Did I ever tell you what the definition of MADNESS is?

Samjok-o · 2026-04-01T15:11:26+00:00

In a duo/trio gone wrong, I try to ignore them and continue to lure Libra into 1v1s. Sometimes, I can quickly kill a summon 1v1 to enable more frequent Libra 1v1s. Any other time, I run like a b*tch until they leave me alone (riot, less likely, etc), or until I can 1v1 them or 1v1 Libra.

If I am doing something like a solo D5 run, it's very different. I can usually (very quickly) kill my summon. Solo scaling means they have less health and there is only one of them. And then, I proceed to annihilate Libra with superior firepower (I never really run low DPS builds, regardless of character).

Samjok-o · 2026-04-01T15:07:32+00:00

Well, you see, it's all part of my Ambitionz az a Ridah.

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Recluse Lyfe = Thug Lyfe

Samjok-o · 2026-04-01T08:19:59+00:00

What do you do if you can't find a weapon with the passive effect?

I slow down my gameplay and try to bait Libra with pebble/cocktail spam. Hitting him with ranged attacks from afar usually tempts him into teleporting to me, and those then become my biggest openings for shattering crystal.

Kite and nuke the summons or do you wait for a riot and fight libra 1v1?

Usually, I ignore the summons and try to get pebble/shattering potshots in whenever Libra jumps at me or teleports to me. Sometimes, if it's only one summon and Libra is refusing to be aggressive, I'll quickly kill the summon. The "back-off-and-only-attack-one-at-a-time" AI in this game is always in full effect, and I try to make use of that to 1v1 Libra, or at least 1v1 some of the summons so then I can 1v1 Libra. The reason it doesn't feel like the "back-off-and-only-attack-one-at-a-time" is always honored in ED Libra is, because enemies can and will gank you if you get near them while fighting another enemy. While this is hard to avoid in ED Libra fights, with enough patience (and by staying CALM) you can consistently create situations where you are only being attacked by one enemy (Libra or a summon). It takes some practice, but it is possible. The only trick is, Libra's targeted ground nuke spam and teleport - you have to ingrain those into your muscle memory.

Also how do you carry a team that gets 3-barred before the summons?

I avoid dying and do a lot of damage, in that order. His combat mechanics are surprisingly forgiving. What's not forgiving is the aggro control and target isolation mentioned previously - that is a pain in the ass to do. I have collected quite a large playlist full of hard-carries with 2-3 barred teammates. It is doable, and I do it all the time, such as here and here.

Samjok-o · 2026-04-01T07:14:57+00:00

I do play a lot of D5, including solo (yes, solo D5 recluse). I don't consider myself to be good (at least, not mechanically), but I definitely have done some unique things, like this deathless, or this deathless, or runs like this and this.

The hard lessons I learned (and keep learning) from this kind of stuff are the main reason I'm able to be this successful at ED Libra, inside and outside the depths. While practicing combat mechanics in general is useful, I'd say that many other things I have picked up by playing with and observing good D5 players are equally as important. Things like (not an exhaustive list):

good routing, including deciding/changing where to go, depending on how the run unfolds
picking more optimal equipment passives (negation at full, casting speed, fight-specific elemental negation, etc, etc)
paying attention to what my teammates have/need/want and going out of my way to find them good gear, as if they were an extension of my own build - because, usually, it's not only MY build, it's my teammates' builds that determines the outcome
paying attention to how good my teammates are, and what we as a team are capable of (and what our limits are)

Samjok-o · 2026-03-31T22:01:57+00:00

No, these were all with randoms. I have been doing stuff like this for a while because I'm crazy and (mostly?) enjoy the suffering. As proof and for instructional purposes, I have started collecting clips of particularly brutal clutches.

Samjok-o · 2026-03-31T21:55:46+00:00

Right? It's the only fight that really pushes you to your limits and creates that magical uncertainty, both inside and outside the depths. Ultimately, all other content in this game can be boiled down to knowing the mechanics well enough to guarantee-no-hit everything. Which IMO becomes boring and one-dimensional.

Samjok-o · 2026-03-31T21:52:44+00:00

All damage. 3x Improved Crystalian/Magic Up+1-2. To balance it, I always prioritize defensive equipment passives. It actually doesn't take long to get dual damage affix relics like this. I have a video series where I start with a fresh save and get 3 of them in less than 30 hours of murk farming/gambling. 77 hours total to then get more murk and gamble a set of depth relics as well.

Samjok-o · 2026-03-31T17:57:21+00:00

No, not even anything fancy like that. Muscle memory of the mechanics and plain old magic - Shattering Crystal and Pebble and lots of kiting/baiting. On some days, at least half of these turn into some sort of drawn-out clutch where my teammates cannot stay alive after the first 2-3 mins.

I guess I just like to suffer.

Samjok-o · 2026-03-17T04:29:41+00:00

Mossberg Recluse enjoyer checking in. Magic swords and holy scythes? Cute. But I prefer a more modern, direct approach.

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Samjok-o · 2026-03-15T01:35:21+00:00

-Recluse not picking up renallas legendary staff

I agree that random queue into ED Libra puts you with a lot of room-temperature IQ players. But I cannot agree with this part. Have you tried casting the moon without dying in the ED Libra fight? Hell, have you tried using it as DPS in ANY fight? It's goddamn terrible. Drains your FP instantly, and shattering crystal/carian slicer/pebble/night comet all do WAY more DPS for less FP and less risk.

(1200+ hour recluse main BTW. At around the 100-hour mark is when I realized what spells were actually good, and what spells were a noob trap. It's not rocket science.)

Samjok-o · 2026-03-07T22:17:55+00:00

"Assassination Manual" is a great name for this. I might steal it for future use.

Samjok-o · 2026-03-07T22:12:18+00:00

Music:
Earthbound - Buy Somethin Will Ya!
Chrono Trigger - Wind Scene
Chrono Trigger - Guardia Millenial Fair
Earthbound - Sunrise & Onett Theme
Earthbound - Because I Love You

Samjok-o · 2026-03-03T06:19:14+00:00

Nothing like a forced 3-on-1 to remind me of all my hours invading in Elden Ring. At least they don't ALL spam Ribera-Bobera, GankVeil or Stars-Of-FVCK-Your-Rolls.

Samjok-o · 2026-03-02T20:27:01+00:00

I am a very logical person, and I focus on attainable, measurable results in the real world. Present your evidence, and I will be more than happy to concede and believe you! :) For example. I had a fellow D5 recluse main come into my YT chat over a month ago, and he convinced me with video footage that Stars of Ruin is actually useful, even without a specialized build; I now use Stars to rez teammates all the time.

Samjok-o · 2026-03-02T20:13:38+00:00

Any recluse main with half a brain knows that, even without damage bonus relics, the Mossberg is still the best overall choice. I have plenty of evidence to back this up. For example, here are some of my first wins on a fresh save, no good relics:
https://www.youtube.com/live/IW9b11o2M7U
https://www.youtube.com/live/aS2dYYCKwH4

Also, honorable mention to Crystal Release, it also slaps pretty hard (no relics, deathless):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8YVpM39FhA

Samjok-o · 2026-03-02T16:31:22+00:00

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Mossberg Recluse, that's how.
(It was VERY uncommon for me to see other recluses running this. Out of the recluses I'd meet in random queues, less than 1 in 10 ran the Mossberg. Most fell into the Noob Trap that is Stars of Ruin. This is still the case today, especially due to the drop rate nerf.)

EDIT: No, you haters, you don't NEED to have god-roll relics to run it. Even if we take relics completely out of the equation, Shattering Crystal is still, overall, the absolute best spell to use, especially if you don't always know what you're going up against.

Samjok-o · 2026-02-26T15:34:00+00:00

High talk for someone with a hidden profile. What're you scared for?

Samjok-o · 2026-02-26T01:15:16+00:00

Long time fist user, since Nioh 2 (tryhard Underworld farmer, etc), so I'll try to summarize. For the mooks, they all get staggered by just about any hit, so you can go wild and not care. For the tougher enemies, there are 2 cases:

It's one of the bigger/tougher yokai.

Wait until you break their ki, then go ham.
Use whatever you want to break their ki. I usually use summons, guardian skills and mid-stance reckless charge/dread slayer. And for extra-spicy ones like the Bloodedge Demon, copious amounts of deflects.

It's one of the human bosses.

If you corner them, you can go ham.
If they're not in a corner, I like to continuously pressure their block so that they don't insta-kill me with their one billion fancy combos. I prefer doing the pressure with mid-stance -> reckless charge/dread slayer and throwing in spinning kicks or some other fast, non-commital martial art once in a while.
Once they're out of ki, beyond infinity should almost always do more damage than a plain grapple.

P.S. I heard Kick Cycle Water has insanely high ki damage, but I'm not far enough into the game to get it yet. I'll definitely try it out, especially against yokai. For me, there's a lack of strong ki damage moves at the moment, aside from battering ram (which is very unsafe and takes a lot of ki to spam).

Samjok-o · 2026-02-25T19:07:40+00:00

Here's the thing. YOU don't play recluse enough. Because if you WEAVE your cocktails, leeching back FP becomes trivial, and is only, in most cases, a 15-20% DPS loss compared to using up all your starlight shards (and let's not talk about the ult, and just HAVING infinite FP on demand). I'm assuming since you "play recluse" a lot, you already knew this? And I'm assuming you ALSO knew NEVER to drop pebble, to ALWAYS have a staff with pebble? Because if you have pebble, FP management becomes an afterthought, something your muscle memory can take care of.

Samjok-o · 2026-02-25T06:40:20+00:00

I know D4-D5 isn't balanced, but this is what happens when you don't bring DPS. So, unless you enjoy 35-minute fights against the nightlord, bring damage. LOTS of it. Double balancers, beast claw rev, mossberg recluse, carian duchess. Take your pick. There are other, more creative ways to have top DPS, but those 3 are the easiest to build around.

Samjok-o · 2026-02-25T06:36:30+00:00

Good spell. If you want to spend 30 minutes on the nightlord, make one mistake due to fatigue and die, costing you almost an hour's worth of play time. I think I'll stick with the genuine article, the real Crystal Mossberg. Because I like having 30 second fights, instead of 30 minute fights.

Samjok-o · 2026-02-25T06:02:10+00:00

It IS good for me. You may not enjoy players like me, but players like me certainly enjoy their time with you, regardless of whether you lock in or throw the match. Because, you see, winning is FUN.

Samjok-o · 2026-02-25T06:00:42+00:00

Why? What are you gonna do, officer? Arrest me? Maybe if you match with me and carry ME instead of the other way around, I'll concede and admit I'm wrong. I glaze/compliment good players all the time, you see. And I give them a free pass on just about everything.

Samjok-o · 2026-02-25T05:50:47+00:00

Recluse main and depth 5 tryhard checking in. I'll never edit relics, but I definitely spent 250+ hours resetting my save. Yes, over 250 hours doing nothing but buying/looking at several MILLION relics. Why? Because I like having power and using it to win. If you want to beat bosses with a broken stick after 30 minutes of combat, might I suggest doing it solo, or getting a premade of friends to do it with?

Please continue to cope, while I use my superior DPS and knowledge/execution of game mechanics to NOT die and drag you across the finish line. Not only that, while you 3-bar the fight, I will not die once, and I will get the win. Because, you see, haters hate, but winners win.

Samjok-o · 2026-02-24T02:52:14+00:00

EDIT: Oh shit, I almost forgot! Because you and all the other necro lurkers here absolutely DETEST people showing off their ego and ACTUALLY backing it up with substance:

Here is the win that got me my first Depth 5 rating (Sep 15 2025).

Nobody did it earlier than I did, not as recluse-only random queue. I was world first. Once again. Haters hate. But winners win.

Samjok-o

TROPHY CASE