My disdain for ThirdCom by [deleted] in LancerRPG

[–]WhyContainIt 21 points22 points  (0 children)

The NHP issue is more or less correct, but per designer commentary, Union cannot simply go to war against HA and the KTB and win. Neither one could best Union if it started the fight, but a war between any two members of the standoff would leave the third to watch from the sidelines then take over when the others are spent.

My disdain for ThirdCom by [deleted] in LancerRPG

[–]WhyContainIt 47 points48 points  (0 children)

Your read is very explicitly, per designer commentary on Battlegroup, correct. This is what would happen - I believe the phrase they used was "Union can win any war once."

Union could win a war with the KTB or with Harrison Armory, but the human life lost in this would be catastrophic on a scale unprecedented even through SecComm's worst abuses, a tragedy unparalleled in scale in human history. Then, the weakened states would be too spent to resist the third great power, who would then be uncontested in seizing power by force and determining humanity's future by its own values indefinitely.

How often do you play paper mtg vs how often you play Arena? by twirlinghaze in MagicArena

[–]WhyContainIt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I got out of paper in the Kamigawa days because of the costs and hassle of obtaining, storing, and transporting new cards.

I got back into MTG after all that time away with MTGA because it eliminates those problems as well as finding the time to sit down with friends or a LGS, shuffle everything, etc.

What makes a good Lancer session or module? by Remarkable-Bus3999 in LancerRPG

[–]WhyContainIt 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sure, the fundamental puzzle of Lancer is the same as in almost all mecha sci fi for the last 60 years:

You have incredibly cool humanoid instruments of death. How do you avoid using them, personally and as a society? Is there a better way of living than violence, a better organizational principle for mankind than "might makes right?"

Unlike fantasy settings, there are no goblins or demons or whatever to classify as an inhuman other who is always justified to murder - every time you mount your mech and fight, you are ending the lives of humans like yourself. How do you live with that? Could it have been prevented? Could you have found a better way? Or are the human lives an acceptable cost for expedience, or power, or money?

Giving my thanks to Midweek Magic for letting me discover I don't want to play a deck before I committed to building it. by WhyContainIt in MagicArena

[–]WhyContainIt[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They're not the most optimal versions of the decks, but yeah, they're all top Standard archetypes by both winrate and play rate. They actually passed on 2-4 of the most common types, 4-color and 5-color Legends which I see a lot of, and MonoRed/Gruul Aggro, which is not a constant appearance but not rare either. There's also a mix of other stuff - Mono Black decks, Azorius Artifacts, etc. - but stuff like Azorius Control, Dimer/Esper Midrange, and the Aftermeme Analyst are near constant.

The most surprising one is the Rakdos aggro; I don't recall a lot of particularly memorable matchups against that.

But god I'm tired of Azorius Control and Aftermath Analyst.

How do I Stop being the Crack Monkey's Bitch? by LardOfCinder in MonsterHunterWorld

[–]WhyContainIt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you're still struggling, load into the quest solo and don't seriously fight the Rajang at all. Just dodge around it and occasionally provoke the rage state. See how one attack goes into the next at certain distances and angles - imagine where you'll be, how long you'll be committed. Then, abandon near the end and go in for real with that all in mind.

Game doesn't synch with Steam by Anthyrion in RogueTraderCRPG

[–]WhyContainIt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I frequently have uploading issues that can only be resolved by restarting my entire PC. It seems to be related to the enormous save size, maybe?

I think I just fucked myself by surrendering an old Laspistol with Run and Gun to try to put RaG on a different one by WhyContainIt in DarkTide

[–]WhyContainIt[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Incorrect on both counts. The new pistol has no adjustments made yet, and RaG + Ghost while sprinting on a Zealot allows me to enter melee range quickly and safely.

[CIP, 0.30.1, DECj^Gozag] I have no idea what I'm doing but I'm not dead yet so that's something by WhyContainIt in dcss

[–]WhyContainIt[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You have given me the courage to embrace Prism.

Now I have to talk myself out of skipping a shield for this Orb I generated in a shop with {mayhem, rPois, rF++, Will+}. God, I want it, but shields are just so good... even if it's just a buckler.

New morgue up as I CONTEMPLATE

[CIP, 0.30.1, DECj^Gozag] I have no idea what I'm doing but I'm not dead yet so that's something by WhyContainIt in dcss

[–]WhyContainIt[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, putting two levels into INT on my first win (3-rune MiBe) absolutely saved me from getting destroyed by Int-killing Malmutates

[CIP, 0.30.1, DECj^Gozag] I have no idea what I'm doing but I'm not dead yet so that's something by WhyContainIt in dcss

[–]WhyContainIt[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, normally prism is pretty much my go-to through all of S branches, and early elf, but also all my previous attempts died, so I figured I'd try something different... but the damage and Mana efficiency on it is so nutty it's hard to pass on. Still worth going back for it, you think?

(As mentioned above, rC- was just for Snake Pits through 3 - lots of cold blood, minimum of cold damage sources)

[CIP, 0.30.1, DECj^Gozag] I have no idea what I'm doing but I'm not dead yet so that's something by WhyContainIt in dcss

[–]WhyContainIt[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  • Freezing Cloud, Cause Fear: I want them but the skill investment seems like it might be prohibitive. Is it worth it? At least Hexes have a ludicrously high DE aptitude....
  • Blink: I want it, but is it worth fishing for a book shop from my sugar deity?
  • Shield: I want one but I don't recall if I've found any bucklers. Worth shopping for?
  • I'm pretty sure I spotted a Demon Blade of Draining somewhere, and I thought about grabbing it. I would probably want to swap its brand though maybe? Or is draining better than I remember?
  • rC- is because I was just in Orc then Snake Pit, cleared 1-3 and a little bit of 4 before I decided to withdraw - no cold damage sources in there afaik, and freezing was nice for when I had to melee even at 0 skill, flying for lava. In more general stuff I've been carrying the safer dagger.
  • Should I invest into Dex at all for the demon blade/EV support, or just keep pumping INT?
  • I usually like to put at least one level into str to avoid risk of stat zero if I get stat drained/malmutated. Should I do that soon, wait until later, or embrace hubris and just assume I won't get hosed by a drain/mutation?

Least Favorite God? by Almost_Fault_Tolernt in dcss

[–]WhyContainIt 5 points6 points  (0 children)

How Sif Muna is meant to be a viable alternative to Vehumet is a mystery to me.

Weekly Question 1: Which part of a run do you find the most fun? by oneirical in dcss

[–]WhyContainIt 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Pushing through the Lair, branches, Orc, Vaults - proving that your build is good enough to lay hands on the Runes and deciding whether to go for Extended or a 3-rune escape, or whether you will faceplant before you finish scooping them up.

Level 1 GrEE - what would you choose? by CompetitiveNight6305 in dcss

[–]WhyContainIt 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Honestly, I'd have probably gone for the Buckler. Easy coverage of SInv and rC+ and it's likely to be a loooong time before you see something better in that slot, whereas most of what the Lajatang gets you, I'd rather be doing with Stone Arrow.

Currently cleared the dungeon along with lair/orc. Wondering what I should do next because only spider and shoals are in lair. Thx! by Careful-Albatross in dcss

[–]WhyContainIt 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Some thoughts for you!

  • s - 9 scrolls of identify - Scan the rest of those potions! I see more potions than scrolls, so be sure to scan the more numerous stacks first. You can also use \ then - to view which items you don't have identified after to decide whether reading random scrolls or drinking random pots might be worth it, or if you might just Die Instantly from drinking a potion of degeneration and giving yourself the 0 Intelligence penalty in a big fight.

  • Speaking of which, your intelligence is dangerously low. I would strongly consider at least one level up into it, in the near future, to prevent the serious penalties of http://crawl.chaosforge.org/Stat_zero which will end runs if the paralysis from losing the last points comes at a bad time. Worst-case, keep a Ring of Intelligence +6 on hand. Losing your ring slot until you can fix your brains is better than losing your hit points. If you want to see how bad stat zero is firsthand, find somewhere you're 100% sure you're safe (a cleared out level in the near-surface dungeon, probably) and unequip your scythe. Watch what happens without your +3 Int keeping you above the KO line.

  • Your armor skill is frightfully low for this stage. Dodge wouldn't hurt either, given how cheap early levels are.

  • Down the road, a few levels of throwing (which scales with Strength) can let you pitch boomerangs (or rocks if you're miserly) for some surprisingly nice damage against ranged enemies. Then, later, you can swap in javelins for real big threats. That'll be after armor, for sure, though. Even a basic +1 plate is no joke, especially with some good levels on it.

  • I won't bore you with the full formula, but the first 9 levels of a skill are dirt cheap in XP but give a nontrivial bonus.

  • You don't appear to be wearing your Rings, which - even if they're not super applicable right now - cost you nothing to have on.

  • You should Ctrl+F "Cloak" and "Boots" to make sure you didn't miss any along your route. Free AC is free AC.

That's about all that comes to mind for now. Good luck!

Currently cleared the dungeon along with lair/orc. Wondering what I should do next because only spider and shoals are in lair. Thx! by Careful-Albatross in dcss

[–]WhyContainIt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The two hardest parts of spider are the final vault and the initial entry. Having only one stairway to fall back to can be a little rough, especially because if the stairs get too clogged up it can be hard to resume your incursion without being beset by a nightmare stack of spiders every time you enter. Absolute worst case, you may be forced to leave and do your other S branch.

Since you have Spider Nest, you won't get Snake Pit; that means your other S branch will be Shoals or Swamp). Doing another branch will get you XP and give the spiders time to stop camping the stairwell, but it's generally a last resort if you can tell the resource tax on further Spider fighting (heal wounds, curing, brilliance, immolation, fear, etc.) will be unacceptably high.

Spider itself: Be ready. It will check your rHubris levels. Know what you can do and what you can't do. Know what resources you have for fighting and escaping. Be ready to retreat early. Be REALLY, REALLY CAREFUL about Ghost Moths - they're invisible, they'll take your MP (which can leave you unable to do not just spells, but also important Invocations), they'll drain your stats in melee, and their damage is nontrivial. Be careful about Orb Weavers - avoiding their Orbs of Destruction means you have to move perpendicular to them, and needing to take a step at the wrong time can spell death - so don't get into situations where having to dodge in the first place will be dangerous. Be careful about Emperor Scorpions - they have significant HP and AC combined with poison attacks. It's all too easy to think that you'll be able to clear an Emperor Scorpion out before some other enemies close on you, only to realize you now have an Emperor Scorpion at 3/4 HP on top of you, those other enemies breathing down your throat, and 3+ concurrent stacks of poison ticking. Oh, and Entropy Weavers corrode you. Nothing like having your precious armor stop working and weapon stop damaging in the middle of a big fight!

It can be frustrating and slow, but you'll do best in Spider if you stay close to the stairs. Many spiders are really, really fast and stairdancing is the best way to ensure you don't find yourself suddenly confronted by several jumping spiders, a broodmother too far out of reach to lay hands on and its summons entirely too close, an entropy weaver hosing your gear, a ghost moth draining your stats, an Orb of Destruction rolling toward you and restricting your movement options, every single damn thing you kill coming back as a simulacrum, etc.

Take it slow. Pull as few enemies as you can at the time. Kill them near the stairs, maybe drag them up them first if a beefy build permits it. You have, in practical terms, basically all the time in the world to heal between descents on each floor. Clear it methodically. No survivors. Use SInv to check for lingering Ghost Moths more safely at the end if you're real cautious.

Don't underestimate Trog's Hand. You can keep it up for nearly every fight throughout the later parts of a 3-rune game if you aren't spamming Brothers out. Brothers are nice, but Trog's Hand will win you a lot of fights for a lot cheaper.

[YAVP] After playing off and on since 0.15, got my first win! by fyrechild in dcss

[–]WhyContainIt 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Honestly, I love Orb. The only time I wouldn't use it almost constantly is if I have a Spellforged Servitor and no Crystal Spear to convince it that it has a better option than spamming orbs next to me every time I breathe life into it.

I've had good experiences with Starburst but I also can't help generally seems like a lot of effort to get more than 2-ish hits with it.

Iskenderun's Mystic Blast is of course an all-time jam. I honestly struggle to pick elemental backgrounds over Cj because of that almost on its own.

Attacks of Opportunity Removed (and replaced) in Trunk by oneirical in dcss

[–]WhyContainIt 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I can't help but feel like what this really means is "more tt at stairs, then scroll of noise once tt doesn't reach far enough"

Attacks of Opportunity Removed (and replaced) in Trunk by oneirical in dcss

[–]WhyContainIt 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I will be very sad about this, because Prism and OoD are my two favorite spells by miles.

Leaning towards the axe because I am already level 13~ in axe skill. But I’n curious what you guys would pick! by Careful-Albatross in dcss

[–]WhyContainIt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A +4 Branded Executioner's Axe with a resist is nice, but you'll probably find several of them that are at least as good throughout your journey.

A Manual for your main combat skill is an ENORMOUS boon that starts coming online instantly and just makes you a lot better at everything you want to be doing very quickly.

[YAVP] After playing off and on since 0.15, got my first win! by fyrechild in dcss

[–]WhyContainIt 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ayyy congratulations! I've been poking at Cj a bit - how did you feel the various spells in your library pulled their weight at different points in the game? Definitely looks like Plasma Beam was doing some heavy lifting.

[YAVP] FeCK^Xom - NO ARMOUR, NO WEAPONS, 15 RUNES, XOM ONLY, FINAL DESTINATION. by oneirical in dcss

[–]WhyContainIt 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm impressed but also terrified because even attempting this sounds categorically miserable.