Video game lessons learned the hard way

For Honor: Move your mouse with feeling. If you don't move it hard enough, it won't switch the guard stance and you'll keep getting hit with stupid stuff.

edited 21st Jun '18 1:14:24 PM by FergardStratoavis

Crash Fever:

• Learn what is the quest boss's element is before joining. Blindly following the leader's element is suicidal.
• Boss drop rates suck unless you play multiplayer.
• If someone in the game's subreddit tells you to not spend the polygons, then don't spend it, period.

Destroy All Humans!: both in terms of actual (seeming) difficulty and just lacking certain quality-of-life improvements that the second game introduced, the first game is.... considerably harder.

Team Fortress 2: I will never be more than a mediocre sniper. It's just not happening. I've missed enough revved heavies and F2Ps walking in a straight line to know. Stick to classes where fine aim isn't as critical, like... Well, pretty much everyone else.

edited 25th Jun '18 1:34:18 AM by FGHIK

Any online game, especially team-based FPS' or MOBAs: If your internet connection is used by multiple devices, make absolutely sure that only one of them (i.e. the game you're playing at the moment) is downloading anything. Constant lag spikes during gameplay are no fun (especially if, like me, you like playing support classes and the team depends on you to not die).

This is what I get for trying to play Heroes of the Storm without noticing until the end of the game that my PS4 was downloading a huge Street Fighter V update. I am so embarrassed right now.

edited 25th Jun '18 7:08:53 PM by WillyFourEyes

Also, online related, high ping does not hurt your opponents, only you and your teammates. If your internet is bad, don't play competitive till it gets better.

After dropping like a stone due to poor judgement and bad internet in League's competitive rankings, I finally learned that opponents want you to have bad ping, since it means you'll be out of the game more. Now when my internet is having an off day, I just kick back and play some Paradox games.

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle differences with XCOM learned the hard way:

• When shot at, unlike berserkers, smashers will actually attack you if they reach you.
• Smashers can counterattack reaction fire (Steely Stare etc.)
• Movement range is unimpeded by walking around obstacles, as long as the destination can be reached without leaving the area. This also applies to smashers.
• While smashers don't counter "movement attacks", they do counter melee attacks.
• Smashers' melee attacks are AOE and friendly-fire just like yours.
• Multiple smashers hit by an AOE attack will counter simultaneously, to the point possibly killing each other.
• An AOE attack's listed damage applies only to its epicenter. Just because all three of these smashers are below 55HP doesn't mean all three will be killed by your hammer. The simultaneous counterattack's AOE may finish them off, though.

Edited by Medinoc on Jun 29th 2018 at 10:51:20 AM

Legend of Dragoon

• You have to time your button presses correctly in order to get higher damage.

• The dragoon forms are great but they don't last long. Try to make your attacks in that form count.

ARMA:

• The reason that group I joined has some kinda TeamSpeak plugin and a radio mod is that even within TS, voice chat is spatialized and the whole squad won't hear you at all unless you use the radio key! (Caps Lock by default)
• Remember how in the original Operation Flashpoint, everything could be fine one moment and you'd just suddenly drop dead from an enemy you never saw the next instant? That hasn't changed at all!
  • But even worse is that one of the mods tends to avert the usual Instant Death Bullet, such that you get stuck in Controllable Helplessness, able to look around with faded vision, but unable to call out to the rest of the squad that you've been downed while they march on without your sorry ass and get ambushed in turn.
    • No, seriously, that one guy apparently got to take out four other people before anyone realized what was happening, according to the debriefing! WATCH YOUR FUCKING FLANKS.
• Forget EVERYTHING you know about movement in an FPS! No, seriously, any movement faster than walking pace saps your stamina, especially with a heavy equipment load, so being the Heavy Weapons Guy basically means you're constantly lagging behind your squad due to the reduced stamina, and - well, see above. Pretty much every time you tap a movement key will drain a bit of stamina before you realize it, and if you're in the habit of, say, ADADADAD spam to make yourself harder to hit...
  • This isn't Dark Souls stamina regen, either. It drains fairly slowly, but regenerates even more slowly, with two out of five bars remaining on the meter generally enough to leave your character gasping for breath and your gun swaying all over the place, which obviously isn't going to help your chances responding to ambushes.

Shin Megami Tensei IV

Nekomatas can cast Wastrel Beam

Economically speaking, it would be cheaper if that move actually wiped out your entire party instantly.

Destiny 2:

• Heroic and Nightfall strikes are agony to play alone, even if you're over-leveled for them.
• Elite Hive Knights (basically the guys with yellow health bars and unique names). Do enough damage to them, and they'll hide behind that void shield of theirs while regenerating health. Add to how they're going to haven enough HP to survive several magazine's worth of bullets to the face, and you've essentially got an enemy who is going to be impossible to kill if he's not alone or in a hard-to-reach elevated position.
• The Infinite Forest becomes tedious and boring quickly. Doesn't help that only a few of the enemies provide any real challenge, and that's only on the first couple of runs. Best get used to speed-running the place.
• Mars, on the other hand... I think Bungie got the memo that they were making the DLC and public areas a bit too easy. The Cabal and Hive have more health and damage overall, and those new types of Hive Acolytes and Knights aren't slouches either.
• Stick to the less conditional Exotics, especially in regards to the armor pieces. Trying to trigger the melee or elemental special perks to activate can sometimes be more work than is practical.
• The guns on the other hand... watch some Youtube weapon reviews online before investing those precious gems to Xur. Some particular weapons have odd quirks that aren't described within the game or function far better than initially sounding. Best example of that is probably the Tractor Cannon and Crimson.

No Man's Sky:

• A few glitches that existed during launch sadly still exist. Remember the glitch involving the blueprints for the Antimatter required to craft the Hyperdrive becoming unavailable? Yep, still exists, and no matter how much Hyperdrive fuel I put into the tank the game kept saying I failed the objective, and gave me a new antimatter item. I ultimately had to sell off a ship I liked and purchase one with an empty hyperdrive tank in order to leave my starting system.
• Said glitches can also occur with the portable Signal receiver. Make ABSOLUTELY SURE to explore any locations found by the sensor first before re-using the sensor to locate any similar spots, especially if it's a valuable location, like the Drop Pods or Manufacturing facilities. Because if you try to use two of the drop pod coordinates in a row, the sensor will instead point to the same one you just discovered and waste the second set of coordinates.
• Follow the objectives to get out of the starting system as soon as possible. Don't try to game the system in any sort of way, either - you're deliberately being kept back from several vital resources until the game decides its ready to set you completely free (which should happen around the 3rd warp jump). The starting solar systems also seem to be universally lacking in some of the rarer materials.
• A freighter is supposedly meant to appear in your first solar system and meant to be easily rescued, but apparently you can miss that event too - because I've yet to see it.

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

• The enemies are incredibly strong so grinding is necessary.

• You have to use your monsters to lower the attacking power, defense, and dodging/aiming skills of your enemies. However, your enemies can do the same to you.

• You have to mix different creatures in order to get stronger demons.

Edited by pointless233 on Aug 2nd 2018 at 12:33:12 PM

Space Station 13 - Goonstation Strikes Back

• Traitors only act in their own best interests and have no incentive to treat you, another traitor, any differently than the rest of the crew. Especially if they don't know you're a traitor!
• Anyone with Command-level access can freely remame the AI. You, the AI, have no control over this.
• Do not attempt to assassinate the Scientist who previously informed you they were making volatile and explosive chemicals with wrestling moves.
• One rare event that can occur is an anomaly that, if not fed enough matter within a certain timeframe, will collapse into a black hole. Touching the anomaly will instantly kill you.
• On a similar note: the Russian Revolver will only fire a bullet if pointed at yourself. As such, shooting the gun at a wall six times does not guarantee the chamber isn't loaded- you'll learn that one the hard way if the "seventh" shot is the bullet.

Warframe:

• The amount of overshield that Harrow can gain from his 1 is entirely dependent on his base shield level.
• That means that on "No Shield" Nightmare missions, Harrow cannot gain any overshield, which means his 2 (which sacrifices his shields to grant additional attack speed, damage, and Life Drain) is completely unusable.
• That means don't take Harrow to no-shield missions, you nineball!

Edited by Reflextion on Aug 2nd 2018 at 4:07:38 AM

Paladins:

• Y is reload, not center camera. Damn You, Muscle Memory!!

Gyakuten Othellonia:

• You opponent will always have an ace up the sleeves that will caught you off guard.
• Trap units are risky against dragon units because piercing attacks penetrates traps.
• Update your decks in accordance to your cost.
• Doctor Faust's combo skill is deadly if triggered.

Monster Hunter

• Going from MH4U and Generations on the 3DS, then on to Monster Hunter: World on PC with an Xbox One pad, and then back to Generations Ultimate on Switch (via demo, the full version still isn't out yet) is not a fun time.
  • I lost count of how many times I hit the wrong shoulder button for things like weapon actions and dashing (which are the same button on the 3DS and Switch titles, separate on World), to say nothing of how the D-Pad doesn't automatically cycle items in the older games and how playing on a 3DS or Switch for an extended period is gonna make you hit RT/R1 in World every time you attempt to use the appropriate weapon actions for R on the handhelds, due to being a short-travel clicky button instead of an analog trigger.
  • It's arguably just as bad if you're going from 3DS Generations to Switch Generations Ultimate just because you no longer have a touchscreen (portable mode ignores it entirely, from what I've tried). Seems like the only way to set off Hunter Arts is now through the "D-Pad" buttons below the left stick, rather than touch buttons or zL/zR.
• It's totally okay to use phials for standard Element Discharge swings (rightmost button), particularly on Impact element Charge Blades that can KO a monster for a bit, instead of saving it for a maxed-out Super Amped Element Discharge. This goes double for World, where you can more easily spam the SAED with impunity because it no longer consumes the Element Up shield charge in the process.
• Spending time in the practice room on World is a great way to come to grips with new weapons, but muscle memory doesn't always carry over in the thick of things when you have monsters actually charging at you. This gets especially painful when botching Guard Points.
• Just because you can Guard Point an incoming attack instead of rolling out of the way doesn't mean you should, especially if you haven't applied the Element Up shield buff yet.
• You can Guard Point with the Charge Blade sheathed, but the window for the axe mode swing (usually top button + R) is much shorter than it would be if you had the sword-and-shield form drawn.
• All in all, never forget that the entire franchise is largely about learning things the hard way, then using that knowledge to kick some giant monster ass instead of carting the next time around.

Edited by NamelessFragger on Aug 17th 2018 at 7:45:09 AM

Octopath Traveler:

-Understand what character you picked and how they work. The game WILL punish you if you don't. I chose Ophelia and died to the first boss multiple times because I didn't think to summon a soldier for help. I beat the boss in less than 10 minutes once I got a summon set up.

-Jobs (Subclasses) are useful, but only the original character can use their skill. For example if you make another character a Thief as their job they have their skills, but you need the ORIGINAL character in order to perform outside-of-battle skills. Imagine my frustration when I got to a purple chest and I couldn't open it because I didn't know that only Therion, the character, can open those chests

-The game doesn't tell you much. It basically expects you to figure out most, if not almost everything by yourself. It's really a double-edged sword. I didn't know jobs were a thing until I accidentally found one and then I looked them up. The same goes to status elements. Being unconscious is not the same as being dead (0 HP). It's completely different then what you think it is and that's not to be confused with the actual status effect of "confusion". I suggest trying everything out in order to be better prepared. You can waste perfectly good items by not using the right one or using it on the wrong character so be careful.

-Bosses are tough. Battle can be long because they have a crap ton of HP. If you don't buff and debuff you're screwed. Make sure to have a Dancer or Thief to either give you buffs with dances or "shackle foe". I recommend both for a battle you aren't confident in and one or the other for a battle you ARE confident in. Usually, you'll rely on one, but having both isn't bad (PS a tip for you is that Hired Help with the Merchant class is broken. I recommend Tressa or adding a job to a character you like. It costs money, but you'll easily gain it back with another equipped skill.)

-Learn to break. Learn to break. Learn to break. You can charge your breaks and I recommend using it only when necessary. Bosses can gain the upper hand and preform attacks with a purple aura that will severely cripple you or kill you in one hit. If you see the purple aura, that's your time to save your breaks and make sure they don't pull any funny business because let me tell you it's not fun when a boss is in the red and he suddenly pulls some funny business with a purple aura and completely demolishes you.

-Lastly, Bosses can summon up to two times in battle. The first wave is the hardest, but the second wave usually has a reduced HP amount from before so be prepared for that. Make sure you cripple the boss first and then go for the support because the boss can easily take you out if you don't focus on him, but the support will be just as annoying if they stay for too long. In fact, the can prevent you from breaking a boss, so make sure to take them out (which should be easy since you've seen them before).

Overall, be aware of when you go for your turn and have fun! It's a great game!

Dark Souls III:

1. Don't overload as the knight. If the controller vibrates when you roll, you've overloaded. Armour, weapons, even number of weapons in the slots, shields, vitality, all of that, manage that and you're okay.

2. Apart from that, do what you want. Knight is OP.

3. You can run past basilisks. They're not as bad as DS 1, but you don't really need the souls if it means a mob of basilisks can smash you.

4. Two-hand for bosses. Unless you're parrying, in which case bless you, I've never figured it out. Enemies hit hard and fast enough that blocking is pointless - you will have to play bosses like Bloodborne.

5. Don't get a summon for Deacons of the Deep and Abyss Watchers. For the Deacons, its pointless - the fight is simple enough as it is. For Abyss Watchers, phase 1 might become more manageable with Gotthard, but if he lives to phase 2, it just becomes much less fun. You've paid money for this game, you deserve to fight Abyss Watchers phase 2 solo.

6. Sulyvahn will kick your ass. There is a reason the game gives you three possible summons for him. Use them.

7. Wolnir is a DPS check with a bit of luck. He keeps moving forward towards you, and there is a limit on how far back you can go. You must smash his bracelets fast enough that either he cannot do his gas attack, or he does it early enough that you have space to move back into. Oh, and hope he doesn't summon skeletons.

8. Old Demon King is fine - use a summon if you want, I guess.

9. The trek from the Demon Ruins bonfire to the ballista is one of the most grueling runs to get past. You can run past everything except the rats and the black knight.

10. Tsorig is a prick.

Edited by arcanephoenix on Sep 9th 2018 at 11:52:38 AM

Middle Earth Shadow Of War

• Graugs can and will inflict friendly fire on you and your minions.

Irythill Dungeon is another spot that's bad with the lack of bonfires. You need to make sure that you're gradually unlocking the prison doors and shortcuts, or else you're gonna have a long and difficult trek back to where your souls were lost.

Beyond that... Lothric Castle, where the two dragons block off the bridge crossing with a wall of flame. Gets a bit easier once you figure out how to rush past them and which enemies to fight or flee from.

And in another bit of DS 3 news, a player digging through the game files found some content that was removed from the final release. From Software at one point was planning to leave "Epitaphs" scattered throughout the levels, both as a way to build lore and give vague clues as to what you might encounter or avoid, typically within the same level.

Warframe: For whatever reason, the game equates spending long periods of time in Spoiler Mode to be the same thing as spending long periods of time AFK. In other words, if you're trying to level your Amp, be sure to switch back to your frame periodically.

Edited by Reflextion on Sep 22nd 2018 at 4:29:00 AM

Hollow Knight: Remember to give Divine at least one Fragile charm; else she'll disappear alongside the rest of the Grimm Troupe once you Banish/finish the Ritual.

Edited by FergardStratoavis on Sep 22nd 2018 at 12:02:51 PM

Grandia

• Always plan your attacks and try to focus on multiple enemies instead of just one enemy.

• Using your magic attack constantly allows it to evolve and you can gain new attacks.

• Always carry a resurrection bottle with you.