[2014] What happened this year to Rayque?

Several hours left for 2014, I (and the rest of the Rayque3 Staff) wish you a great 2015. For me, 2014 had some major milestones, but didn't feel as successful as previous years. As the tradition to every year on this blog, this post is a summary of what happened to me, Rayque.

[EMS] Eunwol Skill Link Level 2 GET!

Sup guys! Recently I managed to obtain my second level of the Eunwol Skill Link.
It gives 10% chance to survive an enemy hit that would've killed you - enabling you to ignore the death-and-respawn mechanic and immediately resume battle. This skill is rather useful during bosses like Root Abyss, Magnus and Suu, consider those boss battles often have instant or near-instant death moves.

Since I have 12 Skill Links already (maximum amount of transferable Skill Links), I had to replace my Xenon Skill Link for this one. As mentioned several times before, Skill Links that only increase damage is low priority for me, consider that's easier to get by just more funding, compared to other increases - such as Percentual Damage Reduction ignore, Critical Rate/Critical Damage and Status Resistance. As long as there's a maximum amount of transferable Skill Links, I wouldn't level these damage-increasing links until the cap is raised. This would make sure the damage loss, after swapping it with another link, being lower.

I've been actually curious about the mechanics of this Skill Link - so I tried another Easy Magnus solo. As you might remember from earlier this year, I managed to solo my first Easy Magnus while being inexperienced with the boss itself. I'm happy to say that I managed to defeat another Easy Magnus solo! It's actually quite a large improvement compared to the previous solo, but that's mostly because of this Skill Link. It saved me about three to five times - so there's still a lot of improvement left.

That's it for today. I'll see you guys tomorrow, where we have our annual summary of the year! I'm looking forward to it, see you then!

[YT] Donkey Kong 64 - All main bosses has reached 200.000 views!

Hi guys! Just before the end of the year, Donkey Kong 64 - All main bosses, has reached 200.000 views! This is the second Rayque3 Staff video that has reached 200.000 views, with our first being the Mario Party 7 - All Mini-Games video.

Early on next year, we expect the Super Smash Bros. Brawl - 100% Subspace Emissary and Kirby 64 The Crystal Shards - All main bosses videos to reach 100.000 views.

Our most recent video, the Kirby's Return to Dreamland - All Mini/Main/EX Bosses seems to have an interesting growth - having 1500 views within 5 weeks, is a high growth for our standards. It's also worth to note that the current generation of walkthroughs from Luxatus Patella (Croc 2, Toy Story 2, Dinosaur, Tarzan Action Game) also looks promising, taking over the top 125 of our most viewed videos a month!

That's it for today. I'll see you guys next post!

[EMS] Level 6 Cygnus Blessing GET!

Gosh... three blogposts in such a short time. Sorry for the overload guys! It's not something I'm used to either. I'm pretty sure the next blogpost will have to wait several days. If not, I'll just hold the post as a draft for a short while.

So just several minutes ago I've managed to level my Striker to 120 - this means I managed to obtain Level 6 Cygnus Blessing! This is currently the highest level we can get, consider Flame Wizard and Night Walker aren't revamped to this new system yet.

So... what's next? Consider I still have to work on my Eunwol to Level 120, I'll try to manage that later this week and presumably finish it next week.

At this moment, there is a maximum limit of Skill Links that you can link to one specific character. This means I have to prioritize of what I would use and what not. Long story short: all links that can be obtained with more funding (total damage, all stats) are in less priority than things that are harder to obtain (defence ignore, critical rate, %HP or other "odd" game mechanics). This is why I actually leave Skill Links like Xenon/Demon Avenger/Kanna at Level 1, because when I would have to substitute them with a more valuable Skill Link, the decrease in damage on my Hero will be less notable. I hope Nexon would consider to remove the maximum limit - I wouldn't be surprised if they either raised the limit or just entirely remove it - consider there's quite some demand from the community about removing it. We'll see in the future. If it happens, I'll be glad to raise these Skill Links to Level 2 eventually!

Off-topic: because Striker is a class that has Sharks as its signature - I couldn't resist equipping the entire Blue Mesoranger set, which is modelled after a shark! That's it for today, until next post!

[YT] 5.000.000 total upload views!

Whoo! Just a few hours ago, we hit 5.000.000 total upload views! Thanks for the great support guys, keep it up!

[Other] A wild Giovanni appeared!

Remember that one guy from that one video? Yeah, it's Giovanni!
If only he was a Level 7 Mii for Streetpass Quest...

[EMS] So, Eunwol came out...

And I have been so #@%ing original as I could ever be.
I won't start playing this one yet, since it's still day 1, every average low level map is just flooded with Eunwols everywhere.

[EMS] Level 5 Cygnus Blessing GET!

Hi guys! A few minutes ago, I managed to train my Wind Breaker to Level 120, which means I now have Level 5 Cygnus Blessing!

Cygnus Blessing, unlike most Link Skills, is dependent on more than one character.
For every Lv 70 for the following classes, you'll get one Skill Point in Cygnus Blessing:
- Soul Master
- Wind Breaker
- Striker
- Flame Wizard
- Night Walker

For every Lv 120, you'll get two Skill Points instead of one.

Every Skill Point actually gives 2,5% increase in Status & Elemental resistance. However, MapleStory doesn't round up these numbers, so having one point will increase only 2%, but having two will increase 5%.

Currently MapleStory Europe is in the You & I update (first part). This means we don't have Flame Wizard and Night Walker available to increase the Skill Link - thus the highest level possible for now is Lv 6. Existing Flame Wizards and Night Walkers don't have the possibility to increase this link until their respective revamps, which is during the second Cygnus Returns update, after You & I.

Eunwol (Shade) will be released in a few days. This will mean I'll level an Eunwol to Level 120 - as other classes, I'll take my time. I actually expect having my Striker Level 120 after my Eunwol. Hopefully I can get them both to Level 120 before the Flame Wizard & Night Walker revamps are released.

That's it for today. I'll see you guys next post!

[EMS] Level 206!

Hi guys! Earlier today I managed to reach Level 206. It has been a while since my last level up.

At first glance I expected to level up to 206 in a few weeks but recently we received a free Storm Growth Potion that increased my experience points by 20%. In fact, with the You & I update now in EMS, I've been hunting some Elite Bosses with a few friends - those hours at the Warrior Grounds location really helped a lot for gaining a bunch of experience!

I'll be hunting some more Elite Bosses the next months, so it'll probably be another recurring activity for a while. I'm also gaining some more Honor EXP for the next batch of resets for trying to get the Legendary Ability. Defeating the Kerberos boss from Veracent daily really helps with getting Honor EXP. I already have 60 resets ready, but I'll get more ready before I'll start resetting (I prefer to have a bunch of resets instead of immediately consuming them).

That's it for this one, until next post!

[YT] Behind the scenes - Single-Part-Videos

Footage from the Xenoblade Chronicles' final hour of its storyline

Hi guy! With the recent kick off for the Kirby's Return to Dreamland - All Mini/Main/EX Bosses video, I would love to talk about something that's not very frequently talked about on our Youtube channel. Let's take a look behind the scenes for creating Single-Part-Videos, shall we?

[EMS] Legendary Ability?

Dear reader, this blogpost is related to the following post(s):
-  [EMS] Legendary Ability GET!

In case you would be interested in more information, please check out those above. Thanks for reading!

Every reset costs 100 Honor EXP. Resetting may either rank up or de-rank your ability.
It took me months to reach this amount of Honor EXP. Months of preparation.
To reach Legendary Ability, you'll need to succeed the following chronological order:

[Rare] -> [Epic] -> [Unique] -> [Legendary]

You can't get Legendary if you have either Rare or Epic Ability. Even if you have Unique, it can easily drop back to Epic or even Rare... Do your maths for the amount of resets I've been through.

I won't give up that easily.

[EMS] Lania's Triple Lunch Box GET!

Sup guys! After approx 2 weeks of attending daily events, I finally managed myself obtaining the Lania's Triple Lunch Box. This permanent badge is part of the Delicious Lunch Event, an event that has been running since mid-November until this Tuesday (2nd of December 2014).

This event is based on leveling up a badge (equipment), in the form of a lunchbox. By looting various leftovers from any non-World Tour-based enemies, you can craft these leftovers in various consumable lunchboxes. Depending on what leftovers you have used and your luck, you can craft either horrible looking lunchboxes (like ones with icky green stuff that you musn't touch) or ones that might look delicious to eat. All of these consumables can be used for your own (for example, increasing experience rates for several minutes) - or they can be traded in at the Happy Picnic Ground event map.

You'll have to craft four consumable lunchboxes and trade them in at either Chief Stan or Lania, depending on what level your badge is. Depending on what type of lunchboxes you'll trade in, you'll have a variable percentage of convincing Chief Stan/Lania to enjoy your lunch. This percentage is presumably based on what lunchboxes you trade in (for example, horrible looking lunchboxes may wield low succession rates). Having them enjoying your lunch will upgrade your badge, having them hate it will trigger a battle between you and them, or having them just be "meh" about it will trigger nothing. Once you've reached the final badge Chief Stan can offer, Lania will offer a better deal if you would give the next lunchboxes to her (although you'll start with a very weak badge but it'll exponentially grow better the more you can upgrade it).

So, if you would have multiple icky lunchboxes, you'll might up ending getting hurt by the hostile picnic friends (and yes, they do hit a lot... - near 17k damage on my Level 205 Hero) - but they do drop some empty lunchboxes which you can trade in for any of the possible consumable lunchbox, depending on how many of these you own. Saving these up might increase your chance to win, because you can force "spawn" a good lunchbox in your inventory. During crafting you might end up with a "Random Lunchbox" (a lunchbox with a question mark in it), which might up the odds or totally screw you over.

Don't worry, there's more - the further you progressed in leveling your badge, the easier it might be to reach the next stage. So getting through the first stages at Chief Stan might take several days, but the last several upgrades from Lania might be done in no time. However, it'll be important to note that you'll probably need to start this event from day one... consider you can only turn in these lunches a few times per day (worst of all, the daily limit may vary per day). Unfortunately, crafting lunchboxes is limited per day as well, so there's not really a decent way of "cheating" yourself through this event by continuously trading in good lunchboxes by throwing the icky ones away.

That's it for this post. I'll see you again next post! Oh by the way...

The You & I update is speculated to be soon in MapleStory Europe... (although that speculation has been going on since the start of this year) - if you have been reading my blog for several years by now, you'll know what that means.

By then, I'll be trying to obtain either Decent Speed Infusion through Elite Monsters or obtaining a similar effect with the Inner Ability system. It'll all depend on if we either get the GMS or KMS You & I update, and which I can get the most opportunity or luck from (for example, I already have collected over 4500 Honor Medals in preparation for the Inner Ability revamp). I actually expect to have the Inner Ability version earlier, but time will tell.

[YT] 5000 Subs!

Hi guys! Just a few hours ago, we reached 5000 subscribers! This is yet another great milestone for the Rayque3 Staff.

Since the comeback of MechaRaptor (Luxatus Patella) in 2012, our Youtube channel experienced a strong growth in subscribers. His first walkthrough (Croc 2) for that comeback, received majorly positive feedback - that encouraged him to work on several new ones as well, such as the Toy Story 2, Dinosaurs and a revisit of the Tarzan Action Game walkthrough, which is still running today.

Unfortunately, we have experienced some major loss in subscribers too (as seen in the chart above). Youtube changed through the years. During the 9th of February 2012 and the 16th of June this year, they removed a ton of inactive Youtube accounts who weren't used for a long period (presumably years). Daily we see subscribers coming and leaving, and there's no shame for leaving. We feel you should subscribe us if you really like our content and want to support us.

Today, our growth in subscribers and views may perhaps not be as large as near the start of this year, but we're glad to see the current growth being strong and consistent compared to what we've achieved in the past. I'll be honest: it's easy to get spoiled by large numbers (such as our Mario Party 7 video), but imagine the amount of subscribers and viewers in a single room. It may not be 300.000 views a month anymore, but having consistent near 150.000 views a month is still amazingly a lot and surely something to be proud of. As our friends from Xnator often says to us: "Youtube channels may grow quickly and tend to lose growth, but there's always a chance for another skyrocket."

That's it for today! Be sure to check our Youtube's activity feed. Another part of the Tarzan Action Game walkthrough is coming soon! Until next post~

[EMS] So you wanted to play Kanna? (Randomness)

Yup, you're #%@ed.

Disclaimer: This blog is not responsible for any (plot) inconveniences, injury, anger, fan-stealing, starvation, disconnecting, bankrupting, privacy damage, back pain, love, magician-rivalry or bugs/glitches when owning Haku.

Just ignore this post. I have too much free time.

[YT] Mario Party 7 - All Mini-Games has reached 3.000.000 views!

Hi guys! Our most viewed video, Mario Party 7 - All Mini-Games, has just hit three million views!
It took only 19 months for this video to reach it, which is impressive for our standards! Despite its growth has been decreasing the past several months, we're still mindblown that this video had so much attention on Youtube.

In the first quarter of 2015, our Donkey Kong 64 - All main bosses video is expected to reach 200.000 views, Super Smash Bros. Brawl - 100% Subspace Emissary and Kirby 64 The Crystal Shards - All main bosses is expected to reach 100.000 views.

On top of that, we're planning and scheduling two new "Single-Part-Videos" within a year, so stay tuned! The first one is most likely to come within six months. It just all depends on my schedule. As mentioned before, these videos take a lot of time; some actually take months of preparations before the actual raw footage can be recorded. Rumors say that the next two scheduled "Single-Part-Videos" videos are actually hinted in a recent Rayque3 video...

That's it for today, until next post!

[Lego] Introduction to the "MK. series"

This blogpost has been moved to a new location.

[YT] 4.500.000 total upload views!

Yaaaaaaaay! We just hit 4,5m total upload views - thank you for all the support.
Most of our subscribers may have seen the following video, but we recently have released a new Channel video that replaces the High-Dex Hero Retroperspective.


Don't worry! The majority of the High-Dex Hero series is included - as well as the newer ones too! Lux and I have been wanting a new Channel video for a while... unfortunately it got postponed more than a year, but heck, it is here now.

That's it for today! Until next post.

[Lego] Borderlands 2 in Lego® - Constructor - Take 4! [Work in Progress]

Return back to Project Overview.

I'm still at it! Even though it's still a (unfinished) frame, it becomes more recognizable a day~

Hi guys! Time for another update on my Lego® Constructor - as you might've seen, there has been changed a lot. Most notable, the frame is getting into shape!

[Other] Mail's here!

Whoohoo! My Super Smash Bros 3DS just arrived one day before official release. Here's a picture of my current collection of Super Smash Bros games.

Unfortunately this will probably be the last Smash Bros I can join, since I've been slowly stepping aside from console games to concentrate my funds again on reaching my childhood dream, becoming a Lego® Product Designer. This will also mean that I probably won't purchase a Wii U or future consoles even though I really love Nintendo games - it's also to note that this will also influence the Nintendo-side of Rayque3 Staff videos - we'll unfortunately have to stick to prior to Wii U and 3DS. However, keep in mind, there's nothing wrong with classics either - and the success of several Rayque3 videos truely prove that!

I might not have been hyped for Smash Bros 4 as much as I usually was for Melee and Brawl, but that's purely due to not following Nintendo or any gaming news that often anymore (whereas I wish I still would). However, after seeing the gameplay footage and livestreams from the Japanese version, the pre-order was surely a no-brainer for me.

As mentioned in older Youtube videos before, I used to live in Japan in my childhood, hence the Japanese version of the original Smash Bros for the Nintendo 64. I do also own an American version of Smash Bros Brawl, due to having the opportunity for playing Brawl earlier.

That's it for today. I'll see you again next post!

[Lego] Work in Progress: STAR WARS™ Hailfire Droid - Take 4

Return back to Project Overview.

Hi guys! It has been a while since my last update (only) about my Hailfire Droid. There has been some improvements in the shape of the Hailfire Droid.

[EMS] 7 Years!

Hi guys! Today it's my 7th anniversary of playing MapleStory Europe!

Seven years ago, I created my Hero "Rayque" and I haven't quitted since that day. Nor I did create any other potential mains if I'd ever got bored from my Hero. Having calculated to have reached 10.000 hours of playtime at the start of this year, it's still increasing impressively.

Most people might wonder how the hell am I able to play my Hero for 7 years streak. There are two easy reasons why I managed to play this long: taking my sweet time and having fun. I believe that most gamers quit a game too often because they tend to rush things. With rushing I meant leveling, improving their damage too quickly or reaching the game's limit in several months. By rushing in the game you'll probably end up becoming bored soon enough.

And if you want to know - I'm not a person in MapleStory who logs in to sit in Henesys or Free Market all day. I actually dislike Henesys and Free Market, I only go there to meet friends or trading/browsing the community market. I just do other things.

You might remember from older posts on this blog that I manage to fill in my time pretty well with all kinds of activities in the game. I don't have a consistent path of activities I do every day. In fact, it actually changes every year. I've done over 3500 (!) quests on my Hero, I've obtained even the Crazy Hyena mount, Level 5 Soul Driver, completed Neo Tokyo, and many more. If I would click my "Completed Quests" tab MapleStory Europe crashes with a runtime error. Some of my Traits are almost Level 90 or already above it, and yet I don't even daily farm for them. I have done Party Quests like "Escape!" 80 times, "Kenta in Danger!" 156 times, "Dragon Rider" 257 times, and even "Resurrection of the Hob King" almost 800 times (includes approximated 200x 15 minutes and 583x 5 minutes each). I don't allow myself to become bored, and I genuinely find enjoyment in doing all kinds of things in MapleStory.

I think that you shouldn't limit yourself with damage craving and just sitting in Henesys/Free Market... there are a lot of things you can do that enables you years of fun on a single character. It really depends on what kind if person you are - I'm sure you'll know exactly how large MapleStory is and how much content there is available. It's more than you can do in a year, maybe not even two. A lot more. However, will you allow yourself to drop the feeling "I'm bored" or "Can't be activated" and start something you haven't done yet?

That's it for today guys. I'll see you again next post!

[EMS] Several Hero-related techniques that I don't see other Heroes use often

Hi guys! Tomorrow is my 7th (!) year of playing MapleStory Europe on my Hero, without any quits or ever having created other (new) main characters. I actually had the idea to write down in my blogpost of techniques that I use often but I rarely see other Heroes use them. I actually encourage other Heroes trying these out, because it may actually become highly useful during defeating large groups of monsters. With just several of these techniques I'm actually able to solo Alien Visitor PQ, as shown in this video. Below the jump break you can see a list of useful (and rather unknown) techniques that I recommend. Prepare for a long wall of text.

[EMS] Evolving System - Maximal upgraded!

Wow, it has actually been a while since my last blogpost about the Evolving System (more than a year ago). I haven't really been doing this feature that "actively" - only for several herb collecting for crafting.

At first, you start with an incomplete Evolving System. You'll start off with a small amount of maps available (five maps) and three available core (round and square-shaped) slots. Cores expand your Evolving experience, including increasing droprates, monster spawn or experience rates. If you also like change or get bored from the default design, you can alter the background music and/or design of the maps and monsters (at a limited and fixed group of choices though). By spending more time in Evolving System, you can find Evolving Coins, which act as a currency for enhancing the Evolving experience. To upgrade the world map with more places to visit (with four new maps), the main method is to obtain these are to find rare cores which unlocks it by completing a mission. The same thing applies to upgrading the available core slots - obtaining another three (round-shaped) slots will cost you 150 (!) coins, and obtaining the hexagonal-shaped slot (whereas the cores are pretty rare and powerful) costs you a whopping amount of 300 (!) Evolving Coins. So recently I managed to get the last bunch of coins to get the final missions for a maximal upgraded Evolving System!

Currently my fully upgraded Evolving System - having obtained all the available core slots after some hard (and often delayed) work. The core slots are the metal-looking square, round and hexagon shapes. As aforementioned, you only start off with three round and square-shaped slots. Unlocking the other three round and single hexagon-shaped slot really makes the bonuses interesting, however, is it worth the effort? I'm afraid that obtaining 450 Evolving Coins in MapleStory Europe takes either longer than you getting through early 4th job (since Evolving System is mainly for early 4th job) or longer than making the "late" bonuses sufficient to outspeed regular grind. Keep in mind that you can only pick one core-colour per slot, so it's unfortunate that you can't stack multiple experience cores. Also, obtaining the 450 Evolving Coins really takes a lot of time and dedication, so it's not also really in reach for most players (mentally).

Unfortunately, in MapleStory Europe, this system is not as powerful as it is in MapleStory Korea. Hence why I really slowly upgraded it on my main. There is still a lot more (in my opinion) interesting features or goals for me to achieve in this game. Evolving System is pretty powerful for early 4th job levels in most versions, however, as noted in my Angelic Buster Skill Link Level 2 post, with World Tours such as Singapore and Veracent (in combination with the right set-up) this kinda becomes obsolete for training...

In MapleStory Europe's Evolving System, Link 3 is really the best map to train, if you are in Evolving System. However, Hero's reach is rather limited, and since most Heroes can't really make good use of their skills, flying monsters can be hard to reach, even if the (re)spawn is pretty high for this game standards. Not to mention that, even though I'm able to solo Alien Visitor PQ as a Hero, increasing the experience (system-wise and monster-wise) isn't really that sufficient compared to the other available maps for any level. I'm afraid that's one of the reasons why Evolving System isn't that popular here compared to other versions. Another reason is probably the time- & daily limit.
Currently in MapleStory Korea these limits even became worse because in most versions without Singapore/Veracent it's considered too powerful for (early) 4th job.

It has to be noted that when it just got released, it surely was a good option. But with all the new available maps, new skills and in-game tools (not including the current nerfs to this feature and the ones yet to come), it really lost its shine. One of the only reasons at my level to go here is for Shadow Cygnus. But since already a large group of players in our version already cover this market, the price has decreased quickly (from bills to mills), making the profit feel like more an extra instead of a major income.

I'd love to see some major improvements, on the level Nexon improved almost all Party Quests, since I find that this system can have much more potential than it (already) has. That's it for today - until next post!

[EMS] Level 205!

[EMS] Angelic Buster Skill Link Level 2 GET!

Well, that was rather unexpected, even for me. Just shortly after I managed to reach my Luminous on Level 120, I've decided to work on my Angelic Buster.

It was already near Level 86 before I stopped training on it. However, my old friend & guildmember Kasukay, was working on his new alternative character (a Kanna). He actually gave me the idea to train together to Level 120, so that he could manage to speed up his training to a higher level and get my Level 2 Skill Link significantly earlier.

In MapleStory Europe we are lucky to have a majority of the World Tour content. For most people it might seem like a dull filler, but there are some real exceptions. For example, Zipangu actually has an impressive possibility of loot (but as you know from my Ribgol's origin, it has rather harsh droprates for MapleStory's standards), Singapore & Malaysia has a few impressive maps to train at, and Veracent has a few exceptional (broken) maps and pretty good loot for all players (unfunded and majorly funded) too. Let's not even forget about the version exclusive classes, which are for most people rather weak - however in my view some exclusive classes are even better designed than the current majority of the newer classes (I'm especially looking at you, Hayato).

Some trainingspots in these World Tours are actually pretty damn good to go through third and fourth job. For the versions who have Singapore with Mysterious Path 3: this map is probably in my view one of the best maps to train due to the spawn. You can even train there pretty well even if you are Level 110 (the spawn outwins the experience over time compared to standard maps). However, utilizing Kishin Shoukan (an unique skill from Kanna to increase the spawn and respawn of a map, similar to having multiple people in the same map but much more effective) in this Veracent map is beyond what I'm used to from almost 7 years (non-stop!) of MapleStory Europe (and I even dare to include having experienced 21x EXP rate to this matter).

Earlier today, before I got the Skill Link. Consider I partied with my friend's Kanna, utilizing Kishin Shoukan. This is only HALF of the map you see on screen. One of Veracent's best maps, and possibly one of the best maps in the game for early 4th job if you can one hit kill these enemies. Both of these enemies have about 100.000 HP. The small enemies on top, called "Dark Oberon", actually use the infamous Super Knockback, so make sure a class with enough Power Stance fights them unless you can one hit kill them or kill them out of their range. It was impossible for me to keep up with the respawn, since Kasukay was defeating enemies on the left side of the map (see the orange dot on the mini map on the top left). It'll even be unlikely for an early 4th job Hayato or Luminous (GMS-version) to keep up with this massive (re)spawn.

With only having 1x experience rate, we zoomed through Level 110 to 120 in just a few hours. The same thing can be applied to going through Level 80 to 110 in Mysterious Path 3. Probably would've taken about twice the time if I did it on my own as an (inexperienced) Angelic Buster, until I would reach 4th job to max its skill "Affinity Heart IV". Nevertheless, I would probably have reached Level 120 on my own before midnight as well, however training with friends you know for several years in the game really makes it a lot less tedious and it even makes it much more fun! Let's get back to the skill upgrade, shall we?

"Terms & Conditions" has been improved by 15%. The Level 1 version gives 30% damage for 10 seconds, and the Level 2 gives 45% damage for 10 seconds. Both versions share the same cooldown, a fair 90 seconds.

This upgraded Skill Link will surely come useful - it greatly increases my burst damage. Currently I can stack multiple short buffs that greatly increases my damage, although with the skills having a respective cooldown for it. This includes the "Terms & Conditions" from Angelic Buster, the Mu Gong buff "Memories" from its Boss Soul, my Level 150 Hyper Skill "Valhalla" and my Level 200 one, "Epic Adventure". Since Hero works with many crazy multipliers to compensate a rather "weak" (read: low) range, combining those skills actually does more than double my damage for 10 seconds. This might not seem that much, but when used at the right locations, it can actually destroy most bosses like Mori Ranmaru, Gollux, Pink Bean and Akyrum.

Well, that's it for today, until next post!

[EMS] Luminous Skill Link Level 2 GET!

Hi guys! Recently I finally managed to obtain the second level of the Luminous Skill Link.

Level 1 gives 10% Percentual Defence Reduction (PDR) ignore, when you level a Luminous to Level 70. When reaching Luminous on Level 120, the Skill Link will upgrade to Level 2. Level 2 gives an increase of 5%, which making the transferable bonus in total 15%.

For now the following classes are still on my list, in this particular order:
1. Angelic Buster (increasing my burst damage in combination with Mu Gong, Valhalla and Epic Adventure)
2. Striker & Wind Breaker (increasing my Cygnus Blessing for more status & elemental resistance, to reduce fragility)
3. After release: Flame Wizard & Night Walker (maximizing Cygnus Blessing to Level 10)
4. If released: Beast Tamer (mostly for the % Critical and % HP/MP increase)

Eunwol will be my first priority if that will be released, due to the percentage of ignoring death. It must be noted that this Skill Link is truly much more powerful on a fragile class like Hero, since dying is quite common at bosses with potion cooldown. This will make a form of abusing this Skill Link, even if it's still considerd a low percentage of succeeding. Though, if I would be honest, it might be hard to get used to this gimmick since I die that often during bosses - instantly reviving would be unexpected to me (consider it a low % chance). Oh well, we'll see soon enough.

That's it for today, until next post!

[Other] I want these!

Oh my gosh - I've just been back from the cinema, and I saw a crane game with a bunch of these. I've only seen the official Kirby plush without Copy Abilities, but these are adorable! I've actually managed to track down the fabricator for them... hopefully I can get my hands on one.

Never play crane games. Physics just screw your chances. They are made to let you lose. It's actually better to pay a bit more to get one guaranteed from a store then having to be lucky...

[EMS] Level 204!

Sup guys! Today I reached Level 204 - it has been a while! However, since the infamous Red Leaf High event is back to MapleStory Europe, I might even reach Level 205...

Until next post!

[YT] 4000 Subs!

[EMS] Lionheart Battle Boots - Finished scrolling

Hi guys! I just finished my Lionheart Battle Boots as for scrolling. I still have to enhance, cubing for better (additional) potential stats and using new Flames of Reincarnation. Probably the next thing that I'll do will be cubing, since I'm still aiming for Self Combat Orders. However, all the other additions to my shoes, including cubing, will be done in a far future and not likely to be soon.

I'm very happy about the results. When I started it I didn't expect it to have more than 10 attack. It actually took me a hair pulling year with about 29 "10% Clean Slate Scrolls" to reobtain the last slot for upgrading it.

My shoes are considered my second "finished" scrolled equip (including two Vicious' Hammers applied) for my Hero. It's likely that only my Ribgol Sword is finished with primary cubing, however it still needs some better additional potential and more enhancing.

That's it for today. Until next post!

[Lego] Three projects on a row 4.0

Return back to Project Overview (Hailfire Droid).
Return back to Project Overview (Constructor).

 

Sup guys! I know it has been a while since my last post about my Lego® projects. A lot of the work on my Constructor and Hailfire Droid were kept hidden until I found it was worthy to post it on my blog. I'm still not covering all details on this post, since I'm really picky about telling my specs until I finished them.

I couldn't work on my projects that often since I had school and work (y'know, I gotta have to get my funds for my projects somewhere), but I finally managed to make some decent process, especially with the Constructor. The Constructor now fully pumps itself through the Mindstorms EV3 brain, and it can be controlled by a IR Controller.

In previous versions, I had multiple issues with filling the Constructor's air flow. It seemed that even using the strongest Lego® motors to date couldn't afford the torque strength to fill the entire system with a whopping three (!) bar - manually (human strength) it had no issues at all, so there was a real challenge for enabling automation.

Unfortunately, since the Constructor weighs more than two (!) kilograms, I often struggled with the limitations of Lego® pneumatics. In order to succeed this project, I had to drop the driving ability of the Constructor. By doing that, I could manage to use three Lego® Mindstorms Servo, instead of one.

About dropping the driving ability... Fortunately, since the Constructor uses multiple metal spheres as wheels, you can roll it on the table on any direction which you want! Because of its weight, the Constructor will still remain solid on the table.

The air flow has been changed multiple times - the original iteration would've used only one air flow. Since I have tripled the amount of cylinders by now, using one air flow would've been not feasible. Currently the Constructor has three air flows.

The Hailfire Droid hasn't been changed that much, however I did some balance tweaks and made some progress with the body. I've figured out how I want to manage the side panels. The white highlight on its head is just a temporary colour, since that part hasn't been made in (Reddish) Brown yet as of today.

That's it for today - see you again next post!

[YT] 4.000.000 total upload views!

[EMS] Easy Magnus - First solo attempt succeeded!

"Holy sh*tzelthepritzel" as Luxatus Patella would say, I've impressed myself. What happened?

[EMS] Level 5 Zero Skill Link GET!

Hi guys! I just finished Chapter 8 from the Zero storyline, which means I have obtained Level 5 of Zero's Skill Link!

This Skill Link gives a total of 15% damage reduction and 10% Percentual Damage Reduction (PDR) ignore. I'm really happy about the 15% damage reduction since Hero is one of the most fragile classes in the game. It will sure be useful for future bossing.

I will take a small break from grinding Skill Link chars, however I will head for Luminous, Angelic Buster, Wind Breaker and Striker soon. I'm sure I won't reach Level 120 on these characters before the summer holiday ends, but I'll do my best.

Until next post!

[Other] And now for something totally random

This is all I can say about the World Cup finals - even though I'm far from a soccer fan.

[EMS] Phantom Link Skill Level 2 GET!

Hi guys! I recently have reached Level 120 on my Phantom, so that means I have the Level 2 Skill Link!

Soon I think I'll aim for Luminous and Angelic Buster, but first I want to see how quickly I can manage a Zero to Level 180. I've heard that it may be easy, but I have yet to see. Their Skill Links will surely come useful for a class like Hero, since it could potentially reduce some of Hero's fragility.

[YT] 6 Years of Rayque3 Staff

Hi guys! Today is our 6th anniversary of the Rayque3 Staff!

The 7th of July, 2008, we have started the Rayque3 Youtube with our first video the day after, the Need For Speed Most Wanted - I came to make a bang (Music Video).

To this date...

- We have uploaded 373 videos.
- We have reached over 3500 subscribers.
- We have accumulated 3,7 million views in total.
- We have accumulated almost 5000 likes.
- We have accumulated 1800 people who favorite our videos.

But wait, there's more!

- 42% of our viewers are female.
- Most views come from the United States, followed by Japan, United Kingdom, Canada and Mexico in that particular order.
- 90% of our views are on the Youtube homepage through a personal computer, 7% of them are from mobile devices and 2% watches our videos through external websites.
- We have had a total of six guests who joined our gaming videos through Multiplayer mayhem, including InzukaStacey, DhrGR, Ninjawk, JustJippers and the duo from team Xnator.

And...

There will be more videos coming soon enough!

 

Thank you all for the amazing support - today is another milestone in the Rayque3 history.

 

Rayque & Luxatus Patella

[EMS] Kaiser Link Skill Level 2 GET!

Hi guys!

Recently I finally managed to get the Level 2 upgrade of the Kaiser Link Skill.
Currently I'm working slowly my way to get the crucial Link Skills Level 2...

My Phantom has just reached 4th Job and I will level it to Level 120 soon enough. I'll keep you guys up to date when that happens! I want to have my Phantom, Angelic Buster, Luminous at least Level 2 and the Cygnus Blessing (not Empress Blessing) to Level 10 to improve my Hero's gameplay.

I don't really care about the Demon Avenger, Kanna and Xenon Skill Links, since I can achieve the same Skill Link with just more funding. I would be more interested in things that are harder to get, like more % Critical Rate, % Defence Ignore, % Boss or % Status Resistance. So having the Demon Avenger / Kanna / Xenon Skill Link a higher level just feels a luxury to me, but not a requirement.

I'm looking forward to create a Zero and Eunwol soon to reduce my Hero's fragility by their Link Skills. Beast Tamer's Link Skill does seem nice, but I will have to see if Nexon Europe will decide to release it.

Currently you can only have a maximum of 12 Link Skills. I currently have reached this limit of 12. For creating room for future Skill Links, I find the Hayato, Xenon, Demon Avenger, Kanna and Cannon Shooter disposable to be replaced by a more useful new one...

Until next post!

[YT] 3500 Subs!

 

Yeah, I should totally add a widget...

[EMS] Level 4 Cygnus Blessing!

Hi guys! Just recently, I finally managed to reach Level 4 of the Cygnus Blessing.

Cygnus Blessing is a special Skill Link that is dependant on having a Soul Master, Wind Breaker, Striker, Flame Wizard and Night Walker. Every Level 70 Knight of Cygnus gives you one Skill Point in this Skill, and every Level 120 Knight of Cygnus gives you in total two Skill Points.

A single Skill Point gives 2,5% Status and Elemental Resistance. Since MapleStory doesn't round up numbers, this 2,5% is considered 2% in the game - however having two Skill Points rounds up to 5%.
This means that Level 1 gives 2%, Level 2 gives 5%, Level 3 gives 7%, Level 4 gives 10%, and so on.

Currently I have my Soul Master Level 120, my Wind Breaker Level 70 and my Striker Level 70. This means I have a total of 4 Skill points. New Flame Wizards and Night Walkers cannot be made in MapleStory Europe yet - the creation for these two will be added in the future, so as of today we're not able to get over Level 6. Existing Flame Wizard and Night Walker are not available for this Skill Link until their respective revamps.

As you might know if you have been on my Blog for a while, I don't have any Skill Link Level 2, except for my Soul Master. If I want to, I can manage every Skill Link to Level 2 in matter of days, however I don't have enough time now. I will consider this in the future though!

That's it for today, until next post!

[YT] Fourth 100.000 viewed video!

Hi guys! Today, we at Rayque3 have reached our fourth 100.000 viewed video! This milestone has been achieved by our Donkey Kong 64 - All main bosses video.

This video has been published on Youtube on the 1st of May, 2013. The aim for this video has been to showcase all main bosses from the game Donkey Kong 64. Most notably, this video uses the Japanese version of the game.

This video has been started to grow largely after November 2013. To date, this video gathers at least 15.000 views a month, which is currently our second largest growing video. Impressive to Rayque3 growth standards!

We expect Kirby 64 - All Main bosses to become our fifth 100.000 viewed video. This achievement will probably be reached close to the end of this year~

Luxatus Patella and I really want to thank you for all the amazing support - until next post!

[YT] Rayque3333!

Three-thousand-three-hundred-thirty-three subscribers! Whoohoo!

[EMS, YT] What happened to the High-Dex Hero series?

One of the tests for trying out new High-Dex Hero
possibilities. This is not a video that will be released.

Hi guys! As you probably may have noticed, there hasn't been any new High-Dex Hero since 12th of January 2014.

I really apologize (again) for having these video series "dry out", however don't forget that I haven't forgotten these series. Past few weeks have been quite busy for me because of school, but for this case it isn't the main issue or argument why these series have been delayed (again). However, having no new High-Dex Hero videos for a while, doesn't have to mean the progress of these videos has been stopped.

I've been testing out and considering various possible "match ups", and I actually have some ideas that may work. There are some test videos not available to public. I've been planning out some (possible) videos, as I usually do for all of my videos on our Youtube. What's the hold up?

Considering I have some ideas that may work, they are not easy to come up with. In MapleStory, there are many various "layers" of difficulty, where the gaps between those layers are rather large. Second job and third job bosses are somewhat alike, although the third job ones are slightly stronger (damage-wise as well in possible status effects). However, on fourth job advancement the gap will be significant larger. Even in fourth job, there are many layers to consider. To give some examples, look on the image below.

These are the "layers" for me to consider - A quick self-perspective of the current gaps between bosses.
Click on the thumbnail to view the image on a larger scale, or click here.

You can see a rough sketch of the progress on the image above. Currently I'm between what I consider "Well funded" and "Highly funded". "Well funded" bosses become too easy for me; it's not very interesting to see not-so-challenging boss fights that only take a few minutes. "Highly funded" bosses are too strong for me, it's not possible to solo these yet. This gap is quite large. However, there are some bosses from the "Well funded" I haven't beaten yet and can be considered to give some decent viewing time, so don't worry, I may be doing these later.

So this is currently what I am struggling with. It'll take some time before I actually reach the "Highly funded" group. One minor issue that also caused delays is that Power Stance for the class Hero has been bugged prior to the RED patch. I'll wait until that is fixed until my next video comes.

That's it for today's post. I hope I'm able to release a new High-Dex Hero soon enough.
Until next post!

[EMS] Level 203!

 

Two-hundred-and-three.
Also, gratz friend "Gaela", on
level two-hundred!

[YT] Mario Party 7 - All Mini-Games has reached 2.000.000 views!

Hi guys! Currently our most viewed video, Mario Party 7 - All Mini-Games, has reached 2.000.000 views today!

Mario Party 7 - All Mini-Games, was originally intended to be the first video on Youtube, which would showcase all the mini-games from the game Mario Party 7 in a single video, a similar concept used in some other videos from Rayque since 2012. It has been uploaded on 24th of March in 2013 and had it's strong growth starting from April 2013.

The lifetime view statistics from the video, starting from the date of upload.

Its best viewed day has been on the 23th of December in 2013, with an amazing 16.432 views in a single day. To date this video has been rather stable, with still a decent and (and for Rayque3 statistic standards) actually impressive six-thousand to eight-thousand views a day.

On lifetime basis, Mario Party 7 - All Mini-Games has been viewed the largest in the United States (roughly 20% of all accumulated views), followed by Japan (8,5%), Mexico (4,3%), United Kingdom (4,2%) and France (3,8%). Interestingly, The Netherlands, homeland of the Rayque3 Staff, is on place 13 with a small 2,5% of all accumulated views.

That's it for today - Thank you all for all the amazing support, in behave of Rayque (me) and Luxatus Patella. Until next post!

[EMS, Drawing] The world of Rayque

My almost seven years in MapleStory Europe on my character "Rayque", filled on a single paper.
The image portrays two different lifestyles in the game. On the left side my social hood is shown with some important people (not all) I met in the game. On the right side my combat hood is shown with various (not all) enemies in the game who had an importance in those seven years; including enemies from my High-Dex Hero series on Youtube.

I wasn't able to fit all the things I wanted, this would rather be impossible on paper. Almost seven years is long. Take a few hundreds of people and massive amounts of in-game content in consideration.

Layout/idea inspired by comic books, drawn on an A3 paper with only a single black pen. It took three hours to draw everything on paper.