Mechabellum - Precognition

[@Isvoor]

When I wake up in the early hours of a summer morning, the soft wind outside whispers, echoing across the sky: "Double the stats.... half the price...."

[@Drone_101]

"...can't say fairer than that...he's earned it."

[@Ron.xionzre]

Don’t think no one noticed the comic pop ups on the Rhino attacks. Editor drn is earning his paycheque.

[@Drone_101]

Hahaha, had to keep the Boink! animations from last game they were too much fun :D

[@gorkwobbler]

​@@Drone_101"Holy storm callers, Rhinoman!" -Phoenix, probably

[@LongtailedOne]

I love that editor drn is treating the past drn like a little brother, always bullying :D

[@Drone_101]

Yep, see him as a young upstart who should know better and needs to be reminded of his place when he messes up spectacularly on camera!

[@ianstandardYT]

I thought your advice about beginner/intermediate/master players before turn 4 was so insightful, and a useful way to think about progression, that I wished it was written out and bulleted! I think this episode more than any other feels inside-baseball and urgent. You're very excited to win this game, and you should be! It's the finals! My favorite videos feature ~even more~ basic commentary, like the role a free unit might fill when deciding. And I would have totally gotten WALLOPED misplaying those summon wasps. The rear fangs looked like crawlers to me so I would have totally dropped wasps on his wasps and see it be nullified. Well played and congrats!

[@Drone_101]

Cheer dude! Was happy we got such a clean close to the game, gave Editing DRN an early night last night :D

[@olegoleg258]

Awesome, another DRN match! You're my favourite intermediate player ❤

[@olegoleg258]

Wait, should I edit it to beginner now that he's chaffain't?

[@Drone_101]

I'll accept the title of 'Novice' as somewhere between Intermediate and Beginner :D

[@olegoleg258]

Damn, editing DRN be going hard here with the definitions from wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia

[@olegoleg258]

And of course the rhino edit lmao He died as he lived: feeding his enemy XP

[@Drone_101]

Mr Rhino bringing the pain train, one swing at a time! Boink!

[@CypherC300]

Good game. Surprised we haven't seen any sand worms in these videos since they came out.

[@Drone_101]

Thanks dude. I'll be honest when they came out I forced them almost every game to get a good feel for them and think they're a bit too niche for most of my games. I think of them as a bigger, riskier Rhino with a higher payoff if you can get them level 2+ with Absorption Module, Heavy Armor or Regen but otherwise they just die too quickly to units I often face like Scorpions, Phoenixes and Melting Points. I do use them in 2v2 and player Brawl quite a lot because there are bigger game deciding mobile beacon plays you can make with the larger maps. Maybe my opinion will change with time but I've been burned by underpowered new units quite a few times so don't tend to play them in tourney games in their first few weeks of existence.

[@danenobile4686]

Rhino was handing out those bonks like a champ, even giving them out when he was getting bonked himself. Why would I have to limit myself to such a small portion my vocabulary when I can accentuate and express my mental prowess by using the the extraordinary and limitless potential of a wide and knowledgeable vocabulary. On the topic of the game, countered at every corner, even in the close matches you still developed a new threat on the board. That was smart with the replicating Cralwers paired with the warp in Wasps. I would not have thought of that. Would have tried to them on the right side Stormcallers. Edits on point as always, commentary is beautiful, really loving the mix of it and the gameplay making these wonderful videos. Wishing you the best of luck and all the Sledgehammers!

[@Drone_101]

Hahaha, thanks dude! Sometimes fewer words is better though, there's definitely an art to eloquence and sometimes I throw myself into the deeper end of the obscure word pool unnecessarily. Blame reading Tolkien as a child, Pratchett as a teenager and GRRM as a young adult. I do love when I know the exact word for any give situation or moment though. Causing a kerfuffle with the combined flank approach was a lot of fun and think we Bamboozled his defence!

[@EIixir]

Editor DRN loving that Rhino!

[@Drone_101]

Boink! Boink! BOOM!

[@stoneymechabellum]

Seeing a lot of refinement with your edits. Top notch commentary as always. Happy that editor DRN is now a persistent outlet of humour. Keep it up!

[@Drone_101]

Thanks man! Gotta keep up with the competition :D

[@LividE101]

Me watching a DRN video: "Ah yes of course, how foolish of your opponent to neglect putting missiles in the corners to prevent your obvious wasp play after the wasp card was shown. And I cannot believe you'd forget to sell your level 3 rhino after all this time, feeding your opponent's fortress free levels! Such clear misplays!" Me actually playing the game: "So what if I simply put *another* two sets of tanks down. No I don't have anti-air. No my tanks have no techs. Yes my opponent has scorpions. I can't believe I keep losing!"

[@Drone_101]

A true connoisseur of high level gameplay has no need of actually playing there themselves, even just spotting and appreciating my mistakes is a very good sign! And as long as you're having fun, who's to say it's wrong playing techless tanks into Scorpions? If two aren't working, try four! If four aren't enough, you clearly need more!

[@Spinefist]

Not selling rhino ended up being big brain play, since oppo never leveled the fort, most of the xp was wasted.

[@Drone_101]

Think we got a touch lucky there :D

[@tastysnacks8094]

Nice second place! You make it look easy.

[@Drone_101]

Thanks Tasty, sometimes games just go well and you're in the zone and can read the lie of the land :D

[@alexckefob2117]

the guy in the 10th place - "OnlyFangs" lol. I love such nicknames, added this one to my collection :)

[@Drone_101]

He's a very good player! Plays a lot of 2v2 too :)

[@lazercamel]

Big fan of your content and commentary style. Thanks for the effort. I’ve looked around and don’t see (lots of content here) any strategic overview of core concepts or similar game mechanics. I’ve learned a lot from your individual game vids. Would you consider making a couple unifying compilation vids that cover a 101, 201, 301 of key game mechanics and strategy? Thanks again!

[@Drone_101]

Thanks! Yeah, it's something I've put a lot of thought into. Haven't really made many scripted videos, more just experiential ones where I bring folks along for the ride in a series of tournament games. I'm going to test out something new today with a patch notes run down video, talking through my thoughts and opinions on everything. Part of my problem is I know there are far better players than myself and I'm well aware of my weaknesses, so it feels a bit disingenuous to pretend I'm some all knowing fount of knowledge when I can't remember my plans from 30 seconds before after getting distracted by "Ooooooh shiny!" :D

[@lazercamel]

@@Drone_101so maybe just 101 and 201 then? Just watched the patch rundown. Helpful and level headed insight as usual. Appreciate the effort either way. Cheers!

[@acidxburn125]

Ok ok stop it I'm crying @ only 8:07 you broke me "why use few words when many will do" this has to be the new DRN rally call :) its my new ear worm.

[@Drone_101]

Hahaha, sorry not sorry! I know what I am, and what I am is a rambler in both senses of the word :D Journey before destination!

[@howiematey8784]

Love the comedic edits!

[@Drone_101]

Thanks dude - as long as it makes people smile I'll keep it going!

[@Kepals8766]

blud never dissapoints to roast his past self

[@Drone_101]

Only way to stay grounded when everyone is so nice to me! Have to be my own worst enemy.

[@mrtoestie2707]

Those days where the “Free Units” were actually all free was just awful. Super cool to see you’re still playing mechabellum. Those pointers you gave me about the general way to play this game really have helped culminate into me putting nearly 400 hours into the game and reaching an all time high mmr of barely over 1500.

[@Drone_101]

Hey nice one dude, we've probably crossed paths along the way then sometime, or will do in the future then! I flucuate between 1600 and 1900 on good days and bad days. Have struggled a little since the Fort nerfs because they are my favourite unit!

[@mrtoestie2707]

@@Drone_101 That 1600 point is quite the roadblock for me. You 1600+ guys are some tough nuts. Honestly it really feels like quite a tangible "rung" in the ladder.... and I can't grasp it xD

[@Drone_101]

@@mrtoestie2707 Don't worry I feel the exact same way about the 2k+ players :D

[@someaussiebloke4487]

its criminal how few views you have. non gamers could appreciate your commentary

[@Drone_101]

Cheers dude appreciate the sentiment! Numbers are meaningless though, I'm not looking for fame or riches, just enjoying the game and having fun making videos along the way :D

[@someaussiebloke4487]

@@Drone_101 fren never stop being you 👌

[@Drone_101]

@@someaussiebloke4487 You're the second person today to tell me that... I'm beginning to worry if my Mum calling me 'special' meant something else! :D

[@brettd4599]

Very well-made video

[@Drone_101]

Thanks dude!

[@cerieal]

11:21 thats a fun new word, I wish there were more opportunities to use it in everyday life.

[@Drone_101]

Haha, was just Editing DRN poking fun as Live DRN :D

[@G4Cidib]

I've been enjoying Phoenix and Mustangs in FFA. I've been practicing building armies that have complimentary speed values, birds and buggies are fast and ok vs both chaff and high hp, just make sure to grab phoenix range to get them behind ur stangs.

[@G4Cidib]

Stangs in general are very strong, they make up alot of backbones I see.

[@Drone_101]

It's funny, since the Forts and Crawlers lost a lot of HP suddenly the average board health pool went down so generalist reliable 'backline' dps units all got a noticable boost. Mustangs were already doing quite well before, now even though their classic bodyguard frontline Forts are weaker, they themselves feel stronger.

[@G4Cidib]

@@Drone_101 This is a very great point. I appreciate your perspective!

[@hendrikvandenberg]

Hi drn, love your vids, congrats on the tourney. can you give a short run down of how the xp works. My understanding is that lvl 1 = 1x cost xp, lvl2 3x cost xp, lvl3 = 5x cost xp? is this correct? And the other side of this, what determines the amount of xp required for a unit to level up? Thanks

[@Drone_101]

Spot on, that's almost exactly how the exp is earned, but it's 2xCost then multiplied by (2xLevel)-1. My understanding is half the exp goes to the unit that gets the killing blow, the other half is spread out evenly with all currently living units you have on the board - including the unit that got the coup de grace. So at the end of the round your last unit always gets 100% of the earnable EXP. EXP required to level depends on the unit and is individually tuned, I'm afraid to see all the values you'll have to check the Testing Grounds, a few I remember off the top of my head are Forts need 1600 exp to go from 1 to 2 and Vulcans need 2200 I think. It's a strange system and one I'd love to have a tinker with sometime with better info from player metrics at a variety of MMR snapshots but that's just a pipe dream for me :D

[@hendrikvandenberg]

Thank you ​@@Drone_101, this helps a lot. Let's go kill some spiders

[@zj6074]

By the grace of the Overlord captains above, Sakura never upgraded the fortress holding the damage item eating the rhino. It could have been at least level 3 by the last round to erase Mr. Rhino and stall the entire strong side, but 'twas not to be!

[@Drone_101]

Yeah, think we dodged a bullet there! Maybe he assumed I'd be selling the Rhino so any extra damage from the Fort would be wasted shooting chaff. Dunno!

[@BorisKashirin]

I think it is the first time i ever heard the word "succinct" and it sounded not as i imagined (learned English by reading books). It turned out in my head it is written "succunt" probably it is distinctive enough to never bother reading it to the end... yeah...

[@Drone_101]

Don't worry I'm sure there's loads of ways of saying words. And there's words I've only ever read myself so just have to take a wild stab at pronouncing them. If someone ever corrects your spoken English just say you were taught by a Yorkshire man one year, an Irishman the next and a Welshman after, all whilst staying in Scotland and living with a Geordie and not a single one of them ever agreed how to pronounce anything!

[@gregruppert2555]

no anti-air barrage was the issue here

[@Drone_101]

Yeah, left the door open for us to go all in on the Phoenixes which solved the problem of the Mustangs getting stuck on the tanks.

[@ebenmaynard7274]

What do you think about the new Tarantula? I watched Rat's video on them, and I'm not sure how I feel. Edit: oops, should've waited until the end of the video 😅

[@Drone_101]

All good man. I'm looking forward to it, new toys are always cool. They've got a tendancy to release units a little undertuned in the past and I normally spend the first week of their release hard forcing them every game I can and my MMR suffers but it's fun :D We'll see, hoping to do a patch notes video once things are out as fast as I can!

[@MasterSherwood001]

Funny that you complain about not selling the rhino because it's feeding xp while I'm complaining about the opponent not leveling up the fortress because it's wasting all the xp from the level 3 rhino it kills every round.

[@Drone_101]

Hahaha, two sides of the same infuriating coin I'm sure! :D

[@Coldsun609]

first, maybe? xD

[@Drone_101]

Haha, that was quick!

[@Coldsun609]

@@Drone_101 rather lucky, just reentered front page and there you were with a vid :D

[@Drone_101]

@@Coldsun609 On a video titled Precognition too... it's a sign!

[@Coldsun609]

@@Drone_101 that's way more true than you think xD