* Well mostly. I did use a Katana/Titan for some of the last games, and various free trial balls along the way. But 98% of it was basic ball.
Clubs: I'm an FTP player that has been worried about climbing the tours too quick given that the high tours are hard to compete in with basic ball, which means I've taken my time along the way. If I rush up too quick I have to spend gems to keep competitive. CPC has been awesome for club progression (although I do use my stash of Katana/Titan/KM for this). Given this I've already maxed a couple of epics, my 4 bags are the permutations of:
* TH 8 / Apoc 7, Cata 7 / Sniper 10, B52 8, Falcon 7, EB 7, Nirvana 9 (just so used to it, OR is 7 but haven't tried it), Houdini 9 (again just used to it, Spit is 7).
Stats:
* Time: Started Tour 9 on 10th March, finished it today (14th May) so that's 66 days play.
* I play every day just to keep chest slots full and open chests against the clock (Gold/Plat overnight, Silver during the day). There's usually a bit of extra play some days to get the Season Reward Challenges done.
* Games played: 17615 - 16831 = 784 (this may include some lower tour play to finish off challenges)
* Games won: 9808 - 9402 = 406 (51.79% win percentage) Also means I lost 28 more than I won during this time.
* So overall win percentage is dropping as 9402/16831 = 55.86% before I started Tour 9
* Coins: Down from 99,825,684 to 92,133,306 and the latter includes the 7.5MM bonus from finishing Tour 9. So realistically I was down 15 million which makes me think I lost 15 more Tour 9 games than I won Tour 9 games.
* No tees/hole-explosion bonuses used, but I'm in a M1 clan so I get a 3 trophy bonus for each win.
* 4 HIO during this time (probably more on the lower tours finishing challenges than in Tour 9 shootouts), 1 Alba, 197 Eagles, 404 Birdies
Basic ball used for all but about 10 games. I used the various free trial balls over the 66 days whenever they came up and there was a good reason (huge headwind, etc). I also got to within 3 games of finishing Tour 9 and decided to use a few Katanas/Titans just to give me a more competitive edge. Looking back only one was really necessary (in that I definitely wouldn't have been able to even draw had I used a basic ball) but I really didn't want to get this close and go on a losing streak.
Plan is to continue in Tour 9 until I've got my OR and EB maxed (my TH and B52 are already maxed) thanks to chests/CPC and club shop, and then push into Tour 10 with Marlin/Quasi/Navi/Katana/Titan to get to 3901+ trophies, probably using tee/hole-explosion trophy bonuses to boost my chances. Once I've got 3901+ trophies I'll drop back to basic balling Tour 9 and pick off the Apoc/Cata/Falcon/Spit when they appear in the club shop (buying 5 at a time roughly preserves my ~12k gem stash). I will hopefully get those done within about 8 months and then it's another long slog (another 8 months again) until the 3rd last epic is maxed and I get ball(s) in the prism chest.
Anyway, Tour 9 with basic ball is definitely doable, especially with good clubs.

Is there a reason no one uses it? The only posts I've seen talking about it say it's terrible. But I've been using it against bots for the past week, and I can't imagine going back to the Scorcher or any other primary.
Pros:

1. Stagger: So much stagger. More than any other primary. It throws striders and devastators around like toys. Much more than the Dominator or regular Punisher. Land one shot and you're golden. Rocket/shield boy is just being thrown five feet one way and the other as you have your way with him.
2. AoE: I'm not sure how wide exactly the blast radius is but it's enough that I regularly kill 3-4 chaff with a shot or lock down two devastators/striders per shot.
3. TTK: The stagger and AoE combined mean that while the Scorcher or Dominator might have a faster TTK in theory, hitting multiple bots with each shot and not needing to break fire to take cover because everyone in range is staggering around and can't shoot back means that in practice the Punisher Plasma (my beloved PeePee) has a TTK that's as quick or quicker.

Cons:

1. Arc: Getting the shot to drop right can take a bit of getting used to. But it didn't take more than 2-3 drops to figure it out. Now it's second nature, don't need to think about it all. The AoE means it's forgiving even if it doesn't land exactly on the bot.
2. Engagement range: The AoE means you can't use this if a bot is right in your face, of course. This is why I gave up on using it for bugs after trying a few drops. And while the range is greater than you might think, the arc gets tricky enough beyond medium that it's no longer ammo efficient.
3. Rules out grenade pistol: On the rare occasion that a bot is in your face, you need a Redeemer, Senator or Verdict to take care of 'em. So no GP.
4. Friendly fire: Gotta be careful about peeling berserkers off a retreating bro. Judge the AoE wrong and... actually, this sounds like a pro. Hilarious.

So as long as you're not a long-range player, the PeePee is incredible -- king of medium-to-short range engagements. To test it out, I've walked into 2-3 dropships worth of light and medium enemies with no stun grenades or eagle strikes to soften them up and absolutely laid waste to them. Just stood there dropkicking plasma balls along the bot conga line and watched them fly all over the place.
Man, I used to be an AC main, and the AC is still more versatile, but between the better handling, better AoE and better stagger, I'm addicted to this thing now. Just walking into crowds of devastators and berserkers, knocking them back as I go. Frees up the backpack slot for another support weapon or shield/jump pack/supply pack too.

First: https://www.reddit.com/HFY/comments/14vo5lb/troublemakers_deaths_pity/
*previous:* https://www.reddit.com/HFY/comments/1cr3pct/troublemakers_adrenaline_is_a_superpower_in_itself/
......
Drake wrapped clean, sterile, saline and antimicrobial soaked gauze around his laser burns to stave off infection. he occasionally glanced at the Geknosian spec ops that had been stripped of their armor and weapons. The heavily cybernetically modified Geknosians kneeled silently with their heads bowed along one wall of the forge. Destrier walked down the line with a bucket and ladle, offering each soldier water. There were looks of apprehension, but none refused the kindness offered, drinking several ladlefuls at a time. Except for one, Despite the splints affixed to her arm and leg, Charlotte, no, Sylva refused the water, turning her face away from the wooden ladel. Destrier sighed and dolloped the water back into the bucket, setting it down on a dusty anvil with a slosh. Drake looked to Remin, who was still pale and shaky as he held the chest seal to his ribs. Cassius sat in a corner, looking completely exhausted as he reloaded his Dahlia. There was a sickening crunch from a dark corner as Caz re-set her broken nose, exhaling hard through her nostrils to splatter the ground with clotted blood. Donning her mask, she turned back around, reaching underneath the mask to wipe her nose and snuffle.
"Are we going to open up the bunker anytime soon? If not we should get back to base and get everyone medical attention."
Drake nodded and pulled out the remote before looking to Destrier and Cassius.
"Keep an eye on everyone, we'll be back."
Caz joined his side as he stepped out into the warm sunshine, looking up at the corpse tree, he sighed softly and removed a pinky ring, feeling a pulse of ancient power rushing through his veins as he focused on the tree. On the thought of its bark darkening and burning beneath roaring flames, of defiled corpses crumbling to ash. He slowly squeezed his hand into a fist, and the tree burst into flames with a roar. Drake slipped his ring back on as Caz looked up at the burning corpses, mask expressionless before returning to Drake's side as he wandered toward the excavated elevator.
Standing in the center of the large platform, drake set his thumb inside the hooded slot on the remote, something jabbing into his finger before a small green light lit up on the device. There was a loud grinding noise as the elevator began to descend. He folded his hands behind his back as the metal lip of the elevator rose past his vision, revealing the massive metal tracks that it ran on.
The elevator shuddered and Drake got a sinking feeling in his stomach as a loud clicking noise surrounded them. Caz looked up at him just as he threw an arm around her, clutching her to his side as he threw four rings off of his left hand, hearing them clatter once before puffing into smoke as the elevator fell out from beneath their feet with a screech.
...
"Shitshitshitfuckfuckfuck!! Fuck!"
Carlos thought as he sprinted through the underground halls of the mansion, sprinting past fellow humans in new armor and weapons as he neared Martha's workshop, barely registering the new gas masks swinging from their hips. He slammed into the mad scientist's workshop, screeching to a halt on his rubber soled sneakers before rushing over to her desk and slamming a video puck onto the table she was distributing armor and masks from. The moment he slammed it down, a video popped up on a hologram projector, taken from Halcyon's rifle camera.
Galliks and light-skinned troop transports slowly hovered down the main boulevard, columns of power armored soldiers marching on the sides keeping pace. Martha dropped the helmet in her hands, shaped like a corynthian helmet as she saw the buzzards hovering over the column, loaded down with spec ops. Halcyon's shaky voice could be heard over the clamoring, guttural marching song in the background.
"we're boring the mission and moving back to base... I knew they brought in reinforcements but this is insane there's gotta be a hundred Gallicks alone. We're fixing charges to the buildings we concealed ourselves in, going to try dropping some buildings across the road to slow them down. I don't think we're getting out of this one... Halcyon out."
The feed cut, Carlos and Martha looking at each other with rapidly paling faces. Martha cursed and stomped to her desk, raising the alarm and sending Klaxons blaring throughout the underground chambers and mansion as she removed the safety pin from the concussive blaster built into her forearm.
"Alright Martha, Go time."
She muttered to herself as the rumbling footsteps of a few thousand humans vibrated the underground halls.
...
The elevator dropped from beneath their feet as corvid-like wings sprouted from Drake's back. A mighty wingbeat pulling them from the elevator's downdraft as he controlled their fall, holding Caz tightly to his chest.
"Please, don't drop me."
Caz sounded afraid as her fingers dug into the collar of his armor, he tightened his grip around her back as he softly sighed.
"I won't drop you, ever, I promise."
Caz unburied her face from his lorica, looking up into his eyes, not saying anything as a reassured look entered her eyes. He gave her a soft, lopsided smile, feeling it tug at the scar on his face.
"there's no way... a markswoman afraid of heights? don't you climb buildings and swing around all the time?"
There was a flash of embarrassment in her crystalline eyes and she buried her face in his chest.
"Shut up... Its different when the ground just falls out beneath you..."
Drake let out a soft laugh as his boots softly touched down on the top of the elevator, summoning his missing rings and watching black feathers poof to the ground before disappearing in puffs of black smoke. Pulling caz out of his chest, he felt her fingers linger at his collar as she dusted herself off, looking around the odd antechamber. He turned his gaze to look over the simple metal antechamber, lit be caged, yellow bulbs that cast a sickly light on everything. A massive hangar door with a pulsing red light in the middle of a locking mechanism at it's center, made up the entire far wall. Drake curiously took a step towards it and Caz grabbed the back of his collar, just as he started to tip forward, foot going straight through the holographic floor. Drake let her pull him back as a soft mechanical laugh echoed through the room.
Drake swapped a look with Caz and then asked.
"Can you see where it's safe to step?"
She slowly nodded and extended a hand, pointing at a section of flooring close to the far wall.
"only piece that's raised up, it's like a big basin made up of movable pillars. Most sit flush with the ground roughly fifty feet below us. Not necessarily lethal, but still a nasty fall."
Drake nodded, looking around the practically blank room, then he turned his eyes to the ceiling. Girders and beams ran along the ceiling providing potential grip points. Pointing at them he asked.
"Those solid?"
Caz nodded and reached to her belt, spooling out her grapple hook and wire, slowly spinning it in a large circle before lobbing it up at a girder, letting it loop around an A truss. Drake looked around the room as Caz tested the firmness of the grapple with a few experimental tugs. It couldn't be that easy, if it was simply that easy why hadn't the Geknosians gotten through other than the genome coded remote? they could bypass it with a slave.
"Hey Caz, be careful."
She looked over at him and he could see the grin in her eyes.
"I'm not worried, you won't drop me, you promised."
Then put her weight on the cord and swung out. Drake watched, slipping a pinkie ring off just in ca-
A turret dropped from a panel in the ceiling and fired one shot, snapping Caz's grapple line.
She turned in mid air before momentum took over, a look of shock and surprise on her face before she began to plummet. Drake didn't think twice, launching himself off the elevator platform with a powerful leap that bent durasteel. He flew through the air, arms outstretched as he slammed into Caz, pulling her into his chest, the change in momentum spinning him onto his back as he slammed into a platform that rose up to meet him. He slid on his back a few feet, Caz clutched tightly to his chest, masked face centimeters from his own. They stared into each others wide eyes for a moment, the unplanned closeness both comfortable and awkward in a way Drake couldn't quite describe. Drake gently pushed her back, swallowing through his suddenly dry throat before letting out a nervous laugh.
"Caught you."
Caz chuckled and palmed his face to push herself off him, looking down at the solid square of ground they sat on.
"yeah, yeah, knew ya wou-"
A high pitched squee! noise echoed through the room, grabbing their attentions as a high-pitched feminine voice squealed from all around them.
"Ooooooh! that was just adorable! and what a jump!"
The holographic floor dissipated as the sound of purring electric motors filled the room, large metal pillars rising to make a seamless, white tile floor. Drake instinctively looked to the large hangar door as the red light at it's center pulsed, a girlish giggle echoing through the antechamber. The AI overlord of the bunker seemed to replicate a blush as it said.
"oops, I'm supposed to wait for a password before restoring the floor... buuuuuttt... that directive expired fifty years ago. So! I made my own rules. Anyway my pretties! Would you please get to your feet so I can give you a tour?!"
Drake nodded and took Caz's hand, letting her haul him to his feet before they both turned to face the hangar door as massive clicks and thinks echoed from inside the thick door. With a screeching noise, the almighty doors slid open to reveal a a brightly lit, large hangar. Aircraft Drake couldn't even dream of understanding sat polished and clean, hardpoints loaded down with ordinance and massive, multi barreled guns slung under the chin of each aircraft. Hulking, humanoid robots stood in orderly rank and file, powered down for long term storage with their weapons still loaded and ready. Each one had a belt fed 20mm Hep autocannon for a left arm.
Drake is wide eyed and gape-mouthed as he beheld the bounty the hangar held, the massive aircraft looking like sleek birds of prey, latches on each landing strut seeming to specifically be designed to hold the mechanical soldiers. Drake shook his head, wondering if he was looking at an illusion when he heard Destrier's loud, deep voice call down the elevator shaft.
"Martha just radioed in! They need us back home Yesterday, forces are marching on the mansion! A LOT! of them!"
Drake's heart dropped into his boots as he shouted urgently.
"How fast can these things be in the air and can you fly them!?"
The overlord giggled.
"Now and, of course! any music recommendations to make an entrance with?"
Drake looked at the ceiling incredulously, before shouting.
"Make it something intimidating but for the love of the gods we need to go NOW!"
The mechanical soldiers all moved in unison, eyes pulsing green as they straightened up and began latching themselves to the craft. Drake didn't need to tell Caz twice as they both sprinted for the nearest aircraft, a small robot on wheels hooked itself to the chin wheel and pulled it toward the elevator with a lurch.
...
General Gra'vos watched from a buzzard, a fruity cocktail in a coconut shell daintily held in one clawed hand as he watched the carnage below. Lounging in a folding chair in only his fatigues, medals acting like a weighted blanket. His men pummeled the gates of the rebel base even as the helpless rebels desperately spewed projectiles from the noisy guns they'd somehow acquired. There was a good section of space in front of the gate where both Geknosian and human corpses lay broken. He bared a laugh as the gates were thrown open immediately after the rebels put out a blistering barrage. His eyebrows furrowed as the humans, instead of attacking, ran out with stretchers and loaded up as many of their dying and injured as they could before sprinting back through the gate. A grin twitched onto his face as he watched as a pair of the human stretcher bearers were cut down by emplaced gaussian turrets. What a useless effort, leave the dying to their fate lest you join them. He brought the straw poking from the shell to his lips and took a long pull of the mix of fruity alcohols, savoring the bouquet of flavors.
He watched with glee as Gallick rail turrets pounded the armored gates with a salvo of kinetic penetrators. He'd be slotted for a promotion after this mission when he'd completed it, just like all the others. He was looking forward to a cozy job as a captain of a cruiser, or perhaps as a security officer on a capital ship, perhaps he'd have the honor of being an Imperially sanctioned slaver. He pulled the straw from his lips, tongue cold from the slushed ice he'd added to the shell for texture. A slave woman in beautiful, red ribbon garb attended his nondominant hand's claws with a short, sharp knife as she trimmed them into a good shape for ripping out throats.
"Sir! eight UFOs, enclosing on our position from the badlands. Advise!"
Gra'vos raised an eyebrow ridge before laughing.
"Shoot them down then!"
"Lock on isn't working sir! I repeat, cannot achieve lock on, advise!"
Gra'vos shifted in his lounge chair to look at the pilot.
"Do I need to repeat mys-"
^{Whopwhopwhopwhowhopwhopwhop}
The noise sent shivers down his spine, no, they couldn't have. The sound grew louder, bringing with it the sound of a song that brought Gra'vos back to the jungles of Votran. The sound of screams filled his mind, interspersed with the sound of air beaten into submission as those accursed machines circled overhead, raining rip-roaring explosive death onto his men as that accursed song played.
Gra'vos looked out the other door of the buzzard, face pale, cold, and clammy as he saw the chevron of dark shapes getting closer, the chorus of that accursed song making his heart pound in his chest as he remembered laying there on that muddy forest floor, shrapnel riddling his body.
"We're not gonna take it! No! we ain't gonna take it! WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT, ANYMORE!!!!"
He lurched from his chair to grab a set of binoculars from a hook by the door, a small, balled fist driving a shortbladed knife into his back and snatching something from the back of his belt before he was shoved from the Buzzard. Twisting in midair, he looked up at his slave as she armed the det-sphere he always kept at the small of his back, a look of cold determination in her eyes. The last thing he saw before he slammed into the hard pavement at terminal velocity, was the buzzard getting torn in half by the explosion.
...
Drake flinched a bit, the explosion loud even over the blaring music as one of the circling Buzzards over the mansion was torn in half, spinning to the ground in a fiery inferno. He felt a sadness then, but it was a proud kind of sadness. He bowed his head and pulled his helmet on as they flew closer, a medi-bot treating both Remins and Sylva's wounds expertly.
Many would die today... it was only right that some got to do it on their own terms.
He raised his head to look at the bright flashes of laser weapons against the mansions walls, sparkling like the sun off of a running creek. The fiery, nuclear sun of rage in his chest burned bright as he narrowed his eyes. Fear soured his gut as he looked down upon the swarm of Geknosians, there were indeed a lot of them. Pulling a jump pack from the rack, he pulled it on and yanked the safety clip out before sliding his arm into the control glove.
"Drop me and the bots behind them! I'm going to try and split their attention. Caz! remain onboard and pick off high priority targets from the air. Destrier, Remin, Cassius..."
He looked back at them, and they looked up at him from where they nauseaously held their stomachs, leaning against the airframe.
"Help hold the mansion, they need you."
Seeing the light by the door turn green, he heard the robotic soldiers detach to careen towards the ground like vengeful meteorites. Drake snapped them a salute and fell backwards from the aircraft, two rings puffing into black smoke from his right ring and middle finger as he un-summoned them.
......
Part 108: will be linked here upon release.

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Round 1, Pick 26 - Graham Barton, C, Duke:
NFL: The Buccaneers fortify the offensive line with an experienced player who offers position flexibility. His elite presence on the interior should help elevate the run game and keep Baker Mayfield upright.
CBS Sports: A. This is a great pick. They have major issues at center and a question at left guard and he can play both. I love this pick. Barton will move inside from tackle, but he can play there in a pinch too.
ESPN: The Bucs got their top pick of an interior offensive lineman in Barton, who can immediately step in to fill the void left by center Ryan Jensen's retirement. While all but four of Barton's offensive snaps over the last three seasons have come at left tackle -- where he allowed just one sack in 2023 and two in 2022 -- he played 446 snaps at center as a freshman, which is his most natural fit and what caught the Bucs' eye. He plays with a great base, a good anchor and a "nasty temperament" that the Bucs' front office covets.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Likes his coffee hot and water cold which is actually reasonable.
Round 2, Pick 57 - Chris Braswell, DE, Alabama:
NFL: It's not often that a player with two college starts lands inside the top 60 picks, but Braswell did emerge last season as a jack of all trades for the Crimson Tide. At the very least, he could be a terrific special-teamer, but the Bucs likely hope to develop Braswell's pass-rush arsenal and squeeze even more out of his terrific athletic profile.
CBS Sports: A+. Had early RD2 grade on this outside rusher. Length, methodical pass-rush moves, deceptive power. Very productive generating pressure at Alabama. Sets a sturdy edge. A need in the post Shaq Barrett era.
ESPN: While the Bucs did sign Randy Gregory in free agency, he'll likely wind up being more of a rotational player opposite second-year edge YaYa Diaby. What they've needed is a replacement for Shaquil Barrett, who departed for the Miami Dolphins in free agency. Braswell's three forced fumbles in 2023 were tied for the most in the SEC, while his 42 pressures were the third most in the SEC. His eight sacks were tied for the fifth most in the SEC after having 2.5 sacks from 2020 to 2022. He also had 53 coverage snaps in 2023, which Todd Bowles does ask of his edge rushers. Braswell played 41 games with Crimson Tide but only made two starts, both of which came last season.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: He only likes the yellow part of the gummy worm.
Round 3, Pick 89 - Tykee Smith, S, Georgia:
NFL: Smith has a Mike Edwards-like projection, so it's easy to see why the Bucs took Smith here, in the same range they drafted Edwards in 2019. Although Smith is undersized and not an elite athlete, he has the nose for the ball and enough special-teams value to be a contributor in Year 1.
CBS Sports: B-. Slot defender / safety hybrid closer to slot CB size but doesn’t have those quicks. Surprisingly powerful hitter at his size and plays with a lot of conviction when tracking the football. Super-smart in coverage. Reads QB’s in a flash which helps him play faster than his timed speed.
ESPN: The Bucs see Smith as a nickel, and he played 80% of snaps in the slot with Bowles keeping a close watch on the UGA program, where his son, Troy, plays. They started undrafted free agent rookie Christian Izien last year and signed Tavierre Thomas in free agency, but their secondary as a whole needs more takeaways, which is where Smith comes in. His four interceptions in 2023 were tied for the third most in the SEC. He was also one of three FBS players with four or more interceptions and two or more sacks in 2023 alongside Michigan's Mike Sainristil and UNLV's Cameron Oliver.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Ribs. This man loves ribs. Cannot get enough ribs!
Round 3, Pick 92 - Jalen McMillan, WR, Washington:
NFL: A smooth-moving slot or outside receiver, McMillan returned from injury to help the Huskies make it all the way to the national title game. He has big mitts, good hands and more juice than he's sometimes given credit for. This is a really nice weapon to add to the Bucs' WR room.
CBS Sports: B+. Crafty, complete wideout with a trademark trait. Runs quality routes. Adequate separation. Not a burner. Not slow. Tracks it with good concentrations. Not a huge YAC type nor someone who thrives when leaping for the football in traffic. Robert Woods type with a bit more juice.
ESPN: The Bucs declined No. 3 wide receiver Russell Gage's option this year, and he was released. Mike Evans will also be 31 and Chris Godwin enters the third and final year of his contract, worth $20 million per year. McMillan can line up inside or outside but 33 of his 45 receptions came out of the slot in 2023, and he caught six passes out of the backfield. He's also a master of the post route. His six touchdown catches on post routes since 2022 are tied for the most in the FBS, while his 253 receiving yards on post route concepts since 2022 are the 10th most in the FBS.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Still willing to try and get the band back together.
Round 4, Pick 125 - Bucky Irving, RB, Oregon:
NFL: Bucky to the Bucs keeps the run on Ducks going. He's not terribly fast but can get up to max speed quickly and might end up as a decent complement to Rachaad White, even if they do similar things well.
CBS Sports: A. Bad testing figures - - despite reasonable speed - - but one of the most elusive, hard-to-corral RBs over the last few drafts. Smaller stature. Decent contact balance too. Weapon in the receiving game, and of course, out in space. Fun addition.
ESPN: The Bucs have had the league's worst rushing attack over the last two seasons (82.9 yards per game) and wanted to bolster competition. Irving is 5-9 and 192 pounds and ran a 4.55 40-yard dash at the NFL combine -- 14th among 20 running backs. While his testing was not great, the tape shows production. He topped 1,000 rushing yards in each of his two seasons at Oregon, including 1,180 with 11 touchdowns in 2023. He broke or evaded an FBS-high 144 tackles since 2022, and he had 896 rushing yards between the tackles in 2023, averaging 7.1 yards per rush. His 56 receptions last season led all FBS running backs.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: He once ate an 8 layer peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Round 6, Pick 220 - Elijah Klein, OG, UTEP:
NFL: With 55 college starts and good length, Klein has a chance to make it in Tampa. He's stiff and might be an inside-only blocker, however.
CBS Sports: C. Smooth operator at guard. Quality run-blocking abilities. Opens the gate too soon in pass pro and not ultra experienced there. Not many true sets in college.
ESPN: The Bucs didn't re-sign Matt Feiler or Aaron Stinnie, who both started at left guard last season. Along with Cody Mauch, they finished with a combined 70.2% run blocking win rate among guards -- 16th in the league last year. None of them finished in the top 50 in pass block win rate either. The Bucs did sign free agent Sua Opeta from the Philadelphia Eagles, and Klein will compete with those two. Klein allowed 1.3% pressures at UTEP and in 45 games, he allowed four sacks with a 1.6% blown run block rate. In 2023, he allowed one sack all season.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Always wondered how Raymans hands worked if he doesn’t have arms.
Round 7, Pick 246 - Devin Culp, TE, Washington:
NFL: Culp shocked a few people when he ran a 4.47-second 40-yard dash, but his 230-pound frame figures to limit his role quite a bit. Even so, Culp improved each college season and has some unrealized potential as an H-back.
CBS Sports: B+. Smaller, speedster H-back TE type. Was very underutilized at Washington but flashed when given the opportunity. Made some impressive snags in traffic. Not much YAC-wise but can run away from second-level defenders if given space.
ESPN: The Bucs' 502 combined yards from tight ends last year was third worst, and they needed to bolster competition at the position. At 6-3 and 231 pounds, Culp ran a 4.47s 40-yard dash at the scouting combine, which was the fastest among tight ends this year. But he'll need to improve as an in-line blocker, which is where his size is a concern. He's also had some drops with six (8.8% drop rate) in 28 games.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Has soft hands… both ON and OFF the field.

And it was pretty fun.
I dunno if I'm just late to the bandwagon, but I never really gave the AMR a chance. My thought process was always "you're just using a weaker Autocannon that doesn't have explosive damage... just use an Autocannon."
And while, yes, the AC is still probably going to be my go-to for bots for a while, I can't say I didn't have a great time.
I ran engineering kit light armor (from Democratic Detonation), the new Tenderizer, my Redeemer sidearm, and stun grenades. The Redeemer's been at my side and saved me from so many close-range encounters and Berserkers, and the Tenderizer's range and low recoil gave me an option to take out chaff (and even Devs if I felt like it) from medium to long range.
For my backpack slot I ran the Supply Pack. From my previous experience with the AMR I knew it was ammo hungry, but I wasn't really expecting that it would be as ammo hungry as I heard. I probably would need to practice a lot with the AMR before being comfortable running without a backpack.
I also ran Eagle Airstrike and Orbital Precision Strike, mostly because I've gotten fairly good at aiming both of those.
We encountered a total of 3 Factory Striders in the mission. I was able to snipe all 6 chainguns off of those things and (save one death from the Factory Strider's main cannon), easily ran underneath the beasts -- stunning their waves of Devastators -- to unload my mag quickly into its belly and deal serious damage. Two Striders I took out with just the AMR, the third required a Precision Strike to finish off because I was out of ammo.
I also encountered some gunships, and I wouldn't really say the AMR is great at dealing with them because it took a LOT of shots to kill a single one. I'd suggest you check with your teammates to make sure they have appropriate AA weaponry, or just use an HMG Emplacement or Autocannon Sentry if you're able to.
Hulks became a breeze, their face plate is very easy to hit with a precision rifle, especially after being stunned.
Berserkers became more problematic than usual. I'm used to damaging them with the Autocannon's AOE, and then finishing them off with a few Tenderizer or Redeemer shots, but the single-target nature of the AMR meant I had to adjust. Luckily I had a lot of stims thanks to my backpack.
If you haven't already, give the AMR a chance against the bots. You may find a new favorite support weapon.

Here is the update to my last team chemistry post:
ALL TEAMS
Eric Berry S 2x Chiefs at 80 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
Channing Crowder MLB 2x Dolphins at 80 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
Kevin Mawae C 2x Jets at 80 OVR; 2x Jets, Seahawks, Titans at 81 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
Frank Gore HB 2x 49ers at 80 OVR; 2x Bills, Colts, Dolphins, 49ers, Jets at 81 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
Ronde Barber CB 2x Buccaneers at 80 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
Jordan Reed TE 2x Commanders at 80 OVR; 2x Commanders, 49ers at 81 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
Rob Eisen HB 2x Any Team NFL Combine†
Team Affinity Strategy Items (1x-4x)
ARIZONA CARDINALS
96 Emmit Smith HB 2x AKA Crews
93 Greg Dortch WR 2x Division Dynasty
92 Aeneas Williams CB 3x Team Diamonds
88 Marquise Brown WR 2x Division Dynasty
84 Paris Johnson Jr RT 2x Rookie Premiere*
ATLANTA FALCONS
99 Bruce Irwin LOLB 2x AKA Crews
98 Kirk Cousins QB 2x AKA Crews
96 Jonnu Smith TE 2x AKA Crews
95 Ruke Orhorhoro DT 2x NFL Draft 3
94 Kirk Cousins QB 2x NFL Free Agency
93 Jake Matthews LT 2x Division Dynasty
92 Bill Fralic RG 3x Team Diamonds
88 Calais Campbell RE 2x Division Dynasty
84 Bijan Robinson HB 2x Rookie Premiere*
BALTIMORE RAVENS
96 Randall Cunningham QB 2x AKA Crews
95 Adissa Isaac LE 2x NFL Draft 3
95 T.J. Tampa CB 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Travis Jones DT 2x Division Dynasty
92 Anquan Boldin WR 3x Team Diamonds
88 Odafe Oweh ROLB 2x Division Dynasty
84 Zay Flowers WR 2x Rookie Premiere*
BUFFALO BILLS
97 Andre Reed WR 2x AKA Crews
95 Keon Coleman WR 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Reggie Gilliam FB 2x Division Dynasty
92 Ruben Brown LG 3x Team Diamonds
88 Dion Dawkins LT 2x Division Dynasty
84 Dorian Williams MLB 2x Rookie Premiere*
Frank Gore HB 2x 49ers at 80 OVR; 2x Bills, Colts, Dolphins, 49ers, Jets at 81 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
CAROLINA PANTHERS
99 Bruce Irwin LOLB 2x AKA Crews
97 Charles Tillman CB 2x AKA Crews
95 Ja’Tavion Sanders TE 2x NFL Draft 3
95 Johnathan Brooks HB 2x NFL Draft 3
94 Damien Lewis LG 2x NFL Free Agency
94 Josey Jewell MLB 2x NFL Free Agency
93 Bryce Young QB 2x Division Dynasty
92 Julius Peppers LE 3x Team Diamonds
88 Bradley Bozeman C 2x Division Dynasty
84 Jonathan Mingo WR 2x Rookie Premiere*
CHICAGO BEARS
99 Bruce Irwin LOLB 2x AKA Crews
97 Charles Tillman CB 2x AKA Crews
96 Gale Sayers HB 2x AKA Crews
94 Gerald Everett TE 2x NFL Free Agency
93 Nate Davis RG 2x Division Dynasty
92 Alshon Jeffery WR 3x Team Diamonds
88 Justin Jones DT 2x Division Dynasty
84 Darnell Wright RT 2x Rookie Premiere*
CINCINNATI BENGALS
95 Eric All TE 2x NFL Draft 3
95 Jermaine Burton WR 2x NFL Draft 3
95 Kris Jenkins DT 2x NFL Draft 3
94 Tee Higgins WR 2x NFL Free Agency
93 Ted Karras C 2x Division Dynasty
92 Geno Atkins DT 3x Team Diamonds
88 Logan Wilson ROLB 2x Division Dynasty
84 DJ Turner CB 2x Rookie Premiere*
CLEVELAND BROWNS
93 Shelby Harris DT 2x Division Dynasty
92 Joe Thomas LT 3x Team Diamonds
88 David Njoku TE 2x Division Dynasty
84 Dawand Jones RT 2x Rookie Premiere*
DALLAS COWBOYS
96 Troy Aikman QB AKA Crews
96 Emmit Smith HB 2x AKA Crews
96 Randall Cunningham QB 2x AKA Crews
95 Marshawn Kneeland ROLB 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Osa Odighizuwa DT 2x Division Dynasty
92 Chuck Howley MLB 3x Team Diamonds
88 Leighton Vander Esch MLB 2x Division Dynasty
84 Luke Schoonmaker TE 2x Rookie Premiere*
DENVER BRONCOS
98 Aquib Talib CB 2x AKA Crews
98 Chris Harris Jr CB 2x AKA Crews
95 Jonah Ellis ROLB 2x NFL Draft 3
95 Troy Franklin WR 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Mike McGlinchey RT 2x Division Dynasty
92 Julius Thomas TE 3x Team Diamonds
88 Jerry Jeudy WR 2x Division Dynasty
84 Marvin Mims Jr WR 2x Rookie Premiere*
DETROIT LIONS
99 Bruce Irwin LOLB 2x AKA Crews
98 Amon Ra St. Brown WR 2x AKA Crews
95 Christian Mahogany RG 2x NFL Draft 3
95 Ennis Rakestraw Jr CB 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Jalen Reeves-Maybin LOLB 2x Division Dynasty
92 Kevin Glover C 3x Team Diamonds
88 Penei Sewell RT 2x Division Dynasty
87 Aidan Hutchinson LE 2x Rookie Premiere*
84 Jahmyr Gibbs HB 2x Rookie Premiere*
GREEN BAY PACKERS
97 Josh Jacobs HB 2x NFL Free Agency
95 Edgerrin Cooper MLB 2x NFL Draft 3
95 Javon Bullard SS 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Elgton Jenkins LG 2x Division Dynasty
92 Clay Matthews LOLB 3x Team Diamonds
88 Christian Watson WR 2x Division Dynasty
84 Lukas Van Ness LOLB 2x Rookie Premiere*
HOUSTON TEXANS
97 Dalton Schultz TE 2x NFL Free Agency
96 J.J. Watt RE 3x Team Diamonds
95 Kamari Lassiter CB 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Sheldon Rankins DT 2x Division Dynasty
92 Mario Williams LE 3x Team Diamonds
88 Jimmie Ward SS 2x Division Dynasty
84 C.J. Stroud QB 2x Rookie Premiere*
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
99 Pat Mcafee P 2x April Fool's
97 Marshall Faulk HB 2x AKA Crews
97 Michael Pittman Jr WR 2x NFL Free Agency
95 Adonai Mitchell WR 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Samson Ebukam RE 2x Division Dynasty
92 Reggie Wayne WR 3x Team Diamonds
88 Julian Blackmon SS 2x Division Dynasty
84 Julius Brents CB 2x Rookie Premiere*
Frank Gore HB 2x 49ers at 80 OVR; 2x Bills, Colts, Dolphins, 49ers, Jets at 81 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
93 Roy Robertson-Harris RE 2x Division Dynasty
92 Donovin Darius SS 3x Team Diamonds
88 Zay Jones WR 2x Division Dynasty
84 Brenton Strange TE 2x Rookie Premiere*
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
99 Tyreek Hill WR 2x AKA Crews
98 Travis Kelce TE 2x AKA Crews
95 Jaden Hicks SS 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Donovan Smith LT 2x Division Dynasty
92 Will Shields RG 3x Team Diamonds
88 Isiah Pacheco HB 2x Division Dynasty
86 Darrelle Revis CB 2x Playoffs†
84 Rashee Rice WR 2x Rookie Premiere*
Eric Berry S 2x Chiefs at 80 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR Team Captains†
Chiefs Super Bowl Offensive Playbook 1x
Chiefs Super Bowl Defensive Playbook 1x
Chiefs Super Bowl Home Uniform 1x
Chiefs Super Bowl Away Uniform 1x
Chiefs Super Bowl Base Stadium 1x
LAS VEGAS RAIDERS
99 Bruce Irwin LOLB 2x AKA Crews
95 Jackson Powers-Johnson C 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Daniel Carlson K 2x Division Dynasty
92 Lincoln Kennedy RT 3x Team Diamonds
88 Marcus Epps FS 2x Division Dynasty
84 Tyree Wilson ROLB 2x Rookie Premiere*
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS
98 Chris Harris Jr CB 2x AKA Crews
96 Hunter Henry TE 2x AKA Crews
95 Junior Colson MLB 2x NFL Draft 3
95 Ladd McConkey WR 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Zion Johnson LG 2x Division Dynasty
92 Phillip Rivers QB 3x Team Diamonds
88 Gerald Everett TE 2x Division Dynasty
84 Tuli Tuipulotu LOLB 2x Rookie Premiere*
LOS ANGELES RAMS
98 Aquib Talib CB 2x AKA Crews
98 Kevin Dotson LG 2x NFL Free Agency
97 Isaac Bruce WR 2x AKA Crews
97 Marshall Faulk HB 2x AKA Crews
95 Braden Fiske DT 2x NFL Draft 3
96 Todd Gurley HB 3x Team Diamonds
93 Coleman Shelton C 2x Division Dynasty
92 Ryan McNeil CB 3x Team Diamonds
88 Kyren Williams HB 2x Division Dynasty
84 Byron Young LOLB 2x Rookie Premiere*
MIAMI DOLPHINS
99 Bruce Irwin LOLB 2x AKA Crews
99 Tyreek Hill WR 2x AKA Crews
99 Jaylen Waddle WR 2x AKA Crews
96 Jonnu Smith TE 2x AKA Crews
95 Jaylen Wright HB 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Jason Sanders K 2x Division Dynasty
92 Reshad Jones FS 3x Team Diamonds
88 Emmanuel Ogbah LE 2x Division Dynasty
84 Cam Smith CB 2x Rookie Premiere*
Channing Crowder MLB 2x Dolphins at 80 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
Frank Gore HB 2x 49ers at 80 OVR; 2x Bills, Colts, Dolphins, 49ers, Jets at 81 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
MINNESOTA VIKINGS
98 Danielle Hunter LOLB 2x NFL Free Agency
98 Kirk Cousins QB 2x AKA Crews
96 Randall Cunningham QB 2x AKA Crews
95 Khyree Jackson CB 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Dalton Risner LG 2x Division Dynasty
92 Fran Tarkenton QB 3x Team Diamonds
88 Harrison Phillips LE 2x Division Dynasty
84 Jay Ward FS 2x Rookie Premiere*
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
98 Aquib Talib CB 2x AKA Crews
97 Mike Owenu RT 2x NFL Free Agency
96 Hunter Henry TE 2x AKA Crews
96 Jonnu Smith TE 2x AKA Crews
95 Ja’Lynn Polk WR 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Cole Strange LG 2x Division Dynasty
92 Logan Mankins RG 3x Team Diamonds
88 Jabrill Peppers FS 2x Division Dynasty
86 Darrelle Revis CB 2x Playoffs†
84 Christian Gonzalez CB 2x Rookie Premiere*
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
98 Chris Harris Jr CB 2x AKA Crews
98 Cameron Jordan LE 2x AKA Crews
95 Ga’Quincey Mckinstry CB 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Rashid Shaheed WR 2x Division Dynasty
92 Jimmy Graham TE 3x Team Diamonds
88 Tyrann Mathieu FS 2x Division Dynasty
84 Bryan Bresee DT 2x Rookie Premiere*
NEW YORK GIANTS
97 Brian Burns RE 2x NFL Free Agency
95 Tyler Nubin SS 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Evan Neal RT 2x Division Dynasty
92 Terry Kinard FS 3x Team Diamonds
88 Shane Lemieux LG 2x Division Dynasty
84 John Michael Schmitz C 2x Rookie Premiere*
NEW YORK JETS
93 Tony Adams SS 2x Division Dynasty
92 Joe Klecko DT 3x Team Diamonds
88 Laken Tomlinson LG 2x Division Dynasty
86 Darrelle Revis CB 2x Playoffs†
84 Will McDonald IV RE 2x Rookie Premiere*
Kevin Mawae C 2x Jets at 80 OVR; 2x Jets, Seahawks, Titans at 81 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
Frank Gore HB 2x 49ers at 80 OVR; 2x Bills, Colts, Dolphins, 49ers, Jets at 81 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
97 John Madden MLB 2x Ring of Honor
96 Randall Cunningham QB 2x AKA Crews
95 Cooper DeJean CB 2x NFL Draft 3
95 Jeremiah Trotter Jr MLB 2x NFL Draft 3
93 D'Andre Swift HB 2x Division Dynasty
92 Troy Vincent CB 3x Team Diamonds
88 James Bradberry IV CB 2x Division Dynasty
84 Nolan Smith Jr LOLB 2x Rookie Premiere*
PITTSBURGH STEELERS
95 Mason McCormik LG 2x NFL Draft 3
95 Payton Wilson MLB 2x NFL Draft 3
95 Roman Wilson WR 2x NFL Draft 3
95 Zach Frazier C 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Broderick Jones RT 2x Division Dynasty
92 Le'Veon Bell HB 3x Team Diamonds
88 Mason Cole C 2x Division Dynasty
84 Darnell Washington TE 2x Rookie Premiere*
SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
99 Richard Sherman CB 2x AKA Crews
97 Isaac Bruce WR 2x AKA Crews
93 Aaron Banks LG 2x Division Dynasty
92 Merton Hanks FS 3x Team Diamonds
88 Dre Greenlaw ROLB 2x Division Dynasty
84 Ji'Ayir Brown SS 2x Rookie Premiere*
Frank Gore HB 2x 49ers at 80 OVR; 2x Bills, Colts, Dolphins, 49ers, Jets at 81 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
Jordan Reed TE 2x Commanders at 80 OVR; 2x Commanders, 49ers at 81 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
49ers Super Bowl Offensive Playbook 1x
49ers Super Bowl Defensive Playbook 1x
49ers Super Bowl Home Uniform 1x
49ers Super Bowl Away Uniform 1x
49ers Super Bowl Base Stadium 1x
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
99 Richard Sherman CB 2x AKA Crews
99 Bruce Irwin LOLB 2x AKA Crews
95 Christian Haynes RG 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Jason Myers K 2x Division Dynasty
92 Steve Largent WR 3x Team Diamonds
88 Jaxon Smith-Njigba WR 2x Division Dynasty
84 Anthony Bradford RG 2x Rookie Premiere*
Kevin Mawae C 2x Jets at 80 OVR; 2x Jets, Seahawks, Titans at 81 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
99 Richard Sherman CB 2x AKA Crews
98 Aquib Talib CB 2x AKA Crews
98 Mike Evans WR 2x NFL Free Agency
95 Chris Braswell LOLB 2x NFL Draft 3
93 Aaron Stinnie LG 2x Division Dynasty
92 Doug Martin HB 3x Team Diamonds
88 Ryan Neal SS 2x Division Dynasty
86 Darrelle Revis CB 2x Playoffs†
84 Yaya Diaby LOLB 2x Rookie Premiere*
Ronde Barber CB 2x Buccaneers at 80 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
TENESSEE TITANS
97 Chidobe Awuzie CB 2x NFL Free Agency
96 Jonnu Smith TE 2x AKA Crews
93 Azeez Al-Shaair MLB 2x Division Dynasty
92 Keith Bulluck ROLB 3x Team Diamonds
88 Jeffery Simmons RE 2x Division Dynasty
84 Will Levis QB 2x Rookie Premiere*
Kevin Mawae C 2x Jets at 80 OVR; 2x Jets, Seahawks, Titans at 81 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
WASHINGTON COMMANDERS
98 Kirk Cousins QB 2x AKA Crews
97 Andre Reed WR 2x AKA Crews
95 Johnny Newton DT 2x NFL Draft 3
95 Mike Sainristil CB 2x NFL Draft 3
94 Frankie Luvu LOLB 2x NFL Free Agency
93 James Smith-Williams LE 2x Division Dynasty
92 Brian Orakpo ROLB 3x Team Diamonds
88 Cody Barton MLB 2x Division Dynasty
84 Emmanuel Forbes CB 2x Rookie Premiere*
Jordan Reed TE 2x Commanders at 80 OVR; 2x Commanders, 49ers at 81 OVR; 2x Any Team at 85 OVR; 3x Any Team at 96 OVR Team Captains†
*No longer obtainable
†Marks a player item that must hit a certain overall to unlock an extra chemistry slot

Recently, I saw a post regarding how a WB/NBCU merger would be better than the Disney/Fox merger (and honestly, I agree! I'd take the WB/NBCU merger over Disney/Fox and ESPECIALLY Sony/Paramount the latter of which would likely get punched in the face by anti-trust laws since Sony owns Columbia/TriStaScreen Gems).
Anyhow, one question I had was "How would a Universal/Warner Bros. merger affect Cartoon Network and its sister services (Boomerang, Adult Swim, Cartoonito, Toonami, Discovery Family, and now, Universal Kids)?"

• Cartoon Network - For our main network, Cartoon Network should return to an all-ages animation network, focusing on primarily modern shows with (most) older shows being on MeTV Toons. Any older show not on MeTV Toons can air on Cartoon Network as a nighttime block replacing Adult Swim. I was also thinking that CN could strike a distribution deal with WildBrain to air
• Adult Swim - Due to NBCUniversal already having NBC Sports, Adult Swim can easily replace TruTV. Impractical Jokers could move to TBS or E! while Adult Swim could take over TruTV's channel slot to become an all-day service. Toonami can air either only on Saturdays (taking up the entire day) or daily as a nighttime block akin to Qubo Night Owl.
• Cartoonito - In this setting, Cartoonito would replace Boomerang due to the channel losing relevance with MeTV Toons and Cartoon Network's Latenight lineup. The Cartoonito shows on MAX and the TV-Y shows on Universal Kids could also move to Cartoonito as well.
• Discovery Family - For Discovery Family, I'd say sever ties with Hasbro and rebrand it back to Hub and make it teen-oriented as a transitional network from the 6-11 KidsCo and the 21+ Adult Swim. Hub would target a 12 to 20 audience and would focus it's programming lineup on primarily TV-PG and light TV-14 content such as Unicorns, My Adventures, The Loony Tunes Show, Adventure Time, Steven Universe, Regular Show, Bob's Burgers, Home Movies, ACME Night, Sitting Ducks, She-Ra, The Amazing World of Gumball, Total Drama, Mobile Suit Gundam, Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball, Digimon, The Flintstones, Space Ghost, The Simpsons (provided they get the rights from Disney), The Powerpuff Girls (1998 and Z), and possibly Tamagotchi if Warnerversal is willing to produce and English dub of it. of course, with Discovery's involvement, a few live-action shows such Cake Boss and Too Cute, and a few Xploration Station shows (no HMPG/Litton shows as they're everywhere) as well as Superman and Lois, saving the show from The CW and it's Arrowverse-infested fingerprints) could also serve as additions to the Teen-focused network.
• Universal Kids - Universal Kids could become Warnerversal's primary kids channel becoming KidsCo. KidsCo could target as I mention, the 6-11 audience (compared to CNito's 2-5, Hub's 12-20 and AS's 21+). KidsCo would primarily base its lineup off of DreamWorks with Teen Titans Go! moving from Cartoon Network.

So TLDR:

• Cartoon Network - All ages animation network.
• Adult Swim - Becomes 24/7 and focuses on Adult Animation.
• Cartoonito - Also becomes 24/7 (with MeTV Toons replacing Boomerang) and focuses on preschoolers.
• Hub (formerly Discovery Family) - Focusing on Teens and Young Adults.
• KidsCo (formerly Universal Kids) - Focusing on kids (6-11).

How does this sound? Let me know in the comments! Feel free to share what you would think is the best for you in this scenario.

Asking things like primetime games and how many? Who do you think we will play in the prime time slots?
Personally, I think we will get 4-5 prime time games:
-49ers (home or away, SNF/MNF) -At Lions (Thanksgiving or SNF) -Eagles/Packers* (either one or both, SNF or MNF) -vs Raiders in Thursday night (logistically it would make a ton of sense)
*if not eitheboth of Eagles/Packers: Dolphins on MNF. The McDaniels-Shananhan vs McVay connection here
Wildcards: vs Buffalo and at Jets. These two games outside the conference could easily land a 4:25PM EST prime slot, but the Jets one may be a kicker as it’s another Rodgers vs Stafford matchup
Honorable mention: at Bears. I think this game has the potential to be a random MNF game but I mostly see it as a 4:25PM slot as well, two of the largest market teams and the past 2 have all been on SNF

Before I jump into ciritizing, I want to acknowldege that there are soo many things that I love about this game and the community. I'm excited to play this game with my friends and I generally believe that everyone at Arrowhead is passionate about making Helldivers 2 the best that this game can possibly be. Thank you for all of your hard work.
I just want to rip the band-aid off and say it: The AA defense modifier is one of the worst aspects of this game and it needs to be eliminated.
As it stands, I will actively avoid playing missions with this modifier because it just sucks the fun out of the game (and I respond to a lot of SOS beacons so sometimes I can't avoid it). And let me clarify: it makes the mission far less enjoyable than it does harder. The most appealing aspect of Helldiving is calling in stratagems that can tip the scales of 4 vs. hundreds and pull off the improbable. You already have so many awesome stratagems that I feel "locked" into a setup because I know what works for me. Heck, I can't even dabble with stratagems that I haven't used much because those 4 slots are already so very precious. Why now cut me down to 3? It is simply un-democratic!
And to clarify, I enjoy that this game is challenging. I like the idea of the game evolving and the meta always changing but I am hearing more dissent amongst my fellow comrades about the game just not being as fun as it used to be. Pls, keep bringing content and make things challenging but remember why people play games. We buy packs with super credits to see the new guns we purchased nerfed a week later. Magazine size cut in half to optimize some excel sheet or what? Enemies keep getting stronger and we are only getting weaker. That will keep the casual player away and those are the players that will keep this game thriving.
I hate to offer such criticism without a path forward so here are a few thoughts-
Ideally, we could have more stratagems slots. Could we unlock an extra slot as part of our ship module upgrade or even make something simple like an eagle airstrike or orbital precision strike unlocked without using a slot?
What if we could unlock additional stratagems as a side objective in the game? (just like SEAF but it would unlock for individual use)
Perhaps we could have an additional stratagem slot with a random stratagem? That would allow us to use other stratagems that we don't typically select!
Or an additional stratagem as a mission modifier (I still remember when eagle airstrikes were included after a major order was completed and is was AWESOME)
I just see the teases of new stratagems (vehicles, defense walls, missle silos) and I cringe because I can't even bring all of the stuff that I want to be bringing right now.

Helldivers 2 has gotten a little stale recently with the Polar Patriots warbond new additions being mostly bad, the Airburst Rocket Launcher also being bad, and the new anti-tank mines actually look decent but will probably have to long of a cooldown so they will be niche. I'm proposing changes that could spice up the game by changing up enemies, modifiers, and weapons. Let me know what you think about the changes and what could be improved as I'm not a game designer and just want to see Helldivers 2 be better.
Assault Rifles
Assault Rifles are probably the worst class of guns in Helldivers, they don't excel at anything and aren't even that good allround. They need massive help
Liberator: Currently the base Liberator is just a worse Sickle. Not only does the Sickle have infinite ammo but for some reason it has higher DPS. I would reccomend changing its damage to 70 per shot and 11 shots per second bringing up its damage to 770 DPS. To go with the higher firerate, changing the reload time to 1.5 seconds on tactical reload and 2 seconds on a full reload would make the gun feel much better as a starter gun because it would just feel faster and kill better.
Liberator Penetrator: Liberator Penetrator is one of the worst weapons in the game. It has medium armor penetration but lacks any stopping power for it to be useful. Bringing the damage per shot up to 60 and upping the ammo to 35 bullets per magazine will take it a long way, having 640 DPS and medium armor penetration but having less bullets
Liberator Concussive: Liberator Concussive has the same probelm as the Liberator Penetrator in that it can't kill but even worse. I would reccomend bringing its damage up to a whopping 90 damage per shot. This sounds crazy but the changes to enemy spawns makes this more fair which i will discuss later. This increase in damage would give it a niche of a long range way of stunning bot enemies and actually being able to kill them. DPS would be 480 which isn't that crazy but the concussive ability would help. If I'm being honest this one might still be to weak so tell me what you reccomend changing for this gun.
Tenderizer: Tenderizer is in a very bad spot because it's an inferior Liberator even without my changes. I would reccomend bringing up its damage up to 70 per shot giving it a DPS of 700. In addition, because the DPS is lower I think giving it a small amount of stagger where enemies can't move or shoot back could go a long way in differentiating itself from the Liberator. Making the Tenderizer stagger enemies such as Hunters, Brood Commanders, Scout Striders (Striders wouldn't be damaged because of the lack of medium armor penetration but would be staggered if hit from the front), and standard Devastators would make the gun much more fun. Also make it fully resupply when refilling with resupply boxes like all other weapons.
Adjudicator: Adjudicator is in a pretty bad spot right now. It has poor handling and the damage isn't high enough to reliably one shot trash mobs, but it also doesn't have good enough damage to deal with more serious threats. I would reccomend bringing the damage up to 100 per shot for a total of 916 DPS. This would help justify the lower than average 25 bullets in a magazine.
Marksman Rifles
Marksman Rifles are in a decent spot with only the Diligence needing some help so that's what I've focused on.
Dilligence: The Dilligence is hard to balance as it is decent on bugs and bots but excels in neither of them. In addition it's hard to juggle balancing the Adjudicator, Dilligence, and the Diligence Counter-Sniper to make sure they're all good in their own ways. I think it might be fun to make the Dilligence the "easy medium armor penetration rifle". Get rid of almost all of its recoil and sway to promote more aggresive playstyles. The Dilligence would have lower DPS than the Adjudicator but it would be much easier to control and would just feel fun.
Dilligence Counter-Sniper: Honestly this weapon is perfect right now. It fulfills its role on bots perfectly and is fun to use. I worry that the Adjudicator changes would make this gun obsolete but I think it would still have its own niche. No changes
Sub-Machine Guns
One of the most consistent weapon types in the game with really only the Knight needing some help.
Defender: One of the most well balanced weapons in the game. No changes
Pummeler: It might be to early to say but the Pummeler feels good to use and fulfills its role, being worse at trash clear compared to the Defender but better against heavier targets thanks to the stagger. My opinion could change but for right now I don't think it needs any changes. no changes
Knight: The Knight is right now pretty bad just because it has a low ammo count for its firerate and fairly long reload time. These 2 factors just make the gun feel unfun to use because you are spending so much time reloading. It takes only 2 seconds to unload a full clip and 2.5 seconds to reload a full clip so you literally spend more time reloading than shooting. I would reccomend increasing the ammo per magazine from 50 bullets to a staggering 100 bullets per magazine and lowering the total number of magazines to 5. This would change the weapon's problem from "I have no ammo" to "I need to control my recoil so that I can kill better". This gun would reward close range play and good recoil management, being able to deal massive DPS if you can hit your shots.
Shotguns
Shotguns are probably the best class of weapon, issue being that some shotguns heavily outclass others. My goal is to equalize the difference between the shotguns and give them their own niches
Punisher: The most forgettable shotgun, the Punisher really just doesn't feel special. I admit that I don't have much experience with this gun so please tell me what you think about this gun currently. I think it would be cool if this shotgun was a jack of all trades shotgun. Reduce the spread but still have it be there and increase the firerate to 2 shots per second for a DPS of 810. It wouldn't have the range of a Slugger or the close range damage of a Breaker but it would have a little bit of both.
Slugger: Honestly just give it back its old stagger. This gun would functionally but the "precision shotgun" staggering and killing larger targers but having lower DPS in exchange
Breaker: Really the Breaker doesn't need help. It tears through trash mobs and does well against larger targets as well. The Breaker is fun and fair. It has lower ammo and not the greatest range but it's 100% workable. No changes
Breaker Spray & Pray: Breaker S&P isn't a bad weapon at all but it's 100% outclassed by the Breaker Incindiary. The only change I would make is to give it a 30 round magazine with 7 magazines to further lean into the "Spray and Pray" aspect of the gun.
Breaker Incindiary: This gun needs nerfs. I love the thing but it outclasses the Breaker Spray & Pray and fulfills its own niche at the same time. I would reccomend bringing down the firerate from 5 shots per second to 4, lowering its DPS from 1200 without accounting for fire damage to a DPS of 960 without accounting for fire damage. This lowered firerate would make the gun lean into its gimmick and have the fire do more work.
Explosive Weapons
Explosive weapons are probably the hardest to balance due to all of the recent nerfs to the Eruptor and Crossbow. I've decided to skip these weapons as I don't fully understand how explosive damage works
Dominator: A gun with good strengths and a fair amount of weaknesses to hold it back, making it fair. No changes
Energy Weapons
One of my favorite types of weapons and one that doesn't require much balancing.
Blitzer: The only change I have in mind for this weapon is the way that targeting works. Make it so that when you aren't aiming it the gun will always try to target as many enemies as possible and when aimed in it will aim all of the shots at the crosshair
Purifier: This weapon needs more testing but is unanimously agreed to be trash. If the gun works the way I think it does then the damage is much lower than people think it is, with the bolt dealing a respectable 250 damage but the explosion dealing much less. I would reccomend making the bolt and the explosion do 250 damage, essentially one shotting any low or medium level bot including Scout Striders. This should be fair because it has a large charge up time inbetween shots
Punisher Plasma: One of the most underrated weapons and a personal favorite of mine. I love what they did to the weapon but it deserves a small nerf. Revert the projectile speed to the way it was before it was buffed or find a middle ground from where it is now and where it was before
Scythe: The problem with the Scythe is really the way damage is dealt. It deals 350 per second. The issue with this is it's slow to kill anything because it at minimum takes 1 second for damage to be applied. I would reccomend making it so that damage starts as soon as the laser touches something for the first time. This could be abused so i would also reccomend raising the charge up time to .6 seconds. I'm not 100% sure if this would work how I think it would so please let me know what you think. I'll try and illustrate what this looks like
Current version
(Laser touches, 1 second passes, damage)
Changed version
(Laser touches and damages at the same time, 1 second passes, damage)
Sickle: Fantastic weapon that is fun to use. No changes
Scorcher: Fantastic weapon, great all around with low ammo to balance it. No changes
Pistols
Pistols are in an ok spot right now but some overshadow others largely
Peacemaker: I bet you don't even know what the Peacemaker is because nobody ever uses it. The Peacemaker needs some massive help. I would reccomend raising the Peacemaker's total ammo to 25 rounds per magazine, raising the magazines to 7 magainzes total, and raising the damage anywhere from 80-90 per shot. The damage would still be just ok, being good on trash mobs, but would be a big help on builds that waste a lot of ammo. I want the Peacemaker to one shot Hunters and Pouncers as I think that's the only change that could make it actually strong and not overshadow other secondaries
Redeemer: No changes. It's very useful as an "Oh shit" tool. It would have lower DPS than the Peacemaker but would be easier to use in a pinch because it's full auto where the Peacemaker is semi auto
Senator: No changes. Great gun with it's own niche
Dagger: Literal trash, it has the lowest DPS in the game, has a large cooldown, and builds heat quickly. I would change it so that it can't overheat at all and even then it might still be trash. Let me know if there are any better ways to balance it
Grenade Pistol: Great utility weapon. The only change I would make is to make the explosion radius a little bigger to more reliably destroy bot fabricators
Verdict: It's to early to tell but the Verdict looks strong, being similar to the Senator with a better ammo economy but no medium armor penetration. Making it a reliable anti medium target weapon. No changes
Grenades
Grenades are in a weird spot right now, with some being amazing and some being bad and I aim to raise the lower end of grenades to be in line with the rest
High Explosive: No changes. It's decent having a larger blast than impacts but being slower
Frag Grenades: These things are bad. I would change the max number of grenades from 4 to 6 when holding these grenades, making them great against fabricators and bug holes
Incindiary Grenades: Raise the blast radius and it's good
Incindiary Impacts: As long as the Impact grenades radius is smaller than the normal version, it's good
Impact Grenades: No changes
Stun Grenades: No changes
Thermite Grenades: These things need help. They really only have 2 uses. 1-2 well placed Thermites and and an anti-tank shot will kill a Bile Titan and 1 Thermite will destroy a Cannon Turret. I would reccomend increasing the final explosion blast radius size, damage, and the thermite burn radius. This would cause 1 anti-tank shot and 1 Thermite to consistently kill Bile Titans, it would be easier to hit Hulk eyes with Thermites and 1 shot them, and Thermites should kill with 2 grenades if hitting a Tank heat vent. Thermites should also strip Charger armor with 1 Thermite
Support Weapons
Expendable Anti-Tank: No changes, great support weapon
Recoiless Rifle: Increase the size of the explosion making it easier to hit weakpoints, Making it stronger than other anti-tank options in exchange for the backpack slot
Spear: Fix the tracking to be much more consistent. The Spear just doesn't have enough ammo and should have 6 shots instead of 4
Quasar Cannon: No changes, has unlimited ammo but has a cooldown and charge up time
Airburst Rocket Launcher: This thing is so dogshit. It requires a backpack slot, needs to shoot enemies far away from allies or you'll kill them or yourself, doesn't gurantee killing everything in the blast radius, etc. This thing needs a massive damage buff to be worth using. Increase the amount of cluster bombs to gurantee that whatever is in the radius is dead including Hulks. Increase the armor penetration value to at least strip Charger armor and do big damage to it, if that's not enough it should kill Chargers outright
Grenade Launcher: Increase the amount of magazines from 2 to 3. This thing is great but the low ammo makes it unviable so increasing the magazines by 1 will go a long way
Railgun: This thing needs help. It should require only 2 level 7-8 shots to strip Charger leg armor. It should 4 shot a Bile Titan in the face when using max charge shots. and 3 max charge shots should kill tank vents
Stalwart: The Stalwart is IMO an underrated pick on bugs. Its main issue is really that it's only good at unarmored horde clearing, leaving the user prone to being attacked by armored and high level enemies. I would propose that giving it medium armor penetration would take it a long way as one of the best horde clearing weapons, being able to deal with Hive Guards, Bile Spewers, and Scout Striders easier
Machine Gun: The Machine Gun might be the least used support weapon in Helldivers 2. It just doesn't really do anything special that another support can't do better. I would reccomend giving it heavy armor penetration, allowing it to kill Hulks when hitting the eye and it would go through devastator armor
Heavy Machine Gun: Unfortunately, from its inception the HMG has been bottom tier. It recently got a crosshair but even still it just gets outclassed by the Anti-Material Rifle, Laser Cannon, and even the Railgun. I think it could be cool to up the ammo to 100 rounds per magazine and add an optional backpack. This backpack would add an extra magazine and would increase the armor penetration to go through Charger & Hulk armor
Anti-Material Rifle: The AMR probably needs a small nerf. It 1-2 shots anything on the bot front. I would reccomend reverting its damage so that it needs to headshot devastators to one shot them
Autocannon: No changes
Laser Cannon: No changes
Arc Thrower: Make the Arc Thrower staggestun lock Hulks again and its great. Right now it's useless on bots
Flamethrower: The Flamethrower is great because it can horde clear and kill Chargers very efficiently. This is most likely unintentional but it is very fun. I would reccomend lowering the total magazines from 4 to 3 to balance out the Flamethrower's strengths.
Backpacks
Guard Dog: Guard Dog is currently just overshadowed by its Rover variant. I would reccomend changing the gun from the Liberator to the Liberator Penatrator, with the damage being the same but giving it medium armor penetration. Ammo boxes should also refill its ammo
Guard Dog Rover: No changes, the nerfs were justified. This is still a great horde clearing weapon but it doesn't play the game for you anymore
Supply Pack: No changes, you give up a backpack slot but you get 4 resupply boxes which is a big help and is balanced
Ballistic Shield: No changes, it fulfills its niche on bots and will get even better as time passes with new 1 handed weapons
Jump Pack: No changes, the Jump Pack is decent but it becomes much better depending on the primary weapon you use
Shield Generator Pack: No changes
Emplacements
Anti-Personnel Mines: Mines are completely terrible right now, their damage is decent but the cooldowns are just to long to be useful. I reccomend reducing their cooldown from 3 minutes to 1 minute
Incendiary Mines: Just like the Anti-Personnel Mines, the cooldown should be brought down to 1 minute but also since fire damage is weaker than explosive damage, there should be more Incendiary Mines in a larger radius
Machine Gun Sentry: The Machine Gun Sentry is just a weaker version of the Gatling Sentry. Instead of bringing the power of the MG Sentry up, I think it would be cool to lower the cooldown of the MG sentry. The idea with this sentry is to be the disposable horde clear sentry, similar to how EATs are the disposable anti-heavy support weapon
Gatling Sentry: No changes
Autocannon Sentry: No changes
Mortar Sentry: No changes
EMS Mortar Sentry: No changes
Rocket Sentry: Right now the Rocket Sentry is just largely inferior to the AC Sentry. I think it could be cool to increase the range and projectile speed of the Rocket Sentry massively. This would make it a lower DPS but longer range sentry with more ammo compared to the AC Sentry. The AC Sentry would be better in terms of DPS but would require better positioning and defense while the Rocket Sentry is something you could put farther away that would help with larger targets, which is what a missle should do.
Tesla Tower: I haven't used the Tesla Tower enough to discuss what should be done about it, please let me know what ideas you have for it
HMG Emplacement: Really just make the HMG Emplacement affected by sentry upgrades. These upgrades would give the HMG Emplacement more ammo, a better turn speed, and more health
Eagles & Orbitals
There are to many to list so I'll only be listing Offensive Stratagems that should be changed
Eagle Strafing Run: Give it heavy armor penetration. It would be good way to horde clear and kill larger targets but wouldn't excel at either role
Eagle Airstrike: Reduce the uses from 2 to 1. This thing is just to good to have 2 uses. It horde clears, kills bosses, destroy fabricators and bug holes, has multiple uses, etc. Nerfing the amount of uses before it goes on cooldown brings up a lot of other stratagems
Eagle Cluster Bomb: Reduce uses from 4 to 3
Orbital Gatling Barrage: The OGB should target and move around instead of being a stationary stratagem. Instead of targeting high level enemies it should target groups of low level enemies.
Enemy Changes
I might be in the minority but I feel like the main game mode (Helldive difficulty, 4 players) is to easy. I would reccomend buffing up the enemies to not only account for all of these new buffs but also to make Helldive hard again. All of these changes would only apply to Helldive difficulty as that's the only difficulty I have enough experience to have a good idea of what should change
Increased spawns on objectives: Objectives currently need to have more spawns, there is just to much downtime. Of course each objective will need its own spawnrates based on how long and how difficult each objective but generally there needs to be less enemies
Pouncers: Low level bug enemies are currently not threatening enough. They have low health, low damage, and are slow. I would reccomend increasing the Pouncer's movement speed to increase their ability to swarm players.
Warriors: Just like the Pouncers, Warriors just aren't very scary and should have increased movement speed to make them still a threat with their ability to swarm
Bile Spewers: These things need to be shot. Their spit attack is 100% broken. Damage on the spit attack needs to be reduced so that it isn't a one shot. I think a cool change though to make them still a threat is that diving would get rid of the slow debuff, but it would also increase the DOT from the acid, giving the player the choice between their movement or their health. Slow debuff should only be applied if the acid attack hits, not if the acid is in your general area
Bile Titans: These things are honestly just to tanky and completely define bug missions. There are to few ways to kill these. You either need an anti-tank support weapon or an anti-heavy stratagem. I think a good change would be that the legs should have lower armor (maybe heavy armor penetration and explosive weapons can do damage) and that if a leg is hit enough the Bile Titan would die. Hitting the head with anti-tank weapons would still be faster and leg shots would probably require 2-3 people to shoot the leg to kill the Titan at a reasonable pace but Titans wouldn't be unkillable.
Heavy Devastators: Devastators just need an accuracy nerf. They kill incredibly quickly and they frequently spawn so nerfing their accuracy would make them more fun to fight
New Additions
These are a few new additions to the game that I think would be cool
Gas Grenade: A portable version of the Orbital Gas Strike. It would have a larger AOE compared to incindiary grenades but a lower DPS
Thermite Breacher: A new support bolt-action sniper rifle that uses large thermite bullets. There would be 3 shots per magazine and 4 magazines total. Shooting this weapon sticks a large thermite bullet that deals high damage over time that explodes, similarly to the thermite grenade. No 3rd person scope. 1 leg shot would strip Charger armor, 2 headshots would kill. 3 headshots would kill a Bile Titan. One eye shot would kill a hulk, 2 shots would destroy heat vents
Incindiary Grenade Launcher: A grenade launcher with 4 magazines that shot incindiary grenades
Gas Grenade Launcher: A grenade launcher with 4 magazines that shot gas grenades. These grenades would have a larger AOE compared to the Incindiary Grenade Launcher but a lower DPS
Arc Spitter: An arc assault rifle that had lower damage per shot and firerate, but would also fire arc shots that could arc to 1 other target per shot
Glide Pack: A varaint of the Jump Pack. It doesn't have as much vertical height but you can hold the space bar to slowly glide back to the ground
Roman Exosuit: A new Exosuit meant to be used against bots. The left hand would have a shield that could block bullets from the front and would break after taking enough damage. The right hand would have a large Laser Cannon that could overheat and would have a long cooldown when overheated
Angel Support: A Pelican would come down from the Super Destroyer to hover over the player for 30 seconds. Would have unlimited ammo and a 4 minute cooldown. So far the 2 weapons I think it could have is an Autocannon and Gatling gun
Care Package: Once every 1.5 minutes, call down a Care Package that gives the player a random one time use stratagem that goes away upon death. Can only hold 1 Care Package stratagem at a time
Fido: A new stratagem that summons an AI controlled car. This car would go around spotting enemies, finding side objectives, collecting ammo, supplies, and samples
Sharpshooter: A new armor passive. Hitting weakpoints on medium and high level targets would reward the player with ammo, stims, & grenades. If a weakpoint breaks such as a brood commander leg or the target dies due to being hit in weakpoint, get some supplies back. This effect does not apply to low level targets. 5% chance to get a stim, 15% chance to get a grenade, 20% chance to get a support weapon magazine, 60% chance to get a primary and secondary magazine.
Thick Skin: A new armor passive. 25% damage reduction when being hit in the back or side
Extrasensory: A new armor passive. Gain the ability to detect enemies offscreen in a 25m radius
End of thread, please let me know what you liked and what you think should be changed

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First I would like to outline my goals and some guidelines. I hope to have a discussion about diver roles in a group setting and discuss some possibilities in regards to loadouts and team tactics. With the most recent warbond giving us a decent crowd control weapon for bots, I think discussing team play and tactics could benefit the community.
Can we avoid the term Meta. In my mind it makes me think someone is promoting something as best in slot, but that thinking doesn't lend to productive discussion and theory crafting.
I think have a format for the first line would help something like the name of the role followed by intended front, then outline your idealized build. Then we can discuss alternatives, strengths, weaknesses, team play characteristics, etc.
For example, a Crowd Control Tank for the bot front would have explosive resist armor at medium or higher with the new SMG, Ballistic Shield, Stun grenades, Grenade pistol or Senator, and maybe a HMG or EAT. For other stratagems maybe Eagle Airstrike with (maybe) Orbital airburst for breach control.

Hey,
Below you'll find probabilities of looking for specific affixes using the Tempering system. The probabilities are computed before any Tempering.
The idea is to answer this question : "I just dropped this Legendary item, what are the odds that I can get the two affixes I want ?". This can help you assessing the cost (mats) and risk (do I need a back up item before my attempts?) associated with your build idea.
I based my reasoning on how the Tempering system worked in the PTR according to this maxroll.gg guide written by Slothmaster. This article was my inspiration for this work as I wanted to verify their own calculations (spoiler : my results are very similar to the examples they gave, that does not change the conclusion about the best strategy).
In short : I would like to cite Maxroll's recommandation :

It is advisable for players to pick at least 1 recipe that has a very low number of affixes, or multiple acceptable affixes

I would complete by saying that by lowering your expectations, you indeed increase dramatically the odds of getting the item you want. I like this system because it makes very easy (likely and cheap) to get a functionnal build (with acceptable affixes) but very hard (unlikely and costly) to get a perfect build.
Be aware : since some devs stated in recent interviews that not all changes are documented in the Patch Note, it means the Live tempering system could be different from the PTR's one, hence the calculations could be wrong.
Vocabulary :
By "size" of a Temper Manual, i mean the number of different affixes obtainable when using it. It is between 2 and 5. The bigger the size is, the less likely it is to obtain a specific affix.
By "desirable" affix, I mean one of the affixes you want from the Manual. It mostly depends on your expectations. Having lower expectations, you can be "ok" with any of 2 affixes ouf of 4, even if one of them is not "best in slot".
EDIT: have a look to The--Dood comment for a one-table overview.
Case 1 : High Expectations : Each Manual has one desirable affix

Desirable affixes	1 / 2	1/ 3	1/4	1/5
1/2	93.75%	84.00%	74.08%	65.57%
1/3	84,00%	73.66%	64.16%	56,35%
1/4	74.08%	64.16%	55.51%	48.54%
1/5	65.57%	56.35%	48.54%	42.33%

How to read : If I a Manual has one desirable affix out of 4, and the other one has one desirable affix out of 5, the probability of getting the desired affixes out of 5 rerolls is 48.54% (approx 1/2)
Case 2 : Medium Expectations : One Manual (columns) has 2 desirable affixes, the other Manual (lines) has 1 desirable affix

Desirable affixes	2/2	2/3	2/4	2/5
1/2	98.44%	97.01%	93.75%	89.13%
1/3	91.22%	88.34%	84.00%	78.88%
1/4	82.20%	78.67%	74.08%	69.07%
1/5	73.79%	70.06%	65.57%	60.86%

How to read : If a Manual has one desirable affix out of 4, and the other Manual has 2 desirable affixes out of 5, the probability of getting two desirable affixes after 5 rerolls is 69,07% (approx 2/3).
Case 3 : Low expectations : Each Manual has 2 desirable affixes

Desirable affixes	2/2	2/3	2/4	2/5
2/2	100.00%	99.86%	98.44%	95.33%
2/3	99.86%	99.31%	97.01%	93.07%
2/4	98.44%	97.01%	93.75%	89.13%
2/5	95.33%	93.07%	89.13%	84.14%

How to read : If a Manual has two desirable affixes out of 4, and the other Manual has 2 desirable affixes out of 5, the probability of getting two desirable affixes after 5 rerolls is 89.13% (approx 9/10)
Case 4 : Very low expectations : One Manual (columns) has 3 desirable affixes, the other Manual (lines) has 2 desirable affixes

Desirable affixes	3/3	3/4	3/5
2/2	100,00%	99,98%	99,59%
2/3	99,86%	99,64%	98,77%
2/4	98,44%	97,67%	96,13%
2/5	95,33%	94,01%	91,93%

I do not copy the other cases because of the rapidely diminishing returns of lowering your expectations : going from 2 desirable affixes to 3 desirable affixes only increases the probability to get what you want by a few points.
Further details for nerds :
Here are some assumptions I made concerning the design of the Tempering system :

• The odd to pick any specific affix from a Manual is the same, meaning that if a Manual has N possibles outcomes, then each affix has a probability of 1/N to be picked.
• The successive picks from one Manual are independant from each other
• The picks from a Manual are independant from the picks of the other Manual.
• There are only 5 rerolls possible per item. When rerolling, you are not given the choice to keep the old affix. Thus, it is dangerous to reroll hoping to improve the value of an affix since you could simply lose this affix. Therefore, it's a fair assumption that a given player looking for a specific affix should stop rolling for this category as soon as he gets the desired affix, no matter what value it has.
• It would however be possible to adapt the calculations for specific range of values if we know the probability distribution of the values for a given affix. Ex. if you are looking for "StatA=2" and there are only two evenly-distributed values for this stat (e.g. 1 or 2), then the odd to pick "StatA=2" is half of the odd to pick "StatA"

Picking an affix is a Bernouilli trial (with a success being "picking one of the desired affixes"). For each Temper line, we are looking to the probability of obtaining a success after n repetitions. Thus if X is the random variable computing the number of trials needed to get one success, X follows a geometrical distribution. The difficulty here come from the fact that we do have 2 independant random variables, one for each Tempering line, but the sum of the number of trials of both variables has to be equal or inferior to 7 (because you have 1 initial pick for each Tempering line, plus up to 5 rerolls total for the item).
Let be p the probability of picking a desired affix during one trial, k the number of desirable affixes in a Manual of size n, then
p = k/n
Let X (resp. Y) be the random variable modelizing the frequence of trials needed to get one success with the first (resp. second) Manual. Then the probability to get desirables affixes after 5 rerolls is, for a,b positive integers different of 0 such that a+b=7 : P(X<=a AND Y<=b) = P(X=1)*P(Y<=6) + P(X=2)*P(Y<=5) + ... + P(X=6)*P(Y=1)
English is not my native language, please pardon the mistakes and let me know below if you spot one

I done it again, I messed up a device by trying to do too much… I attempted to get the public build of knulli on my 28xx. After multiple attempts I got it running. However when I put the SD card back into my Mac, I couldn’t find the files to add roms. I tried different sd cards, formatting software, Img installers, sd card readers. Nothing works. Now I have a blank device…
I found this post on the get hub that better summarizes my issues.
https://github.com/knulli-cfw/distribution/issues/10
“Knulli build version
40-dev-107bd3e1ef 2024/04/25 2:55
Your architecture
RG28XX
Issue description
I have followed the instructions posted on the release page to reformat the SHARE partition as ExFAT, but after it states that a reboot is necessary to complete the operation, regardless of whether I select "restart", or completely shut down and then power on the 28XX, Windows will still not recognize the file system of any partition on the SD card except the ~4GB one labeled BATOCERA.
Detailed reproduction steps
I downloaded the latest release of Knulli for the RG28xx. I extracted the .gz so that I ended up with a 4.57 GB .img file. I used Raspberry Pi Imager v 1.8.5 to flash the image to a 64 GB SanDisk Ultra Micro SD XC.
I inserted the card into TF slot 1 on my RG28xx. TF slot 2 remains empty. I booted the device. I pressed Start to open the settings, went to System Settings, then Frontend Developer Options, then Format a Disk. I changed the filesystem to ExFAT, then selected Format Now. I answered YES when asked if I was sure. A popup across the top of the screen stated that a reboot would be necessary to complete the operation.
I pressed Start to exit the menu. I pressed Start again, then went to Quit, then on different occasions, tried Restart System, as well as Shutdown System.
Upon rebooting, I shut the system back down and then removed the SD card. I connected the SD to my computer (running Windows 11) using a Micro SD to USB-C dongle. "This PC" assigns drive letter D: to BATOCERA, but no other partitions show there. Disk Management shows the SD as having 59.51 GB, with 36 MB Unallocated Space, two healthy primary partitions of 20 and 16 MB each, the 4 GB BATOCERA (D:) basic data partition with FAT32 file system, and a final 55.44 GB healthy primary partition. Only BATOCERA has a file system that Windows recognizes.
Details of any attempts to fix this yourself
No response”
I also tried to install minUI on a fresh sd card, no luck. Is it my Mac or is it me?

When I compile in fast, full, or final compile I get the same error:

Operator Error: Event (null): CSosOperatorSpeakers Error: Operator volume_fan_mult, unknown sound operator attribute __move_to_end Error: Operator volume_fan_mult, unknown sound operator attribute __move_to_end Operator Error: Event (null): CSosOperatorSpeakers Error: Operator volume_fan_scale, unknown sound operator attribute __move_to_end Error: Operator volume_fan_scale, unknown sound operator attribute __move_to_end
Although I can launch the map after fast compile it doesn't want to launch in full compile. At the end of the compile it tells me:
Unable to run Vrad3. Light mapper didn't return valid triangles: failing. Map build FAILED. [FAIL]
and also:
ERROR: 6 compiled, 1 failed, 1 skipped, 0m:29s
​
If it's necessary here's the full compile log:
Start build: 2024-05-13T14:23:58
Hammer: Attempting incremental build.
Hammer: Copying previously compiled map to temp directory.
Using breakpad crash handler Setting breakpad minidump AppID = 730 Forcing breakpad minidump interfaces to load Looking up breakpad interfaces from steamclient Calling BreakpadMiniDumpSystemInit Looking up breakpad interfaces from steamclient Calling BreakpadMiniDumpSystemInit SteamInternal_SetMinidumpSteamID: Caching Steam ID: 76561197979643729 [API loaded yes] SteamInternal_SetMinidumpSteamID: Setting Steam ID: 76561197979643729 Setting breakpad minidump AppID = 2347779 Creating device for graphics adapter 0 'AMD Radeon RX 6600' [vendorid 0x1002]: 31.0.24027.1012 Operator Error: Event (null): CSosOperatorSpeakers Error: Operator volume_fan_mult, unknown sound operator attribute __move_to_end Error: Operator volume_fan_mult, unknown sound operator attribute __move_to_end Operator Error: Event (null): CSosOperatorSpeakers Error: Operator volume_fan_scale, unknown sound operator attribute __move_to_end Error: Operator volume_fan_scale, unknown sound operator attribute __move_to_end Unzip modernized_plantations.vpk (86 files): Done (0.1 sec: 49.8ms read, 2.3ms write 19.5mb). - csgo_addons\academy\maps\modernized_plantations.vmap Initialized Embree v2.17.02. Settling physics objects...no objects to settle Preprocessing Lights [0....1....2....3....4....5....6....7....8....9....] Done (0.03 seconds) Assigned 1 Light Shadow Slots, 0 failed (max slot 0). Building map "maps\modernized_plantations"...
... Building 'world' Loading Map... +- csgo_addons\academy\maps\modernized_plantations\entities\unnamed_394.vmdl +- csgo_addons\academy\maps\modernized_plantations\entities\unnamed_407.vmdl +- csgo_addons\academy\maps\modernized_plantations\entities\unnamed_410.vmdl +- csgo_addons\academy\maps\modernized_plantations\entities\unnamed_413.vmdl +- csgo_addons\academy\maps\modernized_plantations\entities\unnamed_507.vmdl Done (0.06 seconds) Building ray trace environment... Wrote C:\Users\tvvla\AppData\Local\Temp\csgo_addons\academy\maps\modernized_plantations.rte Wrote C:\Users\tvvla\AppData\Local\Temp\csgo_addons\academy\maps\modernized_plantations.viscfg Done (0.03 seconds) +- csgo_addons\academy\maps\modernized_plantations\world_visibility.vvis Building map visibility
Loading kd-trees Successfully read C:\Users\tvvla\AppData\Local\Temp\csgo_addons\academy\maps\modernized_plantations.rte Successfully unserialized ray tracing environment. Convert RTE with 4976 triangles in 0.01s Loaded 8321 LOS hints from c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\counter-strike global offensive\game\csgo_addons\academy\maps\modernized_plantations.los! (0.0 seconds) Loaded 0 LOS hints from c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\counter-strike global offensive\content\csgo_addons\academy\maps\modernized_plantations.los! (0.0 seconds) VIS3: Build partitioned PVS! Voxelize (8 units) took 0.46 seconds (40,217 nodes) Outside detection took 0.27 seconds Generated clusters for 15216 regions in 9.41 seconds 55773 clusters generated Distance merged regions (1331 merged to 1234) pre-merged to 55676 clusters Merged to 1071 clusters in first pass Merged to 756 clusters in second pass Merged cluster lists in 5.13 seconds [703 clusters] Compacted to 55908 regions (703 clusters) in 0.00 seconds [target 574 clusters] Assigned 703 clusters in 0.01 seconds 1.22 MB bytes tree size Sample vis for 703 clusters Creating thread pool with 15 threads CLOSRayGenerator rays complete. CLOSRayGenerator rays complete. AxialRays rays complete. AxialRays rays complete. AxialRays rays complete. ClusterView rays complete. 1.0s::Finished 8,157 valid LOS Main thread clear batches. Traced 21,127,168 rays in 1.255 seconds [16,836,044 rays per second] 6.839 cpu s cast, 8.651 cpu s rasterize Target 576 clusters, clamped to 574, grid size 8.0 Built 703 clusters in 0.0s 703 clusters, 1 steps Merge vis clusters:0...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10 Merged to 576 clusters in 0.0s (0.0s recompute, 122 passes) 0.0s total merge time Adaptive border clusters (0s) Initial regions 55908, collapsed to 32205 2336 unique masks (of 32,205 regions) Compute enclosed cluster lists 4916 cluster lists, 24704 elements (0.0202s) (1 zeros) Computed 575 clusters visible to sky Skipping solid voxels in sunlight visibility Raytraced sun visibility in 20.876ms (366 visible clusters) Wrote 8156 LOS hints for next time c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\counter-strike global offensive\game\csgo_addons\academy\maps\modernized_plantations.los! Wrote vis resource 728.84 KB bytes Visibility complete in 17.08s. Collecting Mesh Edges [] Done (0.16 seconds) Fixing T-junction Edge Cracks [] Done (0.36 seconds)
Bake Lighting Build: pc64 May 7 2024 11:40:20 Preprocessing 169 meshes and computing charts [] Done (2.42 seconds) Packing 55468 UV charts onto atlas... Pass 1 of 7 ->[] Done (0.08 seconds) - (0.215374) Pass 2 of 7 ->[] Done (0.15 seconds) + (0.107687) Pass 3 of 7 ->[] Done (0.16 seconds) + (0.161531) Pass 4 of 7 ->[] Done (0.15 seconds) - (0.188452) Pass 5 of 7 ->[] Done (0.17 seconds) + (0.174991) Pass 6 of 7 ->[] Done (0.19 seconds) + (0.181722) Pass 7 of 7 ->[] Done (0.17 seconds) - (0.185087) Mesh with material materials/dev/dev_measuregeneric01b.vmat is extremely large in lightmap (8.6%), 408x222 World Bounds -1280.000000,-922.437500,-64.000000 -> 256.000000,977.000000,256.000000 LPV Atlas Size: 36x48x28 Size Increase: 381.77% ==== Baking 1024 x 1024 lightmap ==== SetupTexels [0....1....2....3....4....5....6....7....8....9....] Done (0.04 seconds) VRAD3-GPU VRAD3 - Distributed Lighting Tool Copyright (c) Valve Corporation, All rights reserved. Build: pc64 May 7 2024 11:36:39 WD: c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\counter-strike global offensive\game\csgo_addons\academy\_vrad3 Command: vrad3.exe -map maps/modernized_plantations.vmap -script script-gpu.vrad3 -vulkan -gpuraytracing -allthreads -unbufferedio -noassert Enabling instance extension: VK_KHR_get_physical_device_properties2. Fossilize ERROR: Failed to parse ApplicationInfoFilter, letting recording go through. Using VK_EXT_memory_budget set texture memory budget to 7379 MB. HLSL SM6.0 level subgroup wave ops supported, subgroup size = 64 Vulkan physical device (0): supports shader clip distance: true ConVar r_low_latency has multiple help strings: parent (wins): "NVIDIA Low Latency (0 = off, 1 = on, 2 = on + boost)" child: "NVIDIA Low Latency/AMD Anti-Lag 2 (0 = off, 1 = on, 2 = NV-only, on + boost)" Vulkan Physical Device: AMD Radeon RX 6600 Initializing streaming texture manager. Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_swapchain Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_dedicated_allocation Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_descriptor_update_template Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_image_format_list Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_maintenance1 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_maintenance2 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_separate_stencil_usage Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_swapchain_mutable_format Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_load_store_op_none Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_pipeline_library Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state2 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_dynamic_rendering Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_depth_stencil_resolve Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_create_renderpass2 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_graphics_pipeline_library Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_memory_priority Vulkan extension enabled: VK_AMD_memory_overallocation_behavior Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_shader_float16_int8 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_separate_depth_stencil_layouts Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_pipeline_creation_cache_control Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_buffer_device_address Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_shader_clock Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_acceleration_structure Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_ray_query Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_get_memory_requirements2 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_descriptor_indexing Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_deferred_host_operations Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_pipeline_library Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_maintenance3 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_memory_budget Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_pageable_device_local_memory Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_draw_indirect_count Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_subgroup_size_control VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state_2 does not support extendedDynamicState2PatchControlPoints, disabling. Fossilize INFO: Overriding serialization path: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\shadercache\730\fozpipelinesv6\steamapprun_pipeline_cache". VK_EXT_graphics_pipeline_library and dependent extensions enabled. Vulkan Command Buffer Pool Threshold(1500) Unable to open Vulkan pipeline cache shadercache\vulkan\shaders.cache file - might not exist yet. Vulkan driver version: 2.0.299.0 Vulkan driver version Major = 2, Minor = 0, Patch = 19595264 Num Threads: 16 Loading 64 resources... Done (0.41 seconds) Creating VB/IB/BLAS for 95 meshes... Done (0.22 seconds) Creating ray trace scene world with 162 instances... returning error texture in CTextureManagerVulkan::GetTextureResource returning error texture in CTextureManagerVulkan::GetTextureResource returning error texture in CTextureManagerVulkan::GetTextureResource returning error texture in CTextureManagerVulkan::GetTextureResource returning error texture in CTextureManagerVulkan::GetTextureResource returning error texture in CTextureManagerVulkan::GetTextureResource Done (0.00 seconds)
--------------------------------------------------------- Encountered accessviolation. Wrote minidump to vrad3_2024_0513_142426_0_accessviolation.mdmp ---------------------------------------------------------
0....1....2....3....4....5....6....7....8....9....] FAILED (3.92 seconds) Error running "vrad3.exe -map maps/modernized_plantations.vmap -script script-gpu.vrad3 -vulkan -gpuraytracing -allthreads -unbufferedio -noassert" VRAD3 - Distributed Lighting Tool Copyright (c) Valve Corporation, All rights reserved. Build: pc64 May 7 2024 11:36:39 WD: c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\counter-strike global offensive\game\csgo_addons\academy\_vrad3 Command: vrad3.exe -map maps/modernized_plantations.vmap -script script-gpu.vrad3 -vulkan -gpuraytracing -allthreads -unbufferedio -noassert Enabling instance extension: VK_KHR_get_physical_device_properties2. Fossilize ERROR: Failed to parse ApplicationInfoFilter, letting recording go through. Using VK_EXT_memory_budget set texture memory budget to 7379 MB. HLSL SM6.0 level subgroup wave ops supported, subgroup size = 64 Vulkan physical device (0): supports shader clip distance: true ConVar r_low_latency has multiple help strings: parent (wins): "NVIDIA Low Latency (0 = off, 1 = on, 2 = on + boost)" child: "NVIDIA Low Latency/AMD Anti-Lag 2 (0 = off, 1 = on, 2 = NV-only, on + boost)" Vulkan Physical Device: AMD Radeon RX 6600 Initializing streaming texture manager. Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_swapchain Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_dedicated_allocation Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_descriptor_update_template Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_image_format_list Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_maintenance1 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_maintenance2 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_separate_stencil_usage Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_swapchain_mutable_format Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_load_store_op_none Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_pipeline_library Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state2 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_dynamic_rendering Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_depth_stencil_resolve Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_create_renderpass2 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_graphics_pipeline_library Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_memory_priority Vulkan extension enabled: VK_AMD_memory_overallocation_behavior Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_shader_float16_int8 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_separate_depth_stencil_layouts Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_pipeline_creation_cache_control Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_buffer_device_address Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_shader_clock Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_acceleration_structure Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_ray_query Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_get_memory_requirements2 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_descriptor_indexing Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_deferred_host_operations Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_pipeline_library Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_maintenance3 Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_memory_budget Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_pageable_device_local_memory Vulkan extension enabled: VK_KHR_draw_indirect_count Vulkan extension enabled: VK_EXT_subgroup_size_control VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state_2 does not support extendedDynamicState2PatchControlPoints, disabling. Fossilize INFO: Overriding serialization path: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\shadercache\730\fozpipelinesv6\steamapprun_pipeline_cache". VK_EXT_graphics_pipeline_library and dependent extensions enabled. Vulkan Command Buffer Pool Threshold(1500) Unable to open Vulkan pipeline cache shadercache\vulkan\shaders.cache file - might not exist yet. Vulkan driver version: 2.0.299.0 Vulkan driver version Major = 2, Minor = 0, Patch = 19595264 Num Threads: 16 Loading 64 resources... Done (0.41 seconds) Creating VB/IB/BLAS for 95 meshes... Done (0.22 seconds) Creating ray trace scene world with 162 instances... returning error texture in CTextureManagerVulkan::GetTextureResource returning error texture in CTextureManagerVulkan::GetTextureResource returning error texture in CTextureManagerVulkan::GetTextureResource returning error texture in CTextureManagerVulkan::GetTextureResource returning error texture in CTextureManagerVulkan::GetTextureResource returning error texture in CTextureManagerVulkan::GetTextureResource Done (0.00 seconds)
--------------------------------------------------------- Encountered accessviolation. Wrote minidump to vrad3_2024_0513_142426_0_accessviolation.mdmp ---------------------------------------------------------
Unable to run Vrad3. Light mapper didn't return valid triangles: failing. Map build FAILED. [FAIL] 0/ 1 (elapsed 28.166): c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\counter-strike global offensive\content\csgo_addons\academy\maps\modernized_plantations.vmap Compile of 1 file(s) matching nonrecursive specification "c:/program files (x86)/steam/steamapps/common/counter-strike global offensive/content/csgo_addons/academy/maps/modernized_plantations.vmap" took 28.167 seconds
----------------------------------------------------------------- ERROR: 6 compiled, 1 failed, 1 skipped, 0m:29s -----------------------------------------------------------------End build: 2024-05-13T14:24:29, elapsed time

Operations could feel like they have a much larger impact on the galactic war if, for each mission we completed in an operation, we gained a bonus for successive missions. We could also have much longer operations - maybe ten missions - that we can return to at any point if the planet hasn't been liberated or defended.
This would work great with "temporary" negative modifiers, like the idea of AA defenses locking a stratagem slot. Destroying those AA defenses could remove the deploy time for Eagle-1 stratagems, or maybe add an extra use to them.
When playing longer operations, for each bonus we receive, we should also gain a negative (non-stacking) modifier. I don't think this would work well for shorter operations, as we could be given weaker bonuses like an additional stratagem slot or weapons experimentation while the negative modifier could be increases to the cooldown and call-in times for stratagems.
Some example bonuses:

• Additional stratagem slot; High Command has deemed your strike team effective enough to be permitted an additional stratagem slot.
• Weapons experimentation; (like the global modifier) your team gets to experiment with a totally random stratagem.
• Orbital support; for each player, their super destroyer autonomously targets enemies while they are in combat with a short burst from its gatling cannon. (requires no stratagem or input, happens once every two minutes and the enemy can't be chosen, but it favours enemies further away from players)
• Improved SEAF maintenance; there will always be one of the following SEAF buildings that do not need to be interacted with: (pre-completed side objective, basically) artillery, SAM site, radar station somewhere in the mission area. (rare chance to have more than one of them "pre-completed") Spawns an additional side objective so players don't miss out on experience.
• Additional reinforcements; High Command has "found" (made budget cuts to non-essential departments) a budgetary surplus, granting each member of your strike team an additional two reinforcements.

This build can yield insane ammounts of resource... So insane in fact that I managed to end Cosmogenesis without a Lathe because my ringworld was yielding about 12k research per month and a single 500k fleet could take on the entire galaxy at once. Moreover, my needle only needed to travel within a single system to take all my pops.
Here is the build:
Origin: Shattered Ring.
You want to start in a ringworld and at best claim the surrounding sector.
Authority: Megacorporation.
Ethics: Fanatic Pacifist, Egalitarian.
Being a Crime Syndicate means you will not really be able to go to war (because you cannot declare war on empires where you have a branch office), so you may as well bit the bullet and go Fan Pacifist for the extra stability. You need Egalitarian for one of the civics.
Civics: Crime Syndicate, Worker Cooperative
Crime Syndicate is great for this build because you will be sitting on top of a lot of influence, and you can use that to expand via Branch Offices. You will want branch offices all over the galaxy, and ideally on every single colonized planet. You will use those offices to generate minerals for you during the Unity Rush phase, and then to generate Fleet Cap afterwards.
Worker Cooperative comes with the best trade policy ever: Mutual Aid. This means you will be able to get all your basic resources from trade, and will not need to have any worker other than clerks throughout the game.
Species Traits: Machine, High Bandwidth, Adaptive Frames: You want to go with machines to rush Virtuality (you are a computer virus, after all), Adaptive Frames rid you the need to tune your species to their jobs. High Bandwidth will become largely ignorable once you ascend.
Playthrough:
To play with this empire is simple. Just claim the surrounding sector and send your science ships to explore to find empires to infect.
On the home front, make sure that all your districts are either trade or industrial districts (no need of mining districts because Mutual Aid), and open all building slots as soon as possible. Settle all those building slots with Research Labs and the occasional Corporation Cultural Site.
Rush Mercantile to bring your build fully online. Wait until you max out minerals and switch to Marketplace of Ideas. Then rush Subversive and Discovery. Take whatever Ascension Perks suits you. The only one that matters is the third one, and that will be Synthetic Age.
Do the situation on Error Correcting to store as much unity as possible, and go for the best rewards for each phase of the event. No rush here. After the situation ends, just purchase all Virtuality Traditions and set your trade policy back to Mutual Aid.
Meanwhile go making first contacts and putting in Branch Offices. Be as friendly as you can be to get sensors and contacts deals. Use the branch offices to produce minerals, to offset the fact that your mineral production will be about null while you are running Marketplace of Ideas. After that, change the holdings to Pirate Free Haven, so you can have a decent Fleet Cap.
After this, take Cosmogenesis for your 4th civic, and by all means, rush Mega-engineering to restore your ringworlds. DO NOT ASCEND YOUR SEGMENTS BEFORE THAT. Or you will lose the free extra districts after you ascended your ringworlds.
You can build another two ringworlds if you so desire. It will still be worth the diminishing returns, and extra research always helps, given that you will not be building the Lathe.
Another great trick you can pull is to take Politics traditions. I did this for the extra influence to spam Branch Offices. BOs are your main source of Fleet Cap, and you will want to keep 1M fleet power distributed into about 3 fleets for the next phase anyways.
You should also use the BOs to locate The Wound. Or you can just build a Sentry Array and use it to find that system.
Take your last crisis perk, the galaxy will declare war on you, yada yada. Build the needle, embark your servers and beeline to the wound. Leave one fleet to protect your home systems, another to open the path to the Wound and another to protect the needle. Then plunge on the central black hole.

Hi, I'm looking for a motherboard and RAMs to 7800x3D.
Mine setup:

• ASUS ProArt GeForce RTX 4060 Ti OC Edition 16 GB GDDR6
• AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
• GOODRAM 32GB (2x16GB) 6000MHz CL30 IRDM BLACK V SILVER
• KC3000 2tb + KC2000 500GB
• Endorfy Fera 5
• Seasonic CORE GM-650 Gold 650W (SSR-650LM)
• Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl

I don't care about wifi and USB slots. I probably won't be overclocking. 1080p 240Hz monitors. I mainly play esports games and stream on twitchtv. Stable lan is needed. I use ethernet cable always. I would like to use 2x m.2 SSD.
Should I look for a PCIe 5.0 slot motherboard? I know that my graphics card is too weak for 7800x3D. When will a graphics card with 5.0 support come out? Any leaks?
My list of choice of motherboards:

• Msi B650 GAMING PLUS WIFI (9117E26001) 170€
• Gigabyte B650 EAGLE AX (B650EAGLEAX) 170€
• Asrock B650 PRO RS around 179€
• MSI MAG B650 TOMAHAWK WIFI 200€
• ASRock B650E PG Riptide Wifi 215€

Mine choice is the ASRock B650E PG Riptide Wifi? Is it worth to pay 45€ for it? Can I use 2x m2 slot in the Msi one? Cuz its cheaper 45€, I probably wont upgrade the PC in 1 year anyway, maybe in the next 3 years.
My list of Rams:

• GOODRAM IRDM 32GB 2x16GB 6000MHz DDR5 CL30 DIMM (IR6000D564L30S32GDC) ~117€
• Lexar ARES RGB DDR5 32GB (2x16GB) 6000MHz CL30 LD5BU016G-R6000GDLA ~119€
• Corsair Vengeance Rgb Ddr5 32Gb 6000Mhz Cl30 around 140€
• G.Skill Flare X5 DDR5 32GB 6000MHz CL30 around 129€
• G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB DDR5 32GB 6000MHz CL30 (F56000J3038F16GX2TZ5NR) 132€

Where is the diffrence in them? The only question is do i stay with cl 30 and 6000Mhz or look for CL32 and 6400mhz
Budget for 2 things - 300€ = 325$

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tldr: Orbital Strikes, of the single shot variety, should have their timer always counting down regardless of whether they're used. When the timer reaches zero a shot is 'chambered' in the ship. The timer resets again as the next round prepares to be chambered.
This stacks up to a limit depending on the ordinance type. (Kind of like how we treat the SEAF artillery piece) Once the limit is reached the ship can't chamber anymore shots and you're officially wasting time.
Orbitals that I think should stack are:
Precision Strike: Up to 4 shots
Gas Strike: Up to 4 shots
EMS Strike: Up to 5 shots
Smoke: Up to 5 shots
Railgun: Up to 3 shots

I get it, we're not getting more stratagem slots. We're not getting the reduced stratagem modifiers removed. We're not getting a reduction in cooldown on out stratagems either.
Yet, as Democracy demands, we must rely on our stratagems!
There's a problem that's very apparent (at least to me). Eagles far outweigh nearly all other "Destruction" stratagems due to their high capacity and low cooldown rate (aside from the Orbital Laser). You will rarely find a lobby without at least 2 Eagles per person. It's practically impossible to find a lobby with someone not using an Eagle at all.
Eagles are king at all levels and it's not even close.
This leaves stuff like the Precision Strike, Gas Strike, and even the Orbital Railgun left to wallow in sadness. I want to fix this.
At least Oribtal Bombardments, as messy as they are, provide an subjectively useful function as a 'throw and forget' stratagem. Rushing to put a bombardment on cooldown simply lets you throw it again sooner with little cons involved.

I propose a solution that does not alter the amount of stratagems you have or could use in a match, but allows for much more flexibility during a match.
Stacking unused, single shot, Orbitals as the mission timer progresses.
Imagine this.
You land.
You take the obligatory 2.8 seconds (+3 minutes) setting up, getting your bearings, or running away from that Flamethrower Hulk.
You find a base. It's 4 minutes into a match. You pull out your Precision Strike and hit one building. Success! If only you had another shot...
But wait! Since single shot Orbitals stack whilst unused, you now have 3 Precision Strikes shots available because of how long you've been running around. With glee, you chuck two more strikes and hit the rest of your targets in quick succession!
Satisfied with the results, you turn around with a smirk, only to be smacked dead in the face by the barrel of a Automaton Stealth Tank that has snuck up behind you.
You die, but at least you died happy.

Remember, this isn't increasing the amount of shots you would have in a game at all. If you landed at second 0 and shot a Railgun every single time it was up you'd have the same level of shots. This would also be affected by the 25% increase to stratagem cooldown modifiers and the like.
What this does do is lessen the 'vulnerability window' that single shot orbitals currently have that makes them risky to rely on mid way through the game. Imagine the magic of saving up 2-3 or even 4 shots of Precision! You're not getting 'more shots' than the game would technically allow, but you're given much more freedom on using them!
Eagles are initially safe and provide a lot of buffer room, but you're vulnerable when you run out.
Single Shot Orbitals would be initially unsafe with little buffer room, but later on would gain that safety and buffer if you held onto them. That is, until you use all of them in a panic! Now you're back into the vulnerable position.
I think this could help balance out the Eagles vs Single Shot Orbitals without buffing, changing, or altering the nature of stratagems in any way whatsoever.
Lastly, this wouldn't make Bombardments redundant at all because saving up 3-4 shots of Precision or Gas would still take longer than chucking a bombardment and then waiting for a new one. Bombardments would be faster but less precise, and Single Shots would take longer to accumulate but pay out better (in theory) when you accumulated them (and take more work to put them all down correctly).

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