Why I'm Being Crazy-Prepared For Hytale

ThirtyVirus's Connections and Influence

I admit the primary influence of my Crazy-Preparedness for Hytale is the video above by ThirtyVirus. In the early months since the release of the Hytale announcement trailer, ThirtyVirus was one of the most popular sources of Hytale content, especially given his extensive game development and Minecraft backgrounds--he's currently developing a game engine and has played Minecraft since the Alpha versions.

Many of ThirtyVirus's Hytale videos have between 10k and 60k views as of writing this, with the most viewed video I can find being "Why I Am So Hyped for Hytale" which, interestingly, has over 110k. (This was posted on October 2020, more than a year after ThirtyVirus's rise to popularity through Hypixel SkyBlock.)

Admittedly, "Hytale should be DIFFICULT" only has 7.9k views. Not the most popular video, I know.

Another related factor driving my Crazy-Preparedness is the fact ThirtyVirus sometimes communicates with Hypixel staff on Twitter, not just about the Hypixel Minecraft server or Hytale, but even unrelated life concerns like doing the One Punch Man fitness challenge while drinking only Soylent for 1 month straight.

ThirtyVirus was among the first content creators to play Hypixel SkyBlock when it first came out. He cited that SkyBlock was what truly made him rise to popularity after so many years of doing YouTube with just a few views and subscribers. Combined with ThirtyVirus's game dev background, it's no surprise that Hypixel would come to ThirtyVirus for feedback.

ThirtyVirus also has connections with some other big Hytale content creators, including Legacy Gaming which ThirtyVirus joined in three Hytale Roundtables, as well as Fezzy of Hytale News who edits ThirtyVirus's videos.

(Here's Legacy Gaming's Hytale playlist. Use Ctrl+F/Command+F to find "thirtyvirus"; some of the video titles were misspelled as "rountable".)

The Actual Content of ThirtyVirus's Video

To summarize the main points of ThirtyVirus's video, he basically compared combat in earlier versions of Minecraft to Beta 1.8 and later versions. Being unable to sprint before Beta 1.8 made it harder to evade creeper explosions, making creepers more challenging to fight. Skeletons, similarly, are challenging foes if the player is in water.

The ideal enemy for ThirtyVirus is one that has an average amount of health but has attacks that are challenging to evade. (Basically many enemies in Genshin Impact.)

Basically, if the player is provided enough challenge when fighting an enemy, then killing that enemy is satisfying.

"Challenging" vs. "Difficult"

Notice I intentionally used the word "challenging" multiple times.

I don't know why ThirtyVirus chose to use the word "difficult". Maybe it has something to do with the negativity bias Mark Manson talked about. To use another Genshin Impact example, here are the thumbnails and titles of some of Gacha Gamer's videos:

2 give a sense of urgency, such as "5 CRITICAL REASONS WHY XIAO OR GANYU IS BETTER FOR YOU".
5 leave a negative impression, including "TOP 5 WORST WEAPONS IN GENSHIN IMPACT".
8 generate excitement, such as "TOP 5 INSANE NEW CHANGES COMING IN GENSHIN IMPACT 1.3 UPDATE".
(Does not count the partially shown thumbnails 'cause my points wouldn't make sense without enough context. lololol)

Obviously, most humans don't want to die, so our survival instincts make us want to prepare for disasters. Hardcore gamers extend a bit of this survival instinct to video games.

I consider "challenging" a positive adjective. To extend my definition of "challenging", it would refer to something whose difficulty is high enough to educate or satisfy, but also low enough to accomplish. We encounter challenging situations regularly: in careers, family, friendships, hobbies, school, and, of course, video games.

"Difficult", on the other hand, is generally considered negative. Not all "difficult" situations are challenging. There are difficult situations where you simply must accept the fact you lost or can't win; for example, losing your house or a loved one to a natural disaster.

I think, despite his video's title, ThirtyVirus doesn't want Hytale to have too many near-impossible gameplay moments, especially for newbies. After all, with the right technique and positioning, you can beat a creeper or skeleton without a sprint mechanic.

You could argue that Prototypes from the Prototype series, Midori Gurin from Yandere Simulator, and Oceanids from Genshin Impact would be MUCH harder enemies in Hytale.

Yet here I am, aware that I'm overreacting to ThirtyVirus's video.

After all, that supposed low-tier Trork in the April 30, 2020 progress update hit like a truck.

The file name of this image contains "low_tier_trork".
To be fair, the April 30, 2020 Trork held a spiked club. This Trork's club lacks spikes.

After combat, if unit attacked, inflicts Luck-7 on foe through its next action.

You'll understand what I mean by this Fire Emblem Heroes-like skill effect later.

When Aby (a.k.a. BoltOLightnin, player4709) and I had co-op Minecraft Survival playthroughs in the early months since the Hytale trailer, I played like I usually did: gather as many resources as possible and aggressively kill hostile mobs for fun. My Internet connection was weak at the time at only a measly 0.4 Mbps upload speed, so, combined with us not being able to find an Asia server, we lagged a lot. As such, taking damage was a very stressful experience that made me unable to think clearly--I just kept going on Roaring Rampages of Revenge. Of course, rushing enemies while lagging led to my inevitable death...and also Aby's.

This, to me, was a huge disgrace to my LunaticTactician name. Being a yandere who cares a lot for his friends, letting them get killed in pathetic ways due to my poor leadership is the last thing I want to happen to them. As such, I assumed merely taking damage in Minecraft Survival was an omen of bad luck.

You know how, in movies, new martial arts learners are arrogant and hot-blooded while the masters are calm? I used my (in)famous Hytale practice regimen to practice inner peace in the face of immense difficulty; in fact, my regimen has such a HUGE ruleset beyond simply not taking damage that I thought it was worthy of a whole blog post.

I haven't played Minecraft seriously in many weeks due to Genshin Impact, but I'm confident that my regimen has made me calmer, more alert, and more prepared for danger. I no longer take fights for granted--I give everything I got.

The next thing I need to do is apply my skills once again in co-op Minecraft. In particular, I want to practice issuing orders, especially during combat, like a true commander.

Why Prototypes, Midori, and Oceanids?

Screw you, by the way, to Alex Mercer (not James Heller), YandereDev, Albedo, and the Overlord of the Vortex. (I meant that as a light-hearted joke to YandereDev. For the others, I'm serious.)

Hypixel Studios staff are generally shameless in their love for other entertainment media. (I mean this positively. I couldn't think of a better word.) Before the release of Cyberpunk 2077, the official Hytale Twitter account posted a Hytale-themed parody of Johnny Silverhand called "Kweeanu Leaves" (Kweebec + Keanu Reeves + Leaves). The May 30, 2020 progress update even has freakin' Sailor Moon! If they ever get an opportunity, they may even do crossovers with Riot Games IPs like League of Legends! (Riot Games is now the parent company of Hypixel Studios.)

Even the Hypixel Minecraft server doesn't hide its inspiration. "Smash Heroes" has very similar gameplay to Super Smash Bros.: play as characters with unique moves like in a fighting game and knock your foes off the arena. The infected in the minigame "Infection" have beige stuff on their faces; according to The Last of Us Wiki, these infected resemble clickers. (Honestly, I'd rather fight a horde of clickers.)

I think it's highly unlikely that Hytale would make blatant expies of any third-party IPs in-game (except maybe Riot Games IPs). Instead. I feel like Hytale would instead use them as inspiration for original content.

For example, a monster that can disguise itself and gain the powers of whatever it's disguised as could have similar limitations as, say, Kirby who loses his copied powers upon taking too much damage. An all-knowing monster that also knows the metagame could be killed by overloading its brain with pointless information. An Oceanid-like monster might stop summoning mooks after a few waves and instead attack the player directly while also being vulnerable to direct attacks.

Edit, March 6, 2021: This is unrelated to Hytale, but I think I accidentally predicted the Genshin Impact 1.4 Oceanid event with my "direct attack" statement.

But I prepare for these exact enemies anyway--or sometimes even upgraded versions of them--in case Hypixel Studios wants to troll us.

After all, I bet ThirtyVirus can name a lot of his favorite boss fights when he was a little kid.

I Just Love This Game, Man!

After all, I wouldn't be Crazy-Prepared for something I'm not dedicated to. When I first got into my English-teaching job, I was Crazy-Prepared after spending hours binge-reading about Japanese culture (mainly on TV Tropes).

Minecraft is the foundation for several core parts of my identity. While Dean Ambrose of WWE and Robin from Fire Emblem Awakening formed the LunaticTactician name, Minecraft, to me, is the game that solidified that title. While block-building is often cited as the reason Minecraft is a little kid's creation game, I see it as a way to practice tactical positioning and establishing strong territory. You could say I take the "It's over, Anakin! I have the high ground!" meme seriously.

As someone with a secondary, casual interest in psychology, when it comes to lore, I'm most interested in the characters, including their backgrounds and personalities. Many of them inspire me with their similarities to my own personality or with traits and abilities that I want to have in real life. (A few even qualify as waifu material. lololol)

While Minecraft has very little lore, Hytale not only has a lot more lore but also encourages the player to learn it because it will be useful in gameplay. In particular, I'm really interested to learn about how present-day Feran behavior was influenced by years of slavery.

(I doubt I'll find any Hytale waifus anytime soon, though. I'm not a fan of either Gaia or Tessa waifu-wise.)

I've talked before about why I love open-world games, but to summarize, I love the joy of exploring and manipulating a vast world, especially because I rarely leave my house.

As for why I love RPGs (Hytale has RPG-like mechanics), I love the thrill of leveling up and turning from an ordinary person into a superhero.

Anyway, this will be my last Hytale post for now. Sorry, I can't help myself. Genshin Impact just has a ton of short-term things for my Manchild brain to look forward to.

I have a ton of Hytale YouTube videos in my backlog. I should consider binge-watching them when I run out of Original Resin.

Oceanid in Hytale Part 2 - Gang War

This is where Albedo's "six oceanids" quote comes into play. In this one, let's literally invade my base with 6 Oceanids.

But since I don't want to torture myself excessively, let's put allied units and proper defenses in this one.

(Funny thing is I haven't played GTA San Andreas in months.)

Rules

• 6 Oceanids will attack the base on all sides, including directly above the base but not underground.
• My base has the following defensive features: 20-foot cobblestone Trump wall, 30 Kweebecs with slingshots, 15 infantry Kweebecs with spears, 5 cavalry Kweebecs with rabbit mounts, and 5 Anemo-wielding Feran mages. (Let me know if you want a separate post for defense during an evil playthrough.) (We don't know if Hytale will have a redstone-like mechanic: something that Hypixel Studios has...uh, staunchly avoided mentioning.)
• While at least one Oceanid is alive, the weather is permanent rain that cannot be neutralized by any other weather-changing abilities.
• The Oceanids cannot sink any platforms.
• The Oceanids' insta-kill attack will be modified. They will instead insta-kill 10 units (or 1 player if all allied NPCs are defeated) if 10 minutes pass without defeating all the Hydro Mimics in a wave. (This only happens once per wave regardless of how many Oceanids remain.)

Why Do The Oceanids Want to Invade My Base?

This section contains spoilers of the end of Chapter I, Act III: A New Star Approaches.

Maybe they just hate humanity because we pollute the water or whatever. Or maybe they hate the guts of Rex Lapis and his worshippers from Liyue, given that the Overlord of the Vortex was sealed away by Rex Lapis and during Zhongli's Story Quest, we fight Hydro Mimics without an Oceanid. I am of Chinese descent and Liyue is based on China.

I swear, though, if these are Albedo's mooks, I'll punch Albedo in the gut.

Okay, fine. The real reason is I'm being Crazy-Prepared as usual...just in case vanilla Hytale has an Oceanid-like boss. But, again, assume this is part of a third-party mod.

Anti-Oceanid Tactics

Many of the Hydro Mimics' attacks, most notoriously the finch's and frog's ground-pound attacks, are horribly difficult to evade and require the player to time the evade button perfectly for a few frames of temporary invincibility.

I think it's unlikely that Hytale would have a similar mechanic because it allows players to cheese fights against foes with large AoE attacks, so I'll just reduce the finch's and frog's AoEs in my imagination and make them possible to No-Sell by performing a timed block with a shield, weapon, or even bare fists.

All ranged attackers should focus on the hawks first whenever possible because of their low HP and annoyance factor.

After the hawks, the mallards should be prioritized because they're dangerous to approach up close.

Clustering Melee Units

Clustering melee units should be avoided whenever possible to reduce total damage dealt by large AoE attacks such as the squirrel's tail whip. Ideally, units should attack each Hydro Mimic on different sides of their bodies, similar to a pincer attack.

It would be sweet if, in Hytale, I can lift and throw light infantry allies similar to the Disgaea series.

Blue units are melee Kweebec allies. Red units are Hydro Mimics.
The units on the left show the ideal way to surround an enemy, ensuring fewer units take damage from AoE attacks.
The units on the right are vulnerable to AoE attacks.

Speaking of avoiding clustering, I would divide NPC units evenly between each Oceanid. Don't try to imagine what would happen if we all ganged up on one Oceanid.

As for me, I will assist each group of allies depending on what I think is the hardest or most annoying group of Hydro Mimics. I'll focus on melee attacks, but if my ranged attackers have Stormtrooper aim, I'll take the ranged attacker role.

Trump Wall

Advantages

Feel free to say, "It's over, Anakin! I have the high ground!"

Most Hydro Mimics are ground units. The finch and frog can jump high, but I think they can't do so high enough to reach my 20-block-high Donald Trump wall. The crane and frog shoot projectiles that seem to only go horizontally across the ground, not in an arc like arrows or Klee's bombs. This allows ranged attackers stationed on the Trump wall to safely deal continuous chip damage.

Additionally, crenels can help protect against the hawks' swooping attack while letting my allies' projectiles go through. They'll have to go over my wall to swoop down, leaving them vulnerable to follow-up attacks.

Disadvantages

...Unless the Oceanids see this strategy coming (probably in wave 2) and spawn loads of melee attackers like boars onto the Trump wall battlements. As such, I'll have to make it easy to reach the battlements such as by putting a lot of ladders, increasing my player character's physical strength (if possible), and/or putting teleporters or whatever.

Before writing this paragraph, I imagined one weakness of the Oceanid was its lack of proper anti-structure and anti-vehicle skills, so I'll buff up the boars, making them capable of heavily damaging walls.

Thankfully, I plan to make the Trump wall thick with a strong, deep foundation.

I can also counter the boars with my own powerful melee attacks, considering I fill the role of my army's main DPS.

Escape Route

Most Hydro Mimics are bigger than humans, so my allies and I can squeeze through spaces that the mooks can't go through.

In Minecraft, I regularly make 1x1-size staircase mines, even at my own home. I can put such mines at every house I put in my city and link them all to a single underground room made of a tough material like obsidian.

The entrances to the underground room should be close together so that I can quickly and easily seal them with obsidian just in case the Hydro Mimics somehow go through.

If even obsidian cannot block the Hydro Mimics, then I'd better get a block from zone 5 that can easily conduct electricity or can even emit its own strong electricity to inflict a little Electro-Charged damage before continuing the fight with our own weapons.

A sample Minecraft emergency shelter in case of a failed Oceanid defense.
Don't worry--I killed Paimon before I put up that sign. Don't tell Corina Boettger.

TL;DR summary: The Oceanids want to invade us because I have Chinese blood, Liyue is based on China, and the Overlord of the Vortex is an enemy of Liyue's Archon, Rex Lapis.

Avoiding clusters of melee units while surrounding the enemy lessens enemy AoE damage.

Ranged attackers on the Trump wall help do chip damage without getting hit. They are also effective against the hawks.

If all else fails, we'll retreat to an underground obsidian room.

Should I Do Another Post About a Genshin Impact Boss in Hytale?

After all, the Pure Hypostases (especially the Pure Geo Hypostasis) made me RAGE. I scored about 3000 points on the challenges except for the ones with the Pure Geo Hypostasis where I only got about 1000. (For the final challenge with all three Pure Hypostases, I got 3000.)

We could have a freakin' Pure Hypostasis Gang.

At least the Oceanids can be led by either the Overlord of the Vortex or Albedo.

Who could lead the Pure Hypostases? I think it's not Sucrose because it's unknown if she researches the other Hypostases; just the Anemo one.

Regisvine Gang? That's a total joke. Regisvines can't move from where they're rooted.

As long as we don't get a Reckless Pallad expy in Hytale, we're good.

Childe and Stormterror are also jokingly easy for me, not counting the Stormterror bugs.

It's the Andrius boss which makes me rage...a little.

Actually, screw it. I hope the Tsaritsa doesn't read this post.

Or should she? After all, my Hair-Trigger Temper is the reason I gave myself a Pyro Vision... It's super effective! The opposing TSARITSA melted!

Frustrating Hytale Crossover Enemies: Genshin Impact's Oceanid Boss Part 1

DISCLAIMER: All Hytale-related content in this post is either speculative or based on my own imagination.

Assume all third-party content will be from a third-party mod.

Ah, the Oceanid. This boss is very interesting. It represents the Hydro (water) element--it's fought in a lake where it constantly rains and it creates mooks made of water. It only takes damage when a wave of its Hydro Mimics is defeated. As the boss itself says, "The power of water is its ability to take any shape..."

What's so rage-inducing about this boss? Where do I even start?

• None of the Hydro Mimics flinch when damaged, even by strong Elemental Skills and Elemental Bursts. The only way to stop them from attacking and moving is by freezing them.
• The Hydro Mimics hit hard, are fast, and are generally tanky. (Strength, speed, and durability vary by Mimic.)
• As the player damages the Oceanid, it sinks the platforms of the battlefield, limiting the player's movement.
• If the player takes too long to defeat a wave of Hydro Mimics, the Oceanid insta-kills one of the player's characters.
• Specific Hydro Mimics:
• The hawks cannot be hit by melee attacks. Their swoop attack is difficult to dodge and can catch the player off-guard while fighting other Hydro Mimics.
• The boars are the tankiest of all the Oceanid's Hydro Mimics. Although all the Mimics can walk on water, the boars are the most annoying because their charge attack puts them far from melee range, giving them time to steadily recover HP.
• While they're less tanky than the boars, the squirrels have a wide attack range and can steadily recover HP. They're not very strong by themselves but pair them with hawks and they're a huge headache.
• The ducks continuously inflict damage to nearby players, on top of being moderately fast.

Rules

• Unless otherwise specified, the Oceanid is fought in a Hytale version of its Genshin Impact battlefield.
• Blocks cannot be placed or broken during this fight similar to a portal dungeon.
• The Oceanid's Hydro Mimics can be affected by elemental reactions.
• I must use my Author Avatar. He has no Vision or magical powers but can use magic items.
• Allies (both NPCs and players) cannot be used unless otherwise specified.
• Most weapons and armor temporarily have infinite durability until the end of the fight.
• Except for a particular fight mentioned by Albedo in his Story Quest, only one Oceanid can be fought at a time.

Nothing But Trash Equipment

Assume I have a bow and a lot of arrows for this; otherwise, I can't do stealth archery. Also, without any kind of ranged weapon, I cannot damage the hawks at all.

As for my melee weapon, it's a stone sword. (Only inflicts Physical DMG, not Geo DMG.)

This was written just in case I'm locked into an Oceanid fight. Who knows--I might run into a "Trork" that is actually an Oceanid in a Prototype-style disguise and can summon its battlefield and trap it in a steel cage. (See how Crazy-Prepared I'm trying to be?)

(Yes, I know zone 1, where the Trorks live, is not associated with water; zone 3 is.)

First off, the "Trork" disguise. I should do some stealth archery first to find out which Trork doesn't take damage. (If I use melee stealth and try to "assassinate" the Oceanid, the real Trorks may be alerted to my presence. Ever tried to Stealth Consume an Evolved in Prototype 2?)

If I do alert the Trorks, I'll kill them first so that I won't have to pay so much attention to incoming attacks--the Trorks are easier to kill.

As for the Oceanid fight itself...

Considering how ridiculously difficult it is to dodge the mooks' attacks in Genshin Impact and that at this stage of Hytale progress, my Super Weight is Muggle Weight (level 0 out of 7), my best option is blocking.

The only weapons that have been shown to block so far are shields and two-handed swords (though the two-handed sword wielder was not in combat). We don't know if it will be possible to block with a one-handed weapon or how easy/hard it will be to craft a shield. Heck, I'm not sure if it's possible to negate damage with a timed shield block (i.e. parry) though the trailer implies it.

Quick attacks are important to ensure I steadily deal damage without being a sitting duck who just plays defensively. Given how long it took to do a charge attack with a maul in the graphics update, charge attacks are almost completely useless.

Actually, screw it. I'd probably lose anyway. My player character may be too slow at this stage to avoid or block attacks and inflicts too little damage to hurt the mooks faster than they can self-heal.

Co-op might not save us either because Hytale boss difficulty scales depending on the number of players. If anything, it'll just stress us out even more than if we did it solo.

(Remember the Resurgent Cryo Regisvine which was awakened due to the infamous Reckless Pallad? Some YouTubers have complained that it's harder in co-op.)

Mid-Tier Equipment

At this point, I might have an Epic-rarity weapon like the Fire Sword which can inflict an element. After all, killing a few lowly skeletons in zone 1 ruins isn't hard at all.

Other than that, I imagine I don't have any other magic items...especially given the lack of magic items that have officially been revealed. It's not like the Demonic Axe will be useful unless you run a self-healing DPS build to neutralize the recoil damage...

For me, the most annoying part of the Oceanid fight in Genshin Impact is dealing with many incoming attacks. Fortunately, some mooks have low HP, so I'd prioritize the cranes because they stay on the ground and don't attack frequently.

The hawks also have low HP but they fly and throwing weapons take time to charge up. (We don't know for sure if other weapons like bows have to be charged.) Once I finish up with the cranes or there are no cranes to begin with, the hawks are, in Ganyu's words, "next on the agenda".

I'd still favor fast attacks so that I can deal chip damage and still be ready to use a defensive move. The problem with slow attacks is, if the enemy's attack will hit sooner than my own, I'd have to cancel with a block or dodge and end up dealing no damage of my own.

Slow attacks, such as with the two-handed Fire Sword, work better when there's only one Hydro Mimic remaining.

And before you say "do Link's Spin Attack with the Fire Sword", we don't know if Hytale has a hunger or stamina mechanic. It also has a long startup time in Genshin Impact.

Ideally, I want to fight the Oceanid with a fast melee weapon that continuously inflicts Electro. Hydro is weak to Electro. The Electro-Charged reaction only requires hitting one Hydro-inflicted foe to continuously shock every other Hydro-inflicted foe, allowing me to focus my eyes on whatever is the most annoying target.

Vaporize is also great for quickly taking down the Hydro Mimics due to the 1.5x multiplier, but its overall effectiveness depends on what I use to inflict Vaporize. I most likely will not have access to Klee levels of AoE at this point.

Frozen is decent against a few mooks, but not against large groups. It also does not inflict additional damage and does not prevent some mooks from self-healing. Also, considering ThirtyVirus's influence and the Ascended Meme status of the Oceanid thanks to Albedo, I doubt modders will pull any punches.

High-Tier Equipment

I give myself a lot more freedom to choose here. At this point, I will likely have a lot of magic items from exploring high-level dungeons.

Anti-Oceanid But In-Character Build

Main weapon: Pyro Non-Throwing Polearm. I have a Hair-Trigger Temper and I got Pyro in some "What's your Genshin Impact Vision?" tests. Aby also said I also have the strongest affinity with fire.

Polearm characters like Xiangling and Zhongli have the fastest Normal Attacks in the game, but we're not sure about Hytale. The throwing spear appears to have a slow melee attack compared to swords. With Genshin Impact speed, I'd use this as my main DPS weapon. With Hytale throwing spear speed, I'd use this to finish off weakened Hydro Mimics.

I specified "non-throwing" because we don't know yet if all spears can be thrown in Hytale. In general, non-throwable spears are more powerful than throwable ones; for example, in the Fire Emblem GBA games, the Javelin has 1 less Mt than the Iron Lance, while in D&D 5th Edition, the spear can deal 1d8 damage when wielded with two hands while the javelin always deals 1d6.

Backup weapon: Electro Shortbow. My real-life bow's light weight is beginner-friendly. Light weight also means I can quickly inflict Electro-Charged, especially against fliers.

Armor: Light armor. Ideally a leather jacket, but since Hytale Adventure Mode is a medieval fantasy setting, maybe I'll just wear...whatever ninjas or thieves wear.

I want to maintain my speed while being able to tank a little like I can in real life. I'm not a professional e-sports player and I admit I still get cleanly hit in real life.

Accessory stats: Anything that increases Physical DMG, including ATK, CRIT Rate, and CRIT DMG. The faster I can kill my foes, the fewer attacks I need to dodge. I also assume that Hytale will use the Pokémon physical/special split so my Pyro polearm will deal Physical DMG in addition to Pyro DMG.

Glass Cannon Build

Main weapon: Electro Wand. The Weapon Research concept art shows staves and wands; generally, in video games, wands attack faster than staves. However, we haven't seen staves or wands attack yet (except for the ice spell used by a staff wielder in the trailer; we also don't fully understand how much animation lag it has, if any), so we can't accurately compare them to the Purple Spellbook (tome) we saw in the graphics update. See "Mid-Tier Equipment" for why I want to spam Electro-Charged.

Backup weapon: Cryo Staff. To stop the annoying buggers from moving. I imagine staves to have a wider AoE than tomes and wands.

Armor: Robe with DMG-boosting secondary stats. If you wanna play a glass cannon, why boost DEF when you can occupy that empty equipment slot with something that lets you hit harder? lololol

Accessory stats: Electro DMG Bonus. 'Nuff said.

Defensive Build

Main weapon: Electro One-handed Sword. Swords are traditionally versatile in video games. They're particularly fast in Hytale.

Backup weapon: Cryo Shield. Stop hitting me out of nowhere while I'm busy blocking another enemy's attack.

Armor: Light armor. I know heavy armor is the most traditionally well-suited to sword-and-shield styles, but much of my defense in this build comes from dodging and parrying rather than taking hits. If available, though, I will prioritize armor that has the accessory stats I want (see below).

Accessory stats: Movement SPD, Passive HP Regen. I hate running out of stamina and just running like a Slowpoke. In Minecraft, eating during combat is generally risky unless you have enchanted diamond armor and enchanted golden apples.

(Good thing my Author Avatar is 174 cm tall, somewhere between the tall characters Jean and Diluc. The Minecraft player's hitbox is 180 cm tall, roughly the same as Diluc. Imagine if I was only as tall as Klee.)

Part 2: Oceanid Gang War

The Oceanid gang war part will be posted on January 24, 2021.

Also, school starts for me on February 15, 2021. -_-

I'm Out of Ideas, Sooo...What Will I Do With Genshin Impact When Hytale's Beta Comes Out?

Yes, I'm still addicted to Genshin Impact. It's on my currently hypothetical Top 10 All-Time Favorite Video Games. I know I should only do the Daily Commissions and spend all of my Original Resin, but man, the game knows how to pull the player in for hours on end even when the player is out of Resin. I think I spend about 6 hours a day on this game. Most of my non-"essential" activities include blindly exploring the world, killing random monsters on sight, and farming their materials. I'm THAT Ax-Crazy.

Heck, I still play Fire Emblem Heroes, but ever since I picked up Genshin Impact, I mostly auto-battle and pick the easiest difficulty whenever possible, not caring whether I win or lose. My auto-battle team consists of Lightning Bruiser Heroes who can counterattack both melee and ranged foes; these Heroes are regular Sothis, Brave Dimitri, Winter Sothis, and Fallen Tiki.

Despite me having grown extremely cynical over the past 2 months, I still expect Hytale to rise to the #1 spot on my Top 10 list. I think the most significant third-party feedback so far about first-hand Hytale experience comes from Liam Wiltshire, CTO of Tebex, the monetizer of the Hypixel Minecraft server, saying Hytale is "technically better than anything that has come before it". This is VERY high praise, especially since Hypixel Studios is not a triple-A game development company.

Hytale, for me, combines the best of many of the video game mechanics I love (at least hypothetically). It's a sandbox where you can build almost anything you want, but it's going to be more flexible and beginner-friendly than Minecraft. It has factions with intricate lore and personalities, just like many RPGs. Of course, being a game developed by Minecraft server developers, I expect an intricate hack-and-slash fantasy combat system (and support for modern and sci-fi-style combat). Probably the best part about the game is that Hypixel Studios promises Hytale can be modded easily, even by players with no programming knowledge, but I imagine skilled coders can turn Hytale into something almost completely different.

Considering I've excessively prepared for Hytale since early 2019, I think it's an insult to myself to let that investment go to waste, especially because I expect to gain a much bigger following in my blog in the years to come.

But don't get me wrong--I still love Genshin Impact and I think it'll take me more than 5 years before I get bored. (Heck, I still play Pokémon. Even my big brother is surprised.)

But First, About My Genshin Impact Save File...

Important edit: miHoYo has officially confirmed that the Battle Pass will now let F2P players get Fragile Resin. Time to waste the Fragile Resin I've farmed since I started the game!

The stronger my Genshin Impact characters are, the faster I can end fights and the shorter my playtime per session will be.

As of January 19, 2021, I'm at Adventure Rank 50. These are my main team members:

Character (sorted by usage rate)	Role	Used For:
Klee Lv. 78/80	Main DPS	Almost everything except running fast
Bennett Lv. 51/60	Support	ATK-boosting, healing
Tartaglia Lv. 71/80	Main DPS	Heavy Vaporize DMG
Fischl Lv. 71/80	DMG Support, Substitute DPS	Spreading Electro
Anemo Traveler Lv. 81/90*	DMG Support	Heavy Anemo DMG
Sucrose Lv. 71/80	Secondary DMG Support	Crowd control
Diona Lv. 65/70	Shield Support	Running fast and No-Selling, especially those annoying Cryo attacks
Kaeya Lv. 52/60	DMG Support	Running fast, quickly spreading Cryo to support Klee
Noelle Lv. 51/60	Shield Support (possibly Substitute DPS after the Ver. 1.3 Geo buff)	Co-Op healing and shielding
Xingqiu Lv. 51/60	DMG Support	Spamming Hydro with Kaeya or Klee
Mah Boi Venti Lv. ?/?	DMG Support	Massive Anemo DMG…if I had him! (I got a Starbucks Venti, though.)

*Yes, I am aware that ascending to Lv. 90 is considered by many players to be a pitfall due to how little power is gained for such a high price. But screw it. Because the Traveler can eventually use all seven elements, I want him to be future-proof. After all, Ganyu is already considered a power-crept "Cryo Amber", so what's stopping miHoYo from making the Traveler's future elemental abilities ridiculously strong?

I've played Genshin Impact since October 6, 2020, so, considering how my characters have grown strong over the past 3 months, as well as a lack of a more precise release date for Hytale (like an estimated season like winter or a month like December 2021), I'm confident my characters will become Spiral Abyss Floor 12-ready by June 2021, assuming I don't get banned by Mom or get into important appointments/family occasions that last for more than 1 day. miHoYo plz bring back venti banner (intentional bad grammar)

Edit, June 15, 2021: Unfortunately, I can only get 3 stars on Floor 11 Chamber 2.

Before I got addicted to Genshin Impact, I made the Crazy-Prepared assumption that the Hytale beta would open in November 2021--the official release date is simply "2021." To temper my expectations, I still assume November 2021 will indeed be the beta opening date; otherwise, you know the Cyberpunk 2077 release date delay rage...minus the bugs. Also, yay, Christmas sales!

But now that I'm addicted, I'm also bracing myself...for a surprisingly early Hytale beta. In fact, I've already set up a YouTube channel and a custom-decorated facecam to record the beta.

A request to Hypixel Studios, though: Add a spoiler-free benchmark test to the Hytale beta so I can test my recording. Recording Genshin Impact slows the game to about 20 FPS on my budget gaming PC, especially during combat. (Also don't read the sub-paragraph before this one. lololol)

Allocating Daily Game Time When The Hytale Beta Comes Out

Note that important appointments, family occasions, friend activities, and physical fitness take priority over all of these...except the obvious meals and sleeping.

At maximum, I should spend 2 hours on Genshin Impact, ideally shorter. I should avoid the temptation of getting every item, cutting every bush (just like Link), and buying from every shop and focus on Daily Commissions, spending Original Resin, doing Reputation Quests, doing the events, and other limited-time stuff.

If I have time to spare after playing Hytale, I can spend my spare time doing activities that don't expire or "respawn", such as Archon and Story Quests and collectibles like elemental oculi (assuming at least one region like Inazuma or sub-region like the Chasm in Liyue releases in 2021).

4 hours, ideally longer, should be spent on something you probably didn't expect: English teaching. Yes, I landed the English-teaching job I applied for in 2020.

3 hours, ideally shorter, should be spent on school work. I likely can't take full loads due to lack of course availability and because I expect to graduate this year. When I get serious, I get school work done quickly with good quality.

Once I graduate, these 3 hours will become spare time that I may randomly spend on video games or English teaching.

3 hours, ideally longer, should be spent on Hytale playthroughs. Ideally, I want to play my first 3 "worlds" (in Minecraft terms), as well as 20% of my beta experience, blind. In other words, I'll avoid researching wikis or similar resources. I want my recordings to truly feel like a new experience for me and my potential viewers.

I expect the first episodes of both the beta and full release to be about an hour long, similar to theRadBrad. Normal Adventure Mode playthrough episodes should be about 30 minutes.

I plan to focus heavily on vanilla Adventure Mode so I don't know how long episodes about other maps or minigames will be.

The Hytale time that's not being spent actually playing the game is for editing the episodes, including cutting out unnecessary parts and adding side comments.

LT, what about Twitch streaming?

YoSquid helped me test a Genshin Impact stream. He complained that it was "too laggy," even at 480p. My upload speed is only a measly 4 Mbps.

As such, I will stick to YouTube until I get my own house and can afford a much stronger Internet connection. It'll probably happen...within 10 years. :(

I Don't Like Competitive Multiplayer

Disclaimer: I’m not saying that competitive multiplayer in general is bad. E-sports can promote camaraderie and strategy-building just like physical sports. Competitive multiplayer is just not for my taste. If you like competitive multiplayer, then, by all means, rek dem n00bs.

“Real gamers”, I think, are often stereotyped as players who regularly play the mainstream competitive video games, usually MOBAs like League of Legends or shooters like Fortnite or VALORANT. (This post mainly focuses on these two categories of multiplayer games.)

I’ve been gaming since 2003 when I was 4 years old, but the vast majority of my gaming years were spent on single-player.
In the mid-2000s, we had no Internet connection. In the late 2000s, the only competitive multiplayer game we had at home was the Warcraft III map Defense of the Ancients (DoTA), but it was too complicated for my tween self to learn. I spent part of the mid- and late 2010s on competitive Minecraft PvP but I simply was unable to aim as accurately and click as fast as the majority of the competition.
Regardless, I still think of myself as a real gamer. If I wasn’t, do you think I’d be able to write edgy tactical blog posts about my favorite games, one of which hasn’t been released yet? lololol
Enough background because I suck at introductions.

The Learning Curve, Man!

Competitive multiplayer, from my experience, is simply not beginner-friendly. Many competitive games don’t have single-player modes, or if they do, they don’t have AI-controlled enemies with the same abilities as human players.

In single-player fights, the player is often introduced to new enemies slowly, often starting with weak enemies with simple and predictable attacks before moving to powerful enemies with lots of complicated tactics. This ensures newer players don’t suffer from information overload.

In competitive multiplayer games, players are often given a wide variety of options for how they want to fight. Do they want to play as a hyper-offensive hero or one that is designed to control the battlefield and troll enemies? Do they want the assault rifle or the sniper rifle? Then they can have ‘em.
This causes information overload, even if a player wants to focus only on a single play style. They have to learn at least a little about every gun or hero. Failing to do so means they’ll likely get curb-stomped the whole session (possibly multiple sessions), and losing over and over again in video games is not worth it compared to losing a lot in real life.
Also, single-player enemies are designed to be beaten by players of varying skill levels. In competitive multiplayer, expect all your enemies—even the noobs—to kill you as mercilessly as possible.
Especially beware of veteran players who make second accounts to pose as new players while curb-stomping actual noobs (i.e. smurfing).

Playing With People You Don’t Know

eggwick, a VALORANT YouTuber, said briefly that he doesn't feel attached to random teammates. I feel the same, but I wanna spice it up 'cause I'm a lunatic.

Playing with friends is arguably the most ideal way to play any team-based multiplayer game (especially VALORANT). You have the advantage of being able to communicate with your friends properly; you trust them to carry the team and they trust you to do the same. There’s that sense of give-and-take, such as one player making a complex plan and two friends carrying it out effectively. The feeling of “we won” is different from “I won”. The feeling of “you saved my life” is different from “you stole my kill”.

But, as most people know, life’s a jerk. Work here, school there, family here, another friend there, maybe this bank, this utility provider, or this government agency… This can prevent even best friends from getting together for a game. (I wonder how often this happens to professional e-sports teams that play for a living and don’t take up higher education. My dad’s brain got rekt when he took up his master’s education.)

Therefore, players will often choose to play with random teammates. In my mind, players of the same rank, whether low or high, can have drastically different skill levels; I played Minecraft multiplayer on the same server from 2015 to 2019 and I still had a hard time competing. With friends, you know your friends’ strengths and weaknesses. With random teammates, you have no prior idea about any of those. The fast-paced gameplay of many competitive multiplayer games, as well as potential language barriers and a lack of microphones, prevent players from communicating properly with one another, basically forcing players to rely on themselves.
(Ironically, this kind of defeats the purpose of VALORANT’s team-focused gameplay. For example, barriers and sight blockers affect both allies and enemies, so you may end up harming allies in the process of helping yourself and harming your enemies.)

Thankfully, I don't plan to make a living on competitive multiplayer, so I don't need to learn the common languages used by gamers other than English.

A lack of microphones is not a big deal for friends because they can make a game plan in advance.

What About Among Us?

Among Us is a rather unique multiplayer game. There is at least one impostor among the crewmates of a spaceship. The goal of the crewmates is to either finish all their work or kick out all the impostors.

Admittedly, I mainly picked up the game because Aby and YoSquid also got into it and I wanted to play a game we could quickly pick up, especially since Among Us is a mobile title. (Oh, look. A means to an end.)
My secondary reason was to see if I’d like the game even if I play it by myself, so I played a bunch of test games.

I can’t properly explain why I don’t enjoy Among Us despite me liking Game of the Generals, a chess-like board game where units beat each other based on ranks that are unknown to opposing players (for example, only I know I used a 5-star general to eliminate the enemy, while only the opponent knows their 4-star general was eliminated, so I could assume I eliminated a private and the other player could assume I used a spy), as well as Yandere Simulator, a game about pretending to be a normal schoolgirl while eliminating rivals.
Maybe I don’t feel like training my muscle memory to get used to the many crewmate tasks so I could finish them quickly. Maybe I don’t feel like learning the strategy behind staying safe as a crewmate or the psychology of impostors.
(I wonder what kind of grade I’d get if Among Us game theory becomes part of a psychology course. I’d range it from A- to C+.)

In my first few Among Us games with Aby and YoSquid, I openly revealed my identity as either a crewmate or an impostor, which I think is a bad practice. It ruins the suspense. I was new to the game, so I felt crazy and impulsive.

I should learn from how the Genshin Impact voice actors play Among Us. Being voice actors, they are hecka skilled at hiding their identities.

Anyway, you’re free to call me “sus” as a joke. I’d be flattered.

After all, when I meet someone new, I ask a boatload of questions like Albedo from Genshin Impact did to the Traveler...and Albedo has a reputation of being sus, especially after what we learned in Chapter I Act IV: We Will Be Reunited.

The Multiplayer I Like Playing Nowadays

Yes, I still like some kinds of multiplayer. These ones are far less frustrating.

You probably know what I’ll say first thanks to my addiction to Genshin Impact: co-op. For me, co-op carries the same level of camaraderie as competitive team-based multiplayer minus the learning curve. In Genshin Impact, in particular, it’s fun when I play with a team that curb-stomps every enemy in a fight that I’d struggle with if I did it myself. It's somewhat common for co-op hosts to thank their teammates after spending all their Resin (energy/stamina) in consecutive domain runs, which is honestly very wholesome.

I would play Hytale in co-op Adventure Mode, though right now, I don't have any official teammates; I only like to team up with close friends. Thank goodness I’ve mentally prepared myself to be a One-Man Army since I first saw the Hytale trailer.

The other type of multiplayer I like is friendly matches where friends fight each other, often using custom rules, in an otherwise competitive multiplayer game. These matches don’t punish players for winning or losing, and players can willingly hold back to help their friends get better…or maybe flex at them for kicking their butts with a bad strategy. These fights are just as much fun for me as doing Hypothetical Fight Debates.

Competitive Multiplayer Games I Actually Like

Pokémon Showdown is one of my favorite competitive games, even though I haven’t played it in months. No need to spend weeks breeding and training the perfect team; just type in the stats and moves you want and you’re all set. Pokémon battles are about pure strategy, so no need to train for weeks or months that would otherwise be spent on honing muscle memory for an action multiplayer game. Plus, thanks to Smogon’s unique battle rules, you can comfortably use a team of weak Pokémon you like or are good at without being forced to face powerful top-tier Pokémon.
Even if, say, you don’t know how competition-relevant mechanics like EVs and IVs work, Pokémon Showdown simplifies them by giving suggested EV and IV spreads depending on your Pokémon’s moveset. Suggested moves are even prioritized!

Yes, I still play Fire Emblem Heroes. Even if you lose or get a few points in the competitive game modes, you still get rewarded for at least trying to play. Plus, all enemies are AI-controlled, even if they were fully custom-built by players. I love exploiting Artificial Stupidity.

Edit, June 15, 2021: I'm thinking of quitting, if not spending little time on, FEH because of the huge power creep since Book V. I keep getting matched with low spenders or whales in the competitive game modes. I don't want to reach their power level because my main focus is paying for and making a living out of Hytale; plus, I need to pay for my own physiological needs, y'know?

Edit: I quit after getting Brave Eirika. I was satisfied with the Heroes I had, I was too busy with Genshin Impact, and I can't stand having to do a huge checklist that partially involves increasingly and insanely difficult combat.

TL;DR summary: I don’t like competitive multiplayer games because the many gameplay mechanics players have to memorize from the start, as well as the difficulty of communicating with randomly matched teammates, make these games difficult for beginners to enjoy.