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northern-passage · 1 year

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[ID: an ask from anonymous that reads "What are the different outcomes of the fight at the end of the update? Is there a way to come out on top?"]

i'll be putting the full breakdown under the cut! obviously expect spoilers both for the fight as well as vague hints at what choices will be influencing the story in the future.

BLACKWATER COMBAT GUIDE:

there are 2 main paths for the fight - one where Clementine is captured, and one where they are not. there are some significant differences between the two, but you are also going to see a lot of repetition - the routes are very much tightly tangled together.

CLEMENTINE CAPTURED ROUTE

if you made the deal or have a good relationship with Clementine, or at the very least saved them from the wraith earlier and have been mostly neutral towards them, then they will accompany you in the isolation district and get captured by Duncan outside the temple.

If you...

Trade Merry for Clementine, you will start the fight with Lea and no disadvantages.

Noel will not let Duncan take Talia, and will initiate the fight with a burst of magic. You will then have to choose:

1. Fight

You will go to fight Duncan, while Lea goes to free Merry. Having the advantage means you will always "win" against Duncan, however, if you choose

Fight aggressively -> Stay aggressive - the hunter will be unable to break the enchantment and will collapse after disarming Duncan. Lea is cornered by a group of soldiers, and the hunter panics and "voluntarily" opens the Vel to rush to Lea's aid. They will lose control, and Lea will intervene.

if you

Fight aggressively -> Go defensive - the hunter will have the strength to both disarm Duncan and break the enchantment on his armor. Lea is cornered by a group of soldiers, and the hunter is able to reach them and defeat the remaining soldiers alongside them. The spire explodes and the Vel is forced open, and the hunter will have a brief exchange with the entity that's been following them. The hunter will try to use their knife on themself like they did after the wraith fight previously, and Lea will intervene.

2. Make a run for it or Help the others

Lea will not allow you to run. They will force you to make a choice: help Merry, help Talia and Harper, or you can choose to fight, which will be the same as the route above.

Help Merry -> you and Lea will fight together briefly before you force an opening and split up. You go after Merry, but Duncan will step in before you can break her chains. You will then go into the fight with Duncan, again with no disadvantages. If you

Fight aggressively -> Stay aggressive - the hunter will be unable to break the enchantment and will collapse after disarming Duncan. This time, since the hunter and Lea fought together and cleared out the soldiers before splitting up, Lea and the others are able to escape, leaving the hunter alone in the courtyard. After the hunter collapses, the spire explodes and the Vel is forced open, and the hunter will have a brief exchange with the entity that's been following them. The hunter will try to use their knife on themself like they did after the wraith fight previously, and Lea will intervene.

if you

Fight aggressively -> Go defensive - the hunter will have the strength to both disarm Duncan and break the enchantment on his armor. This time, since the hunter and Lea fought together and cleared out the soldiers before splitting up, Lea and the others are able to escape, leaving the hunter alone in the courtyard. They will try to reach the others, but are intercepted by Keres, who stops them from leaving. They have a short stand-off, before the spire explodes and the Vel is forced open, and the hunter will have a brief exchange with the entity that's been following them. The hunter will try to use their knife on themself like they did after the wraith fight previously, and Lea will intervene.

Help Talia and Harper -> you and Lea will fight together briefly before you force an opening and split up. You will go after Talia and Harper, while Lea goes after Merry. Harper will give you away before you can sneak up on the soldiers, and a mounted soldier will try to run you down. You can

Kill the horse -> the hunter will make it out of the fight with minor injuries.

Do not kill the horse -> the hunter will be trampled and severely injured, however, you now have a new horse.

Harper will remark that he owes you one after you save him.

Following this, Lea will be mortally wounded by Duncan, and the hunter will immediately run across the courtyard to help them. No matter what you choose here, you will not have the strength to beat Duncan at first. The hunter will collapse, and then "voluntarily" open the Vel to retaliate against Duncan. They will lose control, and eventually Jorah will intervene.

Refuse the trade, and you will be injured by Keres and start the fight separated from the others and at a disadvantage. You will then have to choose:

1. Get Clementine

Clementine is injured by Duncan, and the hunter will fight their way over to Clementine where they are lying in the courtyard. You will have a short dialogue with them, before you heal them and try to reunite with the others. However, Duncan will stab you in the back and stop you. Clementine runs, and you will be shackled. Before Duncan can drag you out of the courtyard, the spire explodes and the Vel is forced open. When the soldiers try to stop the hunter from breaking the shackles, the hunter will fight back and attack Duncan, until Lea eventually intervenes.

2. Deal with the soldiers

The hunter will choose to deal with a few of the soldiers first before anything else. Once they've done that, they will go over to Clementine where they are lying injured in the courtyard. You will have a short dialogue, before Merry joins you with Talia and Harper.

Lea is holding off Duncan, though they will be mortally wounded by him, and the hunter will run across the courtyard to help them. No matter what you choose here, you will not have the strength to beat Duncan at first. The hunter will collapse, and then "voluntarily" open the Vel to retaliate against Duncan. They will lose control, and eventually Jorah will intervene.

3. Fight Duncan

You will go straight to Duncan and exchange a few words, while Lea and Merry go after the others. You are at a disadvantage, and will only get one chance to defeat Duncan. Your specialization here will also affect the outcome - water mages will always win regardless of their choice due to the flooding aiding them in the fight, whereas fire mages will always lose due to Keres draining their magic before they can properly use it.

Fight defensive -> due to Duncan's armor, this is the route you want to go. Fighting defensively will make it so the armor cannot use your attacks against you, and you will be able to disarm Duncan. You cannot break the enchantment in this route, but you can win the fight. Once Duncan is disarmed, you will have a short dialogue, before the spire explodes and the Vel is forced open. The hunter will have a brief exchange with the entity that's been following them. The hunter will then try to use their knife on themself like they did after the wraith fight previously, and Lea will intervene.

Fight aggressive -> because of your earlier injury from Keres, you will be defeated by Duncan's armor before you are able to switch tactics. Duncan will try to kill the hunter, forcing them to open the Vel and retaliate. They will lose control, and Lea will intervene.

AMBUSHED ROUTE

If Clementine is not captured, then Duncan will have his soldiers ambush you when you exit the temple. You will immediately be given the choice to protect Merry, or let the soldiers have her.

If you...

Protect Merry, and you will fight three soldiers while Duncan watches.

He will then order Keres to attack you, and you will go into the fight separated from the others and at a disadvantage. You can then choose to:

1. Attack Keres

Attacking Keres will be unsuccessful, and she will hit the hunter with her electricity again, and then the hunter will be shackled. The hunter will try to break the shackles - also unsuccessful - until Merry, Talia, and Harper arrive and help fight off the soldiers restraining them. Lea will be farther back, holding off Duncan, but will be mortally wounded in the fight, and the hunter will run across the courtyard to help them.

No matter what you choose here, you will not have the strength to beat Duncan at first. The hunter will collapse, and then "voluntarily" open the Vel to retaliate against Duncan, all while still shackled. They will lose control, and eventually Jorah will intervene.

2. Clear out some of the soldiers

The hunter will take the chance to deal with some of the soldiers, cutting down their numbers and evening out the fight. Merry will go after Harper and Talia, while Lea fights with Duncan. Eventually, Lea will be mortally wounded in the fight, and the hunter will run across the courtyard to help them.

No matter what you choose here, you will not have the strength to beat Duncan at first. The hunter will collapse, and then "voluntarily" open the Vel to retaliate against Duncan. They will lose control, and eventually Jorah will intervene.

3. Go straight to Duncan and Lea

Lea and Duncan will be clashing across the courtyard, and the hunter will make their way straight to them. Lea will back off and let the hunter take over the fight, meanwhile Merry is fighting her way to Harper and Talia. Since you did not clear out some of the soldiers, nor get shackled and thus have some of the soldiers distracted with restraining you, Merry can be seen to be very injured as she fights a large number of soldiers to get to the kids.

In the fight with Duncan, you are at a disadvantage, and will only get one chance to defeat him. Your specialization here will also affect the outcome - water mages will always win regardless of their choice due to the flooding aiding them in the fight, whereas fire mages will always lose due to Keres draining their magic before they can properly use it.

4. Go after Harper and Talia

Harper and Talia will attempt to bolt after you are first hit by Keres, and will get cornered at the edge of the courtyard. You and Merry are both fighting your way towards them, while Lea holds off Duncan. You are able to avoid the mounted soldier here thanks to Merry, and Harper will remark that he owes you one after you save him.

Do not protect Merry, and let the soldiers take her.

Duncan will chain her up and she will be restrained by a group of soldiers across the courtyard. Duncan will not let you go, however, and Keres and Noel will initiate the fight as they face off. You can:

1. Go after Duncan

You will go straight to Duncan while Lea goes to free Merry. You will start the fight without any disadvantages:

2. Go after Merry

Lea and the hunter will start fighting their way together to reach Merry. Eventually, Duncan will step in your way, and you can:

Tell Lea to keep going -> the hunter will move forward to fight Duncan, however, one of the soldiers will intervene and stab the hunter in the leg. The hunter will then be shackled, and will attempt to break free until the spire explodes and the Vel is forced open. They will try to break them again, until Duncan tries to stop them, and the two will fight until Lea intervenes.

Tell Lea to hold him off -> Lea will stay back to fight Duncan while you continue after Merry. The hunter will reach Merry and break her chains, just before Lea is mortally wounded by Duncan. The hunter will immediately run across the courtyard to try and help. No matter what you choose here, you will not have the strength to beat Duncan at first. The hunter will collapse, and then "voluntarily" open the Vel to retaliate against Duncan. They will lose control, and eventually Jorah will intervene.

All routes end with the hunter losing control in some way, and with either Lea or Jorah directly intervening to stop them. Depending on your choices, Lea, Merry, and/or Clementine all may be injured in the fight. Harper always gets roughed up, but he will remember if the hunter specifically is the one that saves him and/or Talia from the soldiers. Merry can be extremely angry with the hunter if she was traded, or more understanding if they were ambushed, and she also may still be chained up at the end of the fight. The enchantment on Duncan's armor is also dependent on the hunter - you can potentially break it if you are successful against him.

And if you are successful, and Lea is uninjured, the hunter will be resistant to the entity and force a conversation - otherwise, if the hunter is the one that opens the Vel, the entity will easily influence them without the hunter even knowing... at least, for now.

#i wanted to make this it's own post but also i tried to draft the ask and tumblr broke it <3 #anyways go wild #sorry i tried to break this up to make it as readable as possible but tumblr text editor is p limiting #blackwater combat #technical stuff

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mint-merriment · 5 months

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things about the rhythm doctor act 5 update

just some stuff i noticed/liked abt act 5 !

note: this covers the new content added so there Will be spoilers! also i Just bought the game (despite knowing the prior levels through youtube hee hee) so this is from the perspective of someone playing seamlessly through the acts :)

misc pre-act-5 stuff:

i dont know if the 'simulated' option was there before, but it is very cool actually!

after playing 1-xn (act 4 boss), instead of the credits playing, paige suggests the intern take the day off. the screen fades to black and we are implied to have had a restful day before coming into work the day after and starting the cutscene with hailey and logan

from the steam page, i noticed that you have to play 2-1n in order to start act 5, so i purposefully didn't play 2-1n to see what they would do. (now that i think about it, this definitely is because the boss level uses the 'skip a beat' cue that is introduced in 2-1n's tutorial.) in order to let you know you need to know about skipped beats on svt patients, nicole blocks the doorway to the physiotherapy ward and asks you to go check on cole because he's got a bit of writers' block. it then cuts to 2-1n immediately so you can play it!

before you play 5-1, the ward takes the appearance of the field (which confused me a lil). after the level finishes, the illusion of the field dissipates to reveal the actual ward :0

5-1 & 5-1n:

in the level itself, the background sign counts your hits! other things are also displayed on the lights of that sign when its shown (such as the 'ready get set go' from the nurse, imitation of static during the rainy part, etc)

whenever you have to hit a "two" or "three" or etc, the lights that orbit the patient have that number of beams. nice visual cue there

the beat right before the cutscene where paige is startled awake by lucky, the ball is flung at the screen. even if you hit it perfectly, the animation that plays is lucky's early/late animation- ie, the one where his rotator cuff is tearing :(

speaking of. paige was sleeping/dozing off next to lucky to be startled awake in the first place, and throughout the level and after she notes that he might be feeling anxious

whenever you're cued for "four", lightning flashes in the background. this is just cool to me

in the second half of the level, the hospital ward actually glitches in and out! good foreshadowing for what the actual ward looks like on a first playthrough

5-1n actually starts with ian's hand as a fakeout- you might think he'll take the first few beats, but it immediately fades into the dream where our hand is taking the procedure, and transfers over to real life too

the miner actually has a single held beat in this level, with a unique running animation! foreshadowing his appearance in 5-3 intermission :)

"one slip, too late, three strikes, for me" I LOVE WHEN THE LYRICS COUNT!! AND ALSO IT COINCIDES WITH HOW MANY BEATS YOU HAVE TO HIT THAT TIME. (these lyrics also show up on the sign in the background!)

when logan says 'my hero would never hesitate to take his shot!', hailey joins in from the word hesitate. to me, it reads like he's said this a lot before and she knew what he was going to say, which is quite cute

the second chorus was from the trailer! which. is where they got it from probably lol.

5-2 & 5-2n:

5-2's tutorial has new tutorial music :0

the song itself is called lofi beats for patients to chill to, which is obviously a reference to 2-1 lol

speaking of 2-1, in the level proper, the part after the short cutscene between ian and paige includes that one piano part from it (specifically the part synced to the samurai's heart that ian is doing)!

ahh the classic 'i thought i was getting better so i went back to normal and made it worse' :(

i do like the snickety snick sound of the freeze cue! as well as the texture of the ice, it is very... cool B)

the tutorial (of 5-2n) shows the continuing friction between ian/paige vs edega, focusing on ian. edega is trying to push the rhythm doctor program to be something it's not really, which is just a tasty lore bit (i talk more about the story below)

...okay so 5-2n is sooooo hard for me, specifically me, but maybe also some of you. but it is a banger! and the burn/freeze beats are a very cool concept. (also the burn cue sounds very.. blacksmithy? it reminds me of that one forging minigame in patapon.)

the 'stage' thing is cool, introducing us to the individual concepts, before we get thrown off the deep end. very difficult, very fun. this level will haunt me.

i also liked the background ! oh yes and also: the mythical "5" cue :0

5-3:

5-3 is an intermission! one revolving around held beats haha, fittng for our second character- the miner! i liked the miner's reintroduction, and how his philosophy and views on life and his own health ended up greatly affecting lucky's viewpoint as well. as we see in the future!

the digging through bag to find things and multiple other random things being thrown out was very funny :)

samurai being at the other end of the bungee cord lmao

its nice that miner doesn't even know who lucky is, it makes their interaction a lot more genuine without the veil of 'fan' and 'guy who has fans' :) (even if it is a bit of a hit to lucky's ego oof)

i also really enjoyed the conversations overheard! cole not knowing anything about baseball players was funny, and mr and mrs stevenson reunion was so touching,,,(and also the birds hehe.) i love how they conveniently narrated it so that someone who isn't physically there can know almost exactly what's happening

this also really shows how much the hospital is a community of its own now actually. paige calling everyone over to see the reunion, even wondering where we, the intern finger, are. the doctors work very hard to make everyone's stay comfortable, and i'm glad that everyone's comfortable enough to be reaching out and finding this moment touching.

also speaking of which. its very funny and very in character that the reason mrs. stevenson wasn't moved to mr. stevenson's room earlier.. was that everyone involved forgot about it oops. at least the birds are there too!

annnd as evidenced by 5-x's pre-treatment notes, the miner's words seems to have really helped and affected lucky! good job!

(also. i got an s- on this the first time. dunno if you can get an s+)

5-x:

now. 5-x. the BIG ONE. god its so good but you already knew that

a preface for everything: the window movement is IMMACULATE. IMMACULATE I SAY.

the crunchy guitar chord coming in right as the screen pans up to the sunset-sky and the 'boss stage' fading in was PERFECTION. BY THE WAY.

i like the window moving like a clock! and sometimes, each tick actually ticks over to a different scene at a different time, with different people in the hall (but edega watching from that observation room at all times. unnerving)

the snapshots of people hanging out is also really nice, i like seeing that most have come to visit :) and also in multiple combinations! they are all hanging out :D

i cant get the blast beats perfectly, but i like the timing and occurrences of them- syncing really well with the lyrics/song!

"it'll never be a hundred percent. you have to make peace with that" this line hit me so hard. i have nothing else to say. its a good quote.

this scene is just good actually. it shows that the miner and lucky have spent enough time together, and when he responds to that quote with "i know... it's just..."? that speaks of understanding! and he was also spontaneously willing to share why he strives so hard, which lines up with all of his previous behaviors perfectly.

this cutscene also acts as a checkpoint; if you fail after it, restarting quickly returns you here! (during my initial playthrough i only failed twice, once before and once after)

SAMURAI COMING IN CLUTCH WITH THE "CAN YOU TEACH ME BASEBALL" thank you samurai you've done us all a great service

i really like how when the running sections start up again, everyone who was shown to have been roped in shows up in the next one (ie logan and hailey joining after the box of beans part)

also. the return of beans hopper! nicole's coffee throw being repurposed for baseball! cole and the samurai (who are of course friends since at Least 2-2n) texting each other! cole's "X" response before immediately after being shown running with the rest of them! (interestingly, nicole doesn't show up in the next running scene. maybe because she was designated as pitcher??)

also, lucky is running Behind everyone, the samurai is rolling/skating/thats his run animation apparently, hailey and logan are running together, and cole is running ahead of them all. fitting!

the team!! the people who were roped into this impromptu team include: samurai, logan, hailey, cole, nicole, lucia, hugh (farmer), miner, and the insomniac. thats... almost everyone lol. besides the birds, the stevensons, and the doctors

lucky's 3am thoughts were portrayed really well. imo, even though it doesn't seem like it, i believe that this game does mean something to lucky, though maybe this isn't realized until after the game. the virus kicks in here, and the screen movement is very intense here

glad they included him brushing this negative mindset in the morning to focus for the game though! late night thoughts can be very mean...

the lil graphic of the game playing out under lucky's heartbeat was really cute. glad they didn't go the 'intern, you must now treat Every Patient Here while they're playing' route (though that might be what is implied actually happened storywise rather than gameplaywise? through paige and ian's convo). ayo, hailey scored!

THE BALL BOUNCING AROUND THE SCREEN WAS SO GOOOOOD AUGHHHHH . fun fact the first time i saw it i was so entranced by the ball richocheting that i forgot i had to hit it. i think thats where i failed here lol. also, the parallels between the samurai and lucky here are quite thematic

ahhh lucky's final speech to the team! it resolves his feelings about his coach (whom, as we know, didn't think he could succeed in the role he wanted to play, but from whom lucky still sought validation from), and also helps him portray his own thoughts about his stepping away from baseball for a time to recover.

fun fact: if you fail between the game's start and the final speech, lucky expresses doubts about this being worth, but the players are still ready! they aren't backing down yet!

and of course. they win!! lucky refuses dr. edega's treatment, preferring to stay at the hospital for an extended period of time for his physical therapy :)

fun fact: i talked to the janitor after this (the janitor has some surprising insights actually) and while he was tempted to join the team, he ultimately didnt, instead deciding to cheer from the bleachers! thank you janitor

(also. this poor, poor local university team. they got beat by a cobbled-together team consisting of *checks notes* patients at a hospital who literally All have some sort of heart problem, ranging from some teenagers to people who have been doing hard labor or been incredibly sleep deprived for years. f on their part. but also a big name baseball player was coaching them, so that softens the blow haha. still tho. teenagers. thats gotta suck for them. lmao)

and! even though lucky hasn't been added to the credits (which perhaps the final release might change?), the roof where paige sings still has the net and baseballs strewn around :)

bonus 4-4n because it was also added:

spoiler: it was very cute. im glad they added it, it's very fitting!

the 'skip' cues were quite underutilized before, so im glad that they used them here (especially to signal that the characters were going to speak a short sentence, hehe)

NICOLE ACOUSTIC GUITAR!!! from all the way back in 2-4!! glad she's trying it out again :)

also its SO cute that she dusted off her skills because she was thinking about cole, perhaps wanting to make a song for him.

can't believe that when asked if they were thinking about playing for someone, neither cole nor nicole answered properly.

also. their hearts are beating in sync here. there is no one else to call the other heart's cues, the nurse is enough for both.

((sorry, i love act 2. they are so good.))

logan doesn't have heart eyes on hit, because hailey's out of town :(

leitmotifs!! i like the guitar from 1-2 coming back in for logan and hailey. and also the samurai's part threw in a bit of 1-1 too !

about the story+misc thoughts (this one is WAY more rambly):

this act is about lucky's struggle with his hospital stay, and also brings edega into the spotlight a bit more with the overarching story.

actually, this act is structured a lot like act 2 (which is. my favorite act actually)(all the times is SO GOOD OKAY) but only one person; it uses mostly two-beat rhythms, the first night level is a song with lyrics and the only lyric'd song before the boss, including an intermission, and a moving window final boss (with lyrics!). it also focuses on a singular (2 patients in act 2) patient's struggles for multiple levels, rather than multiple recurring patients for the levels, which i think really fleshes out said character a lot.

and i really like lucky's story! he was so impatient to get out, worrying about losing everything he had built for himself, but through the efforts of everyone at middlesea hospital, he realized that he could take it slow, that he won't suddenly be nothing if he takes the recommended amount of months to heal, and even if he steps away from the game. (i think his friendship with the miner was so good for him, im glad they brought the miner back)

as for the overarching plot, it brings the question of 'if the rhythm doctor treatment is really effective, does this make traditional medicine more obsolete?' and... the answer is actually no. in 2-4n, paige brings up that the rhythm doctor treatment only stops the symptoms, it doesn't treat the cause. and that's what she and ian are actually there for! (although paige does start to wonder if it'll ever get to the point where the rhythm treatment Can solve such things. shelve this for now)

we, the intern finger, are merely throwing a rope to a drowning person. paige and ian (more prominently paige bc ian is splitting his time working on the rhythm doctor program) are the ones actually pulling them back to safety- recovery takes time, and while some problems can be solved with a bit of rhythm defibrillation, Not All Of Them Can. in my mind, the ideal scenario is the rhythm doctor program supplementing a full hospital staff, but...

worryingly, edega doesn't seem to have picked this up, or if he has, he's deliberately ignoring it. as seen before and also in 5-1's tutorial, he's allowing the hospital to remain understaffed while pivoting towards the rhythm doctor program. he's pushing ian to make the rhythm doctor program do more things than what its meant to, as evidenced in the 5-2n tutorial, and in the pre- and post-5-x conversation. (and possibly more but those are the ones i remembered fastest.) ian has actually figured out what's causing the connectifia abortus (and what a shock that was, to learn that the program itself is dealing with inherent glitchiness), but edega making him work on other things is stopping him from being able to fix it. (ian also mentioned edega's plans for a 'miracle cure' which is. hm. worrying to say the least.) i am intrigued about the plan to distract edega long enough to let ian do his job tho...

also. edega's theme is very unsettling. make of that what you will.

if you're down here thank you for reading! tl;dr rhythm doctor act 5 update Good :)

#haha wow this was a long post :3 a REALLY long post O_o;#rhythm doctor #rhythm doctor act 5 #rhythm doctor spoilers #anyway. mayhaps i shall do this for the rest of the game. just little things yknow? buuut not right now (i have spent hours on this)#i was initially gonna put this in a single thing of bullet points with no breaks but alas. there's a 4000 character limit for a single list #hope this is coherent!#rhythm doctor tag

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