Monster Hunter:World Lance is Easy Mode (Monday Musings 40)

Apologies for being a day late last week and this week for the Monday Musings. It's actually quite hard to come up with a topic every week on a regular basis. It makes me laugh a bit, since growing up, I thought cartoonists had the best job because they only have to draw a short cartoon daily (which I naively thought would only take an hour tops), and have the rest of the day off. I clearly didn't see the difficulties of coming up with something new and fresh weekly, not to mention daily.

Fortunately with the deep gameplay mechanics of World, I think I'll write future posts about weapons, armor skills and such, especially as I was finally able to beat the very last mission using Lance, which unlocks only when you reach Hunter Rank level 100!

Why the Lance is OP and Essential Skills Needed

Exhibit A: Complete Uragaan Set

So far, I mained the Hammer, Charge Blade, Lance, and I'm getting the hang of the Hunting Horn. Even though I haven't extensively played all 14 weapons, Lance is by far the easiest weapon to use in terms of completing successful missions.

The most important thing in Monster Hunter is to not cart. Medic cats put you in a cart, carting you back and unceremoniously dumping you into your camp when you faint. Sadly in World they don't show you the cats dumping you like they did in past series, which I hope they'll change in future installments.

At any rate, you can only faint twice in most missions, and some investigations you can't faint at all to successfully complete. The Lance is an extremely overpowered weapon because of its shield, the strongest one in the game, that can block all attacks preventing you from fainting.

With the optimal skills of Guard level 5 and Guard Up, you can block every single attack, laughing in monsters' faces, thereby preventing quite a few carts that lead to failure. Further, with the Lance's charging attack, you run like a locomotive towards the monsters, thereby keeping your attack up constantly to wear out the poor things.

Further, it's easy to build for the overpowered Guard 5 and Guard Up skills. You can get them by making a fully upgraded Ironside Charm Level 3. Next is using the Uragaan armor. The set nets you the other two Guard levels for the maximum of 5. Further, you only need 3 pieces of Uragaan for the Guard Up skill that lets you block even un-blockable attacks.

If you wear all the Uragaan pieces, it falls into the category of Fashion Souls, in that you look like a cool Transformer (see Exhibit A above).

Exhibit B: Guild Cross Circlet

 I agree with my fellow Monster Hunters that you must wear the entire set for Fashion Souls, because it doesn't go well at all with other armor, with the exception of the Guild Cross helmet.

With the Guild Cross, it fits the trope of heroes who use extremely bulky armor but no or minimal helmet (see Exhibit B). I didn't find out about the Guild Cross until later when trying to craft an almost invincible build.

The Guild Cross is an amazing piece as it has high base defense, Divine Blessing level 2 and a whopping three gem slots, so you can easily slot in an extra Divine Blessing (Protection Jewel) to get to the maximum level 3. At level 3, Divine Blessing reduces damage by 50% randomly. However, it procs quite often, saving you from many 1HKO attacks.

The issue here is that you may get tired of wearing the Uragaan set. Here lies the difficulty of trying to use other armor pieces if you want Fashion Souls, or if you're trying to min/max. You will need two Iron Wall and one Shield gems for the maximum guard skills. There are Lance users who feel you can get away with just equipping the level 3 Charm, but level 5 is so ridiculous because you can block with barely any stamina drainage. If your stamina drains and you get hit even while guarding, you'll take damage. There's no fear if your Guard is level 5.

You can get away without using the Guard Up skill (blocks un-blockable attacks) if you can foresee the rather few unblockable attacks, but more often than not, you might get caught in Teostra's supernova, for example. Of course, most monsters don't have un-blockable attacks, but the Elders who you tend to grind for the best parts do, so the Guard Up skill is very handy.

Through the unfair RNG process and the fact that you have to kill difficult monsters to get these rare gems (and you need 3!), a lot of people can't get them this way. Indeed, I can see someone hunting thousands of these monsters and never getting a single one because of the random drops. However, there is a technique called gem sniping that although tedious, guarantees success. By the 425th meld (I actually used Google spreadsheets), I got the last gem I needed, the elusive Shield Jewel 2.



Even if you don't have these Guard jewels, I must say that the complete Uragaan set can see you through the entire game easily. It took me to late HR ranks (around 90s) before I got the two Iron Wall and Shield gems.

The Uragaan set has strong base defense, high fire defense (surprising amount of monsters have fire attacks), and maximum Part Breaker level 3 skills. I was pleasantly surprised at how good Part Breaker is. The Lance is not at all known for part breaking, as its centerpiece is its shield. Even so, with the Uragaan armor, I was easily breaking parts solo and even in group play. Not only will breaking parts net you more mats and higher rewards, but it weakens the monsters considerably because no more tail swipes (yes please!), and all of their attacks seem to be weaker as well.

When I first started out with the Lance, I felt it harder than the Charge Blade, not because of the mechanics, but with aiming and movement. The Lance is pinpoint so you can easily miss the monster's face. Because you can't roll and dodge with the lance unsheathed like you can do with all the other melee weapons, that also took getting used to.

However, you have other unique moves at your disposal, including the powerful forward charging where you move like a train, and when you hit the monster, you hit it over and over again in rapid succession, though it eats away at your weapon sharpness. I think the unique move set is why the developers rated it the least accessible to beginners, along with the Hunting Horn.

However, after getting used to aiming and the Lance's unique moves, the weapon is overpowered. With the new monster siege/raid, Kulve Taroth, I got all of her parts for the event armors, and I think I only fainted maybe 5 or 6 times out of many many missions (the grind is real!), while using the Lance. Further, the first 3 faints were during the first couple of missions due to learning her attack patterns.

During the course of this long grind for all the Kulve event armors, I see a lot of hunters faint to her lava, whereas I laugh in her face with my shield up by pressing R2/RT. Instead of "spin to win" it's "press R2 to win". Reading the posts about Kulve, a lot of people were also complaining about her rolling with their huge hit boxes which never occurred to me, because again, put shield up.

I definitely recommend trying out the lance and even though it takes getting used to the aiming and its moveset, it will see you through the toughest of missions. For me, the Lance is the best weapon in terms of winning missions. Not only does it help you survive, but you laugh in the monsters' faces. I actually want the monsters to come at me so I can just stay put and poke them, rather than putting in the effort of charging, guard dashing and/or dash stepping to it! 

As for the other weapons, I find the Hunting Horn the most fun (maybe because it's new to me?), the Charge Blade the most versatile, and both the Charge Blade and the Hammer the most damaging. But in terms of beating missions, the Lance is King.

If you're interested in giving the Lance a try, the recommended tutorial is, no surprise, Gaijinhunter's:



Conclusion 
Lance is easy mode once you familiarize yourself with the weapon. Ideal skills for optimal survivability are Guard Level 5 and Guard Up. You can get this by equipping the Uragaan set and the Ironside Charm III. The Uragaan set additionally has perks of high base defense, high fire defense and maximum Part Breaker skill.

The How of Happiness Review

XBox One Controller, Fortnite, MH:W Hunting Horn (Monday Musings 39)

XBox One Elite Controller Broke Again!
I still highly recommend this controller but again, you must get Best Buy's 2-year warranty. I had to return it on April 13th as the micro-usb port wasn't connecting, which happens quite often with this type of port. It's unfortunate that controllers have moved away from the incredibly sturdy mini-usb to the flimsy micro-usb. 

A little before the port problems, the rubber backing of the handles actually peeled off. I didn't think to return it since it was wear and tear (though it was uncomfortable having the rubber stick out like that), but reading Best Buy's warranty, it covers wear and tear from regular use.

Lastly, the left bumper has started to stick, so I think if it weren't for the micro-usb breaking, it would've been the left bumper falling apart in a month's time.

When I returned it, there were no Elite controllers physically available, and the cashier even said she got so many of these returned in the past 2 weeks that this might be the reason for unavailability not only at my local Best Buy, but other Best Buys in the area as well. So a new controller was shipped and received in a rather fast 2 business days.

Another reason to buy the controller and warranty at Best Buy is the warranty keeps getting extended. To my surprise when I looked at the receipt, the warranty was extended to April 12, 2020, despite buying the controller back in August 10, 2017. Technically the warranty should only last through August 9, 2019, so 8 months was added!

The controller is so comfortable and ergonomically near perfect, it's no wonder Microsoft spent millions of dollars designing it, but you'd think that Microsoft would use quality parts. Searching Youtube, the reason why the LB and/or the RB buttons break is that they use plastic instead of metal parts for springs, so after repeating pressing on these flimsy springs, they would break. Reading through the comments on Amazon, customers also complained about the rubber backing peeling off and micro-usb disconnecting.

Despite all of this, I can safely recommend this controller because of Best Buy's warranty if and only if you game frequently. I think $150 is worth two years of use (I have a feeling that your last replaced controller will break shortly after the warranty) because preventing physical pain is worth the money.

Fortnite: I'm Back in Full Swing!
When I found out that the Spring Event was ending and I had only 2 days to finish the missions,

Level 40 StS Snowman Banner

I was very fortunate that my friend pushed me through the finish line. I was still burned out during this time, but the new Survive the Storm (StS) event really pulled me back in. I missed their very first one, and surviving 7 days (or was it the ridiculous 14 days) netted you special banners.

During the second offering of StS for the holiday/winter event, I was able to get the banner for the level 70, 7-day mission. We were fortunate to be rewarded the banner for doing only 3-days due to a bug. Ironically, the level 40 snowman banner was actually cuter than the level 70 skull banner. It was a mark of pride to wear the level 70 banner so I was using it, but then went back to the adorable level 40 snowman one instead.

In other words, I look forward to the challenge of completing a legitimate level 70, full 7-days. The advantage now is that Epic Games made great changes to resource management, so we can carry 5000 of each building material, whereas before we could only carry 999 each. Each backpack slot can hold up to 200 traps and other items, whereas before, you can only carry 20 traps per backpack space, and 99 of other items. By overbuilding, the level 70 StS may not be too bad, even if it's 7 days.

Since I was farming and doing low level missions in preparation for the level 70 StS, I began to enjoy Fortnite, and I'm now really into the game. What helped prevent burn-out is the upcoming StS challenges, and that we can now gain commander experience at any mission level, whereas before, you only get credit if you do missions around your level. In Twine, the very last area, it can be taxing. So it's refreshing to progress and see your stats move up, even when doing mundane farming. I think seeing lack of progression, having the same stale stats, and no new challenges contributed to the burn-out.

Monster Hunter: Hunting Horn
Like the Charge Blade, I never understood the Hunting Horn (HH), so I want to finally be able to use the HH with competency, like I finally did with the Charge Blade. During my leveling up to Hunter Rank 100 (HR100) which unlocks the very last mission, I thought I won't beat this quest because of this one monster. Because of Fashion Souls, I refused to wear its rather unattractive armor that will negate its main power and trivialize the monster, so I had to "git gud". 

Still having problems beating the dreaded monster, while advancing up the ranks, I discovered that one particular Hunting Horn can negate the problems, and I was excited because I can use this weapon instead of caving in and making its armor.

Eventually, I reached HR100 and beat the last mission, using Fashion Souls. Though not yet learning the hunting horn, I defeated it using the trusty Lance with the overpowered Guard Level 5 where stamina doesn't drain upon blocking, and Guard Up that blocks unblockable attacks. I really find that Lance is easy mode.

At any rate, I've never succeeded in fighting the very last post-game mission in any of the past Monster Hunter games. Not even the Japan-only one where the story missions were so easy that I could've done a no faint run on my first walkthrough, if I weren't so over-confident with the very last story hunt. However, the very last mission post-story I was never able to complete because you have to fight multiple monsters within a time limit, and I believe if you don't kill them fast enough, they show up at the same time.

Even though I completed the very last HR100 mission for the first time ever in my Monster Hunter career, I really want to learn the hunting horn. Each time I learned a new weapon, I played a new game. The game does an absolutely fantastic job in helping you to progress by gating how much you can improve your armors and weapons, so you're forced to be skilled enough to fight particular monsters.

Only when you succeed and become proficient enough with your weapons, can you then level up your armors, weapons and charms. The game is a masterpiece in this way because you end up getting to know your weapons at quite a competent level. Instead of "tanking through" the walls such as Anjanath and Nergigante by leveling up to overpowered levels (like you can do even in Dark Souls), you're forced to beat them with limited amount of offense and defense.

I felt this time I should try and "save time" and use my current Lance character, wearing the starting low rank armor. For Fashion Souls, I'm only wearing the leather headgear and the leather greaves since her socks look ridiculous. I'm using the starting hunting horn on low rank Jagras (our first monster) and working my way up. I can't use Niki, my Palico, or buff with meals because both are fully leveled.

I'm now at Kulu-Yaku (second monster), but with Defense at 3 and having a completely un-leveled weapon, I cart at least once to the chicken. I'm going to continue at it, but I have a feeling that I'll start a new game to progress more organically. Ironically, it may be the case that actually starting a new game will save more time than using my current character.

I'm hoping I can have some competency with the hunting horn, being a great support weapon (though secretly quite an offensive and powerful one), as I look forward to doing more COOP.

The How of Happiness Review

Fortnite--Improved Gameplay! (Monday Musings 38)

Once I reached Twine and completed a couple of missions, I was burned out especially as the missions prior to reaching Twine in Canny Valley, there's no story. To advance through Canny Valley, each mission is to do 3 quests, usually Retrieve the Data, Deliver the Bomb, or Category 2 Storm. However, I was spurred on despite having no story and repetitive quests, as reaching Twine is a huge goal.

Even when Epic Games introduced the hover board, which makes getting around the map so fun, as opposed to sprinting which takes up stamina, I still was burned out.

The newest patch, however, changed things. It's amazing how such small changes really made the game exciting.

The burnout of Twine is that as a Ninja, we are viable up through level 100 (there are quite a few Youtube videos as proof), but you need to put down a lot of traps in strategic places. The problem is that the backpack space is very limited, and it's considered over the top when I had 80 traps of each type, as that takes up 4 backpack slots.

Because you may not be able to level up all of your weapons and traps at the same time, you're going to be using different quality materials, again taking up a lot of slots.

However, one of the most welcome change is that now, each slot can hold up to 200 items, including traps! After consolidating, my backpack space went from 185/185 to around 90/185! My storm shield storage is now actually able to store things, as it was on overflow (from Epic Games returning materials when people lost all their backpack items).

In other words, I don't have to worry about dropping unnecessary materials all the time, and I can farm to make even more traps while listening to music, so it's easy to then go from mission to mission, as opposed to having to farm after every single mission.

The other refreshing change is stamina management, especially for the Ninja class. Sprinting no longer takes up stamina, so it's incredibly nice to be able to run up to a group of husks and dragon slash immediately. Prior, after sprinting to the husks, you may have to shoot them as you wait for your stamina bar to fill up enough so that you can perform a dragon slash. 

The double jump (mantis leap) used to cost 1/2 of the stamina bar, to the point where it wasn't worth it for me to do so, and I'd build stairs instead, because by the time I reach the husks, my energy would be depleted if I double jumped. However, it's now only 20/100! Therefore, as a Ninja, I now feel nimble enough to double jump my way through!

The most significant change for me that really prevents burnout is that in the past, if you want to take it easy and play easier missions, you can do so, but you do NOT get any commander experience points. These points are needed to buy special perks and abilities. Therefore, if I want to get these abilities, I must do missions in Twine.

However, now, you can do any mission and get Commander experience points. Of course, if you do missions in Stonewood (the first area) as a high level hero, you're going to get less experience points. However, it only took 4 or so relaxing Stonewood missions for me to level up once! I think because of that, they may have increased Commander experience points across the board, because in the past, it took quite a few Twine missions for me to level up once.

Of course, I would like to get to level 100, which means going through Twine missions, but if I want to take a break and do the daily quests, I can do them in Stonewood and get Commander experience points at the same time!

In video games, you want to make progress, so every time I think of playing Fortnite, the thought of doing only Twine missions as the only way to advance eventually led to burnout, as they are quite involved with farming and building. Thanks to this new change, I can do whatever mission I want and still be able to make considerable progress!

Just these three small changes really make Fortnite so much more fun. It was already an addicting game, but once you burn out on the game, it's hard to get back into the game due to the restrictions placed on storage, stamina and progression issues. 

I feel that I can finally get over the burnout and reach level 100, thanks to these huge improvements!

The How of Happiness Review