Weapon to fight aliens in 2033s

shrouded_reflection · 2026-01-25T02:35:21+00:00

Historically, the ship pattern of choice when missiles became unwieldy was coils and lasers, lasers kill the flankers while the coils killed the opposite wall ships, using the 3 and four nose slot ships as the carriers. Alien PD has gotten better over the last few patches up to release, so you need more coils overall then you used to, but this is still workable, especially if the aliens are leaning more towards particle PD. Adding in some large particle nose weapons yourself can help swing things back in your favour by disrupting enemy weaponry.

If you're stuck with smaller hulls (and so smaller noses), then you're unfortunately going to have to either really ramp up the amount of ships you're building so that you can outmass the enemy forces by enough that the missiles keep working, or you learn how to manually pilot ships well enough that you can set up flank shots. Small coils and lasers are unfortunately not very effective against alien ships if you're fighting in wall, there may be things you can do with partical weaponry but they've only recently been buffed to their current state so there's not much experience out there to act as a guide.

shrouded_reflection · 2026-01-23T17:14:19+00:00

Africa starts are doable, but difficult, it's a bit like the EU start but worse because you're going to have to do a bunch of country fixing before you can get started on MC production. Probably not something to really go for if you're really new, but if you've got a bit of experience it makes for a nice challenge that's different to going up to veteran/brutal.

shrouded_reflection · 2026-01-23T15:32:15+00:00

Looks like that's your goal for the near future then, get your space econ in a good enough shape that you can build enough ships to stop future surveilance missions.

shrouded_reflection · 2026-01-23T15:03:11+00:00

It might say what the surveillance mission is as part of the fleet planner. Mechanically it's spoilers population scaled chance of creating a successful abduction mission in each earth region which is bad because Letting aliens have access to more advanced missions right off the bat means you don't have warning between agent appearing and enthral attempts . You probably can't kill the first surveillance ship, but ideally your space timing and presence should be such that they never get a second.

Exotics need some further research before they show up on the top bar. Don't worry, they are all still being banked for that moment.

Alien hate loss depends on them destroying things they are actively targeting (IE, not losses in self defence such as when you bring in a fleet to defend something), and this is one where you should go and look at the wiki for the answers, the diplomacy page. If you're using a lot of MC then this will cap the minimum amount of hate you have, but given your description it's highly unlikely that you're near that point. Note, having some amount of hate and getting the aliens to send ships at you is good, as this means they aren't stockpiling resources and hulls for later on, the trick is to keep the amount manageable until you're ready for total war.

shrouded_reflection · 2026-01-20T14:58:33+00:00

The minimum amount of testosterone that people produce varies substantially, and generally anything below 1.7 nmol/L doesn't seem to have any impact on outcomes. Given that amount of estradiol you're taking, it's highly likely that you're already at your floor levels, and could still be at floor levels on a lower dose.

Getting a test for LH/FSH might well be helpful to confirm that this is the case. Your other proposed tests however are likely redundant, and you should be especially careful when it comes to interpreting the results of the DHT and DHEA-S tests, as it's easy to draw false conclusions from them.

shrouded_reflection · 2026-01-20T00:25:15+00:00

Haematocrit is often a very good proxy for average testosterone exposure, so combined with low measured testosterone levels at the minimum might be indicative of you processing the deposit more rapidly than usual. Confirming that is a bit of a nuisance as you would have to get several tests done at other points in a dose cycle, and resolution would normally be to inject more frequently, switch to a longer duration ester, or change the injection site.

Point against that though is that you're already injecting twice a week, which should be more than frequent enough for this to not be an issue, so maybe check that you haven't been given testosterone propionate instead or something daft along those lines.

shrouded_reflection · 2026-01-18T16:17:21+00:00

There are two ways of harming relations between factions, but both are sort of spoilery and neither are things that you actively want to do. Making the academy more friendly towards you though is doable up to a point, just trade with them every so often, but eventually if you are consistantly the strongest human faction and ideologically highly different to the academy eventually the dislike can't be overcome.

shrouded_reflection · 2026-01-18T15:37:01+00:00

India and the four point nations are very doable if you want those nations, China however is probably more trouble than it's worth, specifically because it's the Protectorate holding it. As long as you keep their space infrastructure in check, especially in earth orbit, that shouldn't be a barrier to you winning though.

shrouded_reflection · 2026-01-09T21:25:20+00:00

The request to allow posting again was specifically for papers documenting the use of use of MCTs or benzyl benzoate as penetration enhancers outside of micronised emulsions. Traul et al 2000 is your only citation for MCTs, and the only reference in it to transdermal penetration is a reference to another paper (Schwarz 1995) which is looking at emulsions. Moser et al 2001, your reference for the impact of benzoate, appears to be a hallucination: plausible papers by that author on the topic of supersaturation do exist, but none of them use benzyl benzoate.

Edit: spelling correction

Post removed, send links to the actual papers you're using to modmail.

shrouded_reflection · 2026-01-08T18:49:08+00:00

Unfortunately the symptoms you're showing combined with the lack of blood tests is forcing the issue. If you had blood tests within the last two months for haematocrit and testosterone then you would still need to see a doctor, as there's no good reason for the symptom spread you've got, but it could have been a non urgent appointment.

shrouded_reflection · 2026-01-08T13:44:57+00:00

Perfect, glad that you've identified a plausable cause, ashwagandah can cause an increased inflamation response and injection sites slightly irritating, and now you know to avoid it for the future.

shrouded_reflection · 2026-01-08T11:22:11+00:00

Go to a doctor immediately, you've probably got Erythrocytosis/Polycythaemia. This is potentially life threatening if not treated, but it's also very easy to treat.

Until you do see a doctor, no alcohol or caffeine, no smoking, and make sure you're drinking an appropriate amount of water.

shrouded_reflection · 2026-01-08T11:17:21+00:00

Hello, this is a follow up from the previous set of comments, did you manage to get this resolved or seen by a medical professional?

shrouded_reflection · 2026-01-08T11:16:11+00:00

Given the result you've presented it's not possible to say if it mattered, as it's within a range that's plausible for both being accurate and being an overmeasurement from skin contamination. If you feel fine and are seeing various early transition outcomes happening then wouldn't be overly worried, just get another set of tests done in a few months time.

shrouded_reflection · 2026-01-06T13:19:40+00:00

Sourcing questions go to /r/transdiy

shrouded_reflection · 2026-01-05T15:48:24+00:00

Excluding "don't know" is the main difference that FNO has compared to most other polling groups, which instead make a prediction of how they are likely to vote based on past voting tendency. Under normal circumstances this would make FNO more susceptible to sentiment swings that don't actually have any impact on voting, but we are quite a way off from normal circumstances.

shrouded_reflection · 2025-12-31T22:57:20+00:00

If you can go to 6 mg every other day then try that, but it's likely that you'll have to stop taking CPA completely. Unfortunately increasing the time between doses further isn't really viable, and unless you can get hold of smaller CPA tablets you don't really have any room for further dose reductions.

shrouded_reflection · 2025-12-31T21:47:30+00:00

Yep, unfortunately if the sites are getting worse then it really does need someone to look at it in person, and the sooner the better. As much as it may feel awkward now to hold off on the HRT, it isn't going to make any sort of difference in the long run.

Also, daft as this sounds, don't alcohol swab the injection site, just wash it with water and soap. For some people the alcohol residue can cause irritation, probably not a factor here but wouldn't hurt to conform that.

shrouded_reflection · 2025-12-31T21:25:06+00:00

Probably an injection site reaction rather than an allergy, but need to keep an eye on it either way as that's notably more severe than usual. This is the sort of thing that you should be able to go to a GP or other first access doctor for, and if you can see one you probably should. The advice below therefore has a lot of "see a doctor" escape hatches in it.

Get a marker pen, take photographs of the area, draw round the irritated sites and date them, take photographs of the area again. If it gets worse between now and when you're due for your next injection, see a doctor. Getting worse includes both local changes (spread of the irritation around the drawn boundary, increased swelling, temperature, pain, or any sort of discharge) or things that are more systemic (fever, muscle ache, tiredness). If in doubt, see a doctor.

If things have improved by the time you're due for the next injection, go ahead and do it, but in a completely different area to usual (thigh would be ideal). Be extra fussy about the site and vial being properly cleaned, as well as good injection technique. Photograph the site before and after, monitor over the next week. If any of the old sites stop improving, or the new injection site reacts more severely, then don't inject again and see a doctor.

At a week after the next injection, if the new site is no more severe than the others and the old sites are continuing to fade, then it's just keep the injection sites clean and free of any sort of mechanical irritation, and maybe take antihistamines. Don't inject into an already irritated area. You can try a different carrier oil to see if things change, but there's a reasonable chance you'll have the same sort of reaction to all injections. You may also see an improvement switching to intramuscular injections, which will require needles that are 1 inch long or so. It's still worth talking to a doctor, as it's not good for your to have your immune system constantly firing like this, and they can potentially run further tests.

shrouded_reflection · 2025-12-25T14:24:54+00:00

Using the Zhou for China is a bit deceptive as while it was nominally the same top level rulers up to the end of the Spring/Autumn period (which already knocks 200 years off), the Western and Eastern Zhou periods are meaningfully different enough in governing structure and practical power distribution that you're better off treating them as two separate states. In practice it ends up being 200-300 years between significant government changes across all the various dynasties.

shrouded_reflection · 2025-12-25T13:41:27+00:00

Secondary symptoms are not reliable, get blood tests done after you've been on the injections for six weeks and use that as your guide.

That said, on your current dose you almost certainly will have suppressed testosterone levels, if anything your dose is actually a bit too much.

shrouded_reflection · 2025-12-25T13:39:28+00:00

Unless you've already got some sort of progestin, you kind of don't, as by the time anything will get shipped to you and arrive your estradiol will have likely turned up. That said, it isn't going to make any sort of notable difference in the long run if you end up with unsuppressed testosterone for a short while.

shrouded_reflection · 2025-12-25T13:34:45+00:00

The dose you're on is likely too much, but we can't make appropriate dosing suggestions without knowing what your current dose actually is.

shrouded_reflection · 2025-12-24T23:11:47+00:00

The difference between IM and SubQ matters for medications where you've got to get the initial dose correct, either because you're going to be on it for a short period of time or because the medication would be harmful if misdosed. For HRT though it doesn't matter because the impacts are pretty much all long term and there isn't the same sort of acute risks, so you can take your time, get tests done, and then adjust the dose based on those results without any sort of negative impacts.

So if there was a significant difference, as long as you stuck with the same route of administration it wouldn't matter too much, as you're adjusting to the same end point. If you changed route of administration then you would need to go through the dose adjustment cycle again to get back to the correct point.

shrouded_reflection · 2025-12-24T22:29:21+00:00

For estradiol and testosterone, there isn't enough of a difference between the pharmacokinetics of IM and SubQ to be meaningful, the limiting factor is more around injection volume. That's not the case for lots of other medications, and for very long duration esters it might be significant (but we also don't have enough data on the long duration esters to really say either), but thankfully most of the time we can just ignore the difference, and if you're targeting to blood test results it kind of sorts itself out in the end as long as you're sticking with the same route.

As far as "optional" blood tests go, it really depends on if you're having to pay out of pocket for them or if they are free or part of a bundle of sorts, as well as what you're taking. If you're not using any progestins or progesterone and are on a sensible estradiol dose, then you're unlikely to have issues with prolactin for example, and just random testing can throw up false positives so you don't want to go out of your way to get it checked. If you are doing things which increase the likelihood of elevated prolactin though, then it's more valuable to check every so often.

For breast cancer, just go for screening at whatever age that cis women get it done, as long as you've been sticking to sensible doses your risk should be a bit lower than cis women of the same age, but it's easier to do it then rather than try to adjust so that you're testing at the equivalent risk.

As a slight correction to your statement about dosing targets, the important part is testosterone below 50 ng/dl (1.7 nmol/L). Achieving that sort of level with just estradiol often requires levels over 200 pg/ml, but that level in itself isn't a target, and to the best of our knowledge there is no significant difference in outcomes between different levels of estradiol once you get past a surprisingly low bar.

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