*pokes your face curiously, as a toddler would after encountering an unfamiliar animal* hey. hey why are you like that. hey. heeeyyyyyy. hey. what’s up with how you are. what’s up with that. *poke poke* hey.
ok so for context on the DUMB we have a dedicated queen spam thread and we had this bit where we started writing covers of songs where we made the lyrics about queen because fucking Awesome . someone made one for ruler of everything by tally hall. and then @quicksilversnails actually went and made a queencover of ruler of everything, appropriately titled "hooer of everything" and it's maybe the only thing ever made
shadow crystal boss equipment tierlist as of 5? genuinely wondering what the utility of what you can get is, taken as a whole so far. I guess shadowmantle can come too its like an honorary member lol
The Shadow Mantle is technically not a Shadow Crystal Item but I would count it as one for the purposes of a tierlist like this. It counts.
I think this is about what I believe.
EXPLANATION:
C TIER:
Puppetscarf: It's maybe good in a vacuum but not worth the cost of not getting Dealmaker. Also strictly outclassed by BrokenScarf, Lol, Lmao,
AquaKnife: It's good in a vacuum due to its +2DF but it's not worth the cost of not getting one of the other items. It doesn't even really do its niche properly and basically is inferior for damage. Unfortunate.
B TIER:
Jevilstail: It's good in Ch2, but begins to get outclassed increasingly in every following chapter, and is almost hard to find uses for by the end of 5. It's not useless, but it's certainly no longer a build-defining item. Also, by picking it, you don't get the Devilsknife.
Shadow Mantle: It's really good for the fight it's designed for, it's decent in 4, but starting in 5 it's kind of just a worse armor than stock. No shade to it, but it's falling behind, and niche by nature. This makes sense, it's obviously a situational item.
JusticeAxe: Theoretically the best Susie Attack Weapon right now... but what exactly are you using this on? Sure, the Titan, but in Chapter 5 none of the major bosses can be fought (barring Seth+Aqua, I Guess?). If you're fighting regular enemies you can maybe make an argument this is great, but really, it's only 2AT better than the Hatchet. If you could choose something else, it'd almost certainly be worth not choosing this. Maybe that ??? effect really is something.
A TIER:
O. Glove: Absolutely disgusting statline. +8DF +4AT???? The fact that only Susie can equip this shouldn't really be seen as an issue, since she's the one you'd want this absolute beast on anyway. The Scythemare bonus is really just the cherry on top.
Green Apron: A really good defense item. Need I say more? I personally don't think I'll pick this but it's probably very good at its job.
BlueShoes: The best Support Ralsei weapon in the game right now, and the 0% TP Pacify may allow for quicker spares in some contexts. I think the existence of the BrokenScarf makes it a harder sell, and personally I don't think this is that desirable to begin with, but, this is absolutely a respectable pick.
SethSpecs: Dealmaker... 2! Given you get this later, it doesn't scale as high as the original, but the Statline is absolutely nothing to sneeze at, and Iframes may well be useful in a later fight. Recall how the Torn Notebook and Cloudy Glasses were actually useful against Sans... I think this thing might have a use later. Even if it doesn't, InvTime+ is still pretty decent, and I don't personally mind the potential lost TP from Grazing.
BrokenScarf: Really Really Good. You don't even lose anything for getting it. I don't think it's S-Tier per se given how broken the other S-Tier options are, and the BlueShoes are arguably better... but this is really good.)
BlackShard: The only thing holding this out of S is the fact that violence is kinda not that important right now. I think if we get more violence fights later this thing will probably wind up in S because +16 AT is insane but as of right now this doesn't help THAT much. But it does help against the Titan, and it's absolutely broken if you do fight regular people.
S TIER:
Devilsknife: Has value in literally every chapter to at least some extent. Arguably less so in 2 and most of 3, but it becomes a Susie Healing MACHINE starting in 4, is straight up objectively optimal for Gerson, and makes the Knight significantly easier in my eyes. Susie does not have an alternative for this. No other axe boosts MG. Long live the King. This thing is S-Tier. Maybe I'm biased but I really do think it deserves to be here. It has no equal. Long Live The King
Dealmaker: Absolute King for all of 2-4, and even most of 5. The original Goat. Even now, it's still extremely viable, and generally scales to the Flower Gear, which seems to all be designed for Endgame. So this thing is probably guaranteed to remain relevant until the end. I have found some builds that don't exactly benefit from it but I think the +30% Money Gain and Elemental Defense will keep it at least a consideration. Long Live the Second King.
YellowHat: So what if you could equip two Jevilstails at the same time and also boost all spell calculations. That's what this item is. What the Fuck. This thing is busted and while technically doesn't hold the most DF or MG out of any item I feel reasonably confident calling it the best armor in the game, finally dethroning the Dealmaker. Clover Blast.
At least, this is how I feel about these items. I'm really happy with the balance of these in general, and I think that it's intentional that Puppetscarf/Jevilstail are kinda mediocre and the Devilsknife/Dealmaker are both S tier.
The only somewhat disappointment is Aquaknife... but it's not the end of the world. I actually think it's possible that there's a fight that benefits from Crits for some reason, or perhaps the Blackshard is ineffective against The Knight for arbitrary reasons- if something like that happens, the AquaKnife will be much more viable as a pick, I feel.
Given how Aqua is so Kriscoded I wouldn't count it out. The game uses items to tell narrative, and we all laughed at the Devilsknife back in the day... Maybe the Aquaknife Comeback is real.
your blorbos don't have to be romantic to love each other (#platonic love wins) but also they don't have to love each other to be romantic. ship those characters as a loveless marriage. make their feelings tragically one-sided with no hope of change. put them in a dead end relationship that they both know needs to end but neither are willing to admit it yet. more bad ships forever. its enrichment for me.
on the topic of disabled characters, though, i think a LOT of artists give characters mobility aids that their character wouldn't actually benefit from using.
i'm sort of having a mild brain fog moment rn so i can't fully articulate what i'm on about, but i think a lot of able-bodied artists view things like canes and crutches as interchangeable. and they often don't know enough about the wide range of mobility aids to make an informed decision about what their character might actually use based on their disability
i also think that aids like walkers and rollators are sort of viewed as "cringe" on some level, and many people view them to be "just for old people," so many artists will opt for giving a character who has full-body pain and fatigue a cane (which, in many cases, can potentially WORSEN full-body pain) instead. and a lot of people don't realize that most wheelchair users are able to walk, so they don't consider it an option for characters with chronic pain
idk it's kind of frustrating. i've genuinely never, ever seen a character that uses a rollator before. not once. i cannot name a single one. i know of multiple ocs who are described to have full-body pain, dizziness, and fatigue that are drawn as cane users and are never shown with wheelchairs or walkers, though
it's also sort of sad? i've been diagnosed since i was twelve years old, and i only heard of rollators LAST YEAR. and that was only because i saw one irl and immediately asked what it was. i wonder how many disabled people out there don't even know it's an option solely because they're completely underrepresented online and in media
if you're a creative with a disabled oc, PLEASEEE check out this link. it's a very nice and detailed guide for telling which mobility aids suit someone's needs best. it's incredibly important to make the right choice for your character! mobility aids tell you a LOT about someone's lived experience. picking the right one will communicate to your audience #1 what your character goes through #2 that you UNDERSTAND what your character goes through!