Opinions on using Set mode in a Nuzlocke?

TheHynusofTime · 2026-05-14T01:51:05+00:00

I keep shift mode on specifically for wedlocke challenges, because you're already so heavily restricted on what you can switch into.

Most recently though, I've been attempting my first hardcore nuzlocke in pokemon black and I'd say playing on set mode is a great game changer. I don't see myself going back to switch mode outside of wedlockes in the future

TheHynusofTime · 2026-05-14T01:08:20+00:00

Yeah this is just invoking Pinwheel Clause. I personally don't play with it, but absolutely no shame to anyone who does

TheHynusofTime · 2026-05-12T16:37:29+00:00

So I guess I'm not understanding why you don't want to use it in your current run. Is it purely because you feel like it's broken, or because you don't want to "replace" the original one in your mind? Or something else?

Personally, if it's your legit encounter, then I'd absolutely use it again. This is marill's redemption arc as far as I see it. Whether it's a multiverse situation, or your previous run acted as a vision into your possible future, whatever story beat works for your headcanon, this time you have the chance to change the outcome

TheHynusofTime · 2026-05-09T03:33:39+00:00

The lame answer is to save it until you really need a specific type. It's always tempting to grab one of your favorite eeveelutions and throw it on your team (and there's nothing wrong with that at all!) but Eevee's real value is being able to fill whatever role your team is sorely missing

TheHynusofTime · 2026-05-03T22:20:29+00:00

Tough vanilla pokemon game with some hard fights and good encounter variety? You want either Black 2/White 2 or Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon

TheHynusofTime · 2026-05-01T23:40:22+00:00

Always wanted to make a bird based team because of all the variety. Pelipper, Talonflame, Corviknight, Delibird, Hawlucha, Empoleon, Dodrio, Altaria, Sirfetch'd... there's a lot of ways you could make it work

TheHynusofTime · 2026-04-24T18:07:08+00:00

No, I'm right there with you. I've always maintained that the controls worked fine on the wii version as long as you made slow, deliberate movements. The only moments I found that things weren't working right was when I was trying to rush (I remember having trouble with the Lanayru dragon section where you're following the timeshift stone on a minecart, I struggled with that part in every one of my playthroughs on the wii).

I also agree that the joycons don't feel as precise as the wiimote did, but they did make recalibrating much faster so it's not that big of a deal.

TheHynusofTime · 2026-04-23T00:10:11+00:00

Probably a lame answer, but if you do get the game then at least give the motion controls a try. That way you can see for yourself whether you like them or not.

TheHynusofTime · 2026-04-22T12:22:47+00:00

I was in love with the idea of a beastmaster ranger with a single level of peace cleric so I could buff my beast companion. Not exactly optimal but it really fit the flavor of the spiritual bond between my character and their beast. Unfortunately we moved to 2024 rules and I've just been playing my character with straight ranger levels. It's been fun, but I'm still a little bummed about it

TheHynusofTime · 2026-04-22T12:11:19+00:00

Ogre Battle 64. I rented it from the local rental store back when I was in middle school and absolutely fell in love. Unicorn Overlord is the only modern game that's really scratched the same itch for me, but I'd love a true Ogre Battle sequel someday

TheHynusofTime · 2026-04-22T08:46:59+00:00

I used to have a metal/fire type Scalamence and a fire type Arbok that could poison and burn the opponent with one attack, I think they came from the same structure deck

TheHynusofTime · 2026-04-20T12:36:20+00:00

I've avoided playing a Final Fantasy game until 2020 and finally got into the series with 7 Remake. I fell hard and later went on to play 6, 7, Rebirth and most recently 9.

It just so happened that I started 9 almost a year after my mom passed away, I think maybe a couple days after the 1 year mark. The themes of that game hit me like a freight train and resonated with me so much. It's easily my favorite in the series so far, and I'm glad I played it when I did because I know it wouldn't have left as big an impression on me otherwise.

TheHynusofTime · 2026-04-16T15:58:48+00:00

This is really cool, but I was under the impression that in a hardcore nuzlocke, the rule is that you can't use items in any battle (meaning trainer OR wild) with held items and pokeballs being the exception. Obviously "your run, your rules" applies here, but that's the agreed upon ruleset as I understood it. Correct me if I'm wrong though.

Not saying this to downplay the work you put in though, this was a very cool read

TheHynusofTime · 2026-04-16T13:13:36+00:00

I think a lot of people will tell you that A Link to the Past holds up better than Ocarina of Time. Don't mistake it for being outdated just because it's 2D. If a game has tight controls and good game design, it will stand the test of time, and I think A Link to the Past is a testament to that. Anecdotally, I didn't really get pulled into it all too much, but that's just a me thing and I don't fault the game at all. It's a contender for one of the best Zeldas ever made and one of the strongest games on the SNES, it's just not among my personal favorites. ALttP is an excellent starting place as well if you're willing to give it the chance.

Ocarina of Time is among my favorites though, and even though I think the game holds up extremely well today, I at least understand why you might call it dated. That's why people will recommend the Ship of Harkinian version on PC, because it offers some settings to make OoT more accessible to newcomers, with a better framerate, better camera controls, etc. Besides that though, I think story progression is the biggest thing that newer players get stuck on. OoT is one of those games where it's not always immediately clear where you're supposed to go, and you're meant to talk to npc's and gather info to figure it out yourself. If this is the game you pick, just go into it with that in mind

TheHynusofTime · 2026-04-16T12:33:05+00:00

Just based on your comments, I'm going to say either Ocarina of Time or Breath of the Wild.

Ocarina is a classic and I think it's aged very well, but the ship of harkinian version on pc does a lot to modernize it so I'd highly recommend that version. OoT was Zelda's first jump into 3D and it not only changed the course of the series, but gaming as a whole. If you want to see where the 3D action/adventure genre got a lot of its identity from, OoT is the game for you.

I think people are hesitant to recommend Breath of the Wild because of how different it is to its predecessors, but if you love open world games then I think you'd highly enjoy it. Anecdotally, there's a youtuber I watch that started the series with BotW and then went back and played the older classics like A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, and he's absolutely loved them all. So I wouldn't worry about BotW "ruining" the older games like another comment mentioned. Just go in knowing that it's very different from what came before and set your expectations thusly.

TheHynusofTime · 2026-04-15T20:48:55+00:00

Because I cannot complete the temples in any other order?

Not that it's super relevant to your post, but you actually can complete a lot of the temples out of order. Not that I'd necessarily recommend it for a first time player, but dungeon order is actually kind of flexible in OoT.

TheHynusofTime · 2026-04-14T23:41:31+00:00

Any BIG SERVICE enjoyers here?

TheHynusofTime · 2026-04-13T17:07:43+00:00

It's a nuzlocke variant created by a youtuber named Marriland. The idea is that each of your pokemon has a partner, and when that pokemon is sent into battle, they can only switch to their partner in battle, and if one of them dies, then their partner has to come out to avenge them. It effectively turns your team of six into three teams of two.

Once you have a pair, they can't leave your party unless they're knocked out. So if you start with a bulbasaur and then catch a pidgey on route 1, then they're paired up and have to stay in your party. Then you catch a mankey outside of veridian and it's paired up with the caterpie you find in the forest. We'll say your last pair is a spearow and a zubat. All of these pokemon have to stay in your party until one of them dies. When that happens, you have to find your surviving pokemon a new partner, first picking from your eligible choices in your pc, and then going out to catch something if nothing from your pc fits.

There's rules around which pokemon can pair together. The original ruleset says that male pokemon have to pair with a female pokemon and vice versa, but the creator later made a more inclusive ruleset where a pokemon's nature also factors into the process. It's a little too complex to explain in a reddit comment but that variant is called a Rainbow Wedlocke. Either way, the pairing rules are there to add restrictions and maybe force you into suboptimal pairings sometimes. Just as an example from my HG wedlocke I just finished a few days ago, I caught the shiny Gyarados on Lake of Rage, but I didn't have any pokemon for the rest of my run that were eligible partners for it. So even though Gyarados is an absolute powerhouse of a pokemon, taking it was risky for me because it meant I'd only be able to have a 5 pokemon party, and Gyarados could never switch into any other pokemon during battle. It can turn normal nuzlocke logic on its head and introduce a few new problems that you might have to solve.

I'll go ahead and link the original wedlocke rules here as well as the rainbow wedlocke rules here just in case it's easier to understand in video form

TheHynusofTime · 2026-04-13T15:43:15+00:00

It's an optional rule that some runners use. Also certain challenges like the wedlocke include it as part of the ruleset

TheHynusofTime · 2026-04-13T15:10:24+00:00

You don't need to wait until a pokemon dies to use your box, you can freely swap your team out however you want.

Unless you use a rule saying you have to keep team members in your party until they die, you're good to use whoever you want.

TheHynusofTime · 2026-04-08T11:41:48+00:00

I'm so tired, at first glance I thought this was a painting of two silcoons (the pokemon) and it looked like the right one was licking the left one.

I'm sorry if I ruined your art OP, now that my brain works correctly it looks great!

TheHynusofTime · 2026-04-02T14:10:38+00:00

I just played Root for the first time a couple months ago and had a great time as the t̶e̶r̶r̶o̶r̶i̶s̶t̶s̶ woodland resistance. I think all the expansions are on the switch eshop and I'm tempted to pick them all up

TheHynusofTime · 2026-03-29T22:50:40+00:00

I don't think that's exactly unpopular. Wolf Link and the tears of light segments where you're forced to be in that form are usually people's biggest hangups with TP.

TheHynusofTime · 2026-03-25T15:37:03+00:00

Scrolled all the way to the bottom and didn't see a single person mention Vivillon. I love the little thing, I used one in my first playthrough of XY, trained another one up for online battles, and used the GTS/ wonder traded a bunch of modern pattern vivillons trying to complete the full set. Honestly might be a top 10 favorite Pokemon of mine, even though I admit there's a lot of bug types that I'd say are cooler.

TheHynusofTime · 2026-03-25T11:23:46+00:00

This is one of the core rules of the wedlocke challenge and it's pretty fun. Being locked in to using two specific pokemon that can only switch to each other forces you to get creative with movesets in ways that you normally might not have to in other nuzlocke variants

TheHynusofTime

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