I’m making starterpacks for my friends! DM me if you want one :)

Younger me would have cringed at my post title, but I do honestly mean it. I'm looking for a best friend, and potential partner. I'd like to emphasize the friendship aspect, because I want my future partner to be my best friend as well.
As for me, I'm a bit of a nerd, love learning, got my Masters degree in Computer Science last year, and then decided I wanted to learn how to art next. So I picked up sketching as a hobby. Some others include jogging, yoga, and finding a good tv show to binge. I try to not take life too seriously, especially myself. But I do have drive and ambition.
I'm looking for someone I can be my silly genuine self with. Ideally someone that can be pretty silly themselves. Would love to have someone to practice yoga with, or compare jogging times with. Must be willing to watch weird tv shows with me.
Here are some pictures of me, and some of my very bad art: https://imgur.com/a/rXZx7cU
Send me a message and tell me a bit about yourself and what you are looking for.

TLDR; I conducted a lot of tests based on community feedback after my first batch of test results (and recommendations) were perceived as controversial. I ran additional simulations and used chi square analysis to see if any equipment stood out.

• The polearm was observed to be the best except in very niche circumstances, where it still does well in general
• Assassin's Rags appears to be the best general armor in the game for melee
• Heavy Armor consistently loses to White Plate & Assassin's Rags
• In field battles you're probably better off not using ranged weapons at all
• For top tier characters KLR limbs remove the need to prioritize a shirt with high coverage; reducing damage to the chest & stomach may be more important even if limbs are less unprotected
• Crossbows don't appear to do very well in field battles

Introduction
Assertions about the best equipment in Kenshi are innumerable, but few of them are driven by data. A previous post based on repeated combat simulations and statistical analysis indicated that the Polearm outperformed other community favorites, sometimes by a remarkable margin.
Additionally, the recommendation to use crab armor was challenged and members pointed that other armor types not included in that round of tests would do better.
Other criticism of that group of tests included:

• The tests were only done with level 100 characters which doesn't reflect practical squad composition for normal players
• Very few enemies in Kenshi actually use heavy armor, let alone masterwork armor and it would make more sense to do weapon tests against more representative armor sets
• White Plate and Assassin's rags weren't considered and believed to outperform heavy armor
• The Shek were deemed the most effective race, but it wasn't clear if this was due to a bug in Forgotten Construction Construction set
• Sabres weren't considered at all, in particular for indoor combat
• Robotic limbs were not tested when determining the recommended equipment loadout or how that would affect how a character should be armored

These points were explored in additional testing. Also considered was how squads that were partially composed of crossbows and melee troops performed against pure melee squads.
Materials and Methods
The Forgotten Construction Set (FCS) is the defacto modding tool for Kenshi. Two squads were created and made to compete against each other many times to see if they differed in any significant way. Squads competed until all the members of one squad were knocked out, at which point the winner and loser were recorded. Fischer's Exact Test was then used to see if the results were significant.
Squads
Squads were composed entirely of Greenlander humans (except when explicitly testing other races). The rational for this was Greenlanders have no combat buffs or debuffs and that this would avoid potentially problematic discrepancies in stats that could be attributed to either a defect in FCS or stats so high that they would be utterly impractical to attain.
The stats of each member of the squad were identical in all simulations, with tests being done on squads all at either level 100 or level 50 depending on the test.
When robotic limbs were being considered all members had masterwork KLR arms and legs.
One squad was created as a starter squad which placed all members directly under the players control. The other squad was created in a modded town on the unamed island named "Chi Town", which was composed of a single building. In each new game, the squad in Chi Town would spawn in its building and begin patrolling the area.
Chi Town was set as a hostile faction to the player controlled squad. On a new game the player controlled squad would spawn in Chi Town adjacent to the hostile squad. Despite having hostile faction relations, Chi Town never initiated combat against the player controlled squad, allowing the player squad to have its members positioned in a variety of ways to ensure an even match up. Combat was then initiated by the player after setup.
Squad Size
To avoid a known problem with the AI in which knocked out members would revive mid combat and begin patrolling the town rather than continue fighting, the squad size was limited to 5 on each side for melee tests.
A squad size of 10 was used for each size when crossbows were being tested.
Initiating Combat
Squads were either loaded by a new game or quick load. After this members of the player controlled squad were positioned in such a way that when combat was initiated all opposing squad members would participate in combat at about the same time.
During combat soldiers were knocked unconscious, but frequently regained consciousness mid combat and rejoined the fight. Combat continued until all members of one squad were knocked unconscious.
When testing indoor combat the members of the opposing squad were spawned in a stationhouse. The player controlled squad then entered the building and initiated combat. If at any time battle caused a member to navigate outside the building the test was discarded and a new iteration conducted.
When testing combined arms a purely melee group was compared against a squad with both crossbows and melee members. The purely melee squad was positioned at maximum distance before initiating attack. This enabled the opposing crossbows to fire off multiple volleys in an attempt to give them maximum utility.
Each squad had 10 members. In the case of the combined arms group 5 had melee weapons and 5 had crossbows.
The crossbows used in the experiments were the Eagle's Cross and Junkbow. The rational for this is that the Eagle's Cross has a very high Damage Per Second when used by a level 100 user. However the humble Junkbow was also considered as some assert that it is superior, despite it's comparably weak damage.
When a player is hit by a crossbow bolt they stagger regardless of the amount of damage. Some postulate that the faster rate of fire with the Junkbow causes opponents to stagger enough that a comparatively smaller group of melee fighters can land more attacks. In other words the expectation is that the weak Junkbow would cause victory by stun-locking opponents.
Regular Soldier Testing
When testing combatants at level 50 mid level quality was used for weapons and armor (Catun No. 3). Additionally the armor set used was the standard kit used by Holy Nation Paladins.
It was speculated that more common, representative armor like this might yield different results for weapon testing. In particular, the abysmal performance of the falling sun in previous testing was attributed to it being used against very heavy armor which would prevent it from severing limbs.
Given that Kenshi's combat mechanics focus more on disabling an opponent, the ability to cause amputation may be more important than being able to do more damage. The Holy Nation kit was arbitrarily selected among the 3 major factions, but deemed suitable because the coverage of the Holy Chest plate is low enough to allow for testing amputation while still being high enough to represent what a player would likely encounter during a base raid.
Fischer's Exact Test
Chi-Squared analysis was done using an online calculator located here using a simple 2x2 contingency table. For all tests the default parameters of a two sided tail, 1:1 odds and a 95% confidence interval were used.
Version
Tests were performed on Kenshi 1.0.68

Animal Care Compliance

No bonedogs were harmed over the course of this research.

Data

Elite Soldier Tests
The following equipment was used in each test unless explicitly stated otherwise:

Factor Type	Factor Used
Helmet	Crab Helmet
Pants	Samurai Legplates
Shirt	Dark Leather Shirt
Footwear	Wooden Sandals
Robotic Limbs	Masterwork KLR arms & legs
Weapon	Polearm
Level	100
Race	Greenlander

Test	Group 1 Loadout	Group 2 Loadout	Group 1 Win:Loss Ratio
Crab Armor - Dark Leather shirt vs Chainmail	Dark Leather Shirt	Blackened Chainmail	24:6
Crab Armor vs Samurai Plate w/ Polearms	Crab	Samurai	9:21
Crab Armor vs Samurai Plate w/ Nodachi	Crab + Nodachi	Samurai + Nodachi	3:13
Crab vs White Plate Jacket	Crab	White Plate Jacket	0:30
Crab vs White Plate w/ Nodachi	Crab + Nodachi	White Plate + Nodachi	9:21
Crab vs Assassin's rags	Crab + Blackened Chainmail	Assassin's Rags + Dark Leather Shirt	3:27
White Plate Jacket vs Assassin's rags	White Plate	Assassin's Rags	7:23
White Plate Jacket vs Samurai	White Plate	Samurai	27:3
White Plate Jacket shirtless vs shirt	White Plate [no shirt]	White Plate [Dark Leather Shirt]	14:16
White Plate Armor, Skeleton vs Human	White Plate Skeleton	White Plate Human	25:5

Combined Arms Tests
The following equipment was used in each test unless explicitly stated otherwise:

Factor Type	Factor Used
Helmet	Crab Helmet
Pants	Samurai Legplates
Armor	Assassin's Rags
Shirt	Dark Leather Shirt
Footwear	Wooden Sandals
Robotic Limbs	Masterwork KLR arms & legs
Weapon	Polearm
Level	100
Race	Greenlander

Crossbows used a longsword as a sidearm in all cases.

Test	Group 1 Loadout	Group 2 Loadout	Group 1 Win:Loss Ratio
Polearms vs Polearms + Eagle's Cross	Polearms	Polearm + Eagle's Cross	17:3
Polearms vs Polearms + Junkbow	Polearms	Polearm + Junkbow	20:0

Regular Soldier (L50) Tests
The following equipment was used in each test unless explicitly stated otherwise:

Factor Type	Factor Used
Helmet	Bucket Zukin
Pants	Stout Hessian Uniform
Armor	Holy Chest Plate
Shirt	Cloth Shirt
Footwear	Plated Longboots
Robotic Limbs	None
Weapon	Polearm
Level	50
Race	Greenlander

Test	Group 1 Loadout	Group 2 Loadout	Group 1 Win:Loss Ratio
Polearm vs Falling Sun	Polearms	Falling Sun	26:4
Indoors 5v5- Polearm vs Desert Sabers	Polearms	Desert Sabers	13:17
Indoors 1v1- Polearm vs Desert Sabers	Polearm	Desert Saber	10:20

Results

All heavy armor tested lost substantially to both White Plate & Assassin's Rags. The polearm continued to outperform the falling sun. Desert Sabres either matched the Polearm in performance or outperformed it when micromanaging.
Additionally, the dark leather shirt outperformed blackened chainmail. This bolsters claims that when robotic limbs are used that limb coverage is less important than total damage reduced to the torso and stomach.
The Assassin's Rags were undefeated in any category. It seems that the stat malus of heavy armor is indeed quite significant and likely responsible for consistent losses. But even when put against medium White Plate armor which has very little stat malus the Assassin's Rags continue to dominate; this is likely due to the bonuses to dexterity, combat speed and melee attack that they provide.
When pitted against identically sized squads, combined arm crossbows squads were utterly defeated by monolithic squads armed with Polearms.
Level 100 Tests

Test	P-Value	Statistically Significant?	Better Equipment
Crab Armor - Dark Leather shirt vs Chainmail	0.0000114	Yes	Dark Leather Shirt

Level 50 Tests

Test	P-Value	Statistically Significant?	Better Equipment
Polearm vs Falling Sun	< 0.0001	Yes	Polearm
Indoors- 5v5 Polearm vs Desert Sabres	0.4389	No	Neither
Indoors- 1v1 Polearm vs Desert Sabres	0.0194	Yes	Desert Sabre

Combined Arms Tests

Test	P-Value	Statistically Significant?	Better Equipment
Polearms vs Polearms + Eagle's Cross	< 0.0001	Yes	Pure Polearm Squad
Polearms vs Polearms + Junkbow	N/A	Yes	Pure Polearm Squad

Discussion

Kenshi has a wide variety of equipment and a great deal of complex calculations behind it. Despite that, there exist god-tier equipment that appears to provide little choice or strategy for a player looking to outfit a squad to be competitive.
Using robotic limbs changed the ideal composition for armor. Previous testing with crab armor indicated that Blackened Chain Mail had an edge over the Leather Turtleneck. This was attributed to crab armor only providing 90% coverage which meant that stronger protection for the arms could change the tide of lengthy battles; A disabled arm was an extreme liability.
However the massive HP boost provided by KLR arms seems to be significant enough that additional coverage at the cost of dexterity penalties is a bigger hindrance than help. After HP becomes substantially greater than the heath of the stomach or torso it makes more sense to forgo that protection if it means you can hit faster.
Players are unlikely in the early game to outfit their squad with masterwork KLR arms. During this phase one could speculate over whether to use chainmail or a leather turtleneck over the dark leather shirt. Previous testing indicated that chainmail was better for crab armor users fighting other crab armor users with leather turtlenecks, but that experimentation never considered light or medium armor which was shown here to be more effective regardless.
This challenges the wisdom of using chain armor at all. The use of a shirt can be forgone entirely if the player chooses to use White Plate Jackets. This armor provides 100% coverage for the torso, stomach and arms making a shirt redundant. Given White Plate Jackets outperformed Crab and Samurai armor and is more accessible and affordable it is difficult to justify the decision to use heavy armor at all, let alone chainmail in combination with it. This refutes the conclusion to use Crab armor in previous testing.
Given the outsized impact Assassin's Rags had (presumably due to the status boons) it is probably inadvisable to use chainmail and its debuffs alongside it. The Assassin's Rags provide relatively poor coverage, so a shirt of some kind is likely useful. What the ideal shirt for an Assassin's Rags user without KLR arms would be is unanswered in this study.
The Assassin's Rags provided adequate protection when dealing with ranged opponents. One plausible weakness would be the scant protection they provide against harpoons, which was not tested. Even if they are unparalleled in melee further research should be done to see if a single shot from a harpoon could kill a character using them. If that turns out to be the case then White Plate Jackets would apparently be preferable to any heavy armor.
White Plate Jackets outperformed both Crab and Samurai armor when using Nodachis which deal purely cut damage and have a penalty against armor. This is perplexing because heavy armor appears to have been intended to be the best choice for mitigating cut damage, but the stat malus associated with it causes light armor to be a better choice (at least against the weapons tested in this study).
The Falling Sun continued to yield mediocre results compared to the Polearm. Oddly, the Falling Sun was noticed to cause amputation semi-regularly in the tests against Polearms. Despite this knocking out the Polearm user, the remaining Polearms managed to win most fights anyway and bandage their crippled comrade post victory. While limb loss after battle is fairly devastating, this has limited utility from the players perspective; there isn't a strong need to amputate an enemies limbs because it doesn't matter how you disable your opponent as long as they are disabled. It probably makes more sense to just use the Polearm because it wins way more often.
The Polearm appears unbeatable with very few exceptions. Previous testing indicated the only weapon observed to outperform the Polearm was the Paladin's Cross and that was contingent on using it against skeletons. This research indicates that the Desert Sabre can be more effective than the Polearm indoors, but only if the Sabre user is not subject to the Polearms area of effect damage; i.e., the Sabre has to fight the Polearm one on one which requires micromanagement.
A particular surprise was how the Polearm performed by level 50 users indoors against Desert Sabre users in squads. Here Polearms have a very strong malus and the Sabers have a strong boon. Despite this there wasn't a statistically significant difference between them.
The Polearm did lose against Sabres frequently when forced to fight one on one indoors. From the players perspective this means that defending indoors with Sabres is a viable strategy early to mid game, although attacking grouped NPC Sabres indoors with Polearms is also surprisingly viable.
Enemies that use polearms are typically the most high level squads in the game (e.g., the skeletal legion and southern hive). But these late game squads almost exclusively use polearms themselves. This means a player's late game Polearm squad would not have any disadvantage indoors as both squads would have the same penalty. Furthermore, by the time a player is encountering late game squads like this they've likely leveled up enough to avoid the need to micromanage regardless.
Whether such a niche use case justifies sinking experience into building up the Sabre skill when they could be leveling up the Polearm is a matter for players to decide. It's difficult to pronounce Sabre's categorically superior, particularly when they appear to break even with Polearms when forced to fight in groups indoors.
Crossbows/Polearm hybrid squads turned out to be unviable against pure Polearm squads. Every crossbow simulation ended with unfavorable results when the competing squad invested in a Polearm instead. Crossbows probably would perform better during sieges where they had a benefit of a wall, but a turret would likely be a better option at that point. The Junkbows ability to stunlock evenly sized forces was insufficient. This strategy is probably only viable when many weak characters are fighting a single strong character, assuming it works at all.
The lack of some rock-paper-scissors mechanics in Kenshi limits how the player can think strategically about squad composition. Modding could plausibly create more interesting, balanced relationships between equipment. For example, increasing the damage of weapons like Katanas while simultaneously increasing the penalty against heavy armor could make them a viable alternative to Polearms in many common situations.
The interplay of armor penetration and raw damage could create a better defined role for light, medium and heavy builds. Additionally, crossbows might be enhanced to have a viable role in the field as they do not appear to excel there or behind allied walls where they could use a turret instead.
Overall if a players goal is to outfit a squad for the highest combat potential, the data indicates the choice is mostly linear- outfit the entire squad the same way, preferring Assassin's Rags or White Plate Jackets along with a Polearm or Paladin's Cross (both weapons can be available via a backpack).
As far as choice of character goes, Skeletons were shown to significantly outperform humans despite having no head protection. No comparison was done between the Shek and Skeletons as it currently unsettled whether a Shek can actually achieve a strength of 120 in vanilla Kenshi or if that is a bug in FCS. Regardless, in Vanilla Kenshi it is impractical to obtain very many skeletons at all without modding. The higher health pool of the Shek would likely make them the most accessible, competitive recruits when trying to build a strong military squad. If creating a squad of 30 soldiers it would be unsurprising if the majority of them needed to be Shek.

Title says it all. Have a str-dh790 and the new speakers don’t need to be a certain brand just something that doesn’t sound absolutely terrible

4th/5th grade kid pitch rec league and I am the head coach in my first year. It’s a “competitive” league, as competitive as you can be over 6 games and no play offs. We lost our first game because I left one of our pitchers in too long and walked 5 runs in one an inning and a half. The second game I started out best player and he went 5 innings with 11ks 2BB and 1 hit. We won 11-1 against the team to beat in the league. The kid has a heck of an arm and is only playing in rec to fill the time between his little league ending and Football. Anyway, one of the assistants asked if I wanted to get another pitcher in and see if the other kids could get hits of them. I was torn because we were winning pretty handily but 1) The kid really wanted to finish the game 2) I figured that even tho he threw comparatively speaking, gas, he threw strikes as opposed to our other pitchers who walk way more, where the opposing team would see less strikes but at slower speeds. What’s the best way to handle a kid like this? I don’t want to do the same thing I did in the first game and have him come in to bail us out just for us to lose. The kids were way happier winning than losing obviously but I know some want to pitch even tho they aren’t throwing many strikes.

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To whom it may concern,
Shalom. Introductions aside, just know that I am a hardcore gamer who has pristine observation skills. I wanted to take it upon myself to give a comprehensive Tier List of the entirety of Chapter 5, Season 2 weapons.
This is not a spreadsheet, no specific mathematical mumbo jumbo needed.
In other words, take my word for it and debate me if you disagree with my tier list for this season.
Additionally, mythic boss weapons are excluded because I judge the weapon classes they belong to holistically. Although mythic weapons do more damage than legendary variants, they are restricted from being customized to preference, thus making the legendary variant of each mythic far superior.
Lastly, there are two honorable mention tiers and this is far from the typical tier list.
Chonk_Lord48's Observations:
Atrocity - Waterbending
S Tier - Thunder Burst SMG, Gatekeeper Shotgun, Ranger Pistol, Cluster Clingers
A Tier - Nemesis AR, Huntress DMR, Hand Cannon, Chain of Hades
B Tier - Warforged AR, Drum Gun, Earthbending
C Tier - Hammer Pump Shotgun, Tactical AR, Airbending, Reaper Sniper Rifle
D Tier - Thunderbolt of Zeus, Firebending
F Tier - Frenzy Auto Shotgun, Chewie's Bowcaster, Darth Vader's Lightsaber
Absurdity - Harbinger SMG, E-11
Reasoning Section
Atrocity - Waterbending is an all encompassing infinite range (it travels past render range) infinite ammo, instant reload super power that will drop any enemy of most skill ranges in exactly two shots. This two shot kill problem is especially a factor when your enemy is using an untraceable form of Zen or Aimbot. Gamers who rely on this atrocious thing to kill or get wins are either inept at the game OR fighting water with water. Thought I would NEVER hear that phrase... Yet it is LITERAL. This weapon should have started and ended with the Avatar: The Last Airbender mini event. This is the second worst decision Epic has ever made, right next to... Well, that's a banned name isn't it... that pleb pleaser from Season X. Waterbending is so broken that it just removes the enjoyment from the game entirely. Even though it is labeled as a mythic rarity item it is far more common than bandages and perhaps more common than most common rarity weapons. Horrendous, absolutely horrendous decision.
S Tier - The Thunder Burst SMG is a phenomenal skill-based weapon that requires precision accuracy to observe the sheer powerhouse of a weapon it is. It has one of the lowest Time To Kill (TTK) in the game due to It's powerful damage output, accuracy, and headshot multiplier (1.76x). It can be used for mid-range combat as well with a modest damage reduction.
The Gatekeeper Shotgun is by far the BEST shotgun ever released in Fortnite History, surpassing the Charge Shotgun class except its Mythic variant. This shotgun excels in point blank range and the TTK is less than two seconds. It has a great spread which provides the opportunity for some guaranteed hits when firing from the hip. When it is aimed down, the spread becomes more precise. Most shotguns do this, yet the Gatekeeper stands out because the choke is not pinpoint accurate (like other failures of a shotgun) and its crosshair fits so nicely around an enemy's head.
The Ranger Pistol has a fast TTK and is damn near the perfection of the Thunder Burst SMG. The two are so similar in damage output, firerate, reload time and range that honestly a player can use either and perform well. When compared to the Warforged AR, it is more accurate, has a higher headshot multiplier, and reloads much faster.
Cluster Clingers were literally the only throwable explosives that did enough damage required to kill. A lethal weapon in the hands of a skilled player. This specific item will forever hold its place as the 'only' explosive throwable item. Be honest, the rest were just gimmicks that were terrible and practically useless. This was the ONLY grenade that actually put enemies back to the lobby. Why it was removed is beyond nonsensical. Anyone who could dare complain about the first (only) grenade that did grenading is... I will say it, part of the Little Timmy community (plebs) that Epic LOVES to humor (I remember Season X well).
Each of these weapons are truly a masterpiece in their class and stand out as among the greatest weapons to ever touch the surface of the game. They do not require attachments to be good. These weapons can be deadly in the hands of players from all skill ranges. From common to legendary or mythic these weapons take the cake as this season's best.
A Tier - The Huntress DMR is the BEST DMR to date. All other DMRs pale in comparison to this one (Looking at you Cobra) because it actually hits targets when you aim and shoot directly at them. This would have been S-Tier but since it requires a specific set of attachments each game to be superior, it cannot be placed there. This weapon shoots the farthest and has little to no bullet drop whatsoever. It is superior to the once great Reaper Sniper rifle and takes the cake as the best long-range choice this season.
Note: Perhaps with the fresh new ballistics system, the Cobra DMR can make a return and actually function properly instead of being exclusive to function on PC.
The Hand Cannon is a re-imagining of one of Chapter 1's best weapons. It is superior to other slow firing, semi-automatic weapons due to its damage output and buffed headshot multiplier. This weapon is exclusive for highly accurate and skilled players which is precisely why it remains in A Tier. It is not universally great (S-Tier), yet it still rewards those with precise aim. The fun with this weapon is that it doubles as a close range defender or a sniper rifle depending on attachment preference. When modded to be a long-range weapon it should be noted that it has less bullet drop than the Reaper Sniper Rifle. The other optimization is the classic one which can be done with an optic attached or not. When used in this classic form, it outclasses the Hammer Pump Shotgun entirely. It does more headshot damage and less body shot damage, sure, but at least significant damage is guaranteed since spread is not a factor.
The Nemesis AR is a powerhouse of a weapon as well which is surprisingly accurate for its high damage output and adequate headshot multiplier. It has a fast TTK and requires little investment to be superior to other weapons in its class.
The Chain of Hades is not an an atrocity. It is very much required to counter and punish enemies who think they are tough guys fleeing from a fight using shockwaves or the wings of Icarus, or even a motorbike. It is fun to use, when it works. This item is prevented from being S-Tier due to the FACT it does not work properly. This weapon has a sweeping animation and must be paired with area of effect damage. The center of the crosshair is NOT the only area of damage. This can be tested and proven by opening a door, aiming in the middle of the doorway, and swinging. You will notice the it does indeed deal damage to the left and right of the crosshair. Sadly, and unsurprisingly, this AOE melee weapon seems to exclusively function properly on PC. When used on PC, this chain causes a stagger that prevents a weapon from firing in a minute instances. That is, each hit when swung, causes an interruption of a weapon firing. This feature is nonexistent on consoles and seems intentional. As for the chain pull, that attack causes stagger universally, which is good.
B Tier - The Warforged AR is decent at best. Even with a legendary properly modded variant, it pales in comparison to the Nemesis AR, which requires little investment to no investment. This weapon had much potential but Epic clealry refuses to allow an S-Tier assault rifle to exist again.
The Drum Gun is yet another re-imagining of one of the greatest weapons to enter the META first debuted in Chapter 1. This version, regardless of attachments, fails to be what it once was. It is about as accurate as the Warforged and also lacks recoil control even with the attachments meant to reduce it.
Earthbending was a failed opportunity for Epic to allow players to have fun with the game. I would have preferred summoning armor on my character (like Toph does in the show) paired with the ability to bull charge into an enemy which would deal an atrocious amount of damage to be equally unfair as Waterbending. Maybe 150 damage or simply an instant KO. Heck if I care you cannot shoot the armor off quick enough to cancel the attack. As for Earthbebding as it was made, the cover provided was stronger than metal, and more reliable than porta bunkers. Long before the time it would take to break the cover, the ability to form another wall is primed and ready. Hurling large, fine cut rock slabs at enemies should have caused a KO in two hits to counter that atrocity not worth my breath anymore.
C Tier - The Hammer Pump Shotgun is just a joke but can still be deadly when paired with an appropriate backup weapon. This weapon could be A-Tier at best when paired with a Thunder Burst SMG or F-Tier at worst when used alone. By that logic, it averages to the middle of the tier list. Oh I miss the days when it just took one skilled shot to send them back to the lobby with the original Pump Shotgun re-imagined in Chapter 1 Season 5. This was arguably the most balanced period in Fortnite's history especially for both SMGs and ARs.
The Tactical AR is yet another re-imagining of one of the greatest weapons. This too pales in comparison to it's predecessor. Even with all necessary attachments on it, it is not the same as before. Period. It does not do enough damage and high a slow TTK. It pales in comparison to both the Thunder Burst SMG and other assault rifles. It fails to be both SMG and AR when it is meant to be a combination of both.
The Reaper Sniper has once graced players inventories as the BEST sniper rifle in Fortnite's history. Once an S-Tier weapon, this powerful sniper rifle has fallen from that status due to Epic's tendency to humor plebeians in the community. It has caused this weapon to become absolutey useless for what it was made for. It does not make any sense at all for this weapon's bullets to have bullet drop before 20m. The projectory of the bullet is flaccid, like to an ED extent. Absolutely an ABSURD choice for long range encounters, period. However, this weapon can surpass even the Hand Cannon as a replacement for a shot gun, slap the proper attachments on play pretend that it is the KSG-12 or a slug round shotgun, then you got yourself an S-Tier shotgun that drops players in ONE shot.
Airbending is not a weapon per se, however it can be used as one to cause a death due to gravity or to prevent vehicles from traveling. It was amazing. I miss it. It was the best movement option that was ever released in the game.
D Tier - Thunderbolt of Zeus had potential to be amazing. It was pathetic compared to cluster clingers and its splash damage seems to be so random that it is unreliable. It is supposed to hit for 40, 40, then 140. Yet my final hit is hitting for 80. I do not understand. Prep time alone makes this weapon a death wish.
Firebending also lack a passive ability and Epic has failed to make this combat-based bending effective. Unless you are staying perfectly still, you will jump around like a maniac and miss all projectiles. Period. Upon release, it dealt barely any damage and Epic did not bother buffing the damage until near the event's conclusion. I should, according to the same broken logic, be able to bend lightning with extreme precision to deal 300+ damage, thus instantly knocking out anyone.
F Tier - The Frenzy Auto Shotgun was once an atrocity and at first got respectfully nerfed. Then Epic nerfed it again to be effective exclusively at less than point-blank range. Any further than 10 meters then you are surely dealing between 10-20 damage IF you are lucky.
The Bowcaster is a failure of what could have been a fun limited time weapon to use. Firstly it animates an AoE per shot regardless of charge and does NOT do splash damage when shot. When charged fully it deals decent damage but then the splash damage is negligible. I am a first hand witness to this bs weapon having splash damage be effective exclusively on PC. I was damaged from about a tile and a half away from the point of impact when at the Dumpen Haussen reboot van. I find it unnerving that some weapons have no polish on console. The Bowcaster when shot semiautomatic is not only supposed to have splash damage but it also fails to deal damage in general. This weapon suffers the Cobra DMR curse where if you aim directly at an enemy and HIT them, it does no damage or just goes right through them or it is just rubber bullets or blanks. As for the bowcaster, it is as if the laser goes directly through the enemy causing no damage whatsoever. This does not happen on PC. To my knowledge, Epic intentionally caters to this SMALL percentage of the community.
Darth Vader's lightsaber is just bad compared to the chain. The chain is in an entirely different class. The lightsaber lacks damage output and is trash at blocking waterbending. The guard is easily broken. Without a pool of lightsabers to choose from that have powers per color. The other powers would have been perfect counters to the chain of hades. Push em off or pull them down or towards. Amazing, is what it would have been.
Absurdity Tier - The E-11 is canonically accurate, how ironic. Nuff said. No wonder the Storm Troopers could never hit their shots.
The Harbinger SMG was supposed to fix Epic's failure last season, the Hyper SMG. Both are absurdities and should NEVER be picked up in any circumstance. You would fair better throwing grass at your enemies. The Harbinger SMG is outclassed in DPS by EVERY other light ammo weapon option, EVER, not just this season. It is BEYOND a failure which is why it takes its rightful place here. It is to NEVER be relied on. You will surely die faster by any other weapon in the game. Even at legendary rarity optimized for hipfire or ADS the gun is inaccurate regardless of the player using it. Both the E-11 and the Harbinger SMG are universally repulsive and fail to be a weapon (by definition) in the hands of any player.
Conclusion
These are my expert observations on what is, can be, and is not effective in the current META. Please feel free to debate these claims, if you can.
Thanks and God bless you all,
Chonk_Lord48

This summary was generated by an AI LLM from autogenerated meeting captions. As such, this output may contain factual errors.
https://vimeo.com/946814106
Here are the key points from the meeting transcript:
Conclusions Reached: - M-SAC and CIAC are working to build a stronger partnership and collaborate more closely, including aligning on shared language and goals around inclusion and equity. - M-SAC is committed to continuing to grow community engagement and outreach, as well as empowering student delegates. - There is recognition that the advisory committees can be more effective by working together rather than operating in siloes.
Detailed Discussion Topics: 0:00 - M-SAC chair Erin Kunkel opens the meeting and outlines the agenda, noting the goal of "powerhouse partnerships". 2:57 - Trulia Parker introduces the CIAC chair Liz Crotty and LCPS Director of Special Education Paige Carter as guest speakers. 5:02 - Liz Crotty provides an overview of CIAC's work, including subcommittees on literacy/math, meaningful inclusion, policy/compliance, and transition. Highlights advocacy efforts and plans for an awards ceremony. 18:32 - Paige Carter discusses the scale of LCPS special education, with over 10,400 students served, and the need to fill teacher vacancies. Emphasizes the importance of inclusion. 24:04 - Erin Kunkel provides an M-SAC year-in-review, covering rebranding efforts, community engagement, website updates, delegate toolkit development, and guest speakers/programs. 51:21 - Discussion on opportunities for M-SAC and CIAC to collaborate more, such as aligning on inclusive event planning and sharing presentation content. 58:45 - Suggestion to utilize QR codes for event feedback and questions, as CIAC has done. 1:01:39 - Acknowledgment of the need for advisory committees to work across divisions rather than in siloes, to be more effective. 1:08:55 - M-SAC communications chair announces executive board elections. 1:17:45 - Closing remarks and appreciation from Erin Kunkel.

As of late, my laptop is starting 1 minute to a black screen, then 1 minute showing the BIOS logo, then after a couple of minutes, it eventually boots. Once it has started the OS after 10 minutes, then the computer works just fine. BIOS, however, is so slow that it is unusable.
My laptop is a Acer Helios 300 PH315-53.
After doing some research, other people have a similar issue either due to failing hard drive or failing USB connection or SD card.
I tried removing all hard drives and the problem persists. I tried removing anything USB and the problem persists.
When shutting down Linux, however, it gives a good hint. (I'm not a fan of camera screenshots but didn't have a choice here!)
https://preview.redd.it/ra4ncd110a1d1.jpg?width=699&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bbb3067717903ebebc5ef665980cd7d83e0bd9c8
USB port 5 error.
I tested all USB ports, they all work just fine.
So... where would the problem be? I'm guessing changing a USB port but which one since they all work? I got 2 on the left, , 1 on the right plus a USB-C on the right. Wait that's 4 so where is #5 ?? Mambo #5!

I come from a computational biology background that relies on artificial intelligence to predict protein interactions, but I also dabble in various other AI research areas. If I managed to build a model that could somewhat reliably predict large price shifts in altcoins in the short to medium term (up to several weeks, for example), what would be the best way to monetize it? Obviously I could use it to control my own trades - and I will indeed do that - but how do I go beyond just doing that so that it could get some wider usage?

Ewoking tall 516 million gp, a day one, non alliance guild and we need 1-2 player! Focused pve guild with relaxed pvp rules. Hello, im the leader Ewoking Tall. We are a competitive-casual guild that needs you. This guild has focused efforts with a relaxed feel, and is looking for a new member who wants to play the game with us and have fun with it. We're looking for someone with GP around 9.5+ million, with Jedi Cal. But we may make exceptions for well founded, and focused rosters.
Territory Battle - Rise of the Empire -37 stars-We expect full participation, including Ops/CMs/Deploys. -40-45 Reva shards is our current highest shard earning inside of one TB (& our most recent TB). Zeffo is unlocked and looking at 37 stars this round. WE currently have 50 JKCK and complete all ops up through phase 4 planets (we may sometimes ask for an op)
Current guild wide goal is unlcoking bo katan and mandalore.
With the special missions we get about 2800 get 2 700 get 3 Plus the zeffo box in addition to TB rewards
Territory Wars -optional but if you join you must play either heavy defense, balanced or heavy offense! -At around 40% win rate -Prefer full participation, but are quite flexible with TW Off/Def ratio. We don’t stress to much here, just try your best
Raids - we easily get the 208m box and just ask that you auto the battles
Ewoking tall · SWGOH.GG https://discord.gg/9Y9NAjtS
Dm me or join discord if we seem like a fit

Aloha Swap,

I’m taking a hiatus from the hobby and offloading pieces I haven’t paid any mind to in a while.

PLEASE NOTE!!! YOLO is king!

I will not be able to address price inquiries as quickly as I would like as I’ll be out and about. With that said, I’ll try my best to respond to any questions.

Prices include shipping. Will ship USPS Priority from Hawaii.
PPFF (No notes!)
Lastly, looking only to sell. No trades at this time (sorry!)

Timestamp/Vids

1. Kansept Naska S35VN. First owner, never used/cut/carry. Basically in LNIB condition. Bought it because it looked neat but don’t’ really have a need for it. Will come with original box and goodies. Asking $130.

2. Benchmade Mini Griptilian S30V. Blade – First owner. Scales – Second owner. This was originally a Mini Grip with a sheepsfoot blade. I swapped out the blades with a standard Mini Grip that I had with AWT scales. Blade has seen minimal use and is in good condition. Will come in a spare random pouch I have lying around. Asking $75. SOLD PF

3. CJRB Pyrite Wharncliffe AR-RPM9 w/ blue titanium scales and titanium clip. First owner, never used/cut/carry. LNIB condition with no wear to note. Bought this with the other pyrite on a whim and just never liked it enough to carry. Will come with original packaging. Asking $60.

4. CJRB Pyrite AR-RPM9 w/ steel liners and titanium scales. First owner, never used/cut/carry. LNIB condition with no wear to note. As noted above, bought this on a whim and just never cared to carry it. Comes with original packaging. Asking $50.

5. Kizer Escort 20CV. First owner, never used/cut/carry. LNIB condition. Knife sat in display for its entire time with me. No wear to note. Comes with original box and goodies. Asking $120.

6. Kizer Original XL 154CM. First owner, never used/cut/carry. LNIB condition. Sat with the Escort in a display its whole time with me. No wear to note. Comes with original box and goodies. Asking $75.

7. Kizer Original 154CM. First owner, never used/cut/carry. LNIB condition. Sat with the Escort in a display its whole time with me. No wear to note. Unfortunately, I do not have the original box. Will come in a spare knife pouch. Asking $65.

8. Kizer Dropbear 154CM. First owner, never used/cut/carry. LNIB condition. Sat with the Escort in a display its whole time with me. No wear to note. Comes with original box and goodies. Asking $100.

9. Original Goat Hogue Deka SKNY Scales – MM1 – Aluminum In the Buff. Used with visible wear where clip meets the scale, as well as stains on the show side scale. These were carried and used but are in operational condition. Aluminum backspacer included. Asking $30. SOLD PF

10. Original Goat Hogue Deka STOCKY Scales – MM1 – Aluminum Grey (I think). Used but not carried. This one is in much better condition with very little visible wear noted. I’m pretty sure this is their standard Stone Grey color option. Also comes with aluminum backspacer. Asking $50.

11. Original Goat AD20.5 STOCKY Scales w/ Small Pivot – MM1 – Aluminum In the Buff. Used with some minor wear on both clip and show side. Still in great operational condition. Will come with hardware and other spare parts. Aluminum backspacer included. Asking $50. SOLD SOLD SOLD

Thanks for looking!

20 year old female Not a native english speaker I have been struggling with the beggining of 2024. So I moved to a new town far away from home for law school and I haven't found any friends here. It's a small town full of university students and fun and parties and activities and I've tried all that but I still haven't found my people. I have a couple of people I hang out with but tbh we have absolutley nothing in common and we are not the right fit as friends at all(also I'm pretty sure one of them is a pathological liar). On top of that, I lost my best friend in january, she cut contact with me after some mistakes I have made(not being there for her enough and kind of disappearing sometimes). Now she reappeared into my life I saw her again at easter(eastern orthodox) but I still find it hard to rekindle the friendship. Plus, she has a new best friend now, and seems to be moving on from me. My dad also cut contact with me. We've had a messy relationship all throughout my life but he is my dad and I need him. I genuinely don't think I deserve the blame there. He calls me every few months, last time he came over at my place in my hometown and belittled me a lot, saying I deserve bad things. He also informed that my little sister who is the most important person in the world for me is mad at me and doesn't wanna see me(8 years old, half sister same dad) bc I hurt her. Which is very true bc of some shit that went down during february when I visited home again. I found out she was very active/addicted on many social media platforms so I informed her parents of the situation but they refused to do anything about it, so I took it upon myself to talk to her. I was trying to be easy at her but I think that taking on that parenting role as her sister(we are very close) was kind od traumatising for her.
The guilt is eating me away.
I like my classes at law school and I was always the perfect and intelligent student, but with everything going on I find it so hard to just... focus and study? It's like I have given up on uni and life in general. I feel so alone.
But my most important problem is a complete loss of self. I don't know who I am anymore, I don't feel like myself, I can't do the things I used to do anymore(read, write, hang out with my friends) or be with the people that make me feel like me(also around christmas the rest of my friend group ditched me). I despise who I am and I get so incredibly jealous of other people
And also a loss of girlhood. This is going to sound completely weird but tonight I was talking to my bf(25M) who is incredible btw, idk what i would without him on the phone and I could hear his sister who has having a sleepover in the other room and just... hearing girls being girls, having fun and laughing... I just... I miss that so much... I miss my best friend and my old self and I hate myself for hurting her... I'm starting therapy on monday so that might help I can't sleep, all I do is cry. Is this what the university life is supposed to be like?

This time every year (before covid) would be the ramping up of E3 hype. What surprises are coming? Who will win? Will Nintendo ever talk about the vitality sensor again?
Without e3 I am a bit nostalgic for the discourse that used to accompany early summer gaming, so I want to see if we can do a bit of it here.
The reality of gaming is this: ”Shrinkflation” started in gaming and we never talked about it. For years, we paid $60 for games that reused assets, gave us less, and delivered far less at launch than what we paid for in the past. It’s become so rare that a game out delivers its price tag that when it happens, it’s instantly in GOTY talks and the game awards wants at least 5 segments dedicated to it. Sadly, in the current state of the world and cost of living, gaming has become a luxury for some and the industry is having to scale in according with the lack of wallet share left to spend on non essentials. I don’t foresee how this gets any better because greed and the almighty drive control the highest level of governance and when it comes down to spending $10 on a battle pass or $10 on a load of bread and lunch meat, we can never fault someone for doing what they must. That example is exactly why gaming has become a luxury, what we used to get for $60 in a game is now $70 for a game plus $10-$30 in battle passes or dlc. What you used to get for $60 at the grocery story is likely double that now.
If E3 2024 was on roughly 6 weeks, the equation on my mind would be: What can the big 3 do to win your limited dollars? Here is my thoughts…
PlayStation - the console war is dead. Xbox has had to overspend to even remain relevant and that is because for years now Sony has delivered MUST play titles that appeal to a variety of gamers. Most are first party but some third party titles have helped, whether it’s Spiderman, Helldivers 2, Final Fantasy, or Ratchet and Clank, the Sony seal means that you are getting an experience worth your time invested. The decision to create the portal was Sony learning from their past hubris and acknowledging that catering to gamers needs and lifestyle is a winning strategy. What does Sony do next? Keep it up. Deliver more games, continues to win the critical argument over must play titles, and as media expands and Sony can branch out there, the chance to be the logical “in” point for new gamers is wide open for PlayStation.
Nintendo - the switch has been a success and with the successor around the corner, Nintendo has a chance to right a critical wrong. Add more power to the console and really embrace the 3rd party competition for gamers. From the Wii, even to the WiiU, to the switch, Nintendos winning strategy is innovate, excellent first party titles, and be the family console. These are all still critical for Nintendo to stake claim in the future but moving forward it’s time for Nintendo to evolve their first party. Pokémon is a classic but it’s time that pokemon takes the next step with polish, difficulty options, and replay value. Mario kart and Smash really provided best in class gaming on the switch and the next iterations of both should do no different. Even if smash is something like ultimate X with all content in one package, there are some lay ups for Nintendo to make sure year 1 of the new console has some clear wins. The real equation for Nintendo is whether they invest in online to stop being an after thought. Don’t twist my arm but if the first year of the new console ended with a rare remake of Diddy Kong Racing or BanjoKazooie3… well we can only wish so much
Xbox - rare is it that you could see so many public failures without heads rolling at the top of the corporation. Xbox really has to deliver on game in the next 3 years or they should no longer be in this depiction. Xbox has one future at this point and it’s game pass. Game pass as an option on all consoles and PCs should be the topic of discussion. It might be time to think of Xbox in the past tense and start calling it Microsoft games… because games and game pass are the only real options without some sort of world altering changes at Xbox. So what so they do? Simple, stop publishing shit game and using the excuse that it went on game pass so people didn’t technically buy it. Just like marvel, the only path forward is to find the level of quality with the releases from a past era and earn back the trust of gamers. If not, big box retailers just got ahead of the curve by removing physical media of Xbox because it should not exist much longer. Microsoft has a bottom line to protect plain and simple. If the winning strategy is for PlayStation users to be able to play Halo on game pass on their PS5, make sure it’s through game pass. We are past the point of asking when it gets better for Xbox and the real question might be does it get better?
Gone are the days of E3 hype, gone are the days of I am Reggie with Nintendo… now are the days of… I want to hear from you about things.
Cheers, have a good weekend all.

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