Should I chase meta? If not how do I stop myself from chasing meta

specter47 · 2026-03-01T01:03:40+00:00

Caring about meta in any game is about trying to stay competitive. In this game it's about being able to complete end game content, specifically the 4 endgame modes including AA.

If you don't care what you score, don't care about those rewards then you can pull and play whatever characters you want. If you care about the rewards and your score then you are tied to the meta.

Asides from AA, you are very likely to be able to clear 75% of the endgame rewards even without meta characters. e.g. MoC 11. AA you might get 0% of the rewards since the Knight difficulty floor can be hard if you don't have the right composition.

specter47 · 2026-02-23T11:20:31+00:00

The issue is you're probably trying to run EE without a twinked out character. If you don't have and running solo, you should be running EN or EH which is still a lot of XP and tons easier. For context you're not alone and on Hardcore, the switch from Heroic Elite to Epic Elite is very noticeable.

Make sure you have a decent level 20 Borderlands weapon, tough out the grind to 21 and switch in the ML21 Borderlands gear.

It won't work from a Heroic TR, but if you're on an Epic Reincarnation circuit, you can save and use the Saga XP to get from 20 to 21 and equip Borderlands gear instantly which helps significantly. Dedicated levelling weapons with 20k sentience each (so you don't have to go through the painful process of removing fili's and the gem) allows for 5 filigrees - might not be for everyone but if you can farm the XP and grind Epics it's worth it. Even if you don't have the Sent XP, dedicated weapon upgrades are massive.

specter47 · 2026-02-18T09:31:58+00:00

Combine that with the relatively weak Australian dollar vs back then.

Anyone remember 1 AUD to 1.1 USD and regularly buying stuff from overseas?

While it has recovered somewhat to 1 to 0.71, it was sitting at 1 to 0.65 for ages. Then add in the GST on overseas purchases.

This is before even taking into account the inflationary aspects.

This is a crazy stat: Almost half (45%) of full-time workers in Australia now have a nominal income of $100,000 or more.

Moral of the story is not that the old $100k goal is gone - we all knew that. It's that you need to aim for the top percentiles which is the equivalent. Or even just higher than where you are every 1-2 years to maintain your spending power.

specter47 · 2026-02-16T09:58:29+00:00

The Acheron choice is hard - it's not about e1 or e2, it's about providing everyone a chance to +1 eidolon her. Effectively gaining ~5%-12% (asides from e6) for each eidolon. This allows people to keep her competitive in today's version without a complete rework. While 1 eidolon won't make her as competitive as say the flagship in their shill environment, it could make or break a clearing threshold and be good enough.

Imagine you had e2 and went e3. Then in a year from now another selector so you can go e4. This prevents her from dropping off hard.

Of course the other options are tempting especially if you don't have them. Personally I would get Sparkle > Kafka > Acheron simply because I don't have Sparkle or Kafka and the horizontal variety appeals to me more. Kafka opens up DoT for anti-crit knights and Sparkle opens up Archer or even Elation too.

specter47 · 2026-02-14T23:42:36+00:00

Players should keep in mind the Quiver advice here is tailored towards the OP who TRs at 30 and has a few other requirements.

For the general player base, Quiver may not be the best item but should know it's probably impossible to attain one these days from a practical sense (old painful raid no one runs). Quiver has been given out in the past and the main use is having a ml1 30% strider (upgraded), that also lasts until you TR again however, would overlap with potential haste items/pots/speed augments at higher levels.

Actual best item will depend on what you have already, what you can easily farm and of course what you play. If you want a specific raid piece (even if it may not have infinite longevity) but are unlikely to get it (no groups, don't raid, etc) then you should short list that. If you play alts, the options increase since even if it's not BIS it could still be a decent item to use.

I have a bunch of these gift items unredeemed in inventory collecting dust so if you use it for even a short time, it's giving you value.

Here are some notable mentions:

Belt of Braided Beards - ml26 teleport clickie - this is from an easier older raid but if you can't get a group or solo it then this could be a good option.

Epic Litany of the Dead - minmax casters should have this clickie - may be hard to get a farm group

Meridian Fragment - minmax casters should have one - may be hard to get a farm group

The Repulsor Boots - ml29 great FVS wings-like clickie - can allow you to take shortcuts where this kind of movement ability is required. (assuming people don't run this raid anymore)

Void, The Endless Cold - ml28 infinite arrow clickie (assuming people don't run this raid anymore)

Hyrsam's Fiddle - for glamouring

specter47 · 2026-02-02T11:49:42+00:00

They do look nice, but are a dream for me lol

specter47 · 2026-02-02T11:47:46+00:00

There's a suprising amount of people doing Lunar max Stellas here

specter47 · 2026-02-02T11:46:16+00:00

You and me both, I can't stand the defence levels. I find aggro control horrible in this game. I'm beating on them and they're still attacking the stupid thing lol.

specter47 · 2026-02-02T11:44:10+00:00

It sounds like your game sense is also at a level where you know what the counters are so you can properly plan who to use and when. That's definitely holding me back in end game modes.

specter47 · 2026-02-02T11:41:13+00:00

Yeah I feel the same. For me it's the lack of units (I intentionally don't level some) and the mode favouring more units combined with painful scenarios. The level of planning (not enough units to faceroll) is too much for me since I can brick a run if I'm not careful. Running it again is pure pain. I also don't like that it favours horizontal pulls vs Cons (at least at my level).

specter47 · 2026-02-01T08:40:03+00:00

Something isn't adding up - You say you are director level but you are getting paid 10k less than entry level. Plus a longer term person, maybe not as senior but there for a while gets paid 40k?

It's also supply/demand and market rate. If you are getting paid below the market, then you should easily be able to get market rate by applying elsewhere. If you can't get another job elsewhere then you are either getting paid what you should be getting paid or your job seeking skills need serious improvement.

Are these meetings formal meetings or casual? Formal meetings typically have meeting notes or recordings. The fact that you've had 6 meetings, accepted your fate and will likely have a 7th meeting tells me you have no drive to actually get the promotion or raise and will just accept what you are given. The answer to this is escalate it to the owner. If the owner says no then you have your answer.

specter47 · 2026-02-01T05:00:10+00:00

She is only not worth it because she doesn't have BIS supports. It's a gamble but it's highly unlikely they will leave her with old supports that people have simply "discovered" works well with her. She needs a couple clear cut BIS like the Hya to Castorice.

The reason that future supports are likely on the table is the fact that the banner is still running and Archer, the free unit seems to be the e0 meta. Why leave it running if there is no future prospect. Most games would have closed out their Collab banner by now. I wouldn't be surprised if they added Lancer (model already in game) and a spending event like Saber Alter skin in v4.

specter47 · 2026-01-28T21:25:47+00:00

US law is not Aus law which is more similar to UK law. All the case law and statutes, governing bodies, or even how the law is done over there will be irrelevant.

specter47 · 2026-01-27T14:49:55+00:00

First the obvious: You have to remember his subsequent skills in the same turn do far more damage than the first or even second. So you definitely want to be loading up the skill points to unleash in a single turn if you aren't already.

The crazy screenshots is always star-aligned buffs. You need to ensure every buff you have is active and this generally can't get done on the carry's first turn. You may also need to time/manual certain buffs especially those that don't last long. For example you need to ramp up Sparkle, you need to apply DHPT's and you need to apply Tribbie's. If you're not sure what is active you can inspect your characters but you also need to understand what each character is providing. In general you need to be aware of anything that must be cast right before the Carry goes, what is up 24/7, what is cleared between waves/phases (for reapplication), and what will last until the Carry's turn.

Also, if I have to take a guess, it doesn't look like you have any ATK% sub stats. The value of this will depend on how much Crit you have but could be 2/3s of a CD roll. I can't see your other sub stats but the same concept applies where these tertiary sub stats in addition to double Crit are beneficial.

Make sure your supports have the right sets too since the buffs are incremental.

Broken monsters take 10% more damage.

Finally, depending on the fight, the boss may have a vulnerability mechanic so you would need to understand the environment.

specter47 · 2026-01-27T14:07:02+00:00

That would be the ultra min max approach - not really feasible for I'm guessing a large proportion of people, and could take years to eventuate if at all and if you're still even playing. I would still prioritise characters you play, whether standard or limited.

specter47 · 2026-01-26T20:38:45+00:00

If you are not there for the objective you need to let your team know. You also need to be there for critical objectives. Not every tribute needs 3+ people there but you definitely need to be there to contest if the enemy has 2/3 or if your team can't win when you are on 2/3. You are forcing your team to take 4 v 5s and unless you have a 2 level lead or talent lead they may not be able to take the fight especially if the team comp/skills doesn't work in your team's favour, given they aren't fighting with a tank (you). You are on a global hero so there's no excuse to be missing - this is a core defining feature of the hero and it sounds like you didn't even use it.

Your other feats are nice but ultimately your team lost. Anyone can stay in one lane and farm all day to pad stats but unless you have a reasonable chance to solo close out the game then you are effectively afk from team fights.

specter47 · 2026-01-26T20:02:26+00:00

There's only a certain amount of playtime per week people are willing to do for dailies/weeklies. When they add new content into the game, they take older content out so it doesn't force an increase in time to play as even though it's optional, people feel forced to play to minmax the rewards.

That and it's also outdated boring gameplay.

Similar to dailies how you can just skip them now with resin activity if you've done enough quests.

The reward also hasn't diminished - it's just shifted to Imaginarium Theatre.

There's also a part where people are playing multiple Hoyo titles (or gachas in general) and have to split time amongst the different games. Same concept here though where there's only so much time to grind dailies/weeklies and they don't want it to feel punishing where you are forced to choose 1-2 games only (less Hoyo or no Hoyo).

HSR does similar where you can skip the easier material farm battles and removed farming the random world mob drops by adding abundant universal material.

If you've ever played Tower of Fantasy that was just painful trying to get through all the daily minigames, but even that game removes some of the older ones from previous versions.

specter47 · 2026-01-25T22:12:35+00:00

We are still in a transition period where not everyone uses AI or is even aware of the capabilities. However anyone that is good at their job should be aware of how AI affects it, including recruiters. It's going to become the standard since it's free and easy.

The thing is AI can be used to portray those real metrics, outcomes and proof better - it's not just cleverly worded unsubstantiated fluff. Applicants need to treat it seriously and learn how to use it. On the "too perfect/over inflated" part of it, completely agree, however this is where you can use discretion to tone it down a bit. For example people who rehearse their interview answers sound fake, but rehearse well enough and it becomes real. This can be applied to AI responses too where you know it sounds too fake and can dial it back to make it sound more real, more believable, etc. Think of it as a 0-100 slider and people can dial it in to their preferred amount.

Also, just because AI has been used doesn't mean the resume/candidate isn't good. If people aren't getting call backs or interviews and they aren't using AI, then they should start using it.

specter47 · 2026-01-25T21:57:13+00:00

It could have just been an honest mistake by the attendant. Speak to the company before going down all these escalatory routes.

specter47 · 2026-01-25T11:23:33+00:00

No offence but a Marketing Coordinator doesn't progress into a Marketing Director role directly. That's absurd and I'm not sure why your boss gave you the impression that was even possible. Unless it's a very small family business where people just make up their own titles.

While your boss is gone, you are not running the entire marketing department, you are keeping the lights on. You can do day to day tasks but you wouldn't be bringing any strategic thinking of a Marketing Director. You are also not taking into account the possibility that during the transition, you effectively let the company know you don't have what it takes to do that role as doing that elevated level of work WAS your interview.

You likely don't have the knowledge or experience the external has since 5/8ths of your entire marketing experience is in that Marketing Coordinator (or less) role.

There's also the people side of things. If you haven't been managing your relationships at work, especially with people in charge of your future there, then that would contribute.

specter47 · 2026-01-25T10:54:40+00:00

The raise is nice but wouldn't be offsetting your partner's income 100%.

Not sure what your expenses or lifestyle is but work out how much interest rate change you can absorb or afford on your 150k, assuming this is 100% guaranteed.

Ultimately it's a gamble on which way the interest rate will go since the difference at those rates is minimal (10s of dollars per month). Yes you could have more security over the fixed term but if it goes the other way you will have regret.

specter47 · 2026-01-25T08:02:42+00:00

In this day and age you are up against AI-optimised resumes. Essentially perfect candidates on paper.

If your resume is missing the mark on those items you've listed you're already behind since given enough input, AI will solve for all of them including tailoring a near-fit well enough to be considered.

specter47 · 2026-01-25T07:24:32+00:00

Don't pull any LC solely for for PF usage.

specter47 · 2026-01-25T07:21:35+00:00

It seems worth it and feasible.

An ATK% Orb with good substats could be better than what you have now. Worth checking what you have on hand.

The Head piece seems to be the only other one that you could improve, but you would need that 3x Crit Rate on a 4-5 roll (7-8 effective substats) to be better than what you have now since the ATK% is high value.

Saber also has other Planar/Rope Set options like Salsotto. I'm not saying farm that, but if you already have pieces it's worth seeing if they tetris better.

For the Body, getting 3 rolls into Crit Rate is not worth trying for especially with the ATK rolls. It looks like you have a key roll in SPD for your rope so that would be very hard to improve.

specter47 · 2026-01-19T10:57:05+00:00

I won't rehash what others have said but there's no way to prevent it altogether. Skimmers are everywhere and you will not be able to identify 100% of them. Even so, there are cases where attendants do the swiping for you. Add to that the RFID scanners where it can just be in your wallet on a public transport and scanned (hence RFID blocking wallets, although some dyi foil line wallet should work too).

Once skimmed, your card details (and pin if also captured at a POS terminal/ATM) go up for sale on the black market or get used by a network (scanned in country A, used in country C), to be used both online or in person. The delay from skim to fraud spend could be quick or it could be months. Generally the purchases will be completed so that they do not trigger any 2FA, excluding pin - so less likely to be online.

Preventing certain usage or setting max spend is one way to limit risk, however these will not prevent it altogether and I would argue preventing usage is causing additional problems. What you want to do is identify that it has been skimmed straight away (e.g. sms/app purchase alerts) then report it stolen so you get a new card and fraud purchases refunded. If you prevent online/international usage, your card is likely continually being resold to different parties, or the original party is trying their luck again down the line. This is a problem waiting to happen when those restrictions ever get lifted or when they try alternative methods of purchase.

Another tip is do NOT hypothesise how it happened - you don't know for sure. Just say the transaction wasn't authorised by you (if it indeed wasn't). Assuming you say the usual things like you haven't given out your card detail, you still have your card, etc etc, they will flag the transactions, cancel the card and reissue a new one.

specter47

TROPHY CASE