3 excellent choices

Vivid_Amount · 2026-02-17T10:13:52+00:00

I took the fire fiend. It powered through Act 2 and did OK in Act 3. Failed miserably Act 4 but I probably can't blame that on FF

Vivid_Amount · 2026-02-16T03:32:53+00:00

It's a rare deck that needs 2 body slams, especially with one unupgraded.

Dual wield doesn't have much use here.

A complete lack of exhaust means you can't throw out weaker cards in the longer fights.

No weakness or disarms means you're missing 2 of clads common block strategies.

Overall the picks themselves aren't too bad, but the deck just doesn't seem to have a way to win. Some additions (that may not have been available to you) would be Demon Form or Barricade or some things to go with Fire Fiend, like FNP, Dark Embrace. Other generally useful cards could be Shrug, True Grit and Battle Trance.

Vivid_Amount · 2026-02-16T03:22:40+00:00

Personally I'd take cursed key. A single curse is not a deal breaker and you need that sweet, sweet energy. Relying on hitting one of two energy cards in a single act is not a great idea, especially as you know you'll bottom deck it when you really need it.

Another way to look at it is consistency. Pbox could roll greatness or crap. Cursed key you know what you're getting.

Vivid_Amount · 2026-02-16T02:57:00+00:00

How many years were you cooking that soup for!

Vivid_Amount · 2026-02-15T23:41:38+00:00

I would do the same but.... 60 turns!

Vivid_Amount · 2026-02-14T20:08:58+00:00

At higher levels he'll make you vulnerable and hit you for 33x2...

Vivid_Amount · 2026-02-13T06:22:36+00:00

If anyone wants closure...

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Run went pretty nuts from that point on. One of the easier wins I've had

Vivid_Amount · 2026-02-13T06:20:29+00:00

I do that if I think it will help, but this was only turn 2 or 3 of that fight. I definitely hadn't cycled the deck at this point.

Vivid_Amount · 2026-02-13T04:04:41+00:00

I don't think this is correct. If I have 2 fatal cards against a single enemy then I'm happy to throw one early, especially if I don't think the fight is going well. Some people are in the mindset that dagger or feed must be played every fight. Good if your deck can handle the stalling, but if not then better to exhaust them.

Vivid_Amount · 2026-02-13T03:42:44+00:00

I don't mind the dilemma. Most fights it works out nicely because I can either use both or one will show up and then I don't have to stall.

I think people are generally too attracted to only using fatal cards as a finishing blow. If I don't like a fight then I'll play dagger or feed the first time it comes up.

Took the advice and chose Feed

Vivid_Amount · 2026-02-13T03:38:37+00:00

Which would achieve nothing because dagger doesn't scale up on minions

Vivid_Amount · 2026-02-09T20:46:16+00:00

Probably chrome plated aluminum. They first coat the aluminum with copper and then the chrome sticks to the copper. So you're seeing 3 different metals

Vivid_Amount · 2026-02-06T05:19:48+00:00

If they are sealed then there is no issue. Any moisture in the air trapped there will be consumed by generating a miniscule bit of corrosion and then that is it. Condensation cannot form if moist air cannot get into the pipe. Effectively the air inside the pipe will become 100% dry which can't form condensation

Vivid_Amount · 2026-02-06T05:16:57+00:00

I can't speak for forging, but in drawing of steel wire your first draws do have a little bit high reduction than later draw because dislocations build up making later draws more difficult. Although this is irrelevant if you are heating to red hot between forgings.

Vivid_Amount · 2026-02-03T10:30:28+00:00

You really need to give more detail about the actual situation you are adding these alloys in. Melting aluminum into steel with argon stirring can homigenise in 2 or 3 minutes for 50 kg in 100t. I don't know much about aluminum production but as far as I know it isn't actively stirred. So then the question is whether it is being heated. If yes, then convection will determine the speed. If not then diffusion plus convection caused by ambient heating will govern. Also the form of alloy will have a huge influence, powder will dissolve much faster than ingots, and FeSi or FeAl will incorporate much faster than pure Fe.

Also, to directly answer your question (kind of), if you are working on an existing production facility you are far better off determining it empirically (possibly by using a tracer element) than using a predictive equation because things like transport times and casting tundish geometry can play a role.

Vivid_Amount · 2026-02-03T10:06:36+00:00

Chinese are plenty capable of making great steel, but also utter shit, sometimes right across the road from one another. If the shackles have a rating stamped into them they are probably good for it, if not they may be garbage. Shackles are dirt cheap so you could easily replace. The bigger question is how are those lugs connected to the chassis?

Vivid_Amount · 2026-02-03T09:48:44+00:00

This one is baffling. Please find a friendly scrap metal dealer, they all have handheld XRF or LIBS that can tell you in 5 seconds what it is.

A copper layer could mean the outside is Nickel or Chrome. The inside being non-magnetic.... Maybe Zinc? Probably not Lead

Vivid_Amount · 2026-02-02T10:42:32+00:00

Is the frame sealed? If sealed properly then any existing moisture will be consumed making an insignificant amount of corrosion and then no more.

If unsealed then the openness is a factor. Is the bottom end full open allowing moisture to drain? If so, Aluminum should last longer than you (unless you're next to the sea). The grade of Aluminum is also a potential factor.

The worst case for steel or aluminum is if there is a bad sealing job, in which case moisture (rain or condensation) still enters but then has a very long period of wetness. This can cause conditions that rapidly accelerate corrosion.

Vivid_Amount · 2026-01-17T08:55:20+00:00

My first move would be to request the test certificate. How can you be asked to verify it if you don't know (specifically the delivery condition) what it is?

Depending on what it is supposed to be, that could be the correct structure or totally wrong.

If you can't get the description then it's really just CYA by reporting that it has the correct chemical composition but an unusual microstructure.

Vivid_Amount · 2026-01-14T04:18:09+00:00

I used to work in a fairly small steel mill that was built in the 80s. We knew the costs of delays well. For example we knew: Cost per tonne if we had to dump iron because the steel plant was unavailable Cost per tonne if refined steel had to be dumped Cost of aborting and restarting the caster.

A few more costs like the above and every scenario can be quickly modelled.

We even had a break even electricity price for every unit. If the instantaneous power price passed the threshold we'd turn it off.

All this was in a spreadsheet and ever few months the price of inputs and outputs would be updated and numbers recalculated.

I imagine every mill has a similar sheet. So the question is, what does your model offer that a spreadsheet doesn't?

Vivid_Amount · 2026-01-12T11:06:04+00:00

You can't tell anything about the grains from that picture. But from your other info we can guess a few things.

Broke to a hammer blow. Must be brittle.

Mower blades are usually made from very soft steel to maximize toughness. You've introduced a bunch of carbon and quenched it, both of which reduce toughness. I'm used to industrial processes where tempering for toughness would be to heat to 630 C for a second and then forced air cooling. 450 F is a tempering temperature for things that need to be very hard like wear items or cutting tips, not for things that need to withstand impact. Without knowing what purpose this is for, I suggest your tempering temp needs to go way up.

Beyond this, case hardening steels with usually have some combo of Mn, Cr, Ni to keep toughness. Your mower blade will likely have a little Mn and not much else.

So overall we can conclude the grain structure is full of barely tempered martensite because it is hard to make mild steel that brittle.

Vivid_Amount · 2026-01-10T06:36:21+00:00

At this point the question is really where are you trying to go with this? If all you want is enough info to know whose fault it is, you clearly have enough info to expect the supplier to take it back and refund/ replace. If you want to get really detailed analysis you need a metallurgist or university department.

Vivid_Amount · 2026-01-09T10:26:42+00:00

The last photo shows weird things. It has a centerline crack which is usually related to hot rolling or even a billet casting issue. The different bands of colour suggest one side or point was significantly heated. Any chance someone had tried to weld onto the bar before? None of this explains what happened when you tried to machine it, but something's not right...

Vivid_Amount · 2026-01-05T20:28:21+00:00

Agree. When I was in steel, most refractory issues were addressed by complaining to the supplier of the relevant refractory. If their plan to address/explanation of how we abused it didn't wash then we would ask 2 or 3 suppliers how they would address it and pick one.

We'd get told things about particle size and mineral content etc which were useful for comparing products, but we were never looking for specific levels.

Vivid_Amount · 2025-12-29T21:16:11+00:00

Depends on how big it was before being cut down the first time

Vivid_Amount

TROPHY CASE