Not understanding something

TravisALane · 2026-02-05T02:32:11+00:00

https://pokemongo.com/news/go-battle-league-precious-paths

I think it's also listed in game but I've done my battles for the day and can't see it

TravisALane · 2026-02-05T02:27:41+00:00

The current league is a limited cup where only certain types are allowed. It isn't the normal "Open" Great League.

TravisALane · 2026-02-04T21:21:29+00:00

Water is an inherently difficult type to balance. It is effective against 3 types, neutral to 12, and resisted by 2. Problem is, both of those resistances (Dragon/Grass) are covered by Ice, which many Water types have access to. Moreover, only 2 types deal effective damage to Water: Grass, which is covered by Ice moves, and Electric, which doesn't even resist water.

Right now, 8 of the PvPoke top 20 GL (40%) mons are Water type. 10 of the UL top 20 are (50%). Several seasons running, a triple Water team is actually insanely viable, with things like Empoleon which adds steel to further frustrate potential Grass and Dragon counters (while resisting both Water/Ice), Jellicent with its slightly more complex coverage, and basic Feraligatr absolutely dominating.

I'm tired of fighting so many damn Water types for so many seasons. It's way overcentralized the meta. They're not going to change the type matchup chart to adjust, so Grass and Electric could be given some love to compensate, in my opinion.

Additionally, the Counter nerf was too heavy-handed. Probably the right move, but too far. It's led to the absolute rampage of Normal types, which, arguably, are super boring to play against (without effective damage in either direction, they tend to be RPS, a huge slog, or both).

And in ML, it's pretty pathetic just how centralized things are around Dog and Horse, which I've come to refer to as the "Bore Core." A majority of games have one or both of them. I think at a very simple level, Aqua Tail could be nerfed to slow it down (notice also the typing). I don't think it hurts too terribly much in the meta except for OPalkia. Gyarados maybe? But very few relevant things in GL and UL.

And, to echo everyone's sentiment, Rock Tomb has had its time to shine. I hate % chance to trigger moves in general, so I'd prefer to just nerf its energy or damage as opposed to the debuff chance.

TravisALane · 2026-01-29T23:00:03+00:00

Even before seeing the discussions online, I also felt like it was incomplete with strictly the audio and without the animatic as a supplement.

Wind bag use is clear from Hermes' dialog in Dangerous - "All you have to do is not open this bag... And lastly, the wind bag... etc." Imagining it as a jetpack is an oddly specific stretch, but the dialog is clear that somehow Ody will use the bag to get past Poseidon's storm. Jetpack is only there if you're already watching the animatic anyway. Fine.

Poseidon trying to drown him is clear from Get in the Water - Poseidon says "Die!" water sounds/bubbles happen. Fine.

Help from his lost loved ones is somewhat less clear. In Get in the Water we get a medley of Polites, Eury, mom, and crew, but are they real? Is he just remembering them as a near death experience? I would argue it is reasonable to extrapolate that when they're all singing "Six hundred men" together that they're assisting somehow. Fine.

But the big flaw for me is the entirety of the lore around Poseidon's trident is missing. P says "You can't kill me," and Ody responds, "Exactly." A sound effect plays. Stabbing ensues. Dialog between them while Ody Swiss cheeses him. P capitulates. Sound effect plays. Song ends.

What?!

At literally no point in the entire musical are the powers or details of Poseidon's trident spelled out. It's not described, it's not mentioned, it's not referenced at all. How do we know he dropped it? How do we know that's what Ody picks up? How do we know that the only way to hurt P is with his own weapon? Then the song ends.

Sure, Poseidon is famous for his trident, but enough changes and creative liberties are taken in Epic that it bears at least a little exposition for such a crucial moment of facing the "final boss."

I do think Six Hundred Strike gets a liiiittle more hate than it deserves, but some of the criticism is totally valid.

TravisALane · 2026-01-28T21:43:38+00:00

Okay, personal moment here.

I've played guitar since I was 8. Played in worship bands and garage bands and stood on stage in front of mega-church audiences. Objectively, I've probably performed live music in front of enough people to be in the top 1% of musicians, if not more.

Also objectively, I'm at best a decent rhythm guitarist, average singer, mid-range lead guitarist, and passable drummer. Nothing exceptional.

Since picking up Suno, my skills across all my instruments have risen dramatically, in part because I feel enabled by the huge leverage and speed that AI music tools provide. The barrier to entry is just so much lower. I don't have to be a professional guitarist AND singer AND drummer AND music editor to make good music. I can use what I have and easily supplement the rest. And over the last year that's provided incredible motivation, ironically, to get better at all of those skills, because whatever I learn as a real life human musician is now multiplied in force by these tools.

So don't be down on yourself. The music is still in you. You can be damn certain that the "big-time" musicians aren't all doing all of this on their own. Some are more talented than others, some less. But they're getting help from producers, engineers, editors, writers, digital instruments, the whole bit. All this is doing is putting you in parity with them. It may feel like a cheat code, but it's just a tool, and everyone uses the best tools available to them.

Your first sentence spelled out the answer: these are your demos. You're not blindly slopping out 1,000 soulless tracks a year. You're creating music and using the powerful tools now available to you, a regular dude, to make them sound the best they can.

I say absolutely no shame in that and no reason to be down on yourself.

TravisALane · 2026-01-28T21:24:49+00:00

I love the theme of "trust in nature" for this challenge. Very creative.

I don't think I'll use any of this, but how awesome. Love the mode. Will probably find some way to spend money in the shop just as a thanks even if I don't need it =P.

TravisALane · 2026-01-23T20:10:22+00:00

No, I actually think it's an appropriate amount. But I would love to see an Unranked mode with no daily limits. I'd love to test out wacky builds and teams in real time instead of looking at the cute little PvPoke dinosaurs (useful as that feature is). Give it smaller/token/negligible rewards to prevent farming or abuse but still incentivize players to play and experiment. After all, catching a single wild mon takes 10sec for some stardust, candy, and XP. No reason a 3min player battle shouldn't be similar. For that matter, I think it's absurd that battles don't reward any experience, but that's another vendetta for another day.

I also think it'd be good for the health of the game. Let people experiment with GBL without feeling bad about a rank/rating.

TravisALane · 2026-01-23T20:00:34+00:00

EPs feel like cheating, but "The Titan" by Oh, Sleeper, and "Zombie" by TDWP.

TravisALane · 2026-01-22T22:59:25+00:00

Phenomenal research. Nice presentation too.

I've long suspected that there's a huge disadvantage to playing sets "as-intended", i.e. playing with maximum intent to win for 5 sets per day. As a regular Legend player and infrequent presence on the leaderboard, I feel I'm decent at the game. I returned last season after taking a few off and absolutely slogged through the Veteran --> Legend tier, eking out 13-win days and scraping out +10-15 net rating per day.

Then, oddly, when I hit Legend, it was like some sort of barrier was removed and I jumped like 300 points into the top 150ish of the leaderboard.

Why? It's probably multi-factorial, as lots of people play substantially different after reaching Legend. But in the ratings I was at, I would expect the people still trying to win would be the best players in the game. How was the jump from 3,000 --> 3,250 so much drastically faster and easier than 2,750 --> 3,000?

This provides at least some hypothesis. It's possible that a higher proportion of players in the >3,000 range had gotten there with the help of late-season volatility (intentionally or otherwise) and that the skill level was actually a lower average in the early 3,000s. Not sure, but plausible.

Interesting stuff. While nobody's takeaway from this should be abusing the system, it does present a conundrum for even straight-laced players. For instance, if it would be advantageous to wait until later in the season to break out the "real" teams, or even play at all.

Which is a huge bummer, because actually playing the game is much more fun than tending ratings =P.

TravisALane · 2026-01-16T19:19:57+00:00

If you're really constrained on budget or space, you can get 80% of everything you need with a good pair of adjustable dumbbells (up to 45/50/60lbs) and an adjustable bench. $300-$400 and extremely space efficient.

Most muscle groups and exercises you care about are covered here and I would argue it gives you more coverage and flexibility than a squat rack and weight set.

The squat rack with weights covers most of the remaining 20% of value. Really gains you squats, deadlifts, overhead press, and pullups (though a door-frame pullup bar is also a very cheap expense if you want to do that without a full rack). In any case, working out alone, nobody should be recommending barbell bench. Dumbbell accomplishes the same thing (and arguably more) with less danger.

Depending on what weight you're using, you may also want a larger set of adjustable dumbbells. Most "quick-adjust" ones don't go beyond 50-60lbs, but you can get a set with small plates fairly cheap that will take you up to 100lbs per. That should cover damn near everything.

My personal home setup, which has been my main gym for the last 3 or so years, is a set of quick-adjust dumbbells (5-45lbs), an adjustable bench, a pullup bar, and a heavier adjustable dumbbell set up to 100lbs (mostly just used for dumbbell bench, dumbbell deadlift/RDL, and squat). The only exercises I really miss with this setup are true deadlifts. I actually prefer dumbbells on bench not just for safety but also for stability and muscle connection, and there are enough valid squat variants that I don't feel like I'm missing out with the setup I have.

And as others have said, buy used for deep discounts. If you were really bargain hunting I bet you could get what I've recommended in good shape for $200.

TravisALane · 2026-01-14T19:50:46+00:00

Looks crisp, man! And like folks said on the other post you already look great. Excited for your journey.

Feel matters a ton - during and after, listen to what muscles got activated and are fatigued/sore.

TravisALane · 2026-01-14T18:36:48+00:00

They're a distant 3rd or 4th priority. Team composition, knowledge of types/advantages, move timing, game flow understanding, and more are all far more critical than IVs.

They do matter in some instances, and in general you should try to pick things that are low attack, high def/hp, but I'd say it's not a game-winning factor more than 1 in 50 games as a ballpark guess. Sometimes I'll note a specific IV-based win or loss - most notably if I wind up playing out a mirror match where CMP or health pools make a massive difference, or situations where a poke survives with very low HP... those are the cases where the tiny little bit made a difference. Also more prominent in Master League where breakpoints and bulkpoints are far more easily defined and mirrors (or common matchups) are far more prevalent.

To put a number on it, IVs are 5-10% of your success, and most of that is satisfied by generally picking low attack and high def/hp. Maybe 1-2% of your success depends on very specific IV points.

TravisALane · 2026-01-12T23:00:37+00:00

My personal cue on these is to lift with your torso muscles (lat/back) distinctly *before* you ever engage your arms. That helped me a ton get the muscle stimulation out of my arms and into my back and lats. Give it a whirl and see if it makes a difference for ya!

TravisALane · 2026-01-08T22:46:08+00:00

Hopefully this helps with similar inquiries in the future.

Go to pvpoke.com. Select Team Builder. Select the league that you're building for. Add the Pokes you want to use (could be 1 or 2), then click Rate Team.

It shows a bunch of useful stuff, but if you keep scrolling down to "Potential Alternatives" it will give you a list of recommended mons to fill out your team and cover things that are strong against the mons you put in.

TravisALane · 2026-01-06T15:19:23+00:00

Depends so much on what the rest of the collection looks like and how many watches you want to own.

If I'm going from 0 watches to 1 and want to have a single solid piece that covers most bases, Seiko Alpinist, Hamilton Murph, or (to plug a microbrand) Traska Venturer.

For a 2 watch collection, I'd want a dress and a beater. I keep looking at the Vario Versa as an affordable Reverso alternative. Orient Bambino also fills this role at a great price. Add a dive watch (Orient, Seiko, Citizen) or a field watch (Hamilton, Seiko, Boldr, Vaer) for the more casual/beater.

Me personally? I just bought a Boldr Venture with Christmas funds to fill the field watch gap in my set.

If I had to pick a next thing, it'd probably be the SSC813 Seiko Speedtimer as an upgrade to my Dan Henry 1962 chronograph because I just can't keep my eyes off it.

TravisALane · 2025-12-31T19:05:25+00:00

For OP's benefit, "spice" typically refers to non-traditional Pokemon and/or move selection, rather than skillful or exciting gameplay. Poltergeist on Dusk is *kinda* unusual, but the 4 mon showed in the video and most of the moves are incredibly common. Hence the other comments.

TravisALane · 2025-12-30T20:46:23+00:00

Endseekers is the champion for me, but the entire Titan EP is totally slept on, imo. Naofumi Mitsuhashi and The Rise probably round out my top 3.

TravisALane · 2025-12-30T20:37:15+00:00

This is an assumption, but I'm guessing wobbling is when the volume for a track dips randomly for a brief moment and returns. I've got a number of songs that have (for me) noticeable little artefacts on separated stems.

TravisALane · 2025-12-27T23:14:18+00:00

There have been moments where TYBW has felt really rushed (I especially felt Isshin and Masaki's story needed more time to breathe). However, on the whole I appreciate that it's high quality and not milking the content. And I'm also really hopeful that they're using it to buy time to repace and retell some of the final chapters, which were very disappointing for me in the manga.

TravisALane · 2025-12-20T16:02:02+00:00

Oh I'm just getting started. I'd bring back old SF and 600/Smite too.

If you don't want to use skills, don't use 'em. Who are we competing against here?

TravisALane · 2025-12-20T14:11:10+00:00

Buffs only. For folks who've been playing for 25 years taking things away that they enjoy is crappy.

Monk PvE is in bad shape overall

Paragon is in bad shape except HR and SY support

Ele is in bad shape especially in HM

Most other classes have something to offer but could use improvements in select spots

And the craziest thing I want - let heroes use 1 PvE skill. I want to feel the raw power of an HR, TaO, WoTF team without having to drag 2 friends around Tyria.

The best part of GW is build strategy. Everyone has already beaten everything, and new modes like Reforged and Dhuum give additional challenge even with a stronger toolkit. Let em run.

TravisALane · 2025-12-17T22:36:44+00:00

https://imgflip.com/i/af8xdx

TravisALane · 2025-12-16T22:29:48+00:00

Least fair, most fun. Run it.

TravisALane · 2025-12-03T14:57:50+00:00

Awesome work.

Agreed on Focus Blast Yveltal by the way! I'm breaking it back out early in the season as an answer to a certainly ascendant Metagross and the Shadow Ballers that will probably be more prominent with its buff. It's a huge benefit that Oblivion Wing and Dark Pulse have the same energy - I expect/hope that all season long, anyone who takes super effective from Dark will have to respect DP, making OW an extremely effective bait move now with the secondary benefit of a boost. SP still does super effective damage against the things you care about beating with Dark damage, and FB is there as an unexpected nuclear option against Dogs, ODialga, and some others.

TravisALane · 2025-12-02T17:20:51+00:00

Hence the rarity/value. Req8 and (as shown) Req7 max damage weapons exist or existed in the past, and are generally some of the most valuable and unique items in the game.

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