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Author Topic: Another Journey to 100%  (Read 17043 times)

khiijol

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Re: Another Journey to 100%
« Reply #15 on: July 16, 2020, 12:54 »
even for a veteran player, this is pretty incredible progress for two weeks
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Icy

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Re: Another Journey to 100%
« Reply #16 on: July 16, 2020, 15:18 »
Thanks, I've been having a ton of fun with it!

Day 14

Today, I've shifted my focus slightly away from Dragonslayer hunting and playing for JC kills with my somewhat new strategy. I'm now at 30 of them and can get them very consistently. Since I don't have much else to comment on, I'll explain my gameplay a bit more thoroughly.

With Angel of Berserk and Overconfidence, the first two levels tend to be a bit rough, and it's important to not be afraid of using the starting Large Med-Paks. Save the Chainsaw boost though. I usually grab some nearby items, evaluate the situation, then find a door to camp behind and pick away at enemies using Run->Wait. Naturally, the widely varying possibilities for situations calls for widely varying actions, but this is generally my plan. Always skip Unholy Cathedral and Vaults, but exiting through them is fine of course.

After that, I stock up on as many Phase Devices as possible to prepare entering Mortuary/Limbo, ideally with a little extra if possible like Invulnerability and Envirosuits. Limbo is generally better because of the lava separating enemies more, and Phase Devices more likely to be beneficial, but Mortuary can work too. Use Phase Devices before Homing Phase Devices so that if you get unlucky while burning through them all, you can still at least exit alive. The top-right corner is ideal of course since that's where the Nuclear BFG is, but the bottom-right can also work if you can tough out any enemies. On Limbo, the two little islands nearby are also fairly manageable. Be cautious of enemies who can destroy the Nuclear BFG. If you're lucky and got a nuke before entering, always skip this level entirely.

If you have a nuke upon entering floor 5, it may be worthwhile to start seeking out Invulnerabilities or at least buffing up your inventory a little. Floor 6 and 7 are better of course, especially if you have Homing Phase Devices leftover. If you're unlucky, the run ends if you can't get Invulnerability, but I still always skip Lava Pits/Mt Erebus since the gear required is a ton, and time-wise, starting a new run can be close in speed anyway.

Nuke Dis, approach JC on a straight horizontal line a bit past the "d" of "id". Use an Envirosuit if available, drop the Chainsaw and pick it up to boost, then approach in a zig-zag. Play aggressively and always focus on attacking JC, healing only if necessary. I very rarely ever die here. Of course if you're extra lucky, you can just use a second nuke here.

My trait selection is always Brute->Brute->Berserker->Brute. From here, I usually pick Intuition to scout for Invulnerability, or Hellrunner if I think I may need an extra help making it to Dis while invulnerable. If I have no need for either, I go with Finesse.

For mod packs, Agility Packs go into Chainsaw, then Boots, Technical goes into Boots if I have a pair for Grappling Boots, which is very helpful for Revenants, Mancubi, and JC, and Power goes into Chainsaw then Red Armors. Bulks are rarely useful, generally only if there's a lack of everything else. Piercing Chainsaw helps with damage significantly and Red Armor (P), especially with Berserk makes you pretty unkillable.

That's all there is to it! I've tried various other strategies in the past for JC kills, including a different style of Berserk + Overconfidence, but this method has got to be optimal. I can get JC kills at worst once every 20 minutes, I've had 2 kills in a row multiple times, and I've had 3 kills within 20 minutes as well. It's also pretty fun to play. The only major downside is requiring Invulnerability on the last couple floors where some runs do end up immediately dying, but getting a nuke usually isn't a problem.

Some highlights:

A nice Trigun run made quick work of the ending, and the whole run was less than 6 minutes:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I had one really unique run where I was very low on health and got a level up. As I was just about to be attacked, I went with Ironman specifically for the immediate health boost, survived, and I went on to kill JC too:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

One time entering Hell Fortress, I used Hell Staff and of the 1367 possible tiles to pick from, I got the absolute best one:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Here, I had Invulnerability, but needed to exit fast before it ran out. I also needed a nuke since I didn't get the Nuclear BFG. On floor 7, I grabbed a Tracking Map and saw this:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

With a Homing Phase Device, I was able to scoop up the nearby nuke and exit quickly enough, turning what was a run on life support into another JC kill!

Finally, I once had a massive stack of Phase Devices before entering Limbo:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Funny enough, none of them were Homing Phase Devices, but I still got to the Nuclear BFG after 3 of them.

And that's all for today. I'll keep grinding JC kills to reach 50, which shouldn't take too much longer. Maybe I'll find Dragonslayer too...
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Icy

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Re: Another Journey to 100%
« Reply #17 on: July 17, 2020, 14:53 »
Day 15

Today I continued with JC kills, now having reached 41/50. The last 9 should come by and then I'll have the Apostle ranking and be done with the grind.

Some highlights:

I was having a relatively weak run, one with no Med-Paks and pretty low health. I found a Tracking Map in this situation:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

As you can see, I had a Baron in basically every direction, with Invulnerability to the left near the door, a Large Health Globe to my right, and the stairs right below me. I decided that the best choice was to dance around and hope that I could approach the Large Health Globe without being spotted.

However, I was not having any luck with the Barons and had to use the Chainsaw boost early and went for Invulnerability:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

After some fighting, I managed to get to the stairs in decent shape:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It's always fun to be presented with interesting, challenging puzzles like this. Fortunately, use of the Chainsaw boost wasn't a problem because I found a second nuke shortly after:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And the much needed Invulnerability:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And a very nice floor 7:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It's nice that the game rewarded me with good fortune after previously receving bad luck with what I believed was the correct decision. It also shows again that weak runs can still get JC kills.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Here's an amusing start. It's actually very nice for a quick kill and easy experience:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Here was another interesting start:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The options here are to head up-left, charge the Revenant, charge the Baron, head down-left, or head down-right. I actually decided to wait since there was a good chance the Revenant would blow itself up and then I could charge the Baron with an extra level of Brute. Unfortunately:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I didn't get the Revenant to fire. I still made it work, but not as optimally as it could have been.

Here was another interesting situation, though I'm encountered similar ones many times:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I had no Phase Devices, and the Invulnerability was too far to make it in time to survive nuking Dis. However, by cutting the door, pushing a barrel towards the Invulnerability and then using my Combat Knife to throw at it, I was able to make it, with 3 turns of Invulnerability to spare. The Combat Knife has come in handy many times actually for other barrel-blasting setups, usually for opening paths.

Another amusing run I had insisted on giving me Bulk Packs:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And on another run...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Finally! There were lots of tough monsters and not a ton of help towards it, but I managed to grab it with some careful play:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I'm very happy I won't need to do another 666 game now, and I finally get Armorer Diamond Badge! Getting this on floor 1 also meant I can skip the Berserker trait, which is now useless. On the next floor, I found the next best unique for this character:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

No Malicious Knives on this run of course though.

I got a little overconfident and fought through Limbo instead of rushing for the Nuclear BFG and got beat up pretty bad for it, but managed to survive:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

On floor 6, I found stacked Invulnerability:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And another stack on floor 7!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Except...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I completely forgot I wouldn't be able to use the Nuclear BFG and needed a regular nuke, oops. Fun fact, you also can't Chainsaw boost, unsurprisingly:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Knowing that now, it could have been very helpful on the approach to getting Dragonslayer, rather than saving it just before actually picking it up. Anyway, I made short work of the Spider Mastermind in 3 hits and got another Gutts' Heart:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

That's all for now. Once Apostle ranking is done, I will have completed all the major grinds that interfere with runs and can focus entirely on collecting Badges and Medals without being sidetracked. It'll be a breath of fresh air after all this JC grinding for sure.
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Icy

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Re: Another Journey to 100%
« Reply #18 on: July 18, 2020, 15:54 »
Day 16

After a long grind, I have finally reached 50 JC kills and got Apostle ranking!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It's not that hard to get, but it takes some serious time to get all those kills, and I'm glad it's all done now. This also means every major grind is out of the way and I can focus entirely on Badges and Medals now. I'm not sure what I'll go for first.

Some highlights:

This was a crazy room to open, with 16 out of 21 tiles occupied, all by monsters who can't open doors:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

In the same floor, there was a somewhat similar one too:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

On one run, I had my first triple nuke before floor 4, meaning I could blow up an extra floor, in particular, Mortuary/Limbo. I found the necessary Invulnerability right by the start and the stairs too:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

My first run through this grind on grabbing Angelic Armor:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Floors 5 and 7 were also nice and I was able to actually complete the run:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

In one scenario, I was able to barricade myself and pick off Arachnatrons. If you weren't already aware, they cannot destroy Napalm Barrels because of the high armor value:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

On one close run, I didn't have an Invulnerability on floor 7 as my current one was almost out, but I rolled this instead:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And I once killed a Baron who exploded like a pinata:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And that's it for now!
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Icy

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Re: Another Journey to 100%
« Reply #19 on: July 19, 2020, 13:34 »
Day 17

One of my current goals now is to re-earn everything I had previously got and the list is getting quite short now. They are as follows:

Medals: Gargulec Cross, Thomas's Medal
Gold Badges: Strongman
Platinum Badges: Reaper, Berserker, Quartermaster, Everyman
Diamond Badges: Gatekeeper, Reaper, Berserker, Quartermaster, Scavenger
Angelic Badges: Veteran, Lightfoot

So far, I haven't earned anything that I didn't before.

I cycled around a bit with different challenges without too much success, and I was attempting a few things that would give me multiple badges in one completion, but after that I decided to just go for some easy stuff.

My first pick was Quartermaster Gold Badge, which I got in one try. It's a pretty easy challenge with the help of Max Carnage, but I had quite a bit of good luck too. On floor 7, I got a very early Assault Shotgun:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I happened to find another one a bit later too:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Later on, I also found a relatively early Trigun, which does still work with Red Alert:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I didn't find much for Invulnerability, but it still got some usage:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And otherwise, it wasn't very eventful. Very easy to get.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

After that, I played for Daredevil Platinum Badge, which likewise wasn't too much trouble or particularly interesting. I carried two nukes with me and found my first Invulnerability on Hell floor 4:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I found another on the very next floor, nearby both the start and stairs:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I tried to make the most of each action of Invulnerability:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Floor 6 also tried to work with me for another, but I ran out of nukes at that point:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And near the end, I got slightly reckless with a Mancubus and almost died. It would have been pretty annoying, but it was completely avoidable and my fault:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And likewise, it was easy overall and nothing too eventful.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

That's it for today! I'll continue picking away at some of the easier achievements and see what I end up earning.
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Icy

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Re: Another Journey to 100%
« Reply #20 on: July 20, 2020, 16:47 »
Day 18

My first target today was Gatekeeper Diamond Badge. I think it goes without saying that it requires some good luck since Phobos Anomaly requires either a Phase Device or Invulnerability. After some attempts, I got a run with a Phase Device that worked out:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I used a rocket to open up the door but blew off far more than I intended. I still was able to clear everything without getting hit, and I chipped off the edge bit with another rocket to cornershoot the Bruisers after:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

After that, it was very easy:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

With Dodgemaster, the rest of the run is essentially not getting killed to Tower of Babel. Along the way I found this:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

However, I took a look at the code before trying this challenge and knew that nuking the Cyberdemon wouldn't count. Still, it can come in handy for regular floors. I found something even better later:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And with that, I got my Gatekeeper Diamond Badge, and a new ranking:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Next, I went for Reaper Platinum Badge with Overconfidence and Max Carnage. It's pretty easy, just takes some luck to get to the Nuclear BFG and then defend the island. I had some good runs that all died and managed to get it on a bad one with Invulnerability and rushing towards an empty island. My Phase Device failed on me, but the lack of monsters balanced out the luck:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

For awhile, I was confused how monsters kept respawning with no Archviles in sight, forgeting that they do that on Nightmare.

I shot repeatedly into the darkness until everything was dead. For those who go for this in this manner, always aim between you and the monsters so any knockback effects send them away. After some time, I got the completion:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Next, I went for Reaper Diamond Badge. Technically, I could have just gone for this and get both in one run, but felt like playing them separately for fun.

On one run, I found a first floor Trigun:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I had a number of Invulnerabilities and nuked a pile of floors for quick experience. I later rolled a nasty Cacodemon cave with no proper cover:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I later also realized I had to cross lava and with no health remaining, which was the end of the run:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

What's cool though is I got another Fallout Platinum Cross. Honestly, Trigun is one of the most OP weapons in the game and I can see myself relying on finding it for the ultra difficult challenges ahead.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

On another run that was looking good, I rolled this for Hell floor 4:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

My strategy for this badge is basically the same as before: grab the Nuclear BFG through either Phase Devices, Envirosuits, or Invulnerability, then camp until everything is dead. Invulnerability right by the stairs here is very promising.

It looked like I had a long way to go though:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

After some running around, I discovered that the door tile was one further than I saw, nice:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I had fresh Invulnerability and one Homing Phase Device and took the coin flip risk:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Unfortunately, I got the absolute worst pick and in trying to get to where I needed to be, I was getting walled out by projectiles and unable to move much:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I eventually made it to the island but the Nuclear BFG had been destroyed and that was the end of the run:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

On a new run with Invulnerability still fresh after the Cyberdemon kill, I found this:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This would mean that the Nuclear BFG would be unnecessary! I decided a Rocket Launcher would definitely be the best pick, but I could also double the rate of ammo refill on the Nuclear BFG. I also found this along the way but decided I didn't need it:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I had a really nice floor 4:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And it kept getting better:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Before entering, I had a huge stack of goodies:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

After three tries of Homing Phase Devices, I got the second best spot and decided to just go with that:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I was having trouble defending and bad spawns appeared:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

With Dodgemaster, I can normally handle Nightmare Cacodemons, but I was getting boxed in and with no cover. After burning through my Med-Paks, I decided to use my last Homing Phase Device, but with hardly any effect:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Out of desperation, I used a regular Phase Device and it went about as well as you could guess:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

On another run, I had an interesting first floor where I could cut everything off and blow up all corpses, leaving just a Commando and I stocked up on Cells:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Having Plasma helped a lot and I had lots of other good fortune through the way. On Hell floor 4, I had a pretty good start:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I also rolled Limbo again and had another nice stack of items, the only main thing I was lacking was Med-Paks:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I decided to take another risk and used a regular Phase Device, which worked out pretty well:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Nightmare Cacodemons were swarming again, but all the Plasma I had helped a lot, and I needed almost all of it to defend my space. After quite some time with blasting Cacodemons and firing Nuclear BFG shots into the darkness, I eventually cleared Limbo.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Overall, a pretty good day. While my rate of play will remain high, there aren't really many easy challenges left, and many of which require long runs, so I might start seeing days where I don't get anything new. I'll put in a good fight and see how things go.
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Icy

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Re: Another Journey to 100%
« Reply #21 on: July 21, 2020, 13:19 »
Day 19

Today, I went for Scavenger Diamond Badge with the Azrael strategy. I tried a few times and was struggling to get really anywhere, so I switched to using the Humanity variant and got it pretty quick. It's very easy and probably the best way to get it. Humanity + Overconfidence supplies you with Ballistic Red Armor and Chainsword, and tons of Med-Paks to use Whisper of Death once arriving at The Vaults. 4 attacks are the minimum required to kill Archviles, with 5 the maximum if any Revenants get resurrected.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

After that, I decided to bring the difficulty down to Hurt Me Plenty and play for Platinum Everyman Badge and Thomas's Medal using the same strategy. I've had quite a few good runs, but it's hard to make it through the later parts of the game when running around with at most 5 HP. I didn't manage to get them just yet, but I should soon.

Here's a few interesting screenshots:

This was a silly setup for floor 1:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And I believe this was the longest level feeling I've ever had, almost a short novel:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

On my best run with tons of gear, I rolled this for floor 4:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I decided to save the nuke for later, and certainly not nuke Mortuary/Limbo as I need all the goodies inside. I was able to sneak in and used several Whispers of Death between all the Soulspheres and Med-Paks. When leaving, I had this:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

On floor 5, I found two more Small Med-Paks, got some extra experience to get towards Dodgemaster, and was pretty set to get a completion, but of all things that could happen, a Cacodemon stepped into a teleporter, appeared in front of me, and instantly killed me. That's how it goes.

It's a pretty fun challenge and Everyman Diamond Badge with the same strategy should be good too once I go for that later on.
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Icy

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Re: Another Journey to 100%
« Reply #22 on: July 22, 2020, 14:22 »
Day 20

After a bit of struggling the last couple days, today was a huge success! On my first run of the day, I got Everyman Platinum Badge and Thomas's Medal with the Humanity + Overconfidence strategies!

The first floor had two Homing Phase Devices, which meant I could later skip floors 5 and 7, but I didn't want to get too excited since the hardest parts are at the beginning. After getting Azrael's Scythe, wiping The Vaults, and clearing out Limbo with some luck and more Whispers of Death, I was well set to complete. The stack of items leaving Limbo means there's enough Med-Paks for Lava Pits/Mt Erebus, Red Armor (P) for tanking the Lava Elemental, Nuclear BFG where needed, even if just for the ending, and a Soulsphere to reach a whopping 10 HP.

I had Invulnerability for Lava Pits, which ran out, but I also had an Envirosuit and killed the Lava Elemental in 2 hits:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Then with the Homing Phase Device for floor 7 and Nuclear BFG for Dis, it was all done.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Next, I tried for Quartermaster Platinum Badge and got that in just a few tries too! My general strategy was to use Max Carnage, kill a handful of monsters along the way to get Dodgemaster for the Cyberdemon, and stairdive for most of the whole way through.

On Deimos floor 4, I had a nice double Invulnerability:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

On floor 7, I found a Homing Phase Device while still Invulnerable and opted to use it then.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Hell floor 1 was a bit rough:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

But I found another Homing Phase Device:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And decided after searching through most of the level which has two staircases to hold onto it, which was a bit risky with some of the monsters that were around:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

On floor 2, while this weapon is basically useless, it's a nice source of Cells:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Funny enough, it was good that I went to grab it or I may have had a very long level:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Floor 3 was also a mess and while I wanted to hang onto my Homing Phase Device, I think it was the right call to use it there:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And it was for sure:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Floor 4 was nicer:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And looking even better with yet another Homing Phase Device. I was a little worried about all the Archviles and Revenants though so I tried to stay above to direct their fire away from it:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Which also revealed the stairs!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

After killing them, it seems that it was destroyed unfortunately:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Or not:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Floor 5 was fair, and I was lucky to have ran in the right direction:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And with this floor 6, I had the game won!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I did Run->Wait at Dis to end the game after.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

My next pick was Berserk + Overconfidence on Ultra-Violence with 100% kills to get me both Gargulec Cross and Berserker Platinum Badge. My general strategy for this is to get a strong floor 1, grab Azrael's Scythe, and then Run->Wait camp to kill everything on the rest of the floors. So long as you can kill basically everything in one hit, door camping is very safe, especially once getting Vampyre.

This challenge took a number of tries unlike earlier, and I had some interesting games along the way.

I had a really odd island level with intersecting bridges:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

On one run, I rolled a lever that would floor the whole level with lava, and also found a Homing Phase Device:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

My plan was to pull it, warp onto the stairs, and get an easy clear, although I wouldn't be getting Azrael's Scythe on this particular attempt:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Unfortunately, there were a number of flying enemies, and a nearby Chaingunner who was safe on an opened door:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I couldn't do a whole lot from here:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

On another run, I found a Trigun on floor 1!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Also with an Invulnerability near the stairs to Unholy Cathedral:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Unfortunately though, there were Barons hanging around there, it was a flooding level, and I had just slightly too little health to grab it.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

On another good run, I had a Revenant level, which is excellent for experience and easy kills. I left with a giant stack of Med-Packs:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I was able to get Azrael's Scythe and not long after floor 2, got Vampyre. Getting runs up to this point can be rare, so I had to take things a bit more seriously from here. Floor 3 was nice and I was able to start door camping:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Floor 4 was also nice:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The entire right side of the level only had one entrance, which made camping very powerful:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It was very helpful too since the other side was a mess:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Because of the Tracking Map, Run->Wait was only so fast, so I slowly approached and cleared out the level. I had a pretty solid stack of items:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Floor 5 gave me another Computer Map and revealed lots of useful items:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I was also able to isolate very well:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Floor 6 once again gave me a Computer Map:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I had to play a bit aggressively as there were a ton of Archviles and Mancubi to the right, with barrels littered everywhere. Envirosuit helped a lot, but I had a few sketchy moments:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

After that side was empty, I was able to do more door camping:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Floor 7 was a big mess of a level, but at least I found yet another Computer Map:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Because of the angle of a vault towards a rough spot below, I decided to charge in. It's not as dangerous as it looks since the Cacodemons end up meat-shielding each other and they all get killed easily:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I was considering using some Whispers of Death, but wasn't sure if it would be the best call to approach the Spider Mastermind with less HP. I decided not to and was able to clear the bottom without as much trouble as I expected:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And with that, it was an easy finish!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Next up, Berserker Diamond Badge. Like other Nightmare challenges with kill requirements, my strategy was to rush to the end, isolate an enemy, and repeatedly kill it until I'm set to finish.

This start didn't look very promising:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

On a much better run, I got to floor 4 and accidentally went to The Mortuary, thinking it was The Vaults. Lucky me, the upper-right area was pretty empty!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And on floor 5, I found an Invulnerability to go with my Nuclear BFG:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I decided to nuke floor 5 for the experience, get Intuition, and hopefully find some useful power-ups in the next floors. And it worked out really well!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Floor 7 was the main floor that mattered and it had two lava rivers!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The left side was already cut off!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

For the right side, I was going to make use of a few barrels to help. Combat Knives are really helpful for this on Berserk challenges:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I wasn't quite sure what to do with the right side though and there was a pile of Hell Knights and Barons over there. I had most of the bodies destroyed, except one Hell Knight and hoped I could push the last barrel close enough to it:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Not quite:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

So instead, I let the Hell Knight destroy the Mancubus corpse I was saving and went for repeated Hell Knight kills instead, which was slightly riskier:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

In any case, the setup was complete, but I had quite a few kills to get:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I still had to fight the Spider Mastermind without dying, but I had the Chainsaw boost to help:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And after just a small handful of runs, I got the badge!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I now have earned all the Medals and Platinum Badges I previously got and decided to get around to the last Gold Badge, which was Strongman. I'm not sure if my strategy or playstyle is weak, but I've always felt relatively weak on challenges that require Knives and Fists only. Despite that, I got a complete luckbox run and got the badge after just a couple tries!

After an average start with some door camping, I had a bad floor 5 and had no choice but to skip Chained Court:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Floor 7 was where things started to look really good though:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Most of Deimos was me running around with Invulnerability and stairdiving, however, I realized my run was basically finished at the Cyberdemon with little experience and no Chainsaw. Perhaps related to my weakness on these challenges, I clearly had a major misunderstanding of how powerful Berserk really is. I started off with blasting the Cyberdemon with Plasma, took a couple hits which triggered Berserker, and charged at him with a basic Combat Knife. To my surprise, I actually managed to kill him, and with lots of health and a couple Med-Paks too!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Hell floor 2 was a terrible start, but a Phase Device dropped me off right at the stairs!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Floor 3 had the stairs one tile over!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Floor 4 had an Invulnerability near the stairs, but I did have to work a little for this one at least:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I also found this, but it was destroyed before I could grab it:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Floor 5 put me by the stairs again!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Floor 6 was good too!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And floor 7 too!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And suddenly, I was at the end of the game. I was still slightly worried about dying, but with Berserk and lots of Brute, I was still strong enough to make the Spider Mastermind flinch and took her out without too much trouble!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Slightly insulting to be given all this merely for a Gold Badge, but I'm certainly not complaining!

I now am only missing 3 rewards that I had previously obtained: Quartermaster Diamond Badge, Veteran Angelic Badge, and Lightfoot Angelic Badge. These are all tough challenges, but I think I can get them without too much trouble. I'm definitely at the point now where I don't think I will be getting new things every day, especially since I just cleared out a lot of what I was missing just today.

My other main targets are Everyman Diamond Badge using the Azrael strategy, which isn't too much harder than doing so on HMP, and completing an Angel of 100 game on Nightmare will give me all of Dervis' Medallion, Heroic Diamond Badge, and Centurial Diamond Badge, completing my Medal count and really upping my Diamond Badge count. I've been a bit frustrated with myself for not having done it before since it's so many rewards for one run, especially since I'm a huge fan of Angel of 100, so it will be some good redemption for sure. There's lots more unfinished business ahead, and there are a lot of non-reward challenges I intend to do too once the remaining rewards start becoming more and more infeasible.
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Sereg

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Re: Another Journey to 100%
« Reply #23 on: July 23, 2020, 03:11 »
Welcome back Icy, good to see you again... looks like you've made pretty incredible progress so far.

Got the really tough stuff left to go though - it'll be interesting to see how you handle it this time around, and if you can exceed your previous achievements.

Best of luck!
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Cyberdemon Chaos Colonel

Medals - DRL 27/43 | XA 16/31

Icy

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Re: Another Journey to 100%
« Reply #24 on: July 23, 2020, 13:18 »
Thanks, although I have to say, you chose an amusing time to pop in.

Day 21

I decided to start with Veteran Angelic Badge, which isn't too bad once you get through the first half of the game. If you can get to Mortuary/Limbo and grab the Nuclear BFG, it solves a good amount of problems for the run.

Last time, I got a golden run and was able to get this badge on my first try, and with that, I took this run very carefully to see if I could do it again.

To start, I found a great armor on floor 1:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I also found a much needed weapon:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

There were also a few Mancubi and Shotgun Guys who I farmed up a bit for ammunition. 100% kills on Nightmare can be a bit of an obstacle since everything needs to be killed and then destroyed, which is very ammo-expensive.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Floor 2 was a bit messy, but a fair challenge, and I was able to scoop up more ammo:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Floor 3 was a maze with a vertical lava river, and I accidentally blew up the bridge, which I actually did not want because crossing over later is dangerous:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Once again, I had tons of ammo to grab:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Overall, a very strong start:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Floor 4 had a horizontal lava river and was very nasty. I also almost died pretty quickly:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

After clearing the floor, I was at a tough decision as I rolled Limbo, but didn't have any of the needed supplies to take it on, in particular, Med-Paks and Phase Devices:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I decided I would push my luck and hope I could find a nuke by chance. Floor 5 was a decent start:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

At one point, I was getting attacked by a Mancubus with few options to go from here. I decided to use my Homing Phase Device, despite it being at an angle relative to where it was firing from, hoping it wouldn't kill me:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

But it unfortunately didn't work out:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

No first try this time! This run took almost an hour though and it's pretty draining to do all that only to not get the desired luck regarding Limbo. This is the kind of thing where you can only get a few runs a day, even if you play a lot.

So I decided to try something more sprinty and a bit crazy.

I was theorycrafting a bit with Pacifist Angelic Badge and perhaps most people go with Hellrunner, but I am pretty convinced that Intuition is the optimal choice. While Hellrunner does give you more movement speed and dodging, Intuition provides you with the locations of Computer/Tracking Maps, which are invaluable, as well as Invulnerabilities and other useful powerups. While it's obviously necessary to prevent any monsters killing each other, you yourself must also survive. I would argue the movement speed difference from Hellrunner is made up for by having access to maps as well.

I also looked into the coding and the badge requires exactly 1 kill and a completed run, so no silly business here. However, it's worth noting that if a player makes it to Dis while Invulnerable, they should let it run out before nuking the Spider Mastermind, in the off-chance that JC accidentally kills something it spawns.

On my tenth attempt, with my previous best being Phobos floor 5 with no deaths, I had this happen.

To start, I had a very interesting room:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I also found a pretty useful armor early on, which is nice for better damage reduction and movement speed compared to Blue Armor:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Floor 4 gave me a nearby map:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Floor 5 also gave me a Phase Device! As you need to get through Phobos Anomaly with 0 monster deaths, it's essentially mandatory to have at least one of these. Invulnerability also likely won't cut it.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I also found both the main exit and the Chained Court and was undecided of where to go. I think the Berserks could be helpful, but I was concerned with monsters all killing themselves and decided I would look into it on a future run where I only found Chained Court. With this, I have now surpassed my previous best!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Floor 6 gave another excellent example of the power of maps:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I took a chance with the nearby teleporter, but it was unfortunately mostly useless:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Things were getting dicey:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

But I managed to make it to floor 7!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I really wanted the map if not the stairs, but I couldn't reasonably approach it:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Even from another angle:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

But I found the stairs!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

So after all this, I still have to get very lucky with a Phase Device to skip all the early monsters. I used it and...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I got past! I ran around the Bruisers and rolled an amazing Deimos floor 1, that also had no risk of monster kills with a Lost Soul cave!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It got better too:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Floor 2 also had very nearby stairs!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And again on floor 3!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Floor 4 was looking bad though:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Or not! I even rolled City of Skulls, whereas Abyssal Plains would have to be skipped:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Floor 5 was another cave, and it had Invulnerability too!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This was getting pretty insane.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Floor 6 didn't look too promising, but Invulnerability helps. However, I heard a Demon yell in pain and got worried:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

After exploring the starting rooms and having nowhere else to go, I had to go left and had a room of Demons with a bunch of damaging fluids. And just like that, it was all over:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I did go the correct direction too, so there weren't really mistakes on my part:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This was an absolutely crazy run that had ridiculous luck in it, but ultimately, I was barely half way done, getting low on supplies, and lost it due to monsters being dumb. It would honestly take me hundreds of more attempts to get another run like this, and some ungodly amount to actually complete it. I did genuinely think that this was something a player could realistically get if they played out enough runs, but after having been given everything I could have realistically imagined, I've been thoroughly convinced that this is not feasible at all.

Anyway, I've been getting struck by the same feelings I had before where the game is slowly turning from fun into a slog, despite me clearly capable of a lot more, so I'm going to take another break. For reference, I have played 150 hours in the last 3 weeks, which is more than most full-time jobs! If it wasn't obvious already, I'm generally very on/off type of person.

Hopefully the burnout is just temporary, but I have everything up to this point backed up so I won't have to redo everything again. Maybe it will be 3 days, maybe it will be 3 years, but I'm going to do some other stuff for awhile. Perhaps maintaining a daily blogging style is not the best way to approach since I unnecessarily put pressure on myself to perform, though it does get some fast results. Maybe I'll simply post in the post-mortem board section for future rewards and create an additional separate thread if I discover any more relevant strategy ideas like the Humanity Azrael strategy or JC farming, etc. We'll see!
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Sereg

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Re: Another Journey to 100%
« Reply #25 on: July 24, 2020, 07:41 »
Ah, dammit, just when it was getting good, too...

I don't blame you, I'm very similar myself - which is why I've only just now popped back in after another long hiatus.

Pretty amazing Pacifist Angelic attempt there... I've never made it anywhere near that far myself. I think you're right though, the luck you need to complete that particular challenge is probably well above that required for anything else.

And not to tempt you as you're looking to the door, but what do you think of Speedrunner Angelic? Personally I believe it to be doable, and with a great deal less luck than Pacifist, but I suspect it would still take quite a lot of grinding to both build the right amount of intuition to play quickly enough to meet the time standard, as well as to land a run where that intuition would work out correctly for you in all critical situations.
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Cyberdemon Chaos Colonel

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khiijol

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Re: Another Journey to 100%
« Reply #26 on: July 24, 2020, 09:53 »
switch it up with some jupiter hell!
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