Lurker > KanzarisKelshen

azuarc posted...

Airship_Canon posted...

2 or 288.
Just 2 or just 288 is wrong, since the way it's written results in having both answers be correct.

Sorta.
2 is the "more" correct, since multiplication between x(y) is "higher priority" than x*y, thusly, it means the entirety of 2(9+3) is the denominator.

http://www.purplemath.com/modules/orderops2.htm

The general consensus among math people is that "multiplication by juxtaposition" (that is, multiplying by just putting things next to each other, rather than using the "" sign) indicates that the juxtaposed values must be multiplied together before processing other operations.

I've seen people who have tried to argue this, but I've never seen anyone put it forth formally as an objection to just M/D, left-to-right. At the very least, if you put this into any computer or calculator, it's going to give you 288. The only time I'm going to accept that being against parentheses is higher priority than using an operator is when those parentheses are part of a function. Obviously f(x) does not mean f * x.

It depends on whether you treat it as 48 OVER 2(9+3) or (48/2)*(9+3)

Wording suggests 48 over 2(9+3) because it's cleaner and more sensible, but it's written sloppily enough that it could be either.
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

LapisLazuli posted...

Who gives a shit about Cooler? That loser isn't popular.

People like Cooler a bunch, he's always been one of the more popular movie villains. If you want unloved villains, think Hatchiyack, Android 13 and Bojack. Cooler has three different really cool (huhuhu) forms between base cooler, armored cooler, and mech cooler.
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

ZeeksFire posted...

Where the heck are the arguments :<

I was waiting on corrections

then they never happened

toooooom
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Paratroopa1 posted...

Did anyone even fucking play it

---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

ya I'm just waiting for the corrections and then I'll post mine
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Dezel is visible to Kefka and Terra btw

it only blocks humans/beasts from seeing and hearing him, any form of otherworldly, robot or undead is unaffected
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Also, I forget, didn't I give everyone a stomachache or was that ability somehow banned?

EDIT: I did, just looked at the other topic. So Kirby is trying to pilot a rex while his tummy is hurting. That's just about the worst possible debuff you can hit him with and Rikku won't fair much better.
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Alany posted...

Triple REX, parameter buff and Samus' gunship along with Bass.EXE potentially even using his shielding gimmicks through it. Not to mention due to the cushy insides of REX none of them even suffer the heat. Is there really any argument needed here?

Incidentally the terrain doesn't account for 1v1v1s, where is Zero's team?

'Ultima gets through defenses' is a start. All the parameters in the world don't matter when you're just kirby tanky, or rikku tanky against a god of magic. More than that though - the terrain is incredibly astonishingly favorable to Kefka. It's an open air arena where he can fly freely against the REXES, which are not tremendously suited to deal with air attacks - especially not with Wind Sorey hitting them from below. He's very zippy and teleporty, so the slow, cumbersome REXes are gonna have lots of trouble dealing with him. Add double speed Zero to the mix and this match is pretty iffy for the REXes tbqh. The main question is which of Kefka or Zero emerges the victor here.
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Was gonna say

I got an argument but I'd like to clarify that first
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

GANON1025 posted...

Android 21 for mercs

Speaking of potential new releases

Do you guys think it would be possible to release Dingo Egret (Piloting Jehuty), from Zone of the Enders 2? I watched the AGDQ 2017 speedrun of it just a couple days ago and it reminded me just how swag that game is.
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Vlado wants to say the fourteen words, he's just too chicken to do so, we all know this
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Eddv posted...

They should probably do a little bit more than Striders damaging abil.

That got NO respect except as a fire delivery vehicle!

Still don't get why they didn't just give him Ragnarok

That would get Actual, Real Respect to burst dudes
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

DeathChicken posted...

Damaging abilities are fun (hi M3 Ryu and the endless stupid debates about which game his Hadoken was from)

I like em too. I just think we kinda underrecharge them relative to their practical effect a bit.
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Jaina Proudmoore

http://mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/102241495/Jaina%20Proudmoore

I feel like Jaina was wasted on Tom's team - WoW mercs kinda require knowing what the fuck they do to sell them because their lore is trash due to blizzard writing and I didn't get the impression he did. It felt like Jaina was kinda...there? Her abilities weren't that good either - Polymorph being random really kills it (duration so short too, ack), and Flamestrike was kinda hard to use because it was SoB. If it was prebattle I could see using it in lowbie to wipe out the ability slaves, but not when all the good shit is gonna resolve ahead of time. No point.

Should She Stay?: Yeah, I guess. But uhh...give her better abilities, kthx.

Jigglypuff

http://mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/102176638/Jigglypuff

Not much to say about Jiggles. Overpriced but good ability slave, that's about it. Anybody want some pie?

Should S/he Stay?: Sure, why not? Sleep should probably be 2 week CD by default tho. Merc too weak for 3 week CD.

Jeigan

http://mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/108800674/Jeigan

One of the skillier and strongest mercs in the game, IMO. I feel like Skyridge didn't use him very well, but MAN, those abilities! Paydown cost reduction, super potent antipaydown, and KO defense. What's not to love? Yeah, the EXP penalty stings, but infra is more powerful than EXP. Managed properly, he would've been an enormous asset for sure. Great build.

Should He Stay?: Yes. Just balance-check him, I feel he might be a bit TOO STRONG, y'know?

Jill Valentine

http://mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/101948026/Jill%20Valentine

This is where I post 'just use FFD's STARS build', right

Oh, I gotta talk about the merc a bit more? Ehh...ok, sure.

Anyway...Jill kinda sucked. I still don't get why the admin team doubled down so hard on the battlesuit gimmick. It was very clear she was not gonna get respect from it - Wesker is one of our weaker 5s, so Jill, being sensibly inferior, would straight up not be one. Her abilities sucked too, being messy and hard to use. I'm kinda not sure how you're supposed to take advantage of them besides 'build a team of melee powerhouses and pop the Incident ability to clean house'. It's...kinda all it seems good for? Just a real bust, tbqh. Jill should stay in the game, but needs a total rework or, *cough* being part of a group merc.

Should She Stay?: Yes, but this build shouldn't.
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Ivy

http://mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/102130945/Ivy%20Valentine

This is one of the biggest misses of this entire run so Imma just cut the crap here: Ivy sucks. Nobody really cares about her, her base ability was bleh (doing 50% of a merc's HP is bad because most mercs are glass. It doesn't meaningfully matter except for a select number of dudes and you really don't wanna field Ivy against them because they're mid or high tier), and her upgraded ability (the main reason to buy her) wasn't too good either. If you really want her back, straight up give her the TR daily ability she had and something about TJF because that's what she's known for, but I don't think we need her. Would sooner have Siegfried, Cervantes or someone else if we really need another Soul Calibur rep after Tira and Nightmare. She's boring and gets no combat respect.

Should She Stay?: No

Jacky Bryant

http://mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/106972446/Jacky%20Bryant

By contrast, here's a weak fighting game character done right. Jacky sucked in a fight...so he got a really cheap pricetag and a great ability that strongly disabled an enemy merc if it went off. And you didn't have to roster him for it! He's kind of a filler merc, but I feel like everybody liked him and he worked well enough, so I don't see a reason to dislike him. Solid work by...Luis I think?

Should He Stay?: Yes, but only if we have room for him.

Jaesa Willsaam

http://mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/110119057/Jaesa%20Willsaam

Nobody cares about Jaesa. She's good for showing us what Summon Suffering done right might look like, but that's about it. If you want a second SW merc (you should want it) add Kyle Katarn to go with Revan.

Should She Stay?: No.
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

It's tiiiiiime

---

Should They Stay Or Should They Go? Mercs Edition, Pt. Great Revival

Ike

http://mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/101968072/Ike

I once talked to Lopen about why we didn't see more damaging abilities. He said 'too basic', IIRC, but there's a bit more to it than that, I think - I think he saw the effect Ike had and didn't want too much more of it in the game. See, the thing with mercs is that it tilts super hard towards glassy characters because good game design generally dictates a player be much more damaging and fragile than the enemies he fights (so as to keep fights from being slogs and retain high levels of tension), and most of our mercs are player characters because they get the most showings. This means only a small group of mercenaries can withstand unblockable damaging abilities...which means they're ghetto KOs, but with 2 or 3 week CDs, instead of the 4 weeks they should usually have by default. Thus you get a 3/week like Ike, who isn't really cut out to be a 4, getting pushed up an upkeep tier on the basis of how powerful his default ability is. Add the combos Only See People enables and he's kinda made. He doesn't really need further changes, but I feel like this is a good time to open discussion on the subject of beef. We kinda need a better spread of tanky vs glassy mercs. People need to have options for opting into tankiness for their teams instead of being forced to go full glass because that's all that is on offer below 5/week and usually 6/week (6/week mercs generally being distinguished from 5s not by offensive firepower but by being able to actually take a hit).

Should He Stay?: Yes. No changes.

Inkling

http://mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/106119021/Inkling

I don't get why Inkling didn't get a note in his/her build saying enemies counted as octos for the purposes of them taking damage from Inkling's weaponry. It seems like such an obvious gimme, and the lack of it made Inkling into maybe the worst combat merc, period. I feel like Lanky Kong is probably more useful than her. Stay Fresh WAS a pretty strong ability (it's ghetto antipaydown), but sort of unreliable, and You're A Kid Now was straight up hot garbage. Why DOESN'T it 14-year-old-ify the minds of the opposition? Literally all it does is make them smaller and a bit physically weaker, which is so unreliable it's not worth investing anything into. A bad upgrade ability only helped worsen Inkling's position. This merc just needs a huge rework IMO - Splatoon is so beloved s/he deserves a place in the game, but s/he should, y'know, do something.

Should S/he Stay?: Yes, but only with a full rework to not be trash.

Isaac

http://mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/102458023/Isaac

One of the better 'mercs monster' builds, I think. Isaac being in his dad form gives him the extra hype of more years of experience, and his allotment of djinni and summon access gives him a wide bag of tricks. He's super customizable too, and even his abilities reflect that. They're variable, and knowing how to use them properly was part of why Eddv made his cinderella run. I don't get why his equipment isn't specific, though. With weapon unleashes being a thing, this build really needs to specify what weaponry Isaac has. Tisiphone Edge is not the same as Excalibur is not the same as Sol Blade, y'know? Beyond that though, I think the build was a successful experiment. We CAN give characters more unique combat skills. Good work on the admins' part here.

Should He Stay?: Yep!
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Ramza 2
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Ramza
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Lopen posted...

The problem with Teemo is his attacks and appearance are so visually unimpressive. Hard to really sell his blow darts doing much despite their damage numbers because they're little darts fired by a tiny dude. And despite his HP totals you're inclined to think that like Dan Hibiki could just punt him and win.

Imo he's a well deserved 1/week but I think League of Legends characters should generally be avoided with very few exceptions because there's no real scale you can respect in that game. I think Ashe is one of the only ones I'd support being back because her canon power level about matches up with her eyeball test power level.

I feel like most of them are about the power level you'd expect. Like, Lucian is a strong 3/week, Sion is a solid 3/week, you get the idea. There's some outliers but not that many. The trick is to make sure a character who's being included has at least one or two modern cinematics to draw from so that their portrayal is consistent. If they have some written fluff, even better.

(Also, gonna sit down and write some analysis today, hopefully. Gimme a bit!)
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

More posts tomorrow, had a hellish work schedule today.
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

If people don't care about what the character can do in canonical showings they should straight up not vote, hth

Like it's fine if people don't take noncanon materials seriously, but if I show you Lloyd Irving getting shot in the back by a bigass megabuster and you say 'oh well don't care' and vote for him jobbing to a basic Fire spell, your vote shouldn't be counted. Mercs is built on the assumption every voter is honest, willing to listen to arguments, and that leaders can use their eloquence and hard work researching their mercs to persuade others. If you're not going to even entertain what a leader has to show you then just lobby for a point-based system that awards victory to a leader based on upkeep and abilities used with no fight topic.
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

DeathChicken posted...

Haseo led to such stupid arguments. "He's not real, he's a program meant to fight other programs, so what does he do to things that aren't? Anything? Nothing?"

People are dumb, that's not on Haseo. Worst case scenario you just say 'he'll interact with everyone in the match as though they were all participants in The World' or something and call it a day.
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Yyyyeah we should. Somebody message Tiro? I think he has the admin keys to that.

Mewtwo59 posted...

KanzarisKelshen posted...

Haseo

WHO IS HASEO

http://mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/102493117/Haseo

THIS IS HASEO

No but seriously, Haseo is a solid merc. I don't like that his awakening stuff is suuuuuper high CD (Demon Awakening has the single highest CD of any ability that isn't variable I believe? And it's really not deserving of that much recharge), but WHO IS HASEO is a lovely ability and he's a solid merc. I feel you can probably do something better by giving him either Data Drain or Skeith as an ability, and I'm not 100% sure he's 5/week tier and not a high power 4 (quick question Ky Kiske or Alucard vs Haseo, who ya got?), but all in all he's fun, .Hack got rereleased with new stuff recently so he's current, and he adds something to the game. He deserves a place in it.

Should He Stay?: Yes.

Don't forget that Haseo got a new form in Last Recode. I take 5th form Haseo to stomp either Ky or Alucard. It's such a massive power boost that it goes from Xth form Haseo not even leaving a mark on Ovan's ice cage to 5th form breaking it fairly easily. And his new skills with it are just flat out overpowered, doing tons more damage than anyone else is capable of. 5th form is much closer to a 6 than a 4.

Excellent. Guess it's time for me to finally play .Hack now!
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

trdl23 posted...

I still dont understand how that ability works beyond some people can mess with you kinda.

People can use their abilities for others. Basically you want to buddy up with someone whose abilities complement yours and viceversa and buddy-nuke your weekly opponents into oblivion. You're incentivized to do so because your shit will go on half CD if you use it for a friend, too.
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Yeah, I think that's what was discussed that one time. Makes sense. That makes Harth a little better in my eyes (though I still think he shouldn't be in the game because uuuuugh).
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

GANON1025 posted...

Well harth is really good so maybe he was added in to celebrate my years of work

I hope I'm wrong about that, yeah. I don't like people being spiteful to the (second) hardest working man in the biz. :(
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

I think he's cool! But I feel like you should probably be able to pay the zaibatsu heir down at an extra cost (+1 upkeep for the purposes of paydowns?). Otherwise it's kind of a pain in the ass to use.

DeathChicken posted...

Heihachi is bizarre in that we've had several iterations of Mercs now where everyone can and has gone "This guy is actually really good, can tank building shattering explosions, can catch bullets in his teeth, etc" and...no one gave a shit

I think he got respect in draftmerx. He got voted to smash Ryu in that one 1v1 fight they had. Before that though...it was rough times.

GANON1025 posted...

Harth was added as a dig at me?

I believe so. I know for an absolute fact no balance testing was done at all beyond some very basic things. There's...a lot to dislike about harth, and a lot of it has to do more with the execution than the base concept. Remove a lot of the super dumb abilities (like MCT and Yogg Saron) and replace them with more reasonable effects and you could make him work, but I don't think he's worth the effort. You can probably get better results by picking one of the classes from Hearthstone and building things off its memes (like Face Hunter).
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

CasanovaZelos posted...

KanzarisKelshen posted...

The lack of Blade Runner in Best Picture is kinda blowing my mind

Like that was one of the big revelation movies of the year. Nobody expected that to be good and it was pretty much the resurrection of a lot of old cinematography values in the form of a lovely sequel. It kind of amazes me it got so little respect in these noms.

No one expected it to be good? The director has had one of the most consistently strong careers over the last decade, and Arrival did phenomenally last year.

Yeah, and everybody still expected it to be a cashgrab sequel. Like...people respected Denis Villeneuve, but the trailers didn't exactly inspire a lot of hope. It being as good as it was was a very welcome surprise.
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

The lack of Blade Runner in Best Picture is kinda blowing my mind

Like that was one of the big revelation movies of the year. Nobody expected that to be good and it was pretty much the resurrection of a lot of old cinematography values in the form of a lovely sequel. It kind of amazes me it got so little respect in these noms.
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Hsien-Ko

http://mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/107662119/Hsien-Ko

Another pretty 'why' Luis special, but at least one that makes some sense. Darkstalkers has been clamoring for a rep for a very long time, and Hsien-Ko is one of the 'balanced' stalkers who also has some popularity. Her abilities straight up weren't good enough to take a chance on her intensely variable respect (remember that Darkstalkers comes from the era where still images in arcade mode endings were all fighting game characters had for hype), but in theory I don't see why she couldn't show up again with better ones. That said, shouldn't Felicia be the Darkstalkers rep if we can't get Morrigan as a battle merc?

Should She Stay?: Maybe.

Id

http://mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/106972071/Id

The sheer elegance behind Id's existence deserves a standing ovation. MECHALD is a mainstay of Mercs, and Id gets tons of respect, but Fei Fong Wong doesn't reach the same level (with KJH thinking he's a 5-6/week and most people thinking he's a 3). So why not cut out the middleman and include his evil supermode instead? The end result was a total beast of a 6/week with amazingly fun abilities, and I'm super glad the admin team decided to go with this. Out of all the new M4 builds, this is one I'd say is a surefire mainstay. Good work!

Should He Stay?: Yes, of course!

Ikaruga

http://mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/109433107/Ikaruga

Another unexpected booby lady from Luis, but this is one I'm considerably less down on. Ikaruga is very clear and makes a lot of sense - basically lowbie Vergil with room-clearing AoEs and a silly ecchi gimmick. People can easily get an idea of what her battle power is like and, assuming her series' silliness doesn't make them instantly disrespect her, she should get some solid hype. Her abilities were pretty good too, providing a tankiness-bypassing trick to deal with big beef and first strike. All in all, I think she's a very solid merc, and the only real knock against her is not a lot of people have played Senran Kagura. Thoughts, gents?

Should She Stay?: Maybe. Leaning yes here.
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Hector

http://mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/103738579/Hector

You know a build is bad when a character people really like doesn't get bought. Nobody could justify grabbing Hector even as a fanboy pick - Fire Emblem character already caps his respect, and then you get a bad RNG fuckfest of a base ability and...yeah. I'm not even sure what the proper usage of it looks like, it's just too variable. Give him something more reliable and better and let him at least pick which merc Matthew steals from and he can maybe be good. Maybe.

Should he stay?: Probably? But not with his abilities as they are now.

Heihachi

http://mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/105860139/Heihachi%20Mishima

Real talk, I've never seen a writeup that undersold a merc as hard as Heihachi's did. Framing him as 'a karate dude' does him no favors when his feats are fucking batshit crazy. Dude is a capital-T TANK, especially post Tekken 7. He tanks (doesn't no-sell, doesn't dodge, TANKS) Akuma's Raging Demon, tanks a satellite beam, tanks...you get the idea. Dude be kuhrayzee and his writeup should not try to go against that. I think Heihachi can actually get respect now after T7, he just needs a respectable writeup. He also needs a better base ability - while conceptually cool, it's way too fucking fiddly at every step of the way (need to predict what the next tier will be so you can only use it reliably on the second week, need to have no KO'd or injured mercs unless you pay for the upgrade, need to...you get the idea). Simplify and clean up and I think he can be a really good merc. God knows his other two abilities are very cool and good.

Honoka

http://mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/110088409/Honoka

Why is she not Shang Tsung

Where is Shang Tsung

Seriously, this might be one of the most 'why' W41 mercs out of them all. If you want a doppelganger merc, Shang Tsung is right there and he has a lot of mercs history and is also packing less fiddly nonsense. Honoka is not gonna get great durability or speed respect, which she needs to not get blown up while scanning, so as a merc, she just makes no sense. Toss out and bring in someone more interesting in her place IMO.

Should She Stay?: No.
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

OK, it's time. WRITING NOW.

---

The Guardian

http://mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/107662131/Guardian%20(Destiny)

People really really didn't like the Guardian's upgrade ability and I never got why. Actually, OK, I sort of do - it lets unforeseen factors come into your match and hose you when you should've won, but it's all deterministic and only dependent on your ability to politically outmaneuver your opponents. If you get rocked by it you kinda deserve it IMO. It may not be the most popular ability but I think it deserves to stay - it makes the game more complex in all the right ways, and also leads to hilarious matches.

Past that, The Guardian suffered from some odd problems. First is that their build wasn't updated to what was endgame gear at the time of their release, second is that nobody knew who the fuck they were. It's weird, because Bungie is a pretty household name, but only GANON seemed to really know them. We never got a super good gauge on their respect for that reason. At least their base ability was super, super good. Pity we never saw it used in a way that matters!

Should They Stay?: Are they in Destiny 2? If so yes. If not, no. Nobody has a huge attachment so newest version takes precedence IMO.

Happy Mask Salesman

http://mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/102032284/Happy%20Mask%20Salesman

I don't like HMS. I really, really don't like him. Not as a character, he's cool that way, but as a build he's super random in all the worst ways, ranging from a billion options with lots of irrelevant effects, to RNG based effects, to the possibility of turbofucking you over if you roll Majora's Mask and then kill one of your mercs (hi Alany). This build needs to go back to the shop for a total refit, or be scrapped altogether.

Should He Stay?: As is, no. Iconic enough character, but the masks are a trash fire.

Harth Stonebrew

http://mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/109308877/Harth%20Stonebrew

My dislike for Harth is well known. I don't like the fact he was inserted as a mean-spirited dig at GANON, I don't like he was deliberately not balanced at all, and I especially don't like how sloppy his wording is. Add on that stuff like Yogg Saron is the wrongest kind of RNG that can steal matches at random without being able to defend against it and fuck this shit.

Should He Stay?: No. Total refit or bust.

Haseo

WHO IS HASEO

http://mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/102493117/Haseo

THIS IS HASEO

No but seriously, Haseo is a solid merc. I don't like that his awakening stuff is suuuuuper high CD (Demon Awakening has the single highest CD of any ability that isn't variable I believe? And it's really not deserving of that much recharge), but WHO IS HASEO is a lovely ability and he's a solid merc. I feel you can probably do something better by giving him either Data Drain or Skeith as an ability, and I'm not 100% sure he's 5/week tier and not a high power 4 (quick question Ky Kiske or Alucard vs Haseo, who ya got?), but all in all he's fun, .Hack got rereleased with new stuff recently so he's current, and he adds something to the game. He deserves a place in it.

Should He Stay?: Yes.
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

OK so analysis didn't happen because Transistor. Just to commit myself to this, here's the batch I'm putting up tomorrow.

Guardian (Destiny)
Happy Mask Salesman
Harth Stonebrew
Haseo
Hector
Heihachi Mishima
Honoka
Hsien-Ko
Id
Ikaruga

Motley crew alright. Should be fun!
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

More analysis today

Was playing Transistor the last couple days which was A Very Important Job since I don't have a toaster computer anymore
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

One last bump so I can save analysis and then we're good to go.
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Weird, try this one?

https://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/76193541
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Sure, why not? Sign.
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

https://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/76193536

Plan is to do more commenting SOON.
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

For new builds, and bitching about old builds like I'm supposed to be doing. How fun!
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Will make a new topic for more buildz and discussion tomorrow

for now, let's just say I think I agree about making it a thing where you pick between the most iconic members of Shep's crew - it makes sense and kills multiple birds with one stone.
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

FFDragon posted...

Tali is like a 4 tops imo.

Not with AI hacking, which I would, in fact, absolutely give her. To me it's a Psycho Mantis kinda thing - if the character's whole gimmick is a thing we usually call gamebreaking but there's instances of no-sell in their own game, there is zero reason to strip it away. 'Can Tali hijack Zero?' is a fun debate IMO.

But yeah, I feel like Garrus is probably an Ike-style merc - he's not a true 6 but you can't really put him there without packing him with solid ability hax. Out of curiosity, who would you guys say should feature from ME in a hypothetical mercs 5? My initial shortlist...

-Shepard: Very obvious.
-Ryder: Apparently even stronger than Shep though has less feats. ME: Andromeda is fuckin ripe for ridiculous abilities too.
-Wrex: Debatable whether he should keep Stasis considering it's basically the 6/week version of Celes + Vanish, but his abilities are perfect and he's super well liked.
-Legion: Kind of takes the place of Garrus as the super sniper, but he's a much more interesting take on the concept. Also a robot, robots are certifiably 20% more hype than humans. Mech Dante would totally beat Base Dante, you know it.
-Liara T'Soni/Jack: An actual biotics specialist would be neat and Liara in particular has incredibly ability fodder potential.

You could make a decent argument for almost everyone except the bad ME1 squaddies and Jacob, though. I feel like anyone else would at least be greeted with some level of enthusiasm. Mordin nearly made the shortlist too, I just felt like it wouldn't really count as 'short' if I listed 6 mercs.
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Gordon Freeman

http://mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/101947969/Gordon%20Freeman

Why is Gordon's build so bad

Like I don't get the specific nerfing of leaving him with only 3 rockets, it's so weird

And his abilities really suck too - when all you got on the most vanilla 4/week gunner ever is a passive and a helmet, it's a wonder he ever got bought (with no helmet, no less!). Worst part is that he could totally have some nice abilities involving being the right man in the wrong place, or the One Free Man, or even the super gravity gun or something to make him good, but he doesn't. A gaming icon like him deserves better than this. RIP Gordon, never getting good abilities or a new game ever again. :(

Should He Stay?: Yes, but only with a total ability redesign IMO. His three M4 abilities could stay, but only as incidental freebies or cheap upgrades.

Grigori

http://mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/110076700/Grigori

Possession every four weeks. Disgusting stuff. Like, at least Tira + Morrigan shenannes required buying two mercs and paying extra money per usage, yo. This shit just ain't right.

Grigori is pretty much an awful battlemerc backed up by a broken, disgustingly broken ability. Possession is super good. Targetable possesion every four weeks as a BASE ability is unconscionable. I think the dragon itself is maybe a 5/week, maybe (real talk, would anybody super object to knocking him and Ridley down to 5/week? They feel like they belong there more than the tier of Samus, Master Chief and Kain). Adjusting him to be more fair would be a pretty good idea - Dragon's Dogma was pretty popular, he steals the show there, and we need more beefy mercs, it's just...they can't come with the most broken ability type in the game on a 3 week CD.

Should He Stay?: Probably, but with a nerfed ability and lowered upkeep.
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Gilgamesh

"Enough expository banter! Now, we fight like men! And ladies! And ladies who dress like men! For Gilgamesh... IT IS MORPHING TIME!"

This guy. This fuckin' guy right here. How did it take FOUR GAMES of mercs for Gil to make it in? I don't get it, I really don't. He's so cool and fun and unique no matter what tier he fits into in terms of power. Either a top tier 3/week (honestly more of a 4 in battle power), a top tier 5 pushing into 6, or a solid 6/week flat out, Gilgamesh is an excellent addition to the game. His abilities are awesome, too - strong, unique, and quite fun and appropriate for his character. Really the only question with Gil is what power level you want to set him at - FF5/FF12 Gil is more of a 3.5/week, but FF13-2 Gil and especially FF14 Gilgamesh are more suited to mid or high tier. I think going with FF13-2 as a base with a bunch of extra skills added from FF14 is the best representation you can give him. People get hype for the quadruple assault rifles and rocket launchers, and his limit breaks and stuff are very cool.

Should He Stay?: Of course!

GLaDOS

http://mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/108442012/GLaDOS

A very solid PS. Thinking with portals is a bit gimmicky (it really really shines only if you have a team of melee beasts and ideally a teamwide disable like stomach cramps), but with two other nice abilities, GLaDOS is a very complete package. And she's a portal rep, too, so no reason not to put her in. The only real argument I see for changing her is if you want to make Atlas and P-Body into battlemercs/assist PSes in their own right. The rest is all good.

Should She Stay?: I'm making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS.

Glass Joe

http://mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/110119378/Glass%20Joe

Dante's M-M-M-Masterpiece. Nuff said.

Should He Stay?: Yes. Don't hit his jaw!

Golbez

http://mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/110076580/Golbez

In the exact same week we get Flynn and Grigori, filled to the brim with disgusting possession cheese, we get a fair possession mercenary...whom Gravy denied me, thus accidentally setting me up for a championship run I otherwise couldn't have pulled off, all thanks to getting Megaman for cheap. Whoops!

Seriously though, Golbez is a very good merc. The sole FF4 rep who will get respect without being in a party, with a pair of strong, unique abilities, he's good stuff. Really my only change would be to give him his Dissidia moveset - no reason not to, IMO, considering it confirms his swordsmanship being as solid as his magic. That's all.

Should He Stay?: Yes.
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Aight, doing a few more today. Here goes...

Garen

mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/102176314/Garen

Garen shouldn't be in this game I don't think. He has exactly one interesting thing about him and it's his ult. Otherwise, he's an ultra-generic 'tanky dude in plate armor' and that's about it. Any interesting argument quirks come from his item build, which had no teeth thanks to a generic description instead of any specific stuff. Pass, IMO. Katarina is a better rep than him. Neat abilities but we can do better even if we're just fishing for League mercs.

Should He Stay?: No.

Garrus Vakarian

http://mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/104462227/Garrus%20Vakarian

Garrus is in a kinda weird position. Alany once argued with me about his place in the game, saying he was kind of the most generic Mass Effect guy, and I can't actually disagree with that very much. He's a very beloved character, but as a battleworth unit he's just there. Even if you look at Drak's journal, there's comments referring to 'and Garrus does something, kinda'. I'm not sure if he should stay - if you want a beloved character, Tali is almost as deserving on that front and her gimmick is much more unique, but maybe we can afford to keep him. Certainly nobody will go 'aww, why him of all people' at his inclusion. His abilities need work tho - Vagabond Justice was a very very clear throwaway and Archangel sort of didn't pan out very much at all.

Should He Stay?: Maybe? Kinda leaning no but I could see the argument for keeping him. Wrex and Shep get priority tho.

Geese Howard

http://mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/110118085/Geese%20Howard

FIGHTASS

I love KJH, who made this merc. He's my homie, he comes up with cool merc ideas, and his ability gimmicks aren't bad. That said, he definitely needs an editor. Issues of rule consistency are common with his builds (see: Bass.EXE), and nobody exemplifies this quite as well as Geese does. Fightass woulda been a great ability, had it not caused ssssooooo maaaaaany ability headaaaaaaches. I can't imagine how much Lopen must've started drinking when he realized he needed to do rulings for it. High Rise is kind of mediocre and I think we can do better, but honestly? I think we can keep Geese around if his Fightass is fixed up a bunch and he gets a new ability. People like him a lot, and the KoF battles gimmick is a strong one.

Should He Stay?: Probably.

Geralt

http://mercs2015.pbworks.com/w/page/109131577/Geralt

A total slam-dunk. I don't really have anything to say about Geralt. He was a sweet build top to bottom, The Witcher is a very hot property, and he has some very neat gimmicks between his traps, antimagic bombs and gish-y magic knight prowess. You could port this build over to a new game just about verbatim. I think the only thing I might tweak is his Game of Gwent EXP cost depending on when he's released.

Should He Stay?: Hard yes.
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

That's not a bad idea...how's that sound to everyone else? Does it seem fair or a bit lopsided in one team's advantage?
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

DeathChicken posted...

That match feels like a whole bunch of squishy people versus people who can kill them really quickly

Who would you recommend to even it up a bit? I assume it's the FF4 side that's squish?
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Johnbobb posted...

Ezio makes me wary. I mean I love Assassino! but his battle worth is so iffy for a 3/week

I mean I respect him, but it's really hard to convince anyone else how a guy with a couple knives and a sword can compete with gunners at his level

even in his own villa it was argued that he just jobs immediately

This is why I think Ezio needs a 'there's people around' passive

He gets much better if he can blend into a crowd I feel, or use the confusion of civilians being slaughtered to go nuts.
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Lopen posted...

Big thing I think the FFIV build needs is like, a peacetime where it can just be the main 5 (Rydia Rosa Cecil Kain Edge) as a 5/week or something. I think it's overpowered as a 5 outright but there are a lot of high teamcomps it just isn't helping against to the extent a 6 should so it's nice to have some flexibility I think to account for that weakness.

I can see this

I actually would love to do a high tier exhibition match of like...IDK, Cloud, Strider, Mega Man, FF4 and Kain vs Diablo, Samus, Rudy, Aigis and Neptune. See if people respect FF4 to carry when it's a power player and not the billionth 6/week on a team.
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Mewtwo59 posted...

Fox has the Blue Marine as an option. It just never had the chance to be used outside of the Mega Man event.

No, I know - what I'm saying is that Star Fox Zero largely eliminates the need for multiple vehicles as a default thing because the Arwing can become a walker. So for the sake of a simpler, easier writeup it probably makes more sense to make the Bluemarine an upgrade option for a hypothetical 'Modern Fox' build using Zero as a base, not something he gets by default. A custom that might as well not exist 99% of the time seems silly as a base effect.
---

Shine on, you crazy diamond.