Grrl Power IV: Constantly Expanded Universe

[tomandtish]

Given the "grinding" comment, she's planning on finding and fighting things for experience, so she can level up (i.e., gain pips for her orbs).

Considering what the watchdog did, that is not a good plan.

The biggest problem I see with grinding is still her lack of knowledge. Unless I'm forgetting something, while she has a rough idea of most of the orbs' base powers, she has no idea what each path in an orb does, with the exception of one path of the PPO and the teleport function of the comm ball (which was a one slot shot).

Let's say she wants to increase her flight speed. Which of the two lit paths does she take? And given she's in space, would she even realize speed had increased?

It's not a horrible idea, but it may not be an effective idea.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Well, it looks like we found out why Deus was willing to let Sciona have access to the Brane Ripper.

He wanted the upgraded version.

[Traab]

The biggest problem I see with grinding is still her lack of knowledge. Unless I'm forgetting something, while she has a rough idea of most of the orbs' base powers, she has no idea what each path in an orb does, with the exception of one path of the PPO and the teleport function of the comm ball (which was a one slot shot).

Let's say she wants to increase her flight speed. Which of the two lit paths does she take? And given she's in space, would she even realize speed had increased?

It's not a horrible idea, but it may not be an effective idea.

No, its a frigging TERRIBLE idea. Why? SHE CANT USE HER ORBS WHEN THEY NEED TO UPGRADE! They detach from her, form the grid, and remain that way until she selects an upgrade. She is kinda in outer space atm. She may not want to lose that shield if she gets a sudden upgrade. Sure if she gets on board the mother ship before that happens its fine, but its still a serious risk.

[Douglas]

No, its a frigging TERRIBLE idea. Why? SHE CANT USE HER ORBS WHEN THEY NEED TO UPGRADE! They detach from her, form the grid, and remain that way until she selects an upgrade. She is kinda in outer space atm. She may not want to lose that shield if she gets a sudden upgrade. Sure if she gets on board the mother ship before that happens its fine, but its still a serious risk.

The timing of the two upgrades so far is suggestive, though not conclusive, that the orbs wait for a moment when it's safe (or maybe just that they're not in use) before bringing up the upgrade interface. It was only a problem the second time because something dangerous showed up after the upgrade interface showed and Sydney was slow to make her selection.

[lord_khaine]

No, its a frigging TERRIBLE idea. Why? SHE CANT USE HER ORBS WHEN THEY NEED TO UPGRADE! They detach from her, form the grid, and remain that way until she selects an upgrade. She is kinda in outer space atm. She may not want to lose that shield if she gets a sudden upgrade. Sure if she gets on board the mother ship before that happens its fine, but its still a serious risk.

I think its likely the orbs got a sort of safety feature, that blocks them from going into upgrade mode when actively used.
Both times an upgrade took place it was a little while after she had stopped using them.

[Onyavar]

How much energy do these orbs have anyway? It would be a bad thing if either flight orb, shield orb or pewpew orb need to recharge after extensive use.

(Well, I just know that after holding my phone for a few hours in my hands, it needs recharging.)

[Keltest]

Long live the cast page!

[Rogar Demonblud]

Dear gods is that thing bad. It looks like it hasn't been updated since partway through the Vehemence fight.

Maybe wait to announce that it's back until you at least get new art selected.

[Calemyr]

Dear gods is that thing bad. It looks like it hasn't been updated since partway through the Vehemence fight.

Maybe wait to announce that it's back until you at least get new art selected.

Well, it broke ages ago and he put off fixing it for over a year, so... yeah. It's bad. Now that it's functional, he can get it up to date, at least.

[40kenthusiast]

Looks like Big Squid is proof against the PPO's main attack. That's pretty worrisome, though the way it works (bend the beam around him) implies to me that rapid fire might do something. Failing that, it might be time to flee around the curve of the world at top speed.

[Rogar Demonblud]

And we now have official word that it has been less than a week since Sydney, Maxima and the Bank Job.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Given the "grinding" comment, she's planning on finding and fighting things for experience, so she can level up (i.e., gain pips for her orbs).

Ding!

So, what choice does she make? I think moar dakka might be the smart call, given she's gone and picked the fight.

[Onyavar]

I think she should focus less on the outer branches, and more on the inner connections. These look like they enhance interoperability and synergies.

The main problem with her grinding approach is in my opinion that she can't sleep, drink or eat or even go for little girls.

[tomandtish]

Actually, as i said back on 8/6, the biggest problem is that while she has a goal, she doesn't know HOW to achieve the goal. Usually when you are grinding, you know you need to do X to achieve Y. She doesn't know which path increases which power on the flight orb. She doesn't know which path increases shield strength on the shield orb. She has no idea WHAT the synergies between the orbs are.

Just looking at the Flight orb, there are 5 possible options for Warp NOT including warp being a synergy effect with another orb. Now, it''s PROBABLY not the two paths she has partially filled out, but even that's not certain.

So she could have to spend 3 or more points to get warp. And that would potentially only be the first level of warp. Depending on where she is, she might need several levels to get home in a reasonable time frame...

[lord_khaine]

Thats ignoring the problem already illustrated in the comic. That warp is worthless without navigation.
And Sydney is already hopelessly lost in space.

The main problem with her grinding approach is in my opinion that she can't sleep, drink or eat or even go for little girls.

Thats also a massive issue if she want to do any sort of space travel. Its why i suspect the last Orb can do something at need for sleep.

Its also why i suspect more dakka actually might be the best choice.
That or running off to hide somewhere until help arrive.

[Traab]

If she decides to boost the last (probable) speed pip that might let her move fast enough to seek shelter and rest. The problem with boosting dakka is much like any other upgrade, she cant be sure which one is a straight damage boost. Its LIKELY that big bundle of pips she grabbed one of last time are all fire options which reduces the choices, but even then she cant be sure that a stronger beam will be strong enough.She should probably stick with her initial plan and max speed. Her shield is tough enough in the air tot ank the hits. So strafe a few times, retreat to safety and repeat till the orbs upgrade again and hope that next tier is space travel and not just a multiplier. Like, say she grabs the last pip in the chain and now she has mach 6 as a max speed. The next trail might just be say x2, x4, x6, etc. It will still add up to amazing speeds, but even maxxed out, I doubt mach 23040 will get her home very quickly. (Doing very quick and dirty math that would be like 3x light speed)

[Sean Mirrsen]

The problem is, she doesn't just need lightspeed. She needs quite a bit beyond lightspeed.

Let's say she actually has to travel around 700ly, as implied by the author earlier. A short hop for most sci-fi starships. The NX-01 Enterprise, at its maximum of Warp 5, could get there in under a year.

Sydney doesn't need merely "under a year". She has no safe accommodations to rest in, no armored hull to protect her, her shield and life support will disperse if she falls asleep. The only two planets that she knows of where she can safely drop her shield and breathe air, are Earth and the blasted ruin of the Alari homeworld. She needs a speed that will get her from one to another, in under a day. Over 250000 times the speed of light.

That's on top of actually knowing where to go.

"Flight" is not really an option for her. The orbs might be able to eventually go that fast, but it's not going to be a small amount of upgrades. She really has to bank on rescue. Which means finding a way to stay safe on this planet in the meantime.

[Traab]

True, which is why speed and shield are so important at this point. With speed she can dodge/run anywhere in atmosphere she wants. So far she doesnt seem to be that hard pressed to get away, having done it twice. So boost the defense, boost her speed, and she can run for safety a lot easier and tank the bad guys hits when needed. After that go for offense. She has no idea how much stronger her beam will need to be to work on squidward but it cant hurt to become a heavier hitter.

[Sean Mirrsen]

She already seems to be able to outrun and outmaneuver the fighters, and her shield, while taxed to dangerous level in the process, did successfully tank the shimmer-blast. Her problem is that she can't run away and hide, she'll be found before she can rest because she can't leave the planet. And it seems doubtful that she can pump up the power on the beam enough to break through that distortion shield. What she needs, is find a way to destroy the enemies other than brute force, or somehow fake her demise so the mega-nega-squidward and the alien ship stop searching for her.

Judging by the size of that ship, the first option is more or less out of the question. But we do know she can do a thing. It's just a matter of whether she can do it in a sane and sufficiently safe manner.

[Rogar Demonblud]

At this point, her smartest move is likely to hide and try to scout with the lightbee. What she knows is dwarfed by what she doesn't like an ant versus Galactus.

[lord_khaine]

That's on top of actually knowing where to go.

And thats an even bigger problem. Even with infinite speed she would not find earth before her natural lifespan expired.

Hiding and scouting with the light bee is a good idea. Or even using to enter some cave she can hide in.
But at the same time, i find it understandable if she in a much more stressed situation cant come up with a optimal solution.

[JeenLeen]

On sleep: do we know how much conscious thought is needed to activate an orb?

It might well be that she could hold the Shield and Make Air orbs at the same time and thus sleep. I forget exactly what she has in her utility belt, but she probably has tape or sometime she could use to tie them to her hands.

If she has to consciously activate the Make Air, though... that's a problem. If she would just suffocate from not enough air, I reckon she could sleep in small bursts (then startle awake as she starts to suffocate) and stay somewhat coherent, but I reckon the real problem is carbon dioxide poisoning from what she's breathing out. Breathing that in makes you loopy and probably fall unconscious (right?), and then you die.

Hmm... that gets me thinking. She can Make Air, but was it established if she's just making air (as it seemed when underwater training) or actually refreshing air quality? If you just add more air to the stuff you've already breathed, wouldn't you build up the pressure in the shield to dangerous levels?
They didn't seem to explore that when heading to the Vault, so I kinda guess it's not a problem.

[Rogar Demonblud]

She needs conscious thought to grip the orbs. And taping would only work for one, since you need a hand free to use the tape.

[Onyavar]

Hmmm. The PPO doesn't ricochet off the shield.
Good thing Sydney doesn't have a gun, she would have killed herself already.

I wondered for a second if the final orb has some healing factors... but then, we would have seen it in use already when Sydney got minor injuries before.

...

Also, I had really wondered why Sydney had let go of the Shield orb, in the first place. She never entered a safe place, there.
So this scene was written to deliberate showing her power-up, AND her subsequent injury.

[Keltest]

I gotta wonder how injured she actually will be. Her uniform is bullet-resistant, remember? Her stomach may be bruised, but I doubt she's bleeding too terribly much.

[Rogar Demonblud]

As we saw in the factory fight, the shield opens up for the PPO, and she can control the size os the aperture.

But we will now get to see what happens when you have now unlocked the subsidiary line on the Flyball.

[The Glyphstone]

I can't even see which pip she selected.

[DataNinja]

Also, I had really wondered why Sydney had let go of the Shield orb, in the first place. She never entered a safe place, there.
So this scene was written to deliberate showing her power-up, AND her subsequent injury.

Doesn't the upgrade tree disable the orbs, though? So she can't have them active while upgrading.
...although I'm not managing to find the update where I thought that was mentioned, so maybe I'm utterly mistaken.

[tyckspoon]

I can't even see which pip she selected.

It's the last space on the line we think represents 'flight speed' - there's a blue energy halo around it, and you can see the lines connecting to the next grouping (possibly/hopefully representing 'FTL capability', if Halo is to have any chance of getting herself home instead of being rescued) energizing. Look near the 'Ding!' sound effects.

[Lamech]

I still think her best hope is teleportation.