CAG Niche Backloggers Anonymous (Monster Hunter World!) [February]

Ha, forgot you could customize guild cards like that. Almost done with RE7 tonight, so will probably get on that Aloy quest that went live today. Kinda sucks the weapon is bow only but I doubt I'd use anything less than what I have available until G-rank anyway. Good for vanity if they ever get around to adding it.

 
The bow can actually be upgraded with another 2 drops to rarity 6, then augmented. The only thing is that it doesn't natively have blast or fire coating, both heavily utilized by Aloy.

 
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Being honest, I have no clue when it comes to bows; just that the palico armor was great for low level but quickly outpaced by anything HR had to offer. Good to know though!

 
I finished the A ending for Nier: Automata (and W). It's a really cool game. Though I'm not sure how much I completed it. I'm definitely going to continue playing to see the other endings.

I heard it was short, and getting to the first ending does seem like it can be done quick, but it took me 25 hours. I did a lot of side quests, but it was all gameplay I enjoyed doing. That's a good amount of game time, and there are the subsequent playthroughs I want to do.

The game coming to it's end did kind of surprise me. One of the things I thought I could do to judge how far I am in the game is the level of the current enemies in the story missions, and the level of the enemies in the higher level side quests. I've figured I should probably stay near the levels of the enemies in story missions, and if there are side missions that are something like 30 levels above that then those missions are probably meant to be done later when I naturally get close to that level.

I have to nix that way of thinking. That's not how this playthrough went, and that's not how Final Fantasy XV worked. But again, I have to see how subsequent playthroughs work in this game.

What did make me think the game was coming to an end was how epic the final missions were. And the music is great. It's amazing to think the final missions in the other playthroughs might have their own awesome songs.

 
I started the next playthrough in Nier. I like this. It reminds me of Resident Evil 2.

At first I was kind of disappointed at having my heavy attack replaced by a new kind of attack, but after getting a chip for the new attack and working the attack into more fights I really got into it.

I'm glad I didn't try too hard to 100% all the side missions in the first playthrough. I can still do them in these additional playthroughs.

 
Made it to HR 46 in MHW. Was able to solo 2 tempered Basil Geese. Wasn't as bad as I was expecting.

Anyway, it seems like a long grind now to get to the next big quest, since I already have the gear and weapons I want. At this point I'm just repeating quests just to level up.

 
BlackRockWaifu said:
Made it to HR 46 in MHW. Was able to solo 2 tempered Basil Geese. Wasn't as bad as I was expecting.

Anyway, it seems like a long grind now to get to the next big quest, since I already have the gear and weapons I want. At this point I'm just repeating quests just to level up.
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You guessed right, next quest is at HR50 and unlocks a quest afterward for the Rocksteady mantle that is pretty OP. After that IDK if there are anymore quests as I hit I think HR56 before dumping the aZn grindfest. There's nothing else to do but grind deco's and ranks, which IMO makes for pretty terrible endgame.

 
Jodou said:
You guessed right, next quest is at HR50 and unlocks a quest afterward for the Rocksteady mantle that is pretty OP. After that IDK if there are anymore quests as I hit I think HR56 before dumping the aZn grindfest. There's nothing else to do but grind deco's and ranks, which IMO makes for pretty terrible endgame.
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Yeah, the grind is pretty heavy and exhausting now. And I don't particularly care for grinding for decorations or gold crowns since I am pretty comfortable with my equipment right now.

I haven't really played any other MH game, but I would add a few more things to make the end game grind more bearable. There's a special level on the guild card screen to those you interact with the most, and I would put more emphasis on it, and once it gets high enough levels when you play more and more with your friends, you start earning prizes and special backgrounds/titles you two share. I'd also add more features to the squad system, and have the weekly squad member with the most hunts get a special prize/rare materials. Also, there could be special decorations for your room once you've hunted the lower level monsters many times, as to give incentives to hunt Great Jargas and Barroths again.

 
After HR100, there are still a few 9* Optional Quests to do. 

Other than that, the only things I can think of that keeps people going:

  • Getting to HR999
  • Complete set of Weapons/Armor
  • Platinum Trophy
  • Playing with Friends/Randoms
I spent about 200 hours already in this game. So my money is already well spent.

Especially for that sweet, succulent steelbook

 
You can complete every quest in MH before HR100 and gain the rainbow pigment for armor.

Anyway, I completely finished the FFXV March Update to Comrades a bit ago. All the hours I put into my MP build before the update worked out great since I was able to steam roll the new content. I missed the music and how fast paced it is. I just need to complete the new SP update later. 

 
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I have found myself growing tired of fighting the same things again and again. The only things keeping me going is trying to platinum and getting a few more weapons that require the coins from the gathering hub arena. I am also trying to learn to use new weapons lately, so that's been helping with the HR100 grind.

Also, anyone here want to tackle the gathering hub arena quests? I need quite a few more coins of the 8* & 9* questsand finding it difficult to use the limited sets in solo outings.
 
itzd4n said:
I have found myself growing tired of fighting the same things again and again. The only things keeping me going is trying to platinum and getting a few more weapons that require the coins from the gathering hub arena. I am also trying to learn to use new weapons lately, so that's been helping with the HR100 grind.

Also, anyone here want to tackle the gathering hub arena quests? I need quite a few more coins of the 8* & 9* questsand finding it difficult to use the limited sets in solo outings.
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I haven't really explored that. How does it work? You just do arena quests to earn coins to buy weapons with?

 
Btw, did you guys create a new squad? You bastards set your sessions to squad invites only, so I can't join.

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Dead_Batteries said:
Btw, did you guys create a new squad? You bastards set your sessions to squad invites only, so I can't join.

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I don't think so. I've always been using the CAG Niche squad that Draekon made and only he can invite to. I know others have their own squads though and I've been invited to a few. Also, I didn't know you could change the sessions to squad invite only, I thought they were like that permanently.

 
BlackRockWaifu said:
Also, I didn't know you could change the sessions to squad invite only, I thought they were like that permanently.
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To my knowledge you can't change it. I don't recall ever seeing the option anywhere, so I've never been able to change any options on the squad lobby settings. I also can't transfer squad leadership over to anyone at all, which is dumb. Not that it's a big deal as I don't have an issue loading it up to invite someone if needed. The main issue is that I don't use my PS4 much outside of Netflix and Amazon Video.

 
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I finished the B ending in Nier: Automata. I also found the G, K, and U endings.

In this playthrough I paid greater attention to how fusing chips works. The whole chip system is designed in a way that really gets me into it. Now I'm holding on to my low-cost chips to fuse optimal low-cost chips. Somewhat low-cost chips can be fused together just to have decent high-level chips in my inventory.

I'm glad I bought the dlc prior to starting the game. I like having those missions during my first playthroughs. It's kind of pricey for battle arenas and cosmetics, but the battle arenas have been fun. And I did buy it with a 20% off PSN code.

I'm going to buy Drakengard 3 from this week's PSN sale. The last time it was on sale I saw someone recommend Nier: Automata fans should check it out. It has the same director. Last time I passed on it because I heard it has performance issues, and that was said by people who like it. But now that I'm enamored with Nier: Automata I'm more curious about it.

 
Basically, they're the same universe.

Drakengard 3 -> Drakengard

Drakengard's first ending -> Drakengard 2 (retconned, I guess)

Drakengard's fifth ending -> Nier

Nier's fourth ending -> Nier: Automata

 
One of the things I enjoy in Japanese video games is how some of them name their background NPCs. Their names are based on what they say. If a student talks about pretending to be ill to get out of gym class they'll be named something like Scheming Student. There was one I liked in Monster Monpiece so much I decided to take a screenshot of it, but then I learned screenshots are completely disabled in that game.

When walking to school in Persona 5 I was hoping to listen in on an Unlucky Student. "Have you tried the new energy drinks in the school vending machines? Studying used to put me to sleep, but after... Ack! Oh my God! I swallowed a bug!"

 
I got the C ending in Nier: Automata. Other endings I found were M, O, P, and T. I completed 87% of the side quests, and the S ranks for the dlc. I tried to do all the side quests, but I also tried to keep a good mix of side quests and story missions. At some point I progressed the story to where some side quests became unavailable.

I'm going to mop up the side quests I missed, then go for the additional endings.

 
Nier: Automata spoilers.

During the shooting game end credits, the one that pops the gold trophy for viewing the final credits, I tried for four hours to beat it solo. I got as far as the Sound credits. At one point I messed up and accepted help, so I restarted the game. I then messed up when rushing through the initial options in the credits, and I ended up getting the silver trophy for 9S's ending. Again, I restarted the game. I did eventually finish the credits by accepting help.

When the game asked if I would like to help someone out I said sure. When it said it would delete all my data I had to think about it for a bit. Screw it, I'll play the whole thing again. Yeah, it deleted everything. I suppose I could download my PS+ automatic save file, but I want to commit to it.

 
deadofnight said:
One of the things I enjoy in Japanese video games is how some of them name their background NPCs. Their names are based on what they say. If a student talks about pretending to be ill to get out of gym class they'll be named something like Scheming Student. There was one I liked in Monster Monpiece so much I decided to take a screenshot of it, but then I learned screenshots are completely disabled in that game.

When walking to school in Persona 5 I was hoping to listen in on an Unlucky Student. "Have you tried the new energy drinks in the school vending machines? Studying used to put me to sleep, but after... Ack! Oh my God! I swallowed a bug!"
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Yeah, another good example is Akiba's Trip. The names are like "Pervy Old Man" and "Woman Who Was Scorned." I guess it makes more sense in Japanese, since the words are just one character, and regular names are composed of words, so when you put it together, it can end up looking like a name rather than a phrase like in English. Some of them are absolutely crazy though, like "Girl Who Lost Her Panties In Gym Class."

 
Started experimenting with different weapons, which makes the game way more fun. It makes the end game grind more bearable, since you have a variety to choose from, and can just switch it up when you're bored, or feeling like using something, or something is more advantageous. So far, I'm trying the Hunting Horn, and the Long Sword.

I was wondering, what is a good end game Light Bowgun? I think you mentioned the Odagaron rifle was a good all around one. Basically I'm looking for something with a bunch of ammo types, good magazine capacity for normal bullets, and semi-decent attack power. Elements/Status effects doesn't matter much for me.

 
Also, can someone explain the whole Streamstone elder melding to me? I put in decorations with a streamstone, and then I get 3 random decorations back? I tried googling it, but there's no concrete explanation on what it actually does, only on how to exploit it.

 
BlackRockWaifu said:
I was wondering, what is a good end game Light Bowgun? I think you mentioned the Odagaron rifle was a good all around one. Basically I'm looking for something with a bunch of ammo types, good magazine capacity for normal bullets, and semi-decent attack power. Elements/Status effects doesn't matter much for me.
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Just Odogaron.

30% affinity, rapid fire Normal 1 + Normal 2 + Spread 1 + exhaust 1. Pierce 2 is fun with Bagel. Has Paralyze (very good), Sleep (good when IG users don't wake them up), Poison (meh). Has slice as back-up. Use 2x Reload and 1x Close Range. And ammo up lv 2 (or 3, but it's easy to get lv 2).

With critical augment and weaknesses exploit, it's 90% crit rate, doing ~100 a volley. Obviously, you won't ever see 5k damage, but you're always able to chip away at health.

The only other LBG worth using is Jurya, which is a rank 7. It's good because it makes Spread 2 viable, when you put 1x Recoil and 2x Short Range and use Impact Mantle. It's the LBG people use for speed runs. Does a lot more damage than Odogaron, but you lose the range. And it's more situational, and not as good in multiplayer.

Elemental is trash. I made the ice one, and it does way less damage than Odogaron Normal 2 on mobs weak to ice. Kirin thunder one is even more laughable.
 
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BlackRockWaifu said:
Also, can someone explain the whole Streamstone elder melding to me? I put in decorations with a streamstone, and then I get 3 random decorations back? I tried googling it, but there's no concrete explanation on what it actually does, only on how to exploit it.
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Well the exploit explains how it works sadly. It's not random, it's a conveyor belt waiting for you to pull the lever. This is one of the many reasons why I quit playing the game because it's neither RNG nor fun how they rigged the elder melder.

Basically there's already a pre-defined list of what decorations come out and it advances one of two ways: you either pull the lever and say I want these decorations by melding, or you go on a hunt and complete it. So what people (read: Asians) figured out was to store up as many decorations to trash on the melder as possible as a way to 'see into the future'. They'd mark down just how far out something they actually wanted was and then save scrub (download their save from PSN). They'd then go on a specific number of hunts to advance the conveyor belt of decorations up to the exact one they wanted, then they'd meld. Honestly, the way Capcom designed this, they should have just been transparent about what decorations you're melding for, so you could just meld when you wanted something rather than try and trick people into thinking it was random.

Seriously dick move to do and pretty disgusting when you realize you have no choice but to cheat the system, the way they're cheating you. GF and I have both been trying to wait for BB to offer a trade value on the game, but we might have to just dump it soon at GS or something. I really loved the game right up to the point they fuck you over at endgame. Shame really. . .

 
Jodou said:
Well the exploit explains how it works sadly. It's not random, it's a conveyor belt waiting for you to pull the lever. This is one of the many reasons why I quit playing the game because it's neither RNG nor fun how they rigged the elder melder.
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Actually, that's literally how pseudorandom numbers work. This isn't rigging. Computers can't generate true random numbers, so they calculate a sequence from a seed. If you know the seed, you can typically figure out the sequence. It's even done before for cheating slot machines.

The problem was that the sequence was too easy to figure out, not because it was rigged.

 
Just unlocked augmentation... wow, that's a whole other ballgame to have to grind for now. And these special streamstones seem like such a rarity to get, and I use several weapons and types too...

Also, I had a plan in mind to fight these tempered elder dragons, since they seem insanely difficult to fight. The tempered Kirin was alright, I soloed that one somehow, but Toestra can kill me in one hit. You have to play perfectly. So I was thinking of using the heavy bowgun (since that is the only ranged weapon with a shield right?) and equipping Bazelguese armor, while, having all defense and health boost decos and charms. And vitality mantle too. That way, my survivability will be at it's max, and I'll outlast the monster. 

 
Jodou said:
Basically there's already a pre-defined list of what decorations come out and it advances one of two ways: you either pull the lever and say I want these decorations by melding, or you go on a hunt and complete it. So what people (read: Asians) figured out was to store up as many decorations to trash on the melder as possible as a way to 'see into the future'. They'd mark down just how far out something they actually wanted was and then save scrub (download their save from PSN). They'd then go on a specific number of hunts to advance the conveyor belt of decorations up to the exact one they wanted, then they'd meld. Honestly, the way Capcom designed this, they should have just been transparent about what decorations you're melding for, so you could just meld when you wanted something rather than try and trick people into thinking it was random.
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So, if I'm understanding this right, you can get any decorations from hunting, rare ones will just appear very high up on the conveyor belt? But you can also meld which would speed up the process, but waste your materials?

Or, can you only get rare decorations from melding, and cheap ones from hunting. But since it's on a conveyor belt, you can either pull the lever with the hunting or melding, and if you do hunting, you might miss out on the rare decorations, but the melding will take too long and waste too many materials to get the rare decorations?

Because I am kind of confused if you can just hunt to advance the conveyor belt, then why need to meld at all?

 
BlackRockWaifu said:
Also, I had a plan in mind to fight these tempered elder dragons, since they seem insanely difficult to fight.
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Flash bomb, earplugs (and maybe fire mantle at first) for Teo.

Miasma deco x3 for Vaal.

Flash bomb and earmuffs for Kushala.

Earplugs for Nergigante.

Ranged and/or thunder mantle for Kirin.

I've fought them so much that they're a breeze (not just Kushala!)

 
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Neat. Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV was the first game I played after Nier: Automata, and one of the songs in it's tracklist is "Weight of the World" from Nier: Automata. I forgot they're from the same publisher. It was a nice surprise. It's a great song, but it would have been cool if they also included at least one of the open-world songs. That way you could fish with a song that you possibly fished with in Nier: Automata.

It had felt like a toss up between Resident Evil 7 and Persona 5 as to which game was my favorite from 2017, but now it probably is Nier: Automata. So much of what it does I like.

I'm going to continue to play Nier, but only here and there. I think I'll play Transformers: Devastation next to keep going with Platinum Games. Others I have are Bayonetta and Metal Gear Rising. I guess you could count Resident Evil 4; I haven't beat the PS4 version yet.

 
elessar123 said:
Actually, that's literally how pseudorandom numbers work. This isn't rigging. Computers can't generate true random numbers, so they calculate a sequence from a seed. If you know the seed, you can typically figure out the sequence. It's even done before for cheating slot machines.

The problem was that the sequence was too easy to figure out, not because it was rigged.
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I'm well aware of seeding because of having to deal with that crap in MMO raiding, which is a whole other rant. The problem in MHW is that they pre-determine far in advance the list of deco's rather than on a dime. They could have used the current timestamp, class, and HR as a seed for example when melding and that would be a truly random experience versus the conveyor belt experience they designed. Every number randomly generated has to start with a number so altering the starting number each time would have been the way to go. This is why I hate RNG because it's not a fun mechanic in any way, since one guy will have the luckiest streak in the world pending their seed and the next guy will get fucked over royally forever.

 
BlackRockWaifu said:
So, if I'm understanding this right, you can get any decorations from hunting, rare ones will just appear very high up on the conveyor belt? But you can also meld which would speed up the process, but waste your materials?

Or, can you only get rare decorations from melding, and cheap ones from hunting. But since it's on a conveyor belt, you can either pull the lever with the hunting or melding, and if you do hunting, you might miss out on the rare decorations, but the melding will take too long and waste too many materials to get the rare decorations?

Because I am kind of confused if you can just hunt to advance the conveyor belt, then why need to meld at all?
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In all my tempered hunts, I never got anything higher than R7 so either I had bad luck or the game is simply designed to only have R8 available from the melder. And yes, the latter is correct that you can absolutely miss the rare deco you're looking for if you don't know it's up or you don't have materials to meld at that moment.

The point is that because it is a conveyor belt, it is in your best interest to meld as much as possible all at once, find out if your deco is coming up, then rollback your save from PSN to get your materials back and then hunt (I forget how many deco's are advanced each hunt but I believe it was 3) until it's up next. So for example, if you meld 21 times before finding a rare deco you desire, you'd hunt X number of times to get as close to advancing the conveyor belt by 20 deco's as possible, then meld. Doing it any other way is just going to make your life miserable when you spend hours hunting and getting absolutely nothing in return. Trust me, I did it that way for days and it is the most demoralizing experience making zero progress. Could argue that the game should be fun enough that the grind isn't a problem.

Truth be told, after playing the game to HR56, it is a mindless meatgrinder by then IMO.

 
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HR 65 now, and I'm starting to take down Tempered Elders more consistently. And yeah, now I can see why the game is starting to get mundane, since there's not much of a challenge anymore once you're at the top, and not much room for improvement of your character too. I wished they had a system where the more HR you have, the more extra decorations you can equip.

The only thing keeping me going now is trying out all the different weapons. I really gotta give the game some credit for that though, each weapon type feels really unique. There's some weapons I am way better at and is more useful, but I keep trying to go back to the more fun weapons when possible, even taking on weaker monsters just to play with those weapons a bit. 

Deviljo will be out tmrw I think, which should shake things up a bit. At this point, more events and difficult challenges would be nice.

 
BlackRockWaifu said:
HR 65 now, and I'm starting to take down Tempered Elders more consistently. And yeah, now I can see why the game is starting to get mundane, since there's not much of a challenge anymore once you're at the top, and not much room for improvement of your character too. I wished they had a system where the more HR you have, the more extra decorations you can equip.
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I got bored of GLing and tried Mushroomancer to shake things up and ended up being far more fun. Problem is even that wore its welcome within a week because you're still just killing the same 5 elders over and over. My friends ended up all quitting before me and I was left to just PUG, but that wasn't even really an issue.

This is the problem when you only include half an MMO in your game, because the staying power just isn't there and it fades very quickly once you beat the game.

 
I'm not playing Monster Hunter, but in Street Fighter V I unlocked the crossover Kirin Armor costume for Ibuki. I put it on and thought "hey, I'm a little horsey". I'm actually looking forward to playing Survival up to Hard again to unlock all the costume's extra colors. It'll be interesting to see if it's easier now that I'm better with Ibuki.

Switching mains when Arcade Edition came out was a great idea. Ibuki is a lot of fun, and it breathed new life into the game. I lost around 1500 league points in ranked during my first month of using her, but I've gotten 800 LP back.

 
BlackRockWaifu said:
I haven't really explored that. How does it work? You just do arena quests to earn coins to buy weapons with?

HR 65 now, and I'm starting to take down Tempered Elders more consistently. And yeah, now I can see why the game is starting to get mundane, since there's not much of a challenge anymore once you're at the top, and not much room for improvement of your character too.

Deviljo will be out tmrw I think, which should shake things up a bit. At this point, more events and difficult challenges would be nice.
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Sorry I never wind up checking the general forum, but if you haven't tried it yet, you pretty much got the gist of it. The drawback is the predetermined loadouts that you can choose from.

As far as character development goes, pretty sure they'll implement G rank in the near future, but once you've attained that it'll be the same old song again.

Deviljho is out and really more fun to watch him fight with other monsters than anything else. Spring event around the corner and open SFV event and DMC soon too. I just wish the event armors skills didn't suck and actually useful since you can't mix and match.
 
I've recently fully completed Fate/Extra and Fate/Extra CCC (all servants maxed, completed all routes, & all items). They weren't on my list of things to play this month, but a local store had both LE's sealed for under $60 each. The owner didn't want them because they were in JP so I gladly purchased them.  :D

Now, I just need to completed the Fate/hollow ataraxia VN before I'm fully caught up with everything in the Fate series. 

 
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Supplice said:
I've recently fully completed Fate/Extra and Fate/Extra CCC (all servants maxed, completed all routes, & all items). They weren't on my list of things to play this month, but a local store had both LE's sealed for under $60 each. The owner didn't want them because they were in JP so I gladly purchased them. :D
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Wow that's crazy, I can't believe you got the LEs sealed for under $60 each! The CCC one is the one with the figure right? I had to pay crazy amounts for both, and the Extra one was used.

 
Can someone help me with the Optional Quest where I have to hunt both tempered Vaal Hazak and Odogaron? It's not an investigation, so no one ends up joining my SOS signal, and I get my ass beat trying to solo a Tempered Vaal Hazak.

 
BlackRockWaifu said:
Wow that's crazy, I can't believe you got the LEs sealed for under $60 each! The CCC one is the one with the figure right? I had to pay crazy amounts for both, and the Extra one was used.
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Ikr. The aftermarket prices are pretty steep for those nowadays even if used. Also, both of the LE's have figmas.

saber.jpg


Fate_Extra_CCC_Type_Moon_Virgin_White_Box_205298.7.jpg

I can help out with your quest when I return later this week if you still need it.

 
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BlackRockWaifu said:
Can someone help me with the Optional Quest where I have to hunt both tempered Vaal Hazak and Odogaron? It's not an investigation, so no one ends up joining my SOS signal, and I get my ass beat trying to solo a Tempered Vaal Hazak.
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If you still need help with this, lemme know when and I'll get on to help
 
Let me know if you still need help also. This thread isn't subscribed for me when I use Tapatalk for whatever reason, so I didn't see it yesterday.

 
Thanks guys for offering! I'll be kinda busy this whole week, so I'll probably have to hop on during the weekend. But yeah, if I see any of you on then, I'll send an invite, or post a message on the community thing.

 
Supplice said:
Now, I just need to completed the Fate/hollow ataraxia VN before I'm fully caught up with everything in the Fate series.
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I finished Fate/hollow ataraxia during my flight so I'm just waiting for Fate/Extella Link to be released. Aside from that, I'm hoping to complete more games since I'm already well behind from how I was doing last year. :whee:

 
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