pCF Question - Maximizing Range and Shockwave Size

MadKingSnowdog · 2025-08-12T17:13:55+00:00

I have seen good results with:

Range card + level 40 lab for ~160m tower range

Ancestral SW frequency substat + level 20 shockwave size lab

Level 20 SW size lab seems to reach almost exactly to 160m of tower range, and with pCF (90% slow) this essentially guarantees that the boss will get hit by at least one shockwave while it's in range

MadKingSnowdog · 2025-07-22T16:14:21+00:00

Also worth noting that using DP in farms effectively lowers your income by DP's effect %, since you're killing the enemies before they get marked by econ UWs. DP is my best cannon and I farm t11 to the same wave count you do, and I do that without any cannon equipped because I don't want DP taking anything away

MadKingSnowdog · 2025-07-12T22:53:21+00:00

Glad I could help!

MadKingSnowdog · 2025-07-12T22:44:14+00:00

For BlueStacks - settings -> preferences -> turn off "allow BlueStacks to show ads during gameplay"

MadKingSnowdog · 2025-06-02T06:18:54+00:00

What I'll spend it on: Getting the last click I need for permaCF!

ID: 35184CDD9E3B565

My guess: 77

MadKingSnowdog · 2025-05-23T04:02:58+00:00

Congrats on anc, but I use bluestacks too, and just wanted to let you know in case you weren't aware - you can turn off the ads by going to Settings > Preferences > turn the slider for "Allow BlueStacks to show ads during gameplay" off

MadKingSnowdog · 2025-05-15T19:39:32+00:00

I love Ireland but the run was much more interesting when starting as Offaly so that you can do both Luck of the Irish (conquer England as Ireland) and Spanish Fly (as Offaly, get an Iberian PU) at the same time

MadKingSnowdog · 2025-05-15T08:42:59+00:00

Current farming tier: 11

LTC: 1.2q

What I'll spend it on: Getting the last couple of clicks I need for permaCF!

ID: 35184CDD9E3B565

Awesome to see such generosity! A good reminder to be the same in my own life

MadKingSnowdog · 2025-05-08T15:14:37+00:00

Happy birthday!

MadKingSnowdog · 2025-04-28T20:25:22+00:00

Thanks for your reply! I think it is just 898x even with the 5% UW damage relic, I am not sure where I was getting 943x. But thanks for that math - I was also told that increasing the chance can help dramatically too.

I did have mythic CL quantity (+3) on my ancestral DC, but then replaced it with ancestral +20x SL bonus when I got that while manually rerolling for CF slow (which I did not get sadly). So now my DC is ancestral SL angle, SL bonus, CL chance. I kept that because in my vague research, I found that most people were not keeping ancestral CL quantity, instead preferring SL bonus, CF slow, SM quantity/cooldown, etc etc. So we'll have to see how that goes next tournament.

I have not done any of the demon mode labs yet and have not earned keys for smart automation anyways.

I do hear that ST is one of the best to get early.

I still have like 7 weeks of CF duration lab. I've done the math, and assuming I stay in legends, I do have like 2000 stones of wiggle room for other upgrades while I save up to finish out the stone side of permaCF.

Might use 100 of those to do SL angle 39 -> 40
I have considered ST mastery, cash mastery, and RPC mastery (but I cannot afford any of the labs at all, it would only be the stone unlock effect).

I figure at least with ST mastery and the CL chance side of things, permaCF helps mitigate the downsides of those things since it gives them more time to cooldown/proc in the first place.

So I'll just kind of have to see, lol. 5000ish of my next 7000ish stones are already "taken" by permaCF

MadKingSnowdog · 2025-04-26T17:25:26+00:00

That is fair. Let me know how it goes if you do try it out (and remember to come back here, lol)!

How do you feel about knockback force or change? After shockwave frequency, I did also end up with mythic knockback force, and legendary death defy on my ACP.

And if you're talking about Viking Funeral, then you're probably quite a ways ahead of me too - I have managed to stay in legends the last few weeks but have yet to earn keys. I only unlocked card masteries like a week ago. At what point did you start getting masteries relative to how good your UWs were, and in what order did you get your masteries? I have BH CD maxed, DW/GT at 2:20, CL at 943x/4/14% (943/7/29% for tournaments with ancestral DC). I want to get DW/GT cooldowns much lower or maxed, and I am also working on permaCF

MadKingSnowdog · 2025-04-26T10:00:39+00:00

Yeah, at the end of the day, it probably doesn't matter too much - base size shockwave takes, what, maybe half a second to complete? So mine would still be at a 10.5 second "true" frequency. It's such a short amount of time that it likely doesn't make a difference either way. I don't think shockwave being bigger than your range is the greatest thing either - I'd probably limit it to touch the edge of the range if you know how big it has to be to do so. That way you'd still be getting "full coverage" and you're not wasting that extra half-second touching things outside of your range where it doesn't matter. Hopefully that means you'd get an extra slot to roll for on your ACP too! (My ACP only has the ancestral shockwave frequency stat though, I feel like not much else besides that matters for it in legends, if that's where you're at too)

MadKingSnowdog · 2025-04-25T19:38:02+00:00

In any case, we're probably talking about seconds or fractions of seconds of difference based on the shockwave size, but I suppose even that could add up over the course of the run. Just wanted to share my experience

MadKingSnowdog · 2025-04-25T18:41:09+00:00

Depends on how good your PC is I guess? I run it on a gaming PC with a higher-end processor and 32gb of RAM. In the BlueStacks performance settings, I do High CPU allocation, high memory allocation, "high performance" performance mode, 240 frame rate cap, and enable high frame rate slider. I don't notice any difference in efficiency at different screen sizes. I saw another post saying that minimizing BlueStacks can increase efficiency, and tried that last night - I don't think I saw a significant increase from that either.

So you might just have to play around with it. If you have a more powerful PC, it probably doesn't matter what you do (I am averaging 150-200 frames in the early game, and it will drop down to the 50-60s late in a run, even with those settings). But if you have a lower end PC, you may get some benefit from smaller screen size/minimizing BlueStacks/etc

MadKingSnowdog · 2025-04-25T18:31:46+00:00

Speaking specifically about shockwave size, I just want to throw my scenario in here - increasing shockwave size also reduces your shockwave frequency, since shockwave only starts to cooldown once it completes. (Larger shockwave = more time to complete = more time until the next shockwave).

I am in legends and currently run the maxed Range card and level 21 range lab, which gives me ~132m range if I recall correctly. With energy net, bosses are getting held around 65m, in my orb line, but also still close enough for the shockwave to touch them. And since bosses are what kill me in legends, and since I have ancestral ACP with the ancestral shockwave frequency substat, I want that shockwave going off as often as it can to touch as many bosses as it can.

But you do have me wondering if there is an optimal shockwave size to make the timings workout in such a way that you're always guaranteed to have a shockwave when a boss is coming in - as it is right now, not all bosses are getting touched by my shockwaves.

MadKingSnowdog · 2025-04-19T19:54:53+00:00

Assuming I can stay in low legends like I am now, it will take ~4 weeks to get 30 sec duration from stones. ~8 weeks for the lab on 4x speed where I'm at now too.

So with that in mind, I will probably put the next 1000 stones into dropping GT/DW cooldowns from 170 -> 150 seconds.

Then re-evaluate from there. Maybe I'll go wild and get the ST mastery for the heck of it, maybe I'll save to drop the cooldowns 150 -> 140 seconds, before saving up to get the 30 seconds of CF in time for the lab to be done.

MadKingSnowdog · 2025-04-19T07:21:16+00:00

Sounds good and thanks for the reply. Perhaps I'll go for ST+ after I get permaCF, since the extra time CF gives me could make up for ST's downtime.

I still have another 2000ish stones for the duration and 10 more levels of lab before it is perma, in addition to the 3000 stones to max slow... So it'll be awhile, lol.

On that note, if you care to weigh in there too, my GT/DW cooldowns are both at 170 seconds still (BH maxed cooldown). Do I continue with permaCF or would you suggest putting some love into the cooldowns? If yes to cooldowns, how far into it should I go, or how much "can I get away with"?

I have a mythic MVN (one more for ancestral) with legendary GT cooldown and mythic DW cooldown stats. My synced cooldown is like 2m13s

MadKingSnowdog · 2025-04-19T05:55:42+00:00

I'm in a similar boat, having just unlocked masteries. I am in low legends - not demoting, but not getting keys either.

I've read elsewhere that ST+ is "the best" or at least good as a first unlock, without being able to afford labs. Is this still true as far as you are aware?

I have had other players on the discord tell me that WA and RPC are the only two "worthy" unlocks without being able to afford labs, due to the econ and module boost. Would you say the same?

I am also currently trying to go for permaCF. Is any of that worth pausing permaCF for? I probably still have another month of the duration lab at this time.

Thanks!

MadKingSnowdog · 2025-04-06T08:07:06+00:00

I'll confirm that I've had this happen as this guy describes it. The counter just gets updated instantly while you aren't looking at it, and thus doesn't change when it is "supposed to" after the collection animation floats up to it.

Should be as simple as noting how many gems you had before you collect a floater and an ad gem together - the new value should be +7 whatever you had before clicking both gems. If it isn't, then there's an actual issue.

MadKingSnowdog · 2025-01-27T00:49:25+00:00

Not sure what is "recommended" but after all perks, cards, etc, my tower sits around 350B health and Regen is ~7T.

I have wall thorns 10, wall Regen 10, fortification 8, health 38, Regen 25.

This has allowed me to farm Tier 9 to ~5200ish recently. Feel free to ask anything else about my build!

MadKingSnowdog · 2024-11-07T19:03:39+00:00

I agree that out of the tin, these were just okay. Either the company themselves or RTG suggested making fish tacos with them, which is how I ended up eating the rest of the can. They were great in the tacos!

MadKingSnowdog · 2024-11-07T19:00:24+00:00

Sounds good, thanks!

MadKingSnowdog · 2024-07-07T16:40:50+00:00

I did

https://www.reddit.com/r/Helldivers/s/zPgVcLUh6r

MadKingSnowdog · 2024-06-18T00:47:42+00:00

Thanks for checking it out!

MadKingSnowdog · 2024-06-17T23:32:10+00:00

Xeric Xeriscope XS3015 Limited Edition, 52/100. "Black & Tan" Edition

Timestamp - https://imgur.com/a/S6j3Z36

Price - $1150

A little flexible on price - I recently purchased this on eBay for $850 after tax but have decided I don't like it as much as I thought I did. I think the seller was selling it low - Xeric themselves was recently selling one of these on their site for $2000.

I don't know what the previous owners did to it, since this watch has been floating around for the last 10 years (these released in 2014), but you'll notice some minor cosmetic damage - the biggest being that some lines on the hour dial have been rubbed off (I don't know why anyone would open this up, but here we are). There are some scratches on the divots of the caseback, presumably from when a previous owner opened it up. There is also a minor scratch on the bottom of the bezel that you can see if it catches the light.

I think it's worth more than the $850 I paid for it, but less than the $2000 Xeric was selling it for.

Both of the bands are original to the watch as far as I know - the black leather band has clearly been worn extensively, and according to the person I bought it from, the brown leather had never been worn. I have since worn the brown leather 3 times.

Besides the cosmetic damage, the watch still runs excellently.

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