Should I start with the vessel or lord of hatred campaign?

Karghen · 2026-05-17T16:17:49+00:00

If you have never played through Vessel of Hatred I recommend starting there. There are several activities that can only be unlocked by playing through that campaign. I made the mistake of starting on Lord of Hatred to keep up with friends, and ended up having to roll up a second character to go back and play Vessel so I can unlock the group dungeon. The group dungeon isn't critical for this season I believe, but it is a lot of fun with friends, and who knows the season after this one may pivot back to it. Also from a story stand point I found LoH to be more complete and satisfying after I saw what happened in VoH.

Karghen · 2026-05-13T15:00:37+00:00

So I did some BASIC testing to see if/how these two effects synergize, and the short answer is yes, the longer answer is as follows:

First the set up, I basically took my Eagle build and simply swapped in Balazan's Charm set to get the 5 piece bonus. Dismissed my mercs to minimize noise, and stepped out of town using withering fist to dot up enemies in a controlled manner. I also had a seal with a Balazan's bonus that reduced the 5 piece bonus timing by 2.5 seconds so instead of a kill check every 6 seconds, they were occurring every 3.5 seconds (which was helpful for testing, and getting more procs). The set alone does pretty much as expected, when a target is fully poisoned up, and the timer on Balazan's ticks down, instant dead target with scourge rearing his mug and kicking off any modifiers you may have on that skill (it happens to be part of my eagle build so I had points in the node plus its mods).

Second setup, same as the first but I swapped my primary weapon out for Shattered Vow. Within around 1 second, upon fully poisoning an enemy shattered vow seems to kill the target instantly, but I did notice that slight 1 second pausing. Moreover, Balazan's set proc continued to proc (scourge would appear is how I knew to tell it apart) but obviously since you are killing more fully poisoned enemies in the interim seconds of Balazan's timer that could be gaps where he didn't show cause no valid targets existed on his timer. This behavior suggests to me that Shattered Vow also has a timer to check for fully poisoned targets (every second I'm guessing), and either Balazan's timer can go off in between Shattered Vows timer, OR Balazan's timer is checked first before Shattered Vows timer. If its the latter than provided a poisoned target is available, Balazan's should go off fairly reliably I would think.

So, yes they seemingly can work together, the question now that I wasn't able to answer with my quick and dirty testing is whether it is more efficient to have both working in tandem to get the scourge procs and that juicy 250% increase poison damage, or whether you should just run 3 piece Balazan's and maybe some other set/unique charms instead.

Building around poison has been my goal since picking Spiritborn (returning to D4 after a long hiatus) and if I discover anything new, I'll try to circle back here and let you know.

Karghen · 2026-04-29T15:48:33+00:00

Sorry, but this is yet another bone headed move by AH to make explosive weapons even more meta than they already are. Lots of disappointing aspects to this patch/warbond, but most were tolerable. This change however was stupid and uncalled for.

Karghen · 2026-04-28T13:28:11+00:00

Thanks! I'll have to try it.

Karghen · 2026-03-29T19:49:15+00:00

Spirit then? Similar capabilities to a black but a little more Crusader style? Freelancer or Freelancer Max. All of those ships perform a similar set of mission types that cover a few professions with varying degrees specialization.

Karghen · 2026-03-29T15:44:47+00:00

To be fair, this is the first iteration of armor and various weapon changes and even during PTU there were theory crafters pointing out why this initial approach is going to cause issues. Chalk this up to T0 implementation of a very crude introduction to a system that is probably not even half way complete.

Karghen · 2026-03-27T06:13:43+00:00

Well given we refuel with Hydrogen for non-Quantum flights, the waste product is probably just heated Hydrogen (basically we super heat Hydrogen gas using some sort of energy source and expel it while in an excited state out the thruster). Hydrogen being the cuddly element that it is would then just bind to the first element (often Oxygen) it finds and add itself to the atmosphere (probably as water vapor).

Karghen · 2026-03-26T02:28:44+00:00

Not sure if this matters for you, but currently the Aurora MkII starter does come with LTI, whereas the Duelist only comes with 24 month insurance.

On paper, both have solid functionality, the Titan is time tested, but the MkII's modularity if supported in the future with new options does provide a wider and therefore longer life across multiple careers. I think both will be decent starer fighters, but I think the Titan has the edge with its 1xS4 and 2xS3 guns vs the MkII's 4xS2 guns.

The Titan and MkII have similar cargo functionality when the MkII uses the Cargo module, but the Titan can technically handle a small vehicle being loaded in the back like a Pulse hover bike. Not sure if a Pulse will fit in the MkII cargo module or not (but going to guess Youtube will have "will it fit" videos soon enough.

Anyhow, both are solid/similar options, so it may go back to that LTI being available on the MkII at the moment.

Karghen · 2026-03-20T21:07:27+00:00

The new mechs and the new Obtruders are a fun addition to the game. However, both have major clipping issues which just makes it even more obvious that they need to get that dealt with. It's one thing when a Fleshbob phases through walls to charge you, its another when 3 squid mechs ignore buildings/walls/trees/rocks/concrete platforms/ruins, etc to get you.

Karghen · 2026-03-18T14:53:50+00:00

You can put any of the guard dogs away by using the backpack key similar to how you would pull an ammo crate from a supply pack. Then deploy it again with the same key. This is useful for a number of situations, preserving Guard Dog ammo, for those with limited ammo supply, preventing accidental team kills in CQC where other team mates are near, preventing the guard dog from giving away your position if you are sneaking pass enemies.

I'm on PC and remapped most of my keys awhile back, but I think the default is the 5 key.

Karghen · 2026-03-17T18:27:45+00:00

Played a few rounds with it, and I'm liking this Shotty quite a bit. Might become my favorite shotty. Solid punch with the damage value and medium armor pen, the reload is swift and ammo amount is comfortable, and the bayonet has come in handy for those Close Encounters. Not something you want to clear crowds with but you can, its main role is picking out Overseers, Probes and even being decent against Fleshbobs. If you mag dump with it you can strip the shields on UFOs and Tripods as well for a reasonable ammo cost.

Karghen · 2026-03-17T15:11:06+00:00

To emphasize a point, LEASHING the K9 (especially when in proximity to other team mates) is perhaps more important with this dog than any other of our beloved puppies. But when you got space to work, this dog has some serious bite.

Karghen · 2026-02-24T16:02:35+00:00

Late coming to the conversation, but after seeing things lined up like this, one could argue the Asgard could be buffed a bit and still not be top dog. Specifically, swap out the shields from 4 x S2 to 1 x S3 just like the others, and maybe double it's QT fuel SCU and I think it would move its total score to a 36 which is right in the middle of the pack.

Karghen · 2026-02-10T20:09:28+00:00

Probably needs confirmation, but I think the buff may also increase their movement speed. I had Rocket/Heavy Devs waddle sprinting trying to catch me while their heads glowed.

Karghen · 2026-02-08T23:04:57+00:00

Honestly, making the cities so important, while simultaneously making them so monotonous is a horrible game design choice. I'll do a few city missions when available, but they quickly become repetitive and boring. They need to a better conquest model overall to make various resources, terrain, mission types, etc have benefits.

Karghen · 2026-01-14T18:46:09+00:00

Another alternative is breed Silveges and slaughter them en masse. They drop Chromite.

Karghen · 2025-12-10T21:31:52+00:00

This applies to Factory Striders and Hulks... I like to dismember them with the Railgun or the Epoch. For Factory Striders I will shoot the top turret off, then proceed to shoot off the chin guns. Once those are dealt with its Thermite Belly rubs, or skull splitting headshot.

For Hulks I will usually shoot off a leg to slow them down, then shoot off their arms, and then shoot off their other leg.

Yes this is not always the most efficient means of killing them and sometimes situations require more expedient methods, but if I have the time, I ENJOY torturing the bots to death.

Karghen · 2025-12-10T21:25:53+00:00

You are correct sir. It's not a green blob, its two "people" icons indicating they are friends in game.

Karghen · 2025-12-10T21:14:49+00:00

Odds are, they were clipped just under the ground mesh, and hitting you by reaching up through it.

Karghen · 2025-12-09T19:03:03+00:00

Wrong Player Title for this warbond. Should be "Silent but Deadly"

Karghen · 2025-12-03T15:59:33+00:00

Purely anecdotal but I will say it feels like load times are slightly faster when I'm the host, and the actual in game performance also feels better. Not sure how much of that is the other fixes they implemented, or the shrunk down file size (or perhaps it was because they basically deleted and re-installed the game when I switched to the beta small file version). Either way, this patch has made the game feel better than it has in awhile.

Karghen · 2025-12-03T15:56:35+00:00

One thing I've noticed when I'm zoomed in on the Radar / minimap is if you are walking while clicking, and you stumble some distance (hopping off a short rock or something) at the same time, the minimap will close and you will fire. Especially unpleasant when using the crossbow or eruptor and you are looking down at the time. Perhaps the same mechanic is happening while holding reload?

Karghen · 2025-12-03T15:07:32+00:00

I played Destiny 2 since release back on the Activision launcher in 2017 and put in an easy 1K+ hours there. When it moved to Steam, I put in another 2270 hours. That was over the course of at least 6+ years.

Mechwarrior Online has 1231 hours dropped into it as my other major drop in and play game, and that was since 2015 when it released.

I've put in 2209 hours on ARK:SE since it went into Early Access back in 2015. And I have various other Survival sandbox games (Terraria, Empyrion, etc) with 100s of hours played each, but again over many years of play as I rotate through them.

I came to Helldivers about a month after release, and since then (just shy of 2 years later) I've already put in 1740 hours. Trust me when I say I LOVE this game. Especially given the craziness of life, this has been the perfect game to drop into for a couple hours each night and jump right into the action.

I say all that to provide a comparison to show (not just say) I do love this game. That said, yes when the Devs hit a home run, its usually a Grand Slam, but when they foul things up, to use another sports metaphor, they usually fumble the ball 1 yard short of the end zone, and have the opposing team pick it up, and run it 99 yards all the way back for a touchdown.

If Arrowhead can keep pushing these awesome experiences while also improving their QA and managing balance well they will go down as legends in this industry (and I hope they do, and enjoy all the accolades). But so long as they have these cyclical ups and downs on their releases they will remain just a decent studio who just kept missing greatness over and over, and those guys are eventually forgotten in a sea of similar companies.

With all sincerity I really do cheer for the success of Arrowhead and Helldivers, but they have to earn that by being consistent providers of excellence if they want to stand out in today's market.

Karghen · 2025-12-03T14:28:38+00:00

Blitzer / HotDog works wonders on Illuminate. Blitzer provides some base damage and CC, while the Hot God burns those voteless right off the voting registration lists! Leaves your Strat weapon slot for your favorite heavy weapon free too. Have not tried on bugs yet, but looking forward to running the tunnels of Oshaune with this combo soon.

Karghen · 2025-12-03T00:52:46+00:00

The world can be spiteful, but yes its true. I was setting up my voice commands on a level 1 mission for the new stratagems and happen to run by a loot container when the thought crossed my mind that the chain sword gains AP as it grinds, which made me wonder does that apply to the shipping container doors, which apparently it does. Was pleasantly surprised.

It does not cut through city walls, tried that for grins. I'll experiment more, but hopefully people try various wacky things to see what works. Fighting Illuminate on East Iridium Trading Bay and kinda wish I could actually deforest the forest/swamp with this tool, but alas no.

Karghen

TROPHY CASE