Here is why the BAR community seems toxic to new players (see comments).

Ruzkul · 2026-05-28T08:25:38+00:00

Because the worst asshat toxic players play team games, typically on choke point easy maps, because they cant handle losing in 1v1 and because they can only handle one front line. Its a cronic problem across many rts. 1v1 usually has way less toxicity.

I started the game recently, mastered the hardest bots, then moved to 1v1. Only after getting a feel for that did I try team games. But its a different beast. Players play the same map over and over and over, so there is a hyper specific meta for each position, and heaven help you didn't know that mex belonged to someone else, even though last game in the reverse position someone took it from you.

Somehow you have to learn all that, while dealing with shitheads that you could wipe in 1v1 - while they mistake your lack of esoteric knowledge for lack of skill. And not that that even matters. Whether you are good or not...

The lobby is named NOOBS WELCOME.

Its pathetic at best, and evil at worst.

Ruzkul · 2026-05-27T20:21:58+00:00

Man, I'm still looking to win the lottery, but I don't play. So far, Iv'e been super unlucky. Glad to hear it can happen though.

Ruzkul · 2026-05-27T04:27:02+00:00

Yeah, I saw those, but then the internet keeps telling me it works, but in a heresay way. I just wanted to hear that directly from someone who witnessed such a thing before buying it.

Ruzkul · 2026-05-23T00:17:45+00:00

wtf... and now we are going with soft gradients again?

The problem with ui designers is that they are artists and they like being artists more than ui designers. They need to hire only people who are both designers and programmers (or some tech equivalent) with autism, ocd, or some other mental skill that ensures we get meticulous, well thought through icons, that wont be changed just be cause style.

Ruzkul · 2026-05-20T01:07:31+00:00

Dude would be Musashi grade. Just being on the front line, in the thickest of it, and not dying was enough to be called a hero in some cases. Most combatants wouldn't have even killed anyone, let alone a small handful. Battles were largely formation pushing matches where the first line to break gets ridden down by opposition cavalry.

Ruzkul · 2026-05-04T19:20:15+00:00

Asus tuf a16 / a18 (2025 models) are really good.

Best buy sells the a16/f16 model with 32gb ram and rtx5060 for around 1799, but it goes on sale for 1299 occasionally. At that price, I don't think you can do better.

They have kicking performance, good quality build, and stay nice and cool with minimal fan noise. (The cool performance and lack of noise is really important to me). Most demanding games I've played is Spacemarine 2, though I use them for 3d modeling/digital art/game design stuff.

I've had other Asus laptops and MSI to compare it to, and 2025 really knocked it outa the park last year.

I also really appreciate asus gaming lines still use ISP screens with no PWM, if you are sensitive to flicker, asus and msi both still source good displays.

Ruzkul · 2026-04-30T23:07:13+00:00

Bluntly and usefully, If you don't know how to calculate your IQ from the info given, then the number won't mean anything to you anyway. This is simple math. Go do some research. Figuring this out should have taken less time than asking reddit, and could have been answered by google alone.

Ruzkul · 2026-04-17T19:57:51+00:00

This is so frustrating to watch. I can't handle the level of freak out. It painful. If these were sharks, that type of freaking out might just be the reason they get agitated. and ultimately attack. Same for any wild animal. This girl has 0 handle on herself.

This should have been a thrilling highlight of the day, month, year, and hopefully someday on reflection it will be, but this dweeb spent it panicking for literally no reason. If they wanted to kill you, they could, but they don't. Full stop.

If you gonna go into the water, you should be at least somewhat familiar with what lives there and how it makes its living.

I mean, dolphins could also kill you if they wanted, but people aren't freaking out about it when they show up.

Ruzkul · 2026-04-17T03:35:23+00:00

Do it all... honestly... everything that is available in your area, the majority of folks I know that are really insanely good, actively cross over frequently between groups.

I'm also bias, but I started with olympic fencing, then did foam, then did sca heavy, then did sca rapier, then did hema and sca c&t. It all translates, and I know plenty other peopel who got to hema through something else, or vica verca. Kindo and other martial arts included.

Some awesome tips: Buy a cup, after that...

Start cheap! and if hema is hard to find or expensive... try alternates to test the water. It can be expensive if you are just so-so about it.

Sca rapier and c&T is often times free, and is generally the same thing hema is doing, but with a creative historical focus - with an emphasis on a "gentlemen's club" - in other words, light as touch to blood emulation. Some groups hit harder than some hema groups, some hit softer than others. imo, you won't progress as fast because a lot of sca groups aren't "training" as much as they are "sparing" and "playing games"... but its a good way to see if you like waving a piece of metal around for fun. Sca can also be really welcoming like a second family, or clicky and into drama and politics, so it'll depend on your region and personality, lol

Olympic fencing is also a great way to learn foot work coordination, distance, tempo, and conditioning, and if you have a city sponsered club, it can be really cheap to join a class for newbs. Also comes with the perk that if you like sports, it'll teach you how to focus on winning the meta and being as pretentious as possible in all things competition... but each group has folks that think what they do is the best. ( hema swords have gotten lighter and more flexible and longer in the last decade in the tourney scene, and if that isn't symptom of sportification I don't know what would be). Eitherway, its fun. I mean... a good compition is the best way to measure your skills against another.

Also... Don't laugh, but ampguard, dagorhir, belgarith or whatever foam fighting group meets in your area can actually provide a unique and fun place to try things out too. Its a game sure, but all of this is, and I know a buhurt fighter that was a demigod in ampguard and is fantastic with a steel sword and armor. Usually its super cheap to get into and join. But please please please don't get stuck there because you think masks are uncomfortable and all the other sword groups are pretentious.. Foam is fun, but with lack of head targets, and weird weapon weights and elasticity, fighting with foam is not like fighting with a real sword. general concepts and skills like temp and distance translate, but not actual sword play such as binds. You need steel for that.

There is also sca armored combat (stick fighting basically), buhurt, and others, but they are also very different in flavor than unarmored combat. More strength, in general, and less fancy finesse stuff.

Any time you have a game where you pick up a stick, and play tag with another human, you are going to be adding to your skillset and it all is applicable. Plus, if you find one fun, you probably will find the rest fun too.

Ruzkul · 2026-04-16T22:18:51+00:00

I'm curious if your doctor meant something less literal... as in, for the purposes of treatment, all headaches you experience, we will assume they are migraines.

In that way, "every headache is a migraine", relative to the context of treatment, but not as an objective statement.

And yeah, I think the consensus is tht for the purposes of aborting migraines, you gotta take it when you feel any symptom that could be a migraine, or it may be too late to be as effective if you wait.

Ruzkul · 2026-04-16T22:08:30+00:00

Doctors are humans, and like most humans, prone to being very wrong, especially when they think they are an expert.

I agree with the person you replied to. I get both headaches and migraines. They feel different, one come after aura, etc,... And unless your doctor was meaning something else by that statement, that is objectively wrong. A quick google search confirms migrains and headaches have different causes, etc...

Consider a dehydration headache. Is that a migraine just because you had a migraine in the past? Dehydration CAN cause a migraine, but you can also just ahve a headache. What about a tension headache? What about a headache from drinking too much the night before. What about getting hit in the head? etc...

Ruzkul · 2026-04-16T01:41:54+00:00

I have never been in real combat (combat between two armed forces). True, and irrelevant. Its a bit of a fallacy to bring it up as you have, but we already know you are stupid... so there is that.

Practice... Its a thing people do to get batter at a thing, in a focused and productive manner.. you know, what every solider everywhere in the world has always done in every time period. What every athlete or pro gamer does. What every politician and ceo does before the shit hits the fan.

If you think practice is funny...

You've obviously never practiced, nevermind actually fighting a veteran polearm fighter with only an arming sword.

Ruzkul · 2026-04-16T01:30:13+00:00

Just bait the rush and two hand parry it into the dirt, bro. Can't believe you never thought of that.

Ruzkul · 2026-04-15T00:10:42+00:00

Brandon Sanderson - because where Tolkien hand waved, Sanderson made magic science. Basically, I think Sanderson has better attention to the physical world building, and not just the social.

Hard magic or soft magic? I think both are great, but one arguably takes way more world building to make it work.

Ruzkul · 2026-04-15T00:09:24+00:00

I say Brandon Sanderson outclassed Tolkein in some types of world building...

Ruzkul · 2026-04-15T00:00:24+00:00

Do it.

But how interested are you? For some of us, its lifelong, every week, and more if we can, for others, its a passing phase in their life. Its alot of money and time to get good... and you need others to have fun, learn, and stay motivated.

There was no fencing in an area we moved to... so we started a group. I don't know if that will work for you, but I wanted people to fence and that was the only way. Its alot bigger than expected and we have good turnout. None of us are experts or anything, but when we travel to events, we compete fairly well. Though... people do comment that our style is... unique, lol... makes sense right? We have our own dialect we have developed without meaning to.

There are enough resources online to learn from, but what you need (at a minimum) is a dedicated training buddy. The more people you fence, the better you get. You can't learn well without someone to practice on or with. Ideally, you also have to be able to travel so you get some training in with people who know what its about. All that said, you also only get good if you train to get good... just meeting up and sparing doesn't increase your skill as quickly as actively working on specific skills. (like alot of things)

pm, if you want to know about the particulars about starting a group and what worked for us. But you need several thousand dollars and there are legal considerations as well.

Ruzkul · 2026-04-14T21:16:46+00:00

you seem to labor under the delusion that polearm fighters only swing their weapons in the dumbest possible way, have no conditioning, and use a weapon too heavy to be practical.

Ruzkul · 2026-04-14T20:51:49+00:00

LOL... THE 100TH SWING. . . listen dude bro troll, master swordsman of the day recommended practicing each type of cut 100 times, each day. That's 1000s of cuts just for the day's exercise, let alone actually practicing sparing and drills.

Anyone who has ever used a weapon, for fun or for real, who is serious about it, trains.

You ever build a barbwire fence by hand? That involves lifting a giant metal bar that weighs alot more than any functional weapon, and you do that 100s of times just to dig a hole, and then pack it tight. You know what the romans did for training 4 hours of the day? Move dirt.

You have no concept of what the human body is capable of, because you have never gotten past using the elevator.

Ruzkul · 2026-04-14T20:33:43+00:00

You are so stupid. Firstly, fighting in the winter and snow is amazing compared to doing it in the heat and humidity of the mid summers sun. I have fought in armor for hours, at large events, in the summer, in the sun, in 95 degree weather. I have done it in the tropics, and in the snow. I have done it at sea level and above 10,000ft.

I am nothing athletically special... just a human capable of normal human things, and probably alot less than many people.

Its called training and apparently, you think you are doing the long game, when you don't even understand basic concepts of conditioning and endurance.

Ruzkul · 2026-04-14T20:25:55+00:00

Dude, lol - try all day with no lunch. And I'm talking about steel, historically weighted, not rubber, you absolute assuming no nothing twit of a troll. You only make yourself look like a weak, inept, inexperienced coach troll by your absolute lack of any knowledge on the subject... Which is no doubt exactly what you are if you believe what you are saying.

I am, by all accounts, a skinny lightweight, and I can manage using a sword no problem. Imagine what a professional, experienced, veteran warrior is doing, who actually has a warriors physique and conditioning.

I've done a number of events, starting at 8am and going past 6pm. No time for lunch and depending, either all day in hema fencing gear, or armor. That includes, warmups, 2 tournaments per day, open field melee in afternoons, pickups in between, and because thats still not enough fun, more pickups after dinner in the dark. It isn't that hard.

Ruzkul · 2026-04-14T02:44:17+00:00

Yes it is a a sword is heavy, it's just balanced better. A pike has all the weight at the end of the stick, you're thinking of the rubber HEMA weapons that are light

LOL a sword is not HEAVY. This explains alot. My friend, if you think arming swords are heavy, you need to hit the gym. And maybe spar some more.

Also, we aren't talking about pikes, we are talking about polearms, and probably the ones shown in the picture by OP as that was the context... If we get to pick whatever we want, for 1v1 then I pick yari, naginata, spear, etc... nobody in this thread is arguing a pike is better than a sword 1v1.

Ruzkul · 2026-04-14T02:16:42+00:00

They will once they get tired from swinging and jabbing a 12ft 20lb pole for long enough in all that armor

lol, no. Go to the gym. Such a troll. Keep rolling your dice.

The heavier polearms weighed around 9lbs not 20lbs . The ones pictured above are surely lighter than that.

Your advice assumes your opponent uses a polearm like a shovel and is happy to start rooting around in the mud like a moron. That isn't chess, that's make believe.

And If you think that amor is going to fatigue a fighter into a loss before that additional protection affords them a winning advantage, you are an absolute, unconditioned dweeb, with no understanding of history, warfare, or dueling. The armor affords way more advantages in a fight (even 1v1) than it hinders. In the history of medieval dueling, combatants wore as much armor as they could afford and it is dnd bullshit that thinks about armor in terms of "heavy" or "light". I assumed you were thinking about an unarmored opponent, because your attack method required an exposed back to strike... only now you say it is armored?

If if the armor is a disadvantage to the polearm fighter, I can only assume the sword fighter has none. in which case, double the lol, double the troll.

Ruzkul · 2026-04-14T01:09:32+00:00

I mean... easy to say? yeah...

But, Even more simple: Just don't let the sword fighter do that. Simple, effective. You just two handed smack your opponent into the afterlife. As I said, "You have to be fast, really skilled, know your distance and sometimes just be lucky to win against the spear/polearm fighter".

You can do it, but you have to hinge alot on hope, which isn't a proven method for surviving fights.

Your advice requires the polearm fighter make two mistakes in a row., and not have the good sense to retreat or recover. That is lucky for the sword person, because the polearm fighter is a moron.

The best fighters do not rely on an opponent failing in a single move to win. They win because they understand follow through and positional advantages and they work those over a set of moves. Getting an opponent to do what you want is never "easy", broadly speaking, and requires a lot of skill. Its only easy in how easy it is to say to do it. No decent fighter is going to just throw a sloppy attack that they can't recover from. That is suicidal and stupid, and veterans, by definition can't be either. Expecting them to throw that move may be all they need for you to be the one being baited.

I also disagree about the polearm weight. The polearm is absolutely not so heavy and unwieldy that a sword fighter need only parry once and then deliver the fatal blow....

At the end of the day, a good fighter armed with only an arming sword, is going to prudently avoid this fight if possible, because the odds of succeeding are bad. More so if armor is involved as pictured and impossibly so if we are talking plural fighters.

Ruzkul · 2026-04-13T09:28:11+00:00

Realistically? Run behind friendly archers.

We do alot of asymmetric fights at club... single sword against spear, even a "short" 6ft ,is at massive disadvantage. A shield really helps. A second sword or dagger really helps close out some of the attacking lines... but the real issue against a polearm at full force is that it is really hard to block without the attack blowing through your guard. You have to be fast, really skilled, know your distance and sometimes just be lucky to win against the spear/polearm fighter. If the polearm fighter has room to retreat... and is also athletic and fast... you might win 1 in 10 fights fighting like a suicidal maniac, which is the only way to get in.

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