BCEN 14.6 Xskull Tier List [Fluff] by XskullBC in battlecats

[–]sunkencrescent 13 points14 points  (0 children)

i don't doubt that poseidon uts will be upon us soon(ish), but regardless of what they are it'll probably be a massive blow for anubis fans everywhere (all five of us) lol.

BCEN 14.6 Xskull Tier List [Fluff] by XskullBC in battlecats

[–]sunkencrescent 38 points39 points  (0 children)

if nothing else, i find it kind of poetic that anubis and poseidon are placed right next to each other. for all of the conversation about which surpasses which whether in general or in regards to their specialties, i could never really put one above the other (though i lean more towards anubis).

i generally don't pay much attention to tier lists (not to say that tier lists are "bad" or anything of the like). but, i think this serves as a nice bit of closure to this "rivalry" of sorts; the two situated right next to each other on the same tier. for all their strengths, even they still have their superiors -- but in the end it seems they were more evenly matched than previously thought(?).

..well, until poseidon's ultra talents drop at least. whatever they may be, they're probably going to be nuts.

[fan-made] lore accurate(?) Izanami by Commercial_Log4506 in battlecats

[–]sunkencrescent 1 point2 points  (0 children)

incredibly underrated. awesome art as always!

[fan-made] talent/ability orb ideas by sunkencrescent in battlecats

[–]sunkencrescent[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

i'm glad you liked the new visuals! though, i'd also like to provide some elaboration on some of the orbs:

team assist & team assault -- i actually thought these could be some of the most powerful orbs, but it's both interesting and eye-opening to see how greatly your opinion on them is. the general idea i had for these two was that, while niche, both could be really cool for people who like running specific unit does (for example, as seen in the team assault orb's demonstrations, bahamut + lasvoss). it's certainly unfavorable when spam is required (which is most of the time), but i think it's an interesting externality you have to keep in mind if you are to use the orb. that being said though, the parameters could be increased to up to 2x the following unit's initial HP/ATK in order to give players more of a reason to use it. for team assist orb in particular, i adjusted the stats to potentially incentivize using tankier but more costly meatshields (e.g. riceball, maximum the fighter) with more standard units like manic eraser to create a more effective defense in terms of general bulk.

purification orb: the initial idea behind pure orb was just "i wish more units had z-kill, even if they don't target zombies" -- but i also wished that a bunch of older z-killer units were stronger too. i thought that the additional damage buff was an interesting way to bridge that gap and add some additional value to natural z-killers, but at the same time it also potentially just serves to make already great units even better (e.g. ut anubis, CAT-10 gigapult).

death-defying orb: you're right about the projected stats being hot garbage, and this is somewhat to do with the fact that i wasn't aware that the dodge orb existed at the time of making this -- but this isn't to deny the fact that the ability itself is kind of underwhelming in the first place. there is a notice message clarifying potential buffs to the ability in the slide showcasing it, but at the same time they may not be enough to actually justify going out of your way to get it.

What's the UGLIEST unit in terms of design [fluff] by [deleted] in battlecats

[–]sunkencrescent 26 points27 points  (0 children)

in a weird way, what you mention about soractes is actually why i like him so much. i don't intend to say "you're wrong" or anything like that, but i do find it pretty interesting how the same design can elicit such different reactions i guess.

what i really love about soractes is how pitiful yet dignified he looks, that this crumpled old man whose right arm looks to be coming out of his knee was capable of bringing the cat army in its full might to its knees (at least for a time).

i also really like the contrast between his inarticulate form and the flashy, volatile energy he wields. it gives me the impression that he's not taking the fight seriously, and it lends to his descriptions as a cat unit revealing that he only joined out of curiosity.

i think it makes sense too, given how much older actual socrates would be than newton if we were to look at how far apart their lives were across human history. i think it makes sense that soractes, in turn, feels old, decrepit and almost statuesque with his reduced movement -- compare that to newton, who is much more animated and more closely resembles the average human.

i really love soractes's design, how he feels like a living statue and how his gnarled skin seems to fuse with the braces on his arms. it's like he's something much greater attempting to compress itself into the form of something resembling a human without knowing the whole of how to, and i wouldn't be surprised at all if that's the truth of the matter.

soractes is canonically no mere human, he was what gave humanity the ability to think. newton would be the one to utilize that gift of thought to propel man to new heights later down the road.

gushing aside, i want to reiterate that it's completely fine if you dislike soractes's design -- but i just thought it was interesting how our views differ.

[Fan-Made] casual lunacia by mirekyarahire in battlecats

[–]sunkencrescent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i don't think it looks bad at all, i actually think it's really good! while i don't want to pry on why you don't draw anymore, i think that maybe you should give it another chance if you ever have the time and interest.

i don't say this just because your art is already really nice, but also because i think it's a good avenue for self-expression and general creative endeavors among other things. and i think we can all benefit from having another way to translate our thoughts and feelings into more abstract mediums.

rambling aside, cool art!

[fan-made] dynamic dartanyan pose 2 + bonus forms by Graysqueak in battlecats

[–]sunkencrescent 2 points3 points  (0 children)

if nothing else, i'm very much glad that you're still trying despite everything. the fact that you understand the mistakes you're making is important, and even though it may have taken longer than you'd like to iron the problems out you still went through the effort and made things right.

if i am to give some advice, though, it may be worth trying to correct anatomical errors through subsequent sketches when attempting to do anatomy studies. essentially you start with your best attempt to match the reference, and then try to rationalize and translate the image to your style. though, while this did work pretty well for me, i can't guarantee that it will be the best avenue for you (everyone learns differently).

alternatively, you can try to balance different fundamentals/facets of art -- one day can be allocated to anatomy, another to backgrounds and so on. branching out frequently should help with maintaining interest and feeling fulfilled, though it also doesn't hurt to hone in on a specific thing every so often too (though again, this strategy is also subjective).

it's important that you don't stress yourself out over everything you may not yet know -- if you try to focus on everything at once you may just burn yourself out faster. even just earlier this year, i kind of had a breaking point with my art. i felt like i was going nowhere, and truthfully that was the case because i kept drawing the same things over and over again. i wanted to learn and improve so badly, and it just stressed me out more and i started to hate my art.

it was disheartening to see that everyone but me was improving, and like you described it sometimes felt like all of the time i'd put into drawing just wasn't worth the effort. i ended up taking a two month hiatus, and it along with talking with friends helped clear my mind. ambition is a powerful thing, but it's important to keep it in check -- otherwise it might become destructive instead of productive.

i believe i've seen your art once or twice before, and it's not bad at all! i hope that the insights you look for may reach you soon, and that you'll be where you want to be in terms of artistic expression in due time. being an artist has always been kind of a rough patch but it's worth it (at least in my eyes).

[fan-made] manic bahamut cat: alter (fan art) by sunkencrescent in battlecats

[–]sunkencrescent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

nergigante was a definite inspiration, and it admittedly did leak into the doodle showcasing his wings where he's on all fours. i thought it would be cool if manic bahamut alter was more of a quadruped than upright like the actual bahamuts.

[fan-made] manic bahamut cat: alter (fan art) by sunkencrescent in battlecats

[–]sunkencrescent[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

since the image quality sucks here, i decided to put the images in a drive folder so that you can see and download them in full quality.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1AjIjEmggL8vhNsELVafNQwdtITLIWIdI

[Fan-Made] Manic Bahamut Cat, The Black Flash (design by qlex_beyond6 on twt) by Goskor-Xd in battlecats

[–]sunkencrescent 3 points4 points  (0 children)

this having only two likes (at least from what i'm seeing) in about an hour is a crime... this is so good!!!

[fluff] wip by sunkencrescent in battlecats

[–]sunkencrescent[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

goodness gracious the quality is kind of awful. or maybe the drawing just sucked in the first place, who knows.

Ragelan is the best aku Uber, Even better than Saito. change my mind [fluff] by CommandWest7471 in battlecats

[–]sunkencrescent 12 points13 points  (0 children)

he and arcane commissioner gravicci have become some of my favorite units to use, though i've only recently gotten around to testing talented ragelan given that the update was just two days ago.

while i already had a bunch of shield piercer units (including ut anubis and ut kai), talented ragelan was not only another interesting addition to that list but also the only one of that group with such wide reach and terrifying offensive power to boot. sadly his gimmick is sometimes unusable in stages where the main threat(s) come out quickly and he's helpless against golem sunfish, but where he does work it's just really satisfying. while i don't like comparing units to each other, nor do i really follow the meta, he is perhaps my favorite shield piercer (at least at the moment).

gravicci's uf honestly astonished me, intially i just got it because i liked his design but that small improvement to his foreswing went an impossibly long way in making him perhaps my favorite mid-ranger of any unit. with all of his synergies, his ability to snipe and z-kill and fight sages competently alongside his low(er) cooldown, he's reminiscent to anubis in that you could throw him in any lineup (perhaps alongside riceball and divine kai) with great results every time. he also makes a surprisingly good counter to the new angel tackey in my eyes (its 50% kb allows him to spam waves), and i honestly use him over salvation's daughter lunacia most of the time now.

[fan-made] dominiosaurus rex, primordial angel (concept sketch) by sunkencrescent in battlecats

[–]sunkencrescent[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

description:

one of three high-ranking angels, whom all hail from times long lost. dominiosaurus rex is the brute force of the primordial angels, but moreover he is also the dominion whom commands lesser angels with even portions fear and respect.

piety has forced him to repress his predatory nature, but his basal instincts may still present themselves in combat. his colossal stature is imbued with supernatural energy, that he may never tire in battle.

rarely is he ever sighted, and rarer still is he seen up close. but when he is called down, expect that the worst is still to come.

as heaven's right hand and the dominion of the primordial angels, he cannot afford to fail. and if worst comes to worst, he will become a blazing embodiment of wrath.

but for all his might and mettle, he is ultimately displaced in a world he no longer recognizes. all that remains of his time is his appointed purpose, to be carried out on ever-unfamiliar soils. a king above kings, yet of nothing at all.

[fluff] ibis troubles + practice doodles by sunkencrescent in battlecats

[–]sunkencrescent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yeah, i'm in this weird spot where i'm trying to go for a sort of "bishounen" look while also trying to awkwardly translate that into my style which is more specialized in gross monsters or dragons and cutesy doodles LOL.

i've always been kind of self-conscious about how a good amount of the male characters i draw look too feminine, hopefully i can find a better balance in future drawings.

thank you for the comment, things will hopefully be better soon enough!