Video game lessons learned the hard way

If you're in endgame gear, the Destroyer shouldn't last very long at all, though, so it'll be lucky if it gets two hits in. For reference, I tried taking on all 3 Mech bosses at once with an endgame Solar-geared character, thinking it might be tough. All three bosses together lasted about sixty seconds before they were all dead. The scaling in this game is seriously insane.

I would debate Mothron being more aggressive than Plantera. Maybe a bit more erratic, as Plantera's consistent aggression makes her easier to kite. Still, once Mothron starts lining up those charges, it's not too hard to avoid with wings. Sharp drops will typically cause it to miss, as well as flying straight up, so just doing that will avoid a lot of its attacks. Where it gets tricky is when it decides to run off and lay eggs, because that messes up the rhythm, especially when trying to break the eggs/take advantage of Mothron's immobility.

For Golem, it's worth noting that his damage output is low enough that a Beetle-geared (Scale Mail) character with Vampire Knives and enough damage accessories can just tank the fists and head forever.

edited 4th Feb '16 2:22:37 PM by KuroiTsubasaTenshi

I've done the same with my mage character, mostly for the achievement. But that's not the point. The point is "why does the Destroyer's head hit for 280 damage?"

I have a set of Vampire Knives now, but I got them after I killed the Golem for the first time, so I was stuck with the Terra Blade. Also, you can't get Beetle armor before the Golem, since it's the only way to get Beetle Husks.

For the same reason Skeletron's and Skeletron Prime's heads hit really hard, I guess? I mean, the head's one obvious point on a huge enemy, so it would make sense that they'd want players to actively dodge it. Plus, since it causes the cheese strat problems, that was likely part of the decision.

And I suppose that's true with Beetle, but after the first kill or two, there should be enough husks to farm him (and he has enough good drops where making this painless is a good idea). Turtle should still be sufficient for those initial tries, though; just gotta be a tad dodgier.

Initial D Arcade Stage 8 Infinity:

AT in this game is easier on the braking but harder on the handling compared to Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune. So far I have defeated the first 10 CPU opponents in story mode, but only after I completed full tune and started competing against other players that my AT abilities will be given proper test.

Dwarf Fortress

• Goblins are smart enough to not go absolutely crazy with going through all those cages.
  • Until those trolls and beak dogs fill those cages first. Then they will go.
• Don't forget the tanning workshop!

Kingdom Hearts HD II.5 ReMIX

• Apparently, your chances of getting Anti Form increase greatly during Organization XIII fights.
• Related note- Anti Form locks you out of Reaction Commands, troublesome when it's a Press X to Not Die scenario. (This caused my first death of the game, against Zexion.)
• Haha, no, the extra jump height from Drives will not be enough to get Puzzle Pieces you can't reach.
• Auto-Limit is far too easy to accidentally activate when you're trying to bait out Reaction Commands in combat.

Don't equip Auto Limit. And level all your Drives enough and you'll be able to reach all the puzzle pieces. Valor has High Jump, Wisdom has Quick Run, Master has Aerial Dodge and Final has Glide. Limit's Dodge Roll is not useful for this. You can Aerial Dodge after a Quick Run, which is pretty useful. You can also cast Magnet for that tiny extra bit of air time.

And if you're grinding Drives, transform outside battle. Anti only activates in battle.

Anti is totally fun if you get it against Xigbar, though. Ever wanted to parry and reflect bullet hell back at the enemy? Anti's insane attack speed has you covered!

First thing I've been doing every time I get a new partner is unequip Auto-Limit ever since the Land of Dragons, so I'm good on that front. It's a waste of an AP point AND MP to be honest.

I'm guessing the higher the level, the better the corresponding ability is, ah? I.e. better High Jumps and such?
Got it. Thanks for the headers.

Final Fantasy Explorers: When trying to Encase an Eidolon, whittle them down to about 5% health, then spam buffs, debuffs, or healing abilities until Encase appears at the top of the Crystal Surge list. Remember that you need to be at close range, and having monster allies will make it more difficult, but not impossible. Going out in Roam The World mode instead of on a proper mission will ease the time limit you're under, as well.

Also, Encasing an Eidolon counts as defeating them for the purposes of quest completion, but Encasing does prevent you from getting any drops from them after the fight, since they didn't actually "die".

Yeah. As you level up the Forms, you unlock the Growth (movement) abilities for regular Sora. So, you start with High Jump level 1. Then at Valor level 2, you upgrade Valor's High Jump to level 2 and get High Jump level 1 to use outside Valor. Then it goes to level 3 in Valor and 2 outside, and so on.

XCOM 2:

• Swords can miss.
• A turret going live does not count as "moving" and therefore will not trip overwatch; you can't ambush turrets.
• Stun lancers can double-move and attack just like your ranger can.
• This psionic maelström that the Codex creates does more than just disabling your weapon: It explodes next turn. RIP Corporal Diaz...
• No matter what Tygan says, a terror retaliation mission is NOT a good time to skulljack your first officer. Yes it one-shots him if it hits, but it spawns a Codex.

edited 12th Feb '16 3:19:41 PM by Medinoc

Xenoblade Chronicles X:

Don't get used for too long to the same three supporting characers, because there are sidequests that can only be done by having a strong affinity with lesser characters. If you want to do as much in this game as you can, you'll have to at least alternate the 4th character slot while keeping two of your favorites.

Armored Warfare:

• The BMD-1 is considered a fire support vehicle for a reason, fighting up close will usually result in it getting trashed.
• The closest thing the Begleitpanzer 57 has to armor is the sloped upper front plate.
• ATGMs don't necessarily follow a straight line to the reticule. I had one slam into a bridge support below my field of vision a good distance away from the target.

edited 14th Feb '16 8:57:22 AM by Krieger22

by the time i got to Xigbar i already got Final Form i think

There's a faint circular reticle that gives you can idea where those ATG Ms are going to fly upon coming out of the missile tube. But the problem is it doesn't give you an idea on how the missile is going to behave on the way to the target.

the BMPT Terminator and BMP-1P both suffer the worse from this. Missiles fired from their tubes have an odd habit of trying to stay close to the ground upon launch, forcing the player to either deliberately aim upwards with them so they'll gain altitude or hoping the ground is flat enough for them not to collide with said ground. Oh, and make sure there's no invisible walls or any type of structure in the way, cause any impact will set the missile off.

• Civilization V
  • Never, ever make both a declaration of friendship and a defense pact with more than one civ. Otherwise, you will permanently be branded a backstabber by all other civs if one of your friends with whom you've made a defense pact declare war on another of your friends. This even includes the civ that forced you into their war in the first place, and still applies even if you contributed nothing to the war or fights defensively.
  • Improving diplomatic relations through trading works only if you give away your resources for nearly nothing in return (e.g. a luxury and 20% of a strategic resource for a measly 2 GPT and no open borders from the other civ).

edited 15th Feb '16 4:53:36 AM by DarkDestruction

Well that sucks. So I guess the opportunity for Game of Thrones/WWI levels of political alliances and backstabbing is out of the question, then?

Kingdom Hearts HD II.5 ReMIX

• When you get to the Scene of the Fire scenario in Timeless River, you should probably mind the fires.
• Drive Form=/=Guard breaker, as the Hot Rods are all-too-happy to teach.

I can deal with Hot Rods just fine now (jump three times and catch them when they stop,) but at the time I was thinking the best way to deal with them was "kill them fast so they can't charge at all."

x2 I don't think so, unfortunately. And as far as I know, there is no mod that can "fix" this type of backstabbing penalty.

Also, Genghis Khan is surprisingly very nice if you get to befriend him. I'd expect him to tolerate some warmongering, but I definitely don't plan on testing that theory in my current game as Ahmad al-Mansyur.

Civ V:

And don't attack somebody while you have a trade agreement with them. You will NEVER live it down. Same with attacking City States in any game with Alexander the Great. His specialty pretty much requires him to be on their side, even if he can't actually do anything to you beyond tell you off. Repeatedly. Every chance he gets.

Elite Dangerous:

• Know your limits... and your ship's. If you're down to 30 percent hull and no shield extenders, it's time to leave the CZ and cash in your bonds. Speaking of Conflict Zones, charging headlong into one is a questionable tactical decision even in a fairly durable ship.
• If your bank balance is less than your buyback cost, find non-combat jobs. Fast.
• Coriolis spaceports are not ruled by the Random Number God. Dropping out of Supercruise directly between the station and the planet it orbits will leave you staring at the mailslot every time. Saves a lot of hassle (and makes smuggling missions much easier.)
• Stripping or turning off your shield generator is never worth it. Even when smuggling, speed is worth more than a low heat signature, and you'll regret flying unshielded the moment you inevitably botch your landing. Or get interdicted. Or stuck in the mailslot.
• Pledged to a Powerplay faction? I hope you like interdictions, because they will never end.
• "Destroy the generator attached to a terminal" missions cannot be accomplished via Death from Above, and should not be attempted without an SRV in the bay.
• Piracy/salvage of NPC ships and signal sources involves all the risks of smuggling and then some... without the paychecks and faction rep. Don't bother.
• You cannot make the Hutton Orbital trip in a half-fueled stock Sidewinder. And if you're that dead set on spending an hour of supercruise for a shipment of rare and valuable travel mugs, I suggest keeping one eye on your ship's alignment during the journey and the other on a Door Stopper.

Project X Zone 2: Those who have played the first game will quickly notice that the Defend and Counterattack responses when one of your units are attacked now cost unit-specific (automatically regenerating) SP instead of team-wide XP.

This means that not only can you be more free with defending and countering, you can also utilize those pricey XP hogging Special Attacks, Map Attacks, and Mirage Cancels more, especially once most of your pair units get a solo unit and you learn how to reliably land Cross Attacks and critical hits.

XCOM2: Monthly supply drops give you 1/3 of their supplies per day, but the random ones don't. Missions can happen within the first three months, so if you want to bring new gear, like say, armor, on your first mission of a month, then don't keep scanning the same old rumors.

Also, armor really helps if your men panic inside psychic death-bubbles.

EDIT: Also, need to stop using flashbangs on psychic enemies. A foe making a temporary debuff is way less dangerous than one shooting plasma, no matter how inaccurately they do it. Save it for the melee enemies, which it ruins.

edited 17th Feb '16 5:59:33 PM by QWOPtheRaven

Fallout4:

• Legendary robots explode when they die. If they would explode anyway (because sentry bot or because self-destruct sequence), they will explode again.
• You don't need to carry all of your healing items with you, and if you want to carry any decent amount of loot, you probably shouldn't.
• You can't talk to P.A.M. while Tactical Thinking is an active quest. This more or less means that completing Blind Betrayal will force you to choose between making enemies with the Railroad, and making enemies with the Brotherhood.
• Without the right perk, Friendly Fire isn't friendly.
• If you find yourself making death-defying hops down the side of a skyscraper to reach your goal, you were probably supposed to take a different path.
• Even when you're not using Blitz, VATS is important for melee users. This goes double for slow weapons, such as the Super Sledge.
• When you have the the fourth rank of Big Leagues, be very careful while helping defend a settlement.