Game:

Returnal (2021)

Duration: 43:13

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This was another disappointing run. I had to use my items again on approach to the boss. And I had to do everything to ascend the tower again!? I suppose there's a bit of balance here, that being able to farm biomes 1 and 2 without having to fight everything can really prepare you for Ixion. That same preparation should allow you to make your way through biome 3, with the added benefit of being able to farm even more. That wouldn't be an issue to me if the enemies wouldn't hit so dang hard. Plus I also had to fight the flying drones for the first time - they are also very VERY nasty. More of a case for getting good, I guess.

Chapters:
0:00 Arrival and Status
5:57 Drone fight - I lose a lot of heals again - should have just ran inside
8:35 Oh crap more drones - I lose my astronaut
11:11 The first room inside usually has powerups
11:44 I try to find a fabricator, no luck
13:38 Yeah not this time
14:15 Should I risk it? Sure oh crap - I really need to use the environment more
21:47 Time to go across the bridge
22:14 Bridge guardians this time
23:24 Well crap I have to ascend through all this again
34:40 Never fight these things head on
38:05 Time to do this - wish I was at full health
38:35 To the boss fight
39:13 Boss fight starts - I get Nemesis into Phase 2
39:43 Did I just waste that heal a little bit? Yes, about 30 percent of a bar wasted
42:40 And I fall and fail again.

At least I got the boss down to the lower end of the second phase. It got pretty scary. I imagine the third phase won't be any less. Could I win with 3 strong heals and an astronaut?

I suppose the shortcut here is that the bridge activation stays, so I don't have to perform the first ascension - I can just run across the bridge. Except this time, it was guarded...

I farmed up again and am ready to give biome 3 another go. (Update: That run didn't go well at all - but now I have 2 strong heals and +50% heal efficiency, and I still have an astronaut, back at the start of biome 3 again - I should try to use evasive tactics to minimize the heal usage. According to a prior video, the Fabricator is in an optional door before the first ascension starts. So I'll have to make sure I try all the doors on the way.).

Carbine with Trackerswarm still wins for me, but maybe a well powered up Hollowseeker with serrated bullets would do me well.

Here's a couple facts:
- The Key Liquifier seems to consume all your keys and grant 25% extra integrity for each one consumed. Not a bad way to crank your max integrity.
- The Astronaut seems to respawn you at 50-65% of your full bar. And based on what I've read, you can carry more than one. Note that a large heal ultimately gives you more staying power than an Astronaut, and the large heal costs 100 less obolite.

I read a reddit post that suggested fast runs to reach Nemesis and learning its moves is better and less demoralizing than spending all the effort to power up massively and dying over and over. There might be some merit to that. I got locked into this pattern because it worked so well against Ixion. But really, learning Nemesis' threats and dodging them is better than padding myself to tank a lot of unexpected damage. Besides, once I learn Nemesis' moves, padding up will make my success all the more certain. I was already a bit familiar with Ixion and ready for a lot of his moves before I powered up to face him that last time, so I didn't even need the astronaut I bought.

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