Gaming on the Cheap, part 3

 A few years have passed since I wrote one of these.  I was probably playing Honkai: Star Rail and Genshin Impact and Seven Knights back then.  Now, it's Solo Leveling: Arise, Where Winds Meet, Wuthering Waves, and Tower of God: New World.

I've spent some money on each, not a lot, but something.

Too often games become like work and I don't want to feel that way about games.  I don't want to put money into something that isn't enjoyable because I'll probably abandon it at some point.  After all, in Honkai: Star Rail, I had maximum level characters and wasn't enjoying it.

I've been playing Solo Leveling: Arise for two years and it takes some work but it's still quick-and-dirty for me.  I can pick it up, play a little, and put it down.

Where Winds Meet is overwhelming.  I'm paying for the minor Battle Pass upgrade, which is helpful.  I wasted way too much time not collecting skills and just wandering.  My character level is 93 (out of 95) right now and I'm three months behind on skills. There is so much going on in the game, and if you don't look at the Improvement Guide under Develop, you'll be like I am.

 Wuthering Waves definitely seems a pay-to-win game.  I've got a few 5-star characters that I can't upgrade past the low levels.  I mess with the game but I'm not sure I want to commit any real money to achieve better results.

Tower of God: New World follows the anime and is an idle, handheld game that requires too much attention.  Then again, I'm playing on Android AND iOS.  I started the iOS version about 1 year after I started the Android version and I'm within just a few floors.  There are so many characters and things to do that it's becoming work.  It's often something I would play while waiting for another game update to finish.  Now, this game's updates are taking hours to finish.

 There are so many gacha games out there now, especially from Chinese publishers that you can play without paying.  When you use up all of the game's energy for the day, switch to another game.

I'm looking forward to Limit Zero Breakers and Ananta when they're released.  However, I've seen a few in preview, and they don't really turn out all that great. 

Update 2026.05.18: Now that I bought a new Windows machine, I'm definitely on the cheap side.  Thankfully, it wasn't too expensive but everything else seems to be much more expensive these days.

Another Gaming Mouse Bites the Dust

 I can't really be this aggressive, can I?

I'm replacing my ASUS ROG Strix Impact III with a Steel Series Aerox 5.  It's been almost one year since I bought it to replace my Corsair M55 RGB Pro.  I broke the left mouse button entirely.  I blamed that on a combination of Genshin Impact and Honkai:Star Rail.

At the same time I bought the ASUS mouse, I bought a Steel Series Rival 3.  Each was around US$30, which isn't much, especially for a gaming mouse.  I've been using the Rival 3 on my M1 MacBook Air, even though the trackpad is excellent.  I have a few games I play and the whole set of buttons makes playing much easier.

A couple of weeks ago, Solo Leveling: Arise was updated and suddenly, it was taking me 3-5 clicks for a click to register.  I noticed that there was a visible lag in movement.  Using the Rival 3, I was still getting some of that, but not as much.  I don't expect anything like that to change because of the Aerox 5.  I'm not sure what the developers are doing, but maybe they haven't had enough sleep.

Being able to see inside the shell of the mouse is interesting.  I don't know that I needed something this fancy, but it was US$20 off and I hoped that it would be more durable.  However, I'm not likely to ever buy a mouse for over US$100.

 Back in 1991, I bought an IBM L40SX, which was an Intel 486SX (486DX without math coprocessor) laptop computer with just enough storage and RAM for Windows 3.0.  It was available on HSN for 25% of the original US$6000.  I bought a Logitech Trackman laptop trackball for about US$150 because there was nothing else at the time and it hung in the gap between the numeric keypad and the case.  Today, there are plenty of choices, and good trackpads are part of the laptop computer.

In any case, another little journey has started and I'll see how well this Aerox 5 performs.  I suspect it will be fine.  My other Steel Series products have been.

After trying it with a few games, including Solo Leveling: Arise, the Aerox 5 has been responsiveness than the previous mousies.  I had to change some settings on the side buttons because it's much to easy to tap the forward side button with my thumb.  It was sending the F3 key and changing settings while I was playing.  The mouse is a bit bigger than expected, but I'm sure that I will adapt.  The cable is sometimes a pain, but the responsiveness wouldn't be the same using a wireless mouse, especially one with an adapter using an extra port I don't have at the moment.

Update 2025.03.10: I seem to have damaged my laptop computer's keyboard, especially the "W" key.  This might be difficult to have replaced.  Maybe, when I take it for repair, they can substitute a gaming keyboard in  my Creator's machine.  It's been acting up for a while, mostly since I've put away Genshin Impact and picked up Solo Leveling: Arise.  If necessary, I can add a keyboard, but I don't really have room.  That's why I use a laptop computer. 

Update 2025.12.14: The Steelseries Aerox 5 is still great. My ASUS keyboard is inconsistent but mostly okay.  I got a Redragon half keyboard to be a substitute and take some pressure off the laptop's keyboard.  I chose Redragon because they seemed to have a lot of products AND they had software.  I've got another mouse from a Chinese company that's attached to my MacBook Air and it works fine, but there is no configuration software.

Solo Leveling: Arise End of Summer and Four Months of Play

They're about to make some changes and there is a live broadcast in 2.5 hours.  The chat seemed pretty serious about the little girl characters not being appropriate.  It's ridiculous how most of these freemium games are pushing Objectifaction of females, but children should be off-limits.  Every time I play Giant Arachnid with Amamiya Mirei, I'm surprised to see up her skirt when the Giant Arachnid rises from the playing floor.

 

 It feels like a short time and there have been a lot of changes.  When I got my hands on the game, it felt familiar to Hoyoverse Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail.  Many of the items have different names but have similar mechanisms.

The most unusual aspect of the game is the character level.  You earn it by playing.  There is no Trial of Equilibrium or facing a beast of the correct kind to receive the leftovers once it is defeated.  You just play and claim funds and play more.

This is where I am:

Character level 78
Reputation level 43
Battle Tier 20, 288,256
Mining Team Level 24 127/1000
Difficulty 22

Chapter 18 on Normal
Chapter 11 on Hard
Chapter 3 on Reverse

Challenges Chapter 16

That's decent.  I look at CM Prizm with everything at maximum and I feel okay because I worked to get this far.  You can't cheat to accomplish the story levels.  There are no tricks.  I'm sure people pay loads to get the correct weapons that I'm getting more slowly.

I have spent some money, but nothing on the scale that I've seen Genshin Impact players spend.  One person I know spent US$200+ and I was shocked.  I haven't spent anything and I'm at AR 43 now.  It's similar to how I have dealt with Honkai: Star Rail, except that my characters are all at level 80, with decent Light Cones, etc.  I didn't think that I could get to maximum without spending money, but it's possible.

I know that getting from Character level 78 to 85 will be more challenging.  I'm on Story Chapter 18 and it seems to end at Chapter 20 so far.  Difficulty 22 has been difficult enough and I'm not as good with the ice bears on A-rank red gates and I haven't played an S-rank red gate for a while because it just isn't working for me.  I should be playing a higher difficulty but until I can do better, I'm being more cautious.  What's strange is that on the red gates, I'm on manual control and the game still seems to be controlling the player somewhat.

I have all but five of the SSR-ranked characters.  I have all of the SR-ranked characters, working to get all of the exclusive weapons crafted.  The Summer edition helped with great characters and weapons for free.

I've been lucky to draw the best stuff.  For Sung Jinwoo, I was using SR-ranked and R-ranked weapons up until Character level 25 but it's better now, with an SSR-ranked weapon in each category.  It's good to have two SSR-ranked fire element weapons when dealing with the ice bears.  Most of the SSR-ranked weapons have skills up to level 5 and even to level 6 on some skills.  That's too low, I'm sure, but that's why Difficulty 22 is where I'll be for a while.  Getting the level 78 artifacts will have to wait.

Upgrading skills has been expensive in terms of resources.  I'm sure I could do better if I spent actual money on what I need.  I always try to spread the resources to the three (sometimes, six) Hunters I feel can do the most good.  Giving resources to Hunters that have little chance of winning doesn't make sense.

Time to Play

I've been playing for almost one hour.  First thing I've noticed is that I have to click/tap 3 times to get the interface to respond.  I appreciate the maintenance compensation and the codes to redeem, but why make the game perform more poorly?

Having developed business software, language translators, and more, I know that you get it going correctly, first.  Then, you take the time to make it better.  In a year, it will be as smooth as melted butter but I'm playing now.

At least, when playing Gates, it seems about the same as previous versions.  Hopefully, that will be the same for the biggest bosses.

Did anyone get anything useful out of the weapons draw coupon?  I salvaged the whole lot.  Those Hunter weapons needed leveling up, so it wasn't all bad.  Hopefully, I will have all the SSR-ranked Hunter weapons to level 80 within the next two weeks.

Reputation level is 44 now.

Update 2024.09.12: Character level is 79 as of this morning.  I raised my Difficulty level to 23 but will probably raise that to 24 this evening.  I'm not pushing enough to get the better artifacts.  There was a box of level 78 artifacts waiting for me, but I could only choose 1 of the 8 available.

Update 2024.09.13: There was another box of level 78 artifacts waiting for me.  Hopefully, there will be six more and I will get the whole set.  Do I change Sung Jinwoo out of the summer sets of artifacts?

Does Manage Teams work correctly for anyone else?  I changed the teams to reflect fire, wind, water, etc. and I changed Sung Jinwoo's weapons to match the Hunters but the weapons are changed everywhere.

While working with teams, my Battle Tier was increased to level 21.

Update 2024.09.14: The next set of artifacts box was available.  Now, I have 3 of the 8 in the set.  I will wait patiently.  Lots of little changes but the annoying delays need something to be fixed.  Clicking/tapping up to 5 times to do anything is too much.

Update 2024.09.15: Another artifact box was available.  They all say "Greed" but do they all match?  Reputation level is up to 45.

Update 2024.09.16: Character level is 80.  That was the original limit.  It's also the limit in Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail.  Now, the limit is 90 for Solo Leveling: Arise.  Given that there are no tests or special items to use to rise to this level, does it matter?  Is it just another number?

Update 2024.09.19: The game had a promotion to craft some level 78 artifacts of the kind they gave away.  I had the Boots and Gloves of the Burning Greed, so I crafted the Helmet and Body Armor of the same type.  Unfortunately, I don't know whether I'll get the other pieces of the Burning Greed or fill the extra artifacts of the Burning Curse or the Burning Blessing.  I have some of those.

I've been trying to handle everything in the game and that's just not possible.  I had my birthday yesterday, so I just did as much as I could after going out to eat.  The Guild requires a lot to finish the daily requirements.  I haven't finished the whole set since last week.

The game seems overly buggy right now.  I've seen some small updates, but nothing to take care of the 3-5 clicks/taps problem I have.  I can hope, though.

In the middle of Challenges Chapter 15, I'm making progress.  It requires many of the Reverse Story episodes.  Challenges shows you every corner of the game.

 

Update 2024.09.22: Character level is 81.  Reputation level is 46.  Battle Tier is 22.  Challenges Chapter is 15.  In Story mode, I'm at Normal Chapter 18, Hard Chapter 11, and Reverse Chapter 6.  The Guild is small, with only three of us.  I feel that my levels are okay, not great.  I see the same names at the top and I expect that they started during the beta testing and got some extra free items and then, they spent a lot of money.  I don't want to spend money, even though I have spent some.

 

Update 2024.09.25: Got a Sung Jinwoo weapon up to level 100.  Continuing to progress, even if it is slow.  Managed to get enough resources to limit break another weapon on the way from level 80 to level 100.  Reputation level is up.  Draw tickets have been a bit light lately, so I've been filling the gap with Essence Stones.  Still have a lot but I have to slow down on using them.  Got one of the new SSR-ranked characters but I'd rather have Cha Hae-In at this point.  I could use a second light element character.

I've been trying to get the Hunter's skills up a few levels.  Noticed that a couple of the newer SSR-ranked Hunters have level 3 skills.  Go Gunhee is one of them and he's most powerful.  I can't imagine if everything of his was at maximum levels.

I bought/exchanged the Trinity Force 7-day buff through the Guild Exchange Shop, and it's excellent.  I made it through a rough patch of the story with Kalgalgan and more.

 

Update 2024.09.26: Character level is 82 and Reputation level is 47.  I got another Sung Jinwoo weapon to level 100.  I was working the Gates and the story in Hard, Normal, and Reverse modes.  Tried everything to get enough power to struggle through the Hidden Chapters of the Story.

Playing some of the side stories made me realize that I haven't updated some of the early Hunters I used.  Skills are low on every character but I tried to balance it over the few I needed.  Having so many good Hunters and weapons means that I spread the resources thin.  Returning to early story chapters meant that I would use characters that were fine then, but in Hard mode, wouldn't make it.

As I continue, will SR-ranked weapons for Sung Jinwoo even be useful?  I have two SSR-ranked dark-oriented weapons at level 80.  I only have one wind-oriented weapon and that's at level 100.  As well, my only light-oriented SSR-ranked weapon is at level 100.  Both of my fire-oriented SSR-ranked weapons are at level 80.  The skills of each are level 5 or 6.  I have one water-oriented weapon at level 80 and the other is at level 47.

Update 2024.09.28: Reputation level is at 48.  Most SSR-ranked weapons for Hunters are at level 80.  One is not quite to level 60, another is at level 40, and the third is under level 20.  Having new Hunters and their weapons every month can be inconvenient.  Since I have the whole Greed set of artifacts now, I've got those on Sung Jinwoo and the Battle Tier is up another level.

It's going to be a while for the couple of Precision Design bits I need to Limit Break another weapon past level 80.  They "offered" a pack with one of the Precision Design bits but not two.  I'm guessing that the next "offer" wouldn't be three times the price.  That one might give me two of what I needed, just to keep me wanting more of them.

Update 2024.10.02: Reputation level is 49.  Continuing to continue.  More weapons leveled up.  Using Harper for my daily Level up a Hunter.  Got her weapon with one Advance and a lot of extra pieces in order to craft Advance number two.

Update 2024.10.05: Character level is 83.  The exclusive weapon for Go Gunhee is going to level 100.  Since that weapon had 4 Advances, it was the best to level up.  I also have the light-oriented weapon for Cha Hae-In, but I don't have her.  I just got Baek Yoonho, not beast version but I already have that one.

Recently, I kept wondering about the Army of Shadows.  The game was informing me about changing numbers but didn't remind me about making modifications to the shadow characters themselves.  Suddenly, the battles are going better.  More resources needed again.

I'm still far from the top, not that being at the top would make a real difference in my life, but it would be interesting for a moment.

Once I'm at character level 90 and there is no further to go, can I concentrate on being better?  Will there be more to do?

Update 2024.10.07: Up to Reputation level 50.  The weapon for Go Gunhee is at level 100.

Time to give up on Hoyoverse? (All gone!)

 After my recent "fun" with Honkai: Star Rail and my trial of Honkai Impact, I've updated Genshin Impact and visited their new area, Natlan.

I found that I ended up in a battle I couldn't win.  I also couldn't leave.

I'm only at account level 42, although my main character is at level 70.  Genshin Impact developers apparently feel depressed over negative feedback.  I'm considering removing their games from my devices.

This isn't the first time they've put me in a situation that was impossible.  I'm sure with all the money they've made that they're constantly thinking about the money and not how it feels to play when you're not fully leveled up.  If I return in one year, maybe, it will be okay, similar to the Knights of Beauty mess that happened in Honkai: Star Rail.

I appreciate that they're working on ways to make it fresh.  It's always been a struggle to play.  Maybe, this will save me some disk space.

Update 2024.08.30: After I lost the battle a few times, they gave me the option to downgrade my World Level to 4.  I finished the battle successfully.

While I was avoiding being in a loop, I made some progress in the other account on a quest that was taking too long, which got me into another quest that will take too long.

There is a common theme to upgrade the other characters and I haven't had much luck getting the materials, due to battle problems.  Is this the outcome of not spending real money?  It probably hurts.  I still haven't seen Inazuma because I haven't completed some huge quests since I can't figure out the puzzles.  I've tried a couple of walkthroughs.

Natlan is agreeable and there seem to be fewer enemies, but I haven't got into the two specific World Quests.

 

Update 2024.12.23: I just removed Genshin Impact from my drive.  I tried to use the relocate functionality to move it to a portable drive but that doesn't seem to work.  It was taking 11% of my 1 TB drive.  I've been looking at spending for a 4 TB drive, but I bought some photographic equipment instead.  My Mac's 1 TB drive is worse at around 100 GB free but it still works fine at that size of free space where Windows seems to be confused and works erratically.

I'm still opening Honkai: Star Rail every day and still building characters, but I'm not really up to date, even though many of my characters are at maximum.

I tried one of the character trials in Genshin Impact a few days ago, and it was too much for me.  I might be able to do better if I was playing every day, but I haven't made progress in months.

Update 2025.09.23: It's been a little over a year and I've tried to keep Honkai: Star Rail going but it's just not fun.  Genshin Impact was more work than fun and Honkai Impact 3rd was just crap.

I've been playing Solo Leveling: Arise for over 1 year and I took up Wuthering Waves before their 1st anniversary.  I'm still playing Tower of God: New World on the portable devices.  I'll probably tire of those eventually. 

Solo Leveling: Arise after two months

 I'm at character level 60 and Reputation level 27.  It's been about two months.  I'm slowing down compared to the first month, but I didn't see that level with Honkai: Star Rail until about eight months.

 

There are many obstacles still but here is something I just learned.  You can play the story in Hard mode and get Essence Stones and Weapon Enhancement material without destroying your progress in Normal mode.  I've been struggling with Gates to get all the enhancements I needed and suddenly, I've been able to get quite a bit by playing the first few chapters in Hard mode.  I still don't have enough credits to apply the enhancements but it helps.

I'm currently waiting for about 90 minutes for the newest update.  There is a new character and at least one new weapon, including a Fire-oriented SSR-ranked weapon for the main character.  I watched the live stream for the first time.

Hopefully, new weapons will be attainable without money.  I really don't like to spend and I didn't spend any money with Honkai: Star Rail or Genshin Impact, unlike most people who play.

Update 2024.07.10: Battle Tier is at level 15, after getting Aquamarine earrings for one of the top three characters and getting them to level 14, as well as getting her weapon to level 60. 

The 20 custom draws didn't get me the new fire-oriented weapon or the new character but I got some already-owned characters which makes the Advance multiplier rise.  I'm still trying to get everyone up to level 60, so it's better to Advance.  It would be good to have SSR-ranked weapons for the SSR-ranked Hunters.

Update 2024.07.11: I just noticed that the updated game has ignored my graphics and language settings.  It didn't mess with my progress, thankfully.  I'm guessing that they didn't test.

Got the Aquamarine earrings for the other of the top three characters and now, the total power is over 180,000 and I still can't start Chapter 15.  I continue to run out of time on the first episode, even with the wind-oriented weapon.

Update 2024.07.12: Character level is 61 and Reputation level is 28. Some of those delays with the blue progress circle that you dislike so much get worse at character level 60.

Update 2024.07.14: Character level is 62.  Is there more resistance at difficulty level 16?  I'm not always completing S-ranked Red Gates.  Then again, I'm finishing SSS on A-ranked Gates.  Who knows?

Update 2024.07.15: Reputation level is up to 29.  Got some custom draw tickets and got one Hunter SSR-ranked weapon and another for the main character, plus another Thetis' Grimoire, so that gives an Advance level progress.  The Grimoire is already powerful at level 80, but as I reach new difficulties, it will need to be even more.  Sadly, I didn't get a fire-oriented weapon for the main character and I'm still using an SR-ranked weapon.  The SSR-ranked water-oriented weapon I got is good, but not necessary.

I got Chapter 15 started.  I didn't complete the first two episodes as quickly as the award requires, but I finished.  Having a wind-oriented weapon at level 80, along with Thetis' Grimoire at level 80, things can be done.  The total power is a bit over 186,000.  Now, it says that you need 150,000 to start Chapter 15.  Am I not understanding?  If I had two wind-oriented weapons, it might have been smoother and quicker.

Update 2024.07.18: I'm up to Reputation level 30 and Character level 63.  The total power is a bit over 190,000, which is close to the next Battle Tier level.

 

I have two Hunter SSR-ranked weapons to get to level 80.  They're both around half that now.  I've got enough SSR-ranked Hunters that I need something special.  I keep wishing for a fire-oriented SSR-ranked weapon for the main character but that hasn't happened.  I got some Advances on the others, though.  Struggling is expected, though.  I'm not spending bunches of money.  I spent some money early in the game and didn't get as much as I had hoped.

Update 2024.07.22: I'm up to Reputation level 31 and Character level 64.  I tried Difficulty level 20 but that didn't go well and I've brought it back down to 18 for the moment.  Raising the Artifacts level is going slowly.  So few work and it uses up resources too quickly.

Update 2024.07.25: I'm up to Reputation level 32 and Character level 65.  Got Yoo Soohyun and her weapon.  Getting them up to the best levels.  She's looking powerful.  Sword of Light still the most powerful Hunter weapon at the moment.  Crafted the weapon for Silver Mane Baek Yoonho, which should make him much more powerful.

Update 2024.07.27: Since I've rearranged the weapons, Hunters are in different order.  Yoo Soohyun has low skill numbers, so she's probably the most powerful, once skills and artifacts and her weapon are at a higher level.

 

Update 2024.07.29: Character level is 66 and Reputation level is 33.  Hunters have been re-arranged a bit, as I've got the artifacts on Yoo Soohyun at a higher level.  Haven't got her weapon above level 75 because I'm trying to bring the main character's new weapon, Vulcan's Rage, up to level 60.  This is the first SSR-ranked fire-oriented weapon for Sung Jinwoo that is available.  I also haven't touched Demonic Plum Flower Sword at all, even though that is brand new.  I have two other SSR-ranked dark-oriented weapons.

It feels as though Difficulty 18 is back where I expect it.  I should be up a level or two soon.  (We use the word "level" a lot in these games, don't we?) 

Update 2024.07.30: There is maintenance tomorrow and since the end of the second month is about here, there should be another, bigger maintenance and changes the next week.  I'm sure they are still introducing all of the battle modes they originally planned.  They probably have a plan for the whole 12 months.  Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail were that way.  Hoyoverse has had a couple of weeks with Zoneless Zone Zero.  I seem to remember their crying for Genshin Impact players after a few months of Honkai: Star Rail.

Have you played other Netmarble games?  I'm playing Tower of God: New World, Grand Cross: Age of Titans, and Seven Knights II.  They're all good but very different.

Back to SLA, I need to get weapons to maximum.  I've managed to Level Break several weapons and I have enough weapon enhancement materials but I don't have credits and I don't want to spend real money.  I played 12 more gates this morning and that's helped, but increasing skills and weapons levels takes credit and the gates helped but it's not a perfect solution. 

If you haven't seen the latest codes from the live stream, here they are!

I'm waiting for Tower of God: New World to open up at any moment and another two hours or so for Solo Leveling: Arise.  Other games will be offline Wednesday but of course, I'm not playing them right now, for whatever reason.  Will I pay US$18.99 and get Sung Jinwoo's summer outfit?

 

Update 2024.07.31: New artifacts exist, and I've brought them up to level 15 and the Battle Tier power is over 200,000, putting the team at level 17.

Update 2024.08.02: Got another set of artifacts from the summer theme.  They're also in the 60s, rather than the 40s and maybe a 50 that I've been using.  Character level is 67 and Reputation level is 33.  Finished a couple of gates this week and the final damage total was over 1 million.  I wasn't quick enough to get a screenshot but it's happened twice.

Update 2024.08.04: Character level is 68 and Reputation level is 34.  Things have opened up again.  There was something about Reverse.  Smashing watermelons is interesting.  Out of 15 SSR-ranked characters, I have eight, including

• Amamiya Mirei
• Meilin Fisher
• Yoo Soohyun
• Alicia Blanche
• Lee Bora
• Woo Jinchul
• Choi Jong-In
• Silver Mane Baek Yoonho

That's quite a few but the second most powerful right now is an SR-ranked hunter, Lee Joohee, with quite a few duplicates making Advance a huge difference.  Making progress is slow but good.  These summer weapons are interesting.  The shark surfboard and there are also shark water guns are both SSR-ranked and in my arsenal now.  It's difficult to find enough weapons for the Hunters.

Update 2024.08.06: Reputation level is 35.  Amamiya Mirei is third most powerful Hunter right now.  Got her exclusive weapon and got it again, so she is strong.  I like the sweeping way her character moves.  Maybe, it's just some of the Summer battles but she seems so powerful.  It should be interesting to handle gates with her.

Update 2024.08.09: The character level is 69 and Reputation level is 36.  I've given Lee Joohee a Shark water gun that has a number of Advance progressions.  She was the most powerful Hunter again, until I had another Advance on Bunny BunBun and Amamiya Mirei is now the most powerful.  The Battle Tier is the same but at 222,000+ they're close to the next level.

Need so many resources to level up the weapons and skills.  Coming up on character level 70, skills can be enhanced further.

Update 2024.08.11: Character level is 70.  Never thought when I started the game that I'd go this far and it's been only three months.  Further upgrades to skills are available at this level.  Battle Tier is level 17 now, exceeding 228,000.  I'm not sure that the numbers for Sung Jinwoo really matter or it's just something to give us a sense of control.

Honkai: Star Rail Divergent Universe? Uggggh

 I haven't spent much time in Honkai: Star Rail lately.  With my characters at maximum and my account at maximum, I've just been getting the little stuff up to the final levels.

I went into one account and played Simulated Universe.  Then, I remembered the e-mail about Divergent Universe.  So, I went there.

Uggggh, if I wanted to remember stuff and be tested on it, I'd go back to school.

I think I'll stick to Simulated Universe.  I've only completed World 6, but I've tried World 7 and need something else to finish it.

I guess that Hoyoverse needs something to make sure people are still playing Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail while Zenless Zone Zero is about to open up.  I'm not really up to playing Zenless Zone Zero.

I downloaded and tried Honkai Impact 3rd on my Mac.  Does anyone actually play that game?  It works okay, but the keyboard controls are very different.  It ran very well on my M1 MacBook Air, which isn't the strongest of the Macs.

Solo Leveling: Arise for 1 Month

 I'm at character level 47 and Reputation level 18.  It's been about one month.  To me, that's tremendous growth that I didn't see with Honkai: Star Rail until about six months.

How did I do it?

I played Gates often and mostly, Normal Gates.  I avoid Gold Gates. I have concentrated on three hunters, then later, on six.  I concentrated on a limited number of weapons, usually SR-rank or SSR-rank, but occasionally on R-rank weapons.  I tried to find level 25 artifacts but accepted level 20 artifacts in sets of four.

I've played all of the Gate keys that are given and then, in the morning, buy another 3 or 4 sets and play more.  Is this too much?  I don't know.

I'm still at the end of Chapter 11.  My Battle Tier is 9, with a total power of 99,762 with Woo Jinchul, Silver Mane Baek Yoonho, and Choi Jong-In.  I have some secondary characters, including the original three: Yoo Jinho, Lee Joohee, Song Chiyul, and somewhat later came Anna Ruiz.  My Army of Shadows level is 7/10 and total power is 16,501.  Mining level is 12.

I don't feel that I'm great but good enough.

It feels as though I'm going to have to be more aggressive soon.  I have spent some money but that was already after I was making progress.    The Custom Draw tickets must have helped some, although I had one SSR-rank character before spending money.  Somewhat like the Wish in Genshin Impact or Warp in Honkai: Star Rail, if you don't have 10 tickets, you can add to them by tapping on the 10 Draws button.

Hopefully, they'll fix more bugs and make things feel a part of the total, instead of several scenarios and characters brought from one scenario to the other.  However, it worked for a while with Honkai: Star Rail.

I look forward to more interesting ways to battle and grow.

Update 2024.06.13: I'm at Reputation level 19, character level 48.  I changed the Difficulty level to 11.  I got level 40 artifacts for the first time.  I should be able to raise the Difficulty Level to 17, but I'm not sure how well I will do.  I'm still working on getting Sung Jinwoo's weapons to level 60.  I've tried a few combinations of weapons to get myself through the end of Chapter 11, but it hasn't worked yet.  His artifacts are up to level 17, but obviously that isn't enough.  I got a necklace to go with the bracelet and even though they're not the same kind, they both help his statistics.  Oh, my Battle Tier is level 9 at just over 100,000.  Since I'm past the halfway mark for characters, they should be sufficiently powerful, but I'm not so certain.

I tried running the battles on automatic to see what would happen.  I noticed that up until the boss character, they took less damage than when I was in control.  I could still switch between characters and initiate skills, which helped.  Knowing what the game expects to happen for less damage will help when running the battle manually.

 

Update 2024.06.15: I'm at Reputation level 20, character level 49.  I'm getting the weapons to more powerful levels, thankfully.  The main character is okay and the Hunters are okay, as well, with a few SSR-ranked weapons.  Still struggling to complete chapter 11.  Baruka kills me regularly.  I think I'm doing better and then, I'm suddenly finished and not in a good way.  I'll get it but when?

 

Update 2024.06.16: I'm at character level 50.  Extra goodies are available.  Battle Tier 10 is available now, as well.  I watched some of the Solo Leveling anime last night.  More things make sense now.  The Knight Killer is on its way to level 80.  As it is an SR-ranked weapon, it's still weaker than the SSR weapons at level 60.

Update 2024.06.17: I completed chapter 11, barely completed, I should say.  The Knight Killer is at level 72 out of 80 now, and it's still not as powerful as the SSR weapons at level 60.  I switched it out with an SSR-ranked weapon and finished chapter 11.  The dark-oriented weapons together weren't working and I ended up using a wind-oriented weapon that provided some HP benefits.

In Bonds, the Hunters are showing some rewards for moving them to level 50.  I've been seeing more of the necklaces and bracelets since moving up in difficulty.  Those artifacts are helpful.  I would imagine that I'm going to have to go much nearer to difficulty 17 to get the other two artifacts in the sets.

The keys for the Gates seem to be used more quickly or perhaps, I'm just trying to achieve more and more quickly, as things seem to be moving more slowly with the increase in difficulty.

Update 2024.06.18: I'm up to character level 51, Reputation level 21, and Battle Tier 11.  I'm starting to see artifacts of level 50.  The Knight Killer weapon is at level 78 and still isn't as powerful as an SSR weapon at level 60.

With the game update, Hunter Archive is working again.  I've got five mining teams and mining is now at level 13.  Armory has opened up more slots, but the cost is too high.  I still don't have a clear reason for the Armory or why Sung Jinwoo's weapons should be displayed like that.

Update 2024.06.20: Reputation level is up and so is mining level.  I have also increased difficulty to 13.  Level 50 artifacts have started to appear.

Update 2024.06.24: Mining level is up to 15.  Character level is 52 and Reputation level is 22.  I've upgraded weapons so much, my gold is low.  I'll have to wait a bit.  Other resources have been severely depleted, as well.

I tried to redeem the June codes, but none would work.  The article was new but apparently, they didn't see the codes until it was too late.  The money I spent went away when the new version of the game arrived.  I'm not exactly surprised but it did seem a bit short, considering that it was only a couple of weeks into the first month of the game when I paid.  If I buy again, I'll make sure it's on the first of the month.

My keyboard problem is gone.

Update 2024.06.25: 50 days of logins?  Is it going quickly?  I'm at Character level53 and Reputation level 23.  Progress is slow but steady.  Got the 50 days custom draw tickets and ended up with Meilin Fisher.  I've got plenty of artifacts but there aren't enough good weapons.  Genshin Impact was similar for me with the weapons and Honkai: Star Rail was similar with the Light Cones.

 

I just finished Chapter 12.  Now, earrings and rings are available to add, in addition to necklaces and bracelets.  This all sounds so much like Seven Knights II. I got the right runes and crafted the materials to level up the Ultimate skill Mutilate and more.

 

Well, I just finished Chapter 13, as well.  The Character level is up to 54.  Wasn't having much luck with the Avaricious Vulcan until I switched to Thetis' Grimoire, which is now at level 68.

I couldn't sleep and I'm almost finished with Chapter 14.  The final episode requires almost 150,000 in power, and that means that I'm about 25,000 short at the moment.

 

Update 2024.06.27: My Mining levels and Reputation levels are both up.  The 50th day Celebration bits are helping with getting the SSR-ranked weapons' levels increased.  I made sure to limit break two of the Hunter's SSR-ranked weapons.  In order to finish Chapter 14, I'm going to need something awesome to get to that power level.

Does anyone know what this secondary Hunter's Pass is supposed to do, other than confuse?

Update 2024.06.28: My character level is up to 55 and Mining level is up to 16.  Trying to enhance artifacts past level 14 is depleting my credits.  I went from over 1 million to just over 1 thousand.  However, my power was around 126,000+ and now, it's about 10,000 more.  I'll probably run out of credits and enhancement materials before I get to 149,000.

 

Update 2024.06.30: Mining level is up to 18.  Artifacts on main character and three most powerful hunters are at 16 for armor and 17 for bracelet, etc.  I'd like to go much higher, but I need resources to do that.  Battle Tier is up again, since I'm over 144,000 total power.

 

Update 2024.07.01: I'm up to character level 56, along with increasing the power on a couple of SSR-ranked weapons.  I've finished Chapter 14.  Power of Destruction is a battle mode that just opened for me.

Update 2024.07.02: Mining level is up to 19.  Credits are down but the total power is around 156,000 since I got a beast ring and have a four-piece beast set for Woo Jinchul.  Started Chapter 15 last night and failed by a few seconds.  Chapter 14 side story is not working out just yet, either but I'm partway through it.

 

Update 2024.07.03: Character level is 57.  I got Seo Jiwoo's weapon, along with Meilin Fisher's weapon.  I'm working on getting those up to helpful levels but I'm out of credits so often.  Every time I take a Hunter up a level, a pay for that.  Obviously, raising the level of weapons and artifacts will cost credits.

 

The total power is 161,509, which is good, but I still can't seem to finish the opening episode in Chapter 15, which requires 150,000.  Getting weapons up to level 80 is taking time and I've got two Hunter weapons and one main character weapon to get to that level.

Update 2024.07.04: Mining level is 20 and Reputation level is 26.  Power is slightly better with the main character's weapons at level 80 and level 79.  Tried to bring artifacts up but ran out of resources.  Difficulty has been at 16 for a couple of days and it's difficult to finish Red gates that are ranked S.

Update 2024.07.09: Character level is 60 and Reputation level is 27.  The power level with the main character and top three Hunters is just over 171,000, which is still Battle Tier 14.  Going higher requires enhancing Artifacts.

I've been going through the Chapters is Hard mode and that's given me Essence Stones and Upgrade materials.  Two of the top three hunters have their weapons at a level where only a Limit Break can take them higher.  I have three other SSR-ranked Hunter weapons to raise to higher levels and one for the main character.  I've had the credits at around 58 twice this week.

As an aside, I'm glad I ignored the Zenless Zone Zero hype.  Honkai: Star Rail and Genshin Impact are on the back burner now.  Honkai Impact 3rd was with me less than one week.  I can't imagine why anyone would play it.

Solo leveling: ARISE first thoughts

 I've been playing this game from Netmarble since Wednesday evening (it's Friday afternoon) and it's like a combination of Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, which I've been playing regularly.

It takes a fair bit of storage but it works on my Google Pixel 6a fairly well, and it's better on my ASUS ZenBook Pro with Ryzen 7, 16 GB of RAM, and GeForce RTX 3050 Ti (laptop edition), even on very high settings.

I've seen a few reviews from people thinking that whatever phone they have is going to play it well.  I wouldn't expect that, especially since it's new and they need some time to fix the problems and make it work correctly before addressing performance.  The game guides you a bit frequently to items you can buy, but they didn't make the game without money any more than Genshin Impact was made without money.

I've been playing games long enough to say that I prefer to pay for games upfront and not be bothered later, but that's a thing of the past.  Even when you buy games, they bother you to buy more things.  Right now, I'm learning what I need, and not blindly looking at my wallet to solve the problems.  One game I play, Black Clover M, seems to work so that you never get what you want and I don't want to spend money on anything that "randomly" gives you items you might need.  So far, those types of choices always end up giving me more of what I've got, not what I need.

 The Special Summons bit where you summon and summon and summon and it chooses some good characters and weapons for you and makes you wait seemed to be a bad joke.  It made me wait two days and didn't instruct me to buy something but now, it just says Expired.  Maybe, someone in South Korea or elsewhere in Asia managed to get something good. but it was poorly implemented.  It's a new game on the market.  I don't expect everything to go my way.

Game Play

On the keyboard, E and Q are similar in function to Genshin Impact or Honkai: Star Rail.  F and R have higher functions.  Left-Click on the mouse is the basic attack.  Left-Shift has different functions.  For your Main Character, Left-Shift initiates more powerful attacks.  For your fellow hunters clearing a dungeon, Left-Shift cycles through the team members.  Right now, I have Lee Joohee, Song Chiyul, and Yoo Jinho.  The main character is Sung Jinwoo.  You can add your nickname, but it won't replace the main characters name.  All of my characters are at level 20 now and so are their weapons.  My reputation (account level) is at level 4.  It's a few hours later and my characters are above level 20 and my reputation is at level 5.  It's difficult to believe that it's moving more quickly.

The worst flaw I've found is that you use the block/menu to get to a function like enhancing a hunter and you want to enhance the main character, it throws you all the way out, and makes you start again, with a delay.  It's an annoyance, not a reason to quit playing.  They'll probably notice it at some point or already plan to change it.

There is a semi-automatic mode, so that the character will run in the direction of the enemies but you still have control over the battle.  It can perform the battle but I'm not sure it's ready for that yet.  I've ended the Gates battles with SSS level outcome a few times, but too many have been level S.  Still it's not been two days, and I have been to work and back a couple of times.  I play games, but they don't play me, right?

There are all sorts of nooks and crannies where they give you points and free stuff, but you have to look.

Instead of assignments, they have Gate Mining.  Once you clear a Gate, you should return to mine the Mana.  Obviously, you always need supplies.

Since I've never seen the anime or the written stories, I don't know a thing about the ranks and such.  However, I know that R is low, SR is better, SSR is even better. Whether it uses LR or UR as higher levels is something I have yet to see.

I'm using an SR-level weapon for the main character and R-level weapons for the other hunters.  Just like with Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, you can take multiple weapons of the same type and put them together for a stronger weapon.  There are other item to use for skills and weapon enhancement but I've already forgotten if the tutorial mentioned how to use them.

I'm guessing that, in a year, my main character will be complete and my other hunters will probably be just as amazing, just as I've done with Honkai: Star Rail.  I just need to pay attention to learn what I need to do.

I tried the Encore Missions and got artifacts that increase the characters attributes.  Being that I've accomplished one of the goals shown on the main page, I ended up completing a few of those "you have cleared this 100 times." situations.  I've now got a second SR-level weapon for the main character, for Slot 2.

I hope you have fun.  (I also hope that they do as well as HoYoVerse and make enough money to make this game even better.  They don't have to update it every month but right now, bug fixes would be ideal.)

 

Update 2024.05.11: It's been off-and-on for about 4 evenings since I started.  I'm still not 100% sure what I'm doing.  I'm at Reputation level 5 and Level 29 for my main character.  I've got enough artifacts and enhanced them enough to make battle better.  I'm at difficulty 6, so I'm still going slow.  I haven't spent any money, but I'm wondering if it gets you better equipment and better characters.  SSR equipment and characters would be helpful but things are still going fairly well.  I had one battle end at 7.01, so that was close.  When you're playing with the characters they want you to use, you need to end with the first one to get the full award.

Occasionally, I'll be fighting the boss and use the Ultimate at the wrong time and not have the raid leader on at the end.  Today, I've had fewer SSS finishes and even an A finish, as I've turned up the difficulty.

 

Be sure to enhance your equipment.  It helps a lot.  Check your characters regularly.  They stop pushing you to do it fairly soon.  If you're not aware, you may miss opportunities.

Update 2024.05.12: I'm at level 31, Reputation level 6.  I'm stuck on chapter 8, Ready as You'll Ever Be.  I'm pretty much finished, and then, there is a second boss.  I was thinking "how did he go back to full health?"  Apparently, using light-oriented weapons helps.  We'll see if I can manage it.  I changed both weapons to light-oriented weapons and this helped a bit.  They're not as powerful as they need to be.  I finished the first boss more quickly, but there still wasn't enough time for the power held by the weapons.  This may take some time.

I used up all of my custom draws.  Now that the story isn't going forward, I don't have any way to get more, except to buy a package.  Hopefully, I can figure out something.  Maybe, one of the light oriented weapons and the SSR-level weapon at level 40.

 

With the Lycan Slayer weapon at level 26 and the Shadow Scythe at level 40, things were better.  It's especially interesting that the Lycan Slayer is a R-level weapon.  None of the light-oriented weapons had a lot of power but since I had so many of them and used them together (Advance is your friend!), it became powerful enough.

 Okay, be careful.  I had some extra Lycan Slayer weapons and I went to combine them to see if I could have a second weapon to complete the next mission.  I got a message I didn't understand, and the extras replaced my level 40 weapon.

Since I was failing so often, I didn't expect a SSS result.

Update 2024.05.12: So, I lost the weapon I was successful in using.  I sent a message to support but don't expect for it to be returned.  It's going to take a while for all those upgrades to be re-worked on another weapon.  Still, I'm at Reputation level 7 and character level 32.  It would be interesting to level up every day I don't go to work.

After sleeping overnight, I battled through a few gates and my Reputation level is up to 8.  Wish I had more resources.  After finishing the "You're Ready as You'll Ever Be" battle, the next one, "Protector of the Throne", is a bit more.  Without the Lycan Slayer at level 40, I've switched to the Lustrous Dragon Sword at level 29.  It seems somewhat more powerful and I feel that I've come closer, but with both Light-oriented weapons, I'm betting that it would be so much better.  I'm not giving up, but I might have to wait a while.

Update 2024.05.15: I'm up to Reputation level 9, character level 34.  Got the Lustrous Dragon Sword to level 40.  Increased my difficulty level to 8.  Still going.  Got more characters, including an SSR hunter, Woo Jinchul, but only an SR weapon for him.  Still working on "Protector of the Throne".

Update 2024.05.17: Woke up, did a few gates, and I'm now at Reputation level 10, character level 35.  Tried a Red gate with Woo Jinchul but took too long.  Have a new SSR light-oriented weapon but it's stuck at level 20.

Update 2024.05.19: Up to character level 36.  Making progress, but progress is slowing.  Getting weapons above level 40 will take a while.  Still can't get through chapter 8.  Stuck at "Protector of the Throne".  I could use another light-oriented weapon.  I got a response from support that they are passing my request to the correct team.  I suspect that means that no one is going to do anything about my missing weapon and that I just need to build another of its kind and be more careful.

Update 2024.05.20: Up to Reputation level 11, character level 37.  Working on making certain weapons more powerful.  Attempting to get through chapter 8 still.  I need a little bit of this, more of that, and a helluva lot of those.  I got a 12 days of logins achievement which seems strange.  Why not wait until 14 days?  The game still seems to have a lot of pauses.  Special Summons are back.  It doesn't seem to let me choose in each of the 15 drawings.  I believe that I understand how the guaranteed drawing works: US$21.99 once or US$9.99 subscription each month.  It doesn't explain whether you can cancel the subscription or not.  It's interesting but why would you pay US$21.99 for some characters or items you don't want?  You should be able to choose each time.

Update 2024.05.22: I'm up to character level 38.  When has that happened so quickly?  Within two weeks on Honkai: Star Rail, I was probably at level 12 for my main character.  On Genshin Impact, it took me months to get the main character past level 4.  Getting the weapons up to where they're good is another matter but even then, that's faster than the other two.  Well, Reputation level 12 is here.  Working on Light-oriented weapons and with two, not quite complete, The boss in Chapter 8 is still successful and my main character is not.  Two R-level weapons aren't extremely powerful, but one R-level weapon and one SR-level weapon should be enough.  My new Lycan Slayer is at level 35 with 1-Dimensional Advance while the Lustrous Dragon Sword is has no Advance but is at level 40.

Update 2024.05.25: I'm up to character level 40 and Reputation level 13.  I'm able to upgrade characters now and made changes to my top three hunters.  The SSR-level Thetis' Grimoire for the main character is excellent.  It feels as though battles are shorter and easier.  Whether this will work for the end of chapter 8, I'll try any combination that makes sense.  Anna Ruiz is a useful hunter but her weapon could use some help.  It has no Advance.

Update 2024.05.27: I'm up to character level 41 this morning.  The Reputation level is halfway between 13 and 14, with that +2 after each gate keeping me humble.  The custom draw tickets have added to my weapons.  I'm doing everything I can to get those weapons up to level 60.  It's odd to have an SSR-level light-oriented weapon for hunters and not for the main character, which has SR-level and R-level light-oriented weapons.  Either way, gotta keep trying.

I'm up to Reputation level 14.  Weapons are going closer to level 60.  There is still much to do.  Playing Battlefield of Trials and I'm at Floor 8, having completed or cleared the others.  I tried to add a quick video of it but it seems too big.  Perhaps, I can link to it later.

Update 2024.05.29: It's been a couple of hours since the update became ready.  It's been three weeks and they've added content, changed a few things, and fixed bugs and improved performance.

I've completed chapter 8 and gone up to character level 42.  I can't say that it was pretty but with Thetis' Grimoire at level 60 and the Lustrous Dragon Sword at level 40, it was enough.  Improving the Hunters and their weapons probably helped, as well.

Getting through the Gates, I've noticed that the Hunters are more able.  They've finished a couple of Rank A Gates without a problem.  I'm still working on learning how to use Anna Ruiz and her bow in close quarters.

With the custom draw tickets, I got Silver Mane Baek Yoonho and Moonshadow, among others.  I feel lucky to have any SSR-level equipment or hunters.

I heard from support and they said that they cannot restore the Lycan Slayer as it was, as I caused the problem, and to lock my weapons in the future.  I didn't know that you could destroy a weapon so easily.  With everything else being repetitive, you'd think that the game would make sure I understood.

Update 2024.05.30: I'm up to character level 43 and Reputation level 15.  Things are easier but on occasion, I don't have enough power to defeat the enemies in Chapter 9, not yet, anyway.

Update 2024.05.31: I just completed two episodes of Chapter 9.  I got the new job title of Necromancer.  Then, after the second and final episode, I got the new job title of Monarch of Shadows.  Each came with an extra 30 points to spread around the abilities.  There was also a new outfit, and Instance Dungeons were opened, as well as new slots for artifacts you get from Instance Dungeons.

Update 2024.06.02: I'm at character level 45 and Reputation level 16.  The difficulty level is up to 9, but I'm probably going to change that soon.  I'm partway through Chapter 11 but I'm seeing a warning that my group isn't powerful enough.

I've been experiencing a problem where certain keys on the keyboard don't function after playing the game on Windows.  There are more than I'm going to mention but specifically, the "d", Enter, and Backspace keys don't work after playing.  At some point they're better, but it's not like I use Enter or Backspace in the game at all, so it doesn't make sense.  In a few days, it will be a month that the game has been available.  It feels as though some new functionality is available every few days.

Update 2024.06.07: I'm using a keyboard I got from Temu for the Steam Deck and it's awkward since my Windows computer is a laptop computer.  Anyway, the other day, I got a 40 days of log-ins which seemed a little off since I haven't even been playing for 30 days.  I'm at Reputation level 17 and my character level is almost to 47 but has some time to go.

I was watching a video of someone explaining how to get to a certain level of performance on Solo Leveling: Arise and I noticed that I'm not far from his levels.  That's just crazy because he's probably spend a couple hundred dollars. I have spent US$40.88, which is much more than I usually spend unless I'm buying a game. I'm wondering what happens when I have my characters maxxed out.  Will I find it fun?  On Honkai: Star Rail, I'm in maintenance mode, where I just keep things going until I see something interesting.  Who knows?

Update 2025.06.13: Looking back at this is interesting.  I'm at Character level 106 and Reputation level 66. I'm at maximum on Mining level which is now 40 and my Difficult level for gates is 41.  I have 5 Sung Jinwoo weapons at level 110 and I've got one Hunter weapon almost there.  I'm down to spending $3.99 per month.

Honkai: Star Rail Main Character at Maximum

 It hasn't been a year but here is version 2.0 now and my main character is at maximum.  That took a while, especially since I didn't use any real money.  Am I the only one?  Probably, that is the case.  Still, the main character on the other account needs more Eidolons to be complete, but I'll take one complete over none.

Update 2024.02.14: Both accounts are at maximum, as well.

Update 2024.04.24: On the account where my main character is at maximum, I also have Yukong and Dan Heng at maximum.  They don't have all of the Eidolons, so they could go higher in the future.  I'm almost afraid to do a warp, in case I get another character to take to level 80.

I'm still working on my other account's main character, which is on the path of Preservation.  With Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae, who is much more powerful, I'm trying to balance progress on all characters.  I want my main character to be more powerful, but he doesn't always seem that powerful.

Update 2024.05.05: It's been a year since I started Honkai: Star Rail.  Given my trouble learning Genshin Impact, I didn't think at the start of Honkai: Star Rail that I'd have much progress, let alone, have all of my characters at level 80 and have my accounts at maximum.  I'm still struggling with Genshin Impact, although those accounts are at level 42 and the main characters are at the maximum level but it still feels as though I'm just out of the tutorial stage.