CheeseNoodle

So following on from my last post I'v now tried again, this time using Rufus to make my boot USB rather than balena etcher which despite being reccomended is apparently problematic. I also downloaded and verified a fresh install of the cinnamon ISO.

Result is uh....

Failed to open \EFI\BOOT\mmx64.efi - Not Found
Failed to load image (windows symbol): Not Found
Failed to start MokManager: Not Found
Something has gone seriously wrong: import_mok_state() failed: Not Found

This happens when trying to boot from the USB so its actually worse than last time where the demo environment worked but it kept crashing on attempting a proper setup.

PC in question is a small notebook with no discreet GPU to speak of (Intel integrated graphics) that I've been hoping to use as a testbed before comiting to Linux on my main PC.___

^ Title ^

so I've had problems getting linux to actually setup properly but the functional preview on the boot USB stick itself works without issue, so can I just run it that way, or is that going to limit functionality in some way?

So to get it out of the way here's what I intend to cram into a case: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/TCWFYd
Budget: $100 to $200.

Asside from the obvious factors (like fitting the GPU) I'm really only looking for 2 main things:

• Airflow, not looking for a fancy glass fronted case I'm just looking to minimize temperatures and maximize component health.
• Dust filters, magnetic for easy cleaning would best, same reasoning as above (2 cats in the house)

Basically I'm looking for something like a Liancool 207 only that case can't fit my PSU and likely wouldn't be happy with the cables to feed the Red Devil either. I've seen good things about the Fractal Focus 2 but its description as entry level has me worried if those good thermals stay good for this kind of GPU/CPU combo, its front filter is also reportedly not the greatest.

So I thought I'd ask you guys to help me pick a nice cold and dust free box to keep my magic thinking rocks/sand in.

Edit:
Thanks to everyone for the advice particularly putting me on to GamersNexus (looking at you @Durandal@lemmy.today) and encouraging me to look at more Fractal cases. Ended up going right to the top end of my Budget with a Fractal Design Torrent as it appears to have the best overall thermal performance. Figure its going to be worth it in the long run for that ultimate goal of maximizing component lifespan.

Had a dream last night where I was on a road-trip and ended up randomly dropping into an alternate dimension, this short story is pretty much the backstory for how that dimension diverges from our own and is about 1/3 straight dream, 1/3 the random oddly detailed lore dump my brain gave me when I woke up (anyone elses brain do that?) and 1/3 creative writing to fill in the gaps. I'm not even am ameteur but I hope you guys find it interesting.
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At the end of the second great war the Manhattan project had yielded few results, though the allies would go on to win the war the power of the atom would never be harnessed for warfare. Yet deep bunkers in Germany would reveal research on a phenomena known as astrological manipulation; the effect was weak, almost a parlour trick, the sun could be turned dark or the stars made to shine brighter but only from the perspective of a small area and only for a few minutes. Fascinating to the theoretical physicists of the world but barely of note to nations in the midst of post war reconstruction.

It would not be until the 1960s that those physicists would finally attain a shaky yet certain grasp of the phenomena. Project Argus took 20 years to construct, a joint project between the United States and Great Britain, part arcane circle and part particle accelerator the enormous construct spanned 200 miles of Atlantic ocean, suspended from thousands of floating stabilization platforms. World War 3 would begin on January 5th 1980, and end with at the same no and total casualties on all side on January 6th 1980.

The goal of project Argus, the total hegemony of a united British and American empire, was to be attained by demonstration of absolute control of the sun itself, and yet such perceived control was wholly illusory. The sun would darken to a cold cinder, never to return.

By the end of 1981 desperation would truly set in all thoughts of conquest cast aside in the name of survival, great furnaces churned dark smoke into a darker sky attempting to provide light and heat to those remaining inhabitants and the precious grow houses that sustained them. On December 9th, now known as the day of the red star, Argus would awaken once more from its slumber; Those survivors of the original test, those rescued from summary execution by a now unknown yet foresighted officer would do everything in their power to light a candle in the dark.

On the day of the red star Jupiter would burn, a feint candle in the dark. Daylight earth would not see again yet the feint red light of day was as a nova after 2 years of darkness. Life would cease its gradual retreat into oblivion, though much changed and much diminished it would cling on in the twilight. Some few plants were able to subsist in the gloom and so sustain what little life was left. In the cites those who had survived the apocalypse would now dwell forever in twilight.

So I think moa companions are really cute and charistmatic but other than a blast shield equipped moa being a tankier but much less reliably shooting alternative to a verglass / contaigous bond sentinel I can't really justify using one over a beast or a sentinel with more useful precepts.

Anyone got any cool moa secrets for me?

I heard Mint is supposed to be the simplest distro to get started with but my experience so far (following the setup guide on the website) has been:

• Download ISO
• Check ISO (seemed fine)
• Burn image... crash
• Burn image in administrator mode
• Boot from USB via BIOS... crash
• Boot from USB via Bios in safe mode
• Download multimedia codecs... crash
• Not download multimedia codecs... also crash?

And that's where I am presently, it runs fine off the USB albeit a bit slow, and I know its connected to the internet because I can browse lemmy on it and make annoying posts on the Linux community. I knew Linux was going to be more work than windows but this feels like a ridiculous level of effort right out of the gate, I worry that even if I somehow get it running I'll spend 10x more time fixing it than actually using it.

Ok this one blew me away, its another little no parkour required area and this time with multiple fairly obvious yet inconspicuous entrances, beyond being pretty this one has some pretty strong cut-gig vibes.

One entrance hidden behind a Trauma team AV, I later found prettier entrances but I'm not booting up the game with all my mods again. Its pretty winding down there but you can find a small un-marked scav event as article of evidence #1.

Star of the show is this pit, equidistant from pretty much all entrances and with a clearly deliberate parkour path all the way down.

Its a looooong way down, there's also a dead guy with a lore shard down here and a weird red fan that I all the garbage slopes into like it was meant to be some kind of entrance.

This elevator has no useable floors but otherwise appears to be completely functional, even the doors work.

Map location of one entrance for convenience.

So I stumbled upon another cool little spot that's totally easy to overlook despite all of us having certainly passed it dozens of time. its another great example of verticality with a little village of shops and homes tucked into the shadowy spaces between buildings, it even has a little scene with a lore shard if you explore all the way to the bottom.

From above we can see just how far the rabbit hole goes, with the deepest part being accessable by ladders just under the pipes on the left.

It's dystopian as hell but damn this place has a vibe, wish V could have an apartment here.

Looking up from the lowest inhabited section the sky is barely visible under all that concrete and steel.

Just a map location:

So I am playing with the Hardcore 22 V2 mod which makes enemies a lot more deadly but removes the egregious spongyness of very hard mode in exchange.

This gun just has it all, quick fire shotgun blasts for cqb, long range still fairly quick lovetaps to the head for when a ton of enemies are rushing you at once and of course a charged mode to punch through walls, just beautiful with stalker optics (I also banned myself from using the middle click highlight because its OP as hell)

So after a lot of playing Koumei this is a series of tricks, some obvious and some hopefully not, that you can use to get the most out of her kit. I'm going to try and format this thing into sections but I was never the best at typography so hopefully the end result is coherant.

The goal of this guide is not to build around specific decrees but instead to allow her to directly benefit from as many decrees as possible and thus reducing the rng element.

--Koumei herself--
So there's a few things you can do on Koumei herself to make life easier, most of these are pretty well known but I'm including them for the sake of having a comprehensive guide.

• Sickening Pulse: Probably the most well known Helminth for Koumei, its popular because it works, synergizing with her 4 to allow for nuking all the way up to level cap, this buff to her 4 also makes several decree challenges much easier.
• Parkour mods: I know a lot of people hate the idea of wasting an exilus on this but it really does make her gameplay that much smoother, something in the lightning dash family of mods is ideal and once you start the extra bullet jump distance is hard to give up.
• Armor: This is more than just defense for Koumei, in long runs it can also translate directly into power strength, and with arcane battery a mod like umbral fiber can sub in for (primed)flow too. A full Umbral Koumei hits a permament 600% power strength once her decrees are stacked.
• Equilibrium: Another useful but niche option, Koumei has decrees that both create and benefit from health orbs and this mod synergizes well with them.

--Decree challenges--
Some decree challenges can be a pain but with the minnimal investment of sickening pulse (and maybe that parkour mod) most of that pain goes away.

• Kill X enemies afflicted with element: Basically free, if its not one your weapon just prime with your 4 or kill with your 4 + sickening pulse, or with whatever weapon your passive is on right now.
• Kill while airborne, sliding or wall latched. Cast your 4 when on the ground, then do the appropriate manuver and hit sickening pulse, works everywhere from base level to endurance. Alternatively shotguns can do this a little slower but are less finicky, especially with sliding.
• Headshot kills: This is actually the only challenge I routinely skip, you can make it easier with skill or specific weapons but weapons that work best with Koumei tend not to be the greatest for headshotting and one of your own decrees can actually steal your own headshots by turning them into toxin procs.

--Equipment--
Koumei is in many ways a weapons platform frame, however unlike frames like Rhino, Mirage or Saryn the buffs she provides are less clear cut; in her hands some weapons hardly benefit at all while others can achieve heights far above what can be achieved with more conventional buffs.

• Hybrid: This is the most basic rule of gearing Koumei, decrees benefit both crits and status so a weapon that inflicts both is going to get the most consistent benefit.
• LMGs and Shotguns: A large number of her less popular and thus wasted decrees relate to magazine capacity, ammo efficiency and reloading. With many weapons these are useless, with the right weapons they can be excellent. Both weapon types tend to suffer from long or frequent reloads, delaying or skipping these alone is a nice buff. LMGs in particular have huge base magazines which can reach or exceed a thousand capacity with the right decrees, this can turn into truly bottomless magazine with reload on kill or even an additional 1000% electrical damage. Shotguns are similar, with magazine capacity, ammo efficiency and reload decrees allowing them to function as bullet hoses, its less dramatic than with LMGs but you haven't lived until you've tried bottomless magazine Felarx.
• Melees: Another way to put the initial summary of this section is that Koumei is a jank amplifier. dual ichor and okina incarnons are already strong but the daggers and clouds proccing decrees on their own is a whole new level of crazy. Projectile weapons go crazy with multiplicative CO and the inevitable melee rainbow status you aquire (even without priming). Heavy attack crit weapons make an entertaining alternative to hybrids with their own set of decrees that turn everything into a corrosive syam. Of course if you can get a fun hybrid heavy attack weapon then that's the dream and please mention it in the comments.

--Specific gear reccomendations--
Just some gear for Koumei that's effective and fun, and most importantly helps avoid wasted decrees.

• Trumna(prime): Its no torid incarnon (what is?) but as far as Koumei primaries go this has it all. At the start of the mission is a solid hybrid LMG with an alt-fire that can really come in clutch when you're having trouble with those airborne/latch/slide kill challenges. Stick around for a while and its an endless stream of bullets with all the fire-rate and damage you'll ever need.
  -Quellor: A side-grade to Trumna that trades damage for being a bit more consistent with headshots, and trades the grenade for the alt-fire that opticor wishes it was. Also has the highest base magazine capacity in the game if you really want to make the most out of the magazine size to electrical damage decree.
  -Scourge(prime): Largely a utility pick for the headshot challenge but also a decent weapon in its own right, most decrees just help this keep up with level scaling but if you get the ones that inflict toxin and electric AOEs on headshots then this thing is suddenly a rapid fire rocker launcher.
  -Shade(prime): At low levels this plus verglass or primer of your choice can help with damage CC or whatever you need. Into endurance (or right away if you want to build for it) you almost certainly have enough strength and efficiency from decrees that you can just sit around invisible and spam this + sickening pulse to nuke everything without even being shot at.

Continuing my recent playthrough of deliberately letting myself get distracted by every vaguely interesting piece of scenery here are 4 interesting spots around night city that never come up in scripted gigs.

Fairly easy to find, a random security gate near the Kiroshi Optics HQ leads to a surprisingly detailed little loading bay.

Beneath an unassuming overpass lies a whole little village of tyger claws. This area even includes a tyger claw dragon who's appears to be particularly tough, akin to the minibosses often found in criminal activity scanner hustles.

Just a hop, skip and jump from Dantes Den (literally) how many of us have ever looked down to realise there's a whole housing block sealed in by a wire mesh, based on a light in a bottom floor window it appears to still be inhabited to. (The media outer chest piece can be found on the balcony to the right of the image)

Just down the hill from the monestary we can find a whole abandoned housing development, as well as a gas pipeline running underneath the highway. Alas the alluring skywalk of mystery has an invisible wall that prevents the player from following it past the black electronic billboards.

So equipping a glowing clan emblem in either front/back sigil slot will cause the ephemera to be completely overridden by the sigils colour, mostly annoying but could also be interesting if its what you want.