Playing through the story and man, every time they talk about
Tomoe
she seems so badass. I was trying to avoid rolling for her in the future as well because her banner is only a few months before Asagami's but it might be tough now. Love her design too.
Why is it that I find myself saying that I hate Merlin every cutscene lol. Not as in hate because he's bad, more like when you tell your friend you hate them. The bit when he says
"Mystic Eyes of Petrification. My one true weakness....Sorry! I take it all back Master. Protect me, what it takes. Defeeeeeend me Master!"
Thinking back on Babylon one part in particular keeps popping into my mind.
The part when Tiamat is nearing the city and she shoots the eye laser. Gudako has the line "Mash I'm dead." The despair of that moment didn't really sink in until thinking back on it. Just that realization of knowing this is the end. Eventhough she was saved that line has ended up really powerful to me.
Also question to those that were saving for Gramps. Still plan on rolling after using him? He felt super boring to me.
Thinking back on Babylon one part in particular keeps popping into my mind.
The part when Tiamat is nearing the city and she shoots the eye laser. Gudako has the line "Mash I'm dead." The despair of that moment didn't really sink in until thinking back on it. Just that realization of knowing this is the end. Eventhough she was saved that line has ended up really powerful to me.
Also question to those that were saving for Gramps. Still plan on rolling after using him? He felt super boring to me.
Thinking back on Babylon one part in particular keeps popping into my mind.
The part when Tiamat is nearing the city and she shoots the eye laser. Gudako has the line "Mash I'm dead." The despair of that moment didn't really sink in until thinking back on it. Just that realization of knowing this is the end. Eventhough she was saved that line has ended up really powerful to me.
Also question to those that were saving for Gramps. Still plan on rolling after using him? He felt super boring to me.
The difference between Old Man of the Mountain and older characters is like night and day to me...and using him in that fight is a very "look how far the game has come since it started" moment where I was just wailing on stuff with early Liz and Emiya. Death procs of autos, buster combos, strong offensive/defensive options, opportunities to shine even without type advantage....he's just a billion times more rewarding than the designs the game started at. This stuff was actually what made that moment cooler than any other story stuff.
I will admit that his NP is cool with the bell sounding and how the color fades away. The teleports are slow and his attacks are slow too. Not cool like Okita or updated MHX. Also his attacks are slow but they dont give the emphasis of power like some other slow attacks.
The difference between Old Man of the Mountain and older characters is like night and day to me...and using him in that fight is a very "look how far the game has come since it started" moment where I was just wailing on stuff with early Liz and Emiya. Death procs of autos, buster combos, strong offensive/defensive options, opportunities to shine even without type advantage....he's just a billion times more rewarding than the designs the game started at. This stuff was actually what made that moment cooler than any other story stuff.
I didnt have a single attack proc death the entire fight. David does the same thing with his bond CE so it's not new. Only new that its built in. His kit seems decent but hes mainly just a hit the red button servant.
Have avoided any FGO related sources these past days in order to fully enjoy Babylonia unspoiled and it was worth it.
Cleared Babylonia yesterday and the way they once again improved on previous singularities, I'm damn impressed.
It's always a good thing when a game gives me Muv-Luv Alternative feelings where
things go from bad to worse
.
Some of the monster designs certainly added to it.
In previous singularities I felt that there were quite a lot of instances where the fights hurted the flow of the narrative too much, so I appreciate that this time we had a couple of "no fight" stages with plenty of dialogue where all you did was read. I mean that's the main reason I play this anyways.
Plenty of dialogues with a lot of background information and "techno babble". Kinoko Nasu at his best?
Loved the music, especially the world map track playing near the end. Need to find a full OST.
Whether it's the idea of moving the sub chapters around instead of having them all play out at one place only or the way the boss fights went down,
(e.g. more or less randomizing the order of your party in some fights)
, they mixed it up well enough.
This was the first singularity that I cleared without any guide help since I was in no hurry, so there were some fights where I wasn't prepared well enough, considering that I wasn't always going with my sure win team that consists of max bound Servants.
Character reveal:
What a bad ass reveal that was near the end. King Hassan, damn.
Can never see enough of Fou slapping Merlin in the face. Hilarious.
They really need to add (more) ingame subtitles though.
Finished Babylonia and really enjoyed it! The writers really know how to make their characters lovable. I was soooooooo tempted to pull for Quetz because of it.
But yeah, going into Solomon with three Bond 10 characters (Nightingale, J. Alter, and Jeanne) with one at Bond 9 (Waver), and 750 SQ + 6 Tickets for Merlin on a wing and a prayer.
I didnt have a single attack proc death the entire fight. David does the same thing with his bond CE so it's not new. Only new that its built in. His kit seems decent but hes mainly just a hit the red button servant.
I mean...he has higher NP generation off a brave chain than other single target Assassins that are not named Jack...like Shiki and MHX, and the fight is a showcase for hitting the NP regularly, not spamming the Buster. I don't remember what level the skills were on the guest version but I thought it was ten for everything. You get 100% Death Res down off Evening Bell EX, so you can fairly reliably kill multiple targets in situations like this. It's not like David CE where you are really just rolling the dice and hoping it procs at all. In terms of play complexity I think he vastly outclasses other Assassin characters.
I'm not sure if I want to roll for him yet (I guess that depends on how things go with Merlin and/or Musashi), but the Old Man seems like an interesting concept. In a lot of ways, he seems like Saber tank who just happens to be an Assassin, picking up the class specialities for insta-kills and one of, if not the best, guts skill in the game. The tricky thing is he's so different that it's hard to compare him to other Assassins, but as a Buster-focused tank that seems like he might be nearly impossible to kill when fully spec'ed out, he's got some fun gimmicks to go with that. I just don't know what kind of team he would work well with, or how valuable his focus on insta-kills actually is going forward.
I mean...he has higher NP generation off a brave chain than other single target Assassins that are not named Jack...like Shiki and MHX, and the fight is a showcase for hitting the NP regularly, not spamming the Buster. I don't remember what level the skills were on the guest version but I thought it was ten for everything. You get 100% Death Res down off Evening Bell EX, so you can fairly reliably kill multiple targets in situations like this. It's not like David CE where you are really just rolling the dice and hoping it procs at all. In terms of play complexity I think he vastly outclasses other Assassin characters.
Shiki and MHX both have NP gain of .80 and his is 1. However they both have 2 Q and 2 A cards with multiple hits each. His gain isn't great since he has a QABBB deck. He's literally press buttons and hope the enemy dies. I would say Shuten is a far more interesting Assassin focusing on debuffs and stacking those debuffs. Not saying bad but hes just boring. He is hype in the story though.
I will admit that his NP is cool with the bell sounding and how the color fades away. The teleports are slow and his attacks are slow too. Not cool like Okita or updated MHX. Also his attacks are slow but they dont give the emphasis of power like some other slow attacks.
I find Okita's animations to be pretty boring so yeah.
All that fight did was make me want it even more than I already did, I actually stalled it out so I could enjoy it as long as possible, and it made it the most enjoyable fight in the singularity.
He also has like the best looking np in the game.
Also I got a completely different feel for the 'Mash I'm Dead' part, it just came off as kind of jokey to me.
Shiki and MHX both have NP gain of .80 and his is 1. However they both have 2 Q and 2 A cards with multiple hits each. His gain isn't great since he has a QABBB deck. He's literally press buttons and hope the enemy dies. I would say Shuten is a far more interesting Assassin focusing on debuffs and stacking those debuffs. Not saying bad but hes just boring. He is hype in the story though.
Brave chain is a higher yield for King than either of these characters. This is not to say that he will have more consistent NP gain inside a team when cards are mixed, but I'm pointing it out because he is not of the BBB deck variety of characters that ignore NP generation because it's so bad. ABQE is a flat 40 for King. The NP is an important part of his kit and I don't think his playstyle is mashy just because he is one of the few Assassins in the game with decent damage outside a crit or Noble Phantasm. I use Shuten all the time but I don't consider her current playstyle on NA to offer any real complexity. You hit skill buffs debuffs and drop NP. NP gen is too low to stack the debuffs in a meaningful way and even if you do there is not that much benefit to it. Nice thing about Shiki is how she enable other characters and has flexibility with buff/debuff duration.
Why is it that I find myself saying that I hate Merlin every cutscene lol. Not as in hate because he's bad, more like when you tell your friend you hate them. The bit when he says
"Mystic Eyes of Petrification. My one true weakness....Sorry! I take it all back Master. Protect me, what it takes. Defeeeeeend me Master!"
Yeah I can see that. I'm still good not having him. The fact that everyone on my FL will have him makes him the perfect servant to not go for because I'll consistently be able to use him and team build with him in mind.
I'm also trying to veer away from using dupes now due to recent challenge quests in JP and the fact that I never liked the idea to begin with. I'll still do it for farming but Merlin only really helps farm certain styles of events.
I end up liking most servants in these stories so I've had to start being selective, otherwise I end up spending on every banner and as a F2P player that just doesn't work in this game.
Yeah, I heard a lot about Merlin prior to this singularity and I really enjoyed his character. I really hope I get him.
I finished Babylonia this morning. I don't know how many hours the entire thing took me, but it was a lot. Definitely the longest singularity so far, but it was amazing. I'm excited for the movie, it should be great.
Now to start on grinding bond/pages. What are the best places for each? Ideally I'd like to grind a nice amount of bond while also geting pages, but I'm not sure I can effectively farm both at once.
Yeah, I heard a lot about Merlin prior to this singularity and I really enjoyed his character. I really hope I get him.
I finished Babylonia this morning. I don't know how many hours the entire thing took me, but it was a lot. Definitely the longest singularity so far, but it was amazing. I'm excited for the movie, it should be great.
Now to start on grinding bond/pages. What are the best places for each? Ideally I'd like to grind a nice amount of bond while also geting pages, but I'm not sure I can effectively farm both at once.
So it's nearly the new year. What are you guys looking forward to most in the game in 2019?
I think for me it's the new Chaldea Boys Collection. The amount of effort that goes into the artwork of those CEs is excellent imo, and the fact we get a free CE of our choice is so nice. Half of my planned teams have Hot Sands in them so getting that CE for free is a highlight for me.
So it's nearly the new year. What are you guys looking forward to most in the game in 2019?
I think for me it's the new Chaldea Boys Collection. The amount of effort that goes into the artwork of those CEs is excellent imo, and the fact we get a free CE of our choice is so nice. Half of my planned teams have Hot Sands in them so getting that CE for free is a highlight for me.
So it's nearly the new year. What are you guys looking forward to most in the game in 2019?
I think for me it's the new Chaldea Boys Collection. The amount of effort that goes into the artwork of those CEs is excellent imo, and the fact we get a free CE of our choice is so nice. Half of my planned teams have Hot Sands in them so getting that CE for free is a highlight for me.
Gotta be the CCC event. It's basically its own story chapter (and supposedly one of the better story chapters) disguised as an event and it comes with four Servants I want (one is a welfare and the other three are in the same gacha). Okay, Kiara would be nice, too, but I expect to be drained by Melt and Lip (thankfully Suzuka will be available in from the SR selection campaign).
As far as stories go? CCC will be great. I'm hoping I like Salem and Shinjuku. Maybe Guda 2 will be alright.
As far as banners go? Will be skipping and saving throughout most of next year, not gonna lie. Maid Alter is probably the main goal, but my luck with Riders is pretty shit, so I dunno about going in hard on that one.
2019 isn't very appealing to me, but there's some cool free stuff at least. BB, Ishtarin Rider, Aerial Drive, Hot Sands, a second Sumo.
Everyone else is too far away to bother grinding any more. I just got Scathach at lvl 9, Okita and Dantes at lvl 8, Jalter, Summer Scathach and Ruler Martha at lvl 7, and a lot of servants at lvl 5-6.
I think this year has more going for it then I had initially thought. I've kind of had blinders on for the last few months thanks to Camelot and Babylon, but looking ahead there's some cool stuff coming.
Event wise, I'm probably most excited for Shinjuku and CCC, the former for its style compared to basically all other Singularities and the latter as a really ambitious event celebrating a part of the franchise that doesn't get much exposure (for obvious reasons). While I'm interested in Dead Heat, I don't know how much I'll actually enjoy the event itself.
As for Servants, most of my anticipated Servants are ones that give me new class options in addition to being cool characters. I mainly have my eye on Meltlilith, Sherlock, Caster Nero, Abigail, and Ereshkigal.
I also hope that my overall aquisition rate for new Servants slows down enough to finish Ascending the ones I have, and that I can finally get some decent skill leveling done for my favorites.
Seems there's a fair amount of interest for Shinjuku. If I'm honest I don't know anything about it other than the alter costumes. Can anyone elaborate on what makes it interesting? Is it mainly just because of what Baka_Bishie said in regards to the style of it?
Ah that's my maybe banner right now. You'll take her to 100 then? Why the love for Tomoe? Not that's it's unwarranted or anything, just curious as taking a 4* to 100 feels like a big investment.
Seems there's a fair amount of interest for Shinjuku. If I'm honest I don't know anything about it other than the alter costumes. Can anyone elaborate on what makes it interesting? Is it mainly just because of what Baka_Bishie said in regards to the style of it?
Ah that's my maybe banner right now. You'll take her to 100 then? Why the love for Tomoe? Not that's it's unwarranted or anything, just curious as taking a 4* to 100 feels like a big investment.
I think I'm only really looking forward to powering up new servants. Let's see what my next 5* will be, if anything I'll be looking forward to the guaranteed summons.
Then again I'm staying spoiler free for the most part so I don't really know what's coming till it's announced on NA.
Also, did I miss Mash's final ascension somewhere along the way? Suddenly I have to feed her more embers for 10 more levels and I didn't even notice till now lol.
I think I'm only really looking forward to powering up new servants. Let's see what my next 5* will be, if anything I'll be looking forward to the guaranteed summons.
Then again I'm staying spoiler free for the most part so I don't really know what's coming till it's announced on NA.
Also, did I miss Mash's final ascension somewhere along the way? Suddenly I have to feed her more embers for 10 more levels and I didn't even notice till now lol.
Poll doesn't mean much because it didn[have many votes, but japanese players seemed to really like Shimosa and Shinjuki so hopefully they're pretty dece. Agartha tho... I heard it was bad but man, less votes than septum or the intro chapter.
So it's nearly the new year. What are you guys looking forward to most in the game in 2019?
I think for me it's the new Chaldea Boys Collection. The amount of effort that goes into the artwork of those CEs is excellent imo, and the fact we get a free CE of our choice is so nice. Half of my planned teams have Hot Sands in them so getting that CE for free is a highlight for me.
The story stuff isn't limited time, so don't worry about that. Solomon and its story bits are a permanent addition.
There are some battles in Solomon with good drop rates for mats, but they run on a mechanic similar to a raid battle. The players who play when Solomon first comes out can engage in these battles until the bosses' global HP is depleted. After the global HP is depleted, each player can only run those battles one more time. Players who arrive to the singularity late will miss out on some excellent farming, but nothing else (well, I suppose the 30 SQ for Babylonia).
Oh that's fine then, thanks! It's a bit of a bummer that I'll miss out on some good farming spots but I really don't wanna rush through the story, specially once I get to Camelot and Babylonia.
Speaking of which, London seems potentially promising. I like the setting and premise the most out of all the singularities so far, so hopefully it delivers some cool moments. If I had to rank them for now, I'd probably go with Orleans > Okeanos > Fuyuki = Rome. The first two have their moments, Okeanos might be more consistent but I liked the cast and character moments in Orleans a bit better. They're solid. Septem and Fuyuki are kinda boring, the latter has a stronger ending and Caster Cu but is like 90% "there are skeletons here, let's fight!" while the former is just forgettable.
Oh that's fine then, thanks! It's a bit of a bummer that I'll miss out on some good farming spots but I really don't wanna rush through the story, specially once I get to Camelot and Babylonia.
Speaking of which, London seems potentially promising. I like the setting and premise the most out of all the singularities so far, so hopefully it delivers some cool moments. If I had to rank them for now, I'd probably go with Orleans > Okeanos > Fuyuki = Rome. The first two have their moments, Okeanos might be more consistent but I liked the cast and character moments in Orleans a bit better. They're solid. Septem and Fuyuki are kinda boring, the latter has a stronger ending and Caster Cu but is like 90% "there are skeletons here, let's fight!" while the former is just forgettable.
Speaking of Extella, that's one reason why I'm not looking forward to the next Xmas event all that much. I hold an unreasonable grudge against Altera for how badly Tamamo was treated in Extella (it felt to me like both she and Nero were just being used to draw in players to show off the new girl. I know Nero got a second chapter later on, but I stopped playing after Tamamo's) so the free Altera will just end up collecting dust in my second archive. That, and it's the culmination of the Circe-Sheba-Ereshkigal 1-2-3 punch, so I expect that will hurt.
Yeah, like in Saber Wars, where her part was talking about how she didn't do much in London. Or Onigashima, where she was an enemy complaining about not getting more attention.
At least she got a decent showing during the Summer event. And there's CCC to look forward to.
