Not yet, I am afraid. There is a link to full recording of the Helm's Hold part, in the original description. There is no commentary yet. I have been thinking about getting a new headset for quite some time. My current one has poor mic quality. I am still learning many of things, while playing this amazing game. I am currently testing a Cleric 5/Bard4/Fighter 2. He already reached level 11, while still in chapter 1, before the Helm's Hold. I will record that part the same way I did here. If my character ends up dying, due to my mistakes, so be it. He has all the tools to survive the encounter without reloading, but a character is only as good as the pilot behind him and I can get sloppy at times...

Pacifist challenge can be approached 2-3 ways. You could focus on sustain items. Anything that provides increased max health, followed by heal received and shield received bonuses are welcome here. Someone like Ruhn could just keep getting bigger and bigger, with the right items/relics/skill and tank for 60 seconds. It also a good idea to have high and scaling spellpower on support heroes, such as Jalen, Rose or Elios. The more you have heroes like that, the longer you stay and tank. Another way is to get a lot of damage, usually ethereal in nature. There are quite a few ethereal comps that can scale forever and eventually kill the enemies before the timer, while with physical damage is way harder to do (unless you have the new shrop hero). It could be stacking ethereal through debuffs, such as burns or shocks (Zanmar), followed by a lot of attacks (psychic dagger with 30+ mana regen) or just ramping ethereal amplification directly. For example, if you can provide a lot scaling spellpower on your party, the Spectral Origin can provide ungodly amount of extra damage. A hybrid approach is to use a mix of the above approaches, but the damage part would just be there as healing, rather than being able to kill enemies before the timer hits.

Aye, some time ago I noticed that I reduced the time drastically, over the last 100+ runs. I used to frequently have 1h runs on average, but nowadays it is more like 45 min, maybe a little less. Usually when a run takes longer it means one or more of the following: I messed up my party somewhere (often by neglecting sustain), very tough choices (usually when a shop is very difficult to navigate through, without considering a lot of options available) or when I am experimenting. I cannot play the same builds forever. I am slowly expanding the pool of viable builds, but winning is still the main priority :)

Thanks, it means a lot to me, especially now. As far as the recorded games go, newer patch is just around the corner. You will find plenty of craziness there. I have been putting way too many things to do for later. I still want to do another commentary run (I have done one test with commentary using the demo), although my headset is literally falling apart :( I guess I new to find a suitable replacement first and/or consider getting a separate mic.

Spell power Emily tends to work best. Max mana spell power heirlooms can work nicely with her, while those that lower her attack speed should be avoided. Add a bit of ethereal amplification for more ethereal damage and one source of spellsteal for sustain. You can cast her ultimate ability through other means, such as any item/skill that refills mana or through the Speedrunner's Toy relic. The latte makes for some spicy games. In general, you do want relics/origins that will give huge boosts to all heroes, be it ethereal amplification, more spell power or spell steal. Higher attack speed and omni crit (higher crit chance required) can also be nice. I need to explore whether mana regen on Emily is viable, but probably not in most circumstances.

@@Shropling very thorough and well explained answer! Thanks :)

Spoiler: the newer version will debut within the next few days here. I finally I almost caught up with my most recent runs. I have played a lot of runs before, this year, which pushed the schedule back. I do keep all the runs played so far, from the current winstreak, as a separate playlist. The main difference is that the last ~20 runs on it do not have correct time stamps and the list of packages is not filled yet either. I tend to add them once or twice a day, sometimes with an extra comment on top. You can find the full playlist here, including the most recent runs, which are currently set to 'unlisted' due to the reasons mentioned above: kzbin.info/aero/PLKZclPq6sY8EiI2c2P6D2rjDU_zX1mD6L

Hi :) I indeed have all the steam achievements, since 26th of January. I posted all the challenges earlier this year and some in the year before (repeats from the beta branch of the game). I might also revisit some of them in future, if my Flamemaster Ascension winstreak ends. Feel free to ask and can drop a link below, in reply Cheers

I am glad to see you back :)

Indeed. Now that the pressure of reaching 100 winstreak is gone, each new run is one meme after another and/or tests more unusual builds ;)

Thanks, although I did mine for the achievement only. I don't enjoy endless gameplay in most games I play. That Azura was slightly different from the current one. The old used to scale with attack speed, which was an unintended interaction. This has been recently removed on her. Have fun with the game :D

@@Shropling oh i see , i havent had the chance to try a proper azura scaling yet. i did beat my record and reached floor 20 but so far if i dont have rose as healer i wont go far . i personally enjoy endless because when i have a good team and it pops off then the run is alrdy over so i like to push my limits with endless.

I can see the appeal. It is just that I can pretty much tell in advance what I can expect out of my party and when it will die. Seeing how far they can go, over and over again, until they die to enraging enemies or if the scaling overflows back to negative values. A long endless run also takes time of 3+ normal ascension runs. In other words, endless is not for me, but all the power to those who enjoy playing it :)

You bet it does :D

Well put. I was in a similar situation before, in the previous winstreak. Back then, my last hero standing was 1 hit away from death. Here it was not as bad, but it still looked horrible. The health bars are bit deceptive, when you have the Ruby Heart Relic. It increases max health periodically, but you still need to heal back to profit from it.

I am afraid I cannot agree with that. He has much more tools available to him, ever since the Mammoth update last year. While he does need a bit of gear to get started, his base stats are quite solid. Sadly, his base attack of 65 will get nerfed to 40 next patch. He was getting online a bit too fast. In general, Act 1 is rarely an issue. You can cruise through Act 1 with Attack Damage, Extra health and a little bit defense every time, including the impossible difficulty. The biggest worry is always the Bandits Event, which is very likely to appear as your first event. This is a feast or famine type of a fight. Savos is very consistent mid to late game. He can be built in so many ways. The core of the build is about getting as many mini bots active as possible. Mana regen and lower max mana take priority, followed by healing your own minions. Attack damage Savos is the easiest to build, especially with the Windcaller legendary. Suddenly, you start buff your party for 100+ per one mini bot. Spell damage seems to be favored by many, but I rarely pick enough SP heroes for it to be worth it. It can still do wonder with Origins though. Attack speed is the hardest one to build, due to what the game considers as the highest stats. Nevertheless, with enough attack speed bonuses, he will turn everyone into machines of destruction. I do feature Savos runs every now and then :)

I do have some 20+ summons comps waiting to be seen, hihi ;p

Indeed. It was another reminder for me to stop playing greedy. There are times when greed is warranted, such as fishing for an exponential growth item, in order to survive late game, but this was not needed here. I really should have gone to shop over the 1 more Elite. Jalen was not fully online, thus more of a bait. I kind of needed another off-tank, as Nox was ever so slightly lacking in his defense and health department. It makes getting one-two shoted by the boss more likely to occur, especially when you go for the trading blows gameplan.

You are correct. I do have an idea how to address it and test the waters. I believe there can be a middle ground between both silent runs and making a commentary every now and then (essentially posting both, but not necessarily for the same video).

The Surge unlock gives you access to Surge heroes, items and two challenges: Relic Squad and Impossible.

Hello there :) I used google translate, which was surprisingly good at getting your message across to me. Lets see if it can work the other way around: Le défi Hardcore peut être difficile, jusqu'à ce que vous vous familiarisiez avec le jeu. Je recommanderais de rendre vos héros aussi solides que possible. Ils auront besoin d’un renforcement de leurs défenses, de leur protection et de leurs soins. Vous aurez toujours besoin de juste assez de dégâts pour tuer l'ennemi à temps. Bonne chance! :-)

@@Shropling Hello, Since then I passed the flame master on the first try and had difficulty with the hardcore challenge but I just passed :) Enjoy!

Hi again, Well done! Flame Master on the first try is a big deal :) Hardcore can be tough, when you are not used to have your guys hard to kill. In a good run when everyone is protected, you might realize that not a single hero died. Hardcore has lowered difficulty level, meaning you can get away with more too :) Keep it up :)

Hello :) You need 3 different tablets, similar to how keys work in the Slay the Spire. In the Last Flame, you get to choose which fights can give you tablets upon winning the fight. You can find the tablet button on the right side of the menu, close to the button that starts combat. Tablets are available at all difficulties above the NOVICE one. Selecting a tablet boosts health of all enemies by 25%, for that fight only. First tablet can be obtained from any normal fight (the first three fights cannot be selected). Second tablet can be obtained from any Elite fight of your choice. Third tablet can be obtained from any Boss of the Act fight.

Soon there will be a commentary, in one of the future runs. Perhaps I can get it done this week. Thanks <3

Eagar still has decent stats... by the standards of Act 1. His scaling and itemization is awkward and his passive rarely provides much on him, other than consuming your Frosts. Apparently, Eagar is not auto attacking, while his ultimate axe is midair. I never cared much about his ulti, since I am replacing him with someone better anyway. In other words, you will always find someone who fills Eagar job better.

Max mana physical attacks tend to have low scaling on Vinrak. Your only big pay off is the Bone Knife and this item also needs some mana refill for it to stack up. On the other hand, max mana spell power ramps Vinrak's ulti, for both attack speed and ethereal damage amplification. It is much easier to stack SP through items and Relics (compare Mana Sword to Coral). Astral Sword skill, Emily's passive, also stacks with spell power. The same could said about the Darko Bow item and maybe something else. You can look up how a well stacked Vinrak can do in my last Passive Frenzy Video. He hit so many optimal SP synergies that he could shred enemies in seconds. link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3Tdk4iIf7eqeNUsi=-DjrjgcUpOMIbFUt Overall, one Heavy Club can be fine on Vinrak, but it just cannot compete with the Improvised Staff if both are available.

@@Shropling nice explanation thank you :)

Hi there :) A little change of pace... Yeah, I could do that. I have done the tiering before, on Discord. I suppose I could do it again and this time with the new items too. This could also be an opportunity to test out my mic, but no mic would have been faster and probably less likely to backfire. Sometimes you just want to take a brief look at something, similar to a review summed up to a single score, rather than read/listin to all the explanation behind it. What do you think?

Sometimes I do, but in general I feel more comfortable with Great Axes on him. Say I get the Demon Claw Relic later. With the Novice Axe Leeam would be at 8 max mana, but it is not as bad due to increased attack speed. However, with a single Heavy Mace the same Leeam turns into 10 max mana, which becomes a noticable slowdown. I rarely have room for mana regen or instant refill on Leeam.

I will, but before that can happen, I need to finish uploading the games I already recorded. I might post the commentary game out of order, but if do that, it would have to be in a different mode than the current Ascension.

Haha, thanks :) I need to finish the item section for the later acts. Nox was dealing ethereal damage through Queen's Sword. A classic combo of mine :)

Hey there :) I have done some tests today and the results were decent, as long as I was not breathing into my mic. Keep your eyes open and it might come true :)

@@Shropling Love it! Really missing some expert runs videos and yours seem great. I just cant watch it without commentary. Thanks bro. Will keep my eye out

Thanks :) The description is still not finished. The short summary at the bottom takes little time, but the rest is quite time consuming. In time, I will probably learn to type faster :)

I have a lot of experience with building Nox. His quick critical hits are great at killing enemies in Act 1. Future rewards dictate whether he will continue his physical streak later or not. He can still serve as a great off-tank later with lifesteal.

Giachi can be very strong with items. However, he is rarely a good pick for Act 1, unless you high rolled shop or something. I usually itemize him after my main tank is finished. The main tank might be less tanky in general, but the taunt skill is very valuable. Giachi is more of an off-tank, which is still great, but he will not save from situation which require a tank with taunt, for example, vs the Tomb Boss in Act 2. Giachi can be a bit of a plan 'b' for me, in case other main carries do not get their stuff.

I would not mind sharing hints on Discord or here. This game was the main reason I started using the former in the first place. While I am still a bit skeptical about Discord gating knowledge, which will be most likely lost in the future, Discord does have some useful purpose. I might have to revisit the commentary idea out of necessity. My initial description idea turned out to have a big fatal flaw. 5000 character limit is not enough to describe each run act by act

Attack speed on Alec is to proc his passive more often. He also works well with items like the Bloody Ring that care about attacking as often as possible. Alec always likes SP and at least some mana regen if available. Alec without mana regen is a bit too slow.

Thank you very much Sir! :) Right now I am working on first template, using one of the game as examples. It should visible tomorrow. There will be a breakdown by video chapter, description what I did each act, explaining some of the choices and a short summary at the bottom, that will include which strategies were used and their degree of power.

Thanks a lot, it means a lot to me :) There are a few more of us at the Discord. This is the only game that made me want to use it. Before I was vehemently against it, since I liked written form/message boards more, due to their more open nature. Flame Master is my main mode. There is one difficulty higher in the challenges, named the Impossible, but it is not as well balanced as Flame Master. I have never lost a single Impossible run yet. However, it does put a lot of burden on me and it limits the amounts of builds available. In future I plan to add subs or something similar. I am still working on my guide for this game. When I am finished with it, I can share/leave a link somewhere in the channel description or something :D

Thanks :) Yeah, literally 1-2 hit away from winning. I made a huge blunder, since I di not have a taunt hero. The plan was to let my DPS get hit by the Act 2 boss, in order to trigger brawler's Rage skill for 30 attack damage and 12% life steak. However, my dps hero did not get any defense upgrades, be it from level 3 and 5 or from items. Normally it would not matter much by that point. The skill would have been triggered and the boss aggro switched to my taunt... but there was no taunt, and thus my head turned into a puddle. It was still very, very close. If I did not pressed the tablet or do several other things, such as greedy waiting with forging a few lesser quality items, this would have been an easy victory :<

Thanks for the kind words :) I have done some test on baking already existing subtitles into a non related video and it worked. Granted, the subs were already synced, which, from what I gather, is the most time consuming aspect. My current priority is to write a guide for the game. Once it is finished, my friend, who is also a skilled player, will visualize it with his own video. A bit of a collaboration work, hehe :) As for now, I do help anyone interested on Discord, be it answering simple questions or guiding players step by step when they play on live. Feel free to join us :-) I have done all these challenges on my first try in the Beta branch at least twice each. You can find some in my older videos. I will revisit them again, once my ongoing winstreak at the Flame Master ends in the Early Access version (currently sitting at 25 wins in row there and with 0 losses). I did eventually bounce off StS, after over 400h spent into it. While it was entertaining in many ways, it had a fair share of annoyances, which I disliked. Meanwhile, here, in the Last Flame and over 870h later, I am still entertained by it. It clicked with me nearly instantly and every run is unique, even when you are using the same template builds. You can win nearly every run at the Flame Master difficulty and that gives me the feeling that I have agency over what happens, unlike guessing whether the card I need will appear or not in my next draw.

I am glad to hear. I am still torn about making subtitles. I am aware they would help in understanding the choices I make. Right now, if some is in dire need of assistance, I give them direct tips on the Discord of the game. In fact, I just finished guiding another happy soul to a crushing victory. Another part are written/video guides, but they are a work in progress.

The stars aligned. Anytime I pick the Patience Fruit and/or the Min/Max notes, I am aware that this exact scenario can happen. The recorded run featured 4 pay off Relics, when even 1 would have been very strong, yet alone all 4 (1 duplicate of another).

Haha, thanks again. I have had a big head start of 812 hours into the Beta Branch. My winrate there, at the Flame Master difficulty, was at 82%. This included the learning process. I went from an early score of 30 wins and 130 losses to 779 wins and 170 losses, at the same difficulty level. This means that once I understood key aspects of the game, I lost 40 games only. I also had two big winstreaks in beta branch and at the same difficulty. One was at 100 wins in row and another at 106 wins in row. All documented on the Discord of the game. As an extra, I spent 35h in the prologue version of the game. I found it refreshing, thanks to more limited resources. I even speedrun the Prologue and ended up 3rd place, at 3 min and 28 sec. You can find the video under my other submissions :)

@@Shropling Damn that's awesome! Those winstreaks and winrate are incredible. Reminds me a little of FTL, where the game seems very hard at first, but once you have the knowledge on what is good and how to play optimally, the best players can achieve almost 100% winrates. Shows a good game balance where playing and learning pays off :)

@@luka188 Well said. I Have played FTL a lot, especially at the Hard Difficulty. Some ships were easier to get going, like those that started with Hackin, but the basics were the same for many ships. I do watch FTL streamers, such as Holoshideim. FTL can be mastered to a point where you can play it without pausing. My reflexes are too slow for that and I generally prefer playing with a pause. Other cool roguelikes that might interest are: Into the Breach (same developers as FTL), Darkest Dungeon 1 (not as hard as many claim), Renowned Explorers with the more to Explore and other free expansions (DLCs in short), Boneraiser Minions, Just King, Slay the Spire (I don't remember if it was mentioned before in other comments) and a few others :)

@@Shropling Haha, I also watch Holoshideim, and my winrate on FTL hard became a lot better after seeing the master at work, still nowhere near 90% (Especially considering all ships), but before that on hard I lost 90% of runs, now it is more like 70% winrate, which I am happy with. FTL is still my favorite RL, and I've played all those others you mentioned as well, Slay the Spire one of my favorites too, but The Last Flame is just as fun. Maybe a little easier to master than those two, but many hours to be had. Great game :)

@@luka188 Sorry for the late reply. I checked my settings and yet it still does not display all messages I am receiving. I never tracked my winrate, but many non terrible ships seemed straightforward, even on Hard. Get shield to 2, pickup means to defeat others ships, be it teleport + clonebay (for auto drones and less micro in general), hacking and/or enough firepower to break enemy shields. Your winrate seems high, good job :) I do believe that both the Last flame and Renowned Explorers are a bit on the easier side, as long as you avoid greed and stay away from the Impossible difficulties, which are less fun in both titles. Hmm, if if you are familiar with all of those titles, than how about Urtuk the Desolation? Many mechanics of the game are not explained ingame, but once you master them, you can win every run even at the highest difficulty. It is also the default mode I play there, because not only enemies become stronger, but so is your starting roster :) Happy rogueliking.

It will be changed, once the competition is over... in a moment :)

@@Shropling nicely done though

<3