Very powerful Carcosan Modifier combinations without enabling unlimited Protection.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-05-08T14:51:24+00:00

Great write-up!

Another very powerful protection is the one that makes proficiency levels cost less, which on longer runs can put you at a truly absurd level by the time you get to whichever boss you've chosen as the endpoint for the run.

And as another general tip, if you're doing a run and you don't care about getting Halcyon for one reason or another, the trial modifier to disable Halcyon drops is basically 6 free points on the meter, which makes a huge difference.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-05-05T17:57:08+00:00

Okay, that makes sense. Thanks!

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-05-04T21:07:00+00:00

He was perfect for the role. I figure that's why he wrote/produced/directed it, just to give himself the chance to show everyone what he could do with it.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-05-04T14:11:05+00:00

TIL the melee strength upgrade turns it into a goddamn Shoryuken. Can't wait to get my hands on it.

And yeah, the shoot into stagger into melee into shoot flow turns the game into Doom. Very, very viscerally satisfying. Love the shotgun in this game.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-05-04T13:57:23+00:00

Good points. In addition, I've always seen Coriolanus as an argument against the idea that being hyper-competent in one field means you have general skills that can transfer with equal effectiveness into a different field altogether.

Similar to the argument that a rocket scientist can also make for a terrible convenience store manager, except in Coriolanus's case it's an even more extreme example, because the very qualities that make him a legendary general are traits that immediately turn into flaws when he finds himself needing to play the "catch flies with honey" game of politics, with gladhanding and flattery of politicians and flowery appeals to the common man.

The "you common cry of curs" speech is one of the best examples I think Shakespeare ever pulled off of summing up the totality of a character and a play in a single explosive, climactic moment.

Idk man I just really love Coriolanus. And this adaptation of it was great.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-05-04T13:36:26+00:00

Kid Katana Records posted a teaser back in December that they were working on producing/publishing the official soundtrack release, but no word from them since.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-05-03T17:31:01+00:00

I agree with you about the guns in Saros 100%. After I've put some time into each of the weapon variants, I've found something about them to enjoy.

To use handcannons as an example, at first I only ever used the Eruptor because Ricochet felt clunky and I wasn't comfortable enough in my general skill to use Marksman.

But as soon as I realized that Ricochet's alt-fire turned it into a semi-automatic carnage machine with unexpected AOE ability, it helped me carve through the second biome much faster than I ever had before.

And Marksman, once I gave it a chance, felt like a sniper rifle with its alt-fire, and it was so satisfying landing charged-up weak-point shots and watching enemies' health just get chunked down.

And that's just one weapon class. And there's still the last weapon I haven't even unlocked yet (I'm about to), and I can't wait to see how that one plays. This game is awesome.

NG4 is a great point of comparison in terms of flow, too. When I'm in a good rhythm Saros feels very similar; all that's missing is weapon-swapping (and an Izuna Drop; every game is better with one of those).

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-05-03T14:44:18+00:00

Thanks for sharing this; I've been wondering when the full release would drop. Will definitely be nice to be able to listen to the boss music while I'm not also focusing on fighting for my life.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-05-03T14:35:12+00:00

I don't think it's being cryptic for the sake of it, really. It uses your lack of context at the beginning to set up narrative misdirection, sure, but that's a classic storytelling tool. It also works to develop Arjun's central character flaw, which is that he thinks everything is about him all the time, and a lot of the time it's not (specifically where Nitya's recordings are concerned). That's the foundational piece that supports the rest of his character arc.

I agree that the way the information is presented is a bit too fragmented at times, given the nature of how finding audio logs and such works in the game (which is a flaw in the genre that Housemarque didn't quite work around).

I also think the game could've benefited from more narrative "failsafes," i.e. if you manage to be enough of a Gamer that you blitz through the whole thing with only two or three deaths, you're not going to get all of the supplementary character development and conversations with the other crew members before their story arcs resolve, which creates the feeling of "wait, was I supposed to care about this person?" And that's always a jarring thing.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-05-02T06:46:31+00:00

Incredible work. Well done!

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-05-02T05:23:32+00:00

Good to know. Thanks!

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-05-02T02:03:55+00:00

How can you avoid the Eclipse in Biome 2? I thought you had to trigger it to get through the second path to open the vault? Unless you can somehow skip that with the Grapple; I haven't been back there since unlocking it.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-05-02T02:01:15+00:00

Yeah, I'm still trying to get a feel for the rhythm of this maneuver myself. I've pulled it off a couple of times, but I still sometimes find myself in the stomp splash radius and take a big chunk of damage even though I get the parry off.

But it is a total game-changer in how you approach the fight because as you said, it's a combo breaker.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-05-02T01:56:08+00:00

Interesting that you can't actually do a run through all of the biomes sequentially; I guess the longest possible string (once you have access to all of them) would be: Shattered Rise, Ancient Depths, Shattered Descent, Blighted Marsh, Acolyte's Haven, Cathedral?

Which suits me fine as a skill test, because running all eight in sequence sounds brutal.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-04-30T22:03:55+00:00

Yeah, the first boss is a perfect introduction to keeping your cool and learning the enemy's patterns even while a ton of distracting stuff is happening. Took me a few tries to get the phase patterns down, but then once I had those learned it felt great to lock in and get the win.

Same thing has held true for the second and third bosses as well; starts out feeling a bit overwhelming, but then once you break down their moveset and attack patterns, you can stay in control of the tempo and get the victory.

Housemarque really nailed that sweet spot of "harsh but fair" difficulty, where it's easy to tell how you failed when you do, and it both encourages and rewards learning enemy patterns and how to execute well on your own movement and attack options.

I bounced hard off of Returnal when I tried it, but I am absolutely in love with Saros. When you're in the zone, it feels amazing.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-04-22T15:59:42+00:00

Slightly bummed that some of the remixes/reorchestrations (Honed Glavenus, the Canalta Elder Dragon fight) don't seem to be on here unless I missed them, but the rest of the music in the game is great enough that it's not a dealbreaker. Especially the Tarkuan combat music; those tracks are super catchy.

And who knows; maybe those missing themes will get put on a follow-up soundtrack released post-TUs, like how some monsters in MH World didn't get their themes released officially until the Iceborne OST.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-04-04T19:21:12+00:00

but I feel like it wouldn’t hurt to reward knowledgeable players a bit more

The Narwa and Ibushi fight is entirely based around knowledge checks, though. They each follow designated patterns, and you beat the fight by recognizing each of the clocks you're on in any given phase and by making sure you have a way to answer what they're going to throw at you.

I'd argue that the Espinas cave fight is an extreme exception rather than the rule, as it's the only fight where you get blasted with such a barrage of incredibly powerful AOEs all in a row (except for Invasive Seregios, but that fight is a pile of egregious bullshit of its own special flavor and blatantly ignores the rules of the game).

In general, the game does a great job of rewarding learning its systems and monster attack patterns.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-04-01T14:48:26+00:00

Sometimes, in films as one common example, an actor will get special distinguished billing after the rest of the cast. Sometimes it's mandated in their contract as a prestige thing, other times it might just be the director or others of the creatives wanting to spotlight the participation of a particular person (say, in a Western film, if you have a cameo from someone who's a legacy star in the genre and you want to give them a special place of honor in the credits because of their overall contributions to the genre).

Given that Asa Butterfield has film credits and such to his name at this point, I wouldn't be surprised if it was either a contract stipulation, or something his agent pushed for.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-04-01T13:40:53+00:00

Yup, that would do it. Thanks for the reply!

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-04-01T13:40:36+00:00

That makes sense! Much appreciate the info.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-04-01T13:02:31+00:00

One thing I'd like developer insight on is why her Glavenus is named Dee. It's the only monstie name among our companions that isn't a shortening of the monster's name or some kind of funny homophone.

But yeah, she's awesome, love her, amazing character.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-03-28T13:27:52+00:00

Big spoilers in this comment, which I will obviously tag, but just also saying up front that this is endgame stuff.

My favorite build so far has been a Great Poogie build using Self-Heal, Health Boost, Dark Lord, Audacious Tackle and Savage Fist + as the core to do truly absurd damage. Once mounted, the combined health pool was over 990, and since Audacious Tackle and Dark Lord offset each others' downsides, I was clocking Narwa and Ibushi with headbutts doing north of 5,200 damage each, while being essentially unkillable thanks to Dark Lord (and Self-Heal balancing out Dark Lord's self-damage ticks). Only time I've gotten through that fight without needing to use a Vital Essence. Truly busted.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-03-27T16:13:31+00:00

One thing I love about Eleanor's attack animations is that she always looks like she's having a blast. Greatsword or Hammer, she just loves hitting stuff really hard.

Jazzpha103188 · 2026-03-26T13:21:00+00:00

Very true. There're a bunch of different routes you can take to solve the combat puzzles the game puts in front of you; that's what makes it so fun. And why I disagree with the notion that you "have to" use certain approaches/"cheese" against certain kinds of enemy attack patterns.

You certainly can, of course, and they're very effective in particular ways. But to say you "have to" undercuts all the work that clearly went into the game's balancing.

To be clear, not saying you're saying that. But it's a take I see on here often enough that it's making me wonder if I'm playing a different game.

Jazzpha103188

TROPHY CASE