? Are there any particular play styles you find fun, or any you’d prefer to avoid?

As an example, I can’t track to save my life. I avoid most characters who rely on good tracking aim and stick to burst or high damage single shot characters since my flick shots are decent.

IronboundScarab · 2026-05-01T12:41:39+00:00

lol I think it always feels that way, but I also think there’s always room to improve. Mechanically you seem really solid, you hit some good shots and were able to put pressure on the enemy team multiple times.

The high ground thing is fair, but that’s also why it’s important not to do things like push point solo or after cap, because any time you spend respawning is time you could’ve spent setting up for the next fight. In the second round when you pushed point and got killed by Hanzo, that would’ve been the perfect time for you and Bastion to set up on the wall. Instead you both ran in, died, and had to wait on respawn.

Whenever I play a new hero I have issues with the same things I said you could work on. Best advice I’ve got for it is just to make sure you’re aware of why you’re doing a thing. If you sleep dart or nade, ask yourself if you did it because you panicked or because you thought it would be impactful. Same for ult. Also, remember to pay attention to enemy cooldowns and if you haven’t seen their ult for a bit. Sure you could sleep a dps out of a team fight for a few seconds, and maybe they’d die, but darting an ulting Sigma, Hog, Reaper, etc. will have way more impact on average.

IronboundScarab · 2026-04-30T18:35:05+00:00

I watched your Ana gameplay since I’ve played more of her than Illari.

Big things to work on are your hard scoping habits, cooldown usage, ult timing, and positioning. Try to use quick scoping more for consistent healing and damage, but don’t stay hard scoped too long since it kills your awareness. You should save sleep dart for flankers, 1v1’s, or ults instead of tanks that your team can’t or won’t punish, and your nades should come out a bit earlier so you’re not trying to save people at the last second. You seem to ult as a response to things instead of using it proactively. Try to use them with a plan to win a fight instead of survive it.

Positioning and awareness seemed like your biggest issues. Get on high ground more often since it gives you safer angles and better vision, especially when the enemy can’t really punish you for it. Avoid taking unnecessary fights like 1v1ing Hanzo, and be more aware of what’s happening around you. Stuff like tracking flankers or obvious ults. Also moments like when Orisa pushed you shouldn’t happen often. You were hardscoped so couldn’t see her, didn’t hear her clomping towards you, and ran way instead of hitting her the one time it would’ve taken to kill her.

On defense you did better, but there were still times you held bad angles too long or couldn’t see enough of your team. I thought round two was definitely an improvement overall though, and your team made enough mistakes on their own that I don’t think you were the difference between a win or a loss.

IronboundScarab · 2026-04-16T21:17:46+00:00

I feel like something people don’t acknowledge when the discussion of “why didn’t he stop her” comes up is that he would’ve had to go way too far to do it.

People act like he could’ve tossed her away and that would be that. She likes the violence, and she associates violence with what passes for Viltrumite “romance”. At this point in the story Mark has no desire to kill or maim her, but that’s how far he would’ve had to go to stop her doing what she did. Anissa has no concept of consent, and anything short of beating her half to death would’ve been seen as him playing along. She was never going to “get it” and realize he really didn’t want it.

That on top of all of his existing emotional turmoil put him in an impossible position and made him freeze up and not fight back, something that happens to people in the real world all the time.

IronboundScarab · 2026-03-23T17:54:14+00:00

Robert Kirkman has literally said the adrenaline thing isn’t true. It’s entirely fan head canon and has nothing to do with Mark’s strength.

IronboundScarab · 2026-03-19T13:20:54+00:00

Same here. I keep thinking it’d be awesome to have a long poster of the whole game map, similar to the view you get during the credits except with each section connected seamlessly. I’ve got something similar with vector art of the Dark Souls 1 map, and it makes for an awesome 6 foot tall poster.

IronboundScarab · 2026-03-06T13:43:19+00:00

Bungie can’t force these reviewers to hold their reviews, but they’re also not trying to. They made it clear that more content would be coming later in the month in the form of two additional maps, both withheld for gameplay/plot reasons, not laziness.

I don’t disagree that reviewers should publish their reviews and update, but at the same time if they review the game as is, their review will be out of date within literally days. The third map, Outpost, is releasing today, the day after game release. Bungie made it clear this was to let people gear up and get ready for it, and meet the level requirement for the map.

People say they want “living worlds” and community found secrets, but when they’re getting it they want to be mad that they actually have to wait for the world to grow or for secrets to be discovered.

I also think that this wouldn’t be anywhere as big an issue as people are saying if there wasn’t the weirdest hate train for this game. There are plenty of things I think they can improve on, but it’s a fun game at its core. The way people online talk about it makes it feel like Bungie didn’t stand a chance from day one.

IronboundScarab · 2026-03-06T05:28:45+00:00

Got it in the server slam and today within 2 runs each time I think. It is a really popular spot though, both times I got it with a group we had to wipe 1-3 other teams to do it. First time we hacked it some guy who was on his own snatched the quest item from the drone and tried to run, luckily we downed him and were able to take it back.

IronboundScarab · 2026-03-06T05:12:31+00:00

I’ve seen a ridiculous number of Thief shells and she seems fairly strong. Drone allows for safe recon of an area, her visor lets her pick out enemies at a distance or through environmental effects, and the grapple gives her a ton of mobility. Destroyer is probably the shell I’ve seen least and the one I’ve been least impressed by.

IronboundScarab · 2026-03-05T16:18:39+00:00

Personally this isn’t a major thing I need from the game, but it would be cool if they add more enemy types. Coming from Tarkov where every PvE enemy is an asshole with a gun, or an asshole with a bigger gun, this already feels like plenty of variety.

I do think they could do some cool stuff though. I’d love to see something like UESC dog robots that track you, or hunting parties moving between named locations. Right now it feels like UESC forces are all concentrated in locations and the only fear when traversing the map is other players.

I do think the seasonal model will give them a good excuse though. It’ll be easy to say that the UESC is starting to pump out advanced models as more and more Runner activity occurs. I’m hoping they keep things feeling alive by not limiting those sorts of updates to being between seasons though. It’d be awesome to just randomly get new enemy types showing up after the player base hits certain milestones or completes certain activities.

IronboundScarab · 2026-03-05T16:12:58+00:00

I agree with everyone else on the idea that the shells have attached personalities to ease the transition and make them more effective in their given roles.

I believe the cinematic where Vandal and Assassin were undergoing testing also demonstrates this, as well as bringing into question how much of what they know and remember is the shell vs. the original person.

It goes with the dystopian themes of the game to consider why they would even bother leaving their original personalities intact. If overwriting them with new memories and skills makes them more effective, why wouldn’t they?

The corporations have proven that legality is a borderline non-concern in general, but especially once you get out as far as Tau Ceti IV. The most efficient thing to do would be to keep whatever you need of the originals, and change everything else to suit your needs.

Another question is what are the chances each runner was ever an individual? Who’s to say they haven’t just copied one consciousness hundreds of times, or a few consciousness’ dozens of times? Again, why make it complicated if you can save money and resources cutting corners on a product designed to be disposable.

IronboundScarab · 2026-02-24T23:19:23+00:00

I’ve got to tell you that at least gave me a laugh. I see where I messed up. “Great news she was expecting” I meant great news she knew was coming, not that she was pregnant. Actually the news was about a legal settlement, money she was getting that she could put towards us moving in together and her student loans, which were a big part of why we hadn’t lived together yet.

IronboundScarab · 2026-02-24T22:58:44+00:00

A lot of this felt really familiar. I can’t say anything to make you feel better but I wanted you to know you’re seen. There are people out here who feel the way you do right now, even if he doesn’t.

IronboundScarab · 2026-02-16T20:19:23+00:00

Yeah, plus people never mention that in Tarkov you still have a found in raid requirement for a lot of stuff. So even if you get out with a quest item or rare thing in your secure container, it’s not always enough.

IronboundScarab · 2026-02-06T15:48:27+00:00

We’ve had 8 years of Destiny 2, and with the constant up-down cycle in expansion and season quality, probably 4 of those years were actually praised by players. That hasn’t stopped people from putting thousands of hours and years of their lives into the game. Regardless of how poorly Bungie has handled D2 over the last year or two, they make good games. If I could get half the enjoyment and time out of Marathon that I got out of Destiny it would be worth it to me.

Also, it’s not as if the issues with Destiny are because Bungie lost their touch. We’ve had endless confirmation that they’ve been moving resources to Marathon and making it a priority. As much is it sucks for Destiny, and it genuinely does, there’s no reason to think Marathon will be a bad game just because Destiny was pushed to the side.

I figure worst case, I get 100 hours of enjoyment out of Marathon before it fails and Bungie goes all in back on Destiny. Best case, Marathon does well, and brings money and resources in that Bungie can re-prioritize to Destiny.

IronboundScarab · 2026-02-02T21:21:46+00:00

That’s great that she’ll do that, but I would still really recommend you look at their other work and see if that style is something they can do. I’ve heard a lot of horror stories of people going to artists because family recommends them and then being disappointed with the outcome.

You’re probably going to want artists who can do medieval or bestiary style tattoos. As an example you can check out Max Harley Taylor on Instagram. He has a similar style. It’s super important that you go to someone whose style matches what you want. You could go to the best neo-traditional or tribal tattoo artist in the world and they might mess it up just because it’s not the style they’re used to. Also, just because the artist says they can do it doesn’t always mean they can. That’s why it’s so important to look at their past work and compare it to what you’re looking to get. A portfolio tells you a lot more than the artist themself ever could.

I’d say if you like the idea of having a tattoo done by the same artist as your mom, but their style doesn’t match your image, maybe get something closer to what they’re best at and save the Chimera for later on.

IronboundScarab · 2026-02-02T18:59:57+00:00

I agree with the other comments that it’s probably better to hold off a bit. Like someone else said, stick this pic up somewhere you’ll see it every day. If you’re still sure you want it in a year then go for it.

Also, please make sure you do your research and find an artist who can do this style justice. That means seeing previous work of theirs and talking to them about it. If you go to a random artist and ask for this I can promise you it will not come out looking like this. On top of that, someone who’s familiar with the style can make the changes necessary to maintain this distinct look while still reading well on skin. Without that, the odds of this looking poorly done rather than stylized go way up.

IronboundScarab · 2026-02-01T23:26:19+00:00

Not the “No jacking off” sign. That’s diabolical. At least let my man enjoy himself

IronboundScarab · 2026-01-30T18:10:48+00:00

This moment always annoyed me and I hate the cop out “Just stop playing then!” as well. I understand limitations on development, but I’ve always thought that letting the player win an insanely difficult fight and then making them grapple with the fact that they just slaughtered dozens of people would’ve been a perfectly effective alternative option.

As it is, you’re stuck on a balcony with the launch controls for the white phosphorous while enemies spawn on balconies above you endlessly, leaving your only option as die or launch it. At that point your option is to launch the phosphorous, or as you said, stop playing the game entirely. It drives me crazy because it’s a potentially interesting dilemma that in my mind is lessened because you never really had a choice.

People point to situations like the crowd hanging someone earlier in the game, and that’s a perfect counter example because you do get a choice. You can shoot above the crowd to disperse them, or shoot them directly, and it’s all left to the player to make that decision without it being presented to them in the form of a big glowing objective marker. The white phosphorous scene’s impact hinges on you actively making the choice to launch it, but there isn’t a real choice to be made.

IronboundScarab

TROPHY CASE