ORAS Competitive Analysis: Vileplume

Official Ken Sugimori artwork

Introduction

Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire have been out for some time now, and while I haven't had enough time yet to fully beat the game, I figured I would start a competitive analysis series similar to the fashion in which I've been reviewing SSB4 characters. To start off I'll go with Vileplume, who is the final form of Oddish. In ORAS, Gamefreak took the opportunity to update a lot of Pokemons' movesets, making them learn stronger moves sooner and sometimes even adding new moves. Vileplume originally caught my interest because it's base evolution Oddish was one of the lucky Pokemon to gain a new move; it now learns Moonblast at level 43. Even though it is not a Fairy-type, Oddish has always been associated with the moon according to its Pokedex entries (and it already learns the other 'moon' move Moonlight at level 33), so this was a welcome change that is actually pretty cool and goes along with the established lore of the games.

"Awakened by moonlight, it roams actively at night. In the day it stays quietly underground." - Original Gold Pokedex Entry

"During the day, it stays in the cold underground to avoid the sun. It grows by bathing in moonlight." - Original Crystal Pokedex Entry

Stat Breakdown

Image from Smogon

As you can see from the picture, the only thing really holding Vileplume back is it's Speed, which at base 50 is not going to be outrunning anything half-decent. Thankfully this can somewhat be made up for with it's first ability, Chlorophyll, which doubles Vileplume's Speed in the sun (making it a solid base 100). However this is purely situational and requires some form of set-up (Drought Ninetails comes to mind) so it is not totally reliable. Apart from Speed Vileplume has pretty solid stats, the strongest being Special Attack at a respectable base 110, which is good for us because we're building ours to be a Special Sweeper.

Nature: Bold (-Attack, +Defense)
Ability: Chlorophyll
Effort Values: 252 Sp. Attack, 252 HP//or//252 Speed

The above are the stats my in-game Vileplume has. For the nature I would recommend anything beneficial which in Vileplume's case is anything that lowers the Attack and raises something else. The one I captured was Bold so that makes it a little more bulky on the Defense side, can't go wrong with that. I was originally searching for a Hidden Ability Oddish so my Vileplume would evolve to have Effect Spore as it's ability, but I got tired of grinding and moved on. So instead it has Chlorophyll as its ability which is alright for the time being. As far as EV's go, when I get around to it I am definitely going to max out Special Attack, and then either HP or Speed. I haven't decided yet whether I want him to be a little bit faster or a little bit bulkier.

Moveset

• Giga Drain
• Sleep Powder
• Sludge Bomb
• Moonblast

With this spread, Vileplume takes advantage of both its STABs as a powerful special attacker. The Grass-type Giga Drain provides super effective coverage against Water/Ground/Rock and comes with a bonus of extra healing. Sleep Powder allows Vileplume to threaten opponents with the possibility of sleep-status, which is always good to have. Playing competitively sleep clause mandates that only one Pokemon may be inflicted with sleep but that's still one incapacitated opponent Pokemon so it can be a big help. Sludge Bomb is a powerful Poison-type attack that comes with a nice 30% chance to inflict poison-status, and it provides super effective coverage against Fairy/Grass. Finally there's Moonblast, which rounds out the set by providing super effective coverage against Dark/Dragon/Fighting, which is a great and unique advantage that Vileplume has over other similar Grass or Grass/Poison types thanks to ORAS.

Conclusion

Altogether Vileplume boasts super effective coverage against 8 different types, and has solid stats to back it up. With the addition of Moonblast to its movepool Vileplume became more versatile and well-rounded, able to take on a larger variety of Pokemon than it could before. Vileplume is weak to Fire/Flying/Ice/Psychic so it really does not appreciate taking hits of any of those types. Be sure to have a Pokemon on your team that complements Vileplume and is able to cover its weaknesses. In-game I am testing out a Hidden Ability Ninetails as a complementary partner.

Music Appreciation Post: Minecraft (Subwoofer Lullaby, Wet Hands)

I love Minecraft. It's the rare kind of game where you can literally spend hours accomplishing nothing and yet still feel like you're having a good time. However this post isn't about how great the game is, it's about how great the music is. The many long hours I spent exploring/building all over the vast overworld are what led me to notice the beautifully composed soundtrack, by German artist C418. The music is very relaxing while at the same time intriguing, most of the tracks start out soft (with an emphasis on piano) but other sounds are mixed in for mysterious effect. The two I've linked to above are my favorites so far, Subwoofer Lullaby and Wet Hands, respectively.

In all the artist did a great job of creating an atmosphere of wonder for the game. The official soundtrack, dubbed Minecraft - Volume Alpha is available for purchase, but more importantly it is available for free on Spotify! I made this discovery recently and have been listening to the album while I do my homework; I find that it makes great background music to work to. Now if only I had more time for Minecraft and less time for homework! If only. ;)

Zelda Fan Art: Appreciation Post Pt.2

Here's some more unique, somewhat "realistic" interpretations of Link from artist Rachel Morris. I really like these because they show a different perspective of familiar places/things that can be experienced in Zelda games. There's a certain "wow-factor" conveyed by the first image of Link staring down into the pool of lava far below him (fire temple, perhaps?). I also really like the touch of realism in Link's expressions in the next two images (standing next to an ice-block puzzle, crouched down in front of a small chest). It's great because it's just something most of us wouldn't think of while playing the actual game; it's cold in those ice dungeons, Link must be freezing in those shorts!

Check out the rest of her Gallery.

SSB4 Character Analysis: King Dedede

Image from Smash Wiki

Introduction

The next character analysis is for a character who I've only recently started to take a look at. The King has been around since Brawl but I had never really given him a chance until one day I was goofing around and decided to pick him on a whim. Dedede is a unique fighter, he's heavy, which means he has some hard-hitting attacks, but unlike traditional heavies his recovery is a bit better (he can fly!). I'll go over some of what I think are some of his better/more reliable moves, based on my experience with him so far.

Notable 'A' moves

Side Smash - Has a short wind-up but is a reliable killing move. If it doesn't end up killing it will do a significant amount damage and knockback (especially if you can manage to charge it for a few seconds). Great to rely on in the beginning, but be careful it doesn't become a crutch, as it is easy to read.

Up Air - Dedede twirls his hammer overhead for a multi-hit attack. In general The King's air-game is pretty solid. This move in particular is one of my favorites as it deals a good amount of damage, and if the opponent is at a higher percent is a capable killing move. The cherry on top is that if you can keep this move connected on the opponent for the entire duration (ie they don't dodge out/get away) the final hit will spike, sending them flying.

Side Tilt - I find myself using this move a lot as I'm trying to pressure/continue a string on the opponent. It's essentially a slightly weaker version of his Up Air, Dedede twirls his hammer out in front of him for a multi-hit attack. There is no real spike/killing potential in this one, but it is great for racking up damage and spacing the opponent. The one thing about this move though is there is a certain range to it that you need to memorize, otherwise you might find yourself whiffing at times.

Other noteworthy moves: Neutral A Combo, Dash Attack - I try to mix in the Neutral A Combo whenever I can, it's good for a little extra damage and if you chain it long enough the end will have some slight knockback, which is always useful. The Dash Attack is good for approaches and can also potentially kill at higher percents, although for experienced players it is easily predicted and punished so it's best not to rely on this one too much.

Notable 'B' moves

Side B - The King pulls a "Gordo" (spiky ball with eyes, from the Kirby games) out of his pocket and knocks it towards the opponent with his hammer. Let me just say, I love this move, and I'm guilty of using it way more than I probably should. Has great knockback, can be a potential killing move, and is excellent for exerting pressure or "edge-guarding." The trick to this move is that it bounces along the ground, so you have to kind of "set it up" or aim it for it to connect. My favorite thing to do is to launch these at opponents from mid-air, as it's harder to tell where they are going to land, and it's just great for mind games in general. As far as edge-guarding goes, if you manage to hit the opponent while they're trying to recover it will spike them away from the stage, and it's also good at blocking/pressuring out the recovery ledge grab.

Neutral B - King Dedede inhales the enemy into his mouth, trapping them inside before he spits them back out. This move is stronger in group battles, rather than traditional 1v1 battles, but it still has it's merits. Unlike Kirby's Inhale Neutral B Dedede does not let him copy abilities, but it does shoot the opponent farther and does a bit more damage. Can be fun for gimping characters with terrible recovery (read: Little Mac) by inhaling them and then jumping off the ledge before spitting them back out. Because Dedede has above-average recovery, and the opponent does not, Dedede usually recovers while the opponent falls to their death. Kind of cheap, but funny nonetheless.

Other noteworthy moves: Up B - This move is somewhat strange because it has a very rigid and at times unforgiving, animation. Dedede jumps up and gains great vertical distance, but you can barely move at all horizontally once you are locked into the animation. I've killed myself using this more times than I can count, it definitely takes some getting used to. Together with his extra fly-jumps, this makes for some decent overall recovery. The hitbox on this move can kill but as I said this move can feel wonky and hard to aim at times so I try not to rely on it.

Conclusion

I'm definitely not as good with The King as I am with some of my other characters, but that's mostly because I haven't had as much time to mess around with him. Online the match-ups have been hit or miss, I either get a solid win or lose pretty spectacularly, so the verdict is still out on just how good King Dedede really is. For now I'll keep playing and trying to come up with new strategies to improve my game.

Music Appreciation Post: Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire Surf Theme

In honor of Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire being released tomorrow, I wanted to post one of the most memorable tracks from the original games. This is the surfing theme, which you hear a lot in game (as the Hoenn region is literally covered ~70% by water) and after reading a few reviews from those who got the game early, to the dismay of many (too much water!!) that much hasn't changed. This theme, along with the endless Tentacool wild encounters (don't forget the repel!) is something anyone who has played these games before is more than familiar with.

Overall, the entire soundtrack is great (and can be found here), so I can't wait to hear the updated/remixed tracks. And alongside the updated 3D graphics, I'm sure it will create a total package that is just as exotic and mesmerizing as the original games were so many years ago.

Diablo 3: Barbarian Cold Leapquake

This build is something I've been having a lot of fun with lately. In the past, Fire Leapquake was the clear cut winner due to raw damage alone, but with some recent buffs the cold variant of the barbarian's earthquake skill is much more viable than it was before. I love playing this build because it offers great crowd control; everything is pretty much constantly frozen. Plus, it's really fun hopping around the map dropping earthquakes all over the place. While the damage output is not as high as fire, I would argue that it almost evens out because the cold variant offers more survivability and control over mobs.

This build revolves around a few key items. The most important being the Might of the Earth set and the Legendary boots Lut Socks. These items have great synergy together, as MoTE leaves a free earthquake every time you land from using Leap, and Lut Socks give you a total of 3 Leaps before the cooldown starts.

The Gear:

As you can see from the first picture, I am wearing the full MoTE set + Lut Socks. I opted not to wear a Ring of Royal Grandeur so that I can use a rare ring that gives me better stats (CC/CD/CDR/Socket). If you have a good royal ring you may want to consider Leoric's Crown for some extra CDR, or Frostburn gloves for more cold damage/utility.

Cooldown Reduction is king for this build, so the more you have the better. About 30% I'd say is the bare minimum, while upwards of 50% would be ideal with a perfect gear setup. I've got it on my gloves, shoulders, helm (socketed diamond), one of my rings, and my weapon. Now I've got a couple of different gear pieces that I swap in and out to try and find what is most optimal, but I usually hover around ~40% CDR. The more you have the faster you can Leap all over the place.

The rest of the gear is up for debate. Just try to stack cold damage and elite damage wherever possible, and try to get sockets in your rings/amulet so you can use legendary gems. The great thing about this build is that it only requires a few key items, so you are free to mix and match with different sets and legendary items (especially if using a royal ring) to try and find what works best for you/with what you have.

The Skills:

I'm using a pretty standard setup here. You definitely need Earthquake - Chilling Earth, as that is the centerpiece of this build. Which rune you choose for Leap depends on if you want to be more offensive or defensive, I'm using Call of Arreat because it synergies with my Strongarm Bracers, but if you're having trouble surviving I would recommend switching to one of the more defense-oriented runes. War Cry - Impunity is pretty much always on my skill bar, as it provides extra resistances and armor, while also serving as a backup fury generator. Plus if you're playing in groups it helps out your teammates as well. Battle Rage and Wrath of the Berserker are purely included for extra damage. Call of the Ancients are included to help with single target damage (tough elites and rift guardians).

As far as passive skills go I'm using Ruthless because that helps a lot on the larger monsters with large health pools. Berserker Rage is great because you are pretty much constantly at full fury (thanks to War Cry + Leap), so you can maintain the damage bonus fairly easily. Boon of Bul-Kathos is great because it lets me use nearly all of my skills more often, it lowers the cooldowns on Earthquake, WotB, and CotA by a substantial amount. And finally Rampage, because it is great in that it provides a survivability and damage boost by increasing your Strength by a percentage for each enemy killed, stacking up to 25 times.

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That's pretty much all I have to say on this build! Give it a try if you haven't already. I promise it's a lot of fun.

Majora's Mask remake for 3DS: Coming Spring 2015

Official box art

Fans of Zelda rejoice!!! A few days ago, Nintendo announced via Nintendo Direct that they have been working on a remake for The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, which was originally released on the Nintendo 64 way back in the Fall of 2000. In a subsequent post on Miiverse, Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma revealed that they have in fact been working on this port since the release of the Ocarina of Time 3DS remake which was released back in June 2011. In his post Aonuma states:

"...although we’ve been working on the game for quite some time, we didn't want to say it was being developed until we were at a point where we could proudly say that this is not going to be just another remake and that it's going to be worth your time."

It feels good to finally have confirmation that one of the greatest Zelda titles ever is going to be given a second life via a remake. Although it would have most certainly been "worth my time" no matter what, it's exciting to see that the developers are putting some extra work into rehashing the game, and it will be interesting to see just what they really mean by that when the final product is here. The projected release date is Spring 2015.

If you're finding it difficult to contain your overwhelming excitement (like me) the game is already up for pre-order on Amazon. The page has a listed release date of December 2014, but that has already been confirmed as a place-holder so don't get your hopes up too high. ;)

For those who would like to see the reveal trailer (and some gameplay footage!), here is a video clip that edited the section out of the full Nintendo Direct presentation: