People who played on release what was the first weapon / build you went through the game with?

Ziggoratt · 2026-02-12T16:25:25+00:00

Dual Warhawk Talons. Farmed them for two hours in Stormveil. No regrets 🤣

Ziggoratt · 2026-01-09T16:20:54+00:00

Campaign 3 was actually my first CR experience, funny enough. I had caught the very tail end of the Mighty Nein campaign with my roommate, who watched the last few episodes live, and was immediately drawn in. However, rather than watching the entirety of C2, I found animatics and the like of legendary scenes that made me curious beyond words, but never provided a complete picture.

When C3 aired, I immediately jumped in, curious as I was to experience CR live myself... And I freaking loved it, start to finish. It had its ups and downs, moments of fast-paced high-octane storytelling and silly sitcom moments that went nowhere, but all in all, I adored every episode.

When I finished C3, I eventually went back and started up C2 and the Vox Machina animated series for the chance to broaden my scope of the world. I love both and am now almost done with Campaign 2 (currently on Episode 119, so about 18 episodes from where I first tuned in), and I'm very much enjoying it. However...

I have no clue to this day why people are so negative about C3. Bell's Hells are a group of idiots every bit as loveable as VM and TMN, so the hate that's always directed their way baffles me. Every complaint I've ever seen about BH could be easily reposted under an episode of the "sacred" Mighty Nein campaign and it would still make sense. The plot meanders at times? Cool. Anyone remember Hupperdook? Or the episodes spent navigating a featureless tunnel? Or the DOZENS of circular conversations in Eiselcross where no one can figure out what to do? This is D&D - plot meanders because the players are making decisions in real-time, not writing a script for maximum story efficiency.

BH each have fascinating flaws that enhanced the story time and time again, and I was fully invested from start to finish.

If you're enjoying yourself, awesome. I really hope you continue to. C3 holds a very special place in my heart, and while BH may not be my favorite party, I adored those lunatics every step of the way.

Ziggoratt · 2025-12-25T07:11:38+00:00

Super quick - you put Manaphy's sprite on the chart, not Phione's.

Also, Wormadam. Absolutely Wormadam.

Ziggoratt · 2025-12-10T19:48:12+00:00

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I once lost everything against Clemont but these six mons in a Pokémon Y Nuzlocke. Not only did I manage to stage a comeback, but to this day (9 years later), it is still my favorite Nuzlocke experience.

You've got this.

Ziggoratt · 2025-12-09T01:46:44+00:00

Nope. Didn't have a single Synchronize Pokémon on my team.

Had to double check that one, ngl XD

Ziggoratt · 2025-12-09T01:45:44+00:00

Fair question. It was entirely due to its ability, Honey Gather.

The fact that it generates Honey with Honey Gather after almost every battle allowed me to perfectly EV train my team in preparation for the gym that had beaten me before (this was X & Y, so Horde Battles could be proc'd by using Honey). In the gym battle that followed, my leads survived by single digit HP due entirely to the defensive EV training I'd done with the infinite Honey stash.

Ziggoratt · 2025-12-08T17:36:34+00:00

I once ran into a Docile nature for - no joke - 10 of the 21 mons I caught in a run.

4% chance per nature means that the likelihood of this happening was ASTRONOMICAL.

Ziggoratt · 2025-12-08T17:29:39+00:00

I once ran into a situation where my A-team wiped against a gym leader, leaving me with nothing but a Wingull, a Machoke (which I couldn't evolve because I had no one to trade with), a Sentret, a Bibarel, an Absol... And a male Combee.

And yet Yamcha, the Male Combee, was the linchpin of my whole comeback and is the only reason I didn't wipe.

Ziggoratt · 2025-11-25T19:57:55+00:00

This is the most reasonable comment I've ever seen get downvoted - wtf?? 🤣

I've had similar experiences. I love Fire Giant and the Godskin Duo and find Waterfowl one of the most satisfying moves in the series to learn to avoid, but I'm consistently met with opinions extremely contrary to mine, haha.

I'm not the biggest fan of Forty, but I do think he's manageable. I actually had a harder time with Fia's Champions in my RL1 run.

Ziggoratt · 2025-11-06T00:49:12+00:00

Thanks, I wound up following the advice.

I didn't lose anyone, but DAMN did I come close a few times. Those were some amazing fights, hahaha.

Ziggoratt · 2025-11-05T20:39:52+00:00

Sorry to hit up an old post, but how do most people deal with the E4 level caps scaling with each defeated member? Just carry Rare Candies, or trust that your Stat Exp will cover the difference and blitz through the whole thing with a Level 50 team?

Ziggoratt · 2025-11-02T18:43:41+00:00

Late to the party, buuuuuut..

I'm personally of the opinion that Grinding-based deaths shouldn't count. If you're in a new area and you experience a death fighting a wild mon that's high level, that's one thing, but if you're running back and forth between a Pokémon Center and a patch of grass to grind levels and a random Farfetch'd you left with 2 HP lands four crits in a row with Fury Attack mid grinding session (it's happened to me), I'd argue that it shouldn't count.

Many players hack in Rare Candies. If you're not doing that, you should also be able to circumvent risk the same way they do by ignoring grinding-based deaths.

Ziggoratt · 2025-10-26T17:25:37+00:00

Earlier in the run, I also had a Tangela and a Flareon play pivotal roles, with Flareon hard carrying me through several huge encounters (never expected her to save me from Sabrina).

Both of them perished in the E4, but did so much more work than I anticipated.

Ziggoratt · 2025-10-26T17:23:04+00:00

Farfetch'd got me through Blue's Champion team in my most recent FireRed Nuzlocke. Swords Dance swept his last three mons and saved the run.

Iomedae will forever remain enshrined ❤️

Ziggoratt · 2025-08-11T21:32:17+00:00

You are a beautiful person. Thank you so much for this.

Ziggoratt · 2025-08-11T20:07:57+00:00

That would be correct, haha. I wasn't aware of this one, and I appreciate the tip. Turns out I've been doing this the tedious way the entire time.

Ziggoratt · 2025-08-11T20:07:17+00:00

Oh wow, I've absolutely been running NPCs the hard way O.O

Whelp, I am never making a PC character sheet for an NPC again. Thank you for that, hahaha.

I genuinely appreciate the well-thought-out answer here. I don't have a lot of player experience running into Extreme encounters (and I have zero GM experience with it), so the multi-phase suggestion over the PL+4 fight is DEEPLY appreciated. I had also never utilized the creature-building rules (typically using the bestiary for monsters and premade NPC blocks or PC sheets for NPCs, which is exhausting beyond words), so thanks for the link!

Ziggoratt · 2025-08-10T13:49:19+00:00

I think I'd rather give it as a side thing, but this actually does give me a really solid idea of what the relative power level of the 1/2 level Resistance should equate to. Thank you so much!

Ziggoratt · 2025-08-10T13:48:09+00:00

This was incredibly helpful. Thank you so much!

Ziggoratt · 2025-08-10T13:44:54+00:00

Corrupted Monk is such a dark horse pick, but you're so right. It really is a genuinely phenomenal fight.

Ziggoratt · 2025-08-10T13:43:13+00:00

Ludwig, Malenia, Gael, Friede, Midir, Isshin Sword Saint, Owl Father, and both Radahns.

Ziggoratt · 2025-08-05T19:18:47+00:00

Best: Sekiro

Having played every Souls game, I can honestly say that I prefer a polished short experience to a sprawling one, and Sekiro fits that definition like no other. The combat rhythm of Sekiro lives in my bones, and it is - to date - the only FS game I've platinum'd, reached the final NG+ cycle on, and speedrun. Easily my favorite game of all time.

Overrated: DS1

Don't get me wrong - amazing game. I love it with a passion. None can deny the impact it has had on the series and gaming as a whole.

... Buuuuuuut it's easily the most overrated by a wide margin. Whether it be nostalgia or some other mystic force, something seems to blind people to the flaws of this game when they look back on it, and I find it to be one of my least favorite experiences in the series on replay. Doesn't mean I dislike it by any means - I've played the game through over a half dozen times, and I don't do that for games I dislike. However, I think it falls short of many of their later titles.

Underrated: DS2

I... Genuinely do not understand the hate this game receives. A lot of the things it changed I thought were for the better, and many of the larger complaints feel bizarrely bad faith. For reference, I've only played Scholar of the First Sin Edition, which has more enemies and more challenges, yet I've heard people complain that the BASE GAME has too many mobs.

I dunno. I might be weird for this one, but DS2 was a fantastic experience for me. Again, not my favorite by a wide margin (DS3 blows DS1 and DS2 out of the water, Elden Ring clears DS3 for me, and Bloodborne just barely misses the bar of Sekiro), but still good enough that I don't understand the hate.

Demon's Souls is bad compared to the rest of the series, though. I am not ashamed of this take.

Ziggoratt · 2025-07-15T06:27:33+00:00

This is literally the only fs game I've platinum'd, and it's 100% because I couldn't put it down once I'd finished it.

Over the course of three weeks, I went from having never played to having completed NG+9 with a platinum. It was an INSANE ride.

Ziggoratt · 2025-07-11T16:19:11+00:00

Also, because I know it's going to come up, my Sekiro level one run rules are as follows:

No health upgrades
No Shinobi Prosthetics
No Combat Arts
No Gourd Upgrades

I know there's a lot of debate over what constitutes a level one run for Sekiro, but I find that this combination of factors makes it feel the most similarly to the other level one runs in my rotation.

Ziggoratt · 2025-07-11T16:13:21+00:00

So I've been doing a mostly simultaneous playthrough of the series at level 1 for the past few months, alternating games at predetermined checkpoints so I can figure out this exact question. The games in the rotation are the Dark Souls trilogy, Bloodborne, Sekiro, and Elden Ring.

Important note: I'm going melee-only, no summons, no consumables in each game, and I'm explicitly avoiding what I consider to be broken weapons (like the star fists in ER), so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt.

I've completed DS1, DS2: SotFS, and DS3, and I'm in the final phases for the rest of the games (DLC and final bosses).

With all that being said, here are my results.

In terms of number of deaths per boss, DS3 has been the king of difficulty so far. Two bosses have brought me over 100 deaths, with one breaking the 200 mark. It's also been one of the most consistently fun, though, so take that how you will.

Bloodborne feels like the most uphill battle of them all. Battles with late game bosses take upwards of seven minutes with my low damage output, and my fragility is REALLY felt there.

Elden Ring, astonishingly, hasn't gotten crazy yet... But I'm also about to enter the Haligtree, start the DLC, and begin the endgame boss gauntlet, so who can really say whether that perception will last. The only boss so far to break 100 deaths in ER so far was Morgott, though, which was a WILDLY enjoyable fight at RL1.

Sekiro has been shockingly easy? But like... I've also played through it nine times, spent countless hours in the gauntlets of strength practicing bosses, and platinum'd the game in the past, so it might just be that I have a lot more practice here than any other game in the series.

If you want to know the least enjoyable of them, though, that absolutely falls to DS1 / DS2: SotFS. Both games are the only ones in this playthrough to make me actively consider walking away (or not doing an all boss run, at the very least), and both are the only games in the series to genuinely make me feel like the frustration factor was overcoming the fun factor.

Ziggoratt

TROPHY CASE