My Planned Playstyle for Hytale Adventure Mode Part 1

Image from Minecraft 1.12.2 with Custom NPCs

DISCLAIMER: This is speculative and based on pre-release information and Minecraft. This is not to be taken seriously; this is just for fun.
So you can't sue me for fake news. lololol

This post may be updated as more official Hytale blog posts are released.

All screenshots are from Minecraft 1.13.2 unless otherwise specified.
All custom NPC skins were created by LunaticTactician.

Does my writing style in this post look like a Pokétuber's commentary? lololol

With official Hytale blog posts rolling out every week, feeding the gaming community with one mega meal of information after another, the hype just keeps building up. It's no surprise that gamers, including I, want to experience the new and unique features they see.
Edit: It's not every week anymore; it's once every "few weeks". NOOOO!!! But I relied on Hytale blog posts to help me do my school work!
Edit, February 27, 2020: I've pretty much accepted the fact that Hytale blog posts are irregularly posted, usually within long time intervals.

Well, the main reasons I wrote this are: #1, before inevitably going back to school in January 2019, I frequently had my butt kicked while playing the Bytesize modpack for Minecraft—I either got hungry and unable to produce enough food, got backstabbed by random Mo' Creatures mobs (I hate boars, rats, and komodo dragons in particular), or got interrupted in real life during a fight; #2, I saw this Tweet by Hytale, and I got terrified by those Void Eyes—I struggle with fighting airborne enemies without a ranged weapon. (It's implied from the same Tweet that monsters spawn at night, just like in Minecraft.)
Edit: I practiced for Hytale using the Bytesize modpack, but I failed about 50 playthroughs. I tried backing up my world and I failed multiple times on that one.

To hopefully make my first few playthroughs of Hytale smooth, comfortable, and memorable—not just for myself, but for friends who will play this with me—I wanna plan my Hytale play style ahead of release.

All my play style steps will be grounded upon a single rule: STAY ALIVE. (Or, at least for the first 14 in-game days—assuming it's possible to respawn infinitely—so that I don't regret my defeat.)
Edit: My longest time without taking damage in a Bytesize playthrough is 12 days. The survival streak got broken when an ogre appeared while I was exiting my staircase mine, forcing me to run away and accidentally falling into a pit.
I admit, I am satisfied, but I need to try harder.

#1: Be ready in real life.

I keep forgetting about the many moments where I failed in action games because of interruptions in real life. Usually, when I play action games after failing, I don't think about how I failed the last time and just play at my own pace…and then I suffer the same interruptions again.

These interruptions include, but are not limited to, my mom giving me orders, lack of a real-life physiological need (food, water, etc.), or mosquito attacks. (It's really hard to catch mosquitoes in my store.)

I'm not counting customers because, despite being annoying, they are useful in the long run. MONEY MONEY MONEY!

School work is also not counted because I plan to do my first Hytale playthroughs during vacation so I can stay focused.

The obvious solution is to minimize, if not prevent, these interruptions, but I like to go into unnecessary detail. I'll eat a big meal, drink at least 500 ml of water, use the toilet, put citronella lotion on myself to repel mosquitoes, and do all of Mom's boring chores (especially cleaning my mess because mess is what TRIGGERS her the most) plus some extra ones she likely won't expect.

My brother Ivann asks for a chance to play when I don't expect it, so, before playing Hytale, I'll let my brother play for at least 2 hours or after he releases another blog post of his. Thankfully, he doesn't hog the PC unless he's doing school work, and I'm chill with him doing school work.

As for customers? Screw it, I'll have them write down their orders on the countless brochures and paper ads given to me so that I don't have to stand up too often. If step #4 goes well, I can safely get off my seat while playing single player.

Edit: Lack of sleep also negatively affects my ability to play action games, so I better stop the late-night gaming and YouTube on my phone.
I should stick to these activities in the daytime.

Edit, May 13, 2021: I'm still addicted to Genshin Impact. Good thing it takes me about 30 minutes to complete all my Daily Commissions and spend all my Original Resin, which is pretty fast. I just hate having to do events and the Spiral Abyss.

#2: Do research on the common dangers in Hytale.

Image from Minecraft 1.12.2 with Custom NPCs and Varied Commodities

This is a no-brainer in almost every part of life, from gaming to school work to career work. Heck, Manny Pacquiao trains against fighters that mimic the styles of his next opponents.

I'm not sure how long it will take to complete the official Hytale Wiki, so I'll have to do a test playthrough of Hytale for at least 3 in-game days so I get a feel of what it's like to battle the common monsters and I can practice the movesets of each weapon type.
Edit: My beta playstyle will allow me to do this.

After all, as they say, knowing is half the battle.

Edit: There will be an official Hytale Wiki, according to the Community page. Yeah, boiii! But, again, I encourage Hypixel Studios to stick to their plan of working on the game itself at their own pace, so I'll chill for now.
Since Hytale is well-known by many Minecraft YouTubers like DanTDM and CaptainSparklez, I predict they'll make videos of the Hytale beta so everyone—even the ones who didn't sign up for the beta—can see it, so I think the Hytale Wiki will come out after the beta, more or less.

Edit 2: If possible, I don't want to play the full Hytale release blind. I will play the Hytale beta mostly blind, though.

#3: Don't take damage.

Image from Minecraft 1.12.2 with Custom NPCs

IMPORTANT EDIT, December 6, 2021: This is no longer a hard rule for me; more like a guideline and precaution to keep me calm and prepare myself for difficult situations.

Like "STAY ALIVE", this is a common-sense rule of survival in real life and in almost any game (with obvious exceptions being games where players have to die to win).

I feel like I get bad luck when taking damage.

When it happens in Minecraft, I lose my temper because taking damage also makes the player hungrier, and I end up wasting food when I could simply watch my surroundings and avoid attacks accordingly. That loss of temper lowers my morale and my alertness, which causes me to take even more damage later on.

In Pokémon, I often get trolled by critical hits whenever I have my Pokémon raise their defensive stats or lower the opposing Pokémon's offensive stats.
Edit: My Lv. 22 Popplio got rekt by a Lv. 33 Numel that got a critical hit with Magnitude 9, which has 110 power. (I didn't evolve Popplio because I wanted to teach it Moonblast early.)

By not taking damage, I avoid this stress, I stay calm and alert, and I can plan my tactics effectively. I just need to watch my surroundings constantly, and boy am I glad that Hytale has an over-the-shoulder third person camera angle option (as seen in the part of the trailer where the player fights a Trork).

I will mainly use step #4 to avoid damage, but other methods include shield-parrying, hiding underground, and pillar-jumping.
Thankfully, thanks to the article on Edge magazine stating that combat will be "reactive and proactive", defensive tactics like these should be viable.

However, protecting allied players from damage is another story because different players have different play styles—some players are more aggressive and willing to take a little damage (like BoltOLightnin who is willing to "rush out like a madman with great bloodlust"). I also get stressed and unable to think clearly when my friends take damage, especially on difficult or unfamiliar terrain. In Minecraft, I usually get killed immediately after my friend dies.
I'm also worried about friendly fire, so I have to fight extra carefully if the monsters get close to my friends. I hope Hypixel Studios adds an easy way to toggle friendly fire in servers. (I'm too lazy to set up a scoreboard in Minecraft just to disable friendly fire.)
I don't know how hard it will be to find ranged or magic weapons, so I'm gonna assume that it's just as difficult as getting arrows in Minecraft. (I almost never use regular bows because, in my playthroughs, skeletons come in small numbers and rarely drop arrows, and I don't like nonrenewable resources, so I don't use flint to craft arrows.) For this post, I'll assume that I have minimal access to ranged weapons, and therefore can only use them during emergencies or against enemies that a melee weapon can't reach. I'll have to stick to my specialization in melee combat.
I don't enjoy giving orders to friends unless they're more than willing to follow them—I want them to enjoy their Hytale playthroughs in their own ways. (Freedom of gameplay is one of the core characteristics of Hytale.) Therefore, I'm not gonna order them to hide in our shelter—the least I could tell them to do is defend its perimeter so that we have the advantage of familiar terrain.
In all combat situations, I'd take the front lines to utilize my speedy melee attacking style and bait monsters while doing chip damage to ensure my friends are unharmed and that they get an opportunity to backstab the monsters. However, this is tricky in enclosed spaces like caves, so, in areas where I can break any block, I'll enlarge the space around us so I can outmaneuver the enemy. (According to the worldgen introduction, portal dungeons like the Temple of Gaia limit the breakable blocks.)

Edit: Enemies with unblockable and/or unavoidable attacks are exceptions to this rule. The best I can do is bring lots of healing items or food when fighting enemies with these attacks.

Edit, May 13, 2021: I get overwhelmed by large numbers of elite enemies that have wide AoE attacks that go all over the place in Genshin Impact. This mainly refers to Cicin Mages and Geovishaps.

It is possible to dodge their attacks and block them with shields, but they're so hard to dodge that a shield is your best bet.

#4: Focus on basic needs like food and shelter. (In more science-y terms, start from the bottom of Maslow's hierarchy of needs.)

Even hardened survivalists like me need food and shelter.

I think there will most likely be a hunger mechanic in Hytale. I'm not sure why, to be honest, other than Minecraft having hunger and Hytale having a diverse wildlife.

I occasionally enjoy long adventures far away from home, and, in Minecraft, that takes a huge toll on my hunger bar. Considering that Hytale has lots of unique places to explore, I might need to stuff myself with a large supply of food that could otherwise feed an army.

I hope to get a huge farm (18x18 or bigger) ready before the first night so that my allies and I stay physically and mentally energized throughout the whole playthrough.

As for the shelter, I'll look for an area near a cave/dungeon, forest, and body of water, and start with a wall of stone or wood with a single fairly wide gate to secure our territory, create a chokepoint to easily trap monsters and safely kill them, and prepare for further construction. The wall interior will have my farm and some basic utilities like anvils on the ground for now.

An ideal spawn point.

Sample wall with chokepoint entrance. Note the farm on the background.
This is just a draft; the actual wall will be better in both design and tactical advantages.

Chokepoints like this can be sealed easily, allowing me to attack foes safely.

Once I have a steady food supply, I'll wait for daybreak to collect more building materials, which I'll use to build an elevated two-story house with a terrace and balcony to watch over monsters from above. I will also move my utilities to this house.

Simple two-story house.
Again, this will look way better in Hytale.

Having a shelter ensures that I can safely rest after monster fights, familiarize myself with the surrounding terrain, and get off my seat in case Mom or customers need my attention.

I will also put mini shelters around more dangerous areas for the same purposes, except there won't be as many utilities. They're kinda like how terrain works in Fire Emblem. (Just put food in the mini shelter and you get something similar to a Fire Emblem fort which restores HP every turn.)

A simple elevated mini shelter. Def+1, Avo+15, HP+10% per turn.
Leaf camouflage is optional but ideal in public servers.

#5: Mining.

This is best done in zones 1 to 3, I think. I don't know how many ores zone 4 will have because of the subterranean forests.

At this point, I already have all the resources I need from the surface, and my army and I can survive indefinitely. Now I need to venture underground for resources that will actually prepare us for more difficult adventures and trials.

Like in Minecraft, I'll start with a staircase mine if I can't find a cave entrance on the surface.

But I'm assuming I've built a shelter near a cave, so this part of the plan is a no-go for now. I'm just ready for worst-case scenarios.

Mining in Minecraft caves is usually a simple process of looking for ores.

But I like to take it a step further: I seal cave chambers that have already been explored to make navigation easier and avoid going around in circles while finding the exit or an unexplored chamber. Sometimes I even make mini shelters in these chambers or in large "halls" so my army can rest and craft new tools.

A mini shelter in a cave hall.

A mini shelter at a dead end.

The tricky part of mining is navigating through dark, unexplored areas—especially corners—since monsters can emerge from the darkness, or I could accidentally fall into a pit. (Curse you, 1.9 skeletons, for shooting me in unexplored caves.)
Thankfully, torches in Hytale emit light when held, unlike vanilla Minecraft where torches have to be placed down to emit light. The torch light looks fairly weak (about 3-4 blocks range) in the trailer, however, so I might need to look for brighter light sources.
If I hear monster sounds at an unexplored and unlit area but I can't see the monster, I'll put up a chokepoint barrier and wait for the monster to approach.
If the monster doesn't come at me, screw it, I'll use an explosive weapon to check if there really is a monster ahead, and maybe have it come at me. (Goblins like to throw bombs. I wonder if I can loot and use those bombs?)
(I'm still TRIGGERED at YoSquid for killing me with a grenade while I was camping in Call of Duty: Black Ops.)

#6: Find or craft combat equipment.

NOTE: I will avoid dungeons like the Temple of Gaia until I get stronger equipment or more confidence in my fighting abilities.

In self-defense and in war, weapons and armor are essential for survival and conquest.

In Minecraft combat, I often bring lots of stone swords because I can quickly kill one mob in a few seconds after the previous mob dies. There were even times where I forgot to make more weapons and got overwhelmed by hordes of mobs.

I'm lazy to craft new weapons immediately after my previous weapon breaks, so I plan to craft a lot of cheap and renewable weapons at the beginning. This way, I can save time by simply picking up a new weapon from a chest rather than repeating the tedious process of placing crafting materials each time I need a new weapon.

I might have a whole chest filled only with cheap melee weapons.

Alternatively, I can kill lots of common weapon-wielding enemies like Trorks. I don't know how often they'll drop their weapons compared to Minecraft mobs, but the Trork Sword in the Hytale UI post has a "Common" rarity. If these monster weapons drop often, then I'll be on my way to chucking spears at my enemies, since the wildlife post confirms that Trork sentries can throw spears.
(I'm curious how much damage a craftable weapon can do compared to a Trork weapon, as well as how efficient and economical they are.)

Once I have more than enough melee weapons for myself and my army, I'll focus on finding ranged and magic weapons and some ammunition like arrows. Again, I'm assuming that these are more rare than melee weapons, so I wanna collect enough to survive a long journey or boss battle, but not too many to the point where I get tired and stressed while looking for them.

I think 3 bows, 3 wands/staves/spellbooks, and 40 regular arrows should be sufficient for me.

Aside from a spear, I'd mainly use weapons with movesets that have high mobility and attack speed—I think daggers fit that role. I'd also carry a two-hand weapon for killing large numbers of enemies in a single combo or knocking them back when I'm at a disadvantage.
But if fists can get good, then screw melee weapons!

Since I don't want to take any damage, I won't wear anything that reduces damage but can still allow enemies to damage me. Instead, I'll go for armor that completely nullifies damage (or certain damage types), if possible. If that's not a thing, I'll use the back equipment from the concept art like the jetpack or back propeller to improve my mobility, or ride vehicles/animals.

Side note: I hope someone makes a Hytale damage calculator. If not, then I'll make one for myself using Python.
Considering that the player in the Hytale UI post has 100 health, a Trork Sword (9.8 average DPS) can KO in ~10.2 seconds (not counting armor).
(I once made a program that calculates how likely a Sim is to win a fight in The Sims 3.)

#7: Explore to my heart's content!

I've got everything I need: food, shelter, materials, and decent equipment.

Now I'm ready for the meat and potatoes of Hytale: exploration!

At this point, there are pretty much no rules. I can jump from one dungeon to the other and not get tired, slaughtering hordes of monsters along the way.

I admit that exploration is the toughest part, so I'll repeat Step #1 to refresh my body and get my family members to firetruck off.

With all of this said, thanks for reading, and enjoy your adventures in Hytale!

I'd like to see how you play your adventures or how you use my play style.

Bonus Section: Pixelmon-like Mod

Yes, yes, I'm obsessed with the Pokémon franchise. Let's get this over with.

I'm starting with Charmander because: #1, Charizard can be ridden; #2, I predict Orbis zone 1 will have a lot of Grass- and Bug-types; zone 2 will have Rock- and Ground-types; zone 3 will have Ice-types; and zone 4 will have Fire-types, so this moveset by Smogon will potentially destroy Pokémon from the first three zones:

Charizard @ Charizardite Y

Ability: Blaze

EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

Timid Nature

- Flamethrower

- Solar Beam

- Focus Blast

- Roost

I went for a special-attacking set because I don't know when I can get a Mega Stone and regular Charizard is a special attacker so I can make the most out of regular Charizard.

Edit: Now that Gigantamax is a thing thanks to Pokémon Sword and Shield, this moveset, also by Smogon (with one change), kicks a lot of butt in Orbis:

Charizard @ Leftovers
Ability: Solar Power
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Flamethrower
- Hurricane
- Solar Beam
- Focus Blast
I chose Leftovers since it allows Charizard to recover more HP while Gigantamaxed, and it helps Charizard survive longer battles in a playthrough. When playing competitively, I'll give it Heavy-Duty Boots or a Life Orb.

Pokémon training is not a priority since I'm focused on keeping myself alive—I'll only do Pokémon battles if I either have strong gear, I'm in my shelter, or there are no signs of monsters.

When I do battle, I'll look for Pokémon with the EVs I want.

My Pokémon team for Hytale: https://reallunatictactician.blogspot.com/p/hytale-pokemon-team.html

P.S. I saw the Pokémon Direct, and I think it's OK. I'm glad they revealed the starters and the region at the very start—things which really define a Pokémon game's identity and spark a lot of hype. However, Hytale, Pixelmon, and school work are mainly on my mind right now, so I won't care much about Pokémon Sword and Shield until I watch a theory video that was posted after the Direct.
Anyway, I'm picking Sobble just because it's Water-type and it's one of my favorite types. (This may change once Pokémon Sword and Shield are released.)
Edit: I think Inteleon has an amazing design and stat distribution.

More on My Hytale Play Style

Part 2: Backup Plans

Part 3: Mid- to Late-Game

"Be a Man. Get Married." Nah...

W. Bradford Wilcox did the video above for Prager University, where he explained how married men work longer and harder and earn more money than single men, supported by data.
If I paraphrased it correctly, this is because the thought of family responsibility encourages men to work to support their families. (Perhaps this is why I read and hear of a lot of Filipino parents working abroad. According to TagalogLang, there are about 4 million Filipino-Americans. My paternal uncle works in the United States.)

Before I begin, I just wanna say: I feel uncomfortable disagreeing with Prager University. I like how their opinions are well-constructed and supported by facts, and I am slightly conservative. At least they're chill with opposing opinions. (I'm not sure about my readers. Being a Minecraft server staff member has made me paranoid of toxic people.)
I also admit that this specific video is controversial--it has a lot of negative comments on top and has 8.2k likes and 21k dislikes.

I have a Mr. Krabs mentality with money--I am addicted to earning money, and I HATE spending money. This is why I sometimes stop my parents from willingly buying stuff for me that I don't need for survival. (Good luck to myself when I have to pay bills and taxes.)
But as much as my Mr. Krabs mentality was amazed at how lucrative being married can be, I put on my lunatic tactician cap and thought, "Cattle feces, this is not for me. I can be single and still work as hard as a married man!" Besides, I think some of you already know that I REFUSE to get married because of the additional responsibilities.

Screenshot from Miitopia
Yes, I used to play healers in RPGs

Allow me to explain how this works for me.

I have Asperger's syndrome; one of its characteristics is strong loyalty to friends.
Once I find a person who I want to be friends with (regardless of gender/sex), I pursue that person relentlessly. I ask that person when we can hang out or play sports/video games (sometimes daily), give gifts like letters and hand-drawn art, and spy on their social media profiles to look for what they want in a friend.

However, since I'm currently a college student with a volunteer "job" at a family store, I have to balance work life, school life, family life, and friend life. I often tell my gaming friend BoltOLightnin, "Sorry, I'm doing an assignment/doing store work/about to leave the house for a family outing." I have heard similar answers from other people before, so saying that makes me annoyed because my friend time is interrupted.

On the bright side, that annoyance makes me think, "If I study and work hard, I can take a huge break afterward, and I can hang out with my friends."
I then get extra motivated to work because it helps me achieve a victory with spoils that I rarely experience, but are extremely profitable.
Speaking of which, next summer vacation, I'm gonna spam people I like with hang-out invitations... (Just kidding--I only spam fighting moves in video games; I rarely spam when talking to others.)

But it's not just friends (or thoughts of having them) that motivate me to work hard.
In Regular Show, Mordecai and Rigby are normally slackers, but when they want something that has to be bought with money, they work extra hard for the money, such as in this episode. (Rigby also re-attended high school after being motivated by the Eileen Plan, and eventually got his diploma.)
On late 2017, I studied extra hard so I can beg Dad for Pokémon Ultra Moon for Christmas, since I wanted the Rockruff that evolves into Dusk Form Lycanroc, which was available during the launch period. I passed, and I successfully got the Dusk Form Lycanroc. (I didn't use it, though.)
I plan to keep on studying hard so that Dad can buy me Hytale.

Sometimes, as a lazy loner, I work hard to get out of work so I can be left alone and I can relax.
Here's how it works:
Mom: "Juliann, please do this paperwork."
Me: "NO! Lazy! Can't you see I'm fighting?"
30 minutes later...
Mom: "You haven't done your paperwork!"
*I get killed by a hacker*
Me: "FINE!"
Mom: "But you don't have to do it now--just focus on playing and do your work when you have time..."
*I quickly finish work without saying anything*

Another situation involving getting out of work: I'm leaving for vacation at Boracay on February 13, but it's during the middle of the trimester, where school work is slightly tougher and more hectic than the early weeks.
I cannot let school work get in the way of my vacation fun. As of posting this, I plan to study extra hard from February 10 to 12 so I spend more time enjoying vacation than doing school work during vacation.

I can't remember where I said it in this blog, but I randomly get extra motivated (or extra lazy) to work when I'm angry. The adrenaline rush causes me to clean dirt and finish paperwork extra fast.
(Unfortunately, it also causes me to be more absent-minded and unable to do school work or follow Mom's orders.)

In summary, having a motivation to work hard helps me work just as hard as married men even if I stay single. It doesn't matter how weird the motivation is, whether it's friends, laziness, or anger, as long as I get the job done.

With all this said, it's up to you to find your own motivation for working your best.
I hope you all work hard and get good results!

Infected for the THIRD TIME in a ROW!?

CAUTION: This post has references to politics and tobacco. Viewer discretion is advised.

In the Christmas season of 2018, I got infected with the common cold, probably due to extreme workouts. I felt better a few days after New Year 2019.

I got infected again with said disease on mid-January due to cold showers from erratic weather and lack of sleep.

And, yesterday (February 6, 2019), I got infected through the same method as on mid-January. I also had an intense workout the day before infection, where I bench-pressed 2 sets, 11 reps, 30 lbs (instead of my usual 2 sets, 10 reps, 20 lbs) and leg-pressed 3 sets, 17 reps, 97 kg (before: 3 sets, 16 reps, 86 kg).

I think the erratic weather alternating between hot and cold is caused by the northeast monsoon, the cold front, and the approaching summer season.
That's why I keep getting cold showers at night. (I only bathe at night so that I keep my bed clean. I don't bathe in the morning because I'm lazy and I wake up as soon as work starts. Besides, I rarely smell bad after waking up, unless it was hot the whole night or I drooled.)

Oh well, I'm sort of getting used to being infected at this point.
It's not like this erratic weather will stabilize before summer vacation officially starts.
I can't wait to get back my warm, cozy showers at night.

I heard that there's also a measles outbreak in the Philippines right now due to people being terrified of vaccines after the Dengvaxia scandal where more than 100 Filipino children who didn't have dengue before died due to severe dengue after being given Dengvaxia.
Lots of diseases, like Ebola, can be mistaken for the common cold, so could I have measles?
I'm gonna need more face masks.

For the love of all that is good, STOP SMOKING. I hate cigarettes with a burning passion to the point where I'm willing to disarm smokers on sight.
Also keep your vehicles well-maintained to minimize the emission of harmful gases.

Edit, March 25, 2019: I felt completely healthy starting February 23, 2019, and haven't gotten infected since. FREAKING FINALLY!

Unrelated P.S.: I got bored with my usual workout intensities (outside of boxing training), so I got inspired by this video: