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!