Disclaimer:

I have only been playing League and Dota for just over 2 months. I am not very good. This is the story of me trying to get better with the help of two friends. We decided to produce a blog and podcast about that and many other things. Please cringe and applaud at the appropriate times. Be prepared for salt and whining about secret shops and Blitzcrank. Don't take things too seriously and enjoy watching me squirm.

Apologies (or perhaps felicitations) for the lack of a podcast this week. I have been both lazy and incredibly angry/frustrated/worried about what is currently happening north of the border - where a good chunk of close family reside. This with a mixture of ennui regarding gaming and continued attempts to find a job have left me rather raw. Context in all things.

Learning League

Issues abound in League for me this week. I was beginning to tilt pretty heavily last week due to the...obsession people seem to have with the game - be it hitting imaginary CS targets that 'pros' hit or just winning without actually enjoying the game. At my level (again 15) I just want to have fun..not really bother about winning so much. Anyway as such (and due to the massive ping hits, 40 -500 at least 3 times a game) I took a break..until this morning only to play a custom match at 300 ping. Sigh. No other game has this issue..just League and their EU servers. So here's a video I made 10 days ago or so.

Please don't take the above video as any indication of serious playing. Once it was obvious that we'd be a dual lane ADC combo I decided to just try and help while mucking about - especially that flash dive. It was team builder by the way...

• I did have time before the servers went Wakko, Yakko and Dot on my end to try some new (to me) champions.
• Heimerdinger is an interesting one. His turrets allow him massive amounts of zone control while also keeping the pressure of poke alive. I really like his E as long as you get the stun off..even his Ult (which empowers his other abilities - thus giving a rocket turret or a row of three grenades) is a lot of fun to use at the right time. I'm surprised he isn't used as much as other mid mages. Perhaps not flashy enough or not enough sustain/escape.
• I enjoy playing Twitch (badly as the above video will show) if only for his dots and my love of Skaven. His attack speed is great for applying those dots and tearing through most champions but as with all ADCs he's so squishy. Having not really played ADC it's another learning experience.
• Kassadin was blergh.
• Shaco was a laugh..his jack in the box can cause all sorts of issues for the other team and his passive dodge can help against minions if you get caught in a wave.
• Cassiopeia (I went to school with a girl named Cassiopeia..she just seemed angry about something all the time) is interesting. Given that I played her at 300 ping this morning I didn't really get much of a chance to fully try her out but her reworked passive + the right build (tear, seraph, rabbadon?) seems to dish out a hell of a lot of damage. I don't like her ult though. I can see it would be helpful in a team fight..shame she doesn't have an ability that works better when people are turned with their back to you but that may be OP.

So League has become something of a drag for me at the moment. Too serious and too..perhaps aggressive isn't the right word but it conveys the right idea.

Old Gods

As with last week I have spent some time playing Smite - if purely to play something similar but different to League. You also gain levels and their IP equivalent in bot matches so that is a great deal more soothing than my experience in the above. I have a couple of videos up on YT about Smite. I intend to look at each role at some point from a beginners perspective.

I should probably state that I picked up the Ultimate God pack (all current and future gods) on Monday and as with League have been learning some of them. My current favourite is Janus - if purely because he's so completely different to anything I've played in a moba before.

• He uses portals - and yes they do work as you would expect - to get around the environment, provide allies with help or just damage the opponent.
• You can shove a portal on a wall and skip to the other side - which also gives anyone a speed boost that uses it and empowers Janus' next magic attack by 35%(?).
• His Ult is even more insane - it's a portal kamehameha - I think it goes the length of the map in a straight line - it does some damage to anything in it's way but..but..it also creates portals through everything it hits. Thus you can portal run from one side of the map to the other to help gank in the opposite lane.
• Now it's not just one portal to another, you have to cross the other lanes - and enemies can't use portals. It's kinda mindboggling.
• His 2 is a wavy dual projectile which can be difficult to land and his 3 is a barrier that slows and debuffs while buffing you.

Generally he's a mid mage but he can play support.

Smite continues to just exist as my moba of 'not really giving a damn/why so serious' choice. As I have also previously stated I really like the god motif. I'm having fun with it..more so than with League.

Path of the Tenno

Another game where you end up banging your head against the wall occasionally. People popping survival capsules at 95% leading to a failed mission 3 times in a row (with 3 different teams) despite asking them politely not to use the capsules until 40% at the start of the mission..each..fucking..time can lead to massive amounts of frustration - especially when you're on a time limit. I actually went so far as to explain why not to do it and I was ignored. Sigh.

A quick video looking at my Kubrow (now in stasis due to the RIDICULOUS upkeep costs for what they are) and picking up Trinity and playing a defense mission while half asleep.

• Digital Extremes went a bit 'Alert Happy' this week and as such a lot of difficult to get mods/frames were available if you happened to do the missions (and not have a bad team..3 times...). As such I picked up some rare stances and Vauban ze Frenchframe.
• Current frame of choice is the recently buffed Oberon, mostly because I like the way the frame looks. His 1 shoots homing balls of energy all over the place that seem to proc something..probably radiation or something.
• 2 is a buff area that gets rid of debuffs
• 3 is a heal
• 4 is like mags ult - lift them up and smash them down..it's cool.

Beyond that there's not much to say about Warframe - it continues apace. Oh and I made my own clan of 1. hmm should have called it OMAC. Oh well.

Extra Credit

Youtube seem to have cut the top and bottom of the screen for some reason. I remember really enjoying Shinobi when it originally came out on the ps2 (and Shinobi 3 on the megadrive but that's another video). The controls (especially the reversed x axis) can take a little getting used to..as does the camera - but as an arcade style hack n slash I still think it really holds up. Available on PSN its definitely worth a look.

One of my older videos and one of the first ps2 videos I made to show my love of the Super Robot Wars/Taisen series. SRW is essentially a Japanese mecha fanfic that went out of control and was made into an SRPG. I was actually a good way through a lets play of SRWOG before my ezcap gave out..that and Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders. Anyway join my loathing for Gundam X and wishing for Gaogaigar as we play the first couple of levels of SRWZ on the ps2.

ETC

Steam ID is Jazz and my LoL ID is JazzGB or Ahriman Efreet

Gunslingerpanda's Twitch Stream - link

Lolking link to my profile - link

Dota2 profile on DOTABuff - link

You can find Adam's reviews at Critical Gamer

Summoner School can be found here

My YT channel is JazzGB

Chris' YT is Teebeekaay (currently in production)

Adam's YT is TheBMPanda

Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed the show..please leave any comments you have in the area below.