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The entire Spiral Knights design guidelines document.

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Nuclocke Challenge: Final Day

It's kind of sure all and it's nice to commit to something. You hear a lot about folks starting a Nuzlocke run but far fewer finishing.

It's time for the final showdown. Let's see what I'm made of...

So Leon has a solid team but it also seems like some of his entries are stall tactics to wear you down so his Charizard can sweep you easier. Dragapult was stout but hardly a match for Umi my Froslass, Aegislash however is and forever will always be a bit of a stall pokemon to me. It's defensive capabilities are strong and it's a good defender for when you need to buy yourself a time for clean switches or cause the enemy to burn out their supply of moves. I struggled a little here but down it went.

Hazardous, Rhyperion, and Rillboom weren't that difficult but Haxorus did manage to do some damage and I lost Delmise in the shuffle. The problem came when I had to face down his Charizard... the Mach truck with a nasty surprise up his sleeve.

So... it's not just good enough to be strong in a game like Pokemon, sometimes you also need to be fast and his Charizard was faster. I needed a clean switch to ensure I could take the hits so I opted to make a sacrifice play. Umi, went down, that one stung because she had been in the team for so long and I'd had her since very early on... I slipped up and it cost me Duraladon due to his massive fire weakness... okay two down wasn't the end but I had already lost Delmise so that made 3... Duraladon didn't get sacrificed in vain however because it was a tactic to stall out his Dynamax. It almost worked but again... his Charizard happened to be faster than my Coalosal and that nasty surprise... heh... it knows Solar Beam...

Down to 2... Corviknight who had a massive fire weakness and Bruce my one panda wrecking ball...

Made the call... Bruce into battle... this is it... it's do or die...

Fists up... BOOM💥 Dynamax and down goes Charizard... it's over. I watch him stop flapping his wings and I can hardly belive it... I won right at the wire. Bruce my Pangoro who has been with me from the start... the one who pulled me out of the fire so many times came through right at the clinch. It was over and now the cinematic play in my head seeing my little character there holding up that big stong fist to the sky. We did it buddy... we're the new Galar Champions.

I watched the in-game cinematic roll and a wave of relief hits me... it's over. I did it. A challenge I poorly prepared for, and learned much along the way, was finally done. So many casualties, and lessons learned along the way.

I have a takeaway from this that I want to share despite that I doubt many will read this or car. It's hard to set your feet down a challenging path. You will encounter many hardships in life but you should never give up. This game run was a reminder and I'm sure I got a bit more philosophical and deep than was warranted but that's the storyteller in me.

Whatever path you choose to follow make sure you enjoy the journey and from me and my family, I want to thank anyone who took the time to relive this journey with me. I hope those of you who enjoy Pokemon and are looking for a unique way to experience the game do one of these challenges. Stay safe stay well, and stay strong friends

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Nuzlocke Challenge Day 16:

So occasionally Anime and game have this troupe where the villain was right there all along or he/she/it comes our of nowhere. Allow me to say I thought something was fishy with Chairman Rose from day 1 but in hindsight I respect that he has a convoluted goal with a somewhat admirable endgame in mind. I wanted to like him from the start and even after his reveal that he's essentially as close as we get to a bad guy in this game I do still like him. His steel type team felt appropriate, I personally envy his hair and style and he's not unlikable personality wise.

So... onward... Chairman thwarted by my team it's time to hit the rooftops for thr showdown with Eternetus. So a freaky Dragon/Poison legendary rearing its head to herald destruction and mayhem.... good times

The first round wasn't bad. I took some hefty hits but recovered well. The second round however I was glad Zacion and Zamazwnta were playing tank because I had horrible luck. Every hit I took was a critical that nearly wiped my team members. It got a bit dicy towards the end but Shield Dogo and Sword Dogo saved the day. With Eternetus safely in a pokeball and no way out I had only 1 obstacle left to complete the Nuzlock run.

Time for the showdown with Leon... take 2

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Nuzlocke Challenge Day 15:

The game does a great job of helping you feel like your rivals are people and that they have their own troubles. I personally loved Marnie and despite his linking nature and anime troupe personality, I like seeing Hop grow. He was crushed, completely but he still did his best and that spirit is something I can respect.

I respected the S*** out or him as I cleaned his clock for what happened earlier in the game. Of all people I'm reminded of Bakugo from My Hero Academia when he refuses to pull any punches at the UA Sports Festival. His logic is brutal but sound and oddly honorable "Holding back is a disservice to your opponent" if you do then you're limiting their potential and even your own.

Oddly philosophical for Anime and a Pokémon game. And Marinie, her eagerness to be the best to help put Spikemuth back on the map, to.be greater than her brother so he doesn't have to stand alone anymore, to me that was admirable. I liked the characters of this game, they felt believable and likeable.

Okay, okay, back to the face punching, and fire ball shooting Rabbits... Marnie wasn't that bad until we hit her Grimsnarl, gotta admit that little bugger is was stout and the Dark/Fairy typing tripped me up slightly.

Speaking of Fairy types, I actually rather liked the final showdown with Bede. It was closure both for the player and for the character. He was a little brat for most of it and it was refreshing that there was this ongoing theme of growth in how interpreted the game. It's something in life I've had a lot of trouble with so seeing characters in a game I enjoyed was fulfilling. Bede went down without much fuss, he's got a solid lineup but even unprepared for him I was able to knock.him back down a peg. No casualties but definitely no win without a few scratches. Hop, Marnie, and Bede all down for the count including the rematch with the Gym trainers and it's down to the wire. It's time to take on the metaphorical King of Galar...

And please tell me I'm not the only one who sees this whole King imagery they were going for with Leon

Oh wait..

Detour... looks like that whole missing a Villain from the main plot thing kinda just fixed itself...

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Nuzlocke Challenge Day 14:

Time flies and truthfully I didn't play this run day after day like the journal may indicate. Some days I took a break and there are gaps between days played vs. Days I write about. All total it's been near a month of work playing, grinding, logging the journey, and researching options and strategies for my team.

Now... some folks would say I've finished the run. All 8 badges and there it is, done deal. Personally I feel that wouldn't do so from the beginning I resolved to do this run to include all 8 badges, Victory Road and the Championship win/loss.

So picking up the pieces I did a bit of grinding and some final catches to round out my team before I locked it all down and went to the arena where I'd challenge Leon and the previous Gym leaders for the right to be Galar Champion 🏆.

On the way I added Abomasnow and Duraladon to the final roster along. Wild Area is locked out... I either have caught in all areas, missed the catch or got someone killed so at this point... there is no way to refill my ranks. After a bit of cinematic shenanigans and some rest It's go time

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Nuzlocke Challenge Day 13:

So I play very episodic escapades when I play. I think it adds to thr cinematic feel and deepens thr RP experience when you do a run like this. It's fun to put your own spin to things. I can't say that I'm scared to face Raihan but thr Dragon part of his gym does concern me just a smidgen. I still managed to keep Umi my Froslass alive and well this whole time. She's surprised me on more thsn one occasion and I think now is her time to shine.

Cinematic, blah blah Giant Pokemon running wild, Leon saves the Day as poof here ya go. On to main event Raihan vs Yours truly. Okay so I have to feel like they shafted Raihan's trainer challenge. It was legit just doubles battles against some forgettable gym minions. Kind of oldschool but I expected more. Still... I know it was practice trying to ready you for the bug showdown. Personally I'm not sweating this...

Duraladon was his star hitter and I can admit that it waa strong and Raihan definitely earns his place as a powerful rival to Leon. Dragons are tough, they always have been but like everyone they have weaknesses and with good planning and careful tactics they go down like anything else. Have to say now that it was worth it. Once again, no casualties and more challenging win because of the double battle mechanics but still a win. Dragon badge in hand its go time for the event... time for Victory road and the Championship.... Leon and the return of the 8 gym leaders to square off against the champions of the league

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Nuzlocke Challenge Day 12:

Taking a break and getting ready for Spikemuth Gym I backtracked and got some good all rounders from some of the last areas of the Wild Zone and it made me feel a bit more confident. I was looking forward to Spikemuth, Piers seems like a gym leader I could relate to because he seems to hate everyone and their bullsh** but is also kinda closet dad to everyone he cares about. That speaks to me honestly, I like him and his British Punk Rockef vibe hits me where I live. Enough about relatable trainers and more to the pocket monster face punching shenanigans..

One word... Pangoro. My Pangoro "Bruce" swept without breaking a sweat. The hardest part was the battle against Malamar but that was more a stop sign or a traffic light than an actual obstacle.

I have to day that reading the dex entry for Obsatgoon and Pangoro being rivals kind added that little touch of flavor and personality I was looking for. While Piers gym was by no means hard it was memorable. I liked his character, I love the theme for Spikemuth, the character design, and it was kind of refreshing to see that team Yell was basically just a lump of overzealous fans moreso than a half-assed crime syndicate. Lots of things I enjoyed here. Badge in hand it was go time for Raihan.

Beware... ahead there be Dragons....

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Nuzlocke Run day 11:

Chrishire and the journey there we're too terrible. I'll be honest it was a bit of cake walk that I needed after Hop cleaned my team's clock because of me being hasty and not realizing how glaringly obvious my fire weakness was. Gordy wasn't bad at all honestly. I sort of just want on autopilot because of how easy it was to exploit his weakness. Coalosal was challenging but nothing the crew couldn't handle. My Pangoro and my Corviknight are still my star players. Gym badge on hand it was time to get back on the road and get myself some new members to fill out the ranks and ready for the gym in Spikemuth. Along the way no casualties, but managed to get SUPER lucky and picked up Delmise a bad ass Ghost/Grass type with a powerful moveset and good compliment to my mostly power hitter based team. Spikemuth next, I'm looking forward to this. It's been a wild ride so far.

My takeaway thus far is that adding your own little taste of RP to a family simple format game can really make a huge impact on the experience.

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Nuzlocke Run: Day 10

Okay its go time with Opal and she scares me a lot less knowing that traditionally I' e done well against fairy types and their trainers all the way back when first I introduced back in Gen 6 ( X and Y). I enjoyed that touch of nostalgia and doing the Quizes for Opal reminded me a tad of Blane's Gym back in Red and Blue. She put up a solid fight but Purserker really mowed down most of her team quickly. Even her Gigantamax didn't pose much threat. I like the new Steel types in the game and I've found a surprisingly large number of the game's new entries are single type. Its refreshing and a call back to the simple days which I still love.

So enter cutscene and walk with Opal back to Hammerlocke and this is where things started off the rails again... not only did I lose a generous chunk of my reserves and team going into Balloonlea, I was about to lose more on my way out...

See it never dawned on me that Hop would be waiting to kick my ass with his Cinderace and my GLARINGLY OBVIOUS fire weakness... down goes Perserker, down goes Klang, down goes Sir'Fetchd and my poor Galvantula who was carrying my team so well... 4 of 6 casualties..

It was bad... I almost quit right then and there. I was fuming and it was time to regroup and hopefully get a better stride with the team.

So... hearts heavy we pressed onward... next Stop Chirshire and Gym #6

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Nuzlocke Challenge Day 9:

In the cliffs I did some heavy grinding with my team and I've had some additions along the way including Sir Fetch'd, and wild Meowth, Corvisquire evolved to Corviknight, and for the short time that I had ZigyStardust the ZigZagoon I had the good fortune to have Bruce in my part and so my little Pancham became the Mighty PANGORO! I felt good about this next area. I had a decent row of combatants for the Fighting Gym. I swept Bea's team like Kobra Kai swept Daniel's leg... cheap, quick, clean and easy.

Confidence restored and Gym 4 down... and then came the one I was fearing... Opal's Gym... the Fairy Gym was up next. So at this point we're off to the races again and it's on to Ballonlea for the Fairy badge. Along the way I discovered just how much I really love this area. Fey and dark fairy tale overtones, the glowing mushrooms in the forest... it's so far my favorite scenery in the game. En route I managed to snag a Polteagast and then flew back to the wild area to pick up some additional members for the wings. There I got Zinc the Klank and trained up Helga my Meowth into Perrserker. I had some steel types ready to dish out and annihilate Opal's gym but I still wasn't feeling 100% ready so I too a break and played with my team, cooked them lots of curry to raise their happiness, and all the while enjoying the game and some of its more subtle joys.

I had a lot going on during this time so it was challenging to stay focused and honestly it was nice to revisit the Wild Area and snag a few extras. I forgot in the last post that I snagged a Joltic and ground him up to a Galvantula. I seem have a serious problem keeping electric types alive in this run so its refreshing to have my little electric spider bug hanging out. He's really come in as a solid member of the team, he and Sir Fetch'd both are great so far and I feel better just having taken a bit of a break from the gyms until my confidence leveled back out.

Next up... Opal's going down

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Nuzlock challenge day 8:

I have been much more strategic in my approach this time. Next Gym is up ahead and my team is in good shape. It's time to grind up and see where the next leg of the journey leads

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Ariduka55  -  http://ariduka.deviantart.com  -  https://twitter.com/13033303  -  http://ariduka55.tumblr.com

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Nuzlocke Journey - Day 7: Here's a point where this challenge can really mess with you... around now is typically when your heavy hitters and your favorites start to shine and you begin picking up some of those iconic team members that stick with you... I got my hopes up and got my hands on an Axew, a Dragon! Yes!!! And once again... I got careless grinding.... the problem with a run like this is it starts to become very psychologically taxing once you start failing to keep your ranks up. Do I have backups and places to draw from? Yes... and yet somehow it's not reassuring because I know the gauntlet waiting ahead... I've learned my lesson.... I've lost too many good potential up and comers to carelessness. Its honestly a good life lesson... I got so obsessed with what I could have that I forgot to appreciate and nurture what I had correctly and patiently... and it cost me. This challenge reflects something interesting for me... it represents a sort of unimaginable and insurmountable odds that I face every day... life and art imitating one another I suppose.

This got really philosophical so let's end on a high note. This time I did things right... I got a Joltik from a new section of the wild area and he is not going to end up a casualty. In fact, I was cautious, patient and took great care with him... happy to say that Tesla my Joltik is now Tesla the Galvantula. It made me smile to see him evolve and while he may not be top teir, he's mine and I'm proud of him and the work I put into him.

As a side note those reading back over this probably are wondering why I'm having such a rough run and part of it comes down to carelessness early and overconfidence on the part of having played Pokemon for such a long time.

1. I stepped into Sword and Shield with NO prior knowledge of the game

2. I've restricted myself use of X-items which have been shown to be easily game breaking and I refuse to just over grind everone because not only can it be dangerous it also just feels like a cop out... anyone can crush someone who is 20+ levels below them... and that just doesn't feel like a victory to me

3. I'm a roleplayer (World of Darknesss, D&D, etc.) so I'm a bit invested into the roleplaying aspect of this RPG and making it kind of my own story... each loss is an ally and when they're gone they're just gone and traditionally I've never coped well with death so that resonates with me

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Nuzlocke Journey - Day 6:

A few things have happened since the last update including a hit of lucky break and some heartbreak along the way. I've learned that Dynamax is legitimately dangerous when used correctly and the game's AI pulls no punches. It feels appropriate considering it feels like this game is focused on the road to actually becoming a true champion.

I suffered another casualty along the journey, this one at hands of Milo, the first Gym leader. Cinder thr Vulpix is gone and the first gym badge down. I managed to pick up a Nuzleaf and through some good luck I had a leaf stone to get Shrifty.

So... right about now things started to get off the rails quickly. So the Nuzlocke challenge makes the threat of death scary for these runs. The initial instinct is to replenish your ranks so that you have the best odds to survive. I picked up a few other party members along my route to Hulbury for badge #2... and subsequently lost one or two members in the grind. A new route, new opportunities and then came my meeting with Galar Farfetch'd. This thing critically hit every time it swung and took out ZiggyStardust my Zig Zagoon. Then it almost wiped out two more members of the team. A loss but I got a power hitter along the way as I immediately put it into my party and it evolved in thr next battle. With a bit of grinding and some careful trips to the Pokemon Center all was well, then came my battle with the Water Gym. This one was pretty easy, Shrifty knew leaf blade so it was angry leaf samurai warpath all the way. I had my confidence back and all was well again. I had my run back or so I though...

Kabu.... the fire trainer.... Will O Wisp... burn is a NASTY status that while easy to fix can keep you on the ropes if you're not on your toes. This next loss surprised me. Kabu managed to KO my Drizzile, who by the way was both Dynamax'd and 6 levels higher. A burn and a lucky critical and my current star player was DOWN... he was dead. My first major loss, and let me tell you this one rang with me... it knocked my wind out.

It was up to Bruce my Pancham to finish this fight... looking at Kabu's huge fire Pokemon and my little Pancham, I used a Bulldoze and knocked him into the red. Bruce managed to Tank a solid hit from Kabu and went into the red himself. I knew I had the better speed and with that, I used Slash and sniped that kill for a win. Fire Badge, Gym #3 was a bittersweet win... I'm gonna survive this damn challenge... I'm gonna make it

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Nuzlocke Challenge - Day 4:

Of all the hitters to add to my team this little one was a happy accident. I looked away for two seconds to pet my dog and drink a cherry coke and SURPRISE! Umi the Snowrunt makes for an interesting addition to my lineup. Pretty sure I see a Froslass in my near future if all goes well... because I lucked out with a female Snowrunt. Now for a tiny bit of grinding and its go time for the first Gym battle

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Nuzlocke Journey Day 3 - survived making through another two areas and got to the other side or the Wild Area and in accordance with the rules I was able to pick up two new companions.

Meet Cinder thr Vulpix and Bruce the Pancham. Both pretty spiffy but gonna need to do a touch of grinding before I feel safe taking them into the front lines.

Side note... I find it ironic that I get a Vulpix to take the place of someone who died at the hands of a Vulpix. Is this you asking for redemption Cinder? Are you sorry for killing an innocent Yamper? I forgive you... now, let's go... its... started to rain and its getting in my eyes