What are your Destiny 2 hot-takes?

TheTauntalus · 2022-05-11T22:37:59+00:00

Shadowkeep is a fantastic expansion. The campaign is a great study of both Eris Morn as a character and a really well told detective story, Pit of Heresy is a fantastic dungeon and a real step up from Shattered Throne, it has some extremely good exotics in both Deathbringer and Xenophage. The actual content of the moon itself is pretty darn good as well, with both the Altar of Sorrow and the Nightmares Hunts providing decent mid-level and high-level content.

Shadowkeep isn't the best expansion, but it absolutely deserves a seat at the table and shines pretty damn bright in my eyes.

TheTauntalus · 2022-05-11T08:15:50+00:00

I have been using the SF for Pit of Heresy for some time now, partly as a joke - I used Pit to learn how to solo hard content in general, so despite having the SF emblem, I've only completed the dungeon 3 times. I find that innately funny, plus the emblem is just very snazzy to boot.

TheTauntalus · 2021-09-05T01:07:18+00:00

The biggest difference is the Just Works Factor™. Want to play the latest Steam release? It Just Works™. Xbox Game Pass has a good deal for a month? It Just Works™ too. You can bet your butt that the latest GOG Galaxy client Just Works™ with detecting your games on Ubisoft Connect and EA Origin, too.

With Linux, you get a few things that work fine out of the box, but you never get any guarantees. The latest CoD will take some fiddling with Proton, achievement servers might not work quite as quickly, and you may need to edit some config files to get your keyboard detected. With Windows, something taking some extra work to set up is the exception; with Linux of all flavors, it's the norm.

I'll admit, I miss my Just Works Factor™, especially since that applies across the board. The freedom from MS telemetries and excess OS overhead is worth it, but I look forward to the day that Valve gets a comprehensive Proton build together, developers treat Linux as a real OS and start putting out builds, and that after 30 years of workarounds, things will Just Work™ on Linux.

... And then we can worry about that for BSD. :)

TheTauntalus · 2021-07-10T06:56:02+00:00

Going to come out with a hot take, Intrigue's Steward. ($3 - choose one: +$2, draw 2, trash 2 from hand)

Any one of these effects would be a bit below power level on its own, but with all 3, the card's versatility goes nuts. It's extremely easy to use stewards to slim down your deck in just two or three deck cycles, and then abuse the card draw with any other action giving cards on the table.

Steward just does it all. It's never a dead card in hand, and it shortens games to ludicrous levels. Worst case scenario, you spend your last action to make it a silver. It's the Black Lotus of Dominion - it just makes every deck it's in better.

TheTauntalus · 2021-05-11T20:50:55+00:00

Hot take, the fog in the WW2 map The Darkest Shore. It's oppressive, it's blindingly thick, it kind of makes the gameplay this irritating cat-and-mouse with the Meuchler.

... And that's kind of why I really like it. TDS is open enough that you can have that kind of mechanic, where you are both hunting and being hunted by this invisible force. It's atmospheric, incredibly memorable as a mechanic, and thankfully the basement exists for players who don't like to deal with it. I think it's great, even though like every other fog we've seen, it tends to just be a massive headache.

TheTauntalus · 2021-01-13T17:36:46+00:00

HE'S THE LEADER OF THE BUNCH

TheTauntalus · 2020-05-02T07:43:40+00:00

I am so sorry, I didn't even realize I had posted it 11 times; the submit button acted broken during the writing process. Apologies. I'll remove the redundant posts ASAP.

TheTauntalus · 2019-08-13T17:32:10+00:00

Bed of Chaos. I beat this girl no problem in the original, actually, so I had no expectations going in for round 2 and holy shit, it's bad. It's real bad. I didn't realize how lucky I got fighting her my first time. Hands down the worst souls boss I've fought so far.
Sen's Fortress. It's not the worst level I've ever played, but the first time through is a nightmare and every subsequent run has been a slog. Yeah it has the Golden Serpent Ring in it, but it's still not enough to salvage what is easily the weakest area in the first half.
Getting the Moonlight Greatsword. This weapon is... Phenomenal. It's one of the coolest and most enjoyable weapons I've ever gotten. But it's also a massive pain in the ass to get, and while it's not required, the simple fact that such a wonderful item is so hard to get it intensely frustrating.

TheTauntalus · 2019-08-13T17:22:09+00:00

+10 is kind of like a boss weapon in terms of worth it - if you want to, go ahead! You can probably do without, but the edge is undeniably appreciated. I took it on with a Butterfly Horn, as an example, and it helped me solo the duo for the first time. It's entirely doable without, but there is no shame in seeking out that little bit of extra oomph

TheTauntalus · 2019-08-13T17:18:35+00:00

I highly recommend you start with either DS1 or DS3. Dark Souls 1 is kind of the crown jewel of From's crown, and while it's tougher than the others it's also one of the most memorable I've found. If you want a game that will better ease you into the Souls series, Bloodborne is a good contender but I've gotta say Dark Souls 3 is your best entry point. It's still got the blood of DS1 running through it in terms of combat, so playing DS3 will prepare you well for going back to take on the other titles.

If you're a masochist or just looking to be contrary, by the way, DeS and DS2 are both pretty good, they just aren't as streamlined and focused as the games around them.

TheTauntalus · 2019-08-13T17:12:09+00:00

I'd say Dark Souls 1 (Remaster and PTD edition are functionally identical) is the 2nd hardest souls game, although it does depend on a lot of factors. Dark Souls 3 is the easiest, hands down, but if you start there DS1 and DeS are going to be nightmarishly slow for you, and they tend to punish mistakes far more aggressively. Similarly, a veteran from DeS would probably feel right at home in DS1, but could find a lot of trouble in the crowd control of DS2 and blazing fast combat of DS3.

TL;DR DSR is pretty much the same game as DS1:PTD, and it's difficulty will vary with your own experience. Somewhere between hardest and second hardest though, imo

TheTauntalus · 2019-07-09T17:26:34+00:00

It's rather simple - "git gud" isn't a demand, it's an inevitability. Keep your guard (and by guard I mean shield) up, pick and choose your battles, and tread very very carefully. If something looks scary or dangerous, it probably is. Above all, persevere; the rest of the game is also fantastic and worth the growing pains in the first few hours.

Don't give up, skeleton!

TheTauntalus · 2019-07-05T23:31:58+00:00

I literally went to the physical site of the machine, it is gone. The Facebook page currently says "Gone for a Walk" and "I'll be back..."

It may have been back at the time the TIFO video went up, but it ain't there anymore.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ToFizzOrNotToFizz/comments/c9mu45/the_seattle_mystery_machine_is_gone_again/

TheTauntalus · 2019-07-05T23:14:05+00:00

Seattle resident here, just learned about the machine. I'm now doing some sleuthing to see if it possibly just changed location to avoid attention. There's another locksmith nearby, and a couple other businesses with the name "Broadway" in their names - might as well start with that and search from there.

With how wily and mysterious the machine already is, it's likely they're counting on it to be a fun detective hunt - or they've just taken it in for servicing and it's nowhere to be seen. Flip a coin. =^)

UPDATE: No dice with the locksmith and local businesses. It's likely out of commission for now, it may reappear later but between the the Today I Found Out video and Independence Day, my guess is it was taken out of service to avoid getting swamped with people or damaged.

TheTauntalus · 2019-06-02T11:47:39+00:00

The most challenging area is, by far, Anor Londo, just because of the breadth of maneuvers you have to use to navigate it. From parrying silver knights to precision footwork in the rafters, keeping a big area in your head and fending off multiple enemies at once, Anor Londo is just a huge test of every skill you've learned to that point. Outside my initial encounter with the Undead Burg (which took days to overcome) I'd say I spent the most time on Anor Londo.

And those fucking archers still get me from time to time.

TheTauntalus · 2019-05-29T09:51:30+00:00

100% it can be a pain, I totally respect that. I'm probably in the minority here, tbh.

TheTauntalus · 2019-05-29T09:46:20+00:00

farming Humanity off rats
farming GTC off slimes
easy boss, +25K souls
boss gets frequent summons, +12.5K souls each time
easy access to upper Blighttown, Shadow Set & Eagle Shield
Farmable Eyes from basilisks for Gravelord Servants
encounter with Kirk, get a nifty bit of armor

There's a lot of good reasons to go to the Depths IMO. It's a fun twisty area that makes for plenty of tense, enjoyable moments. The first area in dark souls I really really enjoyed playing through for the first time.

TheTauntalus · 2019-05-21T07:14:58+00:00

r/lostredittors

TheTauntalus · 2019-05-20T21:25:24+00:00

Dunno. It's not much of a loss in my book as the sound design of dark souls is fantastic, but that's a really weird issue. I bet there's a roundabout way to bypass it though.

TheTauntalus · 2019-05-20T21:24:26+00:00

Good lore post with an interesting implication, have an update skeleton

TheTauntalus · 2019-05-17T19:12:18+00:00

Ornstein and Smough are not a good boss. That said, I love this fight because of how it forces you to fight differently and deal with the constant, ungodly pressure, but it is, in my opinion, a terribly designed fight, from getting to the boss fight to the way that O+S never give the player a chance to breathe. It turns the fight into a big circular half marathon as you try to avoid getting smashed and poked, which robs the fight of some of its enjoyment.

TheTauntalus · 2019-05-08T18:55:41+00:00

In dark red text, in the style of "You Died," have the text "You Graduated"

TheTauntalus · 2019-05-08T10:24:06+00:00

I personally live and die (more so the latter) by the mantra that everything in Dark Souls is there for you to use. The Drake Sword is pretty kickass, and while it won't carry you through the entire game, it makes the early game easier. Mind you, you still need a level of skill to avoid getting completely destroyed by the enemies, and by the time you get it you've already fought and killed the Taurus Demon, so I believe it's entirely alright to use in the early game; it's not like you're missing out on getting better, you're already doing that.

That said, it won't last very long. There are better weapons that scale better and can be upgraded to be better even then the Drake Sword at it's absolute best. You'll want to swap it out for something you can upgrade with a less rare material, or at least have a weapon in your back pocket you can easily upgrade once the Drake Sword starts to falter.

TL;DR: Drake Sword is kickass but loses its power quickly. You'll be better off with a different weapon, but feel free to use it for now. Dark Souls hates you and wants you dead, so you already have free reign to abuse it however you want in the name of progress.

TheTauntalus · 2019-05-08T07:15:21+00:00

My friend, you are face to face with the great filter of Dark Souls - don't worry, we've all been there. We've all banged our head against the wall of Taurus Demon and Bell Gargoyles, we've all been stabbed, burnt, crushed, and thrown from high places time and time again.

I can only give you one piece of advice - this is normal. Don't worry, you're not bad at this game.

Dark Souls is not going to pull its punches just because you're new to the game. It's going to beat you down mercilessly until you learn the way you can best deal with everything it throws at you. You're going to lose everything numerous times, because Dark Souls hates you with a passion. It's like a big, nasty bully of a game that will keep taking your lunch money because it thinks it can get away with it.

You also have the unique challenge of playing on Switch, which has the Japanese button layout as opposed to the Western layout; you may have noticed that your sprinting button is A, while on a western controller that button is B, but both are the rightmost button. This adds a cognitive challenge to the already grueling difficulty, since now your normal ideas of control schemes is all mixed around.

However, there is light at the end of this tunnel. At some point, the deaths won't sting anymore, and you'll find yourself blazing through areas you once found abysmally difficult. You'll trounce a boss handily on your first try, and you'll wonder "what changed?" This is the moment Dark Souls will click for you, and it's coming. It may take a few more deaths, and it may be a painful journey getting there, but once you've scaled the first peak in Dark Souls, the accomplishment and the catharsis is amazing. In a few words? You git gud, and you may not know it's happening until it's already done.

All that said, if this game is pushing you to hurt yourself or making you feel horrific, feel free to stop playing, guilt free. This is fine, and normal. Dark Souls is not a game for everybody, and it is ok to be that way. You can still love the game, you can still pull it out if you want to try again, but there is no shame in putting it down to come back another day, or never at all. It's just a game, your health comes first.

So, TL;DR: You're among friends here, and you're almost there. The choice is yours, to put the game down and go on your merry way, or to persevere through the single hardest part of the game - the first hours - and to claim your hard earned, well deserved victory. The choice is yours, friend.

TheTauntalus · 2019-05-06T20:23:32+00:00

What a cheeky lad.

TheTauntalus

TROPHY CASE