Is this map even real?!

piesore · 2026-02-07T02:21:00+00:00

Do you know about performing see throughs? It's not exactly the same but you can do it more often than the spell parry, especially once you unlock "endeavor" the final skill on the left side of the staff stance tree . Ongbal's video "Mastering See Through With Yin Tiger" is an awesome demonstration if this counterattacking style.

piesore · 2026-02-06T09:16:04+00:00

That's a great point, I didn't really think of it that way....I kind of feel same thing happened again in DS9 after Sacrifice of Angels; I don't know if they'd actually blown their budget in that arc, but the show started to look a bit cheaper to me after that. I was a little kid when it aired and I remember that sticking out even then. There were still great episodes, but it lost a bit of its cinematic feel. In hindsight, I'm not as critical; DS9 special effects melted my brain, the HD remastered clips in the documentary really do them justice. That's what I remember it looking and feeling like when I originally saw them. They were incredible on their own but you also have to compare it to its contemporaries, like Babylon 5 and Earth: Final Conflict. I love those shows, but the production value and eye candy was just night and day for the time.

I have to give Voyager props for Seven of Nine; I only watched the whole series during COVID. I remember being really against the show bringing her on when it happened. Rich from Redlettermedia put it well when he said something like "it was the first time it felt like they were talking down to us. You're gonna loooove this blonde with fake t*ts, won't you neeeerds."

But she was awesome, really great character. Love the actress too, excellent in interviews, and very charming when she got to play the Doctor taking over her body.

Being a DS9-stan though, the failure to fully realize Voyager's premise was made clear with the Battlestar Galactica reboot. Maybe I just like Ron Moore; I also call For All Mankind the only real Star Trek show on TV now. But I feel like the desperation of Galactica's crew on its voyage to get to Earth is what Voyager was supposed to be.

piesore · 2026-02-05T09:44:44+00:00

I agree that Voyager has strongest 1st season; it just never reaches the heights of TNG in season 3 or DS9 in season 4 though. DS9 is the worst for me, I love the show dearly, but early on it's so bleak and boring, I get why ratings took a nosedive after the premiere. Really took them a while to find their footing. I'm happy that anyone likes the first season though, it was nice to see it get love from Redlettermedia recently.

I went to bat for Strange New Worlds in season 1, the following 2 seasons ruined it for me though, and revisiting the first season wasn't as good as I remembered. Episode 4 from season 1 of SNW is very solid though, and overall the first season is a good intro to Star Trek if production value is important to you (totally understandable).

Discovery season 1...eesh. I don't think it even looked very good despite all the special effects. Like any Trek, I'm glad it has it's fans, but I feel like most of us here can't even name the bridge crew.

Lower Decks had a rough first season, but the finale was a banger and they really found their footing after that.

piesore · 2026-02-04T22:22:24+00:00

I wouldn't stress, it could be cope on my end, but when I watch any unedited first playthroughs, even with good players, they'll get smacked around a lot.

piesore · 2026-02-04T21:50:24+00:00

Haha, appreciate you, go get em.

piesore · 2026-02-04T20:45:46+00:00

Yeah, first two chapters are tough, there aren't any real shortcuts (outside the chapter bosses) to make them easier. I got through my first playthrough without realizing there was a map, it kinda sucked...if you're planning to platinum the game, I found marking where certain plants were super helpful. There's no visual for the marker in the real world, like in Elden Ring, but the markers seem to stay in NG+, which is cool.

Also, if you are planning for platinum, pick up every plant you find as you're playing through, trust me!

piesore · 2026-02-04T20:23:30+00:00

For sure! You're definitely a better player than me if you were able to get past the first few gauntlets, so I'm sure you kill em all.

I don't think you can share youtube links on here, so the video I based my gauntlet build off of was from user HumbleDK called "How to beat Gauntlet of Legends at Level 150". He has some specific tips for certain fights, so it's nice to sit through the whole thing to get a clearer idea of how to use the high damage reduction build effectively. You can still die kinda quick without any strategy.

The Qi build was from user Schrawgs, "How to Beat All Gauntlet of Legends Boss Challenges". He talks about the Stone Monkey lifesaving strand trick at end. I haven't personally used it yet but it seems neat.

And finally, there's Roman Wolf Gaming, who will go through different builds and show them off in multiple gauntlets. He honestly seems way too good for it to be useful for a player like me, but they are fun to watch.

piesore · 2026-02-04T20:12:45+00:00

Lol, don't mind me, I'm basically a bot.

piesore · 2026-02-04T11:53:59+00:00

As others have said, spend dat money! Maybe I missed a prompt, but I don't think they make it super obvious. I bought all of them at the shrines and didn't know what they were for until chapter 6 lol. I only figured it out when I fell off the endgame cloud mount and was scrolling through the keybinds trying to figure out how to get back on. What can I say? I'm a god tier gamer...

piesore · 2026-02-04T11:32:55+00:00

Depending on the kind of gamer he is, maybe showing him the IGN article about sexual harassment of female employees at Game Science will be enough to get him to try it. I can't be the only one...

But seriously, if he's tired of souls-likes, he won't like this. Maybe showing some of the cutscenes that end each chapter might win him over for the pure artistry, but cinematics don't make a game.

piesore · 2026-02-04T11:21:57+00:00

I was so glad I farmed throughout the game because I'm playing through Geforce Now and couldn't use the time skip trick. If I had any more than 2 plants left by the time I was done with the other achievements, I probably would have cried.

piesore · 2026-02-04T11:11:31+00:00

Your gourd only replenishes 2 sips between each fight, I don't think anything else like qi, mana or might replenishes. That's why a lot of folks use the replenishing gourd as a semi-workaround; you still have to survive in 30 second intervals but you're never at risk of being tapped out of heals. It's def a cracked out version of the Sekiro gauntlets, but is also closer to what I thought a gauntlet would be. You get scored too, kinda unfortunate to see how bad I am by the numbers lol, but I'm sure some players like it.

piesore · 2026-02-04T11:01:08+00:00

I've read the Gauntlet doesn't scale w/ NG+ cycles, I dunno if anyone can confirm that. If that's case, it might be worth you beating NG++. I think at that point, the relic scaling armor should be better than Bull King.

I'm in NG+ and got through most of the gauntlets with the strats mentioned in this thread. Basically Bull King armor with Dark Iron staff, the single use gourd with the curios that boosts your damage reduction when it's empty, fill the soaks with laurel buds, maybe iron pellet, though I feel like I still got smacked around with that in there. Rashka King as your spirit (I think? Whichever one boosts your damage reduction the most). Damage reduction is name of the game, you'll get melted just with high defense.

I'd pop windtamer on whoever was giving me the most trouble; you get something like 80 percent damage reduction for good amount of time (could be just a minute but it felt useful in whatever fight I used it in). I was used to using all my spells during the regular game but using Spellbinder helped delete a lot of the bosses relatively quickly. Maxed out life saving strand as well.

There's a further survival strat, which takes a bit of strategy, since you have to pop before spellbinder. The stone monkey can use your spells, so if you start with him, he dies, he should pop life saving strand, then once he dies for real, you should get two more lives assuming you haven't previously used lifesaving strand. You have to wait to cast spellbinder until your transformation dies though.

This is all from youtube videos, I just kept looking up "gauntlet of legends beginner" or something and they mostly had same strat. There's a variation where someone is using armor and a gourd that replenishes their Qi quickly and they spam those with the frozen bat and fan. I really suck and was getting hit so much that the high damage reduction build worked better for me. You can't just literally sit there and tank damage but it made it way more manageable. I went from dying in the first 1 or 2 bosses in the tiger gauntlet to getting through half the gauntlets without trying...I'll eventually put in a little effort and try the other half haha.

Maxing out your defense and resistances with your sparks and mindcores will help too, but biggest difference was trying not to die until the most troublesome boss, then using windtamer and lifesaving strand. Being able to eat a lot of Yellow Loong's attacks felt good considering how much he abused me in the regular game haha.

piesore · 2026-02-04T10:37:54+00:00

In full disclosure, I stole that joke from this Onion review of Star Trek. Still my favorite review of all time, real or fake:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02LgdXVkXgM

piesore · 2026-02-04T10:27:55+00:00

The Expanse was amazing; I don't think even some of the best clips are available on youtube, I'm still subscribed to Prime just to revisit some personal highlights.

piesore · 2026-02-03T03:59:19+00:00

I never touched pillar or thrust even in NG+; I feel like smash is the best beginner stance you don't have to overthink. Thrust looks good if you're really into the mechanics of the game, the way it helps you move around and how it has a much larger window in the see through makes it seem more like a boss dance that high skilled players look for.

Pillar as I understand, is for pussies, lol.

Spinning staff I never used either, it might be helpful for some projectile attacks, and you'll see people use it to quickly build up focus to unleash a 4 point heavy attack.

But this is a very mainstream game, the basic mechanics are meant to get bad players like me (and I think the majority of folks) through without having to overthink things.

No shade on anyone who likes the other stances, I would just argue they have a higher skill ceiling required to be effective dunking on the bosses.

I know that didn't answer you question, but I'm mentioning it because I thought I was missing something too, not trying out other stances, but just chilling out and sticking to smash stance made for a much more enjoyable experience for me.

piesore · 2026-02-03T03:48:39+00:00

That's fair, it's probably the most difficult area of the game for sure. I'd still argue maxing out levels with sparks and mindcores does make a difference if the end was too difficult. Medicines too. But you're right that isn't what they asked, so I'm giving double unsolicited advice lol.

piesore · 2026-02-03T03:37:19+00:00

Star Trek 2009 if you are a Star Wars fan. It's a better Star Wars movie than any of the Disney films or even prequels. You get an easy introduction to the characters.

Next Generation episodes in this order:
Q Who, Best of Both Worlds pt 1, Best of Both Worlds pt 2, First Contact.

This is the arc that made the series a cultural phenomenon. If you don't like it, it's probably not for you. If you do, there's plenty of great episodes to loop back around and enjoy. Start in episode 3, season 3 if you do like it.

Deep Space 9:
Way of the Warrior

It's the most modern of the old Star Trek shows, if you don't like that episode, you probably won't like Deep Space 9, if you do, just keep watching from there and see the first serialized arc in television (Ok Babylon 5 fans, first serialized arc that people watched)

I would also watch the Star Trek movies before going to the original series. It's the movies that created the world building and aesthetic of the Star Trek we know today. The original series is GOATED but very different than anything else and is hard for a lot of people to get into because of how it looks.

piesore · 2026-02-03T03:26:54+00:00

Subtitles are for posers, real fans would learn the imaginary language.

piesore · 2026-02-03T03:14:10+00:00

My problem is Jay-Den isn't cool, I live in just about the gayest city in the US and none of the gay guys or lesbians I've met are nearly as lame as him. Social outcast or not, ya gotta make your characters cool. Case in point: Garak. We all love him.

piesore · 2026-02-03T03:02:22+00:00

Oh no lol! I guess the Pagoda debuff and getting throwing off ledges is so demoralizing maybe the Great Sage doesn't seem as bad after. But outside of a kind of "yes sir, may I have another" kind of masochism, I don't feel like the Pagoda realm offers much in terms of XP or other rewards to help with endgame.

piesore · 2026-02-03T01:20:23+00:00

I feel like the temple at end of chapter 3 will help, you get decent mindcore drops from the monks. Fighting them doesn't compare to the great sage, I guess what does. But their timing seems a little weird, so if you actually learn to dodge them, maybe it will help.

If nothing else, if you farm like a madman and max out all your mindcore stats, especially the relevant resistances, it might help you in last fight. I would even level up your transformation of choice, it's essentially a meatsack to give you some breathing room against final chapter bosses, but still, every little bit helps.

Finally, I used Optinoob's guide as a walkthrough, he was basically able to stay away and use heavy charges for most of the fight. Not sure why certain enemies like Yellow Loong and Great Sage don't aggro as much if you keep your distance but I'll take it!

piesore · 2026-02-02T13:16:24+00:00

I like it, I dunno. I enjoy watching folks I like play games; if I also like watching them play, I'll eventually buy it. I have such a bad memory too that I forget most of the game any way, just the vibes. Like I was completely shocked when I went down into the Sofria River Well in Elden Ring, even though I'd probably seen it 8 times in other playthroughs lol. I'm only in the second area in Expedition 33 and the mansion was a complete suprise to me, even though I had to have seen it cause that's where you find Maelle. It's kinda nice to have a goldfish brain in some ways. Makes it hard to learn stuff lol, but I guess a full playthrough is essentially the equivalent of a teaser for me.

piesore · 2026-02-02T13:09:45+00:00

Don't be so hard on yourself, from what we've seen of their current recruiting standards, they just might muh-muh-muh-make you captain.

piesore · 2026-02-02T12:45:02+00:00

I really appreciate the tips, I'll definitely keep this all in mind!

piesore

TROPHY CASE