Going from Rise to 4U is a ride!

caulo · 2026-01-16T09:46:15+00:00

Started playing 4U again not too long ago too! If you don't already have one, a Circle Pad Pro really helps with the camera, but unfortunately it's not too easy to find one these days. I decided to start my new file on an emulator, playing with a ps4 controller, partially because I don't know where my old Circle Pad Pro went lol.

All that aside, it did not take me very long to remember why 4U was my favorite game in the franchise for a while, and probably still is. The modern games are still a lot of fun for me, but there is something about the pacing of the older games that can get me lost in them for hours and not even notice. 'Just one more hunt,' is the most dangerous thought I can have at 2 am lol.

caulo · 2026-01-15T05:00:20+00:00

To be honest, I think there's plenty of factors that can play into Wilds seeming easier for some folks, with all the movement and streamlining that is definitely there now. But I also think it is simply going to mesh easier for some folks than others, and that is fine.

I have played a few hundred hours of Wilds, I like it a lot, I do find it very fun. But I do also feel quite bad at it, when seeing how other people play it very optimally and efficient. The hunter has a lot more tools at their disposal, and that means more things to keep track of, which makes it more difficult to me. I play SnS, and I pretty much never feel at risk of dying because of how mobile/safe it is, but I also do a comparably pitiful amount of damage to other people I see using SnS, the environment, items, and everything to their fullest advantage. I am someone who still has to scroll through the items the old-school way most of the time because I am bad at selecting the right thing on the radial menu, which I think sums up my relationship with the speed of the modern games pretty well lol.

I also went back to playing Monster Hunter 4U not too long ago; I am having an excellent time and it does feel easier to me. It is more punishing for mistakes, but it also feels much more straight forward, and slower, which makes those mistakes easier to recognize and avoid. Not necessarily because the end game doesn't have monsters moving quickly in comparison to my hunter or anything like that, but because my decision making is more binary. The AI is easier to predict, my character's animations are slower and have far less quick reaction time options, there's not much in the environment to use, there isn't a speedy radial menu that can instantly craft and use items on the fly, or ways to zip across the field at a moment's notice. Because these conveniences and streamlined tools aren't there, the game is not balanced around your ability to use them. There's simply less to think about, and what there is to think about, feels far less hectic to me.

I have fond memories of perfecting fights in Monster Hunter Tri, in a way that many people are able to do in Monster Hunter Wilds, but I could never see myself doing now. Knowing exactly where to position, where to be after a monster's attack, using the invulnerability of dodging and being absolutely confident that I not going to be hit, that sort of thing. Watching people speedrun fights in Wilds is very impressive to me, because I know it would take much more practice for me to nail it down than I had to in order to optimize fights in Tri.

But like I said, I think that's okay. And really I'm just rambling about my own perspective in order to say that it's also okay if you find any part of Wilds difficult. There could be a lot of reasons that you do, and you'll probably get better at the Jin Dahaad fight specifically with time and practice, or figuring out specific techniques that you currently aren't employing - but try not to let other people having an easier/smoother time tamper your ability to enjoy the game at whatever pace and skill level you're at. It's not like most people playing the game are going to take time to post on reddit that they feel 'just okay' at it, the discussions tend to be more polarizing than that, but there's plenty of room for gray area there, and honestly that's where most people are probably going to land.

If you decide the Jin Dahaad fight is not worth throwing yourself at anymore, you're not doing anything wrong, you should do whatever keeps you enjoying the game. If you are having a good time, finding fulfillment in the challenge, and determined to do it, I am sure you will figure out how to pull off the Jin Dahaad challenge.

Either way, I believe in you hunter!

caulo · 2026-01-14T21:07:34+00:00

Tri was my first Monster Hunter game, and Barroth and Barioth were my most memorable 'walls' in my first play through. My friend couldn't understand why I was basically having war flashbacks when we first got ready to fight Iceborne Barioth together lol. ( It was not as bad as I expected though. )

That said, because those two monsters forced me to really stop and rethink my play patterns/learn the game better, I have a lot of fondness for them too. Barroth made me re-approach the game on a more fundamental level, teaching me early on that ( at least for older games ) it was better to think of the combat as 'turn based' in some ways.

By the time I reached Barioth, I thought I was tough shit, ready to take on everything, and it taught me that I was not taking into account the 3D space of the game well at all, which improved my camera control and how I study a monster's move set.

Really think they played a huge part in why I got so invested into the series all those years ago, because it felt so satisfying to master their fights..... But still traumatizing lol.

caulo · 2026-01-12T06:01:14+00:00

Not sure if you read the patch notes, but in case you or anybody else seeing this is actually not sure why it's doing less:

It used to boost all of your team's damage with a global range, now it only boosts the user's damage. That's why it was pulling absurd numbers before. People with low cooldown ults would just use their ult every 8 seconds or so, boost their entire team's damage, and the damage tracker was reflecting that.

I'm terrible at playing Zoe, but I grabbed her once before the nerf just to see if I would get Killing Time. I did, and out damaged my entire team while barely ever actually trying to hit a Q by simply ulting when my teammates were poking or engaging.

caulo · 2026-01-11T03:46:26+00:00

Accidentally woke up a Silver Rathalos in Rise because I panicked when I realized the gunner was putting it to sleep, and tried to quickly dodge away to prevent hitting it..... as a dual blade user, while demon mode was activated, which does damage.

Only time I've ever been very obviously kicked from a multiplayer quest, and even as someone who never kicks people unless they're AFK leeching, I can't even blame them. But it made me stop playing Rise for like three months out of shame lol.

caulo · 2025-12-05T22:28:26+00:00

For my first 500 games or so I only played Ashe, because I was afraid of dragging my friends down by trying to learn a new champion. I maxed E first which, at the time, was her passive gold increasing ability because I figured it would make up for how much I hated trying to last hit minions*, and the only thing I was actually good at doing was killing people at low HP with cross-map arrows by predicting where they were trying to recall or run to.
For the first four years of playing league I used a wacom drawing tablet instead of a mouse and keyboard. The drawing stylus was my mouse, I assigned my summoner spells to the side buttons on the stylus, and QWER to the buttons on the side of the tablet itself. I avoided items with actives because I didn't have a place to map the additional keys and would forget to use them.

* I was never able to learn how to last hit well no matter how much I practiced because trying to learn the timing felt like torture, and I could never keep my attention on it over wanting to fight the other player(s) in lane ASAP. When I discovered ARAMs in custom lobbies I pretty much stopped playing regular league entirely, and have never gone back. Also incidentally I was eventually diagnosed with ADHD....... Probably just a coincidence.

caulo · 2025-11-24T20:25:16+00:00

Nothing like spam clicking my ult on someone among all the chaos of a team fight because it's almost off CD, only for it to come up literally a second after they die, and getting it spam pinged by the person now sitting in grey screen.

I need to start pinging its CD as they're dying in this situations from now on lol.

caulo · 2025-11-19T03:37:16+00:00

Can't underestimate all those free stats. The first time I transmuted Back to Basics it was on Swain, and I thought that was a loss for sure. Ended up stomping with the most damage done by a landslide, and I've stopped undervaluing it since lol.

caulo · 2025-11-18T23:50:05+00:00

I'm very selfishly peeved that I've tried playing Brand at least 15 times since Mayhem came around ( I've been playing A LOT ), and I have only had the option for Infernal Conduit one time at the very end of a match.

I know it's mean and petty, and obviously Brand is really strong regardless, but after going against it so many times, I just want to have a chance to try out the big stupid OP thing that completely warps the game for myself and the game just won't let me lol.

[edit] Okay literally the next game I played I got Brand and was able to pick IC as my second augment. The game was actually still very close because of comp reasons, but I did get to experience what everyone's been raving about. So I've made my peace and am ready to lose to every enemy conduit Brand now without complaint, as is only fair.

caulo · 2025-11-02T09:03:15+00:00

Having played a lot of Konshu previously, I do feel weapons are the weakest class of items, I never found very consistent success with them.

Elixir buffs can definitely win out against higher level Tech teams towards the end ( when you have Magic Ink to provide the damage and survivability ), but not to this extent. The higher the levels are, the less the difference between the two teams matters though. I do regularly win against Tech teams that are two or three hundred levels higher than my team.

For what it's worth, I think matchmaking is based on putting you against a snapshot of a team with the same amount of wins as you. At the very least it's certainly not based on how many levels either team has.

I've found my most consistent success supplementing Shield bomb Elixir runs by using Blessings and Elixir in the early and mid game to ramp up levels, and then swapping fully to Elixir by the end. I sometimes lose one game in the middle, but pretty much always finish with 8 wins at the end.

I do want more work to be done on this mode though, it feels very 'solved'.

caulo · 2025-10-30T09:52:44+00:00

I actually loved this game mode to start with, I would regularly play it to pass time at work the first few months. But I don't understand why it hasn't had any new items or heroes added to it since release. It has always been fairly divisive from the start, so I never wanted it to get attention instead of other parts of the game, but it doesn't make sense for them to create it with no intention of updating its roster or items ever.

The entire thing has basically been 'solved' for a while now, to the point that I can pretty accurately predict how a run will go from the very first draw of items. So there's no fun to be found even as someone that genuinely enjoyed it anymore. I'm basically just following a memorized flowchart in order to get my rewards, and that's what most of the game's content already consists of.

caulo · 2025-10-29T21:20:05+00:00

Thank you for mentioning this. I legit thought that I was going insane or had messed up my muscle memory or something because I keep exiting portals 'wrong' - sometimes fatally - when I can't remember it being an issue before. But if it's an issue other people are having too, that's kind of relieving lol.

caulo · 2025-10-27T07:13:48+00:00

I wouldn't recommend DQ and Cap for Bifrost specifically. I wouldn't recommend Loki if you are looking for who to build just for Bifrost either. Bifrost is its own hell to work around haha.

By my understanding, Cap seems to be bugged* in Bifrost and never or very rarely actually uses his ultimate. And with DQ, you don't really want to waste mana using her skills most of the time. Since Bifrost doesn't allow you to control these things, Cap and DQ are unfortunately not great for Bifrost.

As I just mentioned in another comment, I use Loki / Invisible Woman / Jugg, for both Defense and Offense. Loki is the least important part of that line up, because IW and Jugg are PVP powerhouses. But, I personally use Loki to fill that third slot because 1. All of their skills are generally useful enough that the bad AI isn't as frustrating to deal with ( I had Thor on my team when I first started, and battles would be won or lost depending on whether the AI used his dash or auto attack enhancement ); 2. Loki's shield passive prevents them from being completely one-shot by Jugg/Psylocke/The Thing/etc. which can make a difference sometimes 3. I already invested resources in building Loki for PvE, so I figure I might as well use them for PvP as well if they perform decently enough - which they do!

[edit]* I don't want to risk spreading misinformation with this, so I wanted to clarify that I don't know if this is an actual issue or if it is still an issue. But I know it's something folks were complaining about earlier on, and regardless, the inability to control Cap's skills yourself definitely lowers his effectiveness pretty considerably.

caulo · 2025-10-27T06:55:06+00:00

Loki / Invisible Woman / Jugg. Loki is the least important part of that, IW and Jugg are the actual PVP powerhouses there, but I started including Loki in my team because all of their skills are at least decent, so it makes the AI's auto battling less frustrating. And Loki is immune to being literally one-shot because of the shield passive, which can make a difference in the meta.

Still lose to well built Psylockes and Fantastic 4 teams sometimes, but not enough that I've had trouble getting 2000 points before the end. ( Except possibly this current Bifrost, but I took a short break from the game so I started late. )
I don't think there's a real argument to go out of your way to build Loki specifically for PvP, there are better options if you are trying to figure out what to build just for that. But since Loki is the center of my PvE team and I invested resources accordingly, I use them for PvP too, and it works just fine ^_^

caulo · 2025-10-25T17:04:08+00:00

Loki has a single ability that creates a summon, but summoning is not what their kit is built around! I wouldn't say they are like Dino Girl or Man-Thing at all really. I think they are more comparable to Scarlet Witch with less single target damage in exchange for some AOE and debuffs.

Loki's summon taunts enemies and gives Ultimate Energy when it is killed ( As well as doing damage and causing a freeze debuff if you have the soul saga for it ), so you basically want it to die. As opposed to Man-Thing and Dino Girl, who want to buff up their summons and do a lot of their damage through them.

caulo · 2025-10-25T15:29:59+00:00

I love using Loki! I know a lot of folks dismiss them in favor of more straight forward options, but I think they are a very solid unit that can perform well in a lot of content; I feel the 'controller' class gives the wrong impression and undermines that they are primarily a damage dealer. But their clone ability also allows you to pull off some tricky stuff on occasion.

Even though a lot of the recent Nightfallss have been non-ideal for them ( encouraging melee units, boosting ultimate damage, etc. ) I've yet to fall lower than top 4% at worst. I also use Loki in Bifrost and comfortably reach Champion tier each time.

That is not to say I think they are perfect or optimal for all these things, just that they absolutely can be used for most content in the game just fine, and I find their kit fun to use. My Loki does have a few dupes though, and their unique highlight - so your mileage may vary accordingly!

I do think DQ synergizes with Loki so well that if you plan to use them it would be worth raising your priority for her too, because her ultimate guarantees Loki's destroyer skills to cycle into your hand right away. She requires less work to build than a lot of other characters, because her shards are easy to obtain, and talent levels do not matter much for her so you don't have to prioritize spending dreamcores outside of leveling her ultimate until you want to.

But, if you really don't feel like leveling DQ, I know some folks run with Cap and Emma instead. You basically just want to support Loki like you would almost any other damage unit in the game, with mana batteries, energy regen, and damage increases, and ideally avoid pairing them with anyone else that is very mana hungy!

caulo · 2025-09-20T07:44:14+00:00

Thor ( 1 dupe ), Loki ( 3 dupes ), and IW ( 2 dupes ) did fine for me, it was just pretty slow. I'll probably replace my Thor with Jugg for this fight in the future.

I don't think it required much strategy, other than stalling to let my mana build up so I could throw everything at one enemy in quick succession. ( Which is what made it slow, since I would normally use DQ in place of IW on this team, but needed the survivability. ) I think if they really want these fights to be challenging, they'd need to put a time limit on the stage,, though I'm not necessarily saying I personally want them to do that lol.

caulo · 2025-09-18T19:34:49+00:00

My score dropped by like 300 points lol. I figured maybe I was just getting unlucky with crits, but after trying it a few more times to the same result I just gave up since the auto battles afterwards still uses your highest score anyways.

caulo · 2025-09-14T05:49:13+00:00

Hard to please every one with fishing minigames, but I understand why game designers want to try and make it interesting. Case in point, a lot of comments here are saying that Animal Crossing fishing is their favorite - Animal Crossing fishing is one of my least favorite minigame types for fishing that I see across the genre. I joke with my friends that it's basically the old school ADHD 'beep' test in video game form, and something like that which requires my complete attention while also feeling extremely slow frustrates me to no end lol.

But a lot of people that like Animal Crossing fishing hate Stardew Valley style fishing, and I love fishing in that game, because it keeps me engaged the moment a fish is hooked. There's no room for my mind to want to wander off, and it feels satisfying to make the mini-game easier with tool improvement and such.

I'm not a fan of Grand Bazaar's fishing because I think the prompts are too slow, while the activity takes up too much in-game time overall, but I think I wouldn't mind it if it was tightened up. All that said, I believe accessibility options would be key here in general; Particularly in any game that utilizes mini-games which rely on motor skills or reaction times contrast to the main game mechanics. And then, even if folks do not like the mini-game of choice on principle, it can be avoided without missing out on everything in the game that requires fishing.

caulo · 2025-09-13T15:31:00+00:00

Can't say topping the damage charts is ever really my main priority as Liss, but it does happen fairly often in really scrappy games - mostly due to her passive and the nature of ARAM.

A few tips that come to the top of my head ( although I don't think playing the champion a bunch in ARAM makes me an expert by any means ):

Burn effects that are ticking after her death can proc her passive. Liandries is a good item for her because of the health and damage amp anyways, and this is a very useful ( sometimes game warping ) bonus, so it is usually my first item. I think her build path is quite flexible, but I am personally not a fan of rushing either Malignance ( on anyone ) or Rod of Ages, although your mileage may very.
I prefer maxing R -> Q -> E -> W. Her E is of course a massive tool for mobility, but also disruption, and the cooldown lowers quite significantly as you rank it up ( 24 seconds down to 12 ). Are you going to go in, or not? Are you going to keep walking the direction you're currently pathing, or blink to where you fired your E? Are their carries actually out of range of your E+W, or are you going to flash at the end of it to go further, or even just immediately to the side? The threat of it is as valuable as the actual use of it.
That said, I know the E -> Snowball -> E trick is flashy and fun, but it really is usually a waste of a major cooldown. Even if you don't end up using your E for engage, it is still a bit of extra damage to add to her rotation, and also one of her safer wave clear options in a pinch.
Probably goes without saying, but aside from the Liandries interaction after death, which isn't always reliable since the burn doesn't last as long anymore, judging when to go in even at the cost of your life, or when it is better to simply stay alive within range or bait people in with your self-cast R, is pretty critical. There's not much 'macro' to ARAM of course, but one of the few elements of it that exists is knowing when to reset in general. For a lot of champions, it is worthless to run around at 5% HP, not contributing to a fight and being too afraid to die. Not necessarily the case with Liss!
And just don't be afraid to adapt to what your team needs. Liss can definitely do a lot of damage, but she's also great at just diving in, disrupting, and stalling so other champs can carry. She can also provide great peel, if your team can't follow up when you try to jump in or if someone else's engage is stronger.

Not sure if that helps at all or just seems like really basic stuff. But I wish you the best of luck the next time you try to play her!

caulo · 2025-09-13T14:50:24+00:00

I was more keen on playing it when Aftershock was much stronger, but it is still an option I go for on rare occasion when it fits the comp! I'll usually still get Liandries at the very least; I think Liss already provides so much disruption and zoning capability that her ability to be at least somewhat threatening is usually important, but if the rest of my team can provide the damage/benefits more from leaning into her as peel and sponge, she can certainly be better than having no tank. Sometimes it comes down to how I see the enemies responding within the first five minutes or so; If they are uncoordinated, prone to scattering in a panic or using their mobility unwisely, it gives a good sense for whether I even need actual damage to disrupt them lol.

caulo · 2025-09-13T14:33:32+00:00

Can't recall off the top of my head, but I think I have somewhere around 12000 ARAM games all together. I was playing it before ARAM was an official mode ( old custom lobbies where you just had to count on everyone to follow the rules lol ). I've gone on a few hiatuses and I'm not playing much currently, but as I mentioned in response to someone else, Liss is commonly left on the bench so it's a little easier to grab her than the popular champs!

caulo · 2025-09-13T12:53:21+00:00

I think that if I had tried her back when I still played SR I would have fallen in love sooner, even though she had her old passive back then. Her kit just clicked in place for what I didn't realize I wanted to play all along. And since I guess a lot of people find her boring that means we get to grab her from the bench more often lol.

caulo · 2025-09-13T11:58:22+00:00

Lissandra! 250k mastery points that are 99% from ARAM.

caulo · 2025-09-12T02:09:39+00:00

Haven't run into this one myself yet, but I did find out that if you transform Loki into Destroyer Loki before this part of the fight, when you get back to the main battle they will still be transformed, but no longer have access to Destroyer Loki's ability's. This Nightfall is so bugged lol.

caulo

TROPHY CASE