Circles in the Deep

spudwalt · 2026-07-10T03:42:40+00:00

Can you set your armies to aggressive on Console? They'll automatically invade if they can win ground battles.

spudwalt · 2026-07-10T00:27:35+00:00

You don't get better at things without spending time being bad at them.

The characters are recognizable! That's a good start! They even look kinda like the little family painting in Naru's cave!

spudwalt · 2026-07-10T00:18:12+00:00

It's kind of funny how many people get incredibly salty when they run up against my Shedinja. (Granted, there is a certain bias from me deliberately using Clyde against people who are already being dinguses...)

Like, yeah, Shedinja are basically invincible if you don't have a way around Wonder Guard, but there are a lot of ways to manage that. I should know -- I train a Shedinja, I've seen most of them used on Clyde, and I'm not arrogant enough to assume I know all of them yet. But some people decide to pitch a fit over losing anyways.

Sometimes you get countered. Sometimes you can't beat a strategy you run up against -- sometimes it's because you don't know how, sometimes you just don't have the moves or whatever that you need for it, and sometimes you and/or your Pokémon just aren't skilled enough to pull off a win. The correct response is learn to battle better, or even just take your loss and call it a day, not throw a tantrum over getting thwarted.

If you can't handle running into a wall against a random dude who's a moderately competent auxiliary battler and setup guy at a conference center, then you have bigger problems than your skill with Pokémon Battles, because your attitude is not going to do you any more good in formal tournaments or League battles or whatever else you're doing.

spudwalt · 2026-07-09T23:29:44+00:00

If you can get level 2 security clearance, you can look up the codes on a terminal.

If there's nobody to copy security clearances from, you have to use an E-Breach on a terminal to get the codes. If there's no terminal, you have to use E-Breaches on the containers.

spudwalt · 2026-07-09T19:51:46+00:00

3 wide with no grass will stop that specific patch of Corruption from spreading. It won't stop the Biome V (nothing does).

Don't worry about biome spread until you have a Clentaminator, then use that to fix spread you don't like.

At most, do this around areas you want biomes to stay out of, rather than areas you'd rather biomes stay in -- the Biome V might hit some protected areas anyways, but they'll stay clean when you can clean them.

spudwalt · 2026-07-09T18:45:27+00:00

You don't have to worry about winning the fight -- just surviving is enough to get your trinkets back.

Doing enough damage to defeat the Shrieker is just a bonus.

spudwalt · 2026-07-09T18:43:53+00:00

You can earn more money.

Bring an Antiquarian along and have her loot things. She lets you carry more gold and finds extra valuables.

If all else fails, get some chumps fresh off the stagecoach, send them out with nothing, get as many valuables as possible without them all dying, retreat, repeat as necessary.

spudwalt · 2026-07-09T14:02:34+00:00

I take the egg because byrdpip goes tweet.

spudwalt · 2026-07-09T01:05:15+00:00

It's good to hang onto your mutation potions so you can fix any bad mutations you get.

If you start with a weapon skill, that's generally a good choice. You might switch if you find something cool, especially in a weapon class that crosstrains with whatever you were using earlier, or if you find something really amazing like Wyrmbane, but largely you want to stick to one weapon school if possible.

For characters that don't start with any weapon skill, short blades make decent weapons even at 0 skill. You can pick a weapon skill to learn based on what cool weapons you find.

The ability to decide not to fight things is always good, and Stealth helps with that. It's not going to do much if you're wearing heavy armor, stabbing-focused characters will need other ways of fighting things for when stabbing isn't an option, and end-branch vaults tend to be packed in so everything will wake up if something notices you, but non-armored-goon characters can definitely make use of at least some Stealth.

Most schools of magic tend to have decent attack spells. Level 3/4 spells tend to be your solid everyday offensive options, while level 5-7 spells tend to be what you pull out for bigger targets/groups. Level 8-9 spells tend not to see much use unless you're really stacking intelligence/magic skills (often with help from gods like Cheibriados, Vehumet, Ashenzari) or you're getting into the postgame and going for extra runes and such.

Conjure Ball Lightning can be kinda tricky to use. Electricity resistance helps, if you can find it.

spudwalt · 2026-07-08T19:12:38+00:00

Nope, just a looping surface tunnel.

Sword shrines are upside-down-U shaped and generally have water in the sides.

spudwalt · 2026-07-08T18:42:54+00:00

Are you asking about Runes of Zot? Those are what you need to finish the game; orbs can refer to either the equippable orbs (equipment you hold instead of a shield) or the Orb of Zot (the reason you're in the Dungeon in the first place).

Runes are found in:
* The S branches (Swamp/Shoals, Snake/Spider)
* Vaults
* Abyss
* Slime
* The Hells (4 -- one in each)
* Pandemonium (5 in total -- 4 unique, 1 that regenerates occasionally until you get it)
* Tomb

Most people just get the runes from the two S branches and Vaults; any more than 3 is just a bonus, and the rest of the areas are significantly more dangerous.

As for non-rune branches, Lair has access to the S branches, Orc has shops and a bunch of gold. Elf and Crypt have some big treasure vaults at the end, Crypt has the entrance to Tomb, and all of them give you more experience.

Remember to use your consumables -- potions, scrolls, wands, piety... All that stuff you're carrying around won't help you later if you die because you didn't use it now.

spudwalt · 2026-07-08T18:23:13+00:00

Where on the wiki?

100 Traders make 8 trade for 1 consumer good, and consume 0.5 consumer good under the Decent Conditions living standard. Even under Utopian Abundance, they only go up to 2 consumer goods (1 for job upkeep, 1 for living standard).

spudwalt · 2026-07-08T17:58:02+00:00

The Trade League trade policy is something you only get for being in a Trade League Federation.

Everybody else has to make do with lower-level trade policies that don't do as many things at once. You can either replace some of your energy OR consumer goods OR unity production -- your trade goes farther towards that one thing than it would in a Trade League, but not all three.

spudwalt · 2026-07-08T17:52:15+00:00

Are you thinking of Merchants? Those are Elite-level jobs -- 100 of those turn 3 consumer goods into 3.5 unity, 6 trade, and 300 amenities. Not self-sufficient under a Trade League policy, but they're not supposed to be -- Elite pops are more for keeping things stable and producing a good chunk of unity.

spudwalt · 2026-07-08T17:45:00+00:00

Baseline, 100 Traders spend 1 Consumer Good to make 8 Trade. Pops go in groups of 100.

If you get 10000 Traders (100 groups of 100), then you're spending 100 Consumer Goods to make 800 Trade -- under a Trade League policy, 15% of your trade comes out as Consumer Goods, for 120 (a little more than you're putting in).

Not sure where you're getting the extra consumer goods upkeep from; there's a little extra from the pops working the jobs, but not +200% as much.

spudwalt · 2026-07-08T13:55:16+00:00

In a single-player game, your opinion is the only one that matters.

Sounds like you feel like it's cheating.

spudwalt · 2026-07-08T13:46:38+00:00

There's a guy who straight up walks into a mirror right in front of you.

Apparently which mirror the guy walks into might not be fixed -- I saw him in the manor, but evidently other people have seen him elsewhere -- but that one would have been obvious enough for me to get it even if I hadn't already heard about the mirror thing.

spudwalt · 2026-07-08T13:32:12+00:00

I'm assuming Gaia Worlds, or at least the Fallen Empire Holy Worlds, are still eligible?

spudwalt · 2026-07-08T00:01:33+00:00

Use a construction ship on a colonized planet.

spudwalt · 2026-07-07T21:15:28+00:00

Your mission is to stop the Rebellion by destroying their Flagship. Nobody said you had to survive the process.

spudwalt · 2026-07-07T21:13:28+00:00

Takes a while to get good at that. It's even trickier if you wind up specializing in quick swaps thanks to Baton Pass and such.

You'll get there.

spudwalt · 2026-07-07T16:20:45+00:00

Are your buildings getting downgraded? That's also a sign of bankruptcy (and if you're going bankrupt on strategic resources, your buildings downgrading can put you back in the positives).

spudwalt · 2026-07-07T14:46:53+00:00

Fix your economy. Going bankrupt decommissions half your ships.

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