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1
Century Lounge / [M|ArchAo666|100%|YAAM] Sunrise Iron Fist (with partial video)
« on: October 25, 2024, 10:11 »
(Video)
I've been a bit inexperienced with fist-only runs, and I'm still getting used to the newest version, so I thought I would take care of both with this run. As always with melee, the start is the hardest part, but once I finished my build, I was basically immortal unless I did something dumb. I didn't even bother grabbing Invulnerabilities, and eventually the only items I cared for were anything that could nuke a floor for a level skip. I'm pretty confident I could have done this on Ultra-Violence, and perhaps even Nightmare with this finished build, especially if I used a real weapon like Ripper or Butcher's Cleaver, but it would be quite difficult to get it started on higher difficulties.
Part way into the run, I switched to Phaseshift Set since I only took marginally more damage, but was able to freely move across acid and lava, which was a good speed-up in real time. However, the increased knockback made me cautious about accidentally clicking on the stairs, or myself and using inventory items, so I eventually slowed down how I played and also removed all Homing Phase Devices I carried. I had a nice collection of armors and boots, but they barely got used if at all.
Some highlights:
Early on, I found Duelist Armor, which is amazing with its change to give high melee resistance:
Later I used Nanofiber assembly on it to give a permanent source of melee damage reduction:
However, not long after, I found Shielded Armor:
This Baron exploded with items like a pinata:
Later into the game, I assembled this mighty defensive armor:
I found my first Onyx Pack quite far into the game:
This was my end-game equipment. I could have gone with Cybernano Phaseshift Armor, but wanted to keep it possible to switch in case anything nasty came up:
Various Nano Packs I found that I didn't bother picking up:
Double massacre switch floor:
Pitch-black maze, very annoying combination:
And the final endscreen. I went out of my way to take some extra damage as I was a bit under 40,000. I believe this is the highest anyone has ever taken in a single game.
And here's the mortem!
I've been a bit inexperienced with fist-only runs, and I'm still getting used to the newest version, so I thought I would take care of both with this run. As always with melee, the start is the hardest part, but once I finished my build, I was basically immortal unless I did something dumb. I didn't even bother grabbing Invulnerabilities, and eventually the only items I cared for were anything that could nuke a floor for a level skip. I'm pretty confident I could have done this on Ultra-Violence, and perhaps even Nightmare with this finished build, especially if I used a real weapon like Ripper or Butcher's Cleaver, but it would be quite difficult to get it started on higher difficulties.
Part way into the run, I switched to Phaseshift Set since I only took marginally more damage, but was able to freely move across acid and lava, which was a good speed-up in real time. However, the increased knockback made me cautious about accidentally clicking on the stairs, or myself and using inventory items, so I eventually slowed down how I played and also removed all Homing Phase Devices I carried. I had a nice collection of armors and boots, but they barely got used if at all.
Some highlights:
Early on, I found Duelist Armor, which is amazing with its change to give high melee resistance:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Later I used Nanofiber assembly on it to give a permanent source of melee damage reduction:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
However, not long after, I found Shielded Armor:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
This Baron exploded with items like a pinata:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Later into the game, I assembled this mighty defensive armor:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
I found my first Onyx Pack quite far into the game:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
This was my end-game equipment. I could have gone with Cybernano Phaseshift Armor, but wanted to keep it possible to switch in case anything nasty came up:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Various Nano Packs I found that I didn't bother picking up:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Double massacre switch floor:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Pitch-black maze, very annoying combination:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
And the final endscreen. I went out of my way to take some extra damage as I was a bit under 40,000. I believe this is the highest anyone has ever taken in a single game.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
And here's the mortem!
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
2
Nightmare! / (0.9.9.7) [N!|AoB+AoLT|68%|YASD] Arena Diamond Badge & 26/26 Diamond Badges!
« on: October 16, 2024, 20:22 »Spoiler (click to show/hide)
(Video)
I'm the very first to achieve this badge on this version, and I have achieved ALL 26 Diamond Badges!!!
Arena Diamond Badge was somewhat viewed as an impossible badge, and on face value, it seems absurdly difficult, but during my grind, I'm come to realize it's not that bad, just like I did with Everyman Angelic Badge. It does require a lot of luck and it does require a lot of skill, but there are definitely more difficult badges. A good way to capture a sense of this badge is that it has a fairly low skill ceiling, but also a fairly low skill floor. Unlike some badges, it's not something any player could just churn out, but it's also more possible for a wider variety of players to achieve.
What makes this badge interesting is that it had been achieved many times in past versions, where it was possible to get Hell's Arena on Phobos 3, allowing for much better preparation while entering. It's also suspected the AI difference was more beneficial. However, Angel of Light Travel was also not available. Below is a simple spreadsheet I made showing some of the details:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Below are my thoughts on the badge after my attempts, as well as various advice.
Your options to combine Angel of Berserk are Light Travel, Darkness, Masochism, and pure, of which I tried all of them. Darkness gives some extra experience which helps for the beginning, but isn't great for Hell's Arena and makes starts extremely difficult. Masochism with trying to time the health boost on a level-up is way too gimmicky and doesn't help a whole lot. Light Travel offers a lot of extra speed, but it does mean you leave behind items sometimes and enemies moving around less can burn Berserk turns. That said, the trade-off in speed is definitely worth it, especially for Phobos Base Entry and Phobos 2, over trying for the badge purely.
Marine is the best choice as the extra health and longer Berserk duration significantly helps in Hell's Arena. Scout's extra speed is mostly nullified by Angel of Light Travel, and Technician's advantages don't help much. The best trait selection is Brute x2 and then Berserker as additional Berserk is key. If you hit another level, I would generally say Brute is the best choice, but there could be an argument for Tough as Nails or Finesse.
Hell's Arena is really tough and heavily luck-based, so it's ideal to be entering only on good starts. With this in mind, I always take Blue Armor off and generally don't wear any until I'm entering Hell's Arena to keep durability as high as I can. Only when I would have a pile of Green Armors would I wear one while going through Phobos 2. Likewise, it helps to stretch out Med Packs as much as you can. I generally would let my health get very low before using them, which did result in many runs dying to risky decisions, but every resource is invaluable and needs to be used to full potential.
Phobos Base Entry is best done by charging towards the centre and trying to stack corpses on the corners of the building, ideally luring in the Shotgunners with the Small Med Packs. Taking some damage is okay, but it helps a ton to get those Med Packs, as you can use one to heal anyway, or you can hope that you find Small Health Globes on Phobos 2. It's also worthwhile killing everything as it's very safe and easy experience, which helps get to Brute x2 earlier. If you get a Phobos Base Entry with a small building, looping around and using Run->Wait can help spread them outside, making grabbing the Combat Knife easier. Phobos Trees can also occasionally be used to block shots and you can even force Zombiemen to run out of ammo. Don't be afraid to play risky and be a bit reset heavy to get a good start.
For Phobos 2, there is a ton of variance and it can be tricky to give specific advice. You'll have to rely on your ability and judgement to make correct decisions, but I can offer lots of general advice. First, it's very helpful to camp at a door corner so that you can fairly safely kill most enemies with taking little damage. Ideally, you'll be at a door of a T-junction so that they approach from only one side and you don't risk getting attacked on the door opening. If they do, step back from the door, then go to the corner to minimize damage taken.
Vaults can contain many helpful items, but are generally dangerous since they'll always have either Demons or Cacodemons. If there is a source of acid, a hiding place, and you can hear they're Demons, it can be safe and even beneficial to free them. If they're Cacodemons, you have to keep the door from being opened or you'll take way too much damage killing them all. However, if the door of the Cacodemon vault is at a corner and you kill everything else to get Berserker, you can reasonably kill them all by camping the corner, especially if the vault has very high density.
Vaults can offer many various items that are helpful, that you can't ordinarily find. Boots can help with reducing knockback, and taking an Agility Mod Pack if you're extra lucky. Power Mod Packs are best in armors, Technical Mod Packs are best in Combat Knife, and Bulk Mod Packs could go in either armors or Combat Knife, depending on what else you find. Nukes are useless as the badge requires exiting Hell's Arena alive after clearing the third wave, so trying to use it on the third wave doesn't work. Envirosuits are only helpful for Barons, or otherwise navigating through Phobos 2, and may not be worth bringing to Hell's Arena if you don't have space.
Barrels are very helpful to create holes, creating faster paths to the exit, funneling enemies into a door from only one side, creating a pool of acid, or to even trap Demons. You can throw a Combat Knife without getting hit or destroying the weapon. Barrels of acid usually destroy Combat Knife though.
While a level feeling of "The smell of a massacre" sounds good, there are some disadvantages to it. First, while it does gib all the humanoids, that also means it destroys Med Packs and Armors they pickup, so if you take awhile getting to the switch, you may want to save it for later, or not use it at all. Imps die but are not gibbed, while Demons, Lost Souls, and Cacodemons take damage. Since it kills every door-opening enemy, if you can see valuable items in unopened rooms, it can be safer to use the lever.
Levers in general are risky and I wouldn't recommend using them often unless you desperately need a boost in health, armor durability, or setting off explosions.
Tracking Maps are very helpful, but they do cause longer games due to a much slower Run->Wait. I highly recommend using them if you find them, and accepting being patient.
Breakable crates that contain armors and Med Packs are highly valuable, and are a great source for Blue Armor and Large Med Packs. They require some luck to get though.
Berserk Packs, Med Packs, Light-Amp Goggles, and various armors are all crucial for Hell's Arena. Never use them unless you have no choice, or the risk of not using them is too great.
Butcher's Cleaver at first glance may seem mandatory, but it's not required at all. Brute's flat damage also brings it closer to double the damage of Combat Knife instead of triple. Butcher's Cleaver kills much faster, but it also makes triggering Berserk harder, and has no accuracy boost like Combat Knife. That said, it's very helpful for Hell's Arena, but it's not necessary and it's also not an instant win. It may actually be more helpful for Phobos 2. It's also rare enough that I hadn't found it once in all of my attempts, so you definitely don't want to have to rely on it.
For Hell's Arena, wear Blue Armor, start running, and charge into enemies, playing aggressively. As time goes on, the respawn chance always increases, and it's generally in your best interest to kill as quickly as possible. Run->Wait can help if you're attempting to stack corpses, but that method makes less use of Berserk, is unhelpful with enemies scattered everywhere, and can get you sniped occasionally. Defensive play is critical for Phobos 2, but is terrible for Hell's Arena.
Try to continue spreading out when you use Med Packs, especially for the benefit of regaining run with them, as it helps a lot with reducing time passing and enemies roaming around. Try to attack and clear one side first, listening closely for enemies, then approach the other. Ideally, you get the last kill for each wave around the middle so that you have a better chance to charge the enemies of the next wave while they're momentarily still. Running is also helpful for the increased dodging chance, allowing you to use Cacodemon fireballs to destroy corpses without taking a hit. Play very positionally and paying attention to where a fireball would go if it misses. You can also try to get Cacodemons to kill each other, which significantly helps clearing the floor and reducing necessary melee damage.
For the third wave, two Barons and a Large Health Globe appears. Because of Angel of Berserk, the Large Health Globe functions like a Berserk Pack, which is incredibly helpful. While doing the first two waves, try to explore the map as well so that you can see its spawn location.
And the rest is luck! Lots and lots of luck!
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
3
Nightmare! / (0.9.9.7) [N!|AoB+AoLT|98%|YASD] Arena Diamond Badge is Overrated (with video)
« on: October 16, 2024, 17:52 »
(Video)
So previously before my attempts, it seemed that everyone viewed this badge as absurdly impossible to achieve, and during my grind so far, I've started to realize this is not the case. Despite having never been achieved in this version, it's really not that bad.
This attempt was one hit away from victory, but I wanted to share it because my gear when entering Hell's Arena was terrible, yet was so close. Hopefully this video demonstrates that this badge is overrated and many players should be capable of it.
I'll get this soon!
So previously before my attempts, it seemed that everyone viewed this badge as absurdly impossible to achieve, and during my grind so far, I've started to realize this is not the case. Despite having never been achieved in this version, it's really not that bad.
This attempt was one hit away from victory, but I wanted to share it because my gear when entering Hell's Arena was terrible, yet was so close. Hopefully this video demonstrates that this badge is overrated and many players should be capable of it.
I'll get this soon!
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
4
Post Mortem / (0.9.9.7) [H|100%|YAAM] Strongman Diamond Badge & 25/26 Diamonds!
« on: October 14, 2024, 12:21 »
I'm definitely still not a fan of Fist-only challenges, but I begrudgingly went for this one since there's not much left. I didn't try to reinvent the wheel and mostly copied what everyone else has done before.
I now have all 25/26 Diamond Badges that have ever been achieved! Arena Diamond Badge has never been achieved in version 0.9.9.7, but I'll definitely have to try for it now!
I found a Red Armor fairly early in this game:
As well as a Hatred Skull!
Deimos Lab was amusing in that it gave me TWO Laser Rifles, which I would love in just about any other game:
This was a nice setup for the following floor:
I found Cybernetic Armor, and perhaps it could have been a bit helpful, but I didn't want to take any unnecessary risks:
One of my last levels was a Pain Elemental cave, but I had a nice hiding spot for it:
Overall, like other players, I used the Pistol and a bit of Shotgun at the start until I got Brute x3, mostly camped throughout the game, and it was super easy once getting Vampyre.
I now have all 25/26 Diamond Badges that have ever been achieved! Arena Diamond Badge has never been achieved in version 0.9.9.7, but I'll definitely have to try for it now!
I found a Red Armor fairly early in this game:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
As well as a Hatred Skull!
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Deimos Lab was amusing in that it gave me TWO Laser Rifles, which I would love in just about any other game:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
This was a nice setup for the following floor:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
I found Cybernetic Armor, and perhaps it could have been a bit helpful, but I didn't want to take any unnecessary risks:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
One of my last levels was a Pain Elemental cave, but I had a nice hiding spot for it:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Overall, like other players, I used the Pistol and a bit of Shotgun at the start until I got Brute x3, mostly camped throughout the game, and it was super easy once getting Vampyre.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
5
Nightmare! / (0.9.9.7) [N!|90%|YAVP] Elite Diamond Badge
« on: October 13, 2024, 20:15 »
This badge isn't too hard, but it can be very tedious if you try to cheese it, which I did. After getting near the end of the game, I repeatedly killed an enemy until my percentage reached 90%, and then secured the win. I now am at 24/26 Diamond Badges, which I believe is the most anyone has ever had!!!
In Deimos Lab, I found a Blaster, which is nice to cover any potential ammo issues with repeated kills:
Along the way, I found a Pain Elemental cave, which provided a safe way for clearing out a large number of enemies, which helped to buff up the kill count:
After getting towards the end, I was deciding on if I wanted to grind a nice setup in Hell 6 and risk a bad Hell 7 after a couple hours of kills, or to skip it and risk having a Hell 7 with no ideal setup. I opted to kill an Arachnotron repeatedly in Hell 6 with a Chainsaw. I would have liked a bit more experience to reach the next level and get Brute x3 for more accuracy and consistency, but oh well.
I got quite a few kills!
Hell 7 wasn't too bad, and a somewhat fitting start:
And I was able to get to the stairs without any nasty surprises:
What a doozie!
In Deimos Lab, I found a Blaster, which is nice to cover any potential ammo issues with repeated kills:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Along the way, I found a Pain Elemental cave, which provided a safe way for clearing out a large number of enemies, which helped to buff up the kill count:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
After getting towards the end, I was deciding on if I wanted to grind a nice setup in Hell 6 and risk a bad Hell 7 after a couple hours of kills, or to skip it and risk having a Hell 7 with no ideal setup. I opted to kill an Arachnotron repeatedly in Hell 6 with a Chainsaw. I would have liked a bit more experience to reach the next level and get Brute x3 for more accuracy and consistency, but oh well.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
I got quite a few kills!
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Hell 7 wasn't too bad, and a somewhat fitting start:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
And I was able to get to the stairs without any nasty surprises:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
What a doozie!
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
6
Nightmare! / (0.9.9.7) [N!|48%|YAVP] Demonic Diamond Badge (with video)
« on: October 13, 2024, 11:11 »
(Video)
Note that 20 minutes of the video is the Cyberdemon fight, and 15 minutes is the Spider Mastermind fight, so there's still lots of interesting gameplay if you want to skip those.
After having done attempts of Masochist Angelic Badge before, Demonic Diamond Badge is significantly easier. However, getting it on this particular run was quite a challenge and I had to play pretty well overall. I didn't have much for Invulnerability, but had some good luck with a Phase Device at the very end.
The most wild point of interest is I found a vault with two nukes on Phobos 2! I've never seen that before and it's rare to even find just one!
There were a few risky decisions I made that didn't pan out, but the only major mistakes were during the Cyberdemon fight where I made a bad step once and took a bit of explosion damage, and one point where I misclicked and took some heavy melee damage. I also used Combat Shotgun for a lot of the Spider Mastermind fight, forgetting to use Shotgun instead.
With this badge, I believe I am now tied for most Diamond Badges at 23/26!
Note that 20 minutes of the video is the Cyberdemon fight, and 15 minutes is the Spider Mastermind fight, so there's still lots of interesting gameplay if you want to skip those.
After having done attempts of Masochist Angelic Badge before, Demonic Diamond Badge is significantly easier. However, getting it on this particular run was quite a challenge and I had to play pretty well overall. I didn't have much for Invulnerability, but had some good luck with a Phase Device at the very end.
The most wild point of interest is I found a vault with two nukes on Phobos 2! I've never seen that before and it's rare to even find just one!
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
There were a few risky decisions I made that didn't pan out, but the only major mistakes were during the Cyberdemon fight where I made a bad step once and took a bit of explosion damage, and one point where I misclicked and took some heavy melee damage. I also used Combat Shotgun for a lot of the Spider Mastermind fight, forgetting to use Shotgun instead.
With this badge, I believe I am now tied for most Diamond Badges at 23/26!
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
7
Nightmare! / (0.9.9.7) [N!|43%|YAVP] Demonic Platinum Badge & 26/26 Platinums!
« on: October 12, 2024, 15:49 »
Earlier today, I attempted Elite Angelic Badge as a way to earn Demonic Platinum Badge and Elite Diamond Badge simultaneously, but after a grueling 3.5 hour game, I died to a Demon cave on Deimos 4. After that, I decided to take an easier pace and to just get Demonic Platinum Badge.
Not much to say and I was very focused on my gameplay so I didn't really take any screenshots. I found quite a few Invulnerabilities, a Nuclear Plasma Rifle which was really handy, a Homing Phase Device to zip out of Mortuary, and mostly did stair diving.
With this badge, I'm now the 3rd (?) player to have all 26 Platinum Badges!
Not much to say and I was very focused on my gameplay so I didn't really take any screenshots. I found quite a few Invulnerabilities, a Nuclear Plasma Rifle which was really handy, a Homing Phase Device to zip out of Mortuary, and mostly did stair diving.
With this badge, I'm now the 3rd (?) player to have all 26 Platinum Badges!
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
8
Post Mortem / (0.9.9.7) [U|66%|YAVP] Everyman Diamond Badge (with video)
« on: October 11, 2024, 21:49 »
(Video)
Tonight I didn't want to commit too hard to anything and was just chilling having some fun with meme attempts of Pacifist Angelic Badge (spoiler: got nowhere). After a bit of that, I decided to try Everyman Diamond Badge for some different fun, and was able to get this run in just a few tries.
My starting map was very nice as it gave me a nuke, some Med Packs, and Hell Staff. Unholy Cathedral is pretty easy with the Ballistic Red Armor and Chainsword combo, and you almost always have enough Med Packs for The Vaults. The last two bonus levels and surviving the other floors are what make the badge challenging, but I was very lucky with what I rolled.
I spent a good deal of time on a floor with two Invulnerabilities as I really wanted to make sure I got them, and the Hell Staff came in handy to bring me close to the stairs. After using Whisper of Death at The Vaults, I was lucky to roll Limbo so I could get an instant nuke. Invulnerability ran out after, but all floors gave me nearby stairs, and I had enough Med Packs to take on the Lava Elemental. I was a bit foolish to initially try shooting the Lost Souls and could have botched my game, but I switched to more Whisper of Death after. The Lava Element helped with approaching the Spider Mastermind safely, and the rest was easy.
I'm now at 22/26 Diamond Badges!
Tonight I didn't want to commit too hard to anything and was just chilling having some fun with meme attempts of Pacifist Angelic Badge (spoiler: got nowhere). After a bit of that, I decided to try Everyman Diamond Badge for some different fun, and was able to get this run in just a few tries.
My starting map was very nice as it gave me a nuke, some Med Packs, and Hell Staff. Unholy Cathedral is pretty easy with the Ballistic Red Armor and Chainsword combo, and you almost always have enough Med Packs for The Vaults. The last two bonus levels and surviving the other floors are what make the badge challenging, but I was very lucky with what I rolled.
I spent a good deal of time on a floor with two Invulnerabilities as I really wanted to make sure I got them, and the Hell Staff came in handy to bring me close to the stairs. After using Whisper of Death at The Vaults, I was lucky to roll Limbo so I could get an instant nuke. Invulnerability ran out after, but all floors gave me nearby stairs, and I had enough Med Packs to take on the Lava Elemental. I was a bit foolish to initially try shooting the Lost Souls and could have botched my game, but I switched to more Whisper of Death after. The Lava Element helped with approaching the Spider Mastermind safely, and the rest was easy.
I'm now at 22/26 Diamond Badges!
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
9
Post Mortem / (0.9.9.7) [H|20%|YAVP] Strongman Platinum Badge
« on: October 10, 2024, 18:39 »
I haven't played DoomRL much for the last year and recently got into playing again. While the new version is exciting, I definitely feel like I have unfinished business with 0.9.9.7 and wanted to get some more badges. Tonight, I decided to try for Strongman Platinum Badge, one of my two missing Platinum Badges. I've always sucked with Fist runs, but the game insisted on handing me the victory.
To start, I had this nice setup and took a gamble with the lever:
And it worked out!
With some stair diving, I got to Deimos for my first time attempting this badge:
I got this very bad Deimos floor 4, but I did have a Phase Device:
After some slight exploring, I used it, and got really lucky to land by the stairs, there seemed to be no enemies, and there was even an armor!
I figured to look around a bit and also got a Berserk Pack!
And then also found Invulnerability! Very lucky!
I had this nice setup on the next floor with a Power Mod Pack, Berserk Pack, and a pool of lava for quick experience by cooking Demons. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to grab the Power Mod Pack.
I had an Invulnerability laying around on Deimos floor 6, and thought to explore a bit before grabbing it since I could take some damage and it could heal me as I would exit after:
Turns out it was a good idea!
I took a risk to grab the first, go for the second, and ideally use a Phase Device out, wanting to rush the Cyberdemon. Unfortunately, there was a Revenant just as I went for it and didn't get it, wasting both only to get some experience.
Deimos floor 7 didn't have Invulnerability or Berserk Packs, and I honestly wasn't sure if the double Supercharge would be helpful enough.
I did find Phaseshift Boots though:
And also a nuke! Should I make it to the end, this trivializes the Spider Mastermind, or otherwise can help with a nasty floor and switch to Shotgun camping in Dis.
Seemingly though, I greatly underestimated Berserker and Chainsaw combo. I hit the Cyberdemon down to Mortally Wounded and was scared to attack again, so I flipped back to Fist and killed it after only a couple hits from there.
Hell floor 1 gave me an Invulnerability near an exit:
And there was a second one under a Cacodemon!
And then Hell floor 2 gave me game-winning luck! There were 4 Invulnerabilities, all within a short range, and not too much in the way of them. Out of all the floors I've ever played, 4 Invulnerabilities ties the most I've seen, but I've never had them so close together like this. I believe in terms of Invulnerability luck, this is the single luckiest floor I have EVER had!!! I was able to grab 3 of them and head on after.
Hell floor 3 gave me another at the start:
And another on Hell floor 5:
Hell floor 6 was a maze, but I was fortunate to have the stairs nearby:
And that easily sealed the deal! Intuition 2 was intended for using Shotgun against the Spider Mastermind, but I clearly didn't need it with the absurd stack of Invulnerabilities.
Being a bit rusty, I couldn't remember if fighting JC would mess up the challenge, so I just went for a sacrificial nuke.
With this, I now have just Demonic Platinum Badge remaining, which I think shouldn't be too terrible to get. I definitely have a huge incentive in going for it, even if it turns out to be a nasty grind for it. Very happy to earn this badge, and doing it quickly like this helps make me not be indecisive with attempting for 100% kills early for Strongman Diamond Badge. I'm honestly not sure if I'll be able to get that one down the road, but we'll have to see.
Very happy!
To start, I had this nice setup and took a gamble with the lever:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
And it worked out!
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
With some stair diving, I got to Deimos for my first time attempting this badge:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
I got this very bad Deimos floor 4, but I did have a Phase Device:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
After some slight exploring, I used it, and got really lucky to land by the stairs, there seemed to be no enemies, and there was even an armor!
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
I figured to look around a bit and also got a Berserk Pack!
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
And then also found Invulnerability! Very lucky!
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
I had this nice setup on the next floor with a Power Mod Pack, Berserk Pack, and a pool of lava for quick experience by cooking Demons. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to grab the Power Mod Pack.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
I had an Invulnerability laying around on Deimos floor 6, and thought to explore a bit before grabbing it since I could take some damage and it could heal me as I would exit after:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Turns out it was a good idea!
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
I took a risk to grab the first, go for the second, and ideally use a Phase Device out, wanting to rush the Cyberdemon. Unfortunately, there was a Revenant just as I went for it and didn't get it, wasting both only to get some experience.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Deimos floor 7 didn't have Invulnerability or Berserk Packs, and I honestly wasn't sure if the double Supercharge would be helpful enough.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
I did find Phaseshift Boots though:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
And also a nuke! Should I make it to the end, this trivializes the Spider Mastermind, or otherwise can help with a nasty floor and switch to Shotgun camping in Dis.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Seemingly though, I greatly underestimated Berserker and Chainsaw combo. I hit the Cyberdemon down to Mortally Wounded and was scared to attack again, so I flipped back to Fist and killed it after only a couple hits from there.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Hell floor 1 gave me an Invulnerability near an exit:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
And there was a second one under a Cacodemon!
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
And then Hell floor 2 gave me game-winning luck! There were 4 Invulnerabilities, all within a short range, and not too much in the way of them. Out of all the floors I've ever played, 4 Invulnerabilities ties the most I've seen, but I've never had them so close together like this. I believe in terms of Invulnerability luck, this is the single luckiest floor I have EVER had!!! I was able to grab 3 of them and head on after.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Hell floor 3 gave me another at the start:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
And another on Hell floor 5:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Hell floor 6 was a maze, but I was fortunate to have the stairs nearby:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
And that easily sealed the deal! Intuition 2 was intended for using Shotgun against the Spider Mastermind, but I clearly didn't need it with the absurd stack of Invulnerabilities.
Being a bit rusty, I couldn't remember if fighting JC would mess up the challenge, so I just went for a sacrificial nuke.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
With this, I now have just Demonic Platinum Badge remaining, which I think shouldn't be too terrible to get. I definitely have a huge incentive in going for it, even if it turns out to be a nasty grind for it. Very happy to earn this badge, and doing it quickly like this helps make me not be indecisive with attempting for 100% kills early for Strongman Diamond Badge. I'm honestly not sure if I'll be able to get that one down the road, but we'll have to see.
Very happy!
10
Post Mortem / (0.9.9.8 BETA 2) [M|100%|YAFW] Army of the Dead is much better now!
« on: January 13, 2024, 13:11 »
I wanted to test out Army of the Dead this time now that Finesse is no longer blocked, as well as Reloader getting significantly buffed. I'd say that these changes have made the master trait much more balanced and very usable!
Reloader helps a lot with the start of the game, along with the Marine's new resistance buffs. With Whizkid down the road, you can create powerful weapons like you could with any other build, but now actually exceed their power since the piercing effect or Army of the Dead isn't compromised by being limited in weapons or being entirely outclassed by Nano-Shrapnel.
Coincidentally, I found a Nano Pack which would normally be used for Nano-Shrapnel, but I decided to make a Focused Double Shotgun (N) to make more use of Army of the Dead. It was excellent on anything it could kill in one shot, which was a lot, and I had other weapons while it recharged. Finesse allowing access to Juggler also supported this.
I was also very lucky to find Jackhammer in Deimos Lab, which is extremely powerful with Army of the Dead, and its ammo-hungry nature was complemented by my semi-infinite Focused Double Shotgun. I mostly used a Tactical Shotgun until finding Assault Shotgun in The Vaults, and was able to make a strong non-assembly out of it too.
I went for a full win with 100% kills, although I skipped Unholy Cathedral since I didn't have any reliable way to deal with Angel of Death.
Overall, Army of the Dead is very playable now!
Here is a video of me clearing The Mortuary using only Jackhammer.
Reloader helps a lot with the start of the game, along with the Marine's new resistance buffs. With Whizkid down the road, you can create powerful weapons like you could with any other build, but now actually exceed their power since the piercing effect or Army of the Dead isn't compromised by being limited in weapons or being entirely outclassed by Nano-Shrapnel.
Coincidentally, I found a Nano Pack which would normally be used for Nano-Shrapnel, but I decided to make a Focused Double Shotgun (N) to make more use of Army of the Dead. It was excellent on anything it could kill in one shot, which was a lot, and I had other weapons while it recharged. Finesse allowing access to Juggler also supported this.
I was also very lucky to find Jackhammer in Deimos Lab, which is extremely powerful with Army of the Dead, and its ammo-hungry nature was complemented by my semi-infinite Focused Double Shotgun. I mostly used a Tactical Shotgun until finding Assault Shotgun in The Vaults, and was able to make a strong non-assembly out of it too.
I went for a full win with 100% kills, although I skipped Unholy Cathedral since I didn't have any reliable way to deal with Angel of Death.
Overall, Army of the Dead is very playable now!
Here is a video of me clearing The Mortuary using only Jackhammer.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
11
Post Mortem / (0.9.9.8 BETA 2) [U|100%|YAFW] Vampyre is IDDQD
« on: January 10, 2024, 20:01 »
Full video (note that sound is buggy with SDL)
With Beta 2 of the new version out, there's lots of theorycrafting about balance. One concern right now is Vampyre, which is already very strong, but has indirectly been given a lot of buffs with the Marine now having 20% natural resistance to Plasma, Acid, and Fire, and Ironman increasing Melee, Bullet, and Shrapnel resistances by 10% each level, giving a total of 50% at Ironman x5.
In one try, I successfully completed a standard game on Ultra-Violence with 100% kills as a conqueror and fully won the game, and the game itself was trivial to complete.
Some highlights:
MAJOR BUG: I somehow overlooked this until late into the game, but with Ironman x5 and Berserk, resistances for Melee, Bullet, and Shrapnel went uncapped and actually reached 110%, where I literally was taking zero damage to those types while Berserk. The issue I believe is Ironman doesn't have a cap set. It would also be good to ensure there is a cap for the natural resistances to Plasma, Acid, and Fire.
Minor bug: When picking up Azrael's Scythe, for some reason the game messaged "You don't have an Azrael's Scythe!" I'm not sure if this was because it was the first time picking it up for this player profile, but it looked odd.
The Marine's natural resistances are actually a huge buff not only in general, but for the early bonus levels as well. Hell's Arena was much easier with damage reduction against Cacodemons and Barons, and similar for The Chained Court with Arena Master and more Barons. This actually adds a lot more incentive to play Marine instead of just Scout all the time now and think it's great!
I definitely experienced the increase in Chainsaw generation as I happened to find two of them after The Chained Court.
On top of Vampyre being very powerful, I was also fairly fortunate with gear as I got Red Armor (O), Hellwave Pack (great for clearly Limbo/The Mortuary), and an Assault Shotgun.
I exited Limbo with 200% health, despite not using any healing items or cheesing to heal. I even played aggressively and had no issues.
My kill count was 1,337 lol.
With Beta 2 of the new version out, there's lots of theorycrafting about balance. One concern right now is Vampyre, which is already very strong, but has indirectly been given a lot of buffs with the Marine now having 20% natural resistance to Plasma, Acid, and Fire, and Ironman increasing Melee, Bullet, and Shrapnel resistances by 10% each level, giving a total of 50% at Ironman x5.
In one try, I successfully completed a standard game on Ultra-Violence with 100% kills as a conqueror and fully won the game, and the game itself was trivial to complete.
Some highlights:
MAJOR BUG: I somehow overlooked this until late into the game, but with Ironman x5 and Berserk, resistances for Melee, Bullet, and Shrapnel went uncapped and actually reached 110%, where I literally was taking zero damage to those types while Berserk. The issue I believe is Ironman doesn't have a cap set. It would also be good to ensure there is a cap for the natural resistances to Plasma, Acid, and Fire.
Minor bug: When picking up Azrael's Scythe, for some reason the game messaged "You don't have an Azrael's Scythe!" I'm not sure if this was because it was the first time picking it up for this player profile, but it looked odd.
The Marine's natural resistances are actually a huge buff not only in general, but for the early bonus levels as well. Hell's Arena was much easier with damage reduction against Cacodemons and Barons, and similar for The Chained Court with Arena Master and more Barons. This actually adds a lot more incentive to play Marine instead of just Scout all the time now and think it's great!
I definitely experienced the increase in Chainsaw generation as I happened to find two of them after The Chained Court.
On top of Vampyre being very powerful, I was also fairly fortunate with gear as I got Red Armor (O), Hellwave Pack (great for clearly Limbo/The Mortuary), and an Assault Shotgun.
I exited Limbo with 200% health, despite not using any healing items or cheesing to heal. I even played aggressively and had no issues.
My kill count was 1,337 lol.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
12
Post Mortem / (0.9.9.8 BETA 1) [M|AoOC+AoB|6%|YAVP] Zen Master's Cross
« on: September 07, 2023, 20:36 »
While there is discussion to not have the medal Zen Master's Cross, I decided to try to go for it anyway. The medal requires that all kills are in the "other" category, as opposed to "fists", "knives", "pistols", or "shotgun". Other kills only seemingly count in-fighting, nukes, enemies dying in fluids, and other means of kills that are not directly from your weapon. One of the nice new features is that if for example, you are holding a Shotgun and a Demon dies in acid, it doesn't count as a "shotgun" kill but an "other" kill. Note that weapons of different categories such as Chainsaw, Rocket Launcher, etc will still count towards your kills in a general sense. The stipulation for this medal is that "Other" kills matches your total kills.
I figured the easiest way to earn this is Angel of Overconfidence + Angel of Berserk, so that I start near the end of the game, and can grab the Nuclear BFG as a way to kill The Spider Mastermind since there aren't any other ways to kill it. After a few tries, I got it pretty fast.
I saved the Chainsaw boost until entering Mortuary.
And lucky me, there were no Archviles on the right side.
After that, I continued on my way to the Spider Mastermind, blew up Dis, and got this strange medal!
Here's the mortem:
---
As amusing as this was, I still think this medal should be swapped for a different idea.
I figured the easiest way to earn this is Angel of Overconfidence + Angel of Berserk, so that I start near the end of the game, and can grab the Nuclear BFG as a way to kill The Spider Mastermind since there aren't any other ways to kill it. After a few tries, I got it pretty fast.
I saved the Chainsaw boost until entering Mortuary.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
And lucky me, there were no Archviles on the right side.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
After that, I continued on my way to the Spider Mastermind, blew up Dis, and got this strange medal!
Here's the mortem:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
---
As amusing as this was, I still think this medal should be swapped for a different idea.
13
Post Mortem / (0.9.9.8 BETA 1) [M|AoLT|100%|YAAM] Wonkiness and Bugs
« on: September 06, 2023, 19:35 »
Tonight, I decided to do a more thorough game of the new version and still having a lot of limitations on what modes I can play, I went for a pure Angel of Light Travel. I was considering going for a conqueror, but I quickly remembered that the inventory space doesn't quite allow for it. Despite that, I got pretty close anyway.
Like Omega Tyrant reported, I had the same freeze regarding killing streaks, where you can clearly see that I took damage but didn't lose my kill streak. I'm thinking that it's just the current value that's bugged.
Some Schematics. Like I suggested, I'm not a fan of these since it doesn't let games be truly independent. Newer players still collecting all the assemblies definitely could use the extra Mod Pack more than I would too.
Hellrunner + Tactical Armor appear to be working correctly here for the dodging bonus. I would like to see it change while running too though.
I encountered a lever that blows up walls and was expecting a single explosion sound like Omega Tyrant described. It seems like each wall tile individually made the sound as I felt like I was about to go deaf.
I found a nuke and blew up Containment Area, but then also triggered the trap. I mentioned this in the suggestions thread, but overlooked nuking the level should disable the trap.
I wasn't intending to enter Abyssal Plains, but found both Trigun and Invulnerability on the floor before lol.
Similar to Containment Area, this map is a little buggy when you blow it up first.
I encountered a darkness level! Everything seemed to work as intended with stair sense not working, no respawns, and the darkness was maintained. Very cool!
I also found Mjollnir. Having tossed Chainsaw earlier, this opened up yet another possibility for conquering a level. However, finding this seemed to be more of a curse as I later found.
This was a goofy weapon to be using against the Cyberdemon, but I made it work.
Having not used Mjollnir before, I noticed that alternate firing visually showed its range. Is this new to the version or is this normal?
My kill streak increased to 108 it seems.
Example of Demons still getting stuck.
So, I considered getting Brute to help kill the Angel of Death, but opted to go for Ironman after all the Angel Arm usage. Luckily, I learned reading the wiki that Brute wouldn't help with accuracy anyway when using Throw. I also learned that its accuracy was far less than 50% and I circled the level a pile of times trying to kill the Angel of Death with cheese. A lot of the hits I ended up getting were standard melee hits. Mjollnir sucks.
I got a message saying "You don't have a Longinus Spear!", which I don't recall seeing before. Is this normal? Is this new? I'm guessing it might be for first time pickups of exotics and uniques?
With no way to clear the Vaults without Invulnerability, I opted to go for 100% kills and skip conqueror.
With low maximum HP, I was definitely not checking what spawned over here.
Bad mistake having a barrel blow up on me and get dumped into a pool of lava, but I was able to survive. I had range issues with Nano-Shrapnel Double Shotgun and remembered why I never make the assembly in that base.
Archviles dying to fluids is a huge nerf, but I think a very good balance change. I made good use of it here.
The rest of the game wasn't particularly interesting. I cleared out the last few floors, then blew up the Spider Mastermind using another Angel Arm. Got a good pile of badges and medals for this game.
---
Like Omega Tyrant reported, I had the same freeze regarding killing streaks, where you can clearly see that I took damage but didn't lose my kill streak. I'm thinking that it's just the current value that's bugged.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Some Schematics. Like I suggested, I'm not a fan of these since it doesn't let games be truly independent. Newer players still collecting all the assemblies definitely could use the extra Mod Pack more than I would too.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Hellrunner + Tactical Armor appear to be working correctly here for the dodging bonus. I would like to see it change while running too though.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
I encountered a lever that blows up walls and was expecting a single explosion sound like Omega Tyrant described. It seems like each wall tile individually made the sound as I felt like I was about to go deaf.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
I found a nuke and blew up Containment Area, but then also triggered the trap. I mentioned this in the suggestions thread, but overlooked nuking the level should disable the trap.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
I wasn't intending to enter Abyssal Plains, but found both Trigun and Invulnerability on the floor before lol.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Similar to Containment Area, this map is a little buggy when you blow it up first.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
I encountered a darkness level! Everything seemed to work as intended with stair sense not working, no respawns, and the darkness was maintained. Very cool!
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
I also found Mjollnir. Having tossed Chainsaw earlier, this opened up yet another possibility for conquering a level. However, finding this seemed to be more of a curse as I later found.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
This was a goofy weapon to be using against the Cyberdemon, but I made it work.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Having not used Mjollnir before, I noticed that alternate firing visually showed its range. Is this new to the version or is this normal?
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
My kill streak increased to 108 it seems.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Example of Demons still getting stuck.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
So, I considered getting Brute to help kill the Angel of Death, but opted to go for Ironman after all the Angel Arm usage. Luckily, I learned reading the wiki that Brute wouldn't help with accuracy anyway when using Throw. I also learned that its accuracy was far less than 50% and I circled the level a pile of times trying to kill the Angel of Death with cheese. A lot of the hits I ended up getting were standard melee hits. Mjollnir sucks.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
I got a message saying "You don't have a Longinus Spear!", which I don't recall seeing before. Is this normal? Is this new? I'm guessing it might be for first time pickups of exotics and uniques?
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
With no way to clear the Vaults without Invulnerability, I opted to go for 100% kills and skip conqueror.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
With low maximum HP, I was definitely not checking what spawned over here.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Bad mistake having a barrel blow up on me and get dumped into a pool of lava, but I was able to survive. I had range issues with Nano-Shrapnel Double Shotgun and remembered why I never make the assembly in that base.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Archviles dying to fluids is a huge nerf, but I think a very good balance change. I made good use of it here.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
The rest of the game wasn't particularly interesting. I cleared out the last few floors, then blew up the Spider Mastermind using another Angel Arm. Got a good pile of badges and medals for this game.
---
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
14
Century Lounge / [M|ArchAo666|100%|YAAM] Sharpshooter Full Clear (with partial video)
« on: September 03, 2023, 22:03 »
(Video)
I've started and stopped a few Archangel of 666 games, usually after finishing testing a build and then getting bored, but this time I decided to finish up the game. With the new version being worked on, I figured this would be a good last hurrah for version 0.9.9.7 which I've been playing off and on for about 10 years.
With Sharpshooter, damage is incredibly consistent and good for planning, and has the best ammo efficiency of almost any build. Full clearing 666 still mostly devolves to getting Biggest Fucking Gun and cleaning up after, of which Sharpshooter is decent at, but there are definitely better builds for it. One of the nice things with Pistols and Son of a Gun x5 though is with a firing speed of 0.1s, it gives the fastest action speed while still being able to recharge the BFG, keeping enemies in place as much as possible.
As I wasn't anticipating finding a pile of Nano Packs, the last three traits of Eagle Eye x2 and Reloader went to waste and would have better as Finesse x2 and Juggler. The former three were for Grammaton Cleric Beretta, which didn't see too much use overall really.
Compared to my other 666 full clears, this time I didn't have Tough as Nails x3 or Badass x2, and I found myself needing to be less aggressive and healing more since I only had half health and took more damage. I also overlooked that this would damage my armor more, which was an issue at a few points. Still, this was HNTR so it wasn't a huge deal. I also ended up using Cerberus equipment for the most part as Inquisitor Set and Phaseshift Set weren't sturdy enough without the extra defensive traits.
Sharpshooter is a very good trait, even with a tough start, but it's not particular great at full clearing long games like this.
Overall, this was a pretty fun game and I've now done a 666 full clear with each class.
---
Some highlights:
On the very first floor due to a lucky vault, I was able to get Red Armor (P). This is a really nice help for a build that starts off weak:
Early Gothic Armor was a nice find:
Getting Whizkid a bit later than I normally would, my inventory was getting stacked with mod packs:
Early Malek's Armor was also nice:
I already had my end-game armor by floor 27, which actually was a lot later than it could have been if I invested in Whizkid early:
Hot start:
Split islands:
Very goofy vault:
Another hot start:
While Storm Bolter Pistol was my primary weapon for awhile, Energy Pistol was really nice for an additional ammo type, and being able to punch holes into walls:
Nano Pack on floor 95:
Hot start, or maybe a cold one I guess:
Grammaton Cleric Beretta on floor 99, which was mostly a boss killer early on:
Another hot start:
Silly Archvile line:
On a floor I was preparing to nuke, something at the edge of my vision caught my eye:
It was a bit of a puzzle to grab, but I did get it:
Horrendous inventory as I was waiting to find a Combat Pistol to make my end-game weapon:
Interesting floor:
Trigun exactly 100 floors after GCB, which was a nice power upgrade:
More Nano Packs. With this, I went for Biggest Fucking Gun (N):
Finally on floor 256, I found a Combat Pistol:
Going for a strike:
Another Nano Pack. I used this one for Antigrav Phaseshift Boots:
And another:
I decided to go for a nice explosion here:
The explosion gave a hefty wall of text in my messages:
Another split island, this one with a vault:
Found Dragonslayer, but not using it for this game:
Found it a second time too:
Finally found Inquisitor Boots, but didn't end up using them much anyway:
Double nuke room near the end of my game:
Saw another Nano Pack on the second last floor. I likely blew up some throughout the game, but this one survived:
Final stats screen:
---
Here's the mortem
I've started and stopped a few Archangel of 666 games, usually after finishing testing a build and then getting bored, but this time I decided to finish up the game. With the new version being worked on, I figured this would be a good last hurrah for version 0.9.9.7 which I've been playing off and on for about 10 years.
With Sharpshooter, damage is incredibly consistent and good for planning, and has the best ammo efficiency of almost any build. Full clearing 666 still mostly devolves to getting Biggest Fucking Gun and cleaning up after, of which Sharpshooter is decent at, but there are definitely better builds for it. One of the nice things with Pistols and Son of a Gun x5 though is with a firing speed of 0.1s, it gives the fastest action speed while still being able to recharge the BFG, keeping enemies in place as much as possible.
As I wasn't anticipating finding a pile of Nano Packs, the last three traits of Eagle Eye x2 and Reloader went to waste and would have better as Finesse x2 and Juggler. The former three were for Grammaton Cleric Beretta, which didn't see too much use overall really.
Compared to my other 666 full clears, this time I didn't have Tough as Nails x3 or Badass x2, and I found myself needing to be less aggressive and healing more since I only had half health and took more damage. I also overlooked that this would damage my armor more, which was an issue at a few points. Still, this was HNTR so it wasn't a huge deal. I also ended up using Cerberus equipment for the most part as Inquisitor Set and Phaseshift Set weren't sturdy enough without the extra defensive traits.
Sharpshooter is a very good trait, even with a tough start, but it's not particular great at full clearing long games like this.
Overall, this was a pretty fun game and I've now done a 666 full clear with each class.
---
Some highlights:
On the very first floor due to a lucky vault, I was able to get Red Armor (P). This is a really nice help for a build that starts off weak:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Early Gothic Armor was a nice find:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Getting Whizkid a bit later than I normally would, my inventory was getting stacked with mod packs:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Early Malek's Armor was also nice:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
I already had my end-game armor by floor 27, which actually was a lot later than it could have been if I invested in Whizkid early:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Hot start:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Split islands:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Very goofy vault:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Another hot start:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
While Storm Bolter Pistol was my primary weapon for awhile, Energy Pistol was really nice for an additional ammo type, and being able to punch holes into walls:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Nano Pack on floor 95:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Hot start, or maybe a cold one I guess:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Grammaton Cleric Beretta on floor 99, which was mostly a boss killer early on:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Another hot start:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Silly Archvile line:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
On a floor I was preparing to nuke, something at the edge of my vision caught my eye:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
It was a bit of a puzzle to grab, but I did get it:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Horrendous inventory as I was waiting to find a Combat Pistol to make my end-game weapon:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Interesting floor:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Trigun exactly 100 floors after GCB, which was a nice power upgrade:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
More Nano Packs. With this, I went for Biggest Fucking Gun (N):
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Finally on floor 256, I found a Combat Pistol:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Going for a strike:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Another Nano Pack. I used this one for Antigrav Phaseshift Boots:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
And another:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
I decided to go for a nice explosion here:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
The explosion gave a hefty wall of text in my messages:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Another split island, this one with a vault:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Found Dragonslayer, but not using it for this game:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Found it a second time too:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Finally found Inquisitor Boots, but didn't end up using them much anyway:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Double nuke room near the end of my game:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Saw another Nano Pack on the second last floor. I likely blew up some throughout the game, but this one survived:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Final stats screen:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
---
Here's the mortem
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
15
Discussion / Nano Pack Mechanics
« on: September 01, 2023, 18:00 »
Nano Packs are one of the most powerful items in the game, and are always highly sought after. They are a part of some of the strongest assemblies in the game, and can functionally give you infinite ammo for most weapons. Despite this, seemingly no player fully understands how they work as I've talked with players from top skill all the way down. There are a few reasons for this though as Nano Packs work somewhat unintuitively where you would only understand it if you've delved into the code. They also tend to be used for assemblies and not really focused on what they individually do. Finally, they are also rare enough that most players never find more than one in a game unless they're playing Angel of 100 or Archangel of 666. Because of this, I decided to explain the mechanics and details of them and how to best take advantage of its power.
Recharge Amount and Recharge Delay
First, items that recharge have two different properties which are the recharge amount and the recharge delay. Recharge amount is how much an item recharges on an action. For example, Blaster's recharge amount is 1, while Nuclear Plasma Rifle's recharge amount is 4. Recharge delay is how many actions have to pass before the recharging begins. For weapons, you have to not be firing, and for armors, you have to not be taking damage. For example, Malek's Armor has a recharge delay of 10, meaning 10 actions of not taking damage have to pass before it begins recharging durability. Nuclear BFG has a recharge delay of 0, so even after immediately firing, it already begins recharging.
Below are the following values for recharge amount and recharge delay:
Blaster - 1, 3
Nuclear Plasma Rifle - 4, 4
Nuclear BFG - 1, 0
Malek's Armor - 5, 10
Necroarmor - 2, 0
Nyarlaptotep's Boots - 5, 10
Tactical Armor - 2, 10
Tactical Boots - 2, 10
Power Armor - 5, 10
Nanofiber Skin Armor - 1, 5
One small detail is that the action must take at least 0.1s. If you have achieved a speed faster than that, whether it's moving, firing, or any other action, you will get a non-recharge action and get no recharge. There are only a few cases where this is relevant.
Nano Pack Mechanics
When it comes to applying a Nano Pack to an item, there are a few different checks it goes through before deciding what it does. First, the item is checked if it can already recharge. If it can, it will either reduce the recharge delay by 5, or if the recharge delay is already 0, it will add 1 to the recharge amount instead. If the item doesn't recharge, the Nano Pack will turn the item into one that recharges with a recharge delay of 5 and a recharge amount of 1 for weapons and 2 for armor.
For some examples, if a Nano Pack is applied to a plain Shotgun, it will become Shotgun (N) which has a recharge amount of 1 and a recharge delay of 5. If a Nano Pack is applied to a Blaster, it will reduce the recharge delay by 5, bringing it to 0, so your Blaster (N) will still have a recharge amount of 1, but have a recharge delay of 0 instead of 3. If a Nano Pack is applied to a Nuclear BFG, the recharge delay is already 0, so it instead will increase the recharge amount by 1, so Nuclear BFG (N) will have a recharge amount of 2 and recharge delay of 0.
The big appeal of these mechanics, and also very expensive, is when you begin using double or even triple Nano Packs on items. If you take a Shotgun (N), which has a recharge amount of 1 and a recharge delay of 5, and apply a second Nano Pack to it, Shotgun (NN) will have a recharge amount of 1, and a recharge delay of 0. As long as you don't encounter non-recharge actions, you can endlessly fire similar to Nano-Shrapnel and Nanomanufacture assemblies, but you have room for 3 extra mods instead of just 1 after completing the assembly.
Double Nano Packs and Triple Nano Packs
Let's look into various hypothetical items that can be created as a non-assembly with multiple Nano Packs.
Combat Pistol (PPPBB) is generally the cheap option for an extremely strong Pistol, but some players opt to go with Nanomanufacture Combat Pistol (P) for infinite firing and a little less power. However, you can instead go with Combat Pistol (PPPNN) which gives both the higher power while also being infinitely firing too. Alternatively, you could also go with Combat Pistol (PNNSS) to be able to fire infinitely and cancel accuracy penalties of distance and darkness. With Son of a Gun x5 reducing firing speed to 0.1s exactly, the additional speed multipliers of being a Scout or being Berserk can cause you to get non-recharge actions, but the natural clip of 15 is also helpful if you're getting these.
Plasma Shotgun has unique properties with a shotgun blast dealing Plasma damage, but can be very ammo hungry and doesn't fit well with Nano-Shrapnel assembly. However, if you were to make Plasma Shotgun (NNNPP) or (NNNTT), it would be recharging 2 ammo after each shot taking 3, giving you a full 30 shots of continuous firing even in the worst case scenario. This weapon is incredibly powerful at destroying corpses, walls, and has the best shotgun blast type, having the best range, depth, and lowest damage reduction. Multiple Nano Packs can turn it into a solo weapon instead of just a support.
Nano-Shrapnel Super Shotgun (P) is often viewed as one of the god weapons of the game, giving 6d4x2 Piercing damage that can be endlessly fired. However, Super Shotgun (NNNPP) also provides infinite firing with recharge amount of 2 and recharge delay of 0, and while being Shrapnel damage instead of Piercing, it boasts a massive 10d4x2, which is significantly more powerful that Nano-Shrapnel Super Shotgun and other variants. You could also opt to go with (NNNTT) for even faster firing and still higher damage with 8d4x2.
Rocket Launcher (NNFFF) allows for 2 extra Firestorm Packs over Nanomanfacture Rocket Launcher (F), giving a much larger blast radius. With the non-assembly, multi Nano Pack build, the blast radius reaches a massive 10, able to blow up a giant portion of each floor, while also being able to be fired infinitely.
Nuclear BFG (NNNFF) gives a recharge amount of 4 and a recharge delay of 0, meaning you can fire a giant BFG ball every 10 actions and melt everything. It's not as massive as the radius from Biggest Fucking Gun, but you can fire the non-assembly variant pretty repetitively. You can also go with a regular BFG (NNNBB) to have a recharge amount of 2 and recharge delay of 0, but holding a clip of 169 cells, letting you fire 4 consecutive shots and then being able to recharge for more later.
Laser Rifle normally fires far too many shots, but with the Marine's Ammochain firing only 1 shot per burst, Laser Rifle (NNFFF) becomes infinitely firing like Nanomanufacture Laser Rifle (F), but shoots out 4 extra shots per burst, giving a giant increase in damage. With Triggerhappy x2 and Son of a Bitch x5, you'll get 13 shots per burst, which you can endlessly shoot, each doing 1d7 + 5, giving a maximum damage of 156 and average damage of 117 every time you press to shoot.
As you can see, many of these weapons are ridiculously powerful, but of course come at extremely high costs that likely are only obtainable during Angel of 100 and Archangel of 666 games.
Medical Armor
Because Onyx Pack exists for armors, Nano Packs are inferior as you can have infinite durability instead of recharging durability. However, there is one exception to this with Medical Armor, as the healing effect from it comes from durability. Onyx Packs don't technically make armors have infinite durability, but instead hide it and skip the check when taking damage. However, Medical Armor healing doesn't do this, so you can still have your Medical Armor (O) drop down to 1%.
A single Nano Pack will result in Medical Armor (N) with a recharge amount of 2 and recharge delay of 5, meaning that you can let the armor recharge after healing you, but you have to finish taking damage first before it kicks in. There is a way around this however, with Nanofiber Skin Armor assembly made with Medical Armor, essentially giving you a Medical Armor already having a recharge amount of 1 and recharge delay of 5, and then finishing the item with a Nano Pack, giving a recharge amount of 1 and recharge delay of 0. What this means is that as soon as you take damage, Medical Armor will heal you like normal, but also immediately restore 1 durability. If you were to continuously be taking 1 damage, you can then immediately heal 1 damage, and the armor will self-repair for the same amount. This means you can find a nice pool of acid to stand in and hypothetically take infinite damage, possibly leading to adverse effects as the variable for tracking damage taken might either cap off, or possibly roll over back to 0. This could be an alternative way to earn Iron Skull instead of using Vampyre as well.
Outro
Hopefully with this information, more players will understand better how Nano Packs work and consider making some of the hypothetical weapons possible if they're fortunate to find multiples. I've requested that the Medical Armor exploit be fixed in a future version, with an easy fix of Nanofiber Skin Armor having a recharge delay of 6, preventing the value from reaching 0.
Recharge Amount and Recharge Delay
First, items that recharge have two different properties which are the recharge amount and the recharge delay. Recharge amount is how much an item recharges on an action. For example, Blaster's recharge amount is 1, while Nuclear Plasma Rifle's recharge amount is 4. Recharge delay is how many actions have to pass before the recharging begins. For weapons, you have to not be firing, and for armors, you have to not be taking damage. For example, Malek's Armor has a recharge delay of 10, meaning 10 actions of not taking damage have to pass before it begins recharging durability. Nuclear BFG has a recharge delay of 0, so even after immediately firing, it already begins recharging.
Below are the following values for recharge amount and recharge delay:
Blaster - 1, 3
Nuclear Plasma Rifle - 4, 4
Nuclear BFG - 1, 0
Malek's Armor - 5, 10
Necroarmor - 2, 0
Nyarlaptotep's Boots - 5, 10
Tactical Armor - 2, 10
Tactical Boots - 2, 10
Power Armor - 5, 10
Nanofiber Skin Armor - 1, 5
One small detail is that the action must take at least 0.1s. If you have achieved a speed faster than that, whether it's moving, firing, or any other action, you will get a non-recharge action and get no recharge. There are only a few cases where this is relevant.
Nano Pack Mechanics
When it comes to applying a Nano Pack to an item, there are a few different checks it goes through before deciding what it does. First, the item is checked if it can already recharge. If it can, it will either reduce the recharge delay by 5, or if the recharge delay is already 0, it will add 1 to the recharge amount instead. If the item doesn't recharge, the Nano Pack will turn the item into one that recharges with a recharge delay of 5 and a recharge amount of 1 for weapons and 2 for armor.
For some examples, if a Nano Pack is applied to a plain Shotgun, it will become Shotgun (N) which has a recharge amount of 1 and a recharge delay of 5. If a Nano Pack is applied to a Blaster, it will reduce the recharge delay by 5, bringing it to 0, so your Blaster (N) will still have a recharge amount of 1, but have a recharge delay of 0 instead of 3. If a Nano Pack is applied to a Nuclear BFG, the recharge delay is already 0, so it instead will increase the recharge amount by 1, so Nuclear BFG (N) will have a recharge amount of 2 and recharge delay of 0.
The big appeal of these mechanics, and also very expensive, is when you begin using double or even triple Nano Packs on items. If you take a Shotgun (N), which has a recharge amount of 1 and a recharge delay of 5, and apply a second Nano Pack to it, Shotgun (NN) will have a recharge amount of 1, and a recharge delay of 0. As long as you don't encounter non-recharge actions, you can endlessly fire similar to Nano-Shrapnel and Nanomanufacture assemblies, but you have room for 3 extra mods instead of just 1 after completing the assembly.
Double Nano Packs and Triple Nano Packs
Let's look into various hypothetical items that can be created as a non-assembly with multiple Nano Packs.
Combat Pistol (PPPBB) is generally the cheap option for an extremely strong Pistol, but some players opt to go with Nanomanufacture Combat Pistol (P) for infinite firing and a little less power. However, you can instead go with Combat Pistol (PPPNN) which gives both the higher power while also being infinitely firing too. Alternatively, you could also go with Combat Pistol (PNNSS) to be able to fire infinitely and cancel accuracy penalties of distance and darkness. With Son of a Gun x5 reducing firing speed to 0.1s exactly, the additional speed multipliers of being a Scout or being Berserk can cause you to get non-recharge actions, but the natural clip of 15 is also helpful if you're getting these.
Plasma Shotgun has unique properties with a shotgun blast dealing Plasma damage, but can be very ammo hungry and doesn't fit well with Nano-Shrapnel assembly. However, if you were to make Plasma Shotgun (NNNPP) or (NNNTT), it would be recharging 2 ammo after each shot taking 3, giving you a full 30 shots of continuous firing even in the worst case scenario. This weapon is incredibly powerful at destroying corpses, walls, and has the best shotgun blast type, having the best range, depth, and lowest damage reduction. Multiple Nano Packs can turn it into a solo weapon instead of just a support.
Nano-Shrapnel Super Shotgun (P) is often viewed as one of the god weapons of the game, giving 6d4x2 Piercing damage that can be endlessly fired. However, Super Shotgun (NNNPP) also provides infinite firing with recharge amount of 2 and recharge delay of 0, and while being Shrapnel damage instead of Piercing, it boasts a massive 10d4x2, which is significantly more powerful that Nano-Shrapnel Super Shotgun and other variants. You could also opt to go with (NNNTT) for even faster firing and still higher damage with 8d4x2.
Rocket Launcher (NNFFF) allows for 2 extra Firestorm Packs over Nanomanfacture Rocket Launcher (F), giving a much larger blast radius. With the non-assembly, multi Nano Pack build, the blast radius reaches a massive 10, able to blow up a giant portion of each floor, while also being able to be fired infinitely.
Nuclear BFG (NNNFF) gives a recharge amount of 4 and a recharge delay of 0, meaning you can fire a giant BFG ball every 10 actions and melt everything. It's not as massive as the radius from Biggest Fucking Gun, but you can fire the non-assembly variant pretty repetitively. You can also go with a regular BFG (NNNBB) to have a recharge amount of 2 and recharge delay of 0, but holding a clip of 169 cells, letting you fire 4 consecutive shots and then being able to recharge for more later.
Laser Rifle normally fires far too many shots, but with the Marine's Ammochain firing only 1 shot per burst, Laser Rifle (NNFFF) becomes infinitely firing like Nanomanufacture Laser Rifle (F), but shoots out 4 extra shots per burst, giving a giant increase in damage. With Triggerhappy x2 and Son of a Bitch x5, you'll get 13 shots per burst, which you can endlessly shoot, each doing 1d7 + 5, giving a maximum damage of 156 and average damage of 117 every time you press to shoot.
As you can see, many of these weapons are ridiculously powerful, but of course come at extremely high costs that likely are only obtainable during Angel of 100 and Archangel of 666 games.
Medical Armor
Because Onyx Pack exists for armors, Nano Packs are inferior as you can have infinite durability instead of recharging durability. However, there is one exception to this with Medical Armor, as the healing effect from it comes from durability. Onyx Packs don't technically make armors have infinite durability, but instead hide it and skip the check when taking damage. However, Medical Armor healing doesn't do this, so you can still have your Medical Armor (O) drop down to 1%.
A single Nano Pack will result in Medical Armor (N) with a recharge amount of 2 and recharge delay of 5, meaning that you can let the armor recharge after healing you, but you have to finish taking damage first before it kicks in. There is a way around this however, with Nanofiber Skin Armor assembly made with Medical Armor, essentially giving you a Medical Armor already having a recharge amount of 1 and recharge delay of 5, and then finishing the item with a Nano Pack, giving a recharge amount of 1 and recharge delay of 0. What this means is that as soon as you take damage, Medical Armor will heal you like normal, but also immediately restore 1 durability. If you were to continuously be taking 1 damage, you can then immediately heal 1 damage, and the armor will self-repair for the same amount. This means you can find a nice pool of acid to stand in and hypothetically take infinite damage, possibly leading to adverse effects as the variable for tracking damage taken might either cap off, or possibly roll over back to 0. This could be an alternative way to earn Iron Skull instead of using Vampyre as well.
Outro
Hopefully with this information, more players will understand better how Nano Packs work and consider making some of the hypothetical weapons possible if they're fortunate to find multiples. I've requested that the Medical Armor exploit be fixed in a future version, with an easy fix of Nanofiber Skin Armor having a recharge delay of 6, preventing the value from reaching 0.