I wouldn't be surprised if this disclaimer becomes a meme.
Edit: She's not sure if she can get Hytale. Instead, I'm recruiting my younger brother HeadsHoKer who's also a sword cavalier. He's significantly stronger and more charismatic.
IMPORTANT EDIT, May 13, 2021: I got infuriated by my old friends becoming increasingly busy with school, work, and their hobbies, so I ended my friendship with them. None of my remaining friends are interested in Hytale and I don't feel like finding any at the moment. Therefore, I'll be playing by myself.
I don't have time to edit this at the moment because I want to prioritize my work.
I'm not recruiting any team members, so please don't ask to join me. I take teamwork VERY seriously, which I think doesn't suit the majority of gamers who fight best when they're alone.
In my co-op Minecraft playthroughs with BoltOLightnin, including my Bytesize playthrough and Hytale practice playthrough, BoltOLightnin consistently asked, "What is our goal?"
That question throws me off every time, regardless of who asks it (but it's extra annoying when my family members ask it) because I mostly pay attention to the present and don't focus too much on the past or future (especially the distant future).
Focusing on the present improves my effectiveness in playthroughs, school work, and sparring because it helps me stay calm, react appropriately to unexpected problems, and solve them without the anxiety of potential failure. I've won many battles and passed many exams thanks to this strategy.
For BoltOLightnin and YoSquid, my main goal in Minecraft playthroughs is to defeat the Ender Dragon. (I also have secondary long-term goals like finishing a big base, but I think of them as I play, and they usually don't come up in the early game.)
I didn't want BoltOLightnin to be bored to death by my focus on the short-term, so, upon foresight of being asked about my goal in Hytale, I thought of my play style for the mid to late-game.
Edit, May 13, 2021: Turns out this is a failure in setting personal boundaries and not giving a fuck. At the time I published this post, I mainly wanted to satisfy someone else, not myself.
Now, however, I'm still satisfied by all the steps I wrote in this post. 2021 has been a headache so far thanks to the Wuhan coronavirus and increasingly difficult school work, so having done this in 2019 is a huge relief.
#7: Find stronger equipment by mining or defending the base.
This is meant to replace step #7 in part 1.
Like shrines in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, I imagine that Hytale dungeons would pose a series of unique challenges to test explorers' attributes like strength, speed, wisdom, and willpower, as well as potentially forming part of the main story.
But, unlike base defense which can be easily done with cheap gear in Minecraft thanks to terrain familiarity, combat in the field, especially in a dungeon, is challenging because the monsters may have a terrain advantage over us, and some dungeons have unique monsters, some of which are bosses.
Also, block breaking and placement are limited in dungeons, as stated in the worldgen introduction, so we can't alter the terrain to our advantage; we have to adapt to the dungeon's terrain.
The high-tier tools in Minecraft are often acquired by mining, so that's what I plan to do in Hytale.
The tough part is scheduling mining and defense duty since I have no player-controlled officers and I don't trust my Redshirt Army (after doing step 9). It's implied that hostile mobs also spawn at night in Hytale, though I'd still be wary of foes that attack in the day.
By the way, I prefer to strip-mine in the late-game. At this point, the caves we've explored will most likely have no more ores, and looking for more caves can take long.
I think regular hostile mobs may also have rare or powerful weapons; the Void Spawn in the monster design post holds a green cleaver sword (I want to call it an armorslayer) which resembles thorium. (Thorium only has a Mohs hardness of 3.0, which is not ideal for a weapon. Maybe the thorium in this game is actually a compound formed by thorium and another element?)
 |
| Screenshot from the Hytale announcement trailer The green ores resemble thorium while the blue ores resemble cobalt (What if Hypixel Studios trolls me by telling me that those are ruby, sapphire, and emerald?) |
Skeletons are common and have a variety of weapons and armor, so I'm excited about looting their weapons, particularly the frozen warrior's ice sword and the wizard's staff. We could have a huge arsenal just by fighting these piles of bones for hours.
Side note: My favorite sound effect in Minecraft is the skeleton's death sound. I hope Hytale's skeleton sounds are just as good, if not better.
I won't get strong gear from dungeons at this point (unless they're super easy).
Backup plan: Sometimes, random number generators (RNGs) aren't nice to players. It can take days in real life to find valuable ores or strong weapons. Therefore, we have to settle for a more surefire method to get these precious items: Dungeons (even though I don't like to explore them early on). It wouldn't make sense for Hytale to not reward players for the hard work they put into clearing a dungeon.
But, to be honest, I'm patient enough to wait days or even weeks just to get rare items. Take it from Pokétuber JubileeBlais and her incredible patience: it took her 2 months and 47 streams to get a Shiny Aerodactyl, and she was persistent the whole time. I don't know about my officers, though.
Backup plan: Sometimes, random number generators (RNGs) aren't nice to players. It can take days in real life to find valuable ores or strong weapons. Therefore, we have to settle for a more surefire method to get these precious items: Dungeons (even though I don't like to explore them early on). It wouldn't make sense for Hytale to not reward players for the hard work they put into clearing a dungeon.
But, to be honest, I'm patient enough to wait days or even weeks just to get rare items. Take it from Pokétuber JubileeBlais and her incredible patience: it took her 2 months and 47 streams to get a Shiny Aerodactyl, and she was persistent the whole time. I don't know about my officers, though.
#8. Expand the base...and build a Donald Trump wall.
DISCLAIMER: I am neutral towards former US President Donald Trump. I am also not a political expert.
What better way to feel at home than to live in a big, well-built base with more than enough resources? We will have lots of space to move around, lots of places to hang out or be alone, lots of food to bring to battles and parties, and, of course, lots of terrain advantages to dominate our enemies. In short, a big base will raise morale.
Of course, the actual base features will vary, but the ground rules are that the base should have one house for each officer, an 18x18 crop farm, an animal farm, a cave or staircase mine, and, of course, a Trump wall to tell the illegal immigrants—I mean hostile mobs—to go firetruck some other weirdo's territory.
Speaking of an animal farm, we'll also need mounts if magical transport doesn't exist or isn't viable.
For additional features, I'm thinking of a city hall, a park, a PvP arena, a home for friendly NPCs like Kweebecs, and a tactics room.
By the way, do Kweebecs actually "die" of old age in-game? If yes, I'll bring an elderly Kweebec to make a Kweebec tree which will produce Kweebec seeds. Yay, more troops! (See Get to know Hytale's NPCs.)
As for the Trump wall, I imagine a simple stone wall with crenels and battlements. The wall should be at least 6 blocks tall to keep out larger or stronger enemies.
I'm thinking of using transparent blocks like glass or beams to make a huge "roof" above our base. This helps protect against flying enemies while allowing sunlight to pass through and crops to grow.
Too bad it costs a lot of resources and is risky to build.
Speaking of an animal farm, we'll also need mounts if magical transport doesn't exist or isn't viable.
For additional features, I'm thinking of a city hall, a park, a PvP arena, a home for friendly NPCs like Kweebecs, and a tactics room.
By the way, do Kweebecs actually "die" of old age in-game? If yes, I'll bring an elderly Kweebec to make a Kweebec tree which will produce Kweebec seeds. Yay, more troops! (See Get to know Hytale's NPCs.)
As for the Trump wall, I imagine a simple stone wall with crenels and battlements. The wall should be at least 6 blocks tall to keep out larger or stronger enemies.
 |
| Sample Trump wall corner; its lowest height is 6 blocks. Notice that the crenels have doors. They allow us to close them to block projectiles or open them to attack. I'm pretty dang proud of this one :p |
Too bad it costs a lot of resources and is risky to build.
#9: Build friendly reputations with NPC factions.
 |
| Screenshot from Minecraft 1.8 with Custom NPCs Gray Kweebec skin by SliCap Brown Kweebec skin by astridini LunaticTactician and Lunatic Blade Private skins by LunaticTactician |
"...the prince will be able to take care of himself if he has a sufficient supply of men or of money to put an adequate army in the field, capable of engaging anyone likely to attack him…and it will not seem easy to attack a prince who has kept his city vigorously strong and is not hated by his people."
To further boost my strength, morale, and sense of security, I need the unique powers of NPCs.
- Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince
Thankfully, Hypixel Studios is nice to us by giving us Kweebecs, a faction that will form some of our "earliest allies".
We're not sure about their fighting capabilities other than wielding spears and slingshots, but I imagine them to be fairly durable because of their wooden bodies and easily able to recover HP by sunbathing, with the drawbacks of their small sizes making them physically weak in offense and their wooden bodies making them slow (even at "young adult" ages).
I think it's likely that befriending (or making enemies with) factions involves a series of quests. After step #8, we'll be geared up and ready for almost anything, so I'm willing to take the challenge to earn the factions' trust. I'm excited to see an allied faction fight better as its relationship with the player improves.
Edit: The December 12, 2019 progress update stated that "loot and faction reputation are both likely reasons for [the player] to seek out [objectives]." HECK YEAH, BOI!
Edit: The December 12, 2019 progress update stated that "loot and faction reputation are both likely reasons for [the player] to seek out [objectives]." HECK YEAH, BOI!
I'll mainly use Kweebecs in the field or in caves against weaker mobs; I usually won't bring them in dungeons or zone 4 because I don't want to waste their lives on difficult battles. Of course, I'll give them a lot of time to sunbathe. (See Robin's B support conversation with Virion.)
#10: Destroy hostile factions.
 |
| Screenshot from Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories |
"...in seizing a state one ought to consider all the injuries he will be obliged to inflict and then proceed to inflict them all at once so as to avoid frequent repetition of such acts."
Think of gang warfare in GTA San Andreas or GTA Vice City Stories for this part.
- Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince
Note that I treat members of hostile factions as monsters or hostile mobs.
I imagine that befriending one faction can make another faction hate the player, such as Scaraks becoming increasingly aggressive to the player if they befriend the Ferans.
Hostile factions will most likely be as annoying as standard Minecraft hostile mobs to begin with, and befriending factions will make the hostile ones even worse; they could organize attacks against our base. That's why I chose to build a Trump wall and befriend factions before fighting the hostile factions; otherwise, our defenses against these factions would be weak if we assault them right off the bat.
Would you rather fight a colony of Scaraks in a base with small houses and farms, or fight them in a huge base protected by a Trump wall and a formation of Kweebecs?
Being a solo fighter means I can only attack one side at a time, causing most (if not all) enemy units to focus on me. Therefore, I have to create the illusion that they're being attacked on multiple sides by a larger army, causing them to split up. This can create a sense of paranoia that I'm preparing an ambush...when I'm really not doing so.
I can do this with some distant detonations around their base. Let's hope "redstone", "redstone repeaters", and "TNT" are easy to farm.
I'm terrified of the more dungeon-like faction bases though, like where the Sand Empress lives. Then again, at this point, our army will be more than powerful enough with our weapons, numbers, and tactics to defeat boss-like faction leaders.
Note that once I decide to destroy an enemy faction, I usually won't do anything else until that faction is completely destroyed. The sooner we can get rid of an annoying faction, the safer we will be. If you've ever played GTA San Andreas or Vice City Stories, you'll know how annoying it is to constantly have you and your territories hunted down by enemy gangs when they hate you.
The least I would do besides conquest is take a short break to gather resources, repair our weapons, and allow my troops to restore HP.
Oh, by the way, Trorks, you're first on my list of factions to obliterate. The fact that you love meat boils my blood. And this new screenshot shows a Trork encampment that I think is weakly defended:
Backup plan: While failing an assault isn't a big deal because we can easily escape with skills and the right equipment, the tough part is dealing with retaliation attacks on our base, especially if we don't occupy enemy territory fast enough.
Putting lots of ranged-attacking NPCs like slingshot-wielding Kweebecs on our Trump wall can effectively suppress attacks by small armies, so those aren't a big deal for us, allowing us to take over about 50% of the enemy territory hassle-free. (Kweebecs, just please don't have Stormtrooper aim.)
But if the enemy armies are too strong or have specialized units (i.e. block breakers/builders, fliers, or lots of long-range attackers)...I honestly don't know what to do right now. I guess I'll take all the precious stuff in my base and KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM in a Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
I should also build decoy and backup bases. Decoy bases might fool the AI into taking control of useless territory, while backup bases can be used when our main base's defenses fail. (I doubt that our defenses will be destroyed easily, considering our experiences in Minecraft. The most an enemy army can do to us is either kill one Kweebec or chip off 2% of our Trump wall.)
Side note: What about factions that are neither friendly nor hostile? It depends on whether we think they're morally good or bad. We'll befriend good (or neutral but peaceful) factions and destroy bad ones.
 |
| Image from the Hypixel server forums Thanks to @Shadrok_D for sharing this! |
Putting lots of ranged-attacking NPCs like slingshot-wielding Kweebecs on our Trump wall can effectively suppress attacks by small armies, so those aren't a big deal for us, allowing us to take over about 50% of the enemy territory hassle-free. (Kweebecs, just please don't have Stormtrooper aim.)
But if the enemy armies are too strong or have specialized units (i.e. block breakers/builders, fliers, or lots of long-range attackers)...I honestly don't know what to do right now. I guess I'll take all the precious stuff in my base and KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM in a Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
I should also build decoy and backup bases. Decoy bases might fool the AI into taking control of useless territory, while backup bases can be used when our main base's defenses fail. (I doubt that our defenses will be destroyed easily, considering our experiences in Minecraft. The most an enemy army can do to us is either kill one Kweebec or chip off 2% of our Trump wall.)
Side note: What about factions that are neither friendly nor hostile? It depends on whether we think they're morally good or bad. We'll befriend good (or neutral but peaceful) factions and destroy bad ones.
Another side note: Imagine if the player could convert a hostile faction to become their ally, either through friendship, mind control, or brute force.
Necromancy not included.
#11: Explore other dungeons in Orbis.
I should practice parkour in Minecraft before exploring dungeons.
Again, block breaking and placement are limited, so I can't cheat in Hytale dungeon parkour, unlike End cities. (I know Noxy dislikes pay-to-win games, but I'd still be ready in case Hypixel Studios is aware of how Genshin Impact players use the Geo Traveler and Venti to cheat in domains and events.)
Well, at least I've played a handful of platformers as a kid.
Puzzles aren't a problem though since I can just look up solutions online.
The tough part is being convinced to "solve them without help for a feeling of fulfillment", which I'm not a fan of in this situation because what if solving incorrectly triggers an unblockable or unavoidable trap?
Again, block breaking and placement are limited, so I can't cheat in Hytale dungeon parkour, unlike End cities. (I know Noxy dislikes pay-to-win games, but I'd still be ready in case Hypixel Studios is aware of how Genshin Impact players use the Geo Traveler and Venti to cheat in domains and events.)
Well, at least I've played a handful of platformers as a kid.
Puzzles aren't a problem though since I can just look up solutions online.
The tough part is being convinced to "solve them without help for a feeling of fulfillment", which I'm not a fan of in this situation because what if solving incorrectly triggers an unblockable or unavoidable trap?
#12: Explore the later Orbis zones.
Edit: The December 12, 2019 progress update stated that zones 1, 2, and 3 have been changed to have scaling difficulty within them instead of one whole zone being harder than another. This means that, even if the player starts in zone 3 (which I assume was harder than zones 1 and 2 in the past), the player will have a reasonably easy time...assuming they avoid the obviously hard areas. Enemies will be stronger or weaker depending on the player's equipment and, I think, skill level. (Did I interpret the blog post right?)
Interesting how they didn't mention the last three zones. Maybe those zones are difficult to begin with regardless of equipment. Makes sense because, unless you're edgy or hardcore, why would you want to start your adventure in what is pretty much a volcano?
Hopefully the Orbis zones aren't too far apart from each other.
In Minecraft, it can take incredibly long to find a desert when starting from ice plains, especially if the biomes on the way are massive.
#13: Explore the alterverses.
 |
| Screenshot from Minecraft 1.8 with Custom NPCs Trork sentry skin by TotalRespawn |
For similar reasons why Minecrafters explore the Nether and End.
Just like with Nether portals, we need to make sure our alterverse portals (if applicable) are protected so that enemies can't deactivate them, and we need to bring items to reactivate them. Being stuck forever in an alterverse is pathetic and extremely boring.
If alterverse travel works similar to real-life space travel, I'll prioritize speed and durability for our spaceship to protect it against asteroids, monsters, and hostile factions. I'm willing to constantly refuel our ship and use my own weapons against the enemy rather than the spaceship's.
After gathering treasure from the alterverses, we may repeat steps #9 and #10. For #10, I'll start with the hostile factions that are normally incapable of traveling between alterverses since they can't harm us while we slack off or recover at our main Orbis base.
Just like with Nether portals, we need to make sure our alterverse portals (if applicable) are protected so that enemies can't deactivate them, and we need to bring items to reactivate them. Being stuck forever in an alterverse is pathetic and extremely boring.
If alterverse travel works similar to real-life space travel, I'll prioritize speed and durability for our spaceship to protect it against asteroids, monsters, and hostile factions. I'm willing to constantly refuel our ship and use my own weapons against the enemy rather than the spaceship's.
After gathering treasure from the alterverses, we may repeat steps #9 and #10. For #10, I'll start with the hostile factions that are normally incapable of traveling between alterverses since they can't harm us while we slack off or recover at our main Orbis base.
#14: Weaken Varyn's faction.
I assume that Varyn has his own faction because of this statement in the monster design post: "The creatures of the void make up the armies of Varyn, Hytale’s chief antagonist."
Notice that, despite being a step to destroy a faction, this is not included in steps #10 or #13. This is because I imagine Varyn's faction to be the strongest faction in the game (besides Gaia's faction, if any) and Varyn himself to be the final boss; the Hytale equivalent of the Ender Dragon. We need the best possible equipment and army against Varyn and his forces, so I chose to explore the alterverses and the rest of Orbis first (for a similar reason why Ender Dragon killers visit the Nether first--besides getting blaze rods, the Nether provides nether warts for making potions). If we assault Varyn's territories too early, our defenses may be overwhelmed by massive swarms of grotesque and powerful creatures that can cut our Trump wall like a hot knife through butter.
Think of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild when Link frees the Divine Beasts from Calamity Ganon's control before going to Hyrule Castle to face Calamity Ganon, thus making the fight easier. (Yeah, this is no ordinary gang warfare--nothing like GTA.)
Varyn is not from Orbis, but his minions can spawn in Orbis. Could he have camps set up in Orbis? If yes, the Orbis camps are what I will raid first thanks to familiarity with that alterverse and to make it take longer to assault our base since, without the Orbis camps, Varyn's forces will need to travel from other alterverses. Maybe Varyn won't get too angry if I destroy his weaker forces first...
After obliterating most (if not all) of Varyn's forces from Orbis, I'll move on to Varyn's territories in the alterverses, in order of difficulty or familiarity.
For the Orbis camps, I'll probably bring faction members like Kweebecs; they can probably take a punch from Varyn's weaker forces. But for the alterverses, I'll go alone; I need my troops to defend my base. They'll probably get one-shot by Varyn anyway without being able to contribute anything to the fight.
Let's see how well I can use light magic. Then again, I plan to run a melee physical build.
#15: Defeat Varyn.
This should be done immediately after step #14.
Varyn, there's nowhere to run. We've decimated your forces and explored much of the Hytale universe in our hunt for your silly-looking head. (No offense, Thomas Frick. lololol)
There's hardly anything we know so far about Varyn's powers, other than him having a purple orb that represents void magic and Varyn putting all his focus on a spell charged by his hand. Therefore, this step is highly speculative.
Well, how kind of you, Varyn! I can see your attack coming, just like with other bosses and the people whose punches I've blocked with my karate chops!
But I think Varyn will most likely have area-of-effect attacks that are difficult to block or dodge, so I'm worried about how my troops will handle those.
Imagine if there was a dodge move that pushes allies out of the way of attacks.
When I look closely at Varyn's armor, I see lots of layers, so it might be really sturdy but heavy.
Thankfully, I'm also good with maces, so I can probably deal super effective damage to Varyn. (I've swung a baseball bat in real life.)
There's hardly anything we know so far about Varyn's powers, other than him having a purple orb that represents void magic and Varyn putting all his focus on a spell charged by his hand. Therefore, this step is highly speculative.
Well, how kind of you, Varyn! I can see your attack coming, just like with other bosses and the people whose punches I've blocked with my karate chops!
But I think Varyn will most likely have area-of-effect attacks that are difficult to block or dodge, so I'm worried about how my troops will handle those.
Imagine if there was a dodge move that pushes allies out of the way of attacks.
When I look closely at Varyn's armor, I see lots of layers, so it might be really sturdy but heavy.
Thankfully, I'm also good with maces, so I can probably deal super effective damage to Varyn. (I've swung a baseball bat in real life.)
If Varyn can be fought anywhere, I'll fight him underground in the least dangerous alterverse (aside from Orbis because that's our home) to limit his movement, just like fighting the Wither. That comes with the drawback of being vulnerable to his AoE attacks because of our movement being also limited, but at least we can deal more consistent damage.
I'm also fine with fighting Varyn on a specialized battlefield like a portal dungeon. This kind of battlefield is predictable and has mostly unbreakable blocks, so we can adapt to the terrain by doing test runs and watching YouTube videos of Varyn fights.
Backup plan: Gaia forbid Varyn be summoned in our base. If that does happen, we're in massive trouble.
The obvious thing to do is lure Varyn away from the base, but that's tough if he randomly targets either players or non-players, or even player-made buildings.
Maybe the best place to lure Varyn is in zone 3, which symbolizes water. If he burns down the surroundings, the fire won't last long because of the cold climate.
Or maybe luring him to a place bathed in holy light would reduce the power of his void attacks.
I won't lure him to a cave in case he's smart enough to avoid caves.
#16: Defeat BoltOLightnin and YoSquid in a competitive tournament.
Unlike my bad Minecraft PvP, I'm much better at Pokémon battles than BoltOLightnin or YoSquid. RIP
Practice plan (before Hytale release): I'll play Minecraft with Custom NPCs, then make those NPCs them fight me. Afterwards, I'll play Krunker.
These will help me get used to aiming.
(At least I still know Pokémon competitive battling, even though I've been playing too much Fire Emblem.)
This step no longer applies.
#17: Complete the story 100% and experience the postgame features, if any.
To truly feel a sense of accomplishment with friends, we need to complete the story 100%.
Plus, we can discuss these story elements on the go.
Plus, we can discuss these story elements on the go.
Alternate Bad Guy Playthrough
I'll befriend Trorks and Scaraks while obliterating the Kweebecs and Ferans. Bring me an axe to scare Kweebecs and let us enslave Ferans once again.
Varyn's faction will be the faction I befriend last; I imagine that, just like defeating Varyn, befriending Varyn will be a monumentally difficult task.
As for the faction I'll defeat last...I don't know. Whatever the strongest friendly faction is, I suppose. Maybe I'll start with Tessa and Kyros, who are Orbis officers (I'm speculating that they're generals).
I'm wild-guessing that the final boss for the bad guys is Gaia.
I have a Hair-Trigger Temper so I might run a fire magic build.
Imagine, what if void magic can block out the sun? That would prevent Kweebecs from sunbathing.
But maybe Gaia's worshippers (including Kweebecs, Ferans, and Orbis officers) have prayers or artifacts that make them resist void magic...
I'm wild-guessing that the final boss for the bad guys is Gaia.
I have a Hair-Trigger Temper so I might run a fire magic build.
Imagine, what if void magic can block out the sun? That would prevent Kweebecs from sunbathing.
But maybe Gaia's worshippers (including Kweebecs, Ferans, and Orbis officers) have prayers or artifacts that make them resist void magic...
By the way, this will be my last blog post until August 4. Unlike the half-busy first week of school, the second week onwards is completely busy.
If only traditional school was a hostile faction that I could destroy in-game. lololol jk pls don't hate me
No comments:
Post a Comment