Howdy dowdy do!
I'm looking to build a long-term, genuine friendship with someone where we both show equal amounts of effort towards it.
A bit about me: I'm a 20 year old transguy from Europe. I use he/they pronouns. Hobbies wise I like gaming, watching anime, reading books, and music.
My favorite games of all time are Scarlet Nexus and Mirror's Edge, currently I've been playing League of Legends, Diablo 3, Valheim and Risk of Rain 2.
My fave anime are Bungo Stray Dogs and Banana Fish. Currently watching Hunter x Hunter and Welcome to Demon School Iruma-kun! with my fiance.
I used to play the piano, guitar and drums but life got in the way so now I'm just a regular music enjoyer. Recent favorite find has been Days and Daze. If that all sounds good to you then send me a DM with an introduction of yourself :D
P.S I prefer to use Discord for chatting. I won't use any other apps.

Howdy dowdy do!
I'm looking to build a long-term, genuine friendship with someone where we both show equal amounts of effort towards it.
A bit about me: I'm a 20 year old transguy from Europe. I use he/they pronouns. Hobbies wise I like gaming, watching anime, reading books, and music.
My favorite games of all time are Scarlet Nexus and Mirror's Edge, currently I've been playing League of Legends, Diablo 3, Valheim and Risk of Rain 2.
My fave anime are Bungo Stray Dogs and Banana Fish. Currently watching Hunter x Hunter and Welcome to Demon School Iruma-kun! with my fiance.
I used to play the piano, guitar and drums but life got in the way so now I'm just a regular music enjoyer. Recent favorite find has been Days and Daze. If that all sounds good to you then send me a DM with an introduction of yourself :D
P.S I prefer to use Discord for chatting. I won't use any other apps.

TL;DR (spoilers): You, and anyone who wants to try the challenge with you if it's a multiplayer game, are a trans ally, and your job is to collect $25,000 or the equivalent thereof in in-game money (rounded up to the next smallest divisible part) for your transgender friend's transition in less than 31 in-game years. Everything is allowed. You do not have to finish the game.
Want a new and interesting way to play your favorite videogame? I got one with a transgender theme that is interesting, challenging, easy to implement, and compatible with almost any videogame, so it's a Mario challenge, a Pokémon challenge, a Minecraft challenge, and so on and so forth, all at the same time!

The Plot

You, and anyone who wants to try the challenge with you if it's a multiplayer game, are a trans ally, and your job is to collect money to pay for your transgender friend's transition. You win by acquiring enough in-game money. You are allowed to consult the internet, use passwords from the internet, commit in-game crimes, purchase microtransactions, abuse glitches, use cheat codes, and even hack the game to reach your goal, but is it really worth the effort? You are kinda expected to use the easiest way to win the challenge that you know of.

The Rules

Rule #1: You have to get the money you need for a transition. In order to make the challenge less boring for you, I did the research for you and came to the result of $25,000. However, this value might change if you try out this challenge in the far future, meaning that this challenge technically changes depending on when you attempt it. The value is expected to rise even further with inflation, or perhaps it might be reduced with the invention of more efficient surgery techniques. If the USA ever starts getting the universal healthcare system or a societal breakdown makes these surgeries impossible, this challenge will refer to the cost of the legal name & gender change, instead. And if that also ever becomes free then just choose a different country where it isn't free yet. But this is not going to change anytime soon (When do you think this challenge will become obsolete?) so, for now, you just have to remember to collect $25,000 in in-game money. This applies to every game that uses $ for in-game money. If the game uses £ or ¥ or € or any other real-world value, you'll have to convert it. Here's an online tool for converting currencies, which also supports various cryptocurrencies and custom rate dates. If the maximum amount of in-game money you can hold at once is less then the challenge is simply impossible. This only applies to non-videogame currencies.
Rule #2: If the in-game currency is fictional then you'll have to convert it (rounded up to the next smallest divisible part). It's easy if you can buy in-game money with real money, even if that feature doesn't work because of a glitch or something. Otherwise, you'll have to do some research. If you can't find any direct information on the internet, I would suggest starting here to get a basic idea on how to calculate that. If there are multiple in-game currencies you are allowed to split the price of the transition among them in any way you want, provided you know the value of all of them. If there is no in-game currency then you are allowed to use points instead. If the game doesn't have points either then you can try to invent a substitute currency but it has to be something that would actually work as a substitute currency in the world you're in. If that's not possible either then the only way for you to win this challenge is to raise real money by doing a let's play of the game. But then you'll have to actually pay for a real trans person's transition (yourself included) or donate the money to transgender-related causes to actually win the challenge. Here's a website that lets you donate for transgender causes. If the amount of in-game money you can hold at once is less or you were unable to find out how much you need then you are also allowed to simply collect the maximum possible amount instead because games will never ask you for more money than you can hold for a single product, meaning that this would have to be the in-game prize of a transition, as transitions are always for only a single person. This only applies to videogame currencies.
Rule #3: You do not need to finish the game. All you need to do to win this challenge is to get the money somehow. Please keep in mind that the exchange rate isn't constant. The exact amount you need to win the challenge has to be enough in the moment when you have the amount. You automatically win the challenge the moment this is the case.
Rule #4: You need to get the money in less than 31 in-game years. This number was calculated by subtracting the age at which children begin to have an innate sense of their own gender (4 years) from the average lifespan of a trans person (35 years). If the game has time-travelling elements, you are allowed to use those to extend the time limit. However, it only counts if this actually involves time itself and not just the timer. The same also goes the other way around: Travelling into the future or even moving in relativistic speeds will decrease the time limit. If the time limit runs out, I hope you have a way to return back to the past later!
Rule #5: If you can choose between multiple difficulty settings, you are allowed to choose the easiest one. In fact, you are expected to. Trans people are already on hard mode and the idea of being an ally is to specifically use the possibilities given to you to help those with fewer possibilities than you. If you have the option to select an easier difficulty setting which would make it easier for you to win this challenge, use it. Even if you're already used to playing on a higher difficulty mode. Not doing so would be considered bad strategy on your part. You are allowed to choose a higher difficulty setting, but please only do so if this actually gives you some advantages, like more rewards, more levels, or faster gameplay. This challenge gives you no bonus points for selecting a higher difficulty setting.
Rule #6: Emulation, and all tricks that come with it, are explicitly allowed. Doing so might be against the law but it is explicitly not against the rules of this challenge. The reason for this is because being transgender has been illegal for a long time and still is in many states, forcing many people to break the law in order to live their lives. The police have historically targeted trans and gender non-conforming folks. Stonewall was a riot against police brutality. I am not advocating for doing anything illegal. I am, however, saying that you should never use the law to argue for the morality of anything trans-related, as doing so would be disrespectful towards a huge part of transgender history. Therefore, this rule will remain in effect even if being transgender ever becomes legal worldwide.
In order to make the challenge even less boring for you, I have started researching loads of fictional currencies and how much money you would have to collect there for this challenge so you don't have to.
A Song of Ice and Fire - 19 Gold Dragons and 1 Copper Star or 39 Hands
Albion Online - 4,752,500 Gold
Among Us - 250,000 Stars
Animal Crossing - 2,625,000 Bells
Animal Jam - 69,833 Diamonds
Animal Jam - 2,688,173 Sapphires
Apex Legends - 2,500,000 Apex Coins
Arcaea - 2,550,000 Memories
Archage Unchained - 125,000,000 Coins
Arknights - 30,000 Originium
Ashes of Creation - 3,376,000 Embers
Astroneer - 2,500,000 QBits
Avatar - 166,666.67 Yuan
Azur Lane - 1,531,440 Gems
Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning - 2,500,000 You Thought Points
Banjo-Kazooie - 900 Musical Notes
BattleTech - 2,500 C-Bills
Be Funny Now! - 2,625,000 Gems
Bioshock Infinite - 715 Silver Eagles
Bloons Monkey City - 1,250,000 Bloonstones
Bloons TD Battles - 625,000 Medallions
Bloons TD Battles 2 - 13,000,000 Monkey Money
Bloons Tower Defense 5 - 19,318,182 Monkey Money
Bloons Tower Defense 5 - 150,000 Tokens
Bloons Tower Defense 6 - 17,500,000 Monkey Money
Boomlings - 93,750,000 Gold
Brawl Stars - 425,000 Gems
Call of Duty - 2,500,000 Points
Candy Crush Saga - 250,000 Gold Bars
Change - finish the game
Chronicles of Riddick - 150,000 UD
Clash of Clans - 2,500,000 Gems
Clash Royale - 2,500,000 Gems
Cookie Clicker - 300,000 Cookies
Cookie Run Kingdom - 2,500,000 Crystals
Cowboy Bebop - 13,461,539 Woolongs
Cyberpunk - 11,208,707,759 Eurodollars
Dead by Daylight - 2,500,000 Auric Cells
Demolition Man - 25 Credits
DemonCrawl - 3,125,000 Tokens
Destiny 2 - 2,500,000 Silver
Disco Zoo - 375,000 DiscoBux
Discworld - 150.00 Ankh-Morpork Dollar or 40,000 Crowns
Disney Ducks Comic Universe
Volcano Valley - 2,500,000,000 Volcanovian Pezozies
Donald Duck - 1,250 Bajillion Pecos
Diablo Immortal - 1,800,180 Eternal Orbs
Disney Emoji Blitz - 219,298,000 Coins or 1,315,780 Gems
Doctor Who - 784,094 Credits
Donkey Kong - 999 Banana Coins
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom - 83,334 Whuffie
Dragon Mania Legends - 28,470,070,000 Gold or 950,060 Gems
Dragonball Z - 50,000 Zeni
DragonVale - 500 Trunks, 1 Bag, and 1 Pile
Dune - 15,254 Solari
Dungeons and Dragons - 198 Platinum Pieces, 4 Gold Pieces, 1 Silver Piece, and 3 Copper Pieces
Dys4ia - finish the game
Egg Inc. - 17,000,000 Golden Eggs
Elite Dangerous - 31,250,000 ARX
Exoracer - 400,000 Diamonds
Fallen London - 140,000 Fate
Fallout - 1,605 Bottle Caps
Fate/Grand Order - 42,709 Saint Quartz
Felix the Cat - 12,500,000,000,000 Bakshee
Final Fantasy VII - 1,366,121 Gil
Fishing Planet - 194,159,000 Credits or 1,941,590 Baitcoins
Fortnite - 3,125,000 V-Bucks
Gaia Online - 2,500,000 Gaia Cash or 125,000,000,000,000 Gold or 12,500,000 Platinum or 125,000 Flynn's Booties
Game of Thrones - 25 Gold Dragons
Genshin Impact - 1,500,000 Genesis Crystals
Going Under - 10,000,000,000 Styxcoin
Gorilla Tag - 5,000,000 Shiny Rocks
Growtopia - 875,000,000 Gems
Guardians of the Galaxy - 10,715 Units
Guild Wars 2 - 2,000,000 Gems
GURPS - 140,108,846 Gold, 19 Silver, and 13 Copper
Halo - 57,073.82 Credits
Harry Potter - 3,401 Galleons, 6 Sickles, and 4 Knuts
Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage - 2,916,667 Crystals
High Frontier 4 All - 1 Aqua
HoboWars - 25,000 Points
Home: Adventures with Tip & Oh - 50,283,334 Gleeblos
Honkai: Star Rail - 1,620,180 Stellar Jades or 1,620,180 Oneiric Shards
Hunter × Hunter - 2,916,667 Jenny
Hypixel - 3,375,000 SkyBlock Gems or 2,500,000 Gold or 31,250 Loot Chests
In Time - 3.259 average Gregorian years
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? - 2,625,000 Vals
Jacksfilms - 138,889 YIAY Tokens
Jetpack Joyride - 250,000,000 Coins
Juego de Tronos - 8,966,966 Gold, 43 Silver, and 1 Copper
Kamen Rider Build - 25,000 Dollark
Keeper of the Lost Cities - 1 Luster
Kingdom Hearts - 18,797 Munny
Kingdom of Loathing - 2,500 Mr. Accessories
Kirby series - 3,125,600 Gem Apples
League of Legends - 3,250,000 Riot Points
LEGO series - 32 Studs
Limbus Company - 1,750,000 Lunacy
Lord of the Rings Online - 2,875,600 LOTRO Points or 359,425 Mithril Coins
Magikarp Jump - 1,250,000 Diamonds
Mario series
exact price - 277,778 Mushroom Coins or 277,778 Koopabits
Dr. Mario World - 277,778 Mushroom Coins or 375,000 Diamonds
Super Mario 3D World - 👑👑👑 Lives and 99 Mushroom Coins
3D Mario games - 99 Lives and 49 Mushroom Coins
2D Mario games - 99 Lives and 99 Mushroom Coins
Super Mario Odyssey - 9,999 Mushroom Coins
Super Mario Land 2 - 999 Mushroom Coins
Bowser's Fury - 99 Mushroom Coins
Mario & Luigi: Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga - play until the part where you win the bet against Prince Peasley
Mario Kart Tour - 37,500 Rubies
Mass Effect - 156250 Credits
Merge Dragons - 625,000 Dragon Gems
Minecraft - 64 Emeralds
Minecraft: Bedrock Edition - 4,250,000 Minecoins
Monster Hunter - 2,625,000 Zeni
Monster Legends - 325,000 Gems
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - 2,500 Bits
My Singing Monsters - 500,000 Diamonds
Narnia - 100,000 Lions
Neko Atsume - 1,875,000 Gold Fish
Neopets - 2,500,000 Neocash
New World - 25,000,000 Gold Coins
Nineteen Eighty Four - 25,000.00 Oceanian Dollars
Ninja Kiwi - 625,000 NK Coins
Naruto - 262,500 Ryō
Odd Squad - 25,000 Jackalope Dollars
One Piece - 2,625,000 Belly or 26,250,000,000 Extol
Path of Exile - 6,250,000 Chaos Orbs or 100,000 Exalted Orbs
Pixel Gun 3D - 750,000 Gems
Plants vs. Zombies 2 - 50,000,000 Coins or 250,000 Gems
Pluto Nash - 3 Hillaries
Pocket Trains - 3,000,000 Bux
Pokémon series - 999,999 Pokédollars
Pokémon Go - 1,718,750 Pokécoins
Pokémon Sword and Shield - 175,000 Watts
Pokémon UNITE - 1,531,250 Aeos Gems
Progressbar95 - 125,000 Product Keys
Ratchet & Clank - 38,462 Metal Bolts
Rebuild World - 2,625,000 Aurum
Red Dwarf - 1,308 Dollar Pounds and 25 Pennycents
Rick and Morty - 125,000 Flurbos
Roblox - 2,000,000 Robux
Rocket League - 2,500,000 Credits
Roma - 1,685,519,963 Denarius and 4 Sesterius
Sea of Thieves - 2,291,667 Ancient Coins
Second Life - 8,000,000 Linden Dollars
Shadowrun - 11,208,707,759 Nuyen or 33,626,123,276 Rubles
Slow Life in Another World (I Wish!) - 2,625,000 Nohl
Snow White with the Red Hair - 2,625,000 Dill
Sonic series - 4,556,386 Rings
Sonic Forces: Speed Battle - 2,500,000 Red Star Rings
Spaceballs - 82,667 Space Bucks
Sprawl Trilogy - 1,086,957 New Yen
Spy X Family - 8,203 Dalc and 13 Ostanian Pents
Spyro - 166,667 Gems
Star Trek - 516,235 Federation Credits or 250,000 Darsek
Star Trek (Mari) - 675,676 Renn
Star Trek (United Federation of Planets) - 12,500 Federation Credits
Star Trek: The Next Generation - 15 Bars of Gold-pressed Latinum, 15 Strips, and 6 Slips
Star Wars - 500,000 Galactic Credit Standards
Stardew Valley - 500g
Stormbringer - 186,811,795 Gold, 9 Silver, and 8 Copper
Street Fighter - 3,137 Bison Dollars
Subway Surfers - 225,000,000 Coins or 125,000 Keys
Sword Art Online: Gun Gale Online - 262,500,000 Credits
Team Fortress 2 - 10,000 Keys
Temple Run - 250,000,000 Coins
Terraria - 2 Silver Coins
The Ballad of Rika Strong-Arm - 148 Gold Pieces
The Battle Cats - 750,000 Cat Food
The Binding of Isaac - impossible because you can only hold 99¢
The Elder Scrolls - 11,004 Septim
The Flintstones - 7,813 Clams
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - 428,572 Altarian dollars
The Impossible Game 2 - 2,000,000 Blocks
The Number of the Beast - 25 New Dollars
The Office - 250,000,000 Schrute Bucks
The Sims - 19,380 Simoleons
The Witcher - 83,334 Crowns or 63,452 Orens
Tiny Tower - 7,500,000 Bux
Touhou LostWord - 760,000 God Crystals
Trigun - 90,580 Double Dollars
Truxton King - 17,858 Gavvo
War Robots - 3,000,000 Gold
Warframe - 375,000 Platinum
What Mad Universe - 250,000 Credits
Who Framed Roger Rabbit - 2,808,989 Simoleons
World Flipper - 1,000,000 Lodestar Beads
World of Tanks and World of Warplanes - 3,418,997,741,500 Gold
World of Warcraft Classic - 2,375,000 Gold
World of Warcraft The Burning Crusade - 3,500,000 Gold Coins
World of Warships - 9,375,000,000 Credits or 6,250,000 Doubloons
Zelda - 999 Rupees
The values are not guaranteed to be accurate. In fact, I have found many cases of contradictory information on the internet. But you don't care about that anyway, do you? This isn't about the exact value anyway. These are all meant to be rough estimates to give you a sense of scale.

The Motivation

I was inspired by my Pokémon Trans Ally challenge that is about collecting money for a trans person's surgery. If you actually attempt this challenge you'll see that it'll usually be a very long and tedious challenge that will require a lot of experimentation, long-term planning, and doing the same things over and over again for a very long time, especially if you wanna try this as a speedrun. If the challenge bores you out, well, that is the point! The challenge is meant to give people with little or no sense of money an impression of how much money this really is! Now, you could argue that this challenge could theoretically be used to visualize any amount of money, and you would technically be correct, but I still think that a transgender transition is one of the best matches for this challenge because:

1. A transition is always only for one person. We aren't talking about a company buying another company or a country investing in more infrastructure. This is something within the realm of a single person so it makes sense to have this be a challenge for a single person or a small group.
2. This is not a luxury item like a famous painting or a private jet. Overwhelming scientific evidence proves that this is a medical necessity that trans people require in order to live like the majority of people. It is not something you want but something you need. So you can really say that acquiring all this money is really something that they have to go through. Therefore, unless you are transgender yourself, I would really recommend you to actually play the challenge until the end, even if it takes you years to actually do so. Not for your enjoyment but to acknowledge trans people's struggles and maybe also to protest against the gatekeeping system.
3. Unlike people who regularly need medications, the transgender transition is a once-in-a-lifetime thing and is therefore compatible with a challenge that you only play through once and then never again.
4. Once your transition is over, it cannot be taken from you.
5. It is not possible to request the costs to be paid for you if you can prove that you cannot afford it, meaning the only way to get it is to actually get the money.
6. Being trans is not an illness or a disability. Trans people never did anything wrong, neither deliberately nor accidentally. They are simply born with a condition that requires them to get the money. Trans people are therefore as guilt-free as a typical videogame hero.

Do you know anything more expensive that fulfills all those criteria?

The Fun Facts

• If you collect 1,000,000 coins in Super Mario Bros. 2, you win a golden Mario statue. This is actually more money than required for the trans ally challenge!
• If payment by installments were supported by this challenge then the most cumbersome game to do this challenge in would be The Binding of Isaac, because that would require you to send at least 25,253 installments. You would have to max out your money counter every 10¾ hours on average.
• You immediately win the challenge if you try it on a game where the money you start with is already high enough. For example, in the game The Roll Ahead, you play as either Bill Gates or Steve Jobs and you start out with 35 Billion.
• In the game Anti-Monopoly, you win by losing your money. However, if you try this challenge in this game, you'll still have to gain money. This is kinda the opposite of a coinless challenge because where a coinless challenge makes positive money negative, this challenge makes negative money positive.
• Characters like the monk from Crypt of the NecroDancer, Entity from depict1, and Default Dan from Default Dan die upon touching money. Kinda makes you think, doesn't it?
• The purple coins in the Super Mario Galaxy series, the Butz in Kappa Mikey, the Glotkies in Taxi, the coins in Syobon Action, and the Rasbukniks in Li'l Abner are worth nothing.
• If World of Anime Babes was a real game then this challenge would require 1,250,000,000 tokens. As the narrator said: "Big numbers are better, right?" One way to get this money would be by selling like 1,000 in-game outfits.
• If you are playing a game taking place in the medieval time, the challenge would require you to get 411¼ medieval pennies.
• If you wanna make the monetary values more immersive, you can look at how they are depicted in the menu of microtransactions. For example, Clash of Clans groups predefined values of gems into bags, sacks, boxes, and chests that therefore represent specific amounts of gems and could therefore be regarded as higher currency units. For example, 2,500,000 gems fit into 179 chests. Sure, this won't help you with strategizing, but it will certainly make it more interesting for your audience!
• According to this article, this challenge would require you to get 129,058,751 Simeons. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to determine which franchise Simeons are from.
• The Ztars from Mario Party and the Rupoors from The Legend of Zelda are currencies that actually take money away from you, making their exchange rates negative!
• If Terrance & Phillip: Give Us Your Money was a real game then this challenge would require 10,204,200 Canadian Coins. This value was calculated under the assumption that everyone would realize that the cheapest deal is actually the best deal. One way to get this money would be by not playing the game 2,041 times. Oh good, you're already on it. But will you make it within the time limit?
• The values of LEGO Studs were calculated using the value of a human life. If you applied this logic to every game with currency units that are worth ¹⁄₁₀₀ life each then a single one of those currency units would already be enough to win this challenge and if you applied this logic to every game where 10,000 points give you an extra life then this challenge would require you to earn 32 points, but only if there isn't already an in-game currency.
• The fictional currency with the highest inflation rate I could find was in Elbonia, the rate being 1,000,000,000% daily. Despite the high time limit, I would recommend you to hurry with getting enough money there if you even can.
• The average age at the time the RTS Rise of Nations takes place in was roughly 31 years, which would reduce this challenge's time limit to 27 in-game years at most. Which would be about 2.08 real-time seconds according to estimations made by PeanutButterGamer, according to which the time limit for Diablo would be 6 in-game years and the challenge would be impossible for SimAnt.
• For obvious reasons, a society can only survive if its maximum lifespan is at least the minimum age of fertility. Due to precocious puberty, the world records for the youngest biological parents are 9 years for microgametic parents and 5 years and 7 months for macrogametic parents, meaning that the maximum lifespan of any human society must always be at least 9 years. Since 9 years are more than 4 years, it therefore follows that transgender healthcare benefits all possible human societies. Remember this if you ever attempt this challenge on a game that takes place in a society where these values are different for whatever reason, like a society of anthropomorphic animals for example.
• If the average lifespan was less than 4 years then the average lifespan of a trans person would actually be higher than the average lifespan as a whole. This is because trans people who die before the age of 4 would not be included in the statistic, due to being undetectable. If that happens, you'll have to recalculate what the statistic would be.
• Transgender surgery is older than the discovery of Pluto, modern toilet paper, chicken tikka masala, duct tape, ballpoint pens, ciabatta bread, Velcro, and Tupperware.
• The Wumpa Fruit from Crash Bandicoot are also a form of currency, as was revealed in some games. A Wumpa Fruit is worth exactly the same as a piece of gold in Skylanders. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find out what either of those are worth.
• The most valuable fictional currency that I could find was the Aqua from High Frontier 4 All, which is estimated to be a three-digit million $ amount.
• Team Kirby Clash Deluxe and Super Kirby Clash value Gem Apples differently. I based their value on Super Kirby Clash because Team Kirby Crash Deluxe only lets you purchase a maximum of 3,000 Gem Apples, meaning that Super Kirby Clash would be more practical for purchases over $29.85. Noone would accept a payment of 838 installments if a more practical way of payment is possible.
• This challenge would require 2,500,000 Nuggets in the game PokéHeroes but I didn't add it to the list because it's a fangame and I didn't wanna confuse.

---
/uj If you donate gold in Gaia Online, the company will donate money to charity. I find this mechanic to be a really good idea and I would like to see it more often because it enables players to support the less fortunate without having to donate their own money. Just imagine if every game on this list gave you the option to donate $25,000 worth of in-game money which would then be donated to transgender causes and unlock the Trans Ally achievement! I know it would be very cumbersome to unlock, but completionists would definitely go for it and also, it would be done for a good cause!
---
/rj Did you know you can make it so that every time an amount of money is shown, its value is converted into transgender transitions?
Simply get Universal Automatic Currency Converter, then scroll down to Custom display and enter the following:
Use custom display: ☑
Custom display: ¤ 🏳️‍⚧️
Custom conversion rate: 0.00004
---
/uj The original post was removed by Reddit's spam filters so I uploaded it again without the links in the list. The original list with the links in them will be in the comments.

[Sunbreak] Hitzone Comparison Damage Calculator with Dual Blade Analysis
I've revised this several times, so hopefully, I've ironed out all the mistakes. Please let me know if there is anything wrong with my findings, points you disagree with, or questions you may have.
Thanks to

• dtlnor for the MV datamining
• Pilgrim, author of the DB meta guides for initial data
• Gobul's Lantern for Lance data

tl;dr

• Hitzone Comparison Damage Calculator: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QIjL2FXYzRw1-RJp0t-W0Qh0zb5mCH1Vs2U9SWSb6VQ/edit?usp=sharing
  • Only supports RAW, ELE, Affinity, Critical Boost, Critical Element, Elemental Exploit, Elembane, and Anti-Species
  • Copy and edit/add your own stats, MVs, EVs, combos, and timings
  • Does not support dynamic stats. Use final ATK and Element
  • I would use a different calculator if you need more precise damage details
• Prioritize Elemental Exploit and Elembane hitzones most of the time
• Grounded is theoretically better for DPS with the Demon Flurry Rush buffs
• The best Grounded Spiral Slash combo is Demon Flurry Rush + Spiral Slash
• The best Grounded combo without Spiral Slash is Demon Flurry Rush + Rising Slash + Demon Fang + Twofold
  • Demon Flurry Rush + Slide Slash + Demon Fang can be better depending on the stats, but difficult to loop
• In situations where grounded hitzones are bad, Aerial is still viable
• The best Aerial Spiral Slash combo is Demon Flight + (Aerial Flurry) + Midair Roundslash + Grounded Spiral Slash
  • Skipping Aerial Flurry does not appear to impact DPS much if at all for Spiral Slash
• The best elemental Aerial combo is Demon Flight + Aerial Flurry + Midair Roundslash + Rising Slash + Demon Fang loop
  • Skipping Aerial Flurry loses DPS but Aerial Flurry does not always hit
• The best raw combo is Aerial Midair Blade Dance (Archdemon Mode) or probably Piercing Bind + Demon Flurry Rush + Blade Dance (Not thoroughly tested)
• There are niche scenarios where the hitlag on a low raw hitzone can increase DPS over a high raw hitzone

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Changes in TU5
3. Methodology
4. Results
   1. Grounded
   2. Aerial
   3. Hitzones
   4. Grounded vs Aerial
   5. Slide Slash
5. Hitlag
6. Conclusion Appendix A.1 Non-Spiral Slash Grounded hitzones A.2 Aerial Matchups

1.0 Introduction

This is a theoretical DPS comparison of Dual Blade attacks. I will outline the output and differences between Demon Flurry Rush, Aerial, Slide Slash, Spiral Slash, and their applications to different hitzones.
The main reason for this investigation was to determine which hitzone to attack. Given the enormous skew towards elemental damage for Dual Blades, it did not appear obvious which hitzone to target.

2.0 Changes in TU5

These are the relevant changes in TU5.
Figure 1: TU5 Dual Blade Changes https://i.imgur.com/mwpZ0h8.png
Text:

• Demon Flurry Rush
  • MV: 5x2 + 4x2 + 8x2 -> 6x2 + 5x2 + 10x2
  • Total: 34 -> 42 (+24%)
  • EV: 0.7x4 + 1.0x2 -> 1.0x4 + 1.2x2
  • Total: 4.8 -> 6.4 (+33%)
• Slide Slash
  • EV: 1.0x4 -> 1.3x4
  • Total: 4.0 -> 5.2 (+30%)
• Demon Slide Slash
  • EV: 1.0x4 -> 1.3x4
  • Total: 4.0 -> 5.2 (+30%)

3.0 Methodology

Previously for Rise, I had tested the frame data for Dual Blade attacks to try and get an idea of what the DPS or mv/s was on moves, but there was no way to measure DPS on Switch. The mv/s was just theory, but with the power of Steam and magic (mods), it is possible to test the real life DPS of rotations as well as easily record frame data if needed.

• The [A Worth Toadversary] mod allows you to adjust the HZV of the Toadversary
• CheatEngine can be used to adjust weapon ATK
  • Green sharpness at 85 ATK with a +10 ATK Petalace gives 100 EFR
  • Attacks will do the same damage as MV without suffering from yellow sharpness penalty. (95x1.05=~100)
  • Similarly, you can set your weapon ATK stat to -10 and adjust the EHZV so your element will deal the same damage as 10x EV.
  • Green sharpness at 0 ATK will give pure elemental damage
  • EHZV can be adjusted to deal 10x EV
  • Effects of hitlag can be observed by adjusting HZV with 0 ATK
• The Zinogre Dual Blades with green sharpness and 20 Thunder were used
  • Adjusting the EHZV to 37 means with Demon Mode, the 27 Thunder will deal 10 damage on a 1.0x EV hit
• The [Hard or Soft] mod can also be used to view the raw and elemental damage split for each hit if needed
• The [MHR Overlay - Damage Meter] by GreenComfyTea was used to measure the DPS, which can directly equate to mv/s or ev/s in the training room

The frame data used was collected through the training room against various HZV on the training dummy @60FPS and compared to actual DPS. It may vary slightly depending on what FPS your game runs at, and other factors I'm unaware of may also impact it. There can always be variations, so the expected DPS may not always line up 100%, but my tests have always correlated towards the same result.

4.0 Results

A simple calculator was made to cross-compare approximate damage against different hitzones and adapted to compare different combos. I haven't seen any hitzone calculators like this so I made my own. The time can be set to 1 second to evaluate combo damage instead of DPS, and different moves or combos can be added. The combos listed use the Attack Data table to create a formula. For example, DFR Demon Fang MV is AM9 + AM4 + AM5, which is Demon Flurry Rush + Rising Slash + Demon Fangs. Copy that to the next two cells to get the EVs and time added up, then divide to get the mv/s and ev/s.
Several different Dual Blade combos were tested to determine their effectiveness.
Figure 2: Dual Blade Combo mv/s and ev/s https://i.imgur.com/jdMkakL.png
The top 5 mv/s and top 5 ev/s are highlighted in yellow (ignoring low hitlag versions).
While Demon Flurry Rush on its own deals ~5.05ev/s (see Figure 1), it cannot be looped into itself.
Aerial style doesn't have high ev/s in comparison. This is the main reason it will lose out on DPS.
Piercing Bind does extremely high mv/s but cannot crit and has bad ev/s

4.1 Hitzones

The primary reason for this investigation was to determine the optimal hitzone to prioritize in a hunt. Spiral Slash can only be used on 45+ HZV (typically), but those don't always have high element. Spiral Slash can also miss hits even if it connects. Also, Wirebugs and/or openings are not always available.
Using the following stats: 408 RAW, 233 ELE, Purple, 40% Affinity, WEX3, CB3, CritEle3, ELEX3, Elembane
Figure 3: Example DPS chart for DFR > Twofold https://i.imgur.com/n6Yn7Ry.png
The raw damage dealt is shown at the bottom, while the (WEX) elemental damage dealt is shown on the right.
This chart can be used to determine which hitzone is best for this combo, and the target damage/hitzone can be changed in the spreadsheet.
From Figure 3, we can see that for DFR Twofold, a 20/25 hitzone is superior to ALL hitzone that only have 15 element. The same comparison can be made with Spiral Slash combos, and similar results can be found (not shown).
As such, there are situations where not using Spiral Slash can lead to more damage.

4.2 Grounded

• Demon Flurry Rush + Spiral Slash is typically the highest DPS when comparing the same hitzone
• Without Spiral Slash, Demon Flurry Rush + Rising Slash + Demon Fang + Twofold is probably best
• Demon Flurry Rush + Slide Slash + Demon Fang (+ Twofold) has very high mv/s, ev/s depends on hitlag
  • May be beneficial if you understand your positioning well
  • Can also be used to trigger Bloodlust slightly earlier
  • Note that Archdemon Mode has lower element stat than Demon Mode, but loops faster for better ev/s and is simpler
• Aerial can be stronger if there is no good grounded hitzone

4.3 Aerial

• Demon Flight + Aerial Flurry + Midair Roundslash + Grounded Spiral Slash
• or
• Demon Flight + Cancel Aerial Flurry + Midair Roundslash + Grounded Spiral Slash
• are the strongest Aerial combos
  • Within 1% of each other (for the stats I tested)
  • Note that Aerial Flurry can miss some of its hits because of its height
• Aerial Flurry directly into Aerial Spiral Slash resulted in less damage output
  • The last two hits of Aerial Flurry need to be cancelled for the fastest Spiral Slash
  • Aerial Spiral Slash also has increased end lag due to landing time which might increase on bigger monsters
• Without Spiral Slash, Aerial Flurry + Midair Roundslash + (Rising Slash + Demon Fang + Twofold) or (Blade Dance) loop may be strongest
• Midair Blade Dance (MBD) in Archdemon Mode is the highest aerial raw option available
  • Can also be used to trigger Bloodlust slightly earlier
  • Note that Archdemon Mode has lower element than Demon Mode
• Midair Blade Dance in Demon Mode deals less MV while being significantly slower

4.4 Grounded compared to Aerial

Archdemon Midair Blade Dance appears to be better for heavily raw skewed non-Elemental Exploit hitzones, which are very rare. Grounded combos appear to be better than Demon Mode Aerial combos in almost all realistic hitzones when directly compared. Grounded with Spiral Slash is superior to Aerial with Spiral Slash in all scenarios with element.
There are matchups where Grounded combos have a hard time hitting good hitzones and Aerial will be superior, or the iframe and mobility utility of Aerial allows for more attacking uptime or better wirebug management. Grounded may have to use Shrouded Vault or dodge more often to avoid damage while Aerial can use Demon Flight to iframe through attacks, which should be put into consideration. At the same time, it is difficult to have every hit in an Aerial combo land on the correct hitzone.
See appendix for more details

4.5 Slide Slash

Slide Slash can serve as a niche damage boost due to its very high MVs and newly buffed EVs, but missing any hits will cause a large decrease in damage. Its movement can be unintuitive to loop, and may overshoot or miss hitzones, which should be taken into consideration, but it can also be used to close gaps or reset positioning.
Demon Slide Slash has increased MVs over regular Slide Slash, but both are the same speed and EVs.
The Demon Mode combo is Demon Flurry Rush + Slide Slash + Demon Slash, which bypasses the need for Rising Slash, the weakest aspect of the regular combos. In Archdemon Mode, Demon Slash doesn't happen at all, making the combo faster at the expense of the Demon mode element buff and Demon Slide Slash MV buff.

5.0 Hitlag

The spreadsheet includes data for some low hitlag and high hitlag versions of grounded attacks. While there can be some small variance in regular hitlag, there is notable consistent differences caused by hitzones. Considering hitlag can provide some minor benefits to DPS for Dual Blades. The situations where a hitzone is chosen specifically for lower hitlag appear to be rare, but are outlined in the appendix. It is a benefit of high element hitzones that are already poor raw hitzones, and not a consideration when the elemental hitzones are the same or when they are low.
Low hitzones give less hitlag and high hitzones give more hitlag, with the following ranges and visual cues.

1. 0 to 24 (None, white, bounce)
2. 25 to 44 (Low, white, orange sparks)
3. 45 to 65 (Normal, orange)
4. 66 to 100 (High, orange with blue sparks)

Figure 4: Adding the effects of Sharpness: https://i.imgur.com/uiMeucA.png
Purple

1. 0 to 17 (None, white, bounce)
2. 18 to 32 (Low, white, orange sparks)
3. 33 to 47 (Normal, orange)
4. 48 to 100 (High, orange with blue sparks)

There is no appreciable difference of hitzone thresholds between using White over Purple.
Direct comparison for Demon Flurry Rush + Rising Slash + Demon Fangs + Twofold Slash

1. No Hitlag: 5.0ev/s (~2.08s)
2. Low Hitlag: 4.8ev/s (~2.16s)
3. Normal Hitlag: 4.3ev/s (~2.47s)
4. High Hitlag: 3.9ev/s (~2.67s)

DPS difference over High Hitlag:

1. +28%
2. +23%
3. +10%
4. +0%

I don't believe any practical No Hitlag hitzones actually exist except for Daimyo Hermitaur guarding, but I could be wrong. Because the hitlag is so low, inputs can be missed which delays the next hit from coming out quick enough, but it is marginally faster than low hitlag.
Low hitlag Elembane hitzones appear to be superior to High Hitlag Elemental Exploit hitzones at a cursory glance, even when comparing to Spiral Slash damage. This combination appears to be fairly rare.

6.0 Conclusions

The tl;dr from the top:

• Hitzone Comparison Damage Calculator: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QIjL2FXYzRw1-RJp0t-W0Qh0zb5mCH1Vs2U9SWSb6VQ/edit?usp=sharing
  • Only supports RAW, ELE, Affinity, Critical Boost, Critical Element, Elemental Exploit, Elembane, and Anti-Species
  • Copy and edit/add your own stats, MVs, EVs, combos, and timings
  • Does not support dynamic stats. Use final ATK and Element
  • I would use a different calculator if you need more precise damage details
• Prioritize Elemental Exploit and Elembane hitzones most of the time
• Grounded is theoretically better for DPS with the Demon Flurry Rush buffs
• The best Grounded Spiral Slash combo is Demon Flurry Rush + Spiral Slash
• The best Grounded combo without Spiral Slash is Demon Flurry Rush + Rising Slash + Demon Fang + Twofold
  • Demon Flurry Rush + Slide Slash + Demon Fang can be better depending on the stats, but difficult to loop
• In situations where grounded hitzones are bad, Aerial is still viable
• The best Aerial Spiral Slash combo is Demon Flight + (Aerial Flurry) + Midair Roundslash + Grounded Spiral Slash
  • Skipping Aerial Flurry does not appear to impact DPS much if at all for Spiral Slash
• The best elemental Aerial combo is Demon Flight + Aerial Flurry + Midair Roundslash + Rising Slash + Demon Fang loop
  • Skipping Aerial Flurry loses DPS but Aerial Flurry does not always hit
• The best raw combo is Aerial Midair Blade Dance (Archdemon Mode) or probably Piercing Bind + Demon Flurry Rush + Blade Dance (Not thoroughly tested)
• There are niche scenarios where the hitlag on a low raw hitzone can increase DPS over a high raw hitzone

The calculator can also be used to compare scenarios like different levels of Critical Boost, Critical Element, and Elemental Exploit, as well as how different stats affect the same combo. Reminder that it uses your final buffed ATK and Element from your stat screen.
The calculator can also be used for other weapons. Manually input their moveset and timings if desired, or set the mv/s and ev/s to the MV and EV directly. If you are trying to test a Charged Master weapon, incorporate Charge Master's buff directly into the MV and EVs.
Lance stats are already included since I happened to have my own testing data on hand, but the timing data may be outdated. Check Gobul Lantern's testings for probably more accurate data. It can also serve as a reference to visualize exactly how skewed Dual Blade elemental damage is.
Having briefly tested other weapons in the training room, the only weapons that might need to choose a hitzone with higher element instead of higher raw frequently are Charge Blade, Bow, Light Bowgun, and Heavy Bowgun. Every other weapon is almost guaranteed to be better off prioritizing high raw hitzones with minor element hitzones due to how much more raw damage they deal than elemental damage.
Because of this, Dual Blades appear to be the only weapon where hitlag can cause any increase in DPS, however small it may be. I recommend trying the DFR Twofold combo in the training room against high hitlag and low/no hitlag to get a feel for how incredibly different it actually is.
DFR Slide Slash appears to be a strong option if you know what you're doing. At normal hitlag, it is very close in element to using DFR Twofold, but deals more raw damage. At high hitlag, it is stronger than using DFR Twofold due to Twofold's increased hitlag. At low hitlags, DFR Twofold's reduced hitlag is stronger, but you can also add Twofold to Slide Slash to catch up a tiny bit. Twofold specfically appears to suffer against higher hitlag for some reason.
Never ever ever use Roundslash.

A.1 Non-Spiral Slash Grounded hitzones

The following is a list of monsters where Grounded non-Spiral Slash should theoretically perform better than Spiral Slash, but you should consider partbreaking for staggers and drops as well. If a comparable Spiral Slash hitzone exists, it is probably listed. Some monsters you can rotate DFR on low raw hitzone and then aim Spiral Slash on the WEX hitzone to take advantage of the hitlag difference and hitzone spread. There are also scenarios where you can trigger Spiral Slash on non-WEX hitzones by targeting a moving WEX hitzone, but they are rare.

• Aknosom
  • Legs 36/35 (Water)
  • Best hitzone by far and it's not close
• Almudron
  • Forelegs 23/30 (Fire)
  • Tail 55/25 (Fire)
  • Tailtip 65/25 (Fire)
  • Forelegs slightly win in theory due to the speed advantage
  • The tail and tailtip are probably still the better hitzones, but not always hitable. Also, Spiral Slash misses on the tailtip a lot when it flails.
• Apex Mizutsune
  • Forelegs/Fore claws 28/25 (Thunder), 24/30 (Thunder)
  • Best hitzone by far
  • Dragon comes close but Thunder's base element probably carries it over having Elembane
  • Thunder also does better if you have to hit something that's not the claws/forelegs
• Apex Rathalos
  • Wings 30/25 (Dragon)
  • Enraged Head 80/20 (Dragon)
  • Wings are marginally better due to the speed advantage when it is not enraged
• Aurora Somnacanth
  • Head Fin 45/25 (Fire)
  • Forelegs 35/20 (Fire)
  • Head 55/15 (Fire)
  • The Head Fin is by far the best hitzone, but if you can't hit it for some reason, the forelegs are still way better than the head if you can hit them
• Barioth
  • Thorns 25/30 (Fire)
  • Head 65/20 (Fire)
  • Thorns are the best hitzone by far if you run Elembane, until they break, but difficult to consistently hit
  • Switch to head when they're broken
  • Probably not worth running Elembane for this though
• Barroth
  • Unmuddy Head 22/40 (Fire)
  • Unmuddy Tail 47/25 (Fire)
  • Unmuddy Torso 36/25 (Fire)
  • The head is the best hitzone by far and it is not close (nearly double the damage vs the Forelegs)
  • Only problem is being so high off the ground, wait until it's downed?
  • Tail and Torso are much better than the forelegs otherwise
  • 0 fire when muddy
• Chaotic Gore Magala
  • R. Wingarm 20/25 (Fire) 20/30 (Dragon)
  • If you can find a way to focus this part... Otherwise, aim for the head
• Daimyo Hermitaur
  • Claws 25/35 (Fire)
  • Head 50/30 (Fire), 50/35 (Thunder)
  • The Claws with Fire are marginally better because of the speed advantage
  • Head depends on stats? Mine are about equal
  • If it's guarded, you get 0 hitlag (but bounce)
• Lucent Nargacuga
  • Cutwings 21/30 (Ice)
  • Enraged Head 65/25 (Ice)
  • Cutwings are the best hitzone when not enraged, switch to head when enraged
• Magma Almudron
  • Tail 24/25 (Water)
  • Head 55/20 (Water)
  • Tailtip 50/25 (Water)
  • Tail is marginally better than the head when it is not heated, but worse than the Tailtip, if you ever have to choose (never?)
  • The Heated Head and Claws are too good though
• Magnamalo
  • Hind Legs 38/25 (Water)
  • Best hitzone by far if all you want is damage
• Mizutsune
  • Forelegs/Fore claws 28/25 (Thunder), 24/30 (Thunder)
  • Best hitzone by far
  • Dragon comes close but Thunder's base element probably carries it over having Elembane
  • Thunder also does better if you have to hit something that's not the claws/forelegs
• Nargacuga
  • Cutwing 21/35 (Thunder)
  • Enraged Head 67/30 (Thunder)
  • Cutwings are the best hitzone by far until it enrages, then about equal to the head'
• Risen Teostra
  • Forelegs 38/25 (Water), Flames 38/20 (water)
  • Head 50/20 (Water), Flames 50/15 (Water)
  • Probably not running Elembane for this fight to begin with?, but
  • Forelegs are marginally better, but the head knockdown is important too
• Scorned Magnamalo
  • Hind Legs 38/25 (Water), Hellfire 30/20 (Water)
  • Best hitzone by far, but doesnt break anything for staggers
  • If you don't run Elembane, the Forelegs are slightly better until it Hellfires, then the Hind Legs win again
  • Thunder might average better if this is the only thing you target because of the weakness switching?
• Seregios
  • Wingarm 30/25 (Thunder)
  • Head 55/20 (Thunder)
  • Wingarms are slightly better due to the speed advantage, but they are really really small
  • Probably better not to try
• Shogun Ceanataur
  • Claws 25/35 (Fire)
  • Head 50/35 (Thunder)
  • Claw is technically better if that's all you hit with a fire build (lol)
• Teostra
  • Forelegs 38/25 (Water), Flames 38/20 (water)
  • Head 50/20 (Water), Flames 50/15 (Water)
  • Probably not running Elembane for this fight to begin with?, but
  • Forelegs are marginally better, but the head knockdown is important too
• Violet Mizitsune
  • Claws 24/30 (Ice), Broken 28/20 (Ice)
  • Forelegs 28/30 (Ice), Broken 28/20 (ice)
  • Enraged Head 63/15 (Ice)
  • If you're running Elembane, Claws/Forelegs are the best hitzone by far until they break
  • Still the slightly better hitzone when it's not enraged, maybe even?
  • Switch to the head when each claw break gives a knockdown?

A.2 Aerial Matchups

The following is a list of monsters where I've found equal or better success with Aerial. Your experience may differ.

• Anjanath
  • Very tall
  • Its legs are awful hitzones and its head and back feature its best
• Arzuros
  • Forelegs are too high off the ground to use Grounded style
  • Switch when it falls
• Astalos
  • Very bad elemental hitzones all around
  • No Elemental Exploit except when the tail is charged
  • Aerial features better raw output to compensate
• Barroth
  • Head and tail are high off the ground
  • Aerial won't bounce
  • Switch when it falls?
• Basarios
  • Aerial won't bounce while waiting for it to heat up
• Diablos
  • Fine with either, Aerial is very good at iframing and hitting wings and chest
  • Grounded is fine at hitting chest too though
• (Flaming) Espinas
  • Aerial might have an easier time getting hits in
  • Legs are the best hitzone though
• Magalas
  • Their movement makes it very difficult to target the head or wings with DFR the whole fight
  • Using Aerial feels significantly easier and my DPS is always better with Aerial
• Narwa The Allmother
  • Very very raw skewed matchup
• Raths
  • All variations of Rathalos and Rathian may be better with Aerial if they're not locked down
  • Their good elemental hitzones are so high up (head, neck, wings, back depending on which one)
  • Aerial style feels much easier to attack with and also land Spiral Slash with than trying to play grounded
• Tetranadon
  • Head is the best hitzone and is very high up
• Zingore
  • Back is the best hitzone

I am a lore nerd, I am looking forward to get to know the characters and what happens later in game.
But then a disaster struck: IGN Review
"The story is a disappointment despite still being a noticeable improvement over Diablo 3 [...]" - Diablo 4 Review, IGN
That worries me to be honest, the story build up with Lilith and Inarius was great, yo can see that they are pushing with the lore vids and all, and then first thing I hear about it is that it's bad?
Shivers down my spine, Lord of Terror has influence over me

Hi all, new streamer joining the space!
​
I will be streaming Diablo 4, but I'm now testing with Age of Empires 2 DE.
I'm currently struggling with a recurring pixelation of moving parts in my stream. It happens almost consistently with a 3-5s interval.
Running a newly build high-end pc with good internet(7950X3D + 7900XTX + 1Gb/1Gb), no OC (yet), neither am I missing any important updates (I guess). went through nearly all OBS settings (administrator, CBR, x264, AMD HW, resolutions, bitrates, cable/wireless, etc) but for some reason the problem persists. Every 2-4s all moving parts get very blurry, then they become crisp again.... and back to blurry... and back to sharp.
Having searched for over 4 hours on various forums/posts, having tried a ton of stuff but only some things seem to have a small impact. It's a rather specific problem with I think a rather specific solution.
Hopefully any of you experts could give a helping hand, thanks in advance!

I’m fairly new to ARPGs, but played a good 80 hours of Path of Exile over the last year in anticipation of Diablo 4. One thing I realized is I like builds with variety in the mechanical execution: multiple skills, situational moments to use different attacks, movement abilities, etc.
This all sounds like a great fit for the Rogue in Diablo. It also sounds like the Rogue can purposely spec into a hybrid build that mixes short range, long range, traps and movement abilities. Sounds perfect for what I’m looking for.
All that said, a big lesson I learned in PoE is that you are almost always disadvantaging your character if you try to build up multiple damage skills at once. In that game, the best bet seems to be to pick a single damage source and scale it like crazy. Any points/investments elsewhere usually mean sacrificing huge amounts of DPS multiples.
Is this also true in Diablo? I’d love to build a hybrid Rogue without severely nerfing my character’s potential. I don’t need to have the absolutely perfect, meta-tier character. But I’d like to know I’m not limiting myself to 1/10th the damage simply because I want to be using a mix of 3-4 damage skills strategically.

I'm looking to upgrade my gpu and have already made a post here to get some insight (post was about 4070ti vs 7900 XTX). After some more research I've come to realize that the xtx is not worth it as I only have a 750w PSU, and it was a hellhound model which is cheaply built. So right now i've narrowed it down to 3 cards (keep in mind the nvidia cards come with diablo 4):
4070ti: Gigabyte Eagle or Asus Tuf, at $950. 7900XT: Hellhound is the cheapest option (not taking this one), the red devil and gigabyte cards are $1050. 6800XT: Red devil variant, $630. Last gen, but i constantly see it performing well in benchmarks and it has more Vram than the 4070ti.
I game at 1440p and don't really need ray tracing. This would've been a much easier choice if the 4070ti had 16gb of vram, but alas it doesn't. Which card would be the best? I know the 6800xt offers the best value, but I'm looking to upgrade now and never again until the next build.

Hi all,
I found that the readme on blizzless might be missing some information, and I guess for some people the installation is not straightforward... So while I wait for my installation to finish let me put a step by step guide that might be helpful for some hopefully :)

1. [if you do not already have this installed] Download and install Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 or 2019 (free community edition) : https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads/ . Make sure during installation that you add the ".NET 5.0 Runtime (out of support)" individual component
2. Download and install PostGreSQL 9.5.25 (keep default settings, remember the password you use while installing)
3. Download and unzip the blizzless source code
4. Inside the source code folder, open "src" and you'll see Blizzless-D3.sln . Open this with Visual Studio
5. In VS, you'll see a little dropdown menu that states "Debug". Change it to "Release". Once that's done, go to "build" and click on "Build Solution". If you installed the .NET 5.0 package, you should have no dependency issues. Once build is finished and succeeded, you can close visual studio.
6. Press win key and run "pgAdmin III" (should be installed thanks to step 2)
7. You should see a SQL server (mine is PostgreSQL 9.5 (localhost : XXXX). Right-click on it and connect. It'll ask for your password you had during installation.
8. Once connected, you'll see that you already have 1 database. We are going to create 2 new ones: Rightclick on Database and create one called "diiis" and one called "worlds"
9. right click on the "worlds" database, and click on "restore". Click on the 3 dots and find the worlds.backup file located in the code folder at "src/DiIiS-NA/worlds.backup" and press "restore"
10. Allright, now you go to your folder containing the source code, and open "src/DiIiS-NA/bin/Release/net5.0". Open with a text editor:
    1. database.Account.config and change the password that has "password=postgres" to your server password mentionned in step 2
    2. database.Worlds.config and do the same as above
11. Now you should be able to launch Blizzless.exe (located in same folder as config files)
12. Once a bunch of stuff has happened, you'll want to write the following line, by replacing Login with an email adress, Password with a password and Tag with a battle tag. (can be random but remember it, you'll use these c redentials on the battle.net server when playing diabl0)
    1. !account add Login Password Tag (replace the 3 and press enter)
13. Now we are going to setup a redirect from client to server.
    1. go to folder %WinDir%\System32\drivers\etc (%WinDir% is on my side C:/Windows)
    2. open "hosts" with a text editor as an administrator and add these 2 lines to the file
       1. 127.0.0.1 us.actual.battle.net
       2. 127.0.0.1 eu.actual.battle.net
14. And now the final step for the server installation, open your source code folder, go to "src/DiIiS-NA/bin/Release/net5.0" and double click on bnetserver.p12. Leave everything as is, and at some point a password is asked, just write 123
15. If you have not yet installed Diablo 3, install it. I created a shit temp account on battle.net to have diablo3 downloaded locally.
16. Once it's installed, go in the diablo 3 installation folde, go inside the x64 folder and create a shortcut that points to Diablo III64.exe. right-click on this shortcut, Properties, and in the "target" section, add following to it (after the ") :
    1. -launch -uid diablo3_engb

Double clicking on the shortcut should launch diablo 3 ! You can use the credentials created in step 12.
Enjoy

​
Hi I played a lot of d2lod 20 years ago (from time to time later as well), recently started playing on d2r single and can't believe how well it works these days. Since I play rarely I can't realistically do ladder, but the fact that everything works in SP makes it great for me. I leveled Sorc with Blizz+Meteor (after finishing hell respec to pure Blizz, now lvl 78) and Trapsin (lvl 84 now). I try to slowly grind and get required items and runes to enable different cool builds and I'm using maxrollgg articles to learn how. Up to yestareday I only had Ber rune (from running Eldritch) and Oculus from Meph (+ more common things like vipermagi and trang gloves).
Yesterday I had most luck ever: my sorc found shako in ancient tunels and my trapsin, very conveniently, found sunder charm Crack of Heavens in Terrorized Pit. Funny thing is that was my first ever methodical run of these locations - I don't think I was aware of lvl85 locations before.
Now I'm looking for advice. I wonder what should I concentrate on now. Sunder charm opens new possibilities for my Trapsin. I switched from spirit sword to crescent moon and can relatively well do Chaos Sanctuary runs. My current setup for trapsin: shako (ptopaz), trechery, mf/res gloves, talrasha belt, seraph's hymn, 2x nagel, spirit monarch, crescent moon
for sorc I use same things with exception of vipermagi (ptopaz), spirit sword and trang gloves (I have 105 fcr)
From higher runes I have 3 mals and 1 ber so if I find jah I can have enigma, if ber infinity, but that can take a loong time of course.
I know I should as soon as possible:
- go for ubers (already have nine keys), I have ravenfrost and dwarfstar but I think I need to wait for guillem's face, tgods, highlords amu, Herald of Zakarum shield and dracul's grasp to have proper Smiter.
- find SoJ, sell it and get anni, I assume similarly smiter is needed as well, however I haven't investigated it since I have no SoJ
But to get needed items I need to farm. Currently I can farm relatively well CS with sunder-trapsin, meph, andy, cows, pit, ancient tunnels, pindle. But CS rather on P1 while other places p3-p5. Additionally it is probably good idea to create hammerdin and horking barb for tranvical.
There are many options how to proceed and not sure what seems to be most optimal.

Shapeshifting weapon guide

Everyone recognizes Windhammer as a good shapeshifting weapon, but did you know that an even better weapon drops in normal difficulty, or that Buriza is a viable alternative? If not then this is the guide for you! I've compared 600 configurations of weapons and made a list of the best options for shapeshifting druids and barbarians.

Shapeshifted attack speed

Attack speed is one of the few damage multipliers available for physical builds. In addition, attack speed plays a role in defense as it allows you to recover from hitstun and start leeching faster. While shapeshifted there are three parameters that determine your attack speed:

1. The werewolf weapon threshold (WWT) breakpoint
   
2. The weapon type
   
3. The total attack speed (TAS) breakpoint
   

WWT is influenced by the weapon speed modifier (WSM), which ranges from -20 to 20 for twohanded weapons, and the weapon IAS (wIAS). No other sources of IAS, through auras, skills or gear will change the maximum reachable attack speed. The WWT is simply calculated as: WWT = wIAS - WSM.
The WWT breakpoint in turn determines the highest reachable attack speed depending on the weapon type. Classes have different thresholds for different weapons. Druids are more proficient in twohanded polearms, maces and axes, and less proficient in twohanded swords and spears, while barbarians are most proficient in swords. For the same weapon type, if a weapon has a WSM of 20 (Thunder maul), it means it will always require 20% more wIAS to reach the same breakpoint as a weapon with a WSM of 0 (Ogre axe).
There may be several attack speed breakpoints for the same WWT, these are the TAS breakpoints. Note that the maximum speed is determined by the WWT itself, that is the fastest TAS breakpoint belonging to the particular WWT breakpoint. Effective IAS (EIAS), and skill IAS (SIAS) factor into TAS. The formula is: TAS = EIAS + SIAS - WSM. All of your combined attack speed from weapon and equipment go through diminishing returns to reach some EIAS. SIAS from skills, such as werewolf, and auras such as fanaticism are added directly without diminishing returns. For werewolf, the source of SIAS is very high, and together with the EIAS coming from the weapon you will almost always reach the highest TAS breakpoint. For werebear, which lacks SIAS, or for wolfbarbs which have a low level skill it may be useful to gain TAS from fanaticism on a merc, or to have some additional IAS from gear to reach the highest breakpoint. To learn more on attack speed breakpoints see the wiki. To calculate IAS breakpoints conveniently, use a calculator.
Breakpoints - Project Diablo 2
Path of Diablo Attack Speed Calculator

Ranking the best weapons

Each build gets two separate tier lists. The best list contains weapons that have the highest damage output. These weapons are ethereal, corrupted for 120 %ED / 20%IAS and puzzleboxed for maximum sockets. The budget list contains weapons that have only been corrupted for maximum sockets. All weapons are rolled at their maximum potential with regards to their %ED and +min/max damages. The best list continues until it reaches a weapon with a score that is less than the highest in the budget list.
(Note, although I call it a budget list since it's relatively easier to acquire, some of the weapons are expensive and can be very hard to find.)

• Avg shows the average damage of the weapon
  
• FPA shows the frames per attack. This is the maximum fpa that is achievable with the current runes, not necessarily the maximum achievable fpa with a different rune combination.
  

Note for werebear: This is the fastest breakpoint for this particular wIAS, but it may require fanaticism and/or additional IAS from gear to reach it

• Score is the effective dps, which is the product of the average damage and the attack speed, divided by 1000 and rounded for convenience. Since the game engine runs at 25 fps, the attack speed is calculated from the fpa as follows: attack speed = 25/fpa
  
• Runes show the particular rune combination to reach that weapon score
  

The ranking represent the maximum sheet dps, not necessarily the best weapons as there are other parameters to consider. You may want to use a different fpa breakpoint for playstyle, or defensive reasons, and you may want to consider weapons for their stats, proc effects and damage consistency. The desirable stats also depend on the shapeshifting form. Werewolves do not gain critical strike which makes deadly strike very desirable, whereas werebears and barbarians do gain critical strike naturally making deadly strike redundant. Werewolves attack several times with fury which gives a consistent damage output, whereas werebears may want a higher minimum damage to oneshot enemies and improve clearspeed. Whether you are mapping or bossing, you may prioritize certain proc effects or defensive stats.
Lastly, note that only Shael, Ohm and Zod runes were considered for sockets. There are more optimal combinations using 15/40 jewels.

The weapon spreadsheet

You can view and download the spreadsheet to look at all the possible combinations, and to filter the parameters according to your needs. I have included most unique and set twohanders with decent damage potentials and IAS, but not every possible item. The corrupt column means the weapon is corrupted (120%ED / 20% IAS). The eth column means the weapon is ethereal (1.25x damage bonus). The difficulty column is:

• 0 when it is non-ethereal and corrupted for max sockets
  
• 1 when it is ethereal and corrupted for max sockets or non-ethereal, ED/IAS corrupted and puzzleboxed for max sockets
  
• 2 when it is ethereal, ED/IAS corrupted and puzzleboxed for max sockets
  

Big thanks to BetweenWalls and korben66 for providing and testing the wolfbarb fury breakpoints!
View spreadsheet
Download spreadsheet

Fury best

Item	Avg	FPA	Score	Runes
Hellslayer	990	4.4	5.63	ShaelShaelOhmZod
Earth Shifter	939	4.6	5.26	ShaelShaelOhmZod
Steeldriver	906	4.6	4.92	ShaelShaelOhmZod
Tomb Reaver	844	4.4	4.8	ShaelOhmOhmZod
Odium	869	4.6	4.72	ShaelOhmOhmZod
The Cranium Basher	821	4.4	4.66	ShaelShaelShaelZod
Ribcracker	853	4.6	4.63	ShaelOhmZod
Executioner's Justice	841	4.6	4.57	ShaelShaelOhmZod
Messerschmidt's Reaver	800	4.4	4.54	ShaelShaelOhmZod
Bonehew	790	4.4	4.49	ShaelShaelOhmZod
Windhammer	777	4.4	4.41	ShaelShaelOhmZod
Warlord's Trust	549	3.2	4.29	ShaelShaelShaelShael
Ethereal Edge	540	3.2	4.22	ShaelShaelShaelShael
Athena's Wrath	772	4.6	4.2	OhmOhmOhmZod

Fury budget

Item	Avg	FPA	Score	Runes
Hellslayer	710	4.4	4.01	ShaelShaelShaelOhmOhm
Earth Shifter	712	4.6	3.87	ShaelShaelShaelOhmOhmOhm
Messerschmidt's Reaver	482	3.2	3.76	ShaelShaelShaelShaelShaelShael
Steeldriver	685	4.6	3.72	ShaelShaelShaelOhmOhmOhm
The Cranium Basher	621	4.4	3.53	ShaelShaelShaelShaelOhmOhm
Executioner's Justice	638	4.6	3.47	ShaelShaelShaelOhmOhmOhm
Windhammer	433	3.2	3.38	ShaelShaelShaelShaelShaelShael
Odium	613	4.6	3.33	ShaelShaelOhmOhmOhm
The Grandfather	585	4.6	3.18	ShaelShaelShaelShaelShaelOhm
Buriza	406	3.2	3.17	ShaelShaelShaelShaelShaelShael

Maul best

Item	Avg	FPA	Score	Runes
Hellslayer	990	5	4.95	ShaelShaelOhmZod
Tomb Reaver	715	4	4.47	ShaelShaelShaelZod
Earth Shifter	865	5	4.32	ShaelShaelShaelZod
Athena's Wrath	665	4	4.16	ShaelShaelOhmZod
Steeldriver	831	5	4.16	ShaelShaelShaelZod
The Cranium Basher	821	5	4.1	ShaelShaelShaelZod
Warlord's Trust	653	4	4.08	ShaelShaelOhmOhm
Odium	805	5	4.02	ShaelShaelOhmZod
Messerschmidt's Reaver	800	5	4	ShaelShaelOhmZod
Ribcracker	640	4	4	ShaelShaelShael
Bonehew	790	5	3.95	ShaelShaelOhmZod
Windhammer	777	5	3.88	ShaelShaelOhmZod
Executioner's Justice	776	5	3.88	ShaelShaelShaelZod

Maul budget

Item	Avg	FPA	Score	Runes
Hellslayer	602	4	3.76	ShaelShaelShaelShaelShael
Earth Shifter	592	4	3.7	ShaelShaelShaelShaelShaelOhm
Steeldriver	565	4	3.53	ShaelShaelShaelShaelShaelOhm
Executioner's Justice	535	4	3.34	ShaelShaelShaelShaelShaelOhm
Messerschmidt's Reaver	525	4	3.28	ShaelShaelShaelShaelShaelOhm
The Cranium Basher	501	4	3.13	ShaelShaelShaelShaelShaelShael
Windhammer	485	4	3.03	ShaelShaelShaelShaelShaelOhm
Athena's Wrath	475	4	2.97	ShaelShaelShaelOhmOhm
Odium	460	4	2.88	ShaelShaelShaelShaelShael
IK's Stone Crusher	445	4	2.79	ShaelShaelShaelShaelOhmOhm
Buriza	444	4	2.79	ShaelShaelShaelShaelShaelOhm

Wolfbarb best

Item	Avg	FPA	Score	Runes
Odium	741	3.2	5.79	ShaelShaelShaelZod
Hellslayer	925	4.6	5.03	ShaelShaelShaelZod
Earth Shifter	865	4.6	4.7	ShaelShaelShaelZod
Steeldriver	831	4.6	4.52	ShaelShaelShaelZod
Doombringer	827	4.6	4.49	ShaelShaelOhmOhm
The Grandfather	802	4.6	4.36	ShaelShaelShaelZod
Ribcracker	789	4.6	4.29	ShaelShaelZod
Tomb Reaver	780	4.6	4.24	ShaelShaelOhmZod
Executioner's Justice	776	4.6	4.22	ShaelShaelShaelZod
BK's Tribal Guardian	766	4.6	4.16	ShaelShaelOhmZod
Bing Sz Wang	746	4.6	4.05	OhmOhmOhmZod
Messerschmidt's Reaver	746	4.6	4.05	ShaelShaelShaelZod

Wolfbarb budget

Item	Avg	FPA	Score	Runes
Odium	511	3.2	3.99	ShaelShaelShaelShaelOhm
Hellslayer	654	4.6	3.55	ShaelShaelShaelShaelOhm
Earth Shifter	652	4.6	3.54	ShaelShaelShaelShaelOhmOhm
The Grandfather	633	4.6	3.44	ShaelShaelShaelShaelOhmOhm
Steeldriver	625	4.6	3.4	ShaelShaelShaelShaelOhmOhm
Executioner's Justice	587	4.6	3.19	ShaelShaelShaelShaelOhmOhm
Buriza	406	3.2	3.17	ShaelShaelShaelShaelShaelShael
Messerschmidt's Reaver	568	4.6	3.09	ShaelShaelShaelShaelOhmOhm
The Cranium Basher	561	4.6	3.05	ShaelShaelShaelShaelShaelOhm
BK's Sacred Charge	380	3.2	2.97	ShaelShaelShaelShaelShaelShael

Axes

Hellslayer

This weapon consistently tops the charts. The 200% base ED is unassuming, but the 300% max ED, combined with a base that's top heavy makes this weapon scale out of control. The large damage range lends itself to fury which has a natural averaging effect being a multihit attack.

• +50 vit/str. The strength wont let you wear the item sooner, but it will allow you to use a sacred armor for extra defense

Messerschmidt's Reaver

Has the same max ED property as Hellslayer making it top heavy.

• +20 all attributes
  
• Bonus attack rating
  

Executioner's Justice

• Casts decrepify on kill. Arguably better than amplify damage if you are one shotting enemies
  
• -Target defense
  
• Crushing blow
  
• Curse resistance
  

Ethereal Edge

I always thought the ethereal and indestructible combo was too good to be true, but it performs well with an ED/IAS corruption. Lacks any noteworthy stats.

Warlord's Trust

A good defensive weapon.

• Self-repair
  
• Physical damage reduction
  
• Vitality
  
• All res
  

Humongous

Underperforms in damage, but it's worth mentioning as it has a unique affix. Fortified maps and the recent splash range changes to fury has further dropped its utility.

• +Splash range
  
• Crushing blow
  

Maces

The Cranium Basher

• Amplify damage proc
  
• All res
  
• Very high crushing blow
  

The Earth Shifter

• Crushing blow
  
• -Requirements
  

Windhammer

This used to be a top tier weapon, but has fallen out of favor after nerfs to its attack speed.

• Crushing blow
  
• High min damage
  

Steeldriver

This can drop as early as act 5 normal and then be upgraded twice to a thunder maul.

• -50% requirements equates to about 127 points saved in strength
  
• Fairly common
  

IK's Sacred Charge

• Crushing blow
  
• Very common
  

The Gavel of Pain

Does not make it to the dps list, but it has amplify damage and is relatively easy to acquire. A good budget option.

• Amplify damage proc
• Curse Resistance

Swords

Odium

One of the new uniques in PD2. Best for wolfbarbs, but can be surprisingly good for druids.

• Reduced curse duration

The Grandfather

Despite having no innate IAS, this is one of the strongest weapons in the game due to the massive +max damage.

• Bonus attack rating
  
• +All attributes
  
• +Life
  

Doombringer

Another good defensive weapon.

• Casts weaken on strike
  
• Bonus attack rating
  
• +%Maximum life
  
• Auto-repair
  

Bing Sz Wang

Who even knew this thing existed?

• +Str
  
• -Requirements
  
• Freezes target
  

BK's Swords

These can be good if you hit max sockets. Sacred charge comes with crushing blow and all res, Tribal Guardian has deadly strike, strength and cold res. If you wear it with the BK ring you also get cannot be frozen.

The Vile Husk

Not on the list, but has amplify damage. Could be useful on a wolfbarb.

• Amplify damage proc
• Fairly common

Polearms

Tomb Reaver

Very good for werebear.

• Rolls natural sockets
  
• +All res
  
• Magic find
  

Bonehew

A common weapon that can become very strong with the right corruption.

• Rolls natural sockets
  
• Curse resistance
  
• Fairly common
  

Athena's Wrath

• +Druid skills
  
• +Life
  
• Fairly common
  

Reaper's Wrath

Not on the list, but can be useful as it has amplify damage, and its not too hard to find.

• Amplify damage proc
• Ignore target's defense
• Deadly strike

Stormspire

Despite not having a great sheet dps, this weapon can cast static field which instantly lowers the enemies max %HP.

• Static field proc

Staves

Ribcracker

This was one of the best LoD shapeshifting weapons, and it remains very capable in PD2. The best werebear version is non eth, and only requires 3 sockets which makes it somewhat easier to acquire.

• Crushing blow
  
• Faster hit recovery
  

Ranged

Cliffkiller

Worth mentioning as it is the only weapon that can reach the fastest 3 fpa maul breakpoint. It's not actually good though.

Buriza

Since missile weapons do not splash inherently, you need to wear Bloodfist, Steelrend or The Hand of Broc. You can get crushing blow and deadly strike from bolts.

• Freezes target
  
• 10% Physical pierce
  
• Bolts for extra stats
  
• Fairly common
  

Tried searching reddit for an answer to this, I am planning on getting a game with a friend when it comes out, I'm looking forward to it thanks to people playing the beta/server slam and it seems generally positive (if you avoid the nitpicking).
I tried not to watch/play much since I like the first playthrough to be blind as possible, but one thing I noticed from playing Diablo 3 a few years ago and a bit of Path of Exile I played, is that a lot of builds seem centred around spamming one skill over and over to win (I am not a aRPG expert so if this is wrong then feel free to correct me). I saw this in this game from that guy who did the max tier nightmare dungeon. When I create and level up my character, should I be going on all in one skill or can this one be more varied?
I appreciate this may be hard to answer before the game comes out but I'm guessing a lot of you have an idea of the build you are going to make, are those builds centred around maximising one skill

I had so high anticipations for Diablo 4 release. Remembering back to D1-D3 how it was on release. For D1 and D2 there was basically no Internet, no sources at all to get any information at all. You just played the games with zero knowledge and learned by yourself how to play it. Made your own builds. And even if they were bad builds, you did not know they were bad and there were stronger builds. You totally thought you created your own strong build which was also fun for you. And if not, you made another build, tested, found new items and made a new build.
This was kinda true for Diablo 3 too on its release, even there were platforms like twitch, youtube and so on, it wasnt so big at the time of the release, that it had much impact on it.
But now... with Diablo 4... it is all just gone. It is just insane, how many people got early access to the entire game and are now flooding, yes flooding the entire internet with reviews, builds, guides, end game guides and builds and so on. "You need this build or youre not the best", "you need these items", "you need to do this and that", "use these skills only, others are bad". This is TERRIBLE.
It kinda feels like Diablo 4 is already over, beaten and min maxed to the end, no reason to play anymore. Where is the logic to play, if you already know everything, everything you need to do, know that everything else is bad.
It totally removes the entire magic and fun from playing the game.
I tried to ignore all of it, I didnt watch any guide videos at all, not even informed myself much about the mechanics, skills, paragon board, and so on. But still... you KNOW all of these is already out there, min maxed to the end, so you KNOW you mostly have to look up stuff sooner or later and this just takes something from the feeling for Diablo 1-3. It is a really bad feeling, maybe I am just different on this.
Blizzard shouldnt have given anyone early access at all, or maybe just limit it to Act 1 like the open beta too so no end game content gets out to the public. Maybe just a few journalists but with an NDA, so they cant talk about details at all until a few months into the game release.
I have very mixed feelings now about the release. Kinda sad.

The point of this post is to adress the numerous "souls vets" that pop up everywhere and wonder why they aren't succeeding with nioh.
Firstly:
being a souls veteran doesn't matter when it comes to nioh. Nioh is not souls. Nioh is nioh. If you come to this series expecting dark souls, your gonna find yourself dying A LOT. Take all of your souls habits, stamp on them and bury them.
Now that is out of the way, some actual advice:
Ki pulsing is something you should learn to do ASAP. Ki is the very core of nioh's combat. If it runs out and you get hit, expect nothing but death unless you get lucky. By using the ki pulse, you can recover most of the ki spent on other actions allowing you to keep the aggression up. Do not worry however, enemys are just as susceptible to the downsides of ki as you are. Deplete theirs completely and you can grapple them for massive damage. You can also use this knowledge to stunlock yokai if you play perfectly.
Next is stances. At the beginning, I recommend experimenting with stances for your weapon and seeing what works best for you. As you progress further however, you are going to want to learn how to flux by ki pulsing on a stamce switch. Fluxing increases the ki recovered by a ki pulse and combined with the ability to assign different skills to different stances can allow for incredibly versatile builds.
Which stances do what then?
Well high stance is slow but hard hitting, low stance is fast but deals less damage and mid stance is a balance between the two. Each stance also has skills that can only be used while in that respective stance that creates a unique playstyle for each. For example mid stance has plenty of abillitys centered around countering incoming attacks whereas high stance has many abillitys focused on big numbers. Low stance is where all the anime attacks are at. For your first ng cycle, you can get away with just using 1 stance but the higher you go, the more likely you will want to invest in some other stances. There is also the sheathed stance(if you can call it that) which has a select few skills designed around buffing or rapid and deadly attacks. Its not an offensive stance however as your weapon is "sheathed" afterall. Adide from the skills revolving around it, you cannot do much at all in this stance. Attacking or blocking will also exit it immediately.
Guardian spirits: guardian spirits are incredibly important to nioh. They provide many passive bonuses(some completely unique) that prove useful as you progress. They also come with a unique ability to that spirit that can be used in living weapon/yokai shift or with a guardian talisman. A personal favourite of mine is blue dragon who can counter an attack and then dive bomb the enemy for massive dps burst.
Guardian spirits work differently in each game though. In nioh 1, you can use them to enter "living weapon" which adds a range extension and an elemental buff to your weapon. Your hp and ki is replaced with a guage that depletes when you perform actions or take damage. After its empty, living weapon is over. In this state, you become god. You take no damage, gain hyperarmour on everything, gain hyperspeed and your damage numbers go through the roof. One could attempt to make this seem balanced but it just isn't. Its incredibly broken and you should make use of it whenever you can. Absorbing amrita(souls) charges the spirits guage and when full, you can trigger living weapon.
In nioh 2, you get yokai shift. Instead of becoming god, you become a yokai. You have 3 states; feral, brute and phantom each with a different moveset. They each can equip soul cores obtained by defeating yokai and then use them as new abillitys by spending anima(the purple bar under your hp) that fills when you land hits on enemies or have a scampuss following you. Early recommendations include ippon datara and gozuki, they'll make the early game much more manageable. Each soul core also has a type to match the 3 yokai forms and perform better with spirits of that form. Uppon triggering yokai shift, you morph into your yokai state with a completely new moveset. Phantom focuses on long range attacks, feral focuses on rapid speed and meelee attacks whereas brute unleashes your inner bonk to bring the slam down on enemies.
Each yokai form also has a burst counter that can be used to counter attacks that glow red. Doing so stops the enemies entire combo and restores a hefty amount of anima alongside ither things. Note you need 1 anima to use a counter. You should learn to do this asap as well. Each state has a different type of counter though and not all counters work on every attack. Phantom has no windup(great for animation cancelling) and functions as a stationary block. It requires the most precise timing but functions as a complete block should you whiff the counter. Feral is a dodge that leaves behind an afterimage. If the enemy hits the afterimage, they are countered. If you miss the counter, it still functions as a dodge. The brute is the slowest of the 3 and swings a massive hammer to knock the opponent out of their attack. This is usefull as it can prevent the attack from going off before the tell is even finished unlike the other 2 and can counter bursts that don't initially start as an attack. The downside is that some bursts are just too fast for the brute. If you miss the counter, it transitions into an attack that bitch slaps the enemy.
Next, get into the habit of blocking. Unlike souls, nioh's primary defense option plays more like sekiro. Im not sure what William, wolfs and hide's swords are made out of but they can block damn near anything. You don't need to time a block perfectly(although some effects do reward it) and it will block any and all physical damage. Elemental damage is reduced to mere chip damage in most cases as well.
Why am i getting one shot?
This is a common occurrence in nioh. Get used to it. It happens a lot. Nioh rewards perfect and precise play and discourages carelessness. Observe your surroundings and play at your best. Nioh gives you the tools to completely destroy anything before it gets the chance to fight back. It also gives the enemies those same tools. Use every mechanic at your disposal. Block if you need downtime.
Onmyo and ninjutsu, the magic system of this game is split in two parts. You can unlock them through their respective skill trees. After that, ready them at a shrine and assign them to your quick slots. Do note the two clases play very different from eachother. Onmyo specialises in elemental attacks and passive buffs whereas ninjutsu prioritises cunning traps, mass debuffing and throwing a multitude of kunai/shuriken. These 2 will factor into your playstyle heavily eventually but are hard to get a grasp on at the beginning. Don't rush into them and take your time.
Loot system. This is not souls. You don't find the battered wings of a butterfly and a helmet the size of midir and decide that is how you will look the rest of the game. You dont stick with the same twig you've been swinging around either. This game has a diablo style loot system where you will be flooded with gear that have many effects you don't have a clue about. Thankfully, the game does have ingame menus to help you with this and they can prove useful. Keep swapping out your weapon for a better one. Temper your gear for the best effects to suit your needs. Ensure your gear levels aren't lagging behind. Taht is something you will have to get used to. That said, it also makes the build variety absurd in these games.
Weight. Do not go above 70%. 30 - 70% is fine. 29.9% or below is sanic mode. Keep in mind though that this will directly affect your defenses. The lighter gear you use, the less toughness you have and as such your defense are weaker. Your agility raises gowever and your evasive abillitys get faster. Go above 70% however and your ki recovery starts getting taxed. You don't want that.
Next is debuffs.
For a start, any elemental attack builds up its respective debuff, in addition, there are effects that can be applied to both yours and your enemies geamoveset to add further debuffs. Familiarise yourself with them. Believe me, when you know what half of these do, you will find yourself having certain attacks on the "avoid at all costs" list. The final boss from nioh 2's secobd dlc is an exampme of this. If you need to urgently adress a debuff, use a daion jin sake.
Wind inflicts blustered. This reduces your damage deatlt by 50%(i believe, not too sure on the exact figure)
Earth inflicts muddied. This doubles ki damage taken.
Lightning inflicts electrified. There is a talisman called sloth that is widely considered broken on earlier ng cycles as it slows the speed of anything hit to that of a sloth. Thats for all actions by the way, not just moving. Getting electrified is like getting hit with sloth. Also, it stacks with sloth.
Fire inflicts scorched. This is just a burn effect. You can dash frantically or douse yourself in water to dissipate tye fire.
Water inflicts saturated. This increase damage taken by 20%.
Confused. A very important debuff for any build aiming for high numbers. It is triggered when a target is inflicted with 2 debuffs simultaneously. Confused yokai stagger when you hit them without fail and humans lose most of their speed and ki recovery. All confused enemies take massively increased damage. Keep in mind you can also be confused so don't ever let that happen.
Poison poisons you. What else to say. Lasts longer and deals more damage than fire.
Stench. Consuming anything stuns the inflicted for 3 second. Healing effects are reduced. Can be washed away in water.
Paralysis stuns the target for a sizeable ammount of time. Hitting the target breaks paralysis. You can also grapple paralysed enemies.
Purified(nioh 2 only): can no longer apply buffs, take 50% more ki damage and lose corruption.
Corrupted(nioh 2 only): lose puritu. Take 35% increased ki damage. Yokia inflicted lose maximum ki. Attacker restores ki on hit.
Berserk: deal 50% more damage but doubles ki usage.
Blinded: all projectiles fo in random directions. Enemies blinded no longer track you.
Sloth: give up hope. Just accept your fate.
I hope you have decided what to avoid like the plague.
Next is yokai/dark realm.
Yokai occasionally emit puddles called the yokai realm. This dramatically slows your ki recovery inside. Performing a ki pulse will purify the realm destroying it in the process. A dark realm(nioh 2 only) is a massive yokai realm that can not be purified normally. Instead, you need to kill the yokai creating it to get rid of the realm for good. In bossfights, they frequently call in a dark realm which usually signifies a new phase. They'll exit this once you break their ki or just wait it out.
Anyway, that all i can think of off the top of my head hope this helps and if you need any nore advice, please ask.

hello, as of late its been tough for me to find any games i truly do enjoy and im hoping someone would be able to recommend me something, i should say currently all i have access to is an xbox but i do plan to buy a pc as well soon
a few of my favorite games that i have played in recent years are...
halo reach, night in the woods, sea of thieves, rocket league, roblox, valheim, red dead redemption 2, sonic forces, beacon pines, borderlands 2, castle crashers, and many more
i think a good note to put down as well is i enjoy things with a heavy focus on mental illness for some reason
im not a very big fan of games that the main focus is mastery to progress the game a challenge is fine but not if its the main selling point
below ill also provide some games ive played that i also couldnt really find myself enjoying, maybe it could help when recommending other games
stellaris, medal of honor, mass effect, ravenlok, minecraft legends, elder scrolls skyrim, ni no kuni , soul hackers , diablo, wild hearts, despots game, roboquest, atomic heart, floppy knights, donut county, aragami , 7 days to die, the anacrusis, tunic, DayZ, high on life,, stranded deep, hello neighbor,, lets build a zoo, hellsinger, lapin, second extinction, yakuza, gunfire reborn, rwby grimm eclipse, borderlands 3 , dead by daylight, slime rancher, disc room, fall guys, overcooked, doom , djmax respect, spelunky, monster train, hollow knight, elden ring, before we leave, research and destroy, microsoft flight simulator, grounded, sunset overdrive, stardew valley,, bugsnax, psychonauts, bloodroots, subnautica, nobody saves the world, cuphead, superliminal, golf with friends, limbo, evil within, townscaper, steep, procession to calvary, forager, besiege, ori, danganronpa, twelve minutes, tabs, signs of sojourner, visage, mk 11, enter the gungeon, bug fables, ring of pain, kill it with fire , unpacking, craftopia, skate 3, slay the spire, yes your grace, outriders, vigor,, rec room, mirrors edge, peggle, destiny, supraland, tell me why, black desert, terraria, saints row, hyperdot, celeste, deliver us to the moon, journey to the savage planet, fractured minds, moving out, the long dark, reliable delivery service, state of decay, demons tilt, fnaf, final fantasy, crysis, circuits, wolfenstein, felix the reaper, zoo tycoon, bards tale, insane robots, thimbleweed park, talos principle, my friend pedro, minit, tracks, lego worlds, afterparty, lonely mountains, outer worlds, gears of war, forza, warframe, cities skylines, slender, dead space, dragon age, superhot, watchdogs, valiant hearts, supermarket shriek, perfect dark, banjo kazooie, hitman, fallout, dauntless , res evil, payday, crackdown, far cry, just cause, strange brigade, halo wars, oblivion, ark, hue, graveyard keeper, aftercharge, abzu, costume quest, innerspace, dandaea, layers of fear, race the sun, qube, brawlhalla, never alone, livelock, the bunker, battlefield, octodad, prison architect, monster hunter, drift, darksiders, sonic, friday the 13th, tron, goat sim, i am bread, pit people, so many me, dead or alive, dark souls, ryse son of rome, knock knock, dead or alive, happy wars, aliens,
any recommendations are appreciated of course

Just in time for D4 launch. After 6 years of playing this game, 150 finally fell with 25 seconds left to spare.
Paragon 1710, Tal Rasha cold build.

This season I decided I want to try to make a melee sorc build. Initially I had my heart set on a Stormspire based build but once I got it going, it really fell flat. I also tried vengeance and it didn't feel to great either. I went back to the drawing board and came up with this blizzard/zeal/cold enchant sorc that actually maps well. I blast through vanilla content and on T3 blood moon maps there are points where I'm seeing 85k DPS.
 
Gear Setup:
Helmet: Ferocity for Zeal and 3 cold circlet (for prebuff)
Chest: Arkaine's Valor for Vitality, 2 all skills, FHR
Gloves: Frostburn with IAS corruption
Belt: Snowclash for +2 cold skills
Boots: Merman's Sprocket for melee cold damage + 60frw
Rings: I still use Raven Frost for melee cold damage + AR. Second ring dual leech/all res ring.
Amulet: Maras for All Res and + 2 All Skills and 3 cold ammy (for prebuff as well)
Weapon Swap: 1 all skill, 2 sorc skill, 3 cold enchant orb and 2 cold skill/all skill/sorc skill shield
Weapon: This item is what makes the build work well, Nord's Tenderizer. It gives a 15% chance to cast lv 32 blizzard on striking. Ideally you want 3 sockets with 2 Shaels in it that way you only need 10% IAS on other gear to hit the break point on Sorc Zeal. 3rd socket I chose to put Eth for -% enemy defense.
Shield: Spirit Ward with +2 sorc skills. It gives lesser fade which is a nice little boost of PDR and a decent amount of all res.
 
Merc: Act 2 Defiance (PDR!)
Weapon: I currently use a Doom but you can use a Reaper's Toll until then
Chest: Shaftstop or Stone runeword
Gloves: Lava gout for Enchant Fire
Boots: Triple Res FRW/FHR Rare boots or Gore Riders
Belt: String of Ears
Helmet: Vampire Gaze or Tal Helm
 
Skill and Stat Allocation:
20 points Ice Bolt
20 points Ice Blast
20 points Cold Enchant
20 points Chilling Armor
20 points Cold Mastery
1 point Warmth (gives AR)
Get teleport (2 points to get there)
 
Stat Allocation:
Enough STR to Equip Gear
I ended up putting 120 DEX for more AR. You don't need that much for the gear but I like the extra AR
Rest into Vitality
 
Charms/Maxing Resists:
You want anni/torch just like every other build.
Grand Charms: I prefer to use cold skillers because Cold Mastery applies AFTER cold enchant and will also buff the Blizzard damage. It also buffs your defense via Chilling Armor Secondary stats on these can either be life or added melee cold damage.
Small Charms: Use these to round out resistances/life. I also ended up getting some life/melee cold damage for extra cold damage.
I currently cannot afford 4% cold lc's with melee cold damage instead of cold gcs, but the damage would probably be insane just less survivability.

Army list below!
I recently became interested in AoS, and wanted to build out an army that could reasonably compete in a semi-competitive setting (though it’s just a weekly league).
So far, I‘ve bought the start collecting box, and the storm strike big box with the dragons and various battle line units, but as time goes on, I’d like to continue collecting the SCE and maybe start going to tournaments. What are the next units I should trade fopurchase? Is there a way I can maximize the units I already have?
Thanks for your feedback, I’m excited to take the list for a spin!
Below is the 2000 point list I put together Sans grand strategy etc.
Army Faction: Stormcast Eternals - Army Type: Scions of the Storm - Army Subfaction: Knights Excelsior
LEADER
1 x Knight-Draconis (300)
1 x Lord-Relictor (150)
1 x Vandus Hammerhand (190)
1 x Knight-Relictor (120)
BATTLELINE
3 x Annihilators with Meteoric Grandhammers (240)
5 x Liberators (120)
5 x Retributors (210)
10 x Vanquishers (220)
OTHER
3 x Prosecutors with Celestial Hammers (110)
1 x Stormdrake Guard (Single) (170)
5 x Vigilors (170)
TOTAL POINTS: (2000/2000)

Context: I am a noob to the League scene compared to some of these other maniacs. I played like 150 PC LOL games as Caitlyn, Ekko, Warwick, or Renata Glasc in Fall 2022. Downloaded Wild Rift in February 2023. Played like 50 games as Caitlyn, got super bored, then a hardcore PC LOL friend of mine suggested Veigar Support...... 3ish months blinked by and a couple days ago I made it to Master. Nothing extreme but it was a hype moment for me.
I literally played Veigar Support 9/10 games in Solo Queue with Veigar Mid sprinkled in there. 1/10 games I played Ekko Jungle or TF Mid. Got flamed 8/10 of those Supp games by my teammates in lobby, which now I understand since Veigar's kit is a more of a kill stealer than an actual support, but I always knew to never take my ADCs farm especially if dude went 0-3 3 minutes into the game. Over the months I realized a bad ADC is, unfortunately, beautiful bait. I even breezed through Emerald last season playing Tank Veigar hahaha. Still, I use the standard Luden's Echo, Rabadon's Deathcap, Stasis, Infinity Orb, and Awakened Soulstealer build. Runes are Electrocute, Gathering Storm, Perseverance (previously used Nullifying Orb, still viable) and Transcedence (previously Hunter Genius).
And here I am, by lowkey but highkey spamming this champion into every comp, reaching Top 200 on my server, occasionally Top 100, depending on how much sleep I've gotten the night before. I firmly believe I'm still a noob as this is the North American Server. However, I don't believe I was carried to Master because man did my cage save so many asses from ganks and flanks. Honorable mention is those enemy Yones or Kayns that deleted half my team and then disappeared back into the jungle, only to have my ult zoom after them like a damn meteor and delete them somewhere in the fog of war lol. I've blindly stolen so many barons and dragons just placing my second ability over the wall it's pretty shameful. Yesterday, I hyper carried as Veigar Mid in an insane PVP game against a fed Darius Jungle, Kai Sa Mid, Vayne ADC, Veigar Supp (<3), and Dr. Mundo Top. We had an AFK Draven. Probably took a couple years off my life with that silly stress but it was possible due to methodically and patiently, albeit luckily, tilting the enemy.
I guess the minor point of this post is that Veigar Support taught me micro and macro better than I expected, and I encourage new players to try her out. The main lesson is that you can get deleted by anything under the sun, but if you play your cards right, you can delete anything in the galaxy. I can't say you'll make a lot of friends though, which is the major point of this post: Play with me<3.
spedygonzy#NA1