Simply put, I (aFireBlaze) am done with PAD. As a player that was active on PAD for 1150+ days, the amount of content being released recently is not only overwhelming, but also becoming increasingly stale with inflated mechanics + the interests in pursuing other hobbies are of my main focus since the past couple of months. JP has also failed to uphold their anniversary stream (not surprising, but also very disappointing to expect it so) which was something I hoped for fresh, interesting content to come out.
I apologize for not updating the blog with the farming guide and other resources. The delay for Monster Hunter review in particular was also due to us being caught up in life shenanigans. I had plans for them originally, but they dwindled over the past month as the upcoming content being released continued to be stale. Analysis for theorycrafting was going to be based off of the videos I made here, but that will be dead too.
TL;DR this blog is still active and Irinya has plans to update this blog with resources and other helpful information, but aFireBlaze will be quitting. Thanks to everyone who has been supporting us, and we hope that this blog is still helpful in any way for people who crave a different insight on the game.
[from irinya: we'll all be so sad to see you go. Thank you so much for all your contributions both here and everywhere, from your guides to your ludicrous farming builds and more. You'll be missed so much.]
In-Depth Analysis: Monster Hunter Returns
Introduction
Monster Hunter is finally back in NA (after, for some reason, skipping a cycle) and there's some interesting stuff this time around. While we don't want to rain on your parade too much, the machine's hefty 10-stone cost combined with our recurring theme that interesting doesn't always mean good sadly puts this machine's value a bit lower than we'd like. It's still not bad at all, and nearly all the cards have some kind of usage case, but for non-whales it's not reliably good enough to be worth rolling to any considerable extent. (Most collabs, including this one, pale in comparison to something like DBDC.)
This isn't to say the best cards aren't good, of course. Diablos, though beginning to be overshadowed by new leaders and new mechanics, is still an absolute powerhouse. Amatsu can probably be argued to be the best sub in the game. The new Nergigante is stellar in pretty much all departments. In a time where the "best" cards are susceptible to change more rapidly than ever, the glitter isn't worth the risk and stone input for most players. On the other hand you should be very pleased if you do happen to roll one of the excellent prize cards.
Every single card in this machine has received an equip evolution, and we'll be discussing those in the cards' respective sections below. Remember that equip evolutions are not reversible. We will talk about which equips are and aren't worth making, but as a rule of thumb, since they are irreversible, you should generally not proceed with an equip evolution until you know you'll have some use for it.
Finally, and honestly more exciting than the REM cards, are the Male and Female Hunters. Each player gets both a Male Hunter and a Female Hunter for free, with additional Hunters being buyable for 200k MP. Though they are technically farmable, we'll include a review of each Hunter as well, since 200k MP can be a steep investment for many players and there is thus a corresponding opportunity cost.
Monster Hunter is finally back in NA (after, for some reason, skipping a cycle) and there's some interesting stuff this time around. While we don't want to rain on your parade too much, the machine's hefty 10-stone cost combined with our recurring theme that interesting doesn't always mean good sadly puts this machine's value a bit lower than we'd like. It's still not bad at all, and nearly all the cards have some kind of usage case, but for non-whales it's not reliably good enough to be worth rolling to any considerable extent. (Most collabs, including this one, pale in comparison to something like DBDC.)
This isn't to say the best cards aren't good, of course. Diablos, though beginning to be overshadowed by new leaders and new mechanics, is still an absolute powerhouse. Amatsu can probably be argued to be the best sub in the game. The new Nergigante is stellar in pretty much all departments. In a time where the "best" cards are susceptible to change more rapidly than ever, the glitter isn't worth the risk and stone input for most players. On the other hand you should be very pleased if you do happen to roll one of the excellent prize cards.
Every single card in this machine has received an equip evolution, and we'll be discussing those in the cards' respective sections below. Remember that equip evolutions are not reversible. We will talk about which equips are and aren't worth making, but as a rule of thumb, since they are irreversible, you should generally not proceed with an equip evolution until you know you'll have some use for it.
Finally, and honestly more exciting than the REM cards, are the Male and Female Hunters. Each player gets both a Male Hunter and a Female Hunter for free, with additional Hunters being buyable for 200k MP. Though they are technically farmable, we'll include a review of each Hunter as well, since 200k MP can be a steep investment for many players and there is thus a corresponding opportunity cost.
In-Depth Analysis: King of Fighters
January 1, 2018
Introduction
Apologies for the delay. Both of us got caught up by the holidays and by KoF's unexpectedly early NA release.
While all the cards in KoF have flashy, striking art, most of them are not that worthwhile. You can tell that GungHo is trying to make cards a bit more interesting and flavorful, giving every card in this machine some kind of side evo (for the five-stars) or pixel evo (for the six-stars). Unfortunately, interesting doesn't always correlate well to usable, and KoF is on the whole a pretty skippable machine. Almost all of the five-star rolls make for pretty useless subs and fairly niche inherits at best. They all have shorter reviews because there's simply not that much to say about them. The six-stars, on the other hand, are actually fairly great overall and have correspondingly deeper analysis, but of course are also fairly excruciating to roll. These factors add up to a highly top-heavy machine, and top-heavy special machines are typically not worth the bait for most players no matter how shiny said bait might be. This is especially true now, when the "best" cards in the game shift more rapidly than ever.
Additionally, do not get fooled by KoF's "no silvers". The gold rolls are not meaningfully better than typical silvers and have comparable rates, while the diamond rates are still 2% or lower each. All of the five-star rolls have extremely poor weighted stat totals; every card has a weighted of around 705, which, for comparison, is poorer than Christmas Hatsume's. This is especially bad in context of today's typical power level; at least Hatsume has the excuse of being a year old. "No silvers" here is effectively just a marketing tool.
All the five-star rolls have a "Second Player Color" or "Third Player Color" ult evo with different awakenings (but keeping the same stat lineup, active skill, etc.). In the reviews below, we'll give some insight into which form might generally be preferred. The six-star rolls all have Pixel forms that are different enough to merit separate analyses entirely.
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