#this first tier raid gear was a+

[therovingstar]

AU in which Odzaya puts away the White Mage garb and gives Thancred a run for his money.

(I think she wins.)

[cocolacola]

finally, my raszageth visage design!

and some flat color / lineart for reference. :) really hoping we get an official design one day, but maybe this will satisfy me for now.

[stoneclaw]

I MISS RAID

[lynn-tged-posting]

tged webtoon ep 156 spoilers and thoughts below the cut yeah yeah yeah

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I DONT KNOW WHY BUT I THINK THE WAY HE SITS BACK HERE IS REALLY SILLY HEEHEE

also if the panels are slightly blurry uuuuuh no they're not dont worry abt it

ok back to the top bc holy shit this chapter made me crazy again

OF ALL THE CHARACTERS I COULD HAVE EXPECTED A RETURN OF. IT WAS NOT LUPELLAN

HOLY FUCKING SHIT I REALLY THOUGHT WE WERE DONE WITH THAT GUY CAUSE YKNOW. DEAD. BUT HERE WE ARE AHHHH ITS ALL COMING TOGETHER

and ohhh god the restoration of fate kicking in alongside all of this is insane ,, , god it might even happen sooner depending on how quickly they kick their plans into gear ,,, also this guy (forgot his name LMFAO) looks downright terrifying

i wonder how they'll go about it actually,,, especially since alicia has already had a dose of that like, dark magic paranoia poison back when she raided targa's castle. will she be able to combat what their planning,,, do they know she had been poisoned before? probably not, right? ooohhh im so curious to know,,,,,,,

ANYWAY AHH LLOYD AND JAVIER AHHHHHH AAAHHHH

LLOYD GETTING. EMOTIONAL OVER FINALLY BEING CLOSE TO GETTING THE ANSWERS HE NEEDS BUT THEN IMMEDIATELY PUSHING PAST IT GGGHHHRRRRR GGGG IM BITING MY HAND IM BITING MY HAND

he's finally so close . he's so close to being able to permanently protect this place that he loves so dearly . ooohhhghhh hhhhh . he's gotta pursue and continue to the end god im shaking him

AND THEN JAVIER BEING FOND OF HIM

im so sorry i dont have a lot of brilliant things to say im just. KICKING MY FEET ROLLING ON THE FLOOR IM. AAAHHHH my singular Analysis braincell hasn't kicked in yet sorry

sorry okay if i just post panels and scream i wont actually get anywhere but i REALLY liked the oneliners/jokes in this episode specifically got me giggling my ass off

AND LLOYD BEING A FUCKING SCHEMER TOO YOU ASSHOLE /AFF

TOP TIER ACTOR WHAT THE HELLL HAHAHAHA HIS SMUG ASS FACE

i remember seeing a post on twt about the episode preview and it was this left frame of lloyd crying and i was like "WTF FULLY EMOTIONAL MOMENT WITH LLOYD??" BUT NO ITS JUST HIM BEING CONNIVING AS USUAL LMAO

and javier's reaction HAHAHAHAHAHAA

OH ANDNDD AND AND MY FAV PART OF THIS EP

shaking crying at the way they look at each other oh my god . javier fully understanding lloyd . that the outcome lloyd wants isnt just one that benefits himself or the estate, but one that satisfies everyone,,, theyre on the same page they want the same thing a good ending for everyone they love im gonna lose my fucking MARBLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE PROTAGONISTS EVERRRRRRRRRRRRRR

AND AND ANDD THE CALLUSES ON LLOYDS HANDS. IM. SHAKING CRYING AND JAVIER'S EXPRESSION AT HIS HANDS AAHHH AAA

lloyd saying this n that about being pragmatic and yet there's this blatant fucking evidence that he's been working so hard and so long for the most idealistic, best results for the people he cares about and the people he comes across no matter what . "pragmatic" and he's going about things in a long, constructive and taxing process all so that he can fight fate while also saving people instead of realistically accepting the permanence of it . this is so poorly worded but i hope u understand HOW INSANE THIS MAKES MEEE and javier catches this for sure the fucker im shaking him

AND THEIR GOD DAMN HIGH FIVE. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"business relationship" I THINK NOT! Y'ALL HIGH FIVE'D!!! AAHHAFDLKJSDFHAHHAHAHAHAHA IM GONNA THROW UP /POS

THIS MADE ME SO FUCKING EMOTIONAL FOR SOME REASON I. GHGHGHHGHGHGHGHH the first high five they share im gonna fall apart into ten billion pieces

i said this on twt but like. if anyone suggests a high five irl i think i'm actually gonna just bawl in front of them i'm so serious llovier is a fucking plague

and their second one about the hellgate was really cute/funny LMFAOOO

this ep had me giggling and wiggling around like a fucking millipede i loved this so much HEHEHEHE

i think this is just abt the beginning of the end of the truth jewel arcs,,, god i wonder what the jewel will say!!! PRAYING that it says fate can be fought bc if it says "lol nah u cant" the devastation and anguish that would follow would be INSANE i wouldnt be able to take it. id stop reading right then and there /j

AND LUPELLAN AND THAT OTHER GUY WHAT ARE THEY GONNA DO TO ALICIA OH GODDDD

anyway that's all for now ,,,, i will see u next week, ,,,, or whenever i make my next shitpost,,,,!!!! end post!!!!!!!!!!

[andmaybegayer]

Last Monday of the Week 2024-09-02

Do you rember. Wen day is dark, sember.

Listening: @cyelatm released a new album Habit Prism that I've been listening to in bits and pieces. Even, rhythmic folk, good music to have on when you have people around.

In that vein, Bandcamp Friday this coming Friday! Make your lists!

Watching: Watched The Raid which I've had kicking around for a bit. Do you want to watch guys punch each other all over for like 15 minutes at a time for an hour? No? Get better taste in movies and then watch guys punch each other all over for like 15 minutes at a time for an hour.

The Raid is so obviously made for like two dollars, there's one building, every single gun and piece of armour is airsoft gear, the camera is visibly some mid-tier hardware that suffers from severe rolling shutter, and it kicks so much ass.

There's some really interesting things happening with camera movement in this movie. Really really complicated multi-axis camera moves, the same shot will take like six different dutch angles in a single move, or will lock on to different objects and follow them, it's great for martial arts but it's also used to pretty good effect in some interstitial scenes.

The culminating fight with Mad Dog is so wild, literally just three guys in an empty concrete cube fighting for a solid ten or twelve minutes and it works! Does not seem possible. They actively remove almost every prop from the room so it's just guys hitting each other but they keep doing incredible stunts.

It's funny looking at the gifsets on here because they're unreadable, everything happens so fast and requires so much context that is only delivered in the full flow of the movie. My favourite part is when he said "It's Raiding Time" and raided all over those guys.

Reading: Finally sat down and got through the Phalanx's Twilight, Legion's Triumph series on acoup.

Sections IVa-c mostly slid off my brain because it's a bunch of wars I don't know enough about to contextualize but it's mostly justification for what's explained in parts I-III which were great, and it's an interesting look at how the political and military structures of Rome interwove to improve the effectiveness of the Legion.

Also reading Skin Horse, which I started ages ago but never got very far, I think because I started a job around that time and lost track of it. Sticking webcomic tabs on my little ARM tablet is really convenient, I've jammed Out Of Placers and Laika's Comet in there as well, it's been a while since I did a big archive dive on a comic.

Skin Horse is very much of its time, not really in sensibility but just in content. The nerds are characterized by liking Harry Potter.

Making: Resolved the power delivery issues that were causing me to have mysterious failures with the LED driver. That was annoying. Anyway remember to split your power supply when you could potentially pull like 10A@5V to drive LED's.

Playing: Tactical Breach Wizards campaign is ongoing, as you get deeper into the campaign your team expands which dramatically complicates operations, your possible actions explode, and I'm not even halfway through.

Dall was my newest operator at time of writing and she's probably the hardest to use, she can deal a lot of damage but relies more so than anyone else on good positioning, it's really easy to end up way out of place and waste her moves, and she's too heavy to shunt around with Jen's storm attacks the way you can with the others.

Speaking of those, I really like how the short turns and deterministic actions mean you can get really into the weeds. The first time I used a gale grenade to shunt Zan over one extra block to line him up I assumed this would be a sometimes food but you really find yourself doing stuff like that all the time.

I'm heading back and picking through some of the challenge missions concurrently with playing partially to stretch out overall gameplay and partially because I think having fewer abilities unlocked will make those more interesting.

Tools and Equipment: You know, I think we know each other pretty well, I can put this here. The Doxy USB-C Wand is a safe and legal thrill.

[nuesora]

Thoughts on how Robin & Kylar would play ffxiv

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Robin:

Start playing at mid shadowbringer.

Lalafell (gender same with their irl gender). Have tried hyur once on a sub character but soon found they're more fond of their little lala popoto.

Play on console, can only play the game in controller.

Mostly prefer casual, slightly modern glamour, but have one set of high-fantasy adventurer-ish glamor for msq.

Is in a big FC, but have a few friends good enough to do daily roulettes with.

Hangout with these people at their FC house regularly.

If Robin has to sell their console and quit the game these friends will genuinely be worried of them.

Have tried most content in game except ultimates.

Casual raid player, usually clear the current tier within a month from release.

Don't have a static but is good enough to clear with random people on pf.

Mainly play magical range dps, can play both 3 magic dps job fairly well. Have max leveled at least 1 job in all categories but haven't maxed all job.

Don't own any online store item, but have a fairly good collection of in-game collectibles (mounts, minions, gears, etc.)

Don't have their personal estate but owns a apartment at Limsa. Indoor decoration doesn't involve complicated techniques but is hearty and clearly a lot of efforts and thoughts have been put into it.

Enjoy showing pc the world of Eorzea and (especially) their apartment.

Have tried convincing pc to also play ffxiv at least once.

Have dreamed about living in a place like their in-game apartment in real life with pc more than once.

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Kylar:

Started playing at ARR release.

Solo player, empty friend list, in a solo FC.

Is in a lot of people's black list.

Started as bard main but switched to dancer after shb. Maxed all jobs but bought skip for most of them. Did all skipped job quest later in new game +.

Other than msq and chronicles first clear, they only do contents that absolutely does not involve another player (island sanctuary, criterion dungeons, etc.). Most of the time they just stay in their FC house (doors locked).

FC house interior is not very sfw.

HEAVY mod user, have enough mods (both sfw & nsfw) installed to get them perma banned by se instantly if there's a screenshot with their id on get leaked.

Started as a cat boy but soon modded their character into their crush at the time, currently their wol looks exactly like pc.

Actually paid people online to make hairstyle and face mod of pc.

Heavy fantasia user as they would like to see pc in different race and can't really choose between pc with cat ears and bunny ears and dragon horns.

If pc has any of the TF Kylar will have a paid mod of that TF. Except cat TF, in which case Kylar just fantasiaed into a miqo'te, but will have the tail modded if pc is demonic cat.

All the mods they commissioned are private.

Their screenshot folder size have exceeded game file size long time ago.

Have an alt on separate account modded into themselves to eternal bond with their main and do nsfw screenshots. Think double month sub and expansion fee is like nothing comparing to get "eternally bonded" with their love.

Do found some sort of comfort after their parents' tragedy in ffxiv's story.

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Bonus Whitney:

Don't play "weeb game", but would very much like to see pc cosing female viera in their racial starting glamour despite of pc's gender if they ever lays their eyes on it.

[theworldvsyoshiko]

Finally, the ship launches.

I love that it lists them in boarding order. Obviously Terror Bird 1 is the most important here. Augustus, of course, is Lewis's pet rhino.

Altogether, it took five years and 12 days for Umeko to make her way off the planet. I think it's safe to say that wherever they end up will be better than this shithole.

The final state of affairs:

First off, research:

There is none.

Throughout the entire trip, they managed to research Pemmican and Noble Attire (for the stupid beret that the religious leader would want, if they'd gotten enough people to need one.) They spent a long time trying to research Microelectronics before I realized that it wasn't going to be finished in time to matter, then switched them to Firefoam. They got about halfway through by the end.

There just isn't a lot of time for research with such a small group of nomads. There are other priorities, like 'sleeping under a roof' and 'not being killed by bandits.'

Umeko Keith

Umeko's pretty overall competent now, at a 6+ in every skill but art, intellectual, and mining. That's pretty damn solid for only five years and considering all the crap she had to deal with. She's old enough to drink now, in some theoretical society where it isn't normal for 13 year olds to have a beer after work. And... still wearing that alpaca leather backpack she made in like her first week.

As a fairly well-augmented cyborg with 19 Shooting, Umeko's actually really good at this. Over the final year or so, she's handled some raids by herself while everyone else slept. If it weren't for her mediocre gear and lack of psychic powers, she'd be a near-Yoshiko-tier combat monster. My little girl's all grown up...

Umeko's crush on Choco has rebounded to full power, so perhaps she'll talk Choco into giving girls a chance some day. Out there. Among the stars. She's still super close with Lewis, too, although they've been too busy to hang out over the past half-year or so, and their relationship has suffered a bit as a result.

Lewis McLaughlin

I've downplayed Lewis's contributions a bit thanks to his horrible childhood education, but he hasn't turned out awful or anything. He's good with guns, animals, research, and plants, and that's not a bad spread. The fact that he's not good at construction or medicine been a bit of an advantage in its own right, because it left him as the one hauling corpses and cleaning while everybody else was dealing with necessities. It's not glamorous work, but it desperately needed to be done.

And I'll be honest, not sure this would have gone well if the group didn't have his trained rhinos to use as bullet sponges. The fact that they managed to save the one he bonded with is a miracle.

Lewis likes everyone! Even Vaov, whom Umeko and Choco are still suspicious of. Lewis is also straight and old enough that he considers them all valid romantic partners, so he's spent a lot of time asking girls out only to get turned down. He'll find somebody some day, I'm sure.

Curca Choco

Choco has practically been the main character for this last segment. I don't know if it's the fact that she has slightly better armor than the others or if she's just been lucky, but either way, she's walked out of almost every fight unharmed, often when everybody else is at risk of bleeding out or outright collapsed on the ground. Shooting/Medical is a good combination for the raid onslaught. Plus, the thing about Psychopath letting her drag corpses around with fewer penalties.

Because of that, though, she's pretty neutral on the others. Her opinion of literally everybody is between -5 and 0... the -5s being for people she had to turn down for dates recently, of course. Like I said before, everyone wants Choco.

Jedtchvozz Vaov

Vaov's by far the newest member, but she's gotten good at stuff in a hurry... partially because Umeko bought a pile of skilltrainers on that last shopping trip. Impid fire breath would usually be a great trump card for hard fights, but since this group never figured out firefoam and was usually living in wooden bases, I was saving it for an emergency.

Vaov likes everyone else decently enough, but only Lewis likes her back. She's crushing on both Umeko and Choco, but it wasn't meant to be.

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The kids leave behind an, uh, interesting

and colorful

base for some future group of scavengers to find.

It's basically move-in ready. 38 kg of leftover pemmican, a bunch of guns, four bedrooms, a rec room that... isn't as good as it used to be, but hardly has any rhino blood now.

Looking back, I like how you can see the cycle of colonies... and the way that the last colony's value constantly climbed, rather more steeply than the others, thanks to the influx of raider loot.

That big dip in the next-to-last colony is when Umeko stepped out to give all of the colony's money and leftover trade goods away. That got them two allies, by the way. You'll notice that it didn't help a fucking bit in the final raids.

[helloliriels]

Ty for the tag! @anyawen @totallysilvergirl @raina-at @topsyturvy-turtely & @dragonnan ! Love seeing what everyone's been writing! 💕 Currently working insane hours and no time to write (but hopefully soon! 🤞🙃🫰)

💌 FIRST LINE TAG 💌

*rules: post the first lines of your last 10 fics posted to ao3. if you have less than 10 fics, post first line of all your fics.*

It Belongs In A Museum

“John … I thought you said this was a library?”

(a little surprise tribute to the fluffbruary crowd)

My Bloody Valentine

Sherlock dusted his knuckles ... pulled back and struck with all of the force he could muster ...

Sleepless in London

“What’s your name?” The radio host asked, encouragingly, “you sound younger than our usual callers?”

A Place to Call Home

Sherlock stared at the postcard … It was not every day you received a 'Happy Holidays' from a stranger … ? on a postcard … ? from across the pond ... !

The Shape of Us

It had devastated John …seeing Janine go in to share a bath with Sherlock. Why it still bothered him a year later … he didn't know.

The Picture of Baker Street Gay

“Stand still! Why-? Haha … Why are you fidgeting?” John couldn’t help laughing, as Sherlock looked almost physically pained to be holding still.

Remember Me

Mummy was walking too fast. Sherlock tugged on her sleeve. Once. Twice. Three times. Then stopped and stomped his little foot, with a huff.

(A fic for Remembrance Day & the WWI knitted soldier)

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, DETECTIVES & DATES

“He called me a twink? I’m not a twink, John. My gear is top tier raid lvl, BiS … all except for my staff?! I don’t understand."

(Not So) Fake Fic Titles

Sherlock missed this. The smell of old books. Paper. Dust. Memories. And John … John just standing there … (last march, this got out of hand. Technically, it's 125 ficlets or thereabouts)

I Can't Feel My Face When I'm With You

"I must be in love," the younger man stated plainly, eyes bleary and unfocused as John pulled him off the dump heap he was calling a bed …

Hop on in! @fluffbyday-smutbynight @7-percent @thelazyecrivain @fuckyeahfightlock @momma2boys @khorazir @janetm74 @john-smiths-jawline @myriath @fawnhickory

[farfromdaylight]

bro i'm so pleased with myself

i decided that i wanted the pants from O7S, sigmascape 3.0 savage. it's a stormblood fight from the middle of the tier, and i know how easy a lot of the other omega raids are unsync, so i was like, you know what, i'll try it solo.

AND I DID IT. BLIND AND WITH NO KNOWLEDGE OF THE FIGHT, I CLEARED IT SOLO. took a couple wipes but i succeeded and i'm so!! WHAT A DELIGHT. i don't usually enjoy blind runs, but since i know the normal version quite well, it was pretty easy to figure out the mechanics? and honestly it wasn't a difficult fight in terms of mechanics, it was just a matter of survival. i tried on summoner first and got blasted in no time, so i went on warrior and relied on all my self heals.

AHHH I'M SO PLEASED. i ended up clearing twice on catboy and i need to do the same for reis, but i might try to PF it for her since her gear isn't quite as good. mostly i'm just happy to have gotten the pants ✨

[omenindia]

Cloud Gaming: OMEN's Deep Dive into the Instant-Play Revolution

The grind is over. In our relentless quest to level up, there's a new boss in town: Cloud Gaming. As the digital arena keeps respawning, we at OMEN are here to debrief you on why this isn't just another side quest, but the main storyline of the gaming universe.

Zero Delays, Non-stop AFK Action

Remember the last time you were camping in anticipation of a game's download and installation? Felt like an eternity, right? With cloud gaming, that's just old lore. Dive straight into the heart of the raid, just as you'd stream a cinematic cutscene or an epic OST, but for gaming.

Gaming for Every Class, Anytime, Anywhere

The true buff of cloud gaming is its epic accessibility. No need for overpowered rigs or beastly specs; even your most basic devices can join the guild. From a quick PvP on your smartphone during a cooldown to a boss fight on your smart TV, your games are always in your inventory.

For the OMEN legion, this means an open-world access to the quests you love, no matter your spawn point or the gear you've equipped. Your entire gaming universe is in your hotbar.

The New Meta: Cost-Effective Gaming

Dropping gold on the latest gaming dragons or legendary PCs? That's just one strategy. With the heavy lifting shifted to distant servers, you're promised god-tier graphics and frame rates, sans the heavy gold grind. Welcome to the shared loot of gaming's future.

Behind the XP Grind: Turbo Speeds and Mobile Mastery

Two game-changing power-ups are turbo-boosting cloud gaming. First, the global buff in internet speeds, making lag a thing of the past. And second, the era of mobile dominance. As players increasingly go for quick matches on-the-fly, cloud gaming perfectly delivers dungeon raid experiences to mobile HUDs.

Navigating the Dungeons

No expansion pack is without its mobs. From the aggro of data caps in some realms to the shift in gameplay dynamics from PCs to mobiles, there's a quest map to follow.

OMEN's Guild Note

Cloud gaming isn't just another character in the lobby; it's expanding the guild of choices. It's a new build offering flexibility, instant respawns, and often a more gold-efficient path to dive into elite gaming.

For the OMEN guild, this heralds a wider arena to PvP, level up, and conquer. As we co-op into this exciting next chapter, trust OMEN to ensure your gear is always enchanted, always buffed, and always ready to tackle the next raid.

Stay connected. GG with OMEN.

[wondrouswendy]

feeling very doom and gloom in the chili’s tonight

Tomorrow is my dad’s birthday. For the past week I feel like I’ve been feeling all the pent up grief I’ve been holding in since the anniversary of his death last year. It’s really silly to say but I was watching a lot of defunctland over the weekend and just thinking about how much I loved going on amusement park rides with my dad because he was the parent who was willing to go on the fun rides. I remember going on things like Splash Mountain together and really loving it. Being carried on his shoulders so I didn’t have to wade through the crowds.

I read about grief in the second year and I was surprised to see people saying it’s actually worse than the first year. But I think I am in that stage. Realizing all the things I’m going to miss out on. My dad wasn’t perfect by any means but he was part of the family. I sometimes wonder if his illness is what changed his personality around the time he retired. Like if he had it before he was diagnosed formally.

I’m just generally feeling depressed. Stuff isn’t hitting the same way.

Classic hasn’t been as fun despite how much I do -in theory- love Ulduar as a raid. I feel like my character is fun to play, but gearing has been miserable. My parses are purple to legendary but it’s like so what, arms is still bottom tier dps.

On the writing front I have ideas of things I want to accomplish, but feeling a little caught. Low energy. I was rejected from a zine I really wanted to be a writing mod for and it’s kind of taken a toll on my morale. Then all the stuff with the Apex zine has me feeling undervalued in something that is a hobby… but also some major recognition would have been awesome.

On the job front, I feel miserable every time I scroll through listings. I feel like the days are blurring and I’m getting further and further behind. I don’t want to take a job outside of my field just for the sake of it. I’ve applied to writing jobs, museum jobs, archival jobs. It just feels like I don’t stand out enough.

Then I’m seeing family and my cousins who are successful in their jobs and I’m the loser family member who went to grad school and hasn’t made anything of it.

I feel like I have good days and bad days. But I feel directionless outside of my hobbies. Like I’m not amounting to anything meaningful.

I feel like I have good days and then very bad days. Just barely getting by.

[quad-weave]

Hypostatic Healer

Do you know how much of a pain it is to get BiS for healer this tier? You need so many Causality because most of the raid gear isn't great for them. And it's a hard tier for healers in general, to boot! So when the new alliance raid came out, the first top I picked up was the healer top.

It helps it looks great too, I love it dyed in Dark Blue. Combined with a few of my other favorite glam items it makes for a pretty elegant and nice-looking glam. :)

Body - Hypostatic Cloak of Healing in Dark Blue Hands - Ravel Keeper's Halfgloves of Healing in Soot Black Legs - Fat Cat Shorts in Soot Black Feet - Asphodelos Gaiters of Healing in Dark Blue

Earrings - Hardsilver Earring of Healing Ring - Valerian Terror Knight's Ring

These photos were taken in Ala Mhigo (the dungeon) with a tweaked version of Leo's Cool Desert (Day) shader.

[artyloreviews]

Going Back in World of Warcraft

I sat down and played a lot of WoW recently; felt I could write my time off as a business expense, if I wrote something about it. Because I happened to play both Shadowlands, Vanilla, and WotLK in a very short time-frame and I feel like I have something to say on it design-wise, which people might find interesting. Some notes on sandbox MMOs and private servers to boot.

I’ve gotten back into playing World of Warcraft, because of a recent conversation I had with someone playing the game’s latest expansion – Dragonflight. This quickly spiralled into the familiar entrapment of me levelling yet another Human Paladin up to the level cap, gearing up for what is essentially the most recent tier of content and experiencing all that I had missed since over the course of roughly a week. My legitimate personal experience with the game extends from the beginning of Cataclysm, until somewhere around the release of Uldir in Battle for Azeroth. This for most people would be enough to discredit everything I have to say about the game, as I happen to have been around for what is universally agreed upon and is essentially numerically quantifiable as the downfall of World of Warcraft, missing those golden years from late Vanilla up to the end of Wrath of the Lich King. The other fragment of original sin, which I carry with me into this is that I am also of the vocal minority that liked Cataclysm and have only grown fonder of it as the years have passed.

Outside of my legitimate experience, however, I have over said decade, almost pathologically, revisited every expansion from Vanilla to Shadowlands on almost every private server with a respectable playerbase, including some that barely had people in them to drive the auction house. When it was current, I couldn’t have possibly played during Vanilla WoW, as at the time, I would have been at the kindergarten, learning how to write with a crayon shoved up my nose. As such, the only way I could have played Vanilla WoW was at some point past its heyday. While not necessarily a unique position, it is an interesting one nonetheless.

While I do not have any strictly long term credentials that identify me as a hardcore WoW player, like a collective sum of achievement points, rare items, mounts, etc;  I have raided through most of the raid tiers released for the game with tier-appropriate gear at least on Normal difficulty, acquired currently unobtainable items such as Corrupted Ashbringer, fished up a Sea Turtle, farmed Ashes in The Burning Crusade, got Glory of the Firelands Raider and Flametalon of Alysrazor on now essentially defunct Cataclysm servers. All this, essentially never on the same character, but always a character that is named the same, looks the same, plays the same – carbon copies of the same character in a lineage that spreads across a wild multiverse of every state World of Warcraft has ever been released in. I may not be the best at WoW, but I have put in a lot of time in WoW; enough so to where I imagine, I could pass as, if nothing else, a slightly above average player. Not casual enough to only ever fill the DPS ranks of LFR, but not hardcore enough to be in a guild pushing raids on Mythic.

I am by no means a “old WoW” purist as this might suggest, although I do have an appreciation for Vanilla in terms of it, in 2004, containing, at its core, most of the fundamental mechanics of WoW, which over the years have essentially been immutable. The moment-to-moment experience of leaving Northshire Abbey, walking to Goldshire, picking up Fishing, First-Aid and Cooking, walking through the gates of Stormwind for the first time as the music swells, just to deliver a package and pick up Engineering and Mining from the Dwarven Quarters – it’s all essentially second nature to me after a decade or so of constant reiteration.

I’d go as far as to say that those initial ten to fifteen levels, which railroad you through this arc of you just spawning into the world as a recruit, up to you entering your faction’s capital city, is essentially a vertical slice of what the next several hundred hours of the game are going to be – the one thing that has remained consistently true regardless of which expansion you are playing. Going from modern WoW back to Vanilla felt wholesome, in the sense of it essentially stripping away all that sense of rush that comes along with modern WoW, that baggage that came from years of game knowledge becoming not necessarily irrelevant, but just reduced in its scope.

Something I didn’t realise I missed in modern WoW was the random mob drops of essentially “trash items”. Gray items currently are unanimously considered junk by most players - something you can’t even equip or sell on the auction house, where at one point you might have found upgrades for you character or something more exciting if luck was on your side. This change in something as inconsequential as random trash, items that exist for the sole purpose of you getting some variety and not just looting raw gold, has devolved to the point of having addons automatically sell any item of that quality upon opening up a vendor, which essentially turns all of these items into “inconvenient gold”.

The Fargodeep Mine is essentially the first part of the Elwynn Forest, where you can see this, that also happens to have all the trappings of World of Warcraft in one place. It has aggressive mobs, who will for the first time take the initiative on attacking you, meaning that hypothetically, if you are underprepared, you might lose out to attrition, going too deep and not being able to come out without dying at least once. In old WoW, kobolds just happen to drop mining and herbalism reagents, linen cloth, food items and other reagents, various qualities of gear from Poor to Uncommon, and there are also at least two chests with a high chance of uncommon gear – some upgrades, others vendor trash or auction-worthy. In essence, it is a microcosm that is essentially self-sustaining in those early journeyman levels of your class any profession. The mining nodes and kobold drops enable you to sustain and level up Mining, Blacksmithing, and Engineering. The uncommon item drops enable you to practice Enchanting. The linen allows you to level up Tailoring and First Aid. The random herb drops allow you to contribute in a small part to Alchemy. Herbalism, Skinning and Leatherworking do not directly benefit from Fargodeep Mine, but its surroundings, which you need to pass through on your way to the mine, hold the boars and herb gathering nodes for you to get started in those professions as well, if not even more convenient due to their proximity to Goldshire.

It ultimately becomes a place that will be sought after by more than one player, a cornucopia of resources that you can intentionally go out into the world and farm until you’ve not only satisfied your own quota, but also those of others. I usually choose Engineering and Mining as my starting professions, which early on requires the murder of Kobolds for Linen Cloth, which is also required for, in my case, First-Aid, but is also required by others as a Tailoring reagent.

In later expansions, I have the vivid memory of making a lot of my gold by selling low-level crafting reagents, which I spent the time gathering as I was levelling, because I realised there was an underserviced niche, where the effort required by a player to go back to a zone, which may be a decade older than the latest tier of content is seen as inefficient by most people, who would prefer the convenience of just purchasing those reagents from the auction house. Me, deliberately making the inefficient decision to not rush through the ageing content in order to to reach max level as fast as possible, something often done by almost all seasoned players, who have ultimately experienced that content when it was relevant, but have since moved on, results in an economical niche to service what essentially amounts to someone going from level one to level fifty in a profession, which for me might be my afternoon collecting the ore and reagents out in the world, but for the client at the end of the line amounts to essentially a minute of staring at a progress bar, before those resources are never needed again.

Modern WoW eventually reached a point where resources such as Copper and Tin become an accidental by-product of the miniscule time spent by players in Elwynn Forest and Westfall, as their addons give them an optimised route, which ignores everything but the essentials in terms of experience points and nothing more.

Going through the same process in Vanilla on the other hand feels like you could be “that guy”. The guy who may not have reached level cap or participated in the latest tier of raiding content or reached Gladiator in PvP, but you are THE guy providing the entire server with these low-level reagents in bulk. You are “THE guy who sells Copper and Tin, so that everyone else don’t have to”. And this service you provide to the rest of the realm is essentially you coming up with your own freelance profession, which might end up with you profiting more than if you were to engage in the oversupplied market for the latest tier’s reagents.

Copper and Tin are never required in any high-level crafting recipes and they become irrelevant essentially as soon as the experience points of the zone dry up. This essentially means that players never have a reason to go back to old zones, making everything but the latest hub city and its associated zones empty and lifeless. In Shadowlands at the end of the expansion, the only zones that actually had any players in them were Zereth Mortis and Oribos. The original four zones and The Maw were essentially made irrelevant within the same expansion. Only players who were levelling and a dedicated few madmen, who are willing to collect the various ores from those zones, who engage in the lucrative profession of “old content farmer” are paid dividends for taking the time to gather one or all five of the different ores, so that some blacksmith across the realm can make some ingots for items that will already be inferior to common dungeon gear.

The delineation between what is levelling content and what is the current tier of content is not as clear cut as it is in modern WoW, since in Vanilla, those zones in Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor were essentially all there was to the world – i.e., the current tier was the whole world. Yes, there is a functional difference between being in Elwynn Forest – a level 1 to 10 zone, and Burning Steppes – a level 50 to 59 zone, but travelling from one to another for their unique reagents isn’t as much of a physical and mental leap as going from farming Progenium Ore in Zereth Mortis, Shadowlands to farming Copper in Elwynn Forest, Vanilla, since you’re not just travelling from one zone to the next, you’re travelling back through roughly eighteen years of content.

What WoW has never really done is give you a good reason to go back to old zones, since the new content is always carved out into some new chunk of landmass, making the old zones irrelevant. Even during the Legion expansion, when the Paladin class hall was essentially put underneath an already existing zone - Light’s Hope chapel, in the middle of Eastern Plaguelands - a zone that at the time was introduced six expansions ago and briefly refurbished three expansions ago. Yet its location was essentially irrelevant, as nothing in it or in the expansion required you to interact with anything outside of Light’s Hope chapel’s basement. You can’t even hypothesise how players riding or flying there was somehow passively giving old zones new relevance, since most players just teleported there from the latest hub city and teleported back in a much similar fashion.

World of Warcraft isn’t actually a persistent world anymore; probably never has been. I’m more of the opinion that these roleplaying mechanics, statistics and everything alongside them was pure happenstance. It is spottily documented that The Burning Crusade expansion was essentially in development as Vanilla WoW was coming out. Fundamentally, the design from WoW’s inception was to abandon the existing zones in Azeroth and go to Outland. These abandonment issues were for all intents and purposes, planned from the very start.

I could go on, fantasising about how it could be a different game where these more sandbox elements were the at the forefront, where new expansions would not only introduce new zones, but refine and more importantly redefine the purpose of the existing zones for the current state of the game. These aren’t necessarily new observations either, as “theme park” MMO has been essentially synonymous with World of Warcraft, as where this exact concept of a “sandbox” MMO has been realised in other games like Runescape, EVE Online, Star Wars Galaxies, and Black Desert Online.

Does this mean that I don’t enjoy WoW as it currently is? No, certainly not. There is however a sort of disappointment, which only ever seems to deepen as old and new get farther apart. I think it would be comical of me to suggest that Cataclysm is essentially the golden middle point between the old and the new, but I think it is at least something like that. The reason why so many players yearn to re-experience the good old days and why so many private servers have popped up over the years for essentially every expansion ever released, is because everyone has their own idea of where that golden middle is. What’s really important, I believe, is that the player has the choice to engage in that, if they so wish and I think that it is commendable that World of Warcraft is seeing some of that in the Classic re-releases.

I am however aware that as we get farther away from the days of Ultima Online, Everquest, and I suppose MUDs, the more prohibitive it will be for newer and younger players to experience that type of game, or at the very least – see the appeal in it.

Ultimately it is the players acting against that core design philosophy of always moving forward, that breeds the disappointment and the nostalgia that people have about old WoW. It’s not just mechanics or raid difficulty, it’s people starting to feel themselves and their values left behind by the times. I think it’s essentially foolish to think that WoW shouldn’t move forward, but I can also understand the desire for the old content to also be cared for in some way, instead of just being irrelevant and left to gather dust.

If a friend were to come up to you and express the desire to play WoW, would you immediately hand them the .wtf file set to the realmlist of a server running your favourite expansion, or would you hesitate and let them play the latest one and let them find out for themselves? Ultimately nowadays the question is starting to shift from “Do you want to play WoW?” to “When do you want to play WoW?”. The answer will likely continue to be either 2004, 2008 or the current year, regardless. And despite this natural design of retiring old content and moving on to greener pastures with every new expansion and everyone rushing through the old zones to get to the new, going back is ironically all that players seemingly want to do.

[neegaadeek]

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Gym Defenders Tier List

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Table of Contents

Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

Tier 4

Tier 5

Honorable Mentions

Gym Defenders Tier List

Rankings

Attackers Tier List

Best Attackers by Type

Gym Defenders Tier List

Introduction

Recently, the defense meta has largely withered in terms of utility and general viability. The difference between taking down a gym held by top-tier defenders and those with less general viability is a matter of a minute or two for any worthwhile attacker. Based on these facts, we can no longer genuinely recommend raising many Pokemon at all purely for the sake of gym defense.

That said, the current tier list has a new overall focus; universal utility.

Methodology

While the Pokemon on this list will first have an emphasis on their ability to defend, they will also be heavily weighted based on their utility outside of the defense meta. The basic goal of this tier list will be geared towards promoting a healthy, well-rounded team in order to maximize the value of a given investment. We will continue to include overtly good defenders even if they have no other utility, but in many cases they may be devalued on this individual list in light of their fairly poor return on investment. While some players choose to focus on gym defense and are willing to invest in powerful defenders based on their merit as defenders alone. that is no longer the goal of this list.

While mention will be given to 2x weaknesses, special consideration for weaknesses to specific types will generally not be mentioned any longer. While issues like a weakness to Fighting or Steel are still an issue, most types now have at least one "superstar" attacker now, making factors along these lines far less relevant than they once were.

The Real Defense Meta

While individual Pokemon are important, the most important factor to consider is the ability to stagger type weaknesses and strengths. If it were still possible to have a team filled with nothing but Blissey, it would generally be less effective than a set of lesser counters with complementary strengths and weaknesses. For this reason, having a varied defense team is paramount to success, and making sure that this varied investment has multiple uses will ultimately serve players best.

Tier 1

Tier 1 is reserved for Pokemon that have a great defensive presence and/or a great amount of utility outside of the defense meta. These Pokemon tend to be great investments in general due to their presence in other areas of the game, or are just too strong in the defense meta to be ignored.

Blissey

Blissey

Best Defensive Moves

Fast Moves: Zen Headbutt, Pound

Charged Moves: Dazzling Gleam, Psychic

One of the bulkiest Pokemon in the game for gym defense, the utility of Blissey as a defender cannot be overstated. It is outstanding at wasting any would-be attacker’s time. However, it also has absolutely no viability outside of gym defense, which gives infinitely less return on investment than many other top-tier defenders.

Metagross

Metagross

Best Defensive Moves

Best Fast Moves: Zen Headbutt, Bullet Punch

Best Charged Moves: Meteor Mash, Psychic

Metagross has great stats and typing that can allow it to hold down gyms extremely well. The power of Meteor Mash also can’t be understated, as it will severely damage anything that doesn’t resist it. Metagross also has outstanding utility as a raid attacker, in the Master League, and in Rocket Battles, not to mention one of the best Mega Evolutions in the game. These factors all make it a great investment beyond defense.

Tier 2

Pokemon in Tier 2 are still extremely viable, but tend to pack a little less punch on defense or a little less general utility than the Pokemon in Tier 1.

Snorlax

Snorlax

Best Defensive Moves

Fast Moves: Zen Headbutt

Charged Moves: Body Slam, Heavy Slam, Outrage

One of the original big-name defenders. Snorlax sports great stats and a great moveset that includes counter-coverage and a spammy charged move that can make it an absolute pain to face. It also has utility in the Master League and the Ultra League, though it will be substantially weaker on defense if built for the later.

Drifblim

Drifblim

Best Defensive Moves

Fast Moves: Hex

Charged Moves: Icy Wind, Ominous Wind, Shadow Ball

It’s very hard for any of the big-name Fighting Types to face down Drifblim without super effective coverage, which makes it a great Pokemon to pair with Blissey, Snorlax, Tyranitar, and basically any of the fighting weak Pokemon on this list. Outside of defense, Drifblim is great in the Ultra League when maxed, giving its investment more worth. It's also outstanding in the Great League, though the lower CP makes it less than worthwhile on defense if built for such.

Togekiss

Togekiss

Best Defensive Moves

Fast Move: Charm

Charged Moves: Flamethrower, Aerial Ace, Dazzling Gleam

Togekiss has great bulk, a great typing, and a nice moveset for defense in its corner. It's fantastic when placed before or after Blissey in particular, and can make a very nice road-bump for attackers seeking to steamroll gyms. It also has utility as a tank counter to Fairy weak raid bosses and outstanding presence in the Master League, making its return on investment solid as well.

Milotic

Milotic

Best Defensive Moves

Fast Moves: Dragon Tail, Waterfall

Charged Moves: Surf, Blizzard

Great stats, a great moveset, and one of the best mono-types in the game for defense, Milotic is great at holding down gyms and has great synergy with many common gym defense setups due to its general lack of weaknesses. Its one issue is the fact that it doesn’t have much utility outside of defense. Its attack is too low for utility as a raid attacker, and its pvp performance is less than stellar.

Tier 3

Tier 3 is a mixed bag. It's filled with a number of very, very strong Pokemon with high general viability but slightly lower defensive utility. They're all great investments in their own right, but mainly shine in defense if added to a gym that already have Pokemon posted that complement them well.

Gyarados

Gyarados

Best Defensive Moves

Fast Moves: Waterfall, Dragon Tail

Charged Moves: Crunch, Aqua Tail, Outrage

Gyarados hits hard, has some great moveset options, and has a potentially annoying typing to play around. However, it’s probably best to save it for gyms that already have at least one or two Electric resistant Pokemon posted. It’s good in the Master League and outstanding in the Ultra league, though if raised for the latter will be weaker on defense due to its lower maximum CP. To top it off, Gyarados is also usable as a raid attacker and Mega Evolution, which gives it good all-around utility

Garchomp

Garchomp

Best Defensive Moves

Fast Moves: Mud Shot

Charged Moves: Outrage, Sand Tomb, Fire Blast, Earthquake

Great stats and resistances make Garchomp a force to be reckoned with on defense, though its less than synergetic attacks can also leave it easily walled. It also has an issue with its 2x weakness to Ice, so it’s probably best to leave it in gym setups that already have a few ice-resistant Pokemon posted. By that same token, it works amazingly well when posted near an Electric Weak defender. It’s a great gym attacker, a powerful Mega, and a solid force in the Master League, so its investment is definitely worthwhile

Dragonite

Dragonite

Best Defensive Moves

Fast Moves: Dragon Tail

Charged Moves: Outrage, Hurricane

One of the original big-name defenders, and once the strongest attacker in the game. Dragonite has power to spare, a spammy moveset, and good bulk. However, it has issues with Steel and Fairy Types, which can generally wall it hard, and is best saved for gyms that already have an ice resistant Pokemon or two posted. It’s a very solid attacker, and is outstanding in the Master League and Rocket Battles, which can definitely give its investment value

Tyranitar

Tyranitar

Best Defensive Moves

Fast Moves: Smack Down, Iron Tail

Charged Moves: Crunch

Very solid and well rounded stats with good defensive moves can make Tyranitar a wall in the defense meta, though it’s best when posted after one or two Fighting Type resistant Pokemon are already defending. Tyranitar is also usable in PvP, is an outstanding pick for Rocket Battles, and has an oppressively powerful Mega Evolution.

Gardevoir

Gardevoir

Best Defensive Moves

Fast Moves: Charm, Confusion

Charged Moves: Shadow Ball, Dazzling Gleam, Psychic

Gardevoir is a bit niche on defense due to its frailty. Its main utility is patching up Fighting weaknesses, as it absolutely destroys many Fighting Type Pokemon. It’s also the top Fairy Type raid attacker, viable in PvP, and a genuinely great Mega Evolution.

Tier 4

Tier 4 is filled with niche Pokemon that work well if played to their strengths, and/or Pokemon with good general utility. Some of these Pokemon are extremely important within specific metagames and are a bit of a stretch to fit on the defense tier list, but overall they work very well and are good investments.

Conkeldurr

Conkeldurr

Best Defensive Moves

Fast Moves: Counter, Poison Jab

Charged Moves: Dynamic Punch, Stone Edge

Good bulk and attack make Conkeldurr genuinely viable on defense, where it's arguably the best overall Fighting Type defender, but its moveset is not exactly the best defensively speaking. Without resorting to expensive and risky charged moves, it’s easily walled. However, it’s also one of the top Fighting Type attackers with PvP utility as well, giving validity to its investment

Magnezone

Magnezone

Best Defensive Moves

Fast Moves: Charge Beam

Charged Moves: Mirror Shot, Wild Charge

Magnezone is very, very polarizing on defense. With more resistances than any other Pokemon in the game (save its pre-evolutions), it can wall out a lot of attackers. However, its short list of weaknesses incorporates some extremely pervasive attackers that can threaten its less than stellar bulk, including a double weakness to Ground. For this reason, it’s probably best to hide Magnezone behind something that resists Ground. It’s also a good attacker with high general performance and utility in the Master League, so it’s a good choice for investment overall

Venusaur

Venusaur

Best Defensive Moves

Fast Moves: Razor Leaf

Charged Moves: Sludge Bomb, Frenzy Plant

Bulky and strong, Venusaur can help to hold down a gym, though its moveset options are easily walled by several strong attackers. It has the added advantages of Ultra League utility, gym attacker utility that’s compounded by a strong Mega Evolution, and top-tier Great League presence, though a Great League-ready Venusaur will be substantially weakened on defense.

Azumarill

Azumarill

Best Defensive Moves

Fast Moves: Rock Smash, Bubble

Charged Moves: Play Rough, Ice Beam

Azumarill has very nice typing on defense, good bulk, and a low CP that keeps it from demotivating quickly. However, the main reason that it’s a worthwhile investment is the fact that a maxed Azumarill is one of the absolute top Pokemon in the Great League.

Escavalier

Escavalier

Best Defensive Moves

Fast Moves: Counter, Bug Bite

Charged Moves: Drill Run, Aerial Ace

Having only one weakness is always nice, and Escalavier is one of the best on defense in this regard. A good moveset and stats make it stand out as a solid choice for defense, and its utility as a great Pokemon in the Ultra League at near maxed level gives its investment a bit more viability.

Salamence

Salamence

Best Defensive Moves

Fast Moves: Dragon Tail, Fire Fang

Charged Moves: Outrage, Fire Blast, Hydro Pump

Salamence can deal some very solid damage, though it’s defensively less than stellar and is easily walled when not using its expensive and far riskier charged moves. Just be sure to have it hiding behind something that resists Ice Types. Its real viability comes from its utility outside of defense, as it’s a top Dragon attacker and has a very strong Mega Evolution.

Swampert

Swampert

Best Defensive Moves

Fast Moves: Water Gun, Mud Shot

Charged Moves: Hydro Cannon, Surf, Muddy Water

While not very strong on defense on its own merit, Swampert’s lack of weaknesses can help to make it annoying to deal with. It has issues with low powered fast moves and less than outstanding defensive stats when compared to many other Pokemon on this list, but its utility outside of defense is very high. Just make sure that it’s behind a Grass Type resistant Pokemon on defense. It’s a top Water Type attacker, an outstanding Pokemon in the Master League, and it has a very strong Mega Evolution.

Melmetal

Melmetal

Best Defensive Moves

Fast Moves: Thunder Shock

Charged Moves: Super Power, Rockslide, Thunderbolt

Say hello to the only Mythical Pokemon that can defend… for some reason! Melmetal has one of the best mono-types for defense, and can slot in on many teams easily. However, its actual defensive presence isn’t that strong due to the fact that it only has Thundershock as a fast move, which isn’t outstanding. Melmetal can make up for that with good charged moves and stellar performance in the Master League, where it’s a top threat for the meta.

Chansey

Chansey

Best Defensive Moves

Fast Moves: Zen Headbutt, Pound

Charged Moves: Dazzling Gleam, Psychic

Pseudo-blissey is pseudo-blissey. Its only purpose to exist is to slot into a gym that already has a Blissey to provide yet another huge speed-bump. It’s good in this niche, but this leaves the gym more susceptible to Fighting Types, and Chansey has literally no utility outside of this one strategy.

Tier 5

With one or two note-worthy exceptions, Tier 5 is populated by niche Pokemon with limited overall use. In general these Pokemon are just "okay" defenders with utility in only one or two other areas of the game.

Blastoise

Blastoise

Best Defensive Moves

Fast Moves: Bite, Water Gun

Charged Moves: Hydro Cannon, Ice Beam

A viable defender, Blastoise sports surprisingly solid synergy in its defensive move types that can make it decent. However, its real utility comes from its viability in the Ultra League and its very solid Mega Evolution, which give its investment additional utility

Steelix

Steelix

Best Defensive Moves

Fast Moves: Iron Tail, Dragon Tail, Thunder Fang

Charged Moves: Crunch, Heavy Slam

Steelix has defense…. and defense… and defense. Oh, and did we mention defense? If this Pokemon had more HP, it could be the strongest Pokemon around. On defense, it has some very strong moveset options that can make it threatening, but it’s not as bulky as it seems and doesn’t pose a huge threat. It’s a great choice in the Ultra League, and has an absurdly bulky Mega Evolution incoming though.

Bastiodon

Bastiodon

Best Defensive Moves

Fast Moves: Smack Down, Iron Tail

Charged Moves: Flamethrower, Stone Edge

A maxed out or nearly maxed out Bastiodon is a brick wall of a Pokemon... against Pokemon with a similarly low CP. It has a potentially decent presence, but its double weaknesses to both Ground and Fighting can easily make it trivial to fight, so try to hide it behind a Flying Type defender if you can. In the Great League, Bastiodon is very strong though a bit niche; if the opponent doesn’t have a way to deal with it, then it’s basically a win condition unto itself. If they do, then it can be a bit of a liability unless played smart

Alolan Muk

alMu

Best Defensive Moves

Fast Moves: Poison Jab, Snarl

Charged Moves: Dark Pulse, Gunk Shot

Alolan Muk is yet another Pokemon with only one weakness; Ground Type. If played with the right defensive team, it can do a great job and can help patch up team weaknesses. However, it probably shouldn’t be a front-line defender as it’s a bit frail. Alolan Muk also has utility in the Ultra League as a great attacker at near maxed level, and the Great League as a niche counter, though a Great League specimen will be too weak to be worth using on defense

Rhyperior

Rhyperior

Best Defensive Moves

Fast Moves: Mud Slap, Smack Down

Charged Moves: Rock Wrecker, Surf, Superpower

Great stats? Check. Great moveset? Check. Rhyperior has the makings of a top-tier defender… but it has double-weaknesses to two of the most common types in the game: Grass and Water. For this reason, it can fall like a house of cards. Outside of defense, it’s a top-tier Rock attacker, a really good Ground attacker, and it has great utility in the Master League and Rocket Battles.

Slaking

Slaking

Best Defensive Moves

Fast Moves: None

Charged Moves: Body Slam, Play Rough

*Yawn* Slaking is a *Yawn* bad Pokemon. It’s not doing much of anything itself, but *Yaaaaawn* its extremely high CP boosts gyms *YAAAWWWWWN* really well. Don’t invest here unless you’re only interested in gym CP.

Honorable Mentions

The Niche Grass Types

Alolan Exeggutor

aloEg

Ferrothorn

Ferrothorn

They are definitely decent on defense and have utility outside of it (Exeggutor as a Grass attacker and Ferrothorn as a Great League pick), but their overall utility trails behind many other picks. They’re still viable, but they have issues.

Invis

The Bulky Defenders

Hippowdon

Hippowdon

Reuniclus

Reuniclus

Alomomola

Alomomola

These Pokemon are perfectly good on defense, and… that’s it. They have no genuine utility beyond this one niche, and while they’re perfectly good in this niche, they’re also outclassed in one way or another by something else on our list.

Invis

The Lost Mega

Ampharos

Ampharos

Ampharos is decent as a defender and one of only two Electric Type Mega Evolutions, so it has its viability. However, it’s just.. mediocre in most ways, making its return on investment a bit lackluster.

Invis

The Outclassed and Underutilized

Clefable

Clefable

Muk

Muk

Lickilicky

Lickilicky

Dusknoir

Dusknoir

These Pokemon tend to fall into the “meh” category. They have limited utility outside of defense, and they’re outclassed in this by another Pokemon that does the same basic thing better.

invis

Invis

The “Please don’t use this”

Aggron

Aggron

Aggron gets a category all its own because of its status as a bit of a meme Pokemon. It’s bulky as heck, but its double weaknesses make it very easy to take down. As for alternate uses, it and Blissey are some of the only Pokemon on this list with negative utility due to the fact that bringing them to a raid will likely get you smacked by your fellow raiders. It has a Mega Evolution, but Mega Metagross is just so much better…

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[swgohgamer]

WEEK 58: Got my first crack at Proving Grounds this week, and…wasn’t able to beat a single team there. I’ll do,some research on strategies, but I think it’lol be a while before I can really do damage there. Those squads are tough.

I got bumped back down to Carbonite 3 in Grand Arena, but I’m still hanging on to that 1900+ skill rating. I’m ranked #2164 in the league and #4 within my guild. Which really says more about my guild than it does about my GA progress.

Guild is currently working on a DS Geo TB, so my hope is that we get some Wat shards, but we’re not doing great. We’re aligned with a couple of bigger guilds so I looked into whether I could join either of those, but they’re both full of active players. I don’t really have time right now to find a better guild, so I’m just staying put for now. I figure I’ve got more than enough to work on. But eventually I’m going to need Mk 3 raid currency, which I’m not getting because we’re not doing the Naboo raid.

I’m working on getting Piett up to Relic 8 as that’s the last unlock requirement for the Executor event. He’s currently 6 starred and Gear 11, so I’ve got a ways to go. I’m also looking at the recommended power level for that event, and trying to beef up those ships & pilots in anticipation of that. The recommended power level for the final tier is 67k, and the pilotless Imp TIE Bomber with all abilities maxed is 45k power, so I’ll need to make up that difference on other ships & pilots. My mod inventory space is running out, so I’m focusing my mod energy on slicing mats for the pilots. I’m also working on culling unnecessary mods, which is quite an undertaking.

[pushovermediacritic]

One Piece Tier List

Not sure how well this will go over on Tumblr, but just in case anyone is interested, I've made a powerscaling tier list including basically every character in the series.

I don't even think powerscaling is in my top 5 favorite things about One Piece, it just really helped my autism to keep it straight which characters are stronger than other characters and by how much, and I kinda got carried away.

Warning, it's big, so I'm putting it under a Read More:

Characters in the same tier are not ordered by strength, just by when they were last relevant. First are the Straw Hats bolded, then other characters. Past characters are italicized.

S+ (Pirate King): Bajrang Gun Luffy, Flame Dragon Torch Kaido, Roger, Prime Whitebeard, Prime Garp, Prime Sengoku

S (Emperor): Gear 5 Luffy, Sakazuki, Garp, Blackbeard, Shanks, Mihawk, Drunken Dragon Bagua Kaido, Bigger Mom, Prime Rayleigh, Sengoku, Whitebeard

S- (Admiral): Gear 4 Luffy, King of Hell Zoro, Ifrit Jambe Sanji, Emet, Future Where I’m The Most Free Bonney, Saturn, Ju Peter, V. Nusjuro, Warcury, Mars, Kizaru, Kuzan, Sabo, Awakened Law, Awakened Kid, Ryokugyu, Kaido, Big Mom, Oden, Gaban, Zunesha, Fujitora, King Punch Elizabello, Sea Kings, Rayleigh, Pre-TS Akainu

A+ (High Commander): Gear 2+3 Luffy, Asura Zoro, Germa+Diable Jambe Sanji, Guard Point Chopper, Jimbei underwater, Yamato, Ryuo Gear 4 Luffy, Giant-Like Future Bonney, Awakened Lucci, Shiryu, Burgess, Weevil, Marco, Hancock, King, Hybrid Queen, Unstoppable Donuts Katakuri, Giant Smoothie, Colosseum Sabo, Pre-TS Blackbeard, Jozu

A (Low Commander): Gear 2/3 Luffy, Enma Zoro, Germa Sanji, Jimbei on land, Dragon Momonosuke, Ryuo Gear 2+3 Luffy, Post-TS Gear 4 Luffy, Post-TS Guard Point Chopper, Prime Don Chinjao, Dorry, Broggy, Kuma, Nika-Like Future Bonney, Ivankov, Lucci, Vegaforce 1, Awakened Kaku, Law, Kid, Guernica, Queen, Sulong Dogstorm, Sulong Catviper, Jack, Katakuri, Smoothie, Cracker, Tsuru, Dressrosa Burgess, Awakened Doflamingo, Vista, Warlord Blackbeard, Ace

A- (Near Commander): Luffy, Zoro, Diable Jambe Sanji, Demonio Fleur Robin, Ryuo Gear 2/3 Luffy, Raid Suit Sanji, Post-TS Gear 2+3 Luffy, Van Auger, Distorted Future Bonney, Sentomaru, Avalo Pizarro, Vasco Shot, Lindbergh, Karasu, Morley, Belo Betty, Stussy, Kaku, S-Bear, S-Hawk, S-Shark, S-Snake, Denjiro, Izo, Maha, Killer, Dogstorm, Catviper, Perospero, Who's Who, Ashura Doji, Snack, Big Father Bege, Biscuit Soldier Cracker, Doflamingo, Fisher Tiger, Rakuyo, Little Oars Jr, Venom Demon Magellan, Shadows Asgard Moria, Raigo Enel, Island Eater

B+ (Tobi Roppo): Zeus Nami, Sanji, Monster Point Chopper, Gigante Fleur Robin, General Franky, Don Sai, Ryuo Luffy, Colosseum Don Chinjao, Post-TS Gear 2/3 Luffy, Post-TS Zoro, Post-TS Diable Jambe Sanji, Young Jimbei, Pre-TS Gear 2+3 Luffy, Nightmare Luffy, Bonney, Atlas, Doll, Mark 3 Pacifista, Pre-TS Nika-Like Future Bonney, Koby, Giant Sulong Bepo, Doc Q and Stronger, Apoo, Drake, Hawkins, Black Maria, Sasaki, Ulti, Page One, Prime Crocus, Oven, Daifuku, Combined Newshi, Judge, Ichiji. Niji, Yonji, Reiju, Urouge, Kyros, Trebol, Pica, Diamante, Shinokuni Caesar, Vergo, Smoker, Post-TS Law, Atmos, Blamenco, Pre-TS Sentomaru, Pre-TS Shiryu, Magellan, Amaru Enel, Noland, Kalgara, Laboon

B: Robin, Franky, Brook, Kin'emon, Hakuba, Post-TS Luffy, Post-TS Sanji, Post-TS Monster Point Chopper, Pre-TS Gear 2/3 Luffy, Pre-TS Asura Zoro, Road, Pre-TS Distorted Future Bonney, Pomsky, Tosa, Prince Grus, Kujaku, Kiku, Raizo, Kawamatsu, Rokki, Kanjuro, Fukurokuju, Inbi, Fuga, Zanki, Kunyun, Prime Hyogoro, Hatcha, Sulong Shishilian, Sulong Concelot, Sulong Giovanni, Sulong Blackback, Sulong Roddy, Nangi, Goki, Juki, Jaki, Young Denjiro, Young Ashura Doji, Young Catviper, Young Dogstorm, Young Izo, Karma, Aladdin, Bege, Sulong Pekoms, Amande, Streusen, Count Niwatori, Opera, Battle Insurance Fist Lao G, Corazon, Bastille, Caesar Clown, Monet, Overdose 2 Hody, Pre-TS Law, Curiel, Momonga, Marineford Shadows Moria, Pacifista, Pre-TS Apoo, Pre-TS Drake, Pre-TS Hawkins, Pre-TS Karmic Retribution Urouge, Pre-TS Kid, Oars, Pre-TS Lucci, Enel

B-: Usopp, Chopper, Cavendish, Bartolomeo, Chinjao, Baby 5, Hajrudin, Ideo, Post-TS Robin, Post-TS Franky, Post-TS Brook, Colosseum Sai, Pre-TS Luffy, Pre-TS Zoro, Pre-TS Diable Jambe Sanji, Pre-TS Monster Point Chopper, Road, Red King, Helmeppo, Hibari, Hack, Bepo, Jean Bart, Ushimaru, Omusubi, Tempura, Sulong Carrot, Sulong Wanda, Shishilian, Concelot, Giovanni, Blackback, Roddy, Onimaru, Babanuki, Holdem, Brulee, Pekoms, Pedro, Montd'Or, Kingbaum, Nusstorte, Viscount Hiyoko, Counter, Cadenza, Galette, Sheepshead, Bellamy, Senor Pink, Gladius, Dellinger, Lao G, Machvise, Buffalo, Tashigi, Small Dragon, Rock, Scotch, Big Dragon, Overdose Hody, Overdose Hyouzou, Steroid Wadatsumi, Surume, Pre-TS Smoker, Inazuma, Hannyabal, Sadie, Sandersonia, Marigold, Pre-TS Urouge, Pre-TS Killer, Pre-TS Bege, Pre-TS Bonney, Moria, Ryuma, Pre-TS Kaku, Jabra, Flashback Saul, Tom, Nola, Kashigami, Crocodile

C+: Leo, Orlumbus, Blue Gilly, Post-TS Nami, Post-TS Usopp, Post-TS Chopper, Pre-TS Sanji, Pre-TS Robin, Pre-TS Franky, Pre-TS Brook, Skypiea Zoro, Drum Island Luffy, Iscat, Sea Beast Weapons, Caribou, Koala, Penguin, Shachi, Heat, Wire, Mink Carrot, Shinobu, Daifugo, Briscola, Poker, Hotei, Wanda, Solitaire, Urashima, Vito, Gotti, Basskarte, Kato, Bobbin, Baron Tamago, Aristocroc, Ginrummy, Viola, Giolla, Sugar, Toy Kyros, Jean Ango, Bobby Funk, Maynard, Brownbeard, Mocha, Steroid Dosun, Steroid Ikaros, Hody, Vander Decken, Hyouzou, Wadatsumi, Heracles-un, Minorhinoceros, Minokoala, Minozebra, Minotaurus, Pre-TS Bepo, Pre-TS Jean Bart, Blueno, Foxy, Wyper, Hina, Mr 1, Crocus, Loguetown Smoker

C: Adult Momonosuke, Suleiman, Gambia, Boo, Abdullah, Jeet, Cub, Bian, Pre-TS Nami, Pre-TS Usopp, Pre-TS Chopper, Living Brook, Pre-TS Low Cola Franky, Alabasta Sanji, Whiskey Peak Zoro, Romance Dawn Luffy, Morgans, Speed, Hamlet, Komachiyo, Mizerka, Fourtricks, Hihimaru, Dobon, Newshi, Diesel, Randolph, Queen/King Soldier, Rebecca, Riku, Elizabello, Tank Lepanto, Kuween, Moocy, Fukaboshi, Ryuboshi, Mamboshi, Steroid Zeo, Steroid Daruma, Dosun, Ikaros, Coribou, Pre-TS Koby, Army Wolf, Sphinx, Basilisk, Bacura, Duval, Motobaro, Zombie Lola, Cindry, Jigoro, Inuppe, Perona, Kumacy, Absalom, Taralan, Kalifa, Kumadori, Fukuro, Oimo, Kashi, Big Pan, Ganfor, Ohm, Yama, Kamakiri, Shura, Satori, Pre-TS Bellamy, Ms Doublefinger, Mr 2 Bon Clay, Mutation Wapol, Candle Champion Mr 3, Arlong, Krieg

C-: Kid Yamato, Wicka, Water Seven Usopp, Alabasta Nami, Drum Island Chopper, Baratie Sanji, Shells Town Zoro, Alpha, Bao Huang, Hyogoro, Madilloman, Alpacaman, Gazelleman, Batman, Peachbeard, Rook/Bishop/Knight Soldier, Mansherry, Kelly Funk, Dagama, Neptune, Zeo, Daruma, Sea Beasts, Ankoro, Pre-TS Helmeppo, Pre-TS Tashigi, Blugori, Marguerite, Lola, Hippo Gentleman, Rug Bear, Cerberus, Baskerville, Nero, Ramen's Formal Suit Wanze, Paulie, Zambai, Karakiri Destroyers, Hamburg, Pickles, Capote, Holy, Gedatsu, Braham, Sarquiss, Cricket, Pell, Chaka, Mr 4, Ms Merry Christmas, Bananagator, Wapol, Dalton, Chessmarimo, Mr 3, Momoo, Zeff, Kuro, Buggy

D+: Vivi, Alabasta Usopp, Kid Chopper, Orochi, Pudding, Pound, Pawn Soldier, Kid Reiju, Hammond, Bluejam, Fullbody, Django, Saldeath, Domino, Jurors, Wanze, T-Bone, Yokozuna, Kiwi, Mozu, Lulu, Tilestone, Porche, Raki, Genbo, Hotori, Kotori, Masira, Shoujou, Kuromarimo, Chess, Mr 5, Ms Valentine, Loguetown Tashigi, Alvida, Hatchi, Kuroobi, Gin, Hypnotized Butchie, Lord of the Coast

D: Karoo, Little Garden Usopp, Whiskey Peak Vivi, Kid Ichiji, Kid Niji, Kid Yonji, Shirahoshi, Demaro Black, Dadan, Kid Ace, Kid Sabo, Porchemy, Macro, Gyaro, Tansui, Jerry, McKinley, Mr 7, Ms Father's Day, Igaram, Kung-Fu Dugong, Kureha, Hiriluk, Lapin, Mr 13, Ms Friday, Ms Monday, Mr 9, Choo, Bellemere, Pearl, Baratie Fullbody, Syrup Village Django, Butchie, Sham, Cabaji, Mohji, Richie, Kuina, Morgan, Pre-DF Alvida, Higuma

D- (Average Fishman): Kid Luffy, Kid Zoro, Young Franky, Syrup Village Usopp, Orange Town Nami, York, Lilith, Vegapunk, Edison, Pythagoras, Shaka, Mjosgard, Hiyori, Kid Law, Kokoro, Heavenly Warriors, Shandian Guerrillas, Ms Goldenweek, Johnny, Yosaku, Patty, Carne

E+: Kid Momonosuke, Hogback, Iceberg, White Berets, Pre-TS Cobra, Koza, Genzo, Nezuko, Mayor Boodle, Chou-Chou

E (Average Human): Kid Sanji, Kid Robin, Kid Franky,Tama, O-Tsuru, Camie, Charlos, Chimney, Spandam, Spandine, Tonjit, Pagaya, Conis, Nojiko, Merry, Shells Town Helmeppo, Romance Dawn Koby, Makino, Humans

E-: Kid Vivi, Kid Nami, Kid Usopp, Cobra, Toko, Otohime, Aisa, Kid Koza, Kid Nojiko, Kaya, Banchina, Syrup Village Carrot, Onion, Pepper, Woop Slap