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i miss my girls, tails. i miss them a lot.
See title... Estelline fic is requiring a lot more work than I believed it would as I continue to trim on every pass, and whilst I do of course still love it, I desperately want to be done with it so I can go back to writing about ouihaw... this is what happens when you finish Heavensward and vaguely start Stormblood and that's no longer the vibe you're looking for. I've also just been struggling with words and worth in general - I probably need a break, but I feel like I'm constantly having a break when there's days I can't write and I have to write so I don't go crazy!! It's tough. The first five chapters/27k is up, though. C6 and C7 are finalised, C8 is next.
In my "I miss my girls" state, I opened up the sims 4 after not doing so since last December and spent thirteen hours over last weekend moving my ouihaw yeehaw ranch save from a 30x20 lot to a 64x64 lot and instead of building from scratch, used the pre-existing blueprint to make each room ever so slightly bigger, so it keeps the cozy country vibes but it's not as pokey and the daughters have actual individual rooms now. And the horsies have a paddock and space to roam 🥹 I do not recommend building like this it was a nightmare, although it was worth it. I'll take some screenshots of the new and improved house next time I play.
And in the trifecta of "I MISS ASHE TAILS I MISS HER A LOT" let's talk about my Ashe stadium build.
I should go into detail about my Juno build, considering me and duo have successfully made our way into elite tier again by one tricking Juno and Lucio and have a very decent success rate. I have been yelled at numerous times - only in the games we lose, though, funny that - mostly by my tanks, for dpsing, which is a core misunderstanding of how the best build for Juno works...
Fundamentally speaking, the first thing you have to recognise about Stadium is its full of gimmicks. You have to lean into and embrace that. There is no honour here. The enemy team has to die fast and you have to find the most efficient way to do it. For Juno, her best build is a torpedo based build - she has two drones that apply healing to anyone that's in her los, and also does damage to enemies in her los simultaneously. Her best powers give you two casts of torpedos, because the devs clearly understand single target healing won't cut it and every twelve seconds for all is simply too long, and the best power to pair with this also reduces the cooldown of torpedos based on how many things you hit, so you can have torpedos up nearly all of the time (they've had to nerf this a lot from its original ideation, it really was constant). For Juno, her torpedos fall under ability power. So you toss all your cash into ability power based items, give yourself an overhealth shield everytime you use them, and give yourself a lifesteal that turns into non-decaying overhealth if you're already at full health. You also choose an item that applies a 30% healing reduction to everything on the enemy team hit by an ability - as Juno, that's fucking everyone and I feel it's so necessary, you make the enemy tank's life a misery and it will regularly win you fights. The overhealth and uptime of torpedos is very good to stall and contest points with. It's very good if your team works with you, and doesn't wander off by themselves.
But yes. It is inevitable that you will get dps numbers up, because. That's how torpedos work. It doesn't pick and choose, it hits everything it can see. If everything on the enemy team is stunned on the ground by an earthshatter, or trapped in a Zarya grav and can't move, two sets of torpedos with high ability power bonuses will kill them easy. And this makes some tanks mad for some reason. How dare you try to get value out of their ults when your dps are nowhere in sight. smh Juno what are you doing.
They seem to think you are dpsing with your primary fire, and sincerely, no. The only time I'm shooting the enemy is when their hp is low enough from torpedos to kill them in 1-2 hits, because lol. Falloff. Most of your damage done is from your torpedos because it's flat damage irregardless of distance. I am behind my tank at all times, healing them with primary, and a good chunk of torpedo damage is inactive damage that you just get naturally. Ofc I'll look for the opportunity to hold it as long as I can, if I can, but if I was solely dpsing I would be in the front, or the enemy backline, not healing my team at all...
It's also funny when they complain about healing but break los or walk away and don't equip a single healing power or item on themselves. We all have lifesteal in this mode kids. Equip it. Equip it and prosper.
Believe it or not this is all prelude to Ashe. Ashe has two build angles you can go, the first being weapon power (the honest aim route, probably worth it if you're on pc) or ability power (everything is on fire all of the time, you have lifesteal up always because the lingering burn dot counts as you doing active damage, and you have Bob every fight and yes its somewhat cheap to go this route but it's fun as hell). I've climbed out of the rookie trenches into novice and am fairly settled on what I like doing with her build after several hours of feeling my way around it, SO.
Powers
You get these on round 1, 3, 5, and 7. They are locked in once you buy them. I haven't really settled on what the best round 7 power for Ashe is, I keep trying different things and they don't feel impactful to me, but my go to's are the following:
• Out With A Bang: round 1 or 3, but round 1 means you'll get cash quicker and you want to get cash quicker for your expensive crap that keeps you alive and makes life hellish for the enemy team. Out with a bang has three little baby dynamites spawn after the first one detonates (either by you doing it or the fuse counting down), then you get three more explosions. This reapplies the dot, catches people out, and is incredible for holding space. If you detonate the first yourself they will fall from midair so they cover a larger area, and makes them harder to see/avoid. I've seen some Ashe's combo this with the power that leaves lava behind after the first explosion if you don't detonate, but honestly that's a trap - it gives you less control of when to detonate, and the enemy team will not be hit by the baby dynamites because they have a very clear visual indicator of where they are, being the pool of lava on the floor.
• Incendiary Rounds: a contradiction for my ability based build, as it functions the same as one of her perks in that two hits on a target gives a bonus amount of weapon damage... but it also applies to shields (hallelujah). The tank gets the brunt of this, but also super useful if I land two shots on targets with lower health (they're probably dead as they were likely already on fire prior to this occurrence. Or the dynamite is the finishing blow. Huehuehue). Obviously I still shoot normally, this just gives it a bit more teeth. Infrared Lenses boosting damage applies to all kinds of damage, so that with this also helps.
• Incendiary Blast: using coach gun applies a burn and deals bonus damage if the target is already burning. I didn't see the purpose of this at first but was quickly converted. By round 5, you're all very bulky, but having an extra, third burn forces even more resource expenditure to deal with it. Coach gun is at heart a "get off me!!" tool, this actually makes it deadly.
Items
I have all of these by round 5-6 as my final build, I've noted what round I'll buy them in (doesn't include the other items I'll swap in and out as I go depending on the cash I have).
• Silver Lighter: 10% ability power + damage dealt to burning targets grants 20% more ult charge. Round 2, first thing I'll buy.
• Stacked Sticks: 15% ability power + 40% dynamite explosion radius (this also applies to the baby dynamites). Round 3, the first epic item I'll buy. A lot of Ashe players play in first person camera on stadium but I find it too restrictive, you really need to be able to watch all angles and not be caught out by people in your blind spot, so I play in third. Her scope is always in first, but dynamite throwing isn't. This makes guessing dynamite distance from targets much more finicky. Explosion radius compensates for the perspective shift and makes Out With A Bang even more deadly to deal with.
• Infrared Lenses: 15% ability power + deals 20% increased damage to burning enemies. Usually round 5. As it says on the tin. Plays off Silver Lighter incredibly well. This is when you start getting Bob really stupidly fast, and his damage is based off ability power. Win/win.
• Phantasmic Flux: 10% weapon power + 10% ability power + 15% weapon lifesteal + 15% ability lifesteal + converts lifesteal into overhealth. Round 4, as I'll prioritise Stacked Sticks first. This item is my hero. It's so good for Juno due to torpedos catching strays and giving you overhealth, it's crucial for Ashe and the residual burn in the same way. My comfort item fr.
• Champion's Kit: 35% ability power. Round 6, the last I'll get. I believe in dynamite. 🧨💜 This may be substituted depending, but sometimes you just need the extra 20-25% raw ability power this offers you. Makes everything else I already have all that more deadly due to the damage increase.
• Vital-e-tee: 100 health swapped for armour. Round 2 and I'll keep it the rest of the game. So useful in every damn situation and makes you survivable. 1 Armour is the equivalent of 2-3 white health. Priceless.
We'll see how it goes as I continue playing with her. Ashe hours. :)
In my "I miss my girls" state, I opened up the sims 4 after not doing so since last December and spent thirteen hours over last weekend moving my ouihaw yeehaw ranch save from a 30x20 lot to a 64x64 lot and instead of building from scratch, used the pre-existing blueprint to make each room ever so slightly bigger, so it keeps the cozy country vibes but it's not as pokey and the daughters have actual individual rooms now. And the horsies have a paddock and space to roam 🥹 I do not recommend building like this it was a nightmare, although it was worth it. I'll take some screenshots of the new and improved house next time I play.
And in the trifecta of "I MISS ASHE TAILS I MISS HER A LOT" let's talk about my Ashe stadium build.
I should go into detail about my Juno build, considering me and duo have successfully made our way into elite tier again by one tricking Juno and Lucio and have a very decent success rate. I have been yelled at numerous times - only in the games we lose, though, funny that - mostly by my tanks, for dpsing, which is a core misunderstanding of how the best build for Juno works...
Fundamentally speaking, the first thing you have to recognise about Stadium is its full of gimmicks. You have to lean into and embrace that. There is no honour here. The enemy team has to die fast and you have to find the most efficient way to do it. For Juno, her best build is a torpedo based build - she has two drones that apply healing to anyone that's in her los, and also does damage to enemies in her los simultaneously. Her best powers give you two casts of torpedos, because the devs clearly understand single target healing won't cut it and every twelve seconds for all is simply too long, and the best power to pair with this also reduces the cooldown of torpedos based on how many things you hit, so you can have torpedos up nearly all of the time (they've had to nerf this a lot from its original ideation, it really was constant). For Juno, her torpedos fall under ability power. So you toss all your cash into ability power based items, give yourself an overhealth shield everytime you use them, and give yourself a lifesteal that turns into non-decaying overhealth if you're already at full health. You also choose an item that applies a 30% healing reduction to everything on the enemy team hit by an ability - as Juno, that's fucking everyone and I feel it's so necessary, you make the enemy tank's life a misery and it will regularly win you fights. The overhealth and uptime of torpedos is very good to stall and contest points with. It's very good if your team works with you, and doesn't wander off by themselves.
But yes. It is inevitable that you will get dps numbers up, because. That's how torpedos work. It doesn't pick and choose, it hits everything it can see. If everything on the enemy team is stunned on the ground by an earthshatter, or trapped in a Zarya grav and can't move, two sets of torpedos with high ability power bonuses will kill them easy. And this makes some tanks mad for some reason. How dare you try to get value out of their ults when your dps are nowhere in sight. smh Juno what are you doing.
They seem to think you are dpsing with your primary fire, and sincerely, no. The only time I'm shooting the enemy is when their hp is low enough from torpedos to kill them in 1-2 hits, because lol. Falloff. Most of your damage done is from your torpedos because it's flat damage irregardless of distance. I am behind my tank at all times, healing them with primary, and a good chunk of torpedo damage is inactive damage that you just get naturally. Ofc I'll look for the opportunity to hold it as long as I can, if I can, but if I was solely dpsing I would be in the front, or the enemy backline, not healing my team at all...
It's also funny when they complain about healing but break los or walk away and don't equip a single healing power or item on themselves. We all have lifesteal in this mode kids. Equip it. Equip it and prosper.
Believe it or not this is all prelude to Ashe. Ashe has two build angles you can go, the first being weapon power (the honest aim route, probably worth it if you're on pc) or ability power (everything is on fire all of the time, you have lifesteal up always because the lingering burn dot counts as you doing active damage, and you have Bob every fight and yes its somewhat cheap to go this route but it's fun as hell). I've climbed out of the rookie trenches into novice and am fairly settled on what I like doing with her build after several hours of feeling my way around it, SO.
Powers
You get these on round 1, 3, 5, and 7. They are locked in once you buy them. I haven't really settled on what the best round 7 power for Ashe is, I keep trying different things and they don't feel impactful to me, but my go to's are the following:
• Out With A Bang: round 1 or 3, but round 1 means you'll get cash quicker and you want to get cash quicker for your expensive crap that keeps you alive and makes life hellish for the enemy team. Out with a bang has three little baby dynamites spawn after the first one detonates (either by you doing it or the fuse counting down), then you get three more explosions. This reapplies the dot, catches people out, and is incredible for holding space. If you detonate the first yourself they will fall from midair so they cover a larger area, and makes them harder to see/avoid. I've seen some Ashe's combo this with the power that leaves lava behind after the first explosion if you don't detonate, but honestly that's a trap - it gives you less control of when to detonate, and the enemy team will not be hit by the baby dynamites because they have a very clear visual indicator of where they are, being the pool of lava on the floor.
• Incendiary Rounds: a contradiction for my ability based build, as it functions the same as one of her perks in that two hits on a target gives a bonus amount of weapon damage... but it also applies to shields (hallelujah). The tank gets the brunt of this, but also super useful if I land two shots on targets with lower health (they're probably dead as they were likely already on fire prior to this occurrence. Or the dynamite is the finishing blow. Huehuehue). Obviously I still shoot normally, this just gives it a bit more teeth. Infrared Lenses boosting damage applies to all kinds of damage, so that with this also helps.
• Incendiary Blast: using coach gun applies a burn and deals bonus damage if the target is already burning. I didn't see the purpose of this at first but was quickly converted. By round 5, you're all very bulky, but having an extra, third burn forces even more resource expenditure to deal with it. Coach gun is at heart a "get off me!!" tool, this actually makes it deadly.
Items
I have all of these by round 5-6 as my final build, I've noted what round I'll buy them in (doesn't include the other items I'll swap in and out as I go depending on the cash I have).
• Silver Lighter: 10% ability power + damage dealt to burning targets grants 20% more ult charge. Round 2, first thing I'll buy.
• Stacked Sticks: 15% ability power + 40% dynamite explosion radius (this also applies to the baby dynamites). Round 3, the first epic item I'll buy. A lot of Ashe players play in first person camera on stadium but I find it too restrictive, you really need to be able to watch all angles and not be caught out by people in your blind spot, so I play in third. Her scope is always in first, but dynamite throwing isn't. This makes guessing dynamite distance from targets much more finicky. Explosion radius compensates for the perspective shift and makes Out With A Bang even more deadly to deal with.
• Infrared Lenses: 15% ability power + deals 20% increased damage to burning enemies. Usually round 5. As it says on the tin. Plays off Silver Lighter incredibly well. This is when you start getting Bob really stupidly fast, and his damage is based off ability power. Win/win.
• Phantasmic Flux: 10% weapon power + 10% ability power + 15% weapon lifesteal + 15% ability lifesteal + converts lifesteal into overhealth. Round 4, as I'll prioritise Stacked Sticks first. This item is my hero. It's so good for Juno due to torpedos catching strays and giving you overhealth, it's crucial for Ashe and the residual burn in the same way. My comfort item fr.
• Champion's Kit: 35% ability power. Round 6, the last I'll get. I believe in dynamite. 🧨💜 This may be substituted depending, but sometimes you just need the extra 20-25% raw ability power this offers you. Makes everything else I already have all that more deadly due to the damage increase.
• Vital-e-tee: 100 health swapped for armour. Round 2 and I'll keep it the rest of the game. So useful in every damn situation and makes you survivable. 1 Armour is the equivalent of 2-3 white health. Priceless.
We'll see how it goes as I continue playing with her. Ashe hours. :)