Deep state mode

Right now, I'm typing this on my phone. So it's really a bit uncomfortable given I'm so used to doing things on the desktop. Currently, I'm waiting for the PC repair guy to reply back. Thanks to his diagnosis, the possibility of my Windows gone deep state looks very real. I tested it. And I won't be surprised if the atomic option is the only way out.

To those in my ESO guilds, please don't be surprised if you see a user name inspired by Cirdan the Shipwright gone MIA. Don't worry, I've yet to follow Bilbo on his final journey.

This post is clearly going to be poorly done. Not that people will pay attention unless some sort divine intervention amounting to a PR crisis worse than Monica Baey gone Michael Bay mode. With that being said, I see the aforementioned incident as not of a woke culture and more of the typical scenario in GTO.

Because I function like an Amish instead of a Singaporean in terms of using technology, this means you'll be seeing multiple blocks of text without formating.

Deep state report 1: Fate Grand Order

Right now, I can't play ESO. If I reinstall Steam, OS will die like a Lancer. If I re-download the updates, OS will die like another Lancer. So I could only afford to play games through my smartphone, a noun of irony considering the fact I'm a tech idiot.

Long story short, I just got started on FGO. It's quite intensive, I have to say. Like dating your pastor's daughter, certain things are easy to understand. Like any process of courtship, it can be a bumpy ride. The issue with Type-Moon's attempt to milk the Fate cash cow (like it or not, I doubt we'd be dealing with Tsukihime or Mahoutsukai no Yoru adapted into anime in the future) was that while I knew how the cards function, getting the sequence right remains another issue. Of course, it'd much easier if I could consistently do a Brave Chain like Cú Chulainn spamming Quick cards against Heracles (Hercules for those confusing the Roman version for the Greek OG version). But when you have three Servants in a row, that's where the thinking part comes.

Unlike Gwent where my analytical skill was tested through the left side of my brain, FGO is a CCG testing my analytical instincts. The challenge lies in making the correct call in the card sequence. Brave chain dealt the highest damage. But chances of doing it would either be 50-50 or lower. At the same time, there's the issue of choosing between using a Noble Phantasm minus a Brave chain for one Servant and a Brave chain for the other. At times, I'd even be forced to ditch a 100% crit due to tactical reasons. There's no way I could guess what the opponent would be doing next, so almost every move was effectively a risk move. The only thing I could rely on is my analytical instinct guiding the card sequence. More often than not, the long cooldown means I needed to get the skill usage right in terms of buffing. In particular, evasion buffs could be a life-saver in boss fights. But that's provided the relevant Servant didn't die. This could be dicey in the scenario where Tristan went down before the boss round due to his group evasion buff.

While it's nice to see me draw a SR Li Shuwen, having a Mr Li didn't mean a free pass in having an easier time. There were times where I used 3 Buster cards from 2-3 Servants. Then there were moments when 3 Art cards or Quick cards were used in the same way. Personally, using 3 Art cards made my life easier because I can stage a final round gambit with at least 1 Noble Phantasm on standby.

Right now, I got 3 Archers and 1 Assassin (i.e. Emiya, Tristan, Emiya Alter, and Li Shuwen) where the SR cards are concerned. There's some kind of sick joke behind the RNG. It's like St RNG saying "Tag, you're Emiya Kiritsugu". In this game, Kiritsugu is clearly an Assassin like King Hassan and Mr Li. However, being a gun user most likely would mean he's qualified to be an Archer.

It's quite interesting messing around with different combinations. For Archers, Emiya is more of a constant fixture with Tristan at second place. Having a high chance of drawing Art cards means I could have an easier time deciding which card to use first in a Brave chain. Normally, it's Buster. Otherwise, it'd be Quick if there's no Buster. If there's any tricky terrain to deal with, it'd be 3 different cards to pull off a Brave chain since I needed to decide whether to place Quick or Art in the middle.

Assassin class was a no- brainer since Mr Li was clearly a 5 star SR.

For Casters, I found Cú Chulainn to be the easiest to use due to Rune Magic. In a reserve slot, I could easily buff and fire once he entered the fray. Unless I get a SR alternative, he's most likely a fixture. Like Emiya, he got a higher draw chance for Art. That made deciding which card to use as a Brave chain starter much easier. More specifically Brave>Art>Art sequence.

Riders, it's possibly Minamoto no Yoshitsune (yes, I know he/she is called Ushiwakamaru instead of Okikurmi in the game). I may be testing out a 3 star Medusa, though. Right now, I don't have a SR.

As for Berserkers, I don't use them much since they die too fast for my liking. So I guess it's going to be a case of waiting out for a SR. They functioned well in a hand with 2 Burst cards, though. One as the starter and the other as the ender. Then again, this is a Brave chain scenario I'm referring to.

Lancers wise, I'm in a 50-50 between Fate/Prototype Cú Chulainn and Diarmuid Ua Duibhne. The former has better damage with lower defence (Rune Magic is my personal choice for an alpha strike) while the latter happened to be the other way around. At the end of the day, Lancers functioned more like a glass cannon. This actually made Eye of the Mind a valuable asset for Lancers and that's what Diarmuid has.

Deep state report 2: Gonna finish this here

I'm going to end this on a rambling note. When my PC entered deep state mode, it seemed that Steam was responsible. However, multiple BSOD moments revealed something else which Steam was only guilty of triggering. And that was one of the Windows updates. If I didn't install or run Steam, nothing would happen. Ditto for the updates. Once I did either, it's a BSOD moment that was anything but heroic.

It was also during this time that my curiosity stumbled upon Final Fantasy 14. When I was left wondering whether it's Steam, part of me was tempted to move on. Thankfully, it seemed I didn't have to. And besides, it's not going to make much sense financially speaking.

This comes to mind whether I'd move onto FF 14. I'm a tunnel-focused person, so there's no way I'd do a balancing act. At the same time, unless something massive happens, I'm probably be in the Mundus in the long haul.

It's still quite interesting to see how different both games are in terms of player mechanics. ESO relies on build planning and making the most out of the GCD. The former is about strategy while the latter is about technique. For FF 14, whatever I gleaned so far seemed to indicate a more tactical approach due to the bar.

This made me ask myself whether I'd be more comfortable with ESO or FF 14. If I'm to move onto FF 14, does that mean I have to unlearn certain things? For ESO, I find focusing to be much easier. Once I got the build right, the only major thing left would be mastering the GCD. It's surprisingly simplistic in the fundamental sense. Of course, there's a need to understand the various AI mechanics (i.e. the reason why actual tanks are so important especially in any group content beyond normal dungeons difficulty). This is something which players would need to trial and error plus respawn, something which I've yet to get myself into. In this sense, I wouldn't be surprised if veteran solo arenas are considered end-game level. And I haven't tried them yet. With that being said, it feels surreal trying to imagine how a single mechanic can do a player in.