So, I've been having a pretty good time with Trials the past few weeks, I've been lucky enough to make it to the Lighthouse all 4 weekends since it came back, the first 2 with DBOers and the last 2 (including yesterday) mostly solo-queuing after the Flawless pool matchmaking had been enabled.

Actually, yesterday I was 2 games into a card and had a guy invite me after the game. I had been impressed with a couple of flanks he pulled off so I joined. Tried to talk to him, but no response, although I could hear some noise in the background. We play a game, he doesn't do quite as well but we win so I figure I'll play out the string. Then, he invites another random guy (not a guy we had just played with). Still no voice, and as we are loading into the next game I decide to look them up on Trials report. Uh...not the best. My original teammate is okay, but the new guy has less than a 0.5 K/D in lifetime Crucible. Okay well, once again, I figure I'll just see how it goes. Well, despite a few round hiccups here and there, we end up winning the next 7 games in a row to get both me, the original guy, and the new guy to the Lighthouse. I was actually pretty impressed with their strategy - they would mostly hang out toward the outside of the map, wait for me to start some sort of engagement, and then flank or crash in together. The low K/D guy even clutched a few rounds with his bow! After getting our Lighthouse rewards I got on the mic and said goodnight and thanks for playing, and he responded with a thanks. Still never heard the original guy.

Long story short, getting to the Lighthouse is pretty achievable right now, and well, I only need 1 more "carry" of someone who has never been there to get that Triumph so...if you see me playing solo Sunday or Monday and want to give it a try, shoot me a message.

Some fun videos from the past two weeks after the long story:

One good grenade solves a lot of problems:

My Lighthouse clinching round from last week - nothing super special, but just a fun display of me trying really hard to win a round:

How not to attack someone 1v3:

The power of bottom tree Nightstalker:

and a bonus non-Trials similar set of shots with some DBOers:

Also, just so you know, things don't always work out:

My original teammate is okay, but the new guy has less than a 0.5 K/D in lifetime Crucible. Okay well, once again, I figure I'll just see how it goes. Well, despite a few round hiccups here and there, we end up winning the next 7 games in a row to get both me, the original guy, and the new guy to the Lighthouse. I was actually pretty impressed with their strategy - they would mostly hang out toward the outside of the map, wait for me to start some sort of engagement, and then flank or crash in together. The low K/D guy even clutched a few rounds with his bow!

I have trained you well! :D ;D :P lol Glad to see you've succeeded so wel...

Long story short, getting to the Lighthouse is pretty achievable right now, and well, I only need 1 more "carry" of someone who has never been there to get that Triumph so...if you see me playing solo Sunday or Monday and want to give it a try, shoot me a message.

This is that message. Hi. How ya doin'?

Nah, I wouldn't wish that on you. I don't know if even your backpack is big enough.

Another fun one from last night. After Korny abandoned us, Insane and I were left 2v3 with the other team having 2 powerful supers. Let's see how it plays out:

Another fun one from last night. After Korny abandoned us, Insane and I were left 2v3 with the other team having 2 powerful supers. Let's see how it plays out:

What fusion is that?

It's a Techeun Force from Last Wish, with Under Pressure and Rangefinder. It's an Adaptive Frame, which means it has a slightly lower charge time than the Main Ingredient everyone is trying to use these days. I had it in my vault for a long time, so I thought I'd try it out after the fusion changes, and the results have been pretty good.

Raise your hand if you've been abandoned by Korny.

This was game 8 of a mercy card for me. Started out with two rounds that were pretty even. The clip starts at round 3, and I figured that was it for my card. My playing is not great, but it worked out. Insane and I eventually rally and prolong the game enough to get Korny back in after a hard reset. At that point the game was in the bag.

First trip to the lighthouse. Insane could have joined me if he'd had faith in us, but he was riding the gravy train of increased rewards on an already completed [flawed] card the whole time. I didn't realize that was making our matches harder the whole time...

- No text -

- No text -

Korny has always come through for me.

Well, as you may have noticed with all this NAME DROPPING...

Squid: After Korny abandoned us, Insane and I were left 2v3 with the other team having 2 powerful supers.

Robot: Insane and I eventually rally and prolong the game enough to get Korny back in after a hard reset. At that point the game was in the bag.

...INSANEdrive (that's ME!:D)... with the assistance of Korny (when he was there) and a mix of Squid, Wu, and Cyberized Poultry had a VERY eventful (and LUCRATIVE) evening. Had I played my cards differently, I would have gone to the Light House (possibly) Twice. To say, "I can't believe I just said that" is an understatement.

Anywho, things happened and clipped as much as I could.

These are those clips.

And then there is THIS moment with Squid from my perspective.

- - - After this Squid had to depart, and WU joined up! - - -

Team: Holy Crap! We're Done Already?
INSANEdrive: *Odd Snarling Noises*

You see? Says so right here: "INSANEdrive can not be defeated".

So... about those last 4 clips. I know I know, those weren't games. More... Doom. Doomy doom doom, yes? Would you say that is an apt description? More than that when one random wimped out and bailed. It's due to the 3v2 nature that I do feel a touch of guilt, especially with the accolades I ended up getting. Then again, seeing as the speed of defeats didn't really change too much with the loss of one team member, it was probably fairer to say that it was really 3v2 the entire time.

So shoot, this PvE guy is take'n it. Holy crap I can't believe I actually had a flawless game of trails.

- - - After a time Wu joined up with others, and Robot Chicken joined up! - - -

No no, you don't understand. The screaming was robots thirst for the blood of his enemies.

Lighthouse!

That's a Wrap! Fun times y'all! :D

I'm having a great time!
I love the setup for Trials right now, from weapon metas to ability balance, it's honestly the best D2's ever been (even if it could still use some balance tweaks with certain fusion-based weapons).

Here's some of my clips from Monday:

I often can't hit a guy when he's right in front of me, but...

When I primed the grenade, I told Claude "Don't worry, it's over."

Speaking of "It's over", none of us even had time to fire a single shot:

On the flip side, having unlimited ammo has its perks:

Given my less-than-self-preserving playstyle, I don't end up in a lot of 'Last Guardian Standing' situations. That said, I always advise people to never back off, because it's always better when the enemy hasn't had a chance to coordinate against you.

See that botched grenade launcher round in the last clip? I do those quite a lot, actually:

Also, I love this moment where the enemy Warlock saw a flash of hope as his Nova Bomb charged:

So thanks to Insane's greed cup overflowing (TWICE!), I was unable to finish my Safe Harbor Triumph (assist another player in reaching the Lighthouse for the first time ever) that I need for the Flawless Seal. Who wants to help me get that last one? :P

So thanks to Insane's greed cup overflowing (TWICE!), I was unable to finish my Safe Harbor Triumph (assist another player in reaching the Lighthouse for the first time ever) that I need for the Flawless Seal. Who wants to help me get that last one? :P

I already told you we’re playing this weekend. We can try Friday or Saturday, then just wait until Monday when it’s apparently a cake walk.

So thanks to Insane's greed cup overflowing (TWICE!), I was unable to finish my Safe Harbor Triumph (assist another player in reaching the Lighthouse for the first time ever) that I need for the Flawless Seal. Who wants to help me get that last one? :P

Not Greed. Logic. I don't use really Sniper Rifles (the weapon of that week), I use Bows. I had a choice; go flawless and get a weapon I wasn't going to use anyway, or keep my flawed 7 and LET IT Raiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin.

I mean... Duh. Not the hardest choice I've ever made.

So thanks to Insane's greed cup overflowing (TWICE!), I was unable to finish my Safe Harbor Triumph (assist another player in reaching the Lighthouse for the first time ever) that I need for the Flawless Seal. Who wants to help me get that last one? :P

I already told you we’re playing this weekend. We can try Friday or Saturday, then just wait until Monday when it’s apparently a cake walk.

I, too, as well, would be interested. Could do late Friday night, or Saturday night.

So thanks to Insane's greed cup overflowing (TWICE!), I was unable to finish my Safe Harbor Triumph (assist another player in reaching the Lighthouse for the first time ever) that I need for the Flawless Seal. Who wants to help me get that last one? :P

I already told you we’re playing this weekend. We can try Friday or Saturday, then just wait until Monday when it’s apparently a cake walk.

I, too, as well, would be interested. Could do late Friday night, or Saturday night.

Either works for me. I’ll be around, just text me if I’m not online.

Boy let me tell ya, Sunday Trials is a whole different beast than Monday Trials (and Sunday and Monday Trials are way different than Jerry!)...
Still, it was a fairly fun night with a continued diverse assortment of weapons out on the field (and this time I didn't run Warlock or Fighting Lion!).

I didn't think to capture too may clips though, and XBL has been really wonky this past month about uploading clips in general... but here's two!

The Uzumi RR4 was my main weapon this weekend, as Bannerfall is just way too open for the Lion. If you're like me, and you haven't been able to find a sniper that you mesh with in D2, I recommend giving that one a whirl (it's Nightfall loot sometimes!), it's been a revelation for me in Crucible.

And the final Lighthouse match was so good and tense throughout, I totally forgot to quit halfway through it! Complete with a totally explosive finale:

I panicked and totally botched turning the enemy's Squall into my own before I faced that Golden Gun. Fortunately, if Squid was going to land one good Shadowshot that night, I'm glad he chose that round. :P
And there's something poetic about F000ch being the last man standing with an unused Super as he rode off towards the sunset for the Lighthouse.

Make fun of my Super use (or lack thereof) if you must. I’ll just submit this for consideration.