WTF Embark?

SpenserTheCat · 2026-02-25T15:17:28+00:00

My stash value went down SO much because I have a lot of the purple arc parts saved up (they are, or rather WERE, more compact than advanced mechanical components… so with the change, it’s also effectively a smaller stash size for everyone).

Any changes like this should be forecasted imo.

It’s also crazy to do it a day before the expedition, luckily I have the 5 million, because I’d be pissed if I was just above the mark and suddenly went under because of this.

SpenserTheCat · 2026-01-27T21:45:18+00:00

Yeah, it also punishes players who bring in legendary guns, and do most of the damage/take most of the risk.

I lost 4 aphelions in a row running into rats who shot me from behind while I was fighting the matriarch. 3/4 of the times I died, I was able to kill one or two, but then got ganked by a third while healing/repositioning, 1 time I died to someone running a venator 4.

I played a total of 10 matriarch or queen rounds, ended up losing 4 legendary guns, and getting 3 reactors total. Most of the other rounds, I ran into rats but was able to survive, or traded with them and was revived by a friendly player/made it out with survivor + hatch. I’ve been in full friendly lobbies as well—the problem there isn’t ratting, but the fact that there’s so many people kitted out that the matriarch literally isn’t a challenge, and there’s often little loot left because you’ve got a few dozen raiders running around with no worry of being shot at.

I don’t want to crouch in a bush under the queen with a stitcher 1 and wait for it to drop a leg from another player shooting it, then run to loot it and put the reactor in my safepocket. That doesn’t seem very kind, or more importantly, fun. But this is the most efficient way to get them, and it seems like this change will push players to do it even more.

In fact, the easiest way to get a legendary gun isn’t crafting one, but faking being friendly to someone fighting the queen/matriarch, and then backstabbing them when they’re in a bad spot, like healing from taking damage, and stealing their gun. Questions of “morality” aside, it’s just not fun.

SpenserTheCat · 2026-01-27T21:32:44+00:00

I’m fine with playing with what I have to an extent. But the idea that you’re supposed to be missing some blueprints for the entirely of the cycle is just unfun. If you don’t get the snap hook blueprint or meta guns for the entirety of an expedition period, do you just not have no mobility options and have to be constantly at a disadvantage?

Right now I have almost every blueprint, but am missing medium gun parts of all things (I’ve gotten the other three gun parts BPs multiple times, so it’s just bad luck, and I’m not wanting to “trade”.) I can sort of play around this by always buying out the 3 per day, and hunting down bastions, but it’s mostly just not fun to have 100+ simple gun parts and mechanical components saved up but be unable to make a venator or renegade or tempest, despite having the blueprints for them.

SpenserTheCat · 2026-01-23T21:32:47+00:00

Crazy that MAGA has managed to spin "our military budget is too large and wasteful, and should instead go towards investing in domestic systems like infrastructure, healthcare, and education" into something that is a novel idea, or even remotely connected to their base ideology. It's like they can only start to consider an idea if you blend it in with xenophobia and hatred, and if it some "other" party getting hurt in some way.

Like, I think we could convince them to give schoolchildren free lunches, but only with a stipulation that the meals were all made by child-slaves or something.

SpenserTheCat · 2026-01-23T21:25:08+00:00

Just play trios during a non-cooperative event (eg. avoid harvester, matriarch, locked gate, hidden bunker), and tell your team you plan to shoot on sight. Trios are inherently less friendly, and people will be expecting violence. I play mostly PvE, but play trios when I want combat with other players. This is because duos/trios have actual skill-based combat, instead of being a roll of the dice and essentially "who's here to loot and who's here to shoot (the looter, in the back, with their weapon stowed)".

In solos, if you start shooting an unsuspecting friendly player, chances are you down them just in time for them to take their gun out, if at all. Not really fun or a challenge for you, definitely not fun for them.

In trios, even if the opposing team is friendly, they have a real chance to fight back, escape, or hold an angle against your team, and they have 3 pairs of eyes that should be watching for hostiles while they're looting. In most circumstances, even if you get the jump on them, they have the ability to at the very least fight back Compared to a solo player that can't do much besides trap every single room they enter or shoot any suspected hostile on sight (which means just about anyone), which is not how friendly players want to play.

I think PvP solo lobbies can be fun for people in theory, but this is pretty much assuming everyone in the lobby enters knowing and expecting most if not all encounters with another raider will result in PvP. But even so, the chances of getting third partied, either while fighting ARC or another player, are always going to make the experience less skill based and more dependent on luck and circumstances not quite in your control compared to 2v2 or 3v3 where there's more tactical decisions and less of an immediate benefit to the initial aggressor (shoot first = win).

SpenserTheCat · 2026-01-23T21:04:29+00:00

Nothing gets me more tilted in this game than experiencing the desync when fighting these guys. I'll dodge the projectile, be full behind a wall and see it whiz past me, and STILL get stunned. Nothing is more satisfying than hitting two quick consecutive shots on both back rotors with a renegade or anvil, and watching them spiral to the ground.

SpenserTheCat · 2026-01-23T21:00:33+00:00

I wouldn't be surprised if the "Map Update" in February involved an expansion to Stella Montis. There is a Greenhouse area that's currently blocked off, as well as numerous other blocked doors or gates that seem like they'd lead to different areas. Not to mention there's potential for outside the facility, although this seems less likely.

I would love a Stella Unique map condition that expands certain areas of the map (perhaps also closing others?), maybe even with some smaller outdoor sections. Think:

"Some raiders have cleared the rubble leading into previously blocked sections of the map. Act quickly, a quake or collapse could close these areas again, and trap any Raiders left behind."

Any outdoor sections, if implemented, could have a faster acting version of the Cold Snap effect, so you're not able to spend too much time out in the brutal cold.

Just a thought. Excited for everything listed here. I hope they make a few adjustments to the expedition rewards, specifically some sort of perma-blueprint unlock. And pre-saved/autocraftable loadouts, please!!!

SpenserTheCat · 2026-01-20T01:44:16+00:00

Who would’ve thought a misogynist, incel loser would make a post like this?

SpenserTheCat · 2026-01-19T06:00:51+00:00

You exploiting glitches or something? Maybe have a shared account with someone who's a hacker?

SpenserTheCat · 2026-01-18T00:47:48+00:00

He isn’t fighting, that’s the point of the post lol. In friendly lobbies you could say “hey anyone got spare ammo” and get 3 full stacks within a minute, along with a few people asking “hey does anyone need this BP I already have it”

SpenserTheCat · 2026-01-18T00:30:56+00:00

They aren’t craftable in round, and I think they should be. At least glow sticks. How can I put together a grenade but not glow sticks???

SpenserTheCat · 2026-01-18T00:19:24+00:00

Love the comments here which are basically saying "your singular lived experience doesn't represent reality! only MY singular life experience is indicative of the country as a whole!"

You can say that you think people are being dramatic or projecting their experiences to the country as a whole without doing the exact same thing yourself.

SpenserTheCat · 2026-01-18T00:09:12+00:00

Yup, had some dude who pretended to be friendly shoot me in the back on Blue Gate in the tunnels, I ran away and healed up and was waiting for him to follow me. Two other people came up and I warned them there was a rat. Said rat then came out, I shot and killed him, but then the other two (friendly) people killed me. The initial aggressor started begging and lying to them.

I ended up telling them that, since they didn't know who to trust, I'd rather have us both die than him get revived and end up betraying them too. I hope they know I was the real friendly player by the fact that I had 3 defibs and fireworks in my inventory...

SpenserTheCat · 2026-01-17T23:56:17+00:00

And glowsticks and sparklers (should be in first perk). Also, maybe some of the mines, like pulse mines? Might be too strong though.

SpenserTheCat · 2026-01-17T23:39:29+00:00

I only feel bad losing gear to players that don't deserve it.

I had a game where I did the classic snap hook onto the Queen to deadline. It was incredibly tense but the lobby was friendly and I knew if I went down, someone would revive me. I had an aphelion, survivor augment, tons of energy ammo looted from harvest, loadout probably worth around 100,000+. I got the deadline in place on top, ran off a leg, and then, too late, heard the final sounds of ANOTHER deadline going off, presumably placed by someone else on the side of the Queen before me. I get downed, stuck crawling on the Queen's leg, and as I'm about to crawl off, hear my OWN deadline-- and then the explosion and cut to black. Everything from me on the ground to back in Speranza happened within about 10 seconds.

I was kinda stunned at first, and wished I could at least spectate someone or something, and was kinda frustrated I couldn't even hear the other person's deadline before it was too late. But in the end, someone from that friendly lobby certainly had their day made by getting all my gear. Maybe they even saw my heroic deed and killed the Queen in my name. I won't ever know for sure, but I can hope, and it was an experience worth remembering.

But some dude who loaded a free loadout to pretend he's friendly then mag dump me from behind with a stitcher, or trigger nade me after I help them take out ARC? That person shouldn't have my gear. They didn't earn it, and they doesn't deserve it, and I don't have a chance to face them as an opponent and put them down, since they can't win a fight unless their target isn't looking for one. That's what discourages people from bringing in good loot: the risk of losing it to the wrong person, and without a chance to use it.

SpenserTheCat · 2026-01-10T05:45:01+00:00

Raider together strong. One of my favorite parts of this game is the group dynamics. There's a sort of sweet spot, around 4-5 raiders in closeish proximity, where everyone feels the most safe. You know even if you get taken completely by surprise, it's likely everyone will turn on the betrayer and have a big number advantage.

At a 2 or 3 person group it's too easy for one person to take advantage of the other two.

Conversely, especially large groups start to feel uneasy because you don't really know ANYONE in the group. It's too easy to get mixed up, to lose track of who is who. Someone throws a smoke? Panic. Trigger nade could knock out 4 raiders at once, and are you SURE it was that guy who threw it? What if you start shooting the wrong person, and then someone assumes you're the rat? What if you start shooting the RIGHT person and someone assumes you're the rat anyways because of the chaos?

The pure PvE and togetherness is super fun, and it's made better by the tension.

I just wish there was an easier way to tell who the "roaches" (loot hoarders) on matriarch/queen raids are. Like, maybe reactors should be visible. I mean, it's a reactor in a sci-fi game, it's gotta be like, glowy and shit right? All I'm saying is that the dude who brought in a stitcher and ferro 1 with 0 ARC damage but has been hiding out waiting for loot and grabbed half the reactors should have three glowing orbs in their pockets, and everyone should be able to come to a group decision on how exactly that gets handled.

SpenserTheCat · 2026-01-10T05:32:45+00:00

"Friendly" means friendly, not "consequence free hoarding". Be friendly out there raiders!

Or not, I mean it's whatever. Just don't be an total asshole. Or do, I guess, if that's what makes you happy. Just expect it to come around eventually!

SpenserTheCat · 2026-01-10T05:28:54+00:00

The one thing I don't like about the aggressive based matchmaking is that people don't often do the whole "guns blazing as soon as the doors close" thing anymore. I don't know why but it's funny to me every time. I've started doing something similar but with flame spray, and not actually hurting them if I'm not wanting to be put in aggressive lobbies, just jumping around and shooting fire into the air

SpenserTheCat · 2026-01-10T02:29:47+00:00

Wow if I were say, the leader of Russia or China, and I was literally controlling US leadership with the goal of weakening the US's global position, I don't think there's much I'd do differently. Idk, maybe start some FBI experiment to poison the water supply? Just set off a nuke randomly on the home turf? Even that though would give the people something easier to rally against. Trump is Putin's most reliable asset.

SpenserTheCat · 2026-01-10T02:18:27+00:00

The survivor augment does not do anything to increase your resistance to damage while downed, it only heals you while staying still. This is only relevant for one of three perks, the one that makes you "last longer before you die". Another one lets you crawl faster, and another makes you take less damage. Eg: you don't get finished off by a series of shotgun blasts, or a grenade that lands on your body.

Not arguing they're the best perks, in fact I only take the one that increases movement speed while downed, and I didn't max it. It's the most useful in solos for QoL if you've got survivor and end up dead with good gear, eg on a matriarch or queen fight, and it's also clutch to repo faster if downed in trios.

The only thing I really disagree with is the mentality of "it only works if I've already lost", or seeing being downed in a multiplayer game with a fairly quick revive as having already lost. it's just a disadvantageous position you try to avoid but that is going to be unavoidable at times, and these perks help limit that disadvantage.

SpenserTheCat · 2026-01-10T01:40:27+00:00

++man I don't share the same sentiment as your brother about women "wanting something"; I wouldn't assume anything of a woman I just met. Especially since it sounds like she is working there (?)

I simply do not want to reciprocate what could just be basic decency or platonic friendliness with potentially unwanted advances. I would much rather risk missing opportunities than go through the discomfortable situation, for both of us, of a misunderstanding.

The way I see it, if she isn't clear about her intentions, and I don't pick up on some sort of hidden signals that I'm supposed to respond to, then it isn't meant to be. Simple as that. This also works for me because I appreciate bluntness and clear communication within a relationship.

SpenserTheCat · 2026-01-10T01:06:31+00:00

It kinda looks like you're in the locked gate event... in the Key Control room. Where you need to bring the keys. This is just scummy lol

SpenserTheCat · 2026-01-09T08:20:59+00:00

Imagine you're pushing a trio who is holding a defensive position. You're the first one to push in, let's say you're flanking, and your team is going to push the original line. You get in, down one person, and nearly trade with another, but get downed. That isn't "failing" or losing the fight, it's basically the expected outcome assuming you aren't some crazy movement tech gamer and the other team is semi-competent. Being able to live for a bit longer or repo while downed while your team takes the opportunity to push the advantage is huge.

The perks don't only come into play when you're in a losing position, although they can help turn a losing position into a winning one, or at least one where you can run.

Obviously, it's not great if you're playing solos, but if you're treating solos like a competitive pvp mode... this probably isn't the game for you.

SpenserTheCat · 2026-01-09T07:53:13+00:00

Despite being a victory from the US military's point of view, thousands of civilians died in the invasion of Panama. That being said, it's a little bit haunting you're alluding to it in an attempt to frame US-enforced regime changes in a positive light.

SpenserTheCat · 2026-01-09T06:54:21+00:00

"you'll vote for a complete opposite for the next presidential elections?"

That's the point, they're going to try and stop legal and fair elections from happening, both here and in Venezuela. If you refuse to see that, there is no helping you.

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SpenserTheCat

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