#Overkill Evolution

[isagrimorie]

I love how Criminal Minds 5x11 - Retaliation is a very Emily Prentiss episode. And more hints about Emily's past and her previous training, the ability to continue on and be alert.

The car she's in gets hit by a truck, and she keeps on trucking along. She empties her clip but is also cognizant enough to memorize partial plate numbers:

(Wow a night scene, look at that, I can see during a night scene, Criminal Minds Evolution!)

Emily's trained to go on (and honestly, also her dogged stubbornness just doesn't keep her down) despite serious injury.

Emily's so confused when Derek tells her she emptied her clip shooting at the truck.

Right up to the personality of people who would and could do undercover work:

Speaking from experience there, Special Agent Emily Prentiss?

And then, Reid unknowingly hits on the head Emily's ongoing existential crisis anytime a case hits too close to home.

But also, how, honestly Emily has it in her to just really murder a man.

As the criminal of the week, Schrader observed Emily has the look in her eyes that said she would and could kill him given the chance.

Schrader killed the cop who was in the car with Emily. Schrader taunted her about killing the man right next to her.

Schrader either thought he could psych out Emily from killing him or was desperate enough to just pull a suicide by cop.

Schrader taunts Derek about his arm injury and moves his gun an inch away from Joe Muller's head to shoot Derek instead.

And that minute movement was enough for Emily:

(Derek shooting at Schrader though was both overkill and risky since he could've shot Muller instead, thankfully that doesn't happen).

I’m so curious what Emily’s been through during her taskforce days that Emily is… comfortable is not exactly the word but unfazed killing?

What has Emily seen that makes some of the horrific scenes just roll off her back.

Also the very few anecdotes she shares are kind of harrowing in themselves:

Like, how years later Emily shares with Tara Lewis that in her JTF-12 days, she was on a mission where there were troops who would leave playing cards on dead terrorists, declaring 'We did this'.

What has Emily had to do that 'good guys doing bad things' has really screwed her up bad?

That after everything she just wanted a job that was “clean”. Clear right and clear wrongs.

I do think as hard it is as a fan to accept— Emily did need the time away from the BAU to reconcile a few things about herself.

Accept some of the things she learned about herself as a spy and realize… all the morally ambiguous things she can live with to a point. There are still lines she won’t cross.

Also, because spy stuff -- and Burn Notice kind of gave the (fictional, maybe?) guidelines to a great undercover agent:

Michael Westen: "When you're claiming to be somebody you're not, the key is commitment. You've got to sell it like your life depends on it. Because sometimes it does."

Michael Westen: "Inexperienced operatives abandon a cover ID under pressure. Experienced ones just play their roles harder."

---

I can only imagine that Emily Prentiss played by the same rules as Michael Westen.

/edited

[sunset-synthetica]

Can you explain how the immortal science of marxism-leninism relates to Turbo Overkill

I don't believe TO is trying to have a huge deep political message, but some of it was intentional and the rest stems from its inspirations, ie Blade Runner, whose political messaging WAS intentionally a critique of capitalism and/or the more specific effects it has on our lives.

The backdrop is a late capitalist- using Mandel's definition- system where the largest and most powerful company's (Teratek's) capital is generated mostly, if not entirely, by selling increasingly more dangerous and experimental products to a consumer base spanning entire solar systems at the very least.

By looking at Johnny as a member of the exploited working class - albeit a class traitor, as he's a former cop* - a disabled person, unable to earn enough to save his life in any other way than by essentially selling himself to Teratek and gradually losing parts of his own body and surrenderong agency as this job becomes more and more demanding. We see a clear anti-capitalist sentiment built directly into the foundation of the game.

We can go further though.

SYN, in short summarized as a sentient, virus-esque AI, functions as an abstracted, personified representation of Teratek itself and its ultimate goals. SYN was supposed to enhance the process of human body augmentation, and, as Johnny's mother states, having been directly involved in the making of SYN, it should have been a way to help people, had Teratek not been the intended owner.

SYN goes rogue, and, instead of disobeying Teratek's policy, takes it further, either converting augmented people into a mind controlled force, or creating entirely new beings in the pursuit of human evolution. She seeks to force the human race to evolve, or be exterminated, which relates moreso to eugenics but is a vital part of her position in the story.

So, establishing SYN as both a manifestation of Teratek/the wider market as well as its relationship to the workers, and something of a next step in the evolutionary line of their thinking, her relationship with Johnny gets easier to pick apart.

Johnny is offered a choice that, while more obvious in its immediate effect, partially reflects the experience of the worker- debase himself, be stripped of choice, free will, identity, be exploited for the rest of his life to build a future he will not see or enjoy, sell his labor for the cost of staying alive - or die. It's not a choice, not really, it's an illusion.

He chooses to stay alive, of course, and though SYN is defeated at the end, it doesn't break him out of the loop. SYN is not the root of the problem, she is not the cause for Johnny's suffering and exploitation, she's the more extreme, almost caricature-like version of his struggle.

Johnny ends the story the same as he'd began, only the illusion of a choice in the matter is shattered.

The Street Cleaners

The Street Cleaners are a mercenary-like faction, essentially fulfilling the role of the police, though on a much less regulated, official level. We don't have a lot of information about them, but from what I've been able to gather, they are generally disliked by the Regulators- police force- and work outside the law to an unknown extent, without pretending otherwise, all while fulfilling the interests of corporations.

Within the Street Cleaners, everything goes if the money is good enough, which was the incentive for Johnny to join in the first place- do the dirty work, get paid, survive.

I wanna look at Maw specifically. He's all around an interesting character, but it really shines from this angle.

All of the Street Cleaners seem to enjoy their work, including Johnny, but Maw's relationship to it is particular, in that he doesn't see his colleague or fellow people as either competition or allies on the same level, but as inherently beneath him, not worthy of his consideration.

Maw criticizes the corporations, claims them to be untrustworthy and incapable of wielding power without abusing it, and yet his solution is not the collective seizing of the means of production- SYN's platform and all its available resources, including the augmentation process in this context- but rather the accumulation of all for himself.

He plans to change the system from within by establishing himself as in control, as its driving force, instead of seeing the system as inherently flawed and needing to be dismantled. No amount of gradual change could have changed SYN, or the system for the better, and so, Maw only speeds up a process that, under SYN, might have taken longer, but would have been inevitable regardless.

Maw loses control, loses his sense of reality and objectivity, of himself, and crumbles under the weight of this process, this power.

Were SYN the one in control during the time of Maw's rampage, the process may have been more gradual, less chaotic, but the ending would have been the same - a mass extinction event, countless deaths and destruction, regardless of whether the motive was a false hope for the evolution of the human race, or profit for the bourgeoisie/market, as represented mostly by Teratek's Executive.

In short, Maw allows himself to become absorbed by the system, accelerates its negative outcome, and upon being killed, just like SYN's own death, nothing changes. Both deaths slow the progress down somewhat, hide the obvious, but result in no meaningful change.

All of this, while a reach in some parts, is not contradicted by anything in the story of Turbo Overkill, rendering it an insane, but viable analysis.

My conclusion is that Marxism-Leninism couldn't have saved Johnny Turbo, but it could have eased his suffering and made him see his struggle as founded in a material reality outside his own control, and inherent to the very system he exists within.

-----------

*the situation of the Regulator force isn't exactly clear, but Paradise- Johnny's home, and the respective Regulator force of which he was a part of- is stated to have heavy criminal activity, which necessitated the Regulator presence, and may have inspired Johnny to join in the first place.

SYN, ironically enough, directly states that Johnny's presence in the Regulator force meant he "enforced [her] goals," until he was led astray by his injury. Said goals are specifically the elimination of the weak to make place for the strong, a genocide, but it's unclear if by "her", SYN describes herself as the sentient person possessing agency, or the purpose for which Teratek utilized her prior. If we assume the latter is true, it would mean the Regulators are simply a cleaner, more widely accepted version of the Street Cleaners, as I've already stated is my belief.

[mattkenzie]

Alright, now hear me out… A bug-type Eeveelution based off on the Venezuelan poodle moth and we shall call it Papilleon (Pappillion (French word for butterfly) + Eon)

I think for this Eeveelution, similar to Leafeon’s old evolution method levelling up near a moss rock, this one would be standing close to the moss stone (at night) using a moonstone. (But would it be on a full moon? The requirement would be such an overkill because of Ursaluna using a Peat Block on a full moon?)… Aww what the heck… Full moon!

[inprogresspokemon]

Do you have a least favorite gimmick? Mine is Z-Moves because they just seem like overkill compared to Mega Evolutions, Dynamax, and Tera Types.

Probably Z-Moves as well. I don't love the gimmicks equating to an insta-win button, and I didn't use Z-Moves in the game. I'm not very fond of Dynamax either.

I still haven't played Scarlet or Violet yet (I've been meaning to, but haven't gotten around to buying it), so I can't really speak to Tera Types, but if there has to be a gimmick, I like the general idea of changing types.

What about you guys?

[respectthepetty]

Your takes on my favourite shows are eye opening and I love reading them, sometimes I feel like I can't find the right words to express my opinion and then you go and express yours so well!

Anon, I appreciate the appreciation!

I write posts in an effort to fully explain how I reached my conclusions, but I know it can be overkill sometimes, so I'm glad people actually do read my what-appears-to-be-lengthy-ramblings-but-are-actually-around-500-words-and-just-appear-long-because-I-include-images posts.

And I'm also not afraid of being a clown.

I know people hesitate to express their thoughts because they 1) can't find the words, or 2) they don't want to look foolish, but this is Tumblr aka the site that probably has 100K+ notes on a post that reads "I'd fuck that wet man" so . . . write the post, fam.

You won't find the words if you don't attempt to search for them, and writing down those attempts greatly helps. The words don't have to be perfect. You will shape them as you go along. We are creating living narratives that show the progress of our thoughts, beliefs, and writing styles. I don't look at my Facebook posts from almost two decades ago and cringe. I'm proud to see the evolution of my writing style.

Because I'm still a clown.

I don't mind being wrong. I don't mind looking foolish. I don't mind writing about my wild ass theories only for the show to remind me it isn't as crazy as I am (but YYY did give me aliens, so a broken clock is right twice a day, you know?).

All of this is really just to tell you that I do appreciate the appreciation, but I like it more when others join the conversation. Write your own post. Reblog a post with your additions. Express yourself. Even if it's not perfect and even if you sound foolish, embrace it.

This is Tumblr dot com, and we like clowns here.

[kamenstrikerace]

HOW NOSTALGIA PANDERING RUINED YGO

On today's topic, we're gonna explain why nostalgia ruined Yugioh and why it became stereotyped 100% because of Konami's bullshit. I call it Alienating 101. You see, I don't care enough to try to explain in too much depth, but let's keep it short.

Let's start off with the reason and why. Konami made new support cards based on one duel from the YGO anime, but people forgot that it's from the manga. The Metal Raiders cards got some support but are all underwhelming and don't feel anything but cheap and uninteresting. Why exactly is that? Well, nostalgia in YGO is just straight-up horse shit. This is mainly because YGO shows past the original were never marketed heavily like the first series. Fanboys in the USA overpraised the first series but overkilled it at the same time.

Konami's current practice of basing Yugioh cards on manga panels rather than promoting creativity is seen as nepotism and detrimental to the game's evolution. You feel this approach limits community creativity and serves primarily to glorify the first anime series, neglecting the potential for new and innovative card designs. This trend frustrates you because it prioritizes nostalgia over fresh ideas and diversity within the game.

In my opinion, Konami just keeps pandering Yugioh cards that are mostly Duel Monsters (first ygo series) way too much towards its fandom. As of this year, Konami has pissed off its fandom and people are fed up. It's also ironic that Ygo fans can't read or explain shit. What is this, the Dragon Ball community?

So what is nostalgia pandering? It's pretty much what happens when you pander nostalgia to anyone who is a baby boomer or a zoomer. But there is something shocking. Yugioh fans are straight-up toxic because most of them are blinded by nostalgia towards shows like DM, GX, or fucking Zexal. In my opinion, YGO shows are often the subject of debate, but in recent years Konami doesn't even explain shit. Most of the reason people view the first YGO this way is because it was the first one that everyone overliked and overlooked the most. Now, I have nostalgia towards 5D's, but unlike DM and GX, I don't consider 5D's as toxic as the first series because 5D's broke the mold for Yugioh in the past and ultimately saved it from doom or cancellation.

But I think the real reason was the 2010s when Konami started to pander this shit everywhere. Take the disaster movie Dark Side of Dimensions, which in my opinion sucked and was nothing more than nostalgia 101 for Duel Monsters fanboys. That movie doesn't deserve to be praised and is trash, in my opinion. The whole movie was nostalgia clickbait gone wrong, and people refused to hate it because if you were part of the 2010s fandom, you would get canceled instantly. I seriously think that movie's fault was Takahashi's.

And let's include YGO ARC-V as well, since that series was straight-up underwhelming due to its choice of nostalgia.

Then we have the fandom finally opening their damn eyes and seeing what's next. On the YGO Organization, I saw this person who told us exactly how Konami is screwing up our childhood. He summed it up perfectly. They print cards based on the anime and manga, and to make things worse, Konami keeps making bad choices in the effect division, with it being once again based off the shows.

See, part of the problem with YGO and its fandom is the influence of mainstream media and the community of other series as well. Nobody cares about newer fans, instead pandering towards the older fans who started the genre 20-40 years ago. Take, for example, Pokemon's community, where Game Freak keeps putting Gen 1 Pokemon in every new game, or the Digimon franchise, where Bandai pandered with movies a couple of years ago. This is because nostalgia for fans of those shows who started it can make money, but in recent years, it started to become a meme. In the 2010s, nostalgia became one of the most problematic things.Konami's focus on nostalgia and its perceived neglect of newer fans can be attributed to corporate greed. They prioritize profit over the integrity of their product and the satisfaction of their fanbase. This approach has led to decisions that favor pandering to older fans who are more likely to spend money on nostalgic content, while potentially alienating newer fans who may not have the same attachment to older series. This strategy has been criticized for undermining the quality and innovation of the Yugioh franchise, leading to frustration and disappointment among fans.

Yugioh fans often struggle to accept realities that challenge their nostalgic views, whether related to the card game or the anime series. This nostalgia can blind them to flaws and shortcomings in newer iterations of the franchise. Some fans may perpetuate stereotypes and illogical arguments, which hinders constructive discourse within the community. It's important to encourage a balanced perspective that appreciates the franchise's history while also acknowledging its evolution and areas for improvement. Promoting open-mindedness and logical reasoning can help foster healthier discussions among fans.

[adobe-outdesign]

Randomly generated Pokemon: Onix

(I don't have any review requests right now, so I'm just going to use a generator to pick a random line I haven't done yet until more come in.)

Onix has a nice presence to it, mostly on account of being Freaking Huge (ironically, it's not even that strong of a 'mon). The idea of a big rock snake that tunnels through the the earth is solid and works well enough for what it is, though granted, the design always felt slightly lacking to me.

My favorite part of Onix is the head. I really like that it has a "muzzle" of sorts, and the horn helps separate the head segment from the rest of the body. However, the body itself is pretty plain, just a bunch of boulders in a line (how are those things connected, anyway)? I kind of wish there was more viration—some could be significantly bigger or smaller, they could be alternating lighter and darker colors, etc. Just something subtle to break things up a bit.

Onix evolves into Steelix here, and the idea of regular rock becoming metal as it evolves is a solid concept. There are a few changes to the design here that I like as well—the red eye adds a minor touch of color and pops nicely, the oversized head is pretty neat, and I really find myself liking those spikes stiking out of the body. They help break things up a bit, and feel like a natural extension of Onix's head spike. The pointed tail is also a nice touch.

If I have one problem with it (outside of the somewhat odd inclusion of teeth—I liked Onix's toothless maw better), it's that it never really looked much like steel. I get that they were going for an iron ore kind of thing, but it doesn't come across well, not helped by the lack of metallic textures in the games. It's still just as jagged and rugged as Onix is, and while I really like that aesthetic, it does make it harder to tell that it's metal now. Otherwise, it's a solid evolution and probably my favorite out of the line.

And mega Steelix is... a bit of a hot mess, unfortunately.

I say unfortunately because I really, really like the basic concept here. Steelix becomes harder and adds a bunch of spikes when it evolves, so this mega reveals that the spikes are actually crystals, which break out of the metal ore when it evolves. That's actually REALLY cool. It's also very nice because it adds some lovely pastel rainbow colors to the plain grey palette, breaking it up a bit without being overbearing. I also like that the segments go from small to large now, creating a pattern and adding some additional variation to the body.

The problem comes in with everything else. Those blue rings are downright garish, clashing with and taking away from the pastel colors added by the crystals. I don't even get what they're supposed to be anyway, and they don't seem to tie back into the crystal idea. They could've easily made those segments crystalline as well, or even just made them plain gray.

While less of a problem, I also think that those floating shards of metal are overkill. It's weird that they're floating (I've heard people argue magnetism, but that would make the shards stick to it rather than float around it), and I don't think you need them to convey the idea of the crystals breaking out of the metal shell. They're not terrible, but they're just cluttering an already cluttered design. (The excavator jaw is also a bit odd and doesn't quite fit with the crystal thing, but it's not that big of a deal in and of itself.)

Anyway, overall: Onix is fine, but the body's a bit plain. Steelix is a pretty solid evolution in both concept and design. Mega Steelix is way too cluttered for its own good, with a great concept buried under weird jarring visuals. Still, some pretty decent rock snakes all around.

[kafus]

how to grind IQ fast in PMD EoS

alternative title: why combee is fucking cracked

combee. yes. combee. is one of the most useful pokemon in explorers of sky and i’m not kidding. if you’ve ever wanted to grind up to max IQ on your pokemon, especially a lot of pokemon, Combee Is The Answer. unfortunately this does not work in time and darkness nearly as well because they don’t have one of the items that makes combee so good but you can still do it. much slower. this whole thing requires some setup but once you have it set up you can do it forever!!

so. combee has this funny little ability called honey gather which gives a pretty large chance of finding nectar in treasure boxes from pokemon it KOs.

why is this important? Well. nectar is one the best consumable IQ boosting item in the game. straight up gives your pokemon +10 IQ instead of gummis which give a varied amount from +1-5 based on type matchups (usually on the lower end). wonder gummis give +15 IQ so they’re technically better but there’s no good way to grind for those quickly.

so yeah honey gather is already cool enough because you can KO pokemon, hoard treasure boxes, and then open them for a ton of nectar, but that shit is slow going all things considered and that’s where sky’s exclusive items come in

the nectar bow, combee’s exclusive item, raises the chance of treasure boxes dropping while its in the bag. i can confirm from doing this myself that an absolute fuckton of boxes can be obtained this way.

you can see the method here. you get a combee, get the nectar bow, and then go to town on some pokemon and open all those boxes for more nectar than you’ve ever seen in your life before. here’s how:

1. recruit a combee and keep it as a combee. vespiquen won’t work because it loses honey gather upon evolution. you can find combee in apple woods on floors 6-12. apparently in darkness you have to complete a mission to unlock combee there first but i’m assuming most people reading this are playing sky anyways

2. this step is optional but recommended. level the combee up just a little bit, i personally did this by bringing it as a partner into postgame dungeons (i personally used spatial rift) and murdering shit with my overleveled hero/partner and letting the combee soak up all the experience. it will make life easier for you because combee straight up only has two attacking moves, gust and bug bite at levels 1 and 13 respectively, which are weak as hell. doesn’t learn anything through TM either. you want to KO shit fast and you know. not die while farming boxes

3. assuming you’re playing sky, get the nectar bow. you can find it in croagunk’s swap shop in wigglytuff’s guild’s basement. the items in the shop change every new in-game day, but there seems to be a higher chance of items appearing for the pokemon you JUST used in a dungeon, so if it isn’t there, go into a dungeon like beach cave or whatever with combee as your lead and either escape orb or speedrun through real quick and then check croagunk again. you’ll need 5 other random exclusive items to trade in for it which you can get from random treasure boxes and 150 poke.

4. go into any dungeon with combee lead and the nectar bow in the bag and start beating shit up, preferably with a lot of pokemon weak to combee’s moves. i have some superstition about later dungeons dropping more boxes so i go to mystifying forest with a nearly level 50 combee but that’s probably overkill. bring minimal items so you can pick up a bajillion boxes

5. leave the dungeon. open boxes at xatu’s. profit

also by the way. this isn’t required at all but i highly recommend using your first nectar grind to get combee’s IQ up to 850 (just under 9 stars) for the IQ skill Pierce Hurler, since it lets you use nectar on three pokemon at once instead of just one. yes this requires 85 nectar but it’s WORTH IT I PROMISE!!

this is my combee. you can see it has pierce hurler which lets the items it throws impact all the pokemon the item hits along its path. when using my nectar or other useful items such as vitamins or joy seeds, i lead with combee, go to beach cave because it’s completely harmless, and hand combee the lockon specs which ensures it doesn’t miss at all. your partner pokemon that you’re using the items on also need to have item master enabled in their IQ so they actually use the items thrown at them and item catcher disabled so that they don’t catch the items. i line them up in a row by setting their tactics to “wait there”. this lets you essentially multiply all your items by three like this (the recording i had on hand was with iron but nectar works too):

and that’s how to make IQ grinding easy asf for the rest of your explorers playthrough. i use this a ton so i can experiment with different pokemon in the postgame for funsies. also good for grinding certain pokemon up to fast friend for recruiting kecleon :) hope this helpsdsofkfds

(oh and side note, you can get one nectar per sentry duty by going as fast as possible but purposefully giving the wrong answer on just one footprint so that you get the highest score without getting a perfect for making no mistakes, but this is wayyy slower and i wouldn’t do that for an extended period of time!!)

[seoulbeatscom]

P1Harmony's "Killin' It": An Impressive Testament of Artistry and Evolution

Six mini albums to predate a first full-length album release may seem like overkill, but P1Harmony’s debut into LP territory couldn’t have come at a better time for the six-piece group, who debuted at the end of 2019. Known for their grungy, fierce sound, P1Harmony have spent their past four (going on five) years and six EPs experimenting, excelling, and growing into their musical style, which they showcase in its full, evolving glory on their latest, Killin’ It. 

Although “Killin’ It” isn’t too different from P1Harmony’s previous title tracks in terms of form, it feels especially novel in the members’ attitude-filled, but still playful, delivery of their pompous lines

[incandescentia]

As much as I designated Killian to be pretty much superhuman in capability (amazing stamina, natural agility, great eyesight, powerful physical strength etc etc), I think actually giving him the 350-degree equine vision is too much of an overkill. It's very much advantageous for him in combat, but he'll be experiencing sensory overload 24/7 with such powerful sight. Humanoid evolution did nerf some of his original species' physical prowess, but maybe it is for a good reason. 😅

[general-thinks]

THE PROBABLY WORST ANTI-AIR SNIPER UNIT

What is probably the WORST anti-air sniper unit? Meteor is at least at low DP cost and quick to attack. Catapult is at least going to instantly stop whatever it its. Even a good old fashioned Adnachiel will do good damage and it won't hurt your ears. No, I wanted to know what the undisputable worst anti-air sniper in the world is, and I have found it:

This is Justyna Valentine 'Fartooth'. She is a Deadeye sniper that does 1196 dmg in little less than 3 seconds normally when inside her range and if she has her 3rd skill ready, the poor bastard that gets hit outside her normal range will get a 120% multiplier too. Hypergliph even gave her an anti-dodge skill for shit and giggles as if she wasn't doing enough damage. She would be overkill even for hunting Emperor's Hand.

I would like to paint a picture for you. It's 2AM and you hear a window break into your base, you hear the unmistakeble sound of Monster's drones. This is the worst day it could happen, as every single one of your anti-air sniper has tried Hibiscus special dinner and is in infirmary. All of them are in critical condition except for one. You look across the dorms in dread at you anti-Free unit. You know what you have to do. But you don't know if you have the deploiment points to do it, both literally and figuratively.

You take Farthooth in your team and three different vanguards to be able to deploy her quickly, and you start to waddle towards the door.

Your feet make a loud "thud" as you lead the team. You know the intruders hear you. You hope they do, for perhaps they will run and spare the world the suffering that is about to befall it.

You try to settle her down on a far side ranged tile, but you have to try 3-4 times before the DP is high enough to deploy her. You attempt to rotate her position to get a clear hit on the enemies at least 4 times. To your horror, two drones stand there at the end of the hall.

With heavy heart, you tell Fartooth to prepare her 3rd skill while making inhuman grunting noises from the strain of checking every two second if the skill is ready. The drones simply stare in disbelief, unable to process the situation and why the Pinus's knight is on the other side of the map unable to hit them, as if in a dream.

You cannot disturb Fartooth while she aims, as the last time you did, she turned the EYESOFPRIESTESS system into a kaleidoscope. She turns silent, take aim, and fire.

You are immediately knocked on the floor as if hit by a speedboat going 20MPH. The shot connected with one of the two drones and it erases it from existance. Even the memories of it have been destroyed and you are wondering why you just activated her skill if there are no enemies on sight. The shot continues to travel through at least 4 houses, a car, an Essence of Evolution before lodging itself 20 feet into a nearby hill, never to be seen again.

At this point, you realize you can't hear for the shockwave.

The surviving drone can't either but he's also on fire from the blast and is currently crashing down on your floor. You don't care.

Your shoulder is dislocated and there is a hole in your new coffee machine. You are crying now. Kal'sit comes and, upon seeing the scene, gives you a stern look. You start crying harder.

[braintapes]

been playing a metric shitload of pokemon these past few weeks and its got me cooking in my mind. the kinds of battlers i think the hotel podcast characters would be:

First, overall, I think the Staff would all have weak teams at first in different ways, but then later on you battle them a second time (maybe after fighting the New Crew) and they've got beefed up 'Mons that you have to actually work to beat.

The Lobby Boy's first team is frail. I'm talking like, Wimpod, Magikarp, Slakoth, stuff like that. Litwick. First stage evos or Pokemon that kinda hinder themselves more than they're useful. Golett with Klutz or smth. The first battle's a cake walk. But these are Pokemon with pretty powerful evolved forms once you get there - Slaking, Gyarados, Golisopod...you get the idea. You fight him the second time and he hits you like a truck with highly powerful mons.

The Manager's team is designed around entry hazards. The Manager manages, she adapts. She knows she's going to take a hit, but she's going to make absolutely sure you get punished for landing it. Bulky, defensive mons that can take a beating long enough to set up spikes, stealth rocks, etc. Maybe also a Sharpedo for Rough Skin and to tie into her fish/ocean creature theming. Middle evos for the first battle maybe, full evos and more type coverage the second time? Also a focus on status setting, just to be extra painful while you slowly lose

The Owner's team has plenty of decently powerful Pokemon...but they are horribly set up. Bad abilities, poorly applied movesets, the works. Mons with Intimidation but which don't take advantage of it, ones that get Heavy Slam but aren't, uh, heavy enough to make good use of it. A team that would be kinda scary to go up against if he knew what he was doing. Which he does figure out by his second battle. Maybe he gets to use one of the cool gimmick features like Mega Evolution or Gigantamaxing or something. Idk about specific Pokemon, but I do know for sure he should have a Dusknoir. It's just right to me.

The New Crew, overall, take advantage of different battle formats. So while you don't rematch them, they come out of the box with strong teams focused on good synergy. If you could rematch them, they'd probably do some of the fun stuff the battle facilities in the games do, imposing restrictions and interesting limits.

The Bellhop and Concierge are fought as a unit in a double battle. The Concierge plays defensive and support, with bulky/hard-to-hit mons that set up screens, boost ally stats, and weaken enemy stats. He probably also enjoys taking advantage of things like confusion and infatuation/immobilization. I like the idea of him using normal types and 'regular' seeming Pokemon, perhaps.

The Bellhop has the strike team. She hits hard and fast with strong physical and special attackers. Favors moves that hit multiple times or have additional effects, although with all the stat boosts the Concierge is stacking her with it's really just overkill at this point. Pokemon with abilities that boost their stats maybe, or with abilities that nullify moves of certain types? Need to think on that more.

The Auditor's team is designed for support, but...a little too much. You fight her in a rotation battle, which (iirc) play like single battles but with some advantages. Still, I don't think she'd be a complete wash and she can keep her own Pokemon healed up throughout the fight and stall you out (again i dont remember rotation battles as much as double battles so i could be wrong on this. will have to research). Bug and ghost type user I imagine. I think she should get to have Aegislash, I know it's a sword and not a knife, but it's still a wicked blade. Also she gets a Banette bc I thought it'd be fitting for either her or the Manager.

Madam Hotel's first fight is a wash. Full of seemingly random and seemingly useless gimmick Pokemon. Chimecho absolutely has to be on her team because I need it to be on someone's team. Mimikyu, Eiscue, Zorua, a focus on disguises and damage absorption, but fairly easy to deal with once you've figured the gimmick out. Until you get to the very end of your team and thBLAM. BLACEPHALON BLAST!!!!!!!!!

The Hotel Herself does not fight fair. She rotates constantly between Ultra Beasts, Legends, Pokemon from the Staff and New Crew teams, thematically appropriate mons, she'll switch out a Pokemon from the box mid-battle because she can. She's gamebreaking and she knows it, and she's really just toying with you and having her own fun.

Her strategy is high risk, high reward. Fun, explosive plays in a literal sense - self-destructing moves, extremely powerful but low accuracy moves, anything relying on luck to hurt you. All of her team has accuracy and critical hit boosting items and she spams healing, revives, pp, constantly. It's an endurance game, like the most unbalanced and poorly designed of romhack battles cranked up to 100.

If you can outlast her somehow and win, she just kills you out of battle anyway

thank you for coming to my ted talk . smile :]

[ohthehypocrisy]

Obstagoon for Pokemon Unite!

Season 1

Season 2

Prev: Cradily - Hatterene - Tropius - Cacturne - Ditto - Weavile - Ogerpon - Coalossal - Gogoat - Galarian Slowbro - Luxray - Breloom - Uxie, Mesprit, & Azelf - Wobbuffet

As a fan of the concept of regional forms when they were introduced in Gen 7, I was pleasantly surprised when Obstagoon was revealed. Giving regional forms an exclusive evolution is certainly a bold move, one they've yet to repeat in later games, so Obstagoon is a unique pokemon in that regard, along with Mr. Rime, Sirfetch'd, Perrserker, Cursola, and Runerigus. Oh, and Clodsire, I guess...

Never mind all that, though. Obstagoon boasts a very daring design, sporting a frightening black and white visage reminiscent of a certain rock star from the past century. It's bold, brash, and daunting to face, which makes it very difficult to confront.

You know what comes next. Let's see if Obstagoon can get its foot in the door and muscle its way into Pokémon Unite. And a one, and a two...

-

Obstagoon's defining trait is the culmination of the theme of its evolution line, from the wayward wandering of Zigzagoon to the disciplined direction of Linoone, ending with Obstagoon's stalwart stopgap. Having grown strong in the harsh environment of Galar, it now sticks to one place to defend its territory, and its stats reflect this. Above average Defense, Attack, HP, Speed, these numbers are pretty bland by themselves, but together, combined with Obstagoon's brashness for boundaries, make it out to be a tough contender for the role of a...

Defender

-

Basic Attack - Melee/Attack

Becomes a boosted attack after three hits. The boosted attack delivers a wide swipe that shoves enemies away.

The boosted basic attack Shoves enemies away in the direction of the attack.

Shove effects are very powerful, which is why they're usually reserved for moves that require aiming. Usually. Giving one to a Defender as part of their basic attack would seem like overkill, so for balance purposes, Obstagoon requires three hits to fully boost its basic attack.

This makes it very slow to power up the basic attack for the Shove effect to be useful, but it does allow Obstagoon to have the upper hand in drawn out fights. It's faster than Mr. Mime's basic attack powering up to deal a Throw effect, but it's stronger coming from a Defender. It keeps melee attackers from maintaining a foothold in your side of the arena and it can be used to push ranged attackers out of hiding, so make sure you hit true with this boosted basic attack.

If you can hit more than one enemy, that'd be even better.

-

Ability: Gluttony/Guts

Gluttony (Galarian Zigzagoon/Galarian Linoone)

The less HP the pokemon has, the more HP it restores through recovery effects.

Guts (Obstagoon)

The less HP the pokemon has, the more HP it restores through recovery effects. Its Attack and Defense also increase the less HP it has. If the pokemon’s HP is restored, the increased Attack and Defense boost linger for a while before resetting.

Gluttony and Guts increases recovery effects relative to the amount of missing HP. For example, 50% missing max HP equates to 50% more healing from recovery effects, 75% missing HP equates to 75% more healing, etc.

The Attack and Defense boost of Guts also follows the same formula, in that 50% missing max HP equates to a 50% Attack and Defense boost. This boost is persistent.

When HP is recovered, the Attack and Defense boost lingers for 7 seconds before resetting. If HP is restored from 25% to 50%, the Attack and Defense boost will linger at 75% boost before resetting to 50% boost after 7 seconds.

This lingering boost effect resets if the HP falls below the original HP threshold, i.e. recovering from 30% to 50% and then falling down to 20%. Getting KO'd will also reset this boost.

The drastic change in appearance from evolving from Linoone to Obstagoon is reflected in the ability. It turns you from an okay Defender that is dependent on healing, into a Defender that gets stronger the more you push against it.

Defenders are expected to eat a lot of hits in order to do their job, which makes Obstagoon perfectly situated to deal lots of damage. By playing your part, Guts will greatly increase your Attack and Defense as the battle wears on. You can't fight at low HP forever, nor would it be feasible to, but having your HP restored would cut into your defensive capabilities, no?

Well, Guts has a side effect that mitigates this reduction from healing. More specifically, Guts has an extra effect that let's you keep the Attack and Defense buff from your low HP threshold. If you manage to bounce back from dangerously low HP, not only will you get a high boost, you'll keep the boost for a short while afterwards. It's risky, but rewarding if you've got reliable healing nearby.

Watch out for hindrances though. Can't utilize that Attack and Defense boost if you get Stunned into KO.

-

At the start of the game, Obstagoon will start out as Galarian Zigzagoon. You can choose between Headbutt and Lick as your first move. By Level 2, you'll have learned both.

-

Move 1: Headbutt (Melee)

A short ranged tackle with a chance to Stun the enemy. 2.5s cooldown.

Headbutt is a short ranged head attack with a 20% chance to Stun an enemy for 1 second.

Starting things off, we've got a very annoying move called Headbutt. I say annoying because of how inconsistent it is for the enemy, and the user.

While it has a shockingly low 2.5 second cooldown, it also has a stunning 1 second Stun effect that happens every 1 in 5 uses. This sounds amazing, but Headbutt doesn't have a lot of range to it, and each hit isn't guaranteed to Stun the enemy. It's feast or famine when this move successfully Stuns an enemy, and only if you've got someone backing you up to help you finish the job.

If you're lucky, you can combine the Stun from this move with the Shove from your boosted basic attack to reposition the enemy, either to inhibit their retreat or to keep them away from your Goal Zone. Just keep in mind that 2.5 seconds of cooldown is longer than it feels in the heat of battle, so try not to miss.

-

Move 2: Lick (Melee/Debuff)

A short range tongue lash that reduces the enemy’s defense and boosts your basic attack. Also Stuns enemies briefly if your HP is low. 6s cooldown. 

Lick is a short ranged whip-like attack that debuffs enemy's Defense by 40% for 6 seconds and boosts your basic attack.

If your HP is at or below 20%, it is guaranteed to Stun enemies for 1 second.

Keep in mind that Headbutt has a pathetically low dash distance when used, so much so that it technically qualifies as a Melee attack. Your other move, Lick, has even LESS range than Headbutt, but it comes with extra effects that are useful to your defending endeavors.

First off, a successful hit debuffs the enemy with a lengthy Defense reduction effect that lingers for the duration of the move's cooldown. Starting off a fight with Lick is a great way to maintain your offensive presence by threatening constant damage in this way. It also fully boosts your basic attack, which allows you to Shove enemies in whatever direction you see fit afterwards.

Lick comes with a guaranteed Stun if you use the move while at low HP. However, at this stage, your ability is Gluttony, not Guts, so you won't see any extra damage coming from this move unless you're running Weakness Policy. It's a nice effect to have though, when the going gets tough and you've taken a beating from all of that Defending you're doing.

This is all assuming you actually hit the enemy with these attacks. Not to worry, though, as Zigzagoon are fast growers and eventually evolve into the more streamlined Linoone.

-

At Level 4, Zigzagoon will evolve into Linoone. At the same time, Headbutt will become either Night Slash or Double-Edge.

-

Move 1a: Night Slash (Dash)

A fast cutting attack with a high critical hit chance. The lower your HP, the higher the critical hit chance. 3.5s cooldown.

At Level 10, Night Slash becomes Night Slash+.

Critical Hits restore your HP relative to the critical hit rate of Night Slash+.

Each hit has a 30% chance to deal a critical hit. This rate increases the lower your HP is, relative to the amount of missing HP, i.e. 50% missing max HP equates to 50%+ critical hit rate.

The critical hit rate effectively becomes 100% at 30% max HP or less.

Night Slash+ restores your HP by 10% each time you land a critical hit. The amount of HP restored increases based on the critical hit rate. The calculations read out to 100% crit chance equaling 20% HP restored on hit.

If Night Slash+ lands a critical hit while at 30% HP or less, the critical hit rate rolls over and further increases the HP restored. At 10% HP, the crit rate becomes 120% and HP is restored by 22% on hit.

As Galarian Linoone, Night Slash is a sharp cutting attack that can help you cover some distance. Even though it's a Dash move, it doesn't reach very far, and is used mainly for threatening major damage up close. This is helped by a very low cooldown of 3.5 seconds and a critical hit rate that only increases the less HP you have, turning a risky roadblock into a revengeful ravaging of rage and regret.

This becomes even more powerful when Linoone evolves into Obstagoon, as the Attack and Defense boost granted by Guts further increases the damage you can deal. Combined with the potentially high critical hit rate, a weakened Obstagoon can quickly prove to be a very dangerous obstacle to overcome for the enemy team.

The upgraded version of Night Slash provides some helpful healing when a critical hit connects. It may not be as much healing as the Potion Battle Item or an ally's healing move, but any amount of healing triggers Guts, which can exponentially increase the less HP you have. It's all percentage based too, so the higher you can increase it, like with Aeos Cookie or Buddy Barrier, the greater your returns.

Keep in mind what you're missing when you pick Night Slash over Double-Edge, though.

-

Move 1b: Double-Edge (Dash)

A wild charge attack that Stuns enemies at the cost of some HP. 2.5s cooldown.

At Level 10, Double-Edge becomes Double-Edge+.

Restores a lot of HP when this move KO's an enemy on the opposing team.

On hit, Double-Edge Stuns enemies for 1.5 seconds and takes away 10% of your max HP.

Double-Edge+ restores your HP by 30% when you KO an opposing pokemon.

If you liked Headbutt enough that your only complaint was the attack distance, then Double-Edge is the move of choice for you. Now it reaches quite a fair distance as an attack and Stuns enemies for slightly longer while also keeping the same cooldown.

Unfortunately, while a random Stun chance on a short distance melee move was cute at the beginning of the game, it's not as cute when that breaches into the late game, especially when the user evolves into Obstagoon. For balancing purposes, Double-Edge comes with some recoil that cuts away your HP each time it hits.

Ah, but it's used by a pokemon that gets stronger when it has less HP, oops.

Learning Double-Edge is a harsh commitment to make, especially as Galarian Linoone doesn't have access to Guts. Each powerful hit takes away from your HP, HP that you need to keep defending the area with and not get KO'd. Maybe if you're packing Potion you can pop it and get an extra hit or two in, but it's gonna be a rough go at it until you finally evolve into Obstagoon.

Speaking of recovery, Double-Edge+ comes with a massive HP restore when you KO an enemy, a flat rate of 30% of your max HP. Guts will not only increase this amount, but it also gives you a stronger Attack and Defense boost that you get to keep for a while. If you're in a team fight and you see some squishy Attackers or Speedsters at low HP, scoring a KO with Double-Edge+ will power you up greatly, and you'll snowball and steam roll the opposing team with your overwhelming power boosts.

Well, that's the idea anyway. Gotta level up enough to actually evolve into Obstagoon in the first place.

-

At Level 8, Linoone evolves into Obstagoon. At the same time, Lick becomes either Obstruct or Facade.

-

Move 2a: Obstruct (Debuff/Hindrance)

The user leaps directly ahead and shouts in the designated direction. All nearby pokemon hearing the shout will be Stunned briefly and have their Defense reduced for a short while. The lower your HP, the more Defense is reduced. Any moves opposing pokemon were using will be interrupted. The user's basic attack also becomes boosted. 7.5s cooldown.

At Level 13, Obstruct becomes Obstruct+.

Expands the area of effect.

Obstruct requires both the Left and Right Control Stick to aim this move, similar to Meowscarada's Double Team. Obstagoon will jump in the direction it's facing and will turn to face the designated direction to shout.

The area of Obstruct's effect is circular, with Obstagoon placed in the far side of the circle facing inward. Obstruct+ increases the size of this attack by 33%.

Obstruct Stuns enemies for 1 second and reduces the Defense of all enemies that are shouted at by 40% for 6 seconds. The less HP you have, the greater this Defense reduction.

Any moves and move effects that were active and used by opposing pokemon will be interrupted unless the pokemon is protected by hindrance immunity. Active attacks like Azumarill's Aqua Tail, Decidueye's Razor Leaf, Mewtwo's Psytrike, and Venusaur's Petal Dance will be interrupted and forced to end. This even affects Area Moves like Crustle's Stealth Rock or Slowbro's Surf, as these moves will end up getting cancelled.

Obstruct has no effect on Unite Moves.

You ever have an argument with someone and you're making plenty of good points while their only defense is to interrupt you with loud noises? How juvenile. I mean, just because you're a dog doesn't mean you get to bark incessantly to make yourself heard.

Well, being rude is Obstagoon's specialty, especially with all of that yelling. Obstruct has Obstagoon jump directly ahead and then give off a loud shout, Stunning enemies for a second and reducing their defense. The Defense reduction gets stronger the less HP you have, but a base debuff of 40% is gonna make every followup attack sting, especially since your basic attack becomes boosted afterwards.

But that's not the worst of it. The loud booming sound of Obstruct is shocking enough that it can cancel some Moves as they're being used. Imagine Crustle's X-Scissor getting in two swings before it gets canceled by Obstagoon's Obstruct, or Zoroark's Night Slash/Feint Attack combo ending without a finisher. That's the power of shouting loudly enough that you shock opponents into inaction.

The move does have a surprisingly low cooldown, which makes it easy to abuse, but it does have its limits. The shout hits in a wide range, but the initial jump forces you to confront the enemy up close to ensure that the shout hits. Obstagoon doesn't have any problem getting physical with the enemy team, but if 3 or 4 of them are present, don't expect to last long. Also watch out for ranged attackers, though with Night Slash or Double-Edge, you shouldn't have much trouble closing the distance.

Obstruct doesn't deal any direct damage, but it does soften up the enemy team for you, and can greatly increase the chance of fending off the enemy team from an objective or a Goal Zone. But if you prefer to threaten heavy damage up close, perhaps you'd prefer Facade.

-

Move 2b: Facade (Melee)

A short ranged full frontal attack that deals more damage the less HP you have. Also deals piercing damage. The user is Unstoppable while using this move and deals even more damage if the user receives an attack while using Facade. 5.5s cooldown.

At Level 13, Facade becomes Facade+.

Increases damage dealt.

Facade deals piercing damage to enemies directly in front of you.

During the attack animation, Obstagoon will be Unstoppable. The attack takes 0.5 seconds to come out. If Obstagoon is damaged during the attack animation, Facade deals 3x more damage.

The damage dealt by Facade increases relative to the amount of missing max HP, i.e. 50% missing max HP equates to 50% damage boost.

Facade+ increases the damage of the move by 2.5x.

You know how you say you're fine when you're not actually fine? Like when you're trying to hide a stomach illness or an embarrassingly large pimple. Yeah, that's called a Facade, and when a pokemon uses it, they attack while hiding the painful condition they're in.

When Obstagoon uses Facade, though, it's hiding the pain of absorbing all of that damage and turns it into power for this attack. Not only does the move hit hard, it hits even harder the less HP you have, and not just because of Guts. The move has a boosting effect when you use it at low HP, which does stack with the Attack boost from Guts. Combined together, Facade hits like a truck at very low HP.

It's all piercing damage too. Well, it kinda has to, since the move has pathetically low range for a Melee move. It's got low cooldown, at least, but it doesn't matter much if you can't hit anything with Facade.

That's about where all the negatives for Facade end, as this move is meant to combine with your other move, Night Slash or Double-Edge. Both are dashing moves with relatively low cooldown, which helps Obstagoon cover the distance it needs to quickly reach high priority targets like squishy Attackers. Both moves also improve the less HP you have, so you can deal some heavy damage if you tank a lot of hits dashing your way into the fight. Night Slash can threaten huge damage to even Defenders and All-Rounders, but Double-Edge is more consistent and will even lower your HP for you so that Facade can deal more damage.

Normally you'd have to worry about Stun or other hindrances that inhibit your movement, but Facade makes Obstagoon briefly Unstoppable when the move is thrown out. Again, it's an effect meant to make up for the shortcomings of its low range. Though, if you time it right when you get hit with an attack, Facade will deal triple the damage afterwards. It makes it easier to handle hordes of enemies when you can deal insane damage from the cluster within.

All of that bravado really does amount to actual strength. Can't help but wonder if Obstagoon shouts to taunt the enemy or as a warning...

-

Unite Move: Roadblock Rock (Buff/Hindrance)

The user stamps its foot and holds its ground in the designated area, pushing away pokemon from the opposing team with rhythmic rock music. Enemies that approach the user will be pushed back by the user's shouts. If the user's HP falls to a certain percent, the Unite Move ends and the user gains a massive Attack and Movement Speed boost and will also become Invincible for a short while. The more HP lost during Roadblack Rock, the greater the Attack and Movement Speed boost.

Roadblock Rock has Obstagoon hold its ground and jam out to some rock music being played in the background. This effect is visible with music notes flying about and Obstagoon waving rhythmically.

Upon activation, Obstagoon will stamp the ground and shout at enemies trying to get past it, Shoving enemies away in the designated direction. This effect of pushing enemies away persists for 12 seconds or until Obstagoon's HP falls to 15%.

The Shove effect has a 1.5 second cooldown if Roadblock Rock fails to push enemies out of the area of effect. This means that if an enemy gets pushed into a wall, it won't lock them down into a position where they can't escape.

When the Unite Move runs out or when Obstagoon's HP reaches 15%, Obstagoon will get a 15% Attack and Movement Speed boost. The boost increases depending on how much HP Obstagoon has lost during the Unite Move. The increased boost is relative to the percentage of HP lost.

Music can be faintly heard coming from Obstagoon during Roadblock Rock, more specifically, it's the Gym Leader Battle Theme from Pokemon Sword and Shield.

Ever gone walking down a sidewalk and catch up to some guy who's vibing hard to some sick tunes playing in his headphones? I mean, like he's really into it, swinging and kicking and stuff, and you can't get his attention because of the music playing loudly and you can't get past? Yeah, that's basically Obstagoon's Unite Move, but without the moving.

Roadblock Rock establishes a perimeter for Obstagoon to jam out to some rocking music playing in its head. It doesn't have any headphones or digital media or anything like that, but it does remember one really good song it heard one time. You know how it is when a song plays over and over again in your head, but it's a good song so you don't fuss about it.

Obstagoon loves its personal space and also loves being loud, so Roadblock Rock is the ultimate expression of character for the tall badger man. It's also a great defensive Unite Move, as it keeps enemies from slipping past. By laying claim to a small area, Obstagoon will shout and push back pokemon that try to push through, making it a great guardian for the team, especially during Objective fights.

The shouting and shoving are powerful impediments, but it doesn't make Obstagoon invincible. Sure, melee attackers can't hurt you that easily, but there are plenty of long range options that can wear you down during the Unite Move. You can't move or attack until Roadblock Rock ends either, so you can quickly lose all of your HP if you've blocked the entire enemy team.

Oh wait, forget what I said. If Obstagoon is brought down to 15% of its max HP before Roadblock Rock ends, it actually does become invincible. It stops blocking the way, but it turns its lost HP into an Attack and Movement Speed boost. This means that, if Obstagoon starts the fight with full HP and successfully blocks the entire enemy team, you can expect to be brought down to low HP and come out invincible and fueled by Guts.

The counterplay to this Unite Move is more nuanced than it seems. Agile and crafty enemies can bypass the roadblock with hindrance protection or immunity, like Talonflame's Fly or Snorlax's Block. Fast foes can just take the long way around if they can help it, like Dodrio or Mimikyu. The more direct answer would be to wait out the Roadblock Rock, but a smart Obstagoon player can pick the right time and place where that choice is unfeasible for the enemy team.

There's always the option to attack and bring Obstagoon to low HP. It's crazy, but it does force Obstagoon to stop defending and start attacking. The Obstagoon player may prefer to use this Unite Move offensively and will put themselves in a precarious position just to get that Attack boost. In this case, watch out for the bold players that try to get in between both teams while at full HP, as the more HP lost during Roadblock Rock, the greater the boost gained if they reach low HP.

If. That's the key word here. If the duration of Roadblock Rock runs out before Obstagoon's HP is brought down low enough, it won't get that invincibility status. Smart opponents will bring Obstagoon's HP down just shy of 15% if they can help it, leaving the Defender with a much more manageable 20% HP and decently high Attack and Defense boost from Guts. To counter this counterplay, you need to understand that there is an inherent risk versus reward here with how the move can be used. Using Roadblock Rock at high HP is risky since the enemy may be smart enough to play around it, whereas at half HP, a stray burst damage attack may be enough to bring you down to low HP, but the resulting Attack and Movement Speed boost won't be as great.

Maybe you should get in their heads, you know? Like an annoying song or a petty taunt by spinning in tight circles after a KO. Make them want to hit you.

-

Achievements

Deal 20,000 extra damage through Guts while at 50% max HP or less.

Now, 20k damage may not seem like much, especially for a Defender class, who commonly hit double or triple that amount in a normal match. However, the achievement specifies that all that damage must come from the boost granted to you through Guts. Fighting at full HP contributes nothing to this achievement, so gaining any recognition from the game here will require some risky brawling.

Naturally, the lower your HP, the easier it will be to fill out this achievement. All the best, too, as just about everything in your moveset improves the less HP you have. Not just the Guts ability, but Night Slash's crit chance, Obstruct's Defense reduction, Facade's piercing damage, even your Unite Move, Roadblock Rock, grants you invincibility when you're brought down to low HP. If you can manage the stress of defending the team while at death's door, this achievement should come easily to you.

There's a reason Guts as an ability emphasizes risk versus reward, as the extra Attack and Defense boost are useful as long as you stay alive long enough to use them. Remember that these boosts will linger for you if you restore your HP at the right moment. No need to stay at low HP for every single fight when you can heal it off.

Defenders do their best work when they're healthy and backed up by their allies.

-

Holowear

As a rowdy badger man beast empowered by spite and rock music, there are a few obvious Holowear choices we can come up with for Obstagoon. But I like to think outside the box and fill one's wardrobe with options for many occasions.

First up, Patrol Style Holowear gives Obstagoon the helmet and black armored vest of a patrol officer from the old country. You know, the one Galar is based off of. Then there's Warm Style Holowear that gives it a beret, a checkered ascot, and a brown overcoat for defending against the chilly weather. For a bit of extra flair, Sailor Style Holowear gives it a bandana, a scrappy blue and white striped shirt, and torn shorts with a chain holding it together. Or, you can get fancy instead with Fancy Style Holowear, dressing up Obstagoon in a top hat, monocle, peacoat, and a gilded pocket watch hanging out of its pocket. Lastly, for some sporty flair, Wrestler Style Holowear gives it a stylish eye mask, leather vest, leather shorts, and a mini cape flowing from its backside to make it look like a flashy heel.

Oh, and a Rock Star Holowear, which is obvious enough, and also very expensive, obviously.

-

Strategy

Defenders nowadays are judged by their longevity and not for their stats, which is understandable. The power level of the game has evolved quite a bit, to the point where old Defenders like Snorlax and Crustle can't quite keep up with their defending duties. But Obstagoon doesn't care about the troubles of old blood. Obstagoon don't give a crap.

With one powerful ability, Obstagoon's defending endeavors are amplified by the fight, making it capable of dealing big damage to the entire enemy team if the opportunity arises. It's not uncommon for Defenders to hit a 4 or 5 KO streak in the middle of battle, but that usually happens mostly during team fights around objectives. Or the enemy team got overconfident and made a bad push.

Either way, Obstagoon's value to the team is gauged by how well it can tank these hits for its allies during fights. To defend the team, yeah, but also to boost its Guts Ability. It's like if Flail Snorlax was its own pokemon, that's the kind of beast Obstagoon is, and the kind of Defender it plays to be.

Night Slash and Double-Edge are both powerful moves that get stronger the less HP Obstagoon has, but they really come into their own when upgraded. While Night Slash threatens opposing Defenders and All-Rounders, Double-Edge capitalizes on the presence of fragile Attackers and Speedsters. However, when upgraded, these effects heal Obstagoon, which triggers the extra healing of Guts. Less HP means more healing, which means that Obstagoon can maintain its offensive presence for longer on the battlefield. A Defender that can heal themselves can be annoying to face, but at least it's all conditional, unlike Dragon Pulse Goodra and Horn Leech Trevenant.

Obstruct is Obstagoon's calling card, but you can trade it in for the raw damage of Facade. While Obstruct can affect multiple enemies at once with hindrances and debuffs, Facade is straightforward in its ability to deal damage to enemies up close. Of course, Obstruct has the range advantage and can interrupt opposing pokemon while they're using moves, just like Clefable's Follow Me, but if you've got Supporters that are good at holding the enemy down for you, Facade will be very rewarding to hit. Oh, and the Stun effect of Double-Edge is long enough that you can land Facade for heavy damage. Something to consider.

Now, Roadblock Rock is one of the trickier Unite Moves to use for all the reasons that have already been explained. It prevents enemies without hindrance protection from passing through and it activates invincibility when the user is brought to low HP, granting them an Attack and Speed boost combined with Guts. It's easier to play around than it may seem, so it only has a few uses where its effect can be guaranteed.

Firstly, and most obviously, it can be used at or near objectives like Regieleki or Rayquaza to prevent the opposing team from establishing a foothold in the battlefield, as melee attackers can't get close to you. Ranged attackers can try and snipe the objective, but they can also damage you in the process, which brings you closer to the activation of Roadblock Rock's invincibility effect. If all goes well, your team will secure the objective and come out stronger for it. If not, well, maybe you can retaliate with Guts.

Outside of important team fights, Roadblock Rock can help you stall and distract an enemy from pushing or from retreating, but you'll need an ally to help you out in that regard. Like, if you want to keep the enemy team from rotating to the Bottom Lane, you can pester them with Night Slash or Double-Edge, but Roadblock Rock roots you in place and won't stop the enemy from just manually recalling. But with an ally helping you out, that becomes much more difficult, especially if it's an agile teammate like Blaze Kick Cinderace or Dodrio.

You're a Defender that can establish footholds in choke points, but you can't do everything by yourself. Remember, you're playing in a team, so be the obstacle your team needs.

-

And that's Obstagoon for Pokemon Unite! Man, time flies. This post was drafted pretty late into Generation 8, so I filled this season with plenty of Galarian Pokemon that I could muster a moveset for. Now that Gen 9 has come and gone, I'm gonna have to come up with plenty of movesets for the fresh faces from Paldea.

Well, that's a problem for the next season. Until next time, see ya!

[vullcanica]

02.  the high priestess  :  how does your muse make decisions ? do they trust their instinct or would they rather trust their heart / their logic ? for our eldritch gal

muse headcanon questions // accepting

It depends on the time and information available to make that decision. Avita's primary drive is logic but she's hardly a slave to it. For example, you won't find her fearing the unknown or freezing in front of the sudden and unexpected. Whatever little of her human instincts are left aren't wasted on survival mechanisms she finds futile. Nor on taking her sweet time to overthink a decision she could've intuited already.

She's rather firmly rationally-minded. If she's decided on a course of action, she can even act in direct opposition to her feelings if necessary, especially when it comes to morality. In both altruistic and cruel ways. However, heart, when it does decide over mind, decides immovably. Her modus operandi is balance and reason.

But then reason as a whole can be terribly overkill when your very existence itself is illogical and you also deal with impossibilities in your line of interest. Avita, an irregularity in her own right, has gone on to be additionally responsible for propagating more irregularities. Risk is the bedrock of creation, progress and evolution - where she already has skin in the game and certain goals set. Suddenly everything looks like an opportunity, which, while she won't go into blindly, she would never cross off as an option until she's made considerable effort towards it and found herself at a loss. With enough drive and effort, and study of logistics, she rarely does.

In the same vein, she's notably good at circumventing the path well-trodden - either through inability/disability, superior practicality or curiosity. Why? Why not. If she operated based on the number of possibilities already proven (or proven to be easier), she'd have achieved very little by comparison. She's a mix between ambitious willfullness, rationale and white-knuckle hard work.

[hedge-rambles]

A pair of delicate hands primly lifted the hem of her apricot-coloured crinoline, allowing a delicate and finely made boot to flash out with pinpoint accuracy at the knee of my colleague. She clearly hit her mark, y'know? That little patch just beside the kneecap where evolution saw fit to run a nerve marked "excruciating pain", seeing as how the other man collapsed into a little ball of wordless agony on the pavement. I turned back to her to see her rummaging in her small handbag. I took a step forward and then took another back immediately as she said "Ah, there it is!" and triumphantly withdrew a large hunting knife from the purse. A very large hunting knife. With a pink handle.

My mind focused, as minds often do in these moments, on the salient details, which mainly consisted of the very large knife now being levelled at me by the extravagantly dressed young woman. I panicked and said the first thing that came to my head, which turned out to be an incredulous "I'm sorry, did you match your knife handle to your dress?", an image of a lady's boudoir complete with a Knife For Every Occasion laid out playing across my mind's eye. "Don't be stupid" she snapped. "Apologies I thought-" "I chose the dress to go with the knife, of course"

Ah, I thought. We stood facing each other and I tried to assess the station. I was a lot larger than her, but she had an exceedingly large and very sharp looking knife. Which I didn't. After all, taking knifes on a job to bring in a petite, high society lady seemed like ridiculous overkill this morning. Now I was starting to think a cannon might be insufficient for dealing with her.

"I'm starting to think we may have been misinformed as to the…nature of this job, m'lady" I ventured "Yes, I rather believe you have. How about this then: I take my leave, you help your friend up and explain to your employer that he has sorely misrepresented the contract, rendering it null and void under the current fee structure" "That sounds equitable" I said, sweat beading on my forehead, "therefore I bid you a good evening" "Good evening. Oh, and I do apologise for this" she said, darting forward and jamming a hatpin into my arm before stepping smartly backwards with a swish of flouncy skirts. "What the fuck?" I said spinning around and clutching my forearm. The world kept spinning, which probably wasn't a good sign. "I really am very sorry about this, but if I've learnt one thing it's to never take chances on the honour of others. It'll wear off in about 15 minutes" she said, and I actually believed her. "Perfectly understamabable" I almost managed. I sat down on the ground next to my colleague - who'd had the wisdom and foresight to stay down this whole time - with my head in my hands, trying to stop it undulating so much.

As she swept away she called out one last thing: "The word you need to use is 'hazard pay', you should probably be charging Giovanni about five times your normal rate for trying to bring me in. Do tell him I say hi".

[aledxaled]

Spidersona : Érine Saint-Félix, the Haitian superhero !

My world is in dear need of Haitian superheroes, so I made one !

I was motivated to the max to do this and thought « why not start with their early years & build an evolution sheet from there ? ». It just made sense to draw them at different stage of their life :)

Idk if that’s a common exercise but I found it fun for character building ! That’s how I knew I wanted Erine’s sticker fascination/love to be a defining trait & remain relevant throughout their growth

As you may guess by the first sheet, Érine started their superhero journey quite young (around 11-13) and has a rough costume here (simply slapped some stickers on their mask and paint a spider on their shirt) but the heart is definitely there :]

Second costume is the opposite : quite overkill, an attempt to be taken seriously and be a more responsible figure but still with a big heart. I just finished the last one & post all three next to each others next time 🖤