Slayer1189's Blog - Apr to Jun 23 (34 followers)

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We are now in the final 3rd of the event and until now I've largely recommended games that are easily clearable in a short time frame for good TT diff per hour.

This week, the highlight is going to be games that CAN be done very quickly if you are comfortable with the type of game, but the more hours it takes, the less valuable it becomes. This means before jumping into these, you should consider how these fit into your playstyle

Additionally, this will be the final week of generic 3 recommendations for score. After this week, My Ralph role will be focusing on low completion games that target competitors

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1) StuTheChief gave me the heads up to all of the Pinball games by Developed by https://www.truetrophies.com/developer/Super-PowerUp-Games/g.... These boards are cheap to buy and are cross-buy so you get a PS4 & PS5 list with each. They vary in terms of how much score they provide and how challenging they are.

The great thing is that after completing one stack, you should be familiar enough with the board to complete the second stack much quicker. The downside to these is that unless you can save the Extra Ball/Multiball trigger, they aren't the easiest to bank, as each list is just 15M score, Multiball, Extra Ball, Ball Saver & Skillshot.

Pinball skill will impact this figure, but i'd say for the average player these boards range between 200-500 diff per hour

Since I like my 3's, the 3 boards I think give the most bang for their buck for being both simple boards with decent score are Basketball Pinball Trophies, Pirates Pinball Trophies & Werewolf Pinball Trophies


2) Downwell Trophies is the next game i'll highlight, as this was on PS+ many years back but is also cheap and on sale if you didn't get it back then. This is a fun downwards vertical platformer published by List of games published by Devolver Digital which IMO tend to usually publish quality titles and i'd say this is no exception!

I am struggling to give a time estimation for this one as I see so much conflicting info and it really comes down to how quickly you nail the run as the a full successful run is about 20-30 minutes... But as the game is worth over 4000 TT diff, even if it takes you 40 hours it's still over 100 diff per hour.

To be clear though, 40 hours is an incredibly long time. Most estimates seem to indicate 15-25 hours, but if you feel confident with this type of game you could be in for a <10 hour completion and 400+ diff per hour!


3) Trials of the Blood Dragon Trophies is the last game I will cover... Now I know what you might be thinking. You may have played Trials games in the past and struggled with "Extreme" tracks. I have great news for you; this Trials game doesn't have any extreme tracks. They stop at "Hard"

Not only that, but this game is on PS Extra, is by FAR the shortest Trials game on Playstation, by FAR the easiest Trials completion on Playstation AND because it's a spin off title it has the highest TT diff of the Trials games to boot!

The on site completion estimate of 20-25 hours seems about right for the most part, which if it took you this long it would be 130-160 diff per hour. Now... You might initially be scoffing at that low diff per hour this late into the event, ESPECIALLY given if it does take you longer it's getting dangerously close to double digits , but I have 3 points that I feel makes this worth it;

a) A very large chunk of the score in this game is backloaded as the high ratio golds are all right at the end for A/A+ clearing everything. This means that if you are safe for the week, you can work away at this leaving the 1st level not A+ while you prep ~2500 diff that can be popped in 10 mins when you feel like it

b) If you have played other Trials games before or just pick up the mechanics quickly, then you could clear this in a lot less than 20 hours. For example, if you've already done the Fusion/Rising trophies, then I doubt this game takes 10 hours by comparison.

c) Should you enjoy this game enough, it opens up Trials Fusion Trophies DLC that are quick TT diff per hour. To be clear, this is by far the hardest Trials game to earn all trophies in and the base game isn't worth the time investment in GTTSC. but the DLC's offer fast score for someone who has just been able to earn the Blood Dragon plat

I'm not gonna focus on the the solo bonus this week, as it's just having two 1's across the four columns (Trophies, Trophy XP, Truetrophy, TT Difference). I reckon there is a good chance a few even manage this by accident, but otherwise the best plan is just see how things are looking on the last day of the period and make any quick adjustments you might need. Should be super easy to at least get a 1 in your "Trophies" column.

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For team bonus, it's 60 collective trophies from the Metroidvania genre. This is a genre I love, but really need to play more of and you have a few great options for it;

1) Witchcrafty Trophies is published by Sometimes You who are on the ban list. But this game has multiple regional versions that are over the 1.2 ratio and so still usable. Whilst they aren't too much higher than 1.2, if you stick to the EU/NA console stacks, they should hopefully stay high enough unless plat earners go nuts this week. This game only takes 3-4 hours on a first time through and has 30 trophies, so 2 stacks of this between your team would cover the bonus. It's also currently on sale!


2) Journey To The Savage Planet: Employee Of The Month Trophies is available on PS+ extra is worth ~3800 diff, which considering the entire game is said to take around 20 hours, that's also good diff per hour! Not only that, but this game has 52 trophies and can be played in co-op, so if your teammate is up for it you could easily get all 60 and wouldn't need to finish it until a later week. Zatherus played this in co-op and said it was worth a play.

Another point with this completion is that if you enjoy it there's other stacks to do, although lower scoring it's score for multiple people co-op... Or even better, if you've already done a lower scoring stack then this one is available on subscription and could likely be done quicker a second time around


3) forma.8 Trophies is an option that was on PS+ a while back so you may have it sitting in your backlog. This seems fairly unique, takes about 8 hours for 1500 diff and only has 1 missable to be aware of not progressing past a certain point without checking. It also has half the requirement at 30 trophies.


4) Strider Trophies is another option that was both on PS+ a long time ago, but is also available on PS Premium. This is a fun game on an old IP and i'd say is worth playing. It takes about 10-15 hours and largely is as simple as clearing a 100% run of the game, though there is a separate trophy for speedrunning in 4 hours.

I know speedrunning trophies and 2nd playthroughs can put people off, but this speedrun requirement is incredibly relaxed and the game is very short if you know exactly where to go, so it's not too much of a hassle and secures more than half the requirement with 31 trophies.


5) Dust: An Elysian Tail Trophies is another good option that was on PS Plus long ago. This game isn't as good on the TT diff per hour front as the above options as it takes about 15-20 hours and only gives 1400 diff... Under 100 diff per hour at this point in the contest is getting to the point it's rough to justify, but can be forgiven if it's also going to earn a bonus

This game is worth a play i'd say and made quite a bit of buzz when it released back in 2012, due to being a fun game with a unique artstyle made almost entirely by one person

You can basically enjoy the game at your own pace, only needing to worry about 1 choice based missable (can reload save) and ensuring to play on at least Tough difficulty to make it one playthrough. At 31 trophies it's contributing over half to the bonus.

When I started these team highlights, I wanted to avoid covering heavy hitting teams and prior finalists too early. The last thing I wanted to do was cover all those teams early, then near the end there was no-one left .

In a little over 9 hours, we enter the final 3rd of the event and there's only a few more highlights to come, so there's no longer any concern in covering veterans

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Team Highlight #6 - Arctic Fox in a Box

To anyone new to the event, beware. This team may have been middle of the pack each week, but that's by design. Ensuring they score enough to be comfortably safe, but not wasting points unnecessarily.

Arctic Fox in a Box weren't in the first GTTSC based on TT. They entered in GTTSC 2020 when the event switched to TT diff and have gone on to win the past two events. Can they make it 3 in a row?

Another interesting thing about the team is that despite their pedigree, they don't have a lot of targetable games on their account. inabox44 has a few she is working on, but there aren't earned yet & Vaulen- has a couple but they are lengthy titles, so nothing that could be sniped in the time the event has remaining.


Player Card: Vaulen-



Banked: 36,000 - This is a colossal amount of bank. No doubt some of this will need to be used in coming weeks, but they also have a few they can still be working on, so even using some we could be looking at 30-40k in bank to be dropped across the semi's and finals.

Strengths: Patience and dedication. Vaulen- plays the event like a marathon, and not a sprint. Has the standard completionist mindset we've covered in other users, but comfortable to leave them banked for a later date as long as they are completed when the time is right. This gives the benefits of this playstyle, without the drawbacks of only playing 1-3 games at a time and needing the plat before moving on.

Weaknesses: Despite the strength above, Vaulen- still suffers the completionist drawback of the lack of versatility where required. He is largely locked into the games he plays and as many uncomplete games are already banked, there isn't much room for bonuses or game abandonment due to sunk cost.

Another weakness is that whilst many banked games are left with an easy trigger, there are others where the trigger had to be one of more skill based pops. In these cases, there is always the risk that months away from the game turn what would have been quick and easy into a longer ordeal as you re-adjust to the game. In the semi's/finals, every minute is precious!

Summary: Vaulen- hasn't only won the past two events on team side, but has been the winner of both years on the solo side. In both prior years he has scored over 50,000 diff in the final week to secure the victory and beating 2nd place by around ~9k diff each time.


Player Card: inabox44



Banked: 12,000 - It's worth noting two of these banked games in particular. Mars Horizon Trophies & Farm Slider Trophies. These platinums only have 1&2 current earners on site. This means that upon inabox44 earning these, they will decay hardcore at the first adjustment. Due to this, expect these two to drop within the final 8 hours of the entire event. Also worth noting that I can't be sure Mars Horizon is actually ready... Which is important as it's over 25% of the entire bank

Strengths: Has also adopted the patient playstyle of a marathon not a sprint. Has only earned one plat since the last GTTSC, so has worked on a few slow burners.

Also plays games for a living via her Twitch stream at https://www.twitch.tv/inabox44. One upside to this is there is the potential to pull a 180 for the final 1-2 weeks of the event and turn it into a GTTSC hunting stream (or even a planned holiday as her own boss). Normally her stream earns no trophies and not all viewers would be there for the change... But it does give the rare option to turn the standard work week hours into GTTSC productivity over the very short term, which is an edge others may not have.

Weaknesses: On the flipside of that coin, the Twitch streaming as a job is also the biggest potential weakness. The standard format earns no trophies... but it does put inabox44 at higher risk of burnout than most when playing games all day is followed by more games in a competition as 'leisure'. We've seen the burnout card hit people for less

Just look at those TLoU 2 hours... 4024 and counting

Summary: inabox44 never took part in the solo side of GTTSC 2020. Her scoring was on the lower side this year as she wasn't doing banking at all, but came out and scored when the team needed it most.

Last GTTSC was a different story, banking was adopted and she reached the semi-finals in the solo side of things so certainly a formidable competitor, especially since we know they are targeting a top 10 solo finish this year as detailed here inabox44's Blog. Will this goal become a reality?



Player Card: Zatherus



Banked: 11,000 - This may be the lowest of the team, but don't be fooled... Not only is any 5 figure bank high enough to go far, Zath is also working on a potential 4 more huge games with Diablo IV Trophies, Diablo II: Resurrected Trophies, The Elder Scrolls Online Trophies & recently returned to Disney Dreamlight Valley Trophies now it's possible. Is he going to go for all 4 of those? Doubtful given the time investment, but I reckon we see 2 of them before the event is over. The first plat earner of Diablo 4 would currently be worth ~54,000 TT diff, though of course as the weeks go on this will change.

Strengths: Plugged into the community. We know that Zatherus is well acquainted with all the strategies and closely watching the period cutoff's as he streams them live and discusses the event. This attention and track record tell you he is bought in paying attention. Not at all likely to be caught off guard

Weaknesses: Biggest weakness I potentially see is getting sucked into Diablo IV too long without popping the plat, or juggling those 4 big games and losing a lot of time to them but not finding enough hours to seal the deal.

Summary: Zatherus is one to watch. Even on the solo side of things he has made the finals the past two years, finishing 5th and 6th respectively. As of this year, he has gotten much more involved with the community and his streams at https://www.twitch.tv/zatherus

With all of this in mind, I can't see him stepping off the gas this year. A 3rd year solo finals is certainly possible


Equip Card: BFG9000



This is the support card for the week which I expect to see played in the finals. Although it only lasts for 1 turn, like the name if implies it brings attack to 9000

No Ralph recommendations this week. In it's place is this blog, which is just taking some ideas from the other blogs posted this week to peer behind the curtain of Slayer1189

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Who am I?
My name is Scott. I am a lover of stats if you couldn't already tell from my blogs. I've been gaming my entire life (toddler) as my Dad was a gamer so i'd 'play' before I was really 'playing'

I've been a minimalist longer than I even knew that was the term for it. As a kid, I never liked toys and used to cover my game collection with pillows. Safe to say I was delighted when digital libraries became a thing and went digital around 2008

I spend the vast majority of my time awake doing one of 4 things;

1) Pet Project - Exactly what the pet project is changes 3-4 times a year, but there's always some kind of project I am working on and dedicating ~30 hours per week to. Sometimes overlaps with the others... Like right now GTTSC is my project

2) Gaming - I never quite made the leap to 3D gaming or turn based stuff. Most of what I like is 2D/Top-down with fairly active inputs, though I do play a bit of everything

3) Learning - Specifically my love is of philosophy and I've been an objectivist longer than I knew the term. I also just love learning for the sake of it; interested in statistics, the sciences (both hard/soft), religion and prehistory etc

4) Gym/Exercise - Lover of calisthenics and classes, with my favourite class by far being Les Mills Body Attack. I also like mountain climbing, dancing and cycling .

That's me in a nutshell... In the past there was of course work & school thrown into the mix but my life is pretty simple

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GTTSC/TGN
I've been a member of TGN since March 2009 and TT specifically since the very beginning. I love the community and feel I know quite a few active names here.

For GTTSC specifically, whilst I do enjoy taking part... My true enjoyment is spectating and watching all the players plans fall into place, particularly in the semi-final and final weeks. This was what drove me to start the blog series in the first place which i've thoroughly enjoyed and loved the feedback i've been getting

As for my own personal estimations for the event, I start banking as soon as the event gets announced, but not prior, so given what I have sitting as well as my bonuses, I reckon i'll still be in it for 3-4 weeks, but then i'll go out to those better prepared and banking prior to the event. Then I get to watch them duke it out for the win.

I reckon week 13-14, but should I squeak through the semi's BLOODBATH into the finals that will take all of reserves and I also have my mothers 60th in the final week, so i'll basically be done at that point no matter what.

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After GTTSC
During GTTSC. I largely play my shorter backlog titles while going for bonuses, but I tend to neglect my other platforms and longer titles.

After GTTSC is over, I have FFXVI, FFXIV, Exoprimal & Raincode to play basically immediately, followed later by Suikoden remastered, Eiyuden Chronicle & Texas Chainsaw Massacre... So it's a busy year ahead

Well well well... THREE bonuses this week in hour of "Not E3 week". Not only that... But one of them is to write three blogs so this counts! Slayer1189 kind being a cheat here since he has me and Ralph on the staff, but hey sometimes dems the breaks.

As for other ideas, as Zatherus says you can just ChatGPT and then edit it... But i'd honestly say there is an easier way to easily get a bonus that will also be good for site community building (which is the goal of the bonus).

The easiest way to do this is just to write a quick paragraph for 3 of your favourite games of all time... or even 3 paragraphs on your favourite game of all time. If it's a game you really love, this should be easy to do (How you came across it, why it impacted you so much, any little personal stories you have about it, etc). Community engagement FTW

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As for the other bonuses, we got 60 Cross-Buy collectively and 20 Card & Board. The Cross Buy is a very varied list, so play what you want or even re-play a game you enjoyed for a second stack

For Card & Board, the good news is that many of these are quick completions, but also they usually aren't published by anyone on the publisher ban, so it is fairly flexible.

Good shouts with multiple controllers that are on PS Extra are UNO Trophies & Monopoly Madness Trophies. Otherwise. Go with the board game of choice.

Sofeeee out