help with rumbling

ScurvySuz · Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 7:45 am Post subject: help with rumbling

as someone who has been hooked on Snood for forever, i want to be doing better at rumbling (if i can do well with Snood, i should be able to rock rumbling, right? Wink

).
so...
1. which bludgeons do you feel are the best?
2. is it really necessary to have a bludgeon? most people seem to leave them out at the game tables.
3. what are good tips and tricks for playing?
4. [not as important, just curious] why does it take a lot longer to change your experience in rumbling? maybe it just seems this way..

kusje · Weighty Forum Tart Joined: 20 Jan 2006 Posts: 247

I'm not a good rumbler but:

1. I've heard plenty of people complaining that blackjacks are overpowered.
2. Up to you. But if you have a bludgeon and you fight against someone without one, you'll be at an advantage.
3. not from me
4. The gaining of experience is pretty much the same as SF

Pauling · Illustrious Forum Tart Joined: 03 Sep 2005 Posts: 431

Bludgeons are only an advantage if you use them properly. Figure out how you play the puzzle, first: do you use large combos, or small sprinkles? Then research the YPPedia to find out which bludgeons the "expert" players think are best for that style.

...The two bludgeons I was always most likely to laugh at when playing were, believe it or not, hammers and gauntlets. If you know what you're doing and they don't, you can send a fairly large attack back with one or two balls. So sometimes paying more = me laughing harder at you, not buying better quality.

For starters, consider buying rope coils. The colors don't matter much in 1 vs 1 fights, so get the cheapest you can find. Yet they're actually an excellent weapon for the price and give you a little leeway to experiment with different styles.

EDIT: Changed to past tense; haven't rumbled in quite some time.
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ScurvySuz · Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 10:29 am Post subject:

For starters, consider buying rope coils. The colors don't matter much in 1 vs 1 fights, so get the cheapest you can find.

when do the colors matter and how?

i should have added this to the original post:
as far as the actual play of the game goes, is it similar to SF as far as the "sprinkling" and "striking" goes? that is, is it always best to make links of charged balls, tons of sprinkles, or some combination (since charging a bunch takes time)?

ara · Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 10:42 am Post subject:

i have made legendary just by being a sprinkle queen. i find it easier to do then keeping track of my first charged ball and keeping it clear of other colored balls.
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ScurvySuz · Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 11:05 am Post subject:

Ara, do you use a bludgeon? if so, which one?

Thebb · Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 11:46 am Post subject:

Pauling · Illustrious Forum Tart Joined: 03 Sep 2005 Posts: 431

Chains are known for being sprinkle weapons.

Colors change your drop pattern. The distribution of different colors doesn't matter much in a 1v1 fight, but if you're on a ship and everyone has similar color/type weapons, you and your teammates together might send huge blocks of the same color that are easier to get rid of. People with black/white/purple (expensive color) weapons are usually just showing off.*

* There's one rather esoteric example involving swords with chiral drop patterns where expensive colors make a tiny difference, but nevermind that. Different puzzle.

Large strikes at the beginning may be helpful if they're starting to build high and you throw them off balance, but they still have plenty of screen left at the bottom, so the longterm effect depends on luck; because the drop patterns of strikes and sprinkles don't overlap, I personally had good luck with a mixed strategy of strikes at the start and then a quick mix of sprinkles/drops and strikes later. The heavy strikers out there have a lot of trouble digging out from two different colors in each section. (I got a lot of tells along the lines of "you weren't supposed to do that" from elites; Kharnor refused to give me his monkey, though.) I was one of the few people who got good mileage out of skull rings.

The crew has some excellent rumblers, and if they trust you very very much, they might be able to lend you access to a bludgeon collection with most of the common types to try.
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ara · Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 3:13 pm Post subject:

as a mass sprinkler - i use the chain =)
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kusje · Weighty Forum Tart Joined: 20 Jan 2006 Posts: 247

I might still have a chain you can use. And rope coils are real cheap. I'll check when I log on.

Carrol · Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2006 5:11 am Post subject:

I always tend to start off the fight with 3-4 charged blocks for my first attack, and then kinda play it safe from then on. If I'm taking lots of hits, I'll sprinkle since it's faster and clears balls out quicker, and there's less of a risk of having your charged blocks covered up. If I'm not taking much damage, I may go for some big charged punches, but I'll usually try for only 2-3 at a time...too many more risks taking too much time and becoming a focus for attention again.

Avera · Narrow Forum Tart Joined: 26 Dec 2005 Posts: 92

Hmm the tips have been helpful. I'm so terrible at rumble, i dont remember the last time i won... before past 10 or so games, at least ^_^;;
I like playing rumble, but losing every single time is dulling the fun Sad

So, thanks guys!

I'm completely not a sprinkler and ironically been using a chain, of all blugeons, all this time.

One thing im not sure of about sprinkles is: is it better to constantly clear tiny clusters or wait for a certain colour group to build up and then break that? In terms of what gets returned, that is.
Also, if you pop one group that connects a whole mass, how does that work as an attack on the other player?
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ara · Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2006 8:55 am Post subject:

avera - this is what i like to do:

B = base line
J= junk that i don't want to connect to anything else
D = what i want to use to drop all the junk

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB
DDDDDDDD
JJJJJJJJJJ
JJJJJJJJJJ
JJJJJJJJJJJ
JJJJJJ
JJJJJJJJJ
JJJJJJJJ
JJJJJJJJJ

then i take the right hand glove and shoot a D to drop all that junk

why do this? when you sprinkle it's like having a a jar of all the stuff you've dropped - when it fills, the jar gets sent to your oppenent
by dropping more then just the D's here, you make that jar fill faster and you drop on your openent more often.

i'm sure teal or kharnor could explain it better.
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Pauling · Illustrious Forum Tart Joined: 03 Sep 2005 Posts: 431

The downside to the strategy- as Kharnor could tell you (mwuhaha) is that if you build too low on one side, eventually you'll find that someone sends a few sprinkles and your screen comes out like this, the most depressing of all ways to lose:

xxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
d
b
b
b
s
s-----------------

"Game over! Opponent wins!"

I generally built wider and aimed carefully- a triangle pattern seems to help reduce those risks.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
ddd
b
bb
bbb
bbbb

...Etc, with a "d" held in reserve in your right fist where the shot is an easy one (it's always a good idea to hold the trigger piece in reserve when setting up a large/risky attack if you can)
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Avera · Narrow Forum Tart Joined: 26 Dec 2005 Posts: 92

Oooh ^__^ Thanks, mates. Hehe and ASCII diagrams, too!
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